I have been watching and enjoying Gashumba's bet with pastors. That man is loquacious and an intelligent schmoozer.
If people don't talk, a donkey and stones will talk. If you don't talk about love, Shakespeare and Pushkin will talk, and Miryam listens to the gods of Kifuuta, Kyotera, Buddu.
He has given the pastors enough rope to hang themselves.
Just like the devil in the desert, after 40 days of fasting, asked Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, turn this stone into bread."
Some pastors have decided to keep the devil on the cross. They want to turn stone to bread on camera. But miracles do not happen at the altar of a bet, unless you want to maintain yackety-yaks.
THE DESERT TEST
Jesus was hungry. Body weak. Spirit fire.
Devil: "Turn stone to bread! Prove it!"
Jesus could have turned the desert into a bakery. But He said, "Man shall not live by bread alone."
Because true power never performs for a bet. God is not a circus.
Our pastors forgot. Gashumba said, "Perform for money," and they ran to the pulpit to perform. They left the Gospel and entered the casino.
WHY ABUSE A SINNER AT THE PULPIT?
This is my pain. Why?
A sinner comes to church dirty, broken, looking for mercy. Gashumba is looking for God's mercy, asking the gods of Kifuuta, Kyotera, Buddu to help him reach the pastors by a bet. And you use the pulpit to insult him? To abuse Gashumba, to abuse sinners?
That is not the Gospel.
Jesus ate with sinners. He never abused them from the altar.
If you are a pastor, preach your gospel. Win souls. Get new followers. If you can't disprove Gashumba with truth, don't follow him to the grave with insults. Preach Christ and keep quiet. A Catholic priest or bishop will never fall for this trap.
WE THE CATHOLICS: THE ROSARY WAY
I am Catholic. I know how miracles work.
When I have my issues, I don't shout. I don't bet. I want God to send my gods, my saints, my angels to help me. I take my rosary. Click... click... click...
Hail Mary... Holy Mary...
And things turn positive. Quietly.
I have seen miracles happen in Kifuuta because one prayed and Rev. Fr. Ngobya intervened. You kneel, you whisper, you confess. You get what you want, and you keep quiet. You go home, no TikTok.
That is we, the Catholics and traditionalists.
The Coptic Catholics of Egypt, the real desert fathers, teach the same. St. Anthony in the desert for 30 years. The devil tempted him every day: "Prove you are holy!" Anthony never proved. He prayed. And the desert bloomed with miracles.
In Coptic Catholic Egypt, miracles are real, but they hide:
- A Coptic mother in Assiut prays for 40 days, no food, and her blind son opens his eyes in a small room. No Facebook Live.
- A monk in Wadi Natrun prays for his Muslim neighbor's sick cow, and it lives, and he tells no one.
- The flour of a widow in Luxor does not finish for months during hunger.
No bet. No "Come see!"
Pope Tawadros II of the Copts says: "God is not a magician you hire for a show."
Their rule: A miracle doesn't need an advert.
Gashumba set the trap. The devil set the same trap for Jesus.
Jesus walked away.
Some pastors walked right into it.
Don't test God. "Do not put the Lord your God to the test."
Keep your rosary. Keep your evening. Keep your Bible and its company.
Ndiwulira dance to the tune, I hear, but I remain Catholic.
Let them bet. We pray in Kifuuta, Kyotera, Buddu. Our gods bring the best from God.
