Should we say the devil got the better of the leader of the Redeemed Church International Bishop Henry Bwanali when he insulted the Chewa tribe and its gulewamkulu cult, Church of Central African Presbyterian (CCAP), Assemblies of God and Roman Catholic Church, among others with his lousy pulpit sermon the other week? Most likely. Good that he quickly apologised to some of them.
In the audio which went viral on social media, Bishop Bwanali also insulted those that joined the pulpit late after retirement from other professions, castigating them that they were not genuinely called to serve the Lord. He also praised himself as the rightful one having started at the age of 17. Wow! What a litany of atrocities and coming from a Bishop!
Yes, Bwanali did not apologise to all those he riled. One such organisation is the CCAP which has six synods—Blantyre, Nkhoma, Livingstonia, Lusaka and Harare as well as the General Synod. Instead of apologizing to all the CCAP synods, Bwanali only apologised to Nkhoma Synod. I have no doubt in my mind all the others already forgave him in the true spirit of loving one another as neighbours. I for one as a member of the CCAP also did.
But if I hold no grudge against Bishop Bwanali, why am I coming back to what ought to be water under the bridge? It’s because of the new development on the matter as well as that I want to remind the good Bishop about something he ought to know better as a communicator of God’s word.
The new development is that he is said to have accepted to put an icing on his apology to the Chewa Heritage Foundation (Chefo) by paying the organisation a cool three heads of cattle. Wow! What a way to buttress an apology!
I have no idea whether the Bishop volunteered the heads of cattle on his own volition or the Chefo forced him to pay the animals as a fine. If it is the latter, it ends there. But if it is the former, then Bwanali has once again entrapped himself, and put a yoke around his neck that could leave him poorer by the Kwacha value of several more heads of cattle. From Senior Chief Lukwa—Coordinator for Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique—who “commended Bwanali for realizing his mistake and coming open to apologise for his mistake,” we can conclude it is the bishop who offered the heads of cattle. Good that he has learned that the pulpit is not a place for talking nonsense and certainly not a place for settling scores with adversaries.
Bwanali stepped on the feet of several organisations although after the apology the matter ought to have been water under the bridge. But now with what he has just done—offering to pay three heads of cattle to one group—he has just resuscitated an old and dead issue and must now voluntarily go round again to complete the circle. The devil has tossed Bwanali up and down and now wants to finish him up. Remember the works that the devil is most known for: to steal, kill and destroy. After stealing his heart and mind and forcing him to spew out atrocities on other faith organisations, the devil now wants to finish him out by destroying him financially. Wrong things you say especially from the pulpit go far and have a way of coming back to haunt you. May be to teach you a lesson once and for all. I have a gut feeling the devil is not yet done with Bishop Bwanali. Let’s all pray for him. To err is human. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 2:23. And if we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves and truth is not in us. John 1:8. A merry Christmas to you all. Take care.
