Category: Worship

Following the rising security challenges in Nigeria, Primate of the African Church, Bishop Julius Abbe has asked Nigerians to get reconnected to God to end the insecurity ravaging the country in recent times.

Abbe spoke during activities to commemorate the church’s second Biennial Congress of the Arch Cathedral Council at the African Church, Arch Cathedral Bethel, Broad Street, Lagos.

Speaking on the theme of the conference: ‘A new beginning’, he said that the reason the country is facing security hitches like never before is because the Nigerian leaders have failed to acknowledge God and it is important they are firmly rooted in Him for Nigeria to get out of the mess it is in.”

He further lamented that the Church is no longer what it used to be in time past. “The Church, which ought to be the final hope of man, has turned into something else. Virtually all streets in Lagos are adorned with one church or the other and the most annoying thing is that the more churches are increasing in number, the more increase we record in crime rates.

“The Church has allowed the world to enter into it and it has therefore become worldly. Unimaginable things, which are unbecoming of a place of God, are now a common place in the Church. We are constantly forgetting the fact that the Church belongs to Jesus Christ,” he said.

On the state of the nation, Primate Abbe said; “Nigeria is currently experiencing the worst state of attendant poverty, as well as worsening insecurity across the land, with kidnappers, armed robbers, bandits and killer herdsmen on the prowl, and the government is helpless and does not know what exactly to do.”

He, however, advocated for true federalism as the way out of this current security quagmire bedeviling the country.

In his closing remarks, the 12th Primate of The African Church called for a change of leadership style driven by self-interest to a more visionary leadership that is people-oriented.

The President of International Church Growth Ministry, Rev Francis Bola Akin-John has identified leadership skills, unity of purpose, prayer, and preaching soul lifting messages as the key elements to reviving a dead church.

Akin-John said this at a Church Growth conference held recently in Lagos.

The conference explored 19 different topics in the direction of reviving a dead church which include the prodigal church, the comeback church, foundation for a comeback, the comeback minister; hindrance to comeback church; increasing your capacity for a comeback; comeback spiritual battles, among others.

Akin-John said the need for the church to go back to its original place of glory is germane as the last decade has exposed the nakedness of the church and also makes the call for revival imperative.

He noted that in every prodigal church, the ministry is all about attendance, building and cash. It is about grabbing as much property, position, influence, power, money for private and personal pockets.

Akin-John asserted that it is this misplaced priority, according to him, that has given rise to the wave of inconsistencies and distortions being experienced in many churches today. “What we have is half baked pastors, no clear calling and vision,” he said.

To revive a dead local church, he said, “reviving a dead church is not work for boys, but for real men. The leader that will lift up a church from stagnation must be tough and tender, wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.”

He then identified some elements that can help to revive a dead church.

He noted that the issue of unity must also be addressed. He believes if there is no unity among the pastorate of a church, it may well be difficult to bring such a church out of stagnation.

“Where there is self-justification, envy, jealousy, politics, critical spirit and apportioning of blame among pastors, it will be hard for God’s spirit to work in such an environment,” he said.

He also believes that if the prayer factor is taken with levity, the church will remain perpetually stagnant.

“Nothing will really happen without prayer support. We need to realise that the devil is happy when the church is cold, lukewarm and stagnant. He will therefore try to remove our focus from prayers.

”When there is nothing to pursue, there will be nothing to possess. There must be clearly spelt out goals for spiritual, numerical, financial and material growth. Goals in these critical areas must be clearly spelt and pursued.”

Beyond the goal, Akin John reasons that the quality of the message coming from the pulpit will either kill or revive the church. For a dead church and any church for that matter, he reasoned that there is a need to preach soul-inspiring sermons.

“These sermons will motivate and challenge the people to grow. It will also encourage them to support the growth process of the church.

The Presiding Bishop, King in Christ Power Ministries and the President of Pentecostal Ministers Forum (PMF), Bishop Chidi Anthony, has celebrated the church yearly programme, the Pool of Bethsaida and ordination of pastors for the ministry in Nigeria and Gabon. During the programme spoke with reporters about the programme, his position on giving and the government’s effort at tackling secessionists.  Adeola Ogunlade  was there.

Tell us more about the Pool of Bethsaida and ordination?

The power of God came down as never before at this year’s ‘the Pool of Bethsaida’ programme. We also used the opportunity to ordain news ministers for the church. We do not ordain pastors anyhow. The bible said that “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron”. Before we ordain anyone, the person will go through a process to be sure the person is worthy. If you see anyone with passion for souls, you will know. We don’t record success based on how you can mobilize people or preach but how many souls have you won for Christ. Our motto is ‘heaven at last’. Here, before we ordain anyone as a pastor, we will watch you for some time to be sure you have passion for souls and you are passionate about depopulating the kingdom of hell and populating heaven. We don’t ordain new ministers of God based on their academic performance or their money.

