OPEN LETTER TO ALL KINGDOM PERSONS (2)

The younger son knew his place in the family. He knew he was a son who had rights and privileges. Granted, he didn’t manifest the same appreciation of his obligations, but he wasn’t going around working his hands to the bone trying to earn a baby goat, that he “might make merry” with his friends. On the other hand his elder brother sure knew a thing or two about service! He was serving the father diligently, but clearly with a servant’s mentality. He couldn’t muster enough courage to ask his father for even a kid to party with!

I was saying that the line between son-ship and servant-hood seems to have become blurred in the consciousness of many of us, kingdom persons. We say we believe what the Bible says; that we are sons of God, by adoption through the finished work of Jesus Christ, and in line with God’s original plan. But we live like servants or slaves.

Yet, the difference is clear. The Pocket Oxford Dictionary describes a slave as a “person who is owned by and has to serve another”; it defines a servant “person employed to do domestic duties” but says of a son, “male descendant or inheritor of a quality”. A slave is owned by his master and is not even accorded the dignity of a free-will. A servant has to earn his keep. A son is an inheritor.

The Bible illustrates the difference in a very popular story told by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. We call it the parable of the prodigal son. Its main theme was love, the unconditional love a father had for his son. And it is an illustration of the love that our heavenly father has for us. I am sure you know the story graphically told in chapter 15 of the book of Luke. Let’s explore it together.

I am very sure you remember him, the impatient young man, the younger of two sons who approached his father in these words: “…Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me (verse 12). The father obliged. The concluding part of verse 12 says “And he divided unto them his living”. This son, continues the story, soon thereafter “…gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want (verses 13-14). You know what followed; he sought work and got one feeding pigs, hungered so much that he would have gladly shared the pigs’ lunch, but they won’t let him. When he came to himself, as the Bible puts it, he said: “…How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”(17-19) He did as he had planned and the result must have astounded him. According to Dr Luke’s account his father saw him from afar off ran to welcome him with kisses and a warm embrace. Ignoring his plea to become a servant on account of having received his inheritance, “the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry (22-24).

This famous story has been told again and again to illustrate the unconditional love of God; and how we must emulate him. Correctly. The depravity of the wayward son has also been highlighted frequently to teach moral rectitude to all Christians, especially youths. Again, absolutely correctly. But let’s continue our exploration of the story.

As you well know, as the elder brother, of the runaway now returnee son, who had been at work for the father made his way home after a tiring day, he began to hear the sound of music and merriment wafting from his father’s house. Wondering if he had forgotten something, the Bible says he called one of the servants to inquire what the celebration was about. The servant replied: “...Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound” (27). He was livid with anger and, feeling unfairly treated, he refused to go in and join the merriment. Their father’s attempt to pacify him elicited this response: “…Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf” (29-30). To which, the father replied: “And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found” (31-32).

Indignation cannot be any more righteous than this. Indeed, that has been the focus of most teachings on this passage of scripture and it cannot be faulted. But a closer look reveals something more fundamental. The younger son knew his place in the family. He knew he was a son who had rights and privileges. Granted, he didn’t manifest the same appreciation of his obligations, but he wasn’t going around working his hands to the bone trying to earn a baby goat, that he “might make merry” with his friends. On the other hand his elder brother sure knew a thing or two about service! He was serving the father diligently, but clearly with a servant’s mentality. He couldn’t muster enough courage to ask his father for even a kid to party with! And that is in spite of the fact that his inheritance was readily available as evident from latter part of verse 12 which states that the father “divided unto them his living”.

The point being made here is while servants have to earn their keep, sons do not have any such obligations. No father provides for his son on the condition that he serves him. Fathers provide for their children out of love and as a duty. Masters pay their servants according the quality and quantity of their service. The Bible is very clear about this. Paul did not say my God shall supply all your needs according to how hard you’ve worked; it is according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (see Philippians 4:19). Does this imply that sons have no responsibilities; that they do no kind of work; or that they just sit idling by? Not at all. Sons serve in the Family Business; they work to grow the family enterprise; they serve in love not out of compulsion or in order to “put food on the table”. I shall come back to this presently.

