Good morning, beloved. Today, we touch a tender, often buried wound—the betrayal many have experienced at the hands of those who claimed to represent God. Some of us trusted them with our hearts, our pain, and our purpose, only to be left spiritually bruised and disillusioned. It is time we speak honestly.
Not All That Glitters Is Godly
The idea that Satan plants agents in churches—men and women dressed in robes and uniforms, holding titles like bishop, prophet, and minister—is deeply unsettling, but it explains the evil we sometimes witness cloaked in holy garb. The trauma inflicted by these imposters cuts deep, especially because the harm is done in the name of God.
Let us be clear: a title does not make one holy. A robe does not sanctify. We are all called to pursue holiness and to work out our salvation with reverence and discernment.
Test the Spirits: A Divine Command
As written in 1 John 4, we must test every spirit to determine whether a servant is led by the Holy Spirit or by something else entirely. The tools are simple but sacred—daily study of the Bible, intentional prayer, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
After each sermon, revisit the scripture preached. Use cross-references, study notes, and prayer to seek deeper understanding. Don’t be swayed by emotional manipulation or out-of-context verses. Even Satan used scripture to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. That same tactic is used today in pulpits around the world.
Faith for Sale?
Beware the wide gate of spiritual entertainment and empty motivation. If the Word never convicts you of sin or leads you toward repentance, be cautious. Some churches shy away from preaching against pride and greed because they rely on the wealthy for offerings. Others demand “seed sowing” in exchange for miracles—yet Jesus never charged the poor or the rich for healing.
Let us remember: the Holy Spirit is not for sale.
Misplaced Worship
There will come a day when some will cry, “But I gave money to the church,” only to find themselves outside the gates of heaven. Why? Because they worshipped pastors and buildings—not God. Let us not be deceived into idolatry disguised as devotion.
As 1 Timothy 5:8 reminds us: “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Many churches would rather you ignore this truth while you give your last cent.
African Spirituality and the War on Identity
A more insidious deception lies in the demonisation of African spirituality. Many Christians have been taught that their culture is evil, leading to emotional, spiritual, and even financial oppression. But few who denounce ancestral practices have ever brewed traditional beer, performed libations, or participated in rituals with understanding. They speak from ignorance.
Yes, some have been harmed by dark practices and must walk the Christian path for their safety and sanity. But others receive instruction from ancestors—through dreams, visions, or seers—to walk with God while honouring their heritage. It’s not one-size-fits-all.
Even Deuteronomy 18:10, often quoted against traditional practices, must be understood in context: it was a specific instruction to exiled Jews in Babylon. Much of African spirituality, with its rituals and sacrifices, aligns more closely with the Mosaic law than we are led to believe.
Grace, Culture, and Spiritual Warfare
Jesus did not abolish the law; He fulfilled it. The Holy Spirit came to intercede, comfort, and empower us. Living under grace doesn’t mean we must abandon our culture. What matters is this: Do our practices honour universal spiritual law? Do they harm others?
Those chosen as seers and indigenous healers must still pray, fast, and wage war in the spirit. Rituals alone are not enough—we must align with both our ancestral calling and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Final Word
This is a call to discernment. A call to deepen your study, guard your spirit, and walk boldly in both faith and truth. There is no room for spiritual laziness in a world where deception dresses itself in holiness.
Let the Spirit lead you. Let the Word ground you. And let your heritage be a bridge to your destiny, not a barrier.
They say “Tell us about yourself.” Then ask “Who is Noma?” At first I think, ‘I hate that question.” Instead I smile and take a deep breath I pause. Then I ask myself, ‘Who are these people?’ ‘What do they want to know?’ Then most importantly ‘Why?’
It’s a job interview A standard question They want to know what makes me unique Why the job suits me Why I think I’m suited to the job It’s a trick question Too much information will put them off Too little won’t tell them what they really need to know
‘Is she the right candidate?’ ‘Does she have what it takes’ ‘What makes her different?’ ‘What makes her special?’ ‘Can she do this job better than the others?’ ‘How can we be sure hiring HER isn’t a mistake?’ A million versions of the same question ‘Could she the one?’
Maybe I am Maybe I’m not I could make this work Or die trying. I carefully think the question through Making sure I properly package my answer?
The safe is to start by saying what to my role is In the lives of the people closest to me. A wife, a mother, the eldest daughter. I tell them what I like, what I’m great at How I’m conscientious and disciplined, Yet creative and wildly original. But what I’m really trying to say is I am the one you need, The one you’ve been waiting for.
I attended the recently introduced African Contemporary Service at Northrand Methodist Church today. With hymns and choruses sung in IsiXhosa and SeSotho, there’s nothing like worship in African languages. We worshippers are never at a loss, as long as there is music and the Wesleyan Methodist Church is one of the most musical of congregations.
The sermon was an amazing God moment for me, having recently assumed a more senior leadership position. Titled the Marks of a Christian Leader, it was to celebrate the induction into leadership of oMama bo Manyano, the Women’s Fellowship. The ladies were resplendent in their red, white and black uniforms, taking the oath of office to serve in the Executive Committee. Rev. Mntambo was in his element, effortlessly switching from IsiXhosa, to IsiZulu then SeSotho and mixing it with English. He exhorted the ladies to lead like Jesus Christ.
