Testimony 3: From C & S to Gospel Churches, now back to C & S by Rev. (Dr) Oladayo Bolarinwa

About C & S Church

THE Cherubim and Seraphim Church is solidly an evangelical Church. God's servant Saint Moses Orimo-lade Tunolase established it in the year 1925. The foundation of C&S Church was set on authority of the Scripture. It is committed to global mission and soul evangelism in conversion of people to the Lord Jesus.

The Church came into existence during the period when darkness covered Nigeria , when all the existing churches then were in spiritual slumber.

C&S churches were then operating Church planting, caring ministry, preaching salvation, and deliverance work with water and undiluted anointing oil. The Hymnal of Cherubim and Seraphim Church contains 80% evange-lical songs, 5% thanksgiving songs, 5% deliverance songs, 5% Holy Spirit descendant songs and 5% cere-monial songs. They are all spiritually composed for different occasions.

C&S Church operated at the fullest of its calling till disputes separated them into numerous organs. Since then, things have changed; different doctrines emerged as they are seen today.

Before writing about my activities in my previous life in the fold, I would like to comment on the main area of mischief that gives the Church of God a stain.

The name Cherubim and Seraphim is Biblical and they are very significant names having their origin in God. They were first sent to guard the Garden of Eden and to prevent rebellious people from entering the Garden. Genesis 3:24 . They are holy and special angels of God. Isaiah 6:1-3. Millions of them are worshipping before God day and night and that is the spirit of their earthly church. Revelation 4 . We believe so much in salvation, deliverance and healing ministry through praise and worship songs. Psalm 149 . It is not the name given to the Church that gives the dent or stain but the activities of members in the fold.

till eternity. If the candle dies, the church would die away in the storm of life; if the candle continues glowing under that turbulent condition, the church would remain till the end of the world. The church has since then been growing and waxing stronger despite so many tribulations encountered by it.

After a while, people that came form different cultures, customs, and traditions incorporated their doctrines especially when schisms developed in the mother church. They brought false doctrines like the use of varieties of candles especially by the so-called prophets that are in one way or the other searching for a means of survival. I would write a bit about this when showing my previous life style in the fold.

The use of candles is mainly for altar service as it is written in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 4. The use of water and anointing oil is normal, but all others are heresies that are incorporated into the fold and should be abolished.

My Salvation Experience

I was born into a Christian family in Modakeke on June 2, 1969. My father is a member of Christ Apostolic Church and there I commenced serving God.God called me to the C&S Church in 1984. I was at an early age enrolled in ministerial services through my spiritual gift. I served at the fullest capacity in the office of anointed prophet. Several times I went into trance, the least of my days in trance was twenty one (21).

I practised prophetism with occultism for ten (10) years but in 1994, I joined Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship and there, I gave my life to Jesus Christ.

After my new life in Christ, I joined Fountain of Grace Chapel, Agbala Itura, Ibadan in 1995. I left the Church for the New Covenant Church in 1997 and remained there till 2002. I served in many churches as an evangelist, pastor and teacher.

In November 2002, I returned to C&S Movement (one of the major segments of the Church) at God's command, to spread the gospel. Some of the steps I took to train the leaders and the prophets within C&S and to wage war against immoral acts in the Church are the inauguration of a Seminary called School of the Prophets , and public-cation of a magazine titled: Voice of the Prophets. All these were undertaken to train Christ–like people.

Observation

Observation shows that hundreds of converts are now emanating from the C & S fold; some are prophets; others are teachers, apostles, and evangelists. We are presently doing all our possible best to put all denomi-nations of the C&S Church world–wide together to fight against jungle doctrines and heresies at large and to bring the entire fold to Christ.

It is our fervent prayer that God will divinely establish his kingdom in his church and bring us to perfection in Jesus Christ.

Evils of Astral Projection

Astral Projection (or Astral Travelling) is a thought to inhabit heavenly bodies, to perform supernaturally; it could be for good or for evil.

Astral projection is paramount to the members of occultic kingdom. It is one of the major exercises in their kingdom. Astral projection has to do with soul travelling but before going further, I would like to write a little about the occultic kingdom based on membership only to bring out the purpose of this discourse.

Occult means hidden or any secret activities that are not all open to humanity except to their members of high clef (rank).

There are two types of membership in the occultic kingdom namely:

Direct membership. This has to do with those who are directly initiated into occultic kingdom probably through witchcraft, wizardry, religious sects and many other ways. It has a bond, laws and precautions. The fellow would have to pass through major screening and be put on probation before becoming a full member of the kingdom. In time, he may rise to full status position (High rank).

Indirect membership. Many pastors, prophets, apostles, teachers and evangelists are initiated into occultic groups without formal invitation or appli-cation. Anyone who engages in occult practices can become a member in this way.

Indirect membership is paramount in the C&S Church which believes in the use of ritualistic prayer called Eto Adura. This ritualistic prayer has been the major source of ridiculing the status of the Aladura churches. The dislike that other churches have for the Aladuras is not of their white garment, or the mode of their worship or the name given to the church of God , but of ritualistic prayers that prove more occultic than godly. Presently, New Gospel ministers in the fold are at the battlefront against this stigma.

