Shepherd Bushiri - Namibia's Continued Love Affair With The False Prophets

"How long  will you go limping between two different opinions? If the  LORD is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him." 

1 Kings  18:21 - The  true prophet Elijah challenging the false prophets  of Baal 

Last week gullible   Namibians welcomed yet another false prophet, a man called  Shepherd Bushiri, a Malawian into their midst. He follows  a string of many self proclaimed  prophets   who follow the horrible  model   of  American  and African prosperity teachers. 

Here's what one  Namibian newspaper reported ....
http://www.informante.web.na/bushiri%E2%80%99s-shoddy-miracles.17267

Bushiri’s shoddy miracles
Gabby Tjiroze

The gala dinner hosted by self-proclaimed Prophet Shepherd Bushiri, which was supposed to be the event of the century in Windhoek last week apparently melted into a historic flop with social media erupting with calls of sham, deception and robbery.

More than 3 000 people paid N$1 000 each, while others paid amounts up to N$100 000 just to sit close to Bushiri. Attendees of the much-hyped dinner registered their displeasure at the way the organisers handled the event on Thursday, 28 January, at Ramatex complex in Windhoek. “I think the organisers were not serious, they did not put in much effort to ensure the success of the dinner. It was daylight robbery and not worth spending my N$1 000 on.” said a furious devotee.

On Saturday, about 20-thousand followers packed the Sam Nujoma Stadium to capacity, where holy water sold for N$70, anointed oil N$150 as well other memorabilia.

When Informantè tried to get hold of the organisers of the event to seek comments, the cellphone numbers on the advertising posters were all unreachable. After several attempts, a certain Alexia answered and immediately said “I have nothing to answer to,” and hung up the phone.

Bushiri is a Malawian-born self-proclaimed prophet who currently resides in South Arica. He calls himself a filthy-rich multi-millionaire, a business magnate and a miracle performer who has thousands of followers.

He has also been entertaining the media, not for his prophetic powers but for staging prophesies. Last year he challenged his church members that he can capture a photo of a child who was home using an i-Pad in the spirit kingdom in the presence of the father. The video was uploaded on YouTube, but attracted multitude of negative comments branding him as a fake prophet, when his finger was seen tapping several times on the i-Pad.

The self-proclaimed prophet also challenged his followers that he can walk on air in a wacky video displaying him walking down the stairs with both arms stretched out. As he reaches the bottom of the stairs, the camera pans down and he appears to walk on air for a few seconds with only his lower body in frame but then shadows of his two henchmen carrying him on both his arms was clearly visible in the video.

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I am glad that  this Namibian newspaper had the  ability to expose this false shepherd  for who he was ... a self proclaimed prophet . 

All this  begs for serious  analysis  and answers  to  help Namibian Christians  to  make  a right judgement in this matter . 

Here are a number of indicators or marks of a false prophet, from the book of Jeremiah - a true prophet of God :

· They draw their inspiration from pagan sources e.g. Baal worship (2:8)

· They enjoy a great deal of influence and popularity (5:31)

· They are greedy for material gain (6:13)

· They offer misleading assurances of peace (6:14)

· They lack any sense of shame (6:15)

· They deal falsely with people (8:10)

· They end up being punished by God (8:12)

· They prophesy from their own imaginations (14:14)

· They were not sent by God (14:15)

· They were shown wrong by subsequent events (14:16)

· They drove Jeremiah (the true prophet) to tears (14:17)

· They were allied to a corrupt religious leadership (14:18)

· They were a result of widespread spiritual adultery (23:10)

· They were basically ungodly people (23:11)

· They were slippery and manipulative (23:12)

· They were a long-standing problem to true prophets (23:13)

· They told lies which hardened people against repentance (23:14)

· They encouraged widespread ungodliness (23:15)

· They encouraged a casual attitude towards God’s Word (23:17)

· They never had a real calling (23:21)

· They failed to proclaim repentance (23:22)

· They set great store on dreams (23:25) 

· They had nothing in common with true prophets (23:28) 

· They perverted the word of the living God (23:36) 

· They often left a bad reputation behind them (23:40) 

· Their behaviour often caused public controversy (26:7) 

· They persecuted true prophets (26:8) 

· They were closely associated with occultic sorcerers (27:9) 

· They told lies which led to disastrous consequences (27:10) 

· They told people what they wanted to hear (27:16) 

· They brought desolation (27:17) 

· They lacked a deep prayer life (27:18) 

· They counterfeited the work of the true prophets (28:1) 

· They used God’s Name to mislead others (28:2) 

A PLEA TO RETURN TO GOD! 

This message goes out with love and concern for all those who have been hurt by false prophets. You are probably depressed and ashamed that you have been deceived. You may wonder whether God still cares for you. There is hope for you! 

What can you do? 

· Repent from your sin of following man rather than God! 

· Accept the forgiveness that God gives you in Christ! 

· Live a life of humility and dependence upon God. Stop seeking signs and words from men!   Seek the Lord Jesus! 

· Read your Bible. Get to grips with it! Do what it says! 

· Attend a Bible believing and a Bible preaching church. 

· Pray for discernment! Always look to Jesus alone !