An oft-quoted passage of scripture, the full import of which seems lost on many children of God is in the Book of Matthew, chapter six. It is a graphic depiction of the rat race which the servant mentality has pushed us into. And it goes on to give the father’s heart on the matter. The New Living Translation renders it this way: “… I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need (verses 25-33).

This passage had been widely seen and taught as an exhortation against anxiety - and it is. But it is much more than that. It is the Lord Jesus’ blueprint for true kingdom living. It is the prescribed lifestyle for kingdom persons who have successfully exorcised the servant mentality and have come into the fullness of son-ship. (CONTINUES NEXT WEEK)

OPEN LETTER TO ALL KINGDOM PERSONS

Now, many reading this already know and accept, as true, the biblical assertion that we are sons of God. Many might even be walking in this truth in some areas of their life. But many of us are slaves masquerading as servants; some others are servants parading as sons, while some of the very best are merely living on the fringes of sonship. And it shows glaringly in everything. It shows in the way we pray and what we pray for. It shows in the way we praise and worship God whom we say we have accepted as our father. It shows in our attitude to work; in how some of us have become slaves to work in the pursuit of what we call putting food on the table and providing for the family. It shows in how desperate we sometimes get in the pursuit of this all-important provision for the family such that compromise has become the norm even among Christians whether we are business persons, academics, politicians, civil servants or holders of high government posts.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, I am writing this letter to you from the very depth of my being. If you have been a reader of my weekly exertions, you probably know that there are a few basic assumptions about who you are; the most fundamental of which is that you know that there is a Kingdom of God on earth and that you either see yourself as belonging in that Kingdom already or would like to belong.

Now what is the Kingdom of God on earth? You most probably know that a kingdom is a territory ruled by a potentate by whatever name called. And wherever that territory may be, the will of that ruler prevails. The same applies to the Kingdom of God on earth. The simplest way to understand this is to refer to the prayer the Lord Jesus taught His disciples, famously called the Lord’s Prayer. Two lines of that prayer are relevant to the matter at hand and they read: Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth; as it is in heaven (see Matthew 6:10). In other words, God already has a kingdom in heaven where his will is done and if the Lord Jesus is asking that we pray that his will be done, it is easy to see that he implies that God desires a Kingdom on earth where his will prevails. Now there are those who say that that kingdom is yet to be established; that it is to happen at a latter day. But of course there are those, like me, who believe that that kingdom is already in existence in the heart of millions of men and women who are living or are committed to living according to God’s will as expressed in his word, the Bible. The environment in which these kingdom persons operate and wield influence therefore represents and exemplifies the Kingdom of God on earth. The Church is the visible manifestation of that kingdom; it is the organism that works to keep the kingdom running and growing.

A major difference between this kingdom and other kingdoms is that whereas kingdoms of men normally consist of the king and his subjects. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of sons. That is to say that if you belong to the kingdom of God you are a son of God, not his subject or servant or slave. The Bible is clear about that. John 1:12 says: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”. Romans 8:14 corroborates: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

In order to understand the import of this, it might be necessary to tarry a while on this subject of God’s preference for a kingdom of sons. The Bible shows us that angels, who were the main population of heaven, were originally styled as sons of God. In the book of Job are passages that refer to angels, including the one who used to be known as Lucifer but had become satan, as “sons of God”. For example, Job 1:6 reads: “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.” Job 2:1 uses the phrase “among them” to further clarify who this sons of God were. It reads, “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord”.

When God decided to create his earthly kingdom, he began with a son, not a servant or slave. Proof of this is that God gave Adam dominion over all that he created, as in an inheritance. He did not ask him to keep and tend the garden as a condition for exercising dominion. Nor did he make his access to the things he had created commensurate to the quality or quantity of his garden-tending activities. Beyond that is the Bible’s express reference to Adam as the son of God in “Luke 3:38 –“Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God”. These should explain why Jesus’ work of redemption led inexorably to the restoration of man to sonship, not servanthood as indicated in the earlier quotes from the books of John and Romans. That should explain the designation of Jesus as “the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29). and the rest of us as: “…children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…”(Romans 8:17).

