I ALMOST DIED AT AGE SIXTEEN FOR PREACHING THE GOSPEL - SAM OYE
The Lead Pastor of the Transforming Church International and the Convener of the Prophetic Prayer Hour (PPH), Rev. Sam Oye, said he didn’t eat for three months but survived taking only fluid while being persecuted at age sixteen (16) in Bauchi State state of Nigeria for preaching the gospel and converting the unsaved to Christianity.
He revealed that this made him sick and bedridden like an HIV/AIDS patient, adding that he was advised to seek medical care in the hospital but he refused and was hell-bent on faith in God for divine healing.
Rev. Sam Oye said this on Sunday 25th June 2023 while delivering his sermon at the Friends and Family Sunday held at the Church Auditorium, end of 7th Avenue, Anwalu Anwar Close, after Lube Gas Station, Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja, titled “THE WONDERS OF FAITH: Daring The Impossible” in the Great Grace with Great Faith Series with the major text from Matthew 14:22-32.
He further narrated his ordeal on the journey of reckless faith as a teenager which led him to take several other steps in faith in Christ Jesus.
“I didn’t eat for three months when I was afflicted in Bauchi State at the age of 16 by people of the other faith because I was letting them get saved. I lived only on fluid until I became very sick and was asked to be taken to the hospital. I became like a skeleton akin to someone living with HIV/AIDS. I refused to be taken to the hospital because I knew the sickness was demonic”.
“I told the members of my fellowship that were praying for me that if I die, they should tell the world I died foolishly believing God and he couldn’t rescue me. I warned them not to tell my mother until I die or come out of the sickness. I got healed by faith. When my mum saw me after I recovered, she cried. That’s what I call reckless faith,” he said.
During the sermon, he said there are two kinds of people, cutting across all creeds, tribes, gender, religion and belief; those driven by fear and those driven by faith.
Explaining the difference between these two sets of people, Rev. Sam Oye said those driven by fear never start, continue or finish anything significant in life and they hardly try again after a bad past, adding that they are always paralysed at the beginning of something and never overcome the inertia to start.
On the other hand, he said those driven by faith hear God, obey God, hold on to God, have reckless abandon to God (they are recklessly abandoned to God), fear nothing, overcome their doubt, and stay through until they break through.
According to him, of all the things God hates, fear is one of the greatest, stating that one cannot please God when one dwells in fear. He said that all kinds of fear must be dealt with; fear of the known, unknown, dark, light, heights, roads, attempts, etc.
Further buttressing his point, he stated, “Among the elders in the land of Israel according to the Bible, ten of them were driven by fear and only two of them were driven by faith. This shows that there may be more church leaders driven by fear than those driven by faith. But the sad part is that God will only use the two driven by faith to get great things done and set aside the ten who are driven by fear.
“I fear being afraid because of the damaging consequence of fear was the response I gave to my son when he asked if I have any fear”.
You could have been more, achieved more, had more, attempted more, and become more if only you have jettisoned fear.
You are too calculative and logical to achieve greatness. If everything is by permutation and combination, then there are many things you wouldn’t do in life.
“I have never seen a wasted generation like the one I grew up with, with so many of my friends with great potential wrecked. The sad part of the fear I’m talking about is excusable and justifiable fear.
The kind of fear that people will listen to you and say you are correct. The one that raises a lot of 'what ifs'.” He said.
He quoted Ecclesiastes 11:4, 'he that considers the wind will not sow', charging the congregation to look closely into their life and identify areas where they should have been more but allowed the damaging effect of fear to limit them.
The lead pastor further said that the damaging effect of fear is that life would bring one face to face with someone doing the exact thing one was afraid to do.
According to him, people begin to see God in action and birth what they carry when they get to the point of absolute faith in God; a point where if God cannot heal or help them, nobody can.
Digging deeper into the topic, Rev. Sam Oye said most accomplished individuals went from several realms of failure to success, adding, “He who sits doing nothing fails at nothing.
Failure is an indicator that you are making progress. It is also an invitation to start all over again intelligently to give attention to the details you didn’t give attention to at first.
The only reason you fail is because you didn’t consider all the variables of success”.
“The mission of fear is to convince you that because you failed before you cannot achieve it again.
Fear is a spirit and the language it speaks is lies. Lie is a spirit and anytime it speaks, it injects fear. Those driven by fear easily quit when the going gets tough, they make wrong decisions in anticipation of unfavourable outcomes”.
“They will betray their friends in a jiffy because they make wrong conclusions based on immediate situations and they always hide their potential when others are exploring. You could have been more, should have been, and must have been more except for fear,” he stated.
Narrating the parable of the talents from the Bible in Mathew 25:14-30, he said fear makes one bury what one should release just like the man with one talent. According to him, fear also makes one hide what should be exposed, makes one back off from platforms one should stand on, and paralyses one's capacity for expression.
Speaking further on faith, he quoted 2 Corinthians 4:13 and defined faith as absolute confidence in the person and faithfulness of God. He reiterated that faith is seeing the invincible, receiving the impossible and what others don’t see.
The TTC lead pastor stated that Christians are saved, live, speak and walk by faith because the Bible clearly said that the "Just shall live by faith".
He added, “By faith, I applied to Petroleum Institute Warri, Delta State Nigeria and got in there without knowing anyone; no connection at all. Only two of us were taken on merit out of the thirteen people to be selected from the South-West zone.
I also got admitted into the University of Ibadan to study Geology by faith.
“You cannot be looking to God and man at the same time. Your only limitation should be that Christ cannot do it”.
“Our church always takes crazy steps to do the impossible. This church was a bush, nobody was here and we came in and as we came in, light came into this place.” He said.
He urged the congregation never to let fear drive them but to allow faith drive them, adding that they need to learn to be nice, ask questions, always speak about their vision, dare to do the impossible, keep their dreams and visions alive and beware of arrogance because it could make them miss so much in life.
“Those driven by Faith will see what others don’t see. If God Says it, God will fund it. When your faith in God is absolute, your lifting will be unimaginable” he stated.
In a similar development, he invited the worshippers to the Prophetic Prayer hour, 5:50 am daily from Monday to Friday, Stating that there will be a live viewing centre in gwarinpa, “Let’s come and pray in faith and with the word of God”
The Transforming Church is a church with a strong commitment to Kingdom values. The Church exist to lead people into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. We are deeply committed to the essential foundations of discipleship, fellowship, ministry, and mission.
TTC is not just another Church, but a Kingdom initiative with a mandate “to make global impact.”
The Transforming Church Communications.
Sunday June 25th 2023.
Rev Sam Oye
The Transforming Church
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