Margaret O. Amure - "I Lied"

Margaret O. Amure is a pastor from Benin-City, Nigeria.  She previously came out with a testimony in 2013 that she had died and gone to hell and heaven, and that she had come back with a message from the Lord for mankind. Now on her latest video posted 24 March 2019 she says that she had been sick for six or seven months and almost died after traveling to Israel and Italy, but she did not actually die. She says, "I did not die and go to heaven and hell. I lied," and she has made an apology to the body of Christ. She also states in the video that she has been going around to churches confessing this sin since May 2015.

Here are some excerpts from the video, which you can find on Youtube:

"It was the Word of God that I preached, [but] I was not sent. Satan used me to confuse the program of God for this end time. He used me to corrupt other testimonies. Today, whether good or bad testimonies, nobody believes them [any more]. What I did was very, very wrong. I stand to judge and condemn my actions. I am very, very sorry for what I did. Please forgive me, brethren. When this message comes to you, if you are truly a child of God, just ask God for mercy for me and don't begin to ask me questions...I was a liar. I was a cheat, a fraud."

My preface to my original article, in which I posted her testimony, stated: "Although I have not yet personally spoken to sister Marguerite herself, I made a good faith effort to do so.  I managed to speak briefly with her son, who says that she really did die, and she is a good mother.  I also spoke with a pastor who knows her well, named Dr. Stephen Tepu Aikhoje, whom she acknowledges with gratitude at the end of her video testimony, as one of the people who helped her.  Dr. Aikhoje said that she was the State Director for the Police Chaplaincy, and he sat under her leadership as such, while they were chaplains together.  He went to her home and her church several times to pray with her, as her case was getting worse before she died.  He said, "She is a trustworthy leader, very disciplined, and I know her to be truthful."  In fact, he distributes copies of her testimony on CD.   Therefore, I feel confident in posting this testimony without any reservations."

That was what I wrote originally after attempting to do my due diligence, which in conjunction with the Scriptures seemed to indicate that her testimony was genuine. However, that is no longer my opinion of her testimony. Of course, I retract that statement, although I am quoting it here, so that you can see that I did in fact attempt to validate her testimony. The fact that I never got a call back from her is probably because she knew at that time that she was lying and didn't want to speak with me.

Why Did This Happen?
In her recorded confession, she claimed that she was a sinner at the time she committed this sin, implying that she was not saved yet. In light of what Dr. Aikhoje told me about her at that time in 2013, it is hard for me to believe she was not yet born again, but I suppose it is possible. That is the way she explains what she did by simply saying she was a sinner.

As I have already mentioned, Dr. Aikhoje had said to me that she was the State Director for the Police Chaplaincy, and he had sat under her leadership as such. He said, "She is a trustworthy leader, very disciplined, and I know her to be truthful."  That is not something you say about a sinner, and her ministry is not typical for a sinner. But the Lord knows whether she was already born again at that time or not.

Moreover, only He knows what motivated her to commit this sin. But in my opinion it was similar to what Ananias and Saphira did, as recorded in Acts 5. They saw that Barnabas had sold a piece of property and had given to the apostles the full amount he had received from its sale. They wanted to appear as generous as he was, so they sold a piece of property and then kept part of the proceeds for themselves, but lied to the apostles and the Holy Spirit by pretending to have given the full price they got to the apostles. That is why they were struck dead by the judgment of God.

If you look at what sister Margaret did, to me it seems like it may have had a similar motivation. Perhaps she wanted to appear to have a heaven and hell testimony like so many others, in order to enjoy the benefits that such a testimony affords in terms of popularity, sensationalism, broadening her preaching opportunities, and helping to drive home the message of holiness that she felt was so important for the church to hear. You have to remember that she had been sick for six to seven months and almost did die, so after that experience she was in a weakened state and that may have contributed to her becoming vulnerable to the enemy's temptation to make up this fraudulent story as she did. That is not to justify what she did, but to offer a possible reason why it happened. It is not for me to judge her motives.

The Damage is Done
Nevertheless, here is some of the damage done by sister Margaret's fraudulent testimony, which I trust you will not allow to happen to you:

1. It may cause some people to doubt any testimony they hear about heaven or hell.
2. It may cause some people to doubt the message of holiness.
3. It may cause some people to doubt that godly attire and adornment is pleasing to the Lord, as I have written about in Godly Attire and Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations, Garments of Godliness, Seven Reasons to Believe the Seven Divine Revelations, Is a Woman's Hair Her Head Covering? and Cross Dressing or Carrying Your Cross.

Closing Words
She was a reputable pastor in Africa who lied to the Body of Christ, which is very serious. At least she has now repented and given an apology, so that she can be forgiven. The Lord has been merciful to allow her to live and to forgive her. However, the damage has unfortunately been done. I personally forgive her and apologize to you for posting her testimony which has been on this site for nearly six years now. If someone had informed me sooner that she was confessing that it was a fraud, I would have immediately removed the article as I did today as soon as I discovered that she had lied. This emphasizes the importance of carefully praying about any message you hear and using the Scriptures to discern whether what they have said is truly from the Lord or not.

Author's note:  Sister Amure is not personally connected with this site. Neither is this ministry associated in any way with HOREMOW, which produced the video of her confession in Abuja, Nigeria. For more information on our position, please see Disclaimers.

I also recommend reading Testing the Spirits of False Prophets and Judging Revelations, Visions, and Prophecies. You can access the Eternal Destinations Main Directory, or my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.