Marks of a Christian Leader
Firstly a leader must build a team, a group of people working together for a common purpose. A leader takes responsibility for every member of the team. After calling the disciples, Jesus was committed to their welfare. In John 17, he prayed for them. You must pray for your team members if you are a Christian leader.
It’s easy to lead with your title, if you have the position and authority. However, it’s not easy to lead by character. People will obey a title but they will follow a character. A leader should be loving, humble, kind and gracious for people to follow. When you lead by title, people will do the work when you are there and stop when you are not there. When people don’t follow you, they speak ill of you when you aren’t there. Lead by character not by title.
When the team members are expected to give 100%, a leader gives 110%. A leader must inspire their followers. The word inspiration comes from the same root word as that of spirit. As a leader you must breathe into people, your life, your character and influence. A leader is one who can show the way to others. If you don’t know the way, find the way. Depend on Jesus, He knows the way, because He is the way, the truth and the life. One shows the way he or she has walked. If it’s uncharted territory, he or she must move forward into the unknown with confidence. Focus on God who has called you and not the situation or other distractions in the environment.
Leadership and Perfection
Leaders are not perfect. Take the example of David, King of Israel who committed adultery, then plotted to have the woman’s husband killed. However God did not remove him from leadership. Paul, a sinner and a zealot who persecuted and arrested Christians was called by God, and became the greatest apostle. Peter, his life was a comedy of errors, saying and doing what was inappropriate all the time. On the mountain when Jesus was praying, he wanted to stay in the glory of God and suggested building 3 shelters, one for Jesus, another for Moses and another for Elijah. When you experience the glory of God, you need to take the glory with you to the valley, to the sick, the lonely, to those that need his love. Don’t keep it for yourself.
What does God require of a Christian Leader?
Firstly, true spirituality. Be filled & controlled by the Holy Spirit. If Jesus depended on the Holy Spirit, who are you not to be? To fill your life with the Holy Spirit you must look upwards like a nestling waiting to be fed. Pray for the Lord to fill you with the Holy Spirit so you may live and lead. Secondly, be humble. Leaders must serve. The greatest shall be the least. God will elevate you. When God calls you to lead, no one can stop you.
What are the Marks of a False Leader?
A false leader joins a group for personal gain. He or she seeks a position for himself or herself. A false leader wants to occupy all positions and doesn’t want anyone else at the top. He or she uses other people as stepping stones to take him or herself to the top. Such leaders causes conflict within the team, and are constantly finding fault with other people.
A True Leader
A true leader led by the Spirit knows how others are feeling. He or she communicates with the people. They do not let problems simmer. If you see a problem deal with it kindly & graciously. A true leader asks what is wrong, not who is wrong. When you blame people for mistakes, your organisation does not grow. True leaders serve, like Jesus, who washed his disciples’ feet. He does not expect to be served. Lead by character and not title so people can follow you.
Scripture Reading Matthew 23:1-12
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others. “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Jesus talks about the Pharisees and their strict observance of religion. How did they became this way. To understand them better, we need to go back in time.
The Jews were a people set apart with to their belief in one God and their observance of the law. God gave Moses the Law, who gave it to Joshua, who gave it to the elders, the elders gave it to the prophets and it was passed down by the priests to pthe Pharisees who gave it to the people. Therefore they stood in the place of Moses as teachers of the law.
The law was first written in the time of David and Solomon from about 1000 BC. The 10 tribes broke away from the northern kingdom of Samaria during the time of King Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. Only tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained in the Southern Kingdom. The Northern kingdom was invaded by Assyria, (Sargon and Sennacherib) and the people carried off into exile in 740 BC. The Southern kingdom was invaded by the Babylonianians in 604 -586 BC. After this, the priests studied and reinterpreted the law of Moses in the light of the disaster and wrote the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus, to ensure that people kept the law of the Lord, so that this disaster may never come upon them. There was the return from Exile in 450BC and the dedication of the Law to ensure that people understood and kept the law.
The Pharisees took the Study of the law to a whole new level, particularly after, when Antiochus Epiphanes tried to destroy the Jewish religion in 175BC by introducing the Greek religion. He introduced the sacrifice of pigs and set up an idol of Zeus in the temple. This was what was called the abomination that causes desolation.
In response to this, the Pharisees emphasized keeping themselves separate and wrote down and obeyed the letter of the law in order to preserve it. That is how they became purists, regarding the law.
Main Body
William Barclay writes this of the Pharisees: ‘The Pharisees then were two things. First, they were dedicated legalists; religion to them was the observance of every detail of the Law. But second–and this is never to be forgotten–they were men in desperate earnest about their religion, for no one would have accepted the impossibly demanding task of living a life like that unless he had been in the most deadly earnest. They could, therefore, develop at one and the same time all the faults of legalism and all the virtues of complete self-dedication. A Pharisee might either be a desiccated or arrogant legalist, or a man of burning devotion to God.’ http://www.studylight.com
According to William Barclay, The Talmud described seven kinds of Pharisees:
There was the Shoulder Pharisee. He was meticulous in his observance of the Law; but he wore his good deeds upon his shoulder. He was out for a reputation for purity and goodness. True, he obeyed the Law, but he did so in order to be seen of men.