The scriptures go against occultic works and astral travelling. The Bible says: by their fruits ye shall know them . Matthew 7:16. Anybody who practises occultic exercises has his or her name written in the ocultic kingdom, for we are servants of whom we obey . Some have their names connected to the occultic kingdom without their prior knowledge. Having engaged in occultic exercise, they are constantly monitored and used in high places in the spiritual realm, even without their consent. Many people have because of power, joined the occultic kingdom without knowing. They could perform signs and wonders and manifest varieties of gifts at will, believing it is God's doing whereas it is Satan that is at work.

Signs to Prove Indirect Initiation

There are many signs that indicate indirect initiation into the occultic kingdom. Below are some of them.

Involvement in occultic practices. This includes usage of candles, conjuration of angels, incantations

etc. Those who practise such are known to be occult students. Majority of the ministers of God are found in such demonic groups today.

Spiritual Meetings in High Places. People who have in one way or the other been initiated into the occultic kingdom usually find themselves in numerous spiritual meetings in high places in the heavens or in the world. It could be with well-known people of higher calibre of this world or atimes unknown people of other regions. The roles played will determine the person's current position in the kingdom.

Astral Travel or Soul Projection at will. Such peo-ple could astral travel to anywhere at will to visit high places of this world at a glance. It could be in the hydrosphere, biosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere regions for shopping, research and power.

Lying Signs and Wonders. They could say some-thing which comes to pass instantly with the speed of light.

Mysterious Behaviors. They at times behave mysteriously, proclaiming themselves to be what they are not, causing fear within their neighborhood, imposition of themselves on others. They are self-confident, fearless and profess godship.

Astral projection or soul travel is demonic and has many implications; its evils are numerous. Astral travel teachers will never teach their students the evils attached to it, but those who have done it before and quit will confess their experiences of soul travel. As an experienced person in this demonic exercise, I advise those who are still in it to desist and give the Holy Spirit a chance.

The Bible states in Deuteronomy 29:29 that:

The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law .

Instead of forcing nature in astral travelling form for secret things, or research into the spiritual world for power, why couldn't we depend on Jesus Christ who has all power in His custody? It is a punishable offence in the sight of God to force nature in any form.

I would relate my personal experience about astral journey in which I engaged on white occultic art for more than ten years, researching into water for spiritual information. Through learning, I encountered many books on occultism and soul travel. I had spiritual teachers and mentors; they would be assigned to us through some spiritual assignment.

As a curious student, I loved passing through physical teachers who had gone far and wide in occultic knowledge. I had more than 30 books on occultic, sacred, and magical arts. I also attended numerous occultic meetings in the physical and spiritual realms.

Astral Projection and Trance Travelling based on C&S belief

Trance travelling is Biblical if it is in line with God. From Genesis to Revelation, trance travelling is well known and acceptable. Examples are: Adam, Noah, Enouch, Noah, Abraham, and Jacob, to mention just a few.

Trance travelling is more popular within the prophets of Aladuras . They are specialists in this field, but that does not mean that there are no fake ones. Presently, trance travelling is 99% deceit in Aladura churches that are believed to be gifted in the field. They are presently using trance as a method of fund-raising for egoistic purposes rather than for spiritual blessings for their congregations.

Trance means sleep-like state without response to stimuli; half-conscious state, a state of ecstasy, rapture or a hypnotic state. During this period, prophets and gifted people receive sacred and mysterious information from God. However, there are counterfeit ones where messages are received from Satan and his angels of darkness.

Astral travelling is well known to the people of high places in the occultic world either for good or for evil (Ephesians 6:10ff) e.g. witches and wizards. It has to do with inhabiting of heavenly bodies for evil or good.

The common thing in the two is possession of the heavenly bodies for evil or good. But that does not make them the same.

There are similarities and dissimilarities between the two. Below are some of them.

Similarities

•  A means of receiving sacred information from above e.g. it could be from God or Satan.

•  They are fact – finders from God or the devil.

•  They depend on possession of heavenly bodies for good or bad.

•  They have to do with the spiritual ream.

Dissimilarities

The evil of astral travelling has to do with life; astral teachers will never reveal this to their students. I will give two illustrations of the dangers that I personally encountered during astral journeys into the spiritual world.

In the year 1998, I went on astral travel. The journey was made to visit the seventh planet for research work in spiritual activities. At a certain level after the spiritual exercise was over, I found it difficult to come back to the physical world. Through pleading, I was given a spiritual light in which I could descend to the nearby planet for help. I was led to where my physical body was dropped but I could not enter. After many trials, I had an opportunity to re-enter my physical body without which I would have died.

The first evil in the above lesson is the possibility of losing one's life, especially, if one encounters wicked spirits in high places e.g. astral police, astral vampires and witches. They could arrest and put their victim in life jail in a spiritual prison.

state, I had severe neck injuries. It took me many weeks before I could recover.

The evil in the second illustration is a chance of developing psychiatric problems. Astral journey involves brain disorder, brain stress, brain tumour, brain depre-ssion and many other injurious effects.