The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement pastor, Lazarus Mouka, has admonished youths to shun fraudulent means of making money, saying that “a thing cries for its owner.”

Mr Muoka, who decried the growing trend of young people being lured into quick-money schemes without considering the consequences, gave the warning during the church’s Tuesday service held at the headquarters in Ijesha, Lagos State.

The annual service, organised to prepare worshippers ahead of the yuletide, focuses on youth reform.

The pastor also urged parents to discourage their children from succumbing to peer pressure that could lead them into illicit money-making activities, stressing that such acts carried grave consequences that hindered the progress of the entire family.

He stated, “This Christmas season, many dubious individuals seek to dispossess others to acquire what is not rightfully theirs, often causing harm and, in many cases, deep anguish to families who fall prey to their schemes. A thing you acquire through defrauding others cries out daily in the spirit realm for its original owner.

“The duration of that spiritual cry determines the extent of suffering the perpetrator — and, by extension, his or her family — endures until restitution is made. Don’t be carried away by material things. The fact that your friends have acquired this or that should not push you into foul means of making money. Flee from such practices, for they lead to destruction. Just because something like yahoo-yahoo’ is trending among peers does not make it right.”

The preacher noted that the tendency of society to admire individuals whose sudden wealth could not be traced to legitimate sources fuelled organised crime.

He said, “For us to sustain humanity, certain redeeming social values must be restored to bring sanity back into society and to promote God’s plan for mankind.’’

(NAN)