I have gone through all of these because what I am about to say in this letter will be meaningless unless we understand God’s concept of Kingdom, the kingdom he has called us into. That is why I am pausing at this juncture to pray, along with Apostle Paul that “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power" (Ephesians 1:17-19). For the avoidance of any doubts, this prayer is as much for you, my dear reader, as it is for me.

Now, many reading this already know and accept, as true, the biblical assertion that we are sons of God. Many might even be walking in this truth in some areas of their life. But many of us are slaves masquerading as servants; some others are servants parading as sons, while some of the very best are merely living on the fringes of sonship. And it shows glaringly in everything. It shows in the way we pray and what we pray for. It shows in the way we praise and worship God whom we say we have accepted as our father. It shows in our attitude to work; in how some of us have become slaves to work in the pursuit of what we call putting food on the table and providing for the family. It shows in how desperate we sometimes get in the pursuit of this all-important provision for the family such that compromise has become the norm even among Christians whether we are business persons, academics, politicians, civil servants or holders of high government posts.

Yes there is something of an Apollonian streak in even some of the very best of among us. Yes Apollo, remember him? The Bible describes him as eloquent and mighty in the scriptures. But he knew only the baptism of John. He had fervency and diligence, but as Apostle Paul would have put it, his zeal was “not according to knowledge.” The 18th book of Acts told his story like this: “And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly…(Acts 18:24-26).

The story continues in Acts 19 where it was recorded that Paul met those to whom Apollos had ministered yesterday’s truth of baptism unto repentance and asked them if they had received today’s higher truth of baptism in the Holy Spirit. They hadn’t, because their teacher hadn’t either! Verses 4-6 of that concludes the story thus: “Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”

Today’s situation in Christendom is uncannily similar. Many of us seem content to continue skirting the fringes of sonship. Yet I know, without a shadow of doubt that, God is calling all of us who know that we know who we truly are in Christ Jesus, to a higher appreciation of our privileges and obligations as his children. In fact, from deep within me, I hear believe that, if there’s anything God wants us to hear and internalise today, it is this: “My sons, it’s time to purge yourselves of the servant mentality; there’s work in the family business.” (CONTINUES NEXT WEEK)

TAXATION AND THE CHURCH

In the third part of the serial, we painted the following scenario and raised a poser: “A ministry sustains itself from the tithes, offerings and other donations from members of the public, including, but not limited to its members and congregants. From this tax-free income, it establishes a book store, video and audio tape shop and sometimes even a printing press. Whether the materials and services sold in these outlets are solely those of that ministry or not, profit is made from such operations. Should such profit be tax-free particularly as the products and services are hardly ever subsidized?

As I write this, I am fully aware that I am reacting to a speculation. I am not aware that the Lagos state government or any other government has plans to tax the churches. What I believe I have heard said by Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos is that wage earners in ministry would be expected to pay tax, like every other income earner in the state. But the question has been on the questionnaire of virtually every journalist who has had an interview with a church leader lately.

For example, Sunday Independent’s last edition carried an interview with Rev Dr Felix Nwosu, General Overseer of Christ Foundation Sabbath Mission, Lagos in which Ejikeme Omenazu dwelt extensively on the subject. He opened by asking the man of God if there were conditions under which churches could pay tax. To which the man of God replied “no” and went on to describe any such attempt as “asking God to pay tax”. That, to him “amounts to rebellion.”

In the same edition, Aramide Oikelome’s report of a press parley with the Prelate of Methodist Church Nigeria also contained a reference to the subject. The relevant portion reported Archbishop Sunday Ola Makinde as cautioning “against government’s proposed imposition of taxes on the income and tithes of churches and other non-profit organisations…” Makinde, continues the report argued that “as charity and non-profit organisation, which bring hope to the hopeless by preaching the message of healing and salvation, exemption from tax payment is something that remains laudable and commendable.”

As if those were not enough, Pastor Wale Adefarasin, national secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria was also confronted with the same issue in another newspaper interview. Is it really biblical for the Church to be taxed, he was asked. His reply: “You know what Jesus Christ said considering collection of tax. He said render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar. There is a legal obligation for every Nigerian to report and complete an assessment form at the end of every tax year upon which the income is assessed, and tax is based.”

