The State Of World
Religions And Churches
In The
Presence Of God

By
The Man Who Saw God Face To Face
Raphael Okechukwu Nweze

The purpose of a parable is to reveal and conceal,
at the same time.

Oh pilgrim,
If you must reach the Golden City,
you must be:
As wise as a serpent and as innocent as a dove;
As ready as the mirror and as selfless as the sun.
Above all,
you must be as wise as the bee and as rich as honey.

Parable Of The Kingpins
         In a certain world, there were so many religions and churches. Each claimed to be the best. One day, a wise man became the emperor. He selected all the religious leaders and sent them to the land of the spirits. He told them to go and see God face to face. They were one hundred heads of diverse religions and churches.
         The first group to return was seventy-five people. They came back, crying and hiding their faces. So the king interviewed them.
         “Why are you crying?” He asked.
         “We are crying because we could not find the gate of heaven,” they replied.
         “Then,” said the king, “why do you hide your face?”
         “We hide our faces because we now know that we have been deceiving people.”
         “You suppose to die! All of you!” said the king. “But, because of the mercy of the Most High, I allow you to live. Go and learn the Truth.”
         After seven days, fifteen others returned. Their dresses were torn and worn out. They were like wretched men, each frightened to the marrow.
         “What report do you bring?” asked the king, anxiously.
         “We are like dead men,” they replied. “We found the gate of heaven. The gate was quite open. But, when we wanted to enter, Angels pounced on us, kicking and flogging us. They flogged us out from the gate.” They concluded, weeping and sobbing.
         “Your God have mercy on you,” responded the king. “I would have killed all of you. But, I allow you to live. Go and learn the Truth."
         After another seven days, the last ten people returned. Their faces shone like white light. They had left in different types of religious attires, each made of different colors. But when they came back, all the ten were wearing white flowing garments.
         “Yes, tell me your report,” demanded the king. “What happened?”
         “We found the gate of heaven,” one of them answered. “When we entered it, we met the two Angels. They were tall and huge; each was wearing a white flowing garment.” The king was listening with rapt attention.
         “The two Angels took us to the nursery school in Heaven. First, they gave us bath and changed our dresses to yellow garments. Second, they gave us holy foods to eat and holy wines to drink. Afterwards, they taught us for seven days. At the end, they gave us the white garments we are wearing, and told us to go back and correct all the errors in our world”.
         “Very good,” answered the king. “Well done.” He beamed forth with smile.
         “I set you over my world,” the king ordered, “over governments and dominions, over ministries and departments, and over agencies and nations, to teach, to correct and to show example.”
         “Let your God be with you,” he concluded.

Parable Of Sunrise And Sunset
         The kingdom of the Heaven is like the experience of the sun. The ignorant people say that the sun rises in the east in the morning, and sets in the west in the evening. Yet, the enlightened ones know that the sun neither rises nor sets, but is always present and shining.
         Interpretation: when the Israelites asked Jesus about the coming kingdom, Jesus corrected them by saying that the kingdom is already in their midst and in their heart. Man has only to discover himself and enter the kingdom, which is always present and open. “I have set before thee an open door which no one is able to shut,” says Jesus.

Parable Of A Disappointed Farmer
         A farmer went to his farm to harvest. He was full of expectation. But when he got to the farm, he was very much disappointed. Behold, many of the crops did not germinate. Among those that germinated, many did not grow. Among those that grew, many did not mature. Among those that are mature, many did not bear flower. Among those that flowered, many did not bear fruits. Among those that bore fruits, many of the fruits did not ripe. He got only a few ripe fruits. Patiently, he waited several years. And when he came back, there was no improvement.
         Interpretation: Religions and churches suppose to make people grow in spirit and in truth. Instead of doing this, they keep people stagnant by first making them ordinary members.

Parables Of The Misguided Travelers
         A man was traveling to a Golden City on a Mountain Top. He did not know the way. Unfortunately, he met an ignorant hypocrite, who pretended to know the way. He asked of the way. The hypocrite gladly gave him a direction, “When you get to that place,” said the imposter, “take the other way. Then, stop somewhere….. Turn right … then left… and move straight.”
         The traveler followed the direction and found himself inside a dark forest. When he could not wander any longer, he bent down in silent prayer. It was then that lightening flashed, and he found his way and got to his destination. Others, who were not wise enough, remained in the wilderness wandering about.
         Interpretation: many of the ministers of God are proud of their exalted positions. They feel like a king, because of the spiritual talents which God has given them. But alas! - God has found them, but they have not found God.
         They do not know the Truth. That is why they do not encourage their members to seek and know the Truth. Therefore, their members do not grow in spirit and in truth. Only very few who are earnest enough find their way to the city.
         Why not find your way to God. Your eternal life (Salvation or Doom) is not something to be entrusted into the hands of ignorant religious leaders. Indeed, many are ready and willing to enter the kingdom, but are still backing the gate, out of ignorance. The ministers they trust do not even know the way or how to enter.

