Reverend Chibueze Okezie is the Senior Pastor of Chapel of Answers Int’l, Aba, Abia State Nigeria. Recently, he was at The Father’s House Church, Akute, Ogun State. He spoke with Gbenga Aderanti.
When did you start your ministry?
We started the ministry in 1998. The first year I was instructed by God that it should just be a year of intensive outreach. After that we should start a church in 1999 in Cotonou. After about three or four years, I heard God say: “it is time to go back home.” It was not easy because I was established to an extent in ministry there. So, I had to make my plans and then return. And he was very specific and I had to return to Aba in Abia State.
In the Republic of Benin, they don’t joke with their traditional religion, how did you manage this?
Benin Republic as a whole is known as a voodoo nation but anyhow, however, darkness is, even the slightest light will prevail. We were there and we did the work. The problem with some people when they are sent to a place is that they are not focused on their assignment. When you are focusing on your assignment, there must be a ray of light shining. We had some successes. We had Nigerians come to church and we had some Beninese come to church.
There had been reported cases of rivalries between Nigerian pastors and native pastors; did you experience any of such?
Sincerely speaking, I never had any Beninese pastor or indigenous pastor fight against me. I have a son who is now a pastor there today; he used to be my interpreter. My ministry was welcomed and accepted.
Do you still have a branch church then?
Yes, we do.
What are the challenges you are facing in the ministry?
I will always say that what some other people see as challenges, I see this as a growth process. A child that is born and is growing and trying to walk, will fall, so, you can’t prevent or pray against it. He must experience it if he must walk. I see those things that happened as growth processes of my ministry and the church.
Sometimes you get frustrated when things are not working…
That word is a very serious word; I will sincerely tell you that I never get frustrated. I have this mindset that whatever you see on your way to success is a part of your growth process. I do not see frustration, frustration can’t come in. I cannot be frustrated.
What was the training you had before you started your ministry?
My very mentor from the beginning was Bishop Oyedepo, though, from a distance, because I was not a member of his church. I happened to have been trained under what they call Word Mission Agency that brought WOFBI, Word of Faith Bible Institute, and through the missionary arm called the AGIP, the African Gospel Invasion Programme and God blessed me by giving me a man from there, Pastor Mathew Odewunmi, he vomited ministry to me on a personal note and I’m so appreciative and grateful to him for life.
What is your take on the proliferation of churches?
My take on it is that it depends on the way we see it. I see that everyone does not want to be a Founder or General Overseer; I see that it has to do with a divine commission. If God has commissioned someone or given someone an assignment and asked the person to start or head it, I do not see it as a desire that someone wants to be a General Overseer. We can only say that in terms of people who are not given that mandate to start something, to head something, and they out of ambition, selfishness, and reaction, due to ill-treatment, or mistreatment from where they are decide to go and start something.
The Bible says that whatever is born of God overcomes the world. The acid test that God is in a thing is in the success that is recorded in it. Like Gamaliel said in the book of Acts, he said we should not trouble these men because if it is of God, it will stand and if it is not of God, it will not stand. Those that claim it is God let us just watch them. God has an assignment for everyone according to Jeremiah 1:4,5,6, he said before you were born, I knew you, before you came out of your mother’s womb, I ordained you and sanctified you as a prophet, we cannot stop them.
In a place like the US, in my estimation, the citizens are not as religious as Nigerians, yet the country is prosperous, why do we have lots of churches in Nigeria and we are still where we are?
Well, that is an interesting thing. I just had something like that in church the last two Sundays; I have been running a series on renewing the mind. The reason why in quote sinners or unbelievers or non-Christians are succeeding without prayers is the use of the mind. Nigeria being backward and not prospering like other nations is not about religion that is just the truth that is far from it. It is just about the use of the mind, responsibility, creativity, and accountability, these are the things that make a nation go forward and not religion. You go to some countries some of them are Hindus, while some countries are largely Muslims, and outright pagans and they are succeeding. Success has to do with the use of the mind. We, Christians that preach prosperity, only want to show the people that there is a God factor to it. Even the God factor does not override the use of the mind.
What you are saying in essence is that it is beyond prayers.
It is beyond prayer. Prayer is not enough, like I just told you creativity, accountability, responsibility, and uses of the mind are very important. No amount of how you pray; if you don’t put these things together, you are not going to succeed
Should Christians participate in politics?
Christians should participate in politics to every extent as far as it does not defile their faith. They should because if we keep our fingers crossed and watch other people do, the wicked will rule, and when they rule, the righteous suffer. So, Christians should participate.
The challenge of doctrinal differences is tearing the church apart…
The Bible says no scripture is of private interpretation and that is the problem we are having. 2 Peter 1:20. “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private [ a]interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but [ b]holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Sometimes, we have these interpretations of scriptures that suit our individual persons and not the general, not the right interpretation. Because I don’t like eating eggs, and then I tell everybody don’t eat eggs, it is wrong. When it comes to denominational differences or doctrines or whatever you call them, they are about the error of private interpretation of the scriptures.
I grew up in a church where they condemn women from wearing trousers and using attachments on women’s heads but when I grew up and started reading my bible and I rubbed mind with other people, I discovered that there is an error somewhere. So, it is about the error of the private interpretation. You don’t interpret the scriptures to suit you. You should say it the way it is.
The body of Christ is also confronted with the issue of succession. Most times, when the founder dies, the church is fragmented. What do you think the church should do about this?
The only thing to be put in place is what I was talking about is the use of the mind. As they use the mind in determining who succeeds a leader; they should also give place to the place of the divine. Because I want to sound this very clear, I heard about it when I went to the US, the church does not belong to any man or government. It is even wrong for the government to interfere in church matters. The church is clearly divine. We have to use our minds and give room to divinity. How? Jesus said that I will build my church and the gate of hell shall not prevail against me. The church is not a human being, it is not a carnal thing, it is purely God. So, even as we use our minds to run it, we should truly not with forgery or deceit, truly allow the divine to overrule.
I got so blessed reading about the enthronement or succession of the handover of the RCCG to Papa Adeboye, the man that handed it over to him said God told him. Even if you look at the constitution of the church and everything, he was way far from anyone that would succeed as the founder of the church, but the divine played out and that is why the RCCG today is an iroko.
We should have a constitution because the last thing any church would like to suffer is extinction and that happens by taking over, hand over by the one that God has not ordained for it. That is why during elections, a lot of prayers are made believing God that he should do his will.
Way out of political and economic jams in Nigeria
The way out is to sit down and use our minds. Responsibility, accountability, creativity — that is all.
Do you see Nigeria prospering again?
Why not? Instead of this nation not prospering, God will sink individuals, institutions, cabals, and anyone that will not want this country to move forward. Nigeria does not belong to anyone but God. The Christians, Muslims, atheists, and traditionalists know that God is interested in this country and Nigeria is God’s nation. That is why we all are praying. Let the determinate counsel of God prevail over this nation. If Nigeria suffers any crisis, God will not be happy it will affect this nation, and it will affect a lot of things.