Mercifully, there is substantial agreement between (Lagos) government pronouncement, as I recall it, and the Christian leaders whose reactions I have read on this otherwise potentially contentious issue. As evident from Pastor Adefarasin’s statement above, it can be inferred that PFN is not averse to tax payment by church workers as distinct from the church. Rev Nwosu also drew a line between ministry and mission works on one hand and commercial activities of churches on the other. He told his interviewer: “If a church is involved in commercial activities for profit, it is right to ask it to pay tax. Books, CDs and VCDs, which bring in money, should attract taxes because they are forms of business. Schools, hospitals, transport ventures and factories run by churches should attract taxes…The government should strike a balance, clarify their policies and categorise the classes of men of God who should pay tax…” The report on the Methodist leader’s media meet also indicated a similar viewpoint: “The Prelate who showed a card certifying him as a tax payer said payment of property tax was understandable since churches derive profits from such ventures, but frowned at any attempt to tax offering, tithes and donations to churches.”

It would therefore seem that if the Lagos state government restricted taxation to salary-earning clerics and well defined commercial activities of churches, there would be no controversies. The problem, as Archbishop Makinde put it, would be if they “attempt to tax offering, tithes and donations.”

Does government want to do that? I think, indeed I hope, not. But as I said, when reporters begin to hammer on an issue, it would be unwise to dismiss it. That is why I wish to join my voice to that of others to call on the authorities in Lagos to step away from any such contemplation, as it will create unnecessary disharmony.

Having said that however, I wish to state without equivocation that the church, particularly the non-denominationals run largely as sole proprietorships, need to get their accounting acts together. This is an issue we had raised in this column before. In a serial titled “Integrity Check for the Church.”

In the third part of the serial, we painted the following scenario and raised a poser: “A ministry sustains itself from the tithes, offerings and other donations from members of the public, including, but not limited to its members and congregants. From this tax-free income, it establishes a book store, video and audio tape shop and sometimes even a printing press. Whether the materials and services sold in these outlets are solely those of that ministry or not, profit is made from such operations. Should such profit be tax-free particularly as the products and services are hardly ever subsidized? Incidentally, this situation is clearly exemplified by the fees being charged by secondary and tertiary educational institutions established by churches and ministries...”

We also raised issues about the fixing of remuneration for ministers: “How much should a general overseer or superintendent or presiding bishop earn? Who fixes such income and by what criteria? Of course this speaks directly also to the issue of whether not-for-profit organizations should be run as sole-proprietorships. In other words, is a ministry independent of its founder or are they one and the same legal persons? What obtains today, with very few exceptions, is that there is no difference.”

We wrote in 2007 against the background of an investigation just commenced on the finances of some well-known Pentecostal televangelists in the United States by Charles Grassley, an influential member of the Senate Committee on Finance. He had written letters to Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn, asking “detailed questions about their expenses pattern and the tax exempt status of some specific expenses or associated projects or establishments”. In a press release explaining his action, Grassley had said: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."

Of course Grassley was condemned in several circles as an instrument of the enemy with accusations of persecution and inquisition freely hauled at him. A number of the ministries eventually complied while some declined. We are yet to see the end of the matter.

But we did warn at the time that the same oversight rights being exercised by Senator Grassley is available to legislators in Nigeria and so, should the National Assembly, for instance, feel a need to do so in the public interest, it could conduct such an investigation. As we said then we know that “initiators of any such investigations in Nigeria will be subjected to emotional and religious blackmail, no matter who they are, their antecedents and intentions, but in the end, should they persevere, I would be surprised if they do not unearth cans and cans of worms…”

Thankfully, no such investigation has yet been initiated. But think what might happen if, for instance, government were to be unconvinced about a certain church’s differentiation of the strictly non-profit activities from its profit operations for accounting and therefore taxation purposes, and decide to find out! What would be our reaction? As in 2007, I commend to all church leaders 1Corinthians 11: 31 which in the Message reads: “If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on.” Food for thought, don’t you think?

