The Nation Newspaper

Category: Worship

  • OPM provides free apartments for converted sex workers

    No fewer than 38 commercial sex workers on a popular hotel along Azikiwe Street, Port-Harcourt have been relocated from their brothels to the Omega Power Ministries (OPM) estate after giving their lives to Christ.

    The instant relocation followed an outreach to the neighbourhood by the evangelism team of the church led by general overseer, Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere.

    The evangelical outreach was designed for street traders, prostitutes, hawkers and residents of the busy Azikiwe Street in Mile II Diobu, Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers state.

    Chinyere, who arrived the area at about 4:30pm, delivered a simple message of repentance.

    He later moved with the team to the brothels for direct evangelism to the sex workers.

    He admonished them to forsake their sinful lives and embrace Christ.

    The popular cleric also promised whoever among them abandons commercial sex will be provided with a free furnished accommodation in a serene environment as well as set up for business.

    When he made the altar call, thirty eight hands went up in total surrender to Christ.

    An excited Chinyere ordered a dinner party to celebrate their conversion at his GRA Phase 2 residence in the oil-rich city.

    Speaking at the dinner, he said: “I am more than happy today in my life seeing the numbers of souls being laid to God.

    “Heavens are also rejoicing over today’s breakthrough and I will stop at nothing but to take one billion souls to God”.

    Some of the new converts, who are specialists in interior decoration, catering