The Parable Of The Lazy Labourers
         The kingdom of heaven is like lazy labourers who went were sent to farm. They were expected to acquire and develop more lands. When they got to the farm, each made a comfortable space. Next, he went round the fruitful trees and collected juicy fruits. Then, they settled down, each in his own comfortable space, eating and enjoying themselves.
         Interpretation:such is the state of many churches. Many are ignorant of the Truth and are complacent (falsely satisfied), without knowing it.

The Parable Of The Ten Foolish Men
         The kingdom of heaven is like ten foolish men in search of treasure. They found unrefined gold and said, “This is ugly. It must be useless.” So, they threw it away.
         Next, they found silver and said, “What is this? It must be slippery.” Again, they cast it into the gutters.
         When they found a refuse dump of empty cartons and packets, they said, “Here are beautiful packets and cartons. They must be very precious.” Therefore, they made great loads of the containers, and each carried his own load on his head. At home, they settled down to celebrate with great joy.
         Interpretation:Indeed, God is like a university, only those who learn from different good lecturers become the best students. You were asked to seek and find the Truth. Not just to believe.

Where Is The Honey Inside The Honeycomb?
         Imagine! A farmer went to his honeycomb to collect honey. He took a mighty vessel with him, expecting abundant harvest. He was happy to see so many bees swarming about the honeycomb. But when he looked into the comb, it was indeed empty. So he asked, “Where is the honey?” The bees did not answer him. Instead, they were busy making so much noise and swarming about.
         Interpretation: most religious teaching and sermons lack spiritual contents. They do not give the divine juice that enriches, empowers, nourishes and unfolds the God in man.
         Everything grows by feeding. Likewise, the spirit grows by feeding on spiritual food. The food is knowledge of God, experience of God, teachings about God and working for God. What they feed the congregation everybody is like stagnant pool that leads the sailor to no where.

The Seven Disappointments
         The seven disappointments are the seven parables that show the position of the today’s churches in the presence of God in Heaven. Most of the churches, their teachings and practices are like:
  1. Pouring sand into a basin of delicious food.
  2. Very important teachings which have been turned upside down.
  3. A multitude that moved from light into darkness, and do not know again how to come out of the darkness.
  4. Ripe fruits that are beautiful to the eyes, but bitter and stinging to taste.
  5. Traders who took fake products to the market to sell. At the market, they found the original products, but would not throw away the fake products and buy the good ones.
  6. Pupils, who are still learning ABC, when they suppose to have become university professors.
  7. An ignorant teacher, who is busy feeding children with falsehood.
Parable Of Misleading Servants
         The kingdom of heaven is like a master who assigned duties to his servants. But the servants conspired against their master. They appointed one of themselves a chief. When a person came to them saying, “I want to see your master.” They told the person, “There is no such a master here. Come and see the only chief we have.” And so, they led the person away from their master, to the boys’ quarters.
         Interpretation: Unknown to the world, religious leaders fabricate and teach man-made doctrines in place of God's commnadments.

The Parable Of The Travelers
         The kingdom of heaven is like the parable of the travelers, who went on a very long journey. On the road, many were standing still, each facing in whichever direction he thinks is the best. Many moved in the wrong directions, while few moved in the right direction. Some were backing the destination, moving further away from it. Some were on the road, facing and moving into the bushes, while others were scattered inside the bush, looking for the road. Only very few reached the gate and were just about to enter in. Blessed indeed is he who has reached the gate and is ready to enter in. Whoever that has no time for selfless service, for rest, for quiet times and for meditation has not reached the gate.

When Shall There Be Improvement?
         Better conditions of life shall become manifest when: Why Does God Allow Things To Get So Bad Before Sending Warning Notice?
  1. God does not wait for things to get worse before sending warning notices.
  2. In fact, God sends warning (even several warnings) before time.
  3. It is humanity that fail to listen and obey the warnings from God.
  4. Scientists have proved that before a natural disaster takes place, the animal usually know and escape from the environment. But people remain behind and are caught in the danger.
  5. God sends messengers, from time to time, to inform and correct the churches. But organized church hierarchy will not allow reformations to be made. They threaten or excommunicate the reformers, regarding them as outcasts, unfaithful, evil, etc.
  6. You will be surprised to know that God has sent numerous books to this world, which books explain about Himself, life and universe. You will be surprised, and indeed disappointed, to know that some church leaders hide the books from the public. It is hard to see church leaders who encourage people to read spiritual books, not written by them or their church members.
  7. Equally disappointing is the fact that people are not ready to read about God and life. They are always ready to give you Uncountable Reasons on why those books should not be read. Spiritual Indolence (laziness, stagnation and complacence), that is what people prefer to a serious search for the Truth.
Upside Down - What Is This World Like?
         I looked up to the sky. There was a forest on the sky, but the trees were rather upside down. Also, I saw a water tanker flying upside down in the air.
         Interpretation: The life we live on earth is not the true life. It is the fake life, an illusion, in which things are done out of ignorance, and all things are subject to the cycle of birth, decay, disease and death. The false life is the opposite, a mirror image, of the true life.
         The true life is life in spirit. It is devoid of birth, decay, disease and death. It is full of peace, love, joyfulness and gladness of heart, and abundance of good things of life. It is life based on knowledge (Truth). That is why Jesus said, “It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is of no avail: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63 He who finds this life, finds all good things and eternal life.