FROM MY IN-BOX
RE: NOT YET IN AKPOYIBO’S IMAGE
On your report on the Lagos State Commissioner of Police Mr Akpoyibo, it's important to ask if Christians, including you the editor, do pray constantly for his success in policing Lagos State. We can contribute to his success by sending information, albeit of known criminals and criminal activities around us to his office, even anonymously, should such fall into wrong hands.
A.Olajide, London, UK.
PIXES: Archbishop Sunday Ola Makinde (Right) &
Pastor Wale Adefarasin

WAS MICHAEL JACKSON SAVED?

In all of these, however, I have been more concerned for the soul of this wonderful performer. Is Michael Jackson in heaven or hell? We may not know for sure, unfortunately. He was born and raised, at least by their mum, a Jehovah’s Witness, but there were rumours that he converted, like Jermaine, one of his brothers, to Islam last year, and took the name Mikhaeel. Whether that is true or not, reports about his meeting with two Pentecostal pastors, Andraé and Sandra Crouch three weeks before he died give room for hope. Although they have denied that he specifically asked to be led to say the sinner’s prayer, as earlier suggested by Mary Mary on her Facebook page, the following quote from Dave Nassaney, Andraé Crouch's Facebook page administrator, points in the direction of salvation for the one who sought to heal the world with his music and philanthropy.

What a week that was – the last full week of June 2009. It had everything: pace, drama, passion and the very stuff of history – change. Consider the line-up: Farah Fawcett fell to the terror attack of anal cancer; the Anglican Church of North America formally came into being, pulling 100,000 conservative Anglicans out of the liberal Episcopal Church; President Umaru Yar’Adua proclaimed Amnesty to all Niger Delta militants, and Michael Jackson died.

You can be forgiven for yawning at some of the items, possibly all but the last, after all the media generally speaking, simply buried every other item the moment the demise of “Wacko Jacko” happened! KPerspective isn’t about to be different. But before we join the frenzy, let’s at least give each of these items, its brief moment in the sun.

On Monday June 22, conservative former members of the Episcopal Church, TEC, gathered at St. Vincent's Cathedral in Bedford, Texas, US for the first provincial assembly of the newly established Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). By Wednesday June 24, they had ratified their constitution and elected an archbishop in the person of Robert Duncan, who had been in the vanguard of the struggle against the liberal policies of TEC, including ordination of gay priests and recognition of intra-gender marriages.

ACNA, which as at April 2009, had 100,000 members from about 700 parishes in North America and Canada was formed by member bodies of the Common Cause Partnership such as: American Anglican Council, Anglican Coalition in Canada, Anglican Communion Network, Anglican Mission in the Americas, Anglican Network in Canada, Convocation of Anglicans in North America, Forward in Faith North America and Reformed Episcopal Church. Others are the Missionary Convocations of Kenya, the Southern Cone and of Uganda which were established to provide provincial oversight for disenchanted former Episcopalians.

While ACNA is not yet a member of the Anglican Communion because that requires a long process, both the Church of Nigeria and the Church of Uganda, with combined membership of about 26 million, are in full communion with the new province. This translates easily to recognition from about a third of the Communion.. This is a significant development that has potential for shaping not just for the future of the 77million-member Communion, but ultimately the Church in general. We shall return to this issue at a later date.

As ACNA was being dedicated on Wednesday, actress Farah Fawcett was taking her exit from this side of the great divide. Felled by anal cancer, a disease she had famously described as a terrorist, she was 62. Fawcett rose to fame on the wave of her blonde hair, when a Hollywood talent agent spotted her among "10 most beautiful co-eds" in a student magazine at the University of Texas in Austin, where she was a student.

She subsequently moved to Los Angeles, began a modelling career and eventually posed for a poster in 1975 which was to catapult her into international stardom becoming something of the ultimate poster blonde. The poster, which sold over eight million copies, was Farah’s doorway to acting fame. Ace television producer Aaron Spelling, was so fascinated by her persona that he cast her as one of the crime-fighting babes of in the famous television series, Charlie's Angels in which she starred as Jill Munroe.