There was the Wait-a-little Pharisee. He was the Pharisee who could always produce an entirely valid excuse for putting off a good deed. He professed the creed of the strictest Pharisees but he could always find an excuse for allowing practice to lag behind. He spoke, but he did not do.
There was the Bruised or Bleeding Pharisee. The Talmud speaks of the plague of self-afflicting Pharisees. These Pharisees received their name for this reason. Women had a very low status in Palestine. No really strict orthodox teacher would be seen talking to a woman in public, even if that woman was his own wife or sister. These Pharisees went even further; they would not even allow themselves to look at a woman on the street. In order to avoid doing so they would shut their eyes, and so bump into walls and buildings and obstructions. They thus bruised and wounded themselves, and their wounds and bruises gained them a special reputation for exceeding piety.
There was the Pharisee who was variously described as the Pestle and Mortar Pharisee, or the Hump-backed Pharisee, or the Tumbling Pharisee. Such men walked in such ostentatious humility that they were bent like a pestle in a mortar or like a hunch-back. They were so humble that they would not even lift their feet from the ground and so tripped over every obstruction they met. Their humility was a self-advertising ostentation.
There was the Ever-reckoning or Compounding Pharisee. This kind of Pharisee was for ever reckoning up his good deeds; he was for ever striking a balance sheet between himself and God, and he believed that every good deed he did put God a little further in his debt. To him religion was always to be reckoned in terms of a profit and loss account.
There was the Timid or Fearing Pharisee. He was always in dread of divine punishment. He was, therefore, always cleansing the outside of the cup and the platter, so that he might seem to be good. He saw religion in terms of judgment and life in terms of a terror-stricken evasion of this judgment.
Finally, there was the God-fearing Pharisee; he was the Pharisee who really and truly loved God and who found his delight in obedience to the Law of God, however difficult that it might be. Of the seven, six were all about the show, only one truly delighted in God’s law and in obedience.
Leadership is a form of service. The purpose of a leader is to provide a vision, guidance, direction, to motivate and encourage people to do great things and be great.
The Pharisees were leaders in Israel. They played a every important role, to bring people closer to God, through teaching them to obey the law as an act of love for God. They failed, because their leadership was self-serving. Matthew 15:8-9 says, ‘these people honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ Jesus condemned them, because their obedience to the law was not out of love for God, for the most part.
Jesus deplores the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The word hypocrite comes from a Greek word: hupocrites which means to wear a mask and play a role. It was all an act, all for show. So he says do as they say, i.e. Obey the law, but, not as they do, i.e. to make a great show of their obedience. Jesus encourages the disciples to be humble and serve each other. He illustrates this by washing their feet. He led by example, and performed miracles and taught the word out of love for God, not to be seen by men. He continued in his service unto death, even when his disciples had abandoned him. He was genuine, not playing a role.
There is a lot of talk about leadership these days. But there is a growing recognition of effective leadership as being a role that serves a purpose. If we bring it back to our country, we lack leadership in business and in politics and even in some churches, because the actions of the leadership are self -serving. We have leaders who:
o Want to be rich and live lavishly at all costs
o Are prepared to subvert justice and bend the law in pursuit of power and wealth to keep their ill-gotten gains,
o Persecute those who speak out against them
o Love the limelight, always posting on social media
o They spout ideology, anti-crime, anti-corruption, etc. Lots of talk, no action, so they do not practice what they preach.
King Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the Sun. Even in Old Testament times, priests were expected to serve God and their to lead the people. The Lord killed both of Eli’s sons Hophni and Phineas because they abused their positions as priests. When Eli died, he was replaced by Samuel. Samuel was tireless in his service.
What God desires is obedience, not sacrifice (1 Samuel 15.22) and service to others out of love. Do nothing out of selfish ambition. Consider others better than yourself (Philippians 2.3)
Conclusion
True leadership is an act of service, to God and to Men. If you are in a position of leadership, ask yourself whom are you serving?
If you want people to follow you, you must serve them, Jesus does so much for people. As a result huge crowds followed him. How does your leadership serve the purpose of God. How does it serve those whom you lead? I encourage all of us to model our leadership according to the pattern of Jesus Christ and to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us . Let us pray for all our leaders to be authentic and humble, to have a sevant’s heart and a teachable spirit, subject to the authority of God. Only then can we live in peace and prosperity in harmony with God and with each other.
I attended the recently introduced African Contemporary Service at Northrand Methodist Church today. With hymns and choruses sung in IsiXhosa and SeSotho, there’s nothing like worship in African languages. We worshippers are never at a loss, as long as there is music and the Wesleyan Methodist Church is one of the most musical of congregations.
PrincessPearlManzini 
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