Test all the spirit - Prophet Cleo

JOHANNESBURG - A Johannesburg-based cleric has urged Christians to "test the spirit and works" of church leaders, in the advent of controversial Pentecostalism that has afflicted a number of African countries.

Pentecostal churches - especially new ones have come under public, state and media scrutiny lately, following some controversial acts administered by their leaders, ostensibly to heal congregants. As an example of things going pear-shaped in the church, South Africa has seen certain church leaders engage in activities that include driving over down-lying congregants and spraying toxic substances on the faces of congregants. Some have forced their church members to eat snakes and grass and drink petrol.

Apparently quoting from 1 John 4:1, which reads, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world," 32-year-old Prophet Cleo Gabriel said it was easy to tell if a church leader was acting on God's spirit or not.

"I cannot stand here and proclaim that so and so is using what or what spirit, but the bible itself gives us advice that we should test each spirit and see if it is from God," said Prophet Cleo of the Spirit Tabernacle Ministries.

"It does not end there, the way a church minister conducts themselves, how they treat their families and their congregation can also go a long way in showing who they really are. A pastor must be married and treat his family well, respect his congregation and walk the path of righteousness all the time - be they in or out of church.

"The biggest problem we seem to have now is that of the commercialisation of the word of God and that has seen even those not worthy to lead founding churches just for financial gain. To them it is a business and anything that brings in more money goes – including courting controversy."

Prophet Cleo, whose church has branches in Yeoville, Brixton, Free State, Ventersdoop in addition to the main church in Faraday, said far from making easy money, ministering in the church should be accompanied by charity work.

His own church already has a Charity Department whose core activities include gathering and distributing basics like clothing, blankets and food for donation to the poorest of church members, widows, orphans and the homeless at least once every month and during bad weather seasons.

"Church ministry should come as a calling from God, not a personal desire. Ours, for example, is a prophetic church and everything we do there comes as a directive from God, not man. We have business emancipation services on Fridays, which we call the Ambassador Service, where we empower businesspeople with both prayers and advice on how to conduct themselves and their businesses without deviating from the word of God.

"We also have a youth session where we give advice to the young on the importance of school, good behaviour and how those can be married with the word of God. We also have a session where we strengthen marriages by praying for couples and giving them Godly advice on how to remain happy in their unions. We also conduct wedding ceremonies and do marriage counselling for our congregants. We have prophetic clinics as well, where we heal both the body and the spirit because most of the problems afflicting the people come as a result of evil spirits. All our sessions are meant to marry our social and earthly life with the word of God. A happy person, a guided youth, a happy couple and a successful yet-guided business person will always worship God better than a mentally distraught person."

Prophet Cleo Gabriel can be contacted on Facebook under same name, or on mobile numbers: +27 78 510 3283 or Mrs Cleo on +27 077 5152.