Charlie’s Angels, to refresh your memory was that television series featuring three belles working for a private investigation agency to unravel all kinds of crime. It was a trail-blazer in the sense that women were acting that kind of role for the first time. It ran in the United States on the network of ABC Television from 1976 to 1981 before it made its way to Nigeria in the mid-80s. One of the unforgettable features of the series was that you never got to see the face of Charles Townsend or Charlie, their boss. The best glimpse of him you ever caught were scenes where the back of his head and his arms are visible, surrounded by pretty women, assigning cases to the Angels through a speaker phone.

Farah was nominated for two Emmys and five Golden Globes, winning critical acclaim for her characterization of an abused wife in The Burning Bed. The story of her battle with cancer was widely aired in May through a two-hour documentary, Farrah's Story. In it, not even the pain she went through as the cancer progressed from her anus to her liver could rob her of her humour. As the doctors shaved off the last bit of the blonde locks that brought her to fame, she was quoted as telling the doctors, "You wouldn't stop until you got my hair." In the words of her publicist, “Farrah has passed to a better place and left the pain and confines of her bed behind…She is free to be the woman we all knew and loved; so few have touched so many."

Thursday of course was Amnesty proclamation day in Abuja, Nigeria. President Yar’Adua evinced the proclamation and signing ceremony with the solemnity of a historic event. Militants who laid down their arms within 60 days were to go home unmolested while he handed those being tried a get-out-of-jail-free card. It was all like Jesus telling the woman caught in adultery in chapter 8 of the Bible book of John: “go, and sin no more.” And I remember my Shakespeare: isn’t it the “naked truth” that, like King Lear, the people represented by these militants, (as distinct from the criminal elements), are “more sinned against than sinning?” The Amnesty, preceded as it was by the now suspended military operation of the Joint Task Force, with its clearly disproportionate collateral damage, has all the trappings of pacification. Will it work? God have mercy.

Thanks to the sense of balance of the Nigerian media, this subject is still on the front burner, at least one side of it. The announcement later that Thursday night of the death by cardiac arrest of pop music king, Michael Jackson, has since overthrown everything else. And like I said earlier not even this column can ignore such a momentous event as the passing of this iconic character.

So much has been said and written about his life, music, dance, lyrics, fashion, marriages, cosmetic surgery, his philanthropy and much more. The Guinness Book of Record proportion of the sales of his works including “Thrilla” has been chronicled. So has the eleven-tickets-per-second sale of his now aborted farewell concerts at London’s O2 Arena. The circumstances of his death are still been investigated and there are no shortages of hypothesis.

In all of these, however, I have been more concerned for the soul of this wonderful performer. Is Michael Jackson in heaven or hell? We may not know for sure, unfortunately. He was born and raised, at least by their mum, a Jehovah’s Witness, but there were rumours that he converted, like Jermaine, one of his brothers, to Islam last year, and took the name Mikhaeel. Whether that is true or not, reports about his meeting with two Pentecostal pastors, Andraé and Sandra Crouch three weeks before he died give room for hope. Although they have denied that he specifically asked to be led to say the sinner’s prayer, as earlier suggested by Mary Mary on her Facebook page, the following quote from Dave Nassaney, Andraé Crouch's Facebook page administrator, points in the direction of salvation for the one who sought to heal the world with his music and philanthropy.

He wrote: “He wanted to know what makes your hands go up, and makes you ‘come out of yourself' and what gives ‘spirituality' to music. He then requested to hear his favorite song that he loves, and wanted [them] to sing to him, so they sang that song to him, and joined hands and sang together, and he said, ‘It was beautiful.'. Crouch told me Jackson ‘definitely had an encounter' during the visit…He did NOT reject Jesus or the prayer when they prayed, and gladly joined in prayer. Crouch said, ‘He usually doesn't touch anybody, but he touched them, and held their hands in a circle as they sang and prayed. There was NO actual ‘sinner’s prayer,' however, but they did talk and pray about Jesus and the anointing of the Holy Spirit…” Would that this is true.
PIXES: Michael Jackson...As I like to remember him and
Farrah Fawcett...Charlie's Angel in the poster that brought her fame