Some became pastors just for the title, what is your position?

We have fivefold ministries- Apostle, pastor, teacher, evangelist and prophet. We don’t ordain people here just for the title. There must be something that we find in you that qualifies you. You cannot bring money to bribe us to ordain you, what money have we not seen. I have an estate, I don’t believe in what the church will give to me. One of the people we ordained today is a sanctuary keeper, the woman cannot produce money but she has passion for the things of God. Today, we gave a scholarship to a widow. When you cannot affect your generation, you look for a title. Those people looking for titles is an indication that God has left them and they are only looking for titles.

The Bible says giving is not of necessity, but many pastors have turned churches to fund raising centres. What is your take?

At our meetings at the PMF, we discuss it. There are people God has called. There are people that have passion for the gospel and they go into the ministry while some people enter into the ministry because they have failed in their various business ventures. Not everyone that says God called them that they are actually called. When you see a man that God called, he will have passion for God. If you are really called by God, He will never allow you to lack any good thing.

Is Nigeria a failed state?

Nigeria is a failed state. Some of our church leaders cannot stand boldly to say it. There are people that should stand boldly and say that this is not the Nigeria of our dream or we knew, what is wrong?. Today, I cannot travel to my village. I built a good home in my home state but I cannot go home. If that is not enough, banditry and kidnapping is now the order of the day in Abia State. We thought those things would end in the north. We may leave this Nigeria for them. If this trend continues, there may be nothing called Nigeria. The nation is going down and the President cannot come and address the nation? Recently, the Presidency said that the president has ordered security forces to go into the bushes and shoot whoever they see with sophisticated weapons like AK-47, but the minister of defence came out and said you should not kill. It is the only court that has the right to pronounce judgment on anyone. Who do we follow? I wonder where Nigeria is heading for. We are praying for this nation, it is only God that can intervene.

Is fighting secessionists the solution to insecurity in the country?

Nobody will like Nigeria to break up. What do we do so that there will be nothing like break up? Someone will not wake up one day and say they want to break up. We need to know what caused it. It is not what AK- 47 can solve. It is about dialogue. You don’t fight a man that has a vision. I know a pastor who has been sentenced to death but the church is waxing strong. Don’t fight a man that has a vision. Fighting secessionists cannot solve the problem, let us dialogue. The government should do something concerning the plight of the people. Before a child would cry, something would have happened.

By Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba and Blessing Olaifa, Abuja

As Muslims mark Eid-il-Fitri tomorrow, Delta State Police Commissioner, Mr Ari Mohammed Ali, has ordered the deployment of 1,715 policemen to worship centres across the state.

Ali urged residents to be security conscious, adding that residents must keep vigilance “not only at home but also in public places such as markets, worship centers, shopping malls and highways.”

The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Ahmed Audi, yesterday ordered zonal commanders to beef up security in their domains with the technological gadgets at their disposal.

Audi urged his men to be vigilant using improved tactics to maintain peace across the country.

The Corps said it has set up a mechanism called Integrated Electronic Arrest Reporting System (I-EARS) to make collation of security data and information concerning all manners of crime seamless in the face of planning and orchestration of strategic action for security operations by the corps.

In a statement by the Director, Public Relations, Mr Olusola Odumosu, the Corps maintained that the directive became necessary following threats of attack by miscreants and bandits in different parts of the country.

It added that such threats must be forestalled to guarantee a peaceful and hitch-free Sallah celebration.

The statement said: “There is need to deploy a different scientific approach to combat insecurity at this time, hence, his resolve for tactical deployment of conventional and specialised personnel with appropriate operational equipment to strategic locations such as Eid praying grounds, recreational centers, motor parks, malls, markets and other Critical National Assets and Infrastructure while surveillance personnel be deployed for covert duties with a view to gathering credible intelligence.”

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said it has deployed no fewer than 170 personnel and three patrol vehicles on the Ore-Benin expressway for the celebration.

FRSC Unit Commander in Ore, Ondo State Mr Olusegun Aladenika, told NAN that the Special Patrol was to ensure free flow of traffic on the Ore-Benin expressway.

He said the deployment was to also check the motorists speed limits, overloading of goods and passengers and reckless driving among others to save lives on the expressway.

The FRSC boss said 80 Special Marshals, 75 Regular Marshals and 22 FRSC personnel had also been deployed for the special patrol which began on May 11 to May 17 to check excesses of motorists and ensured  free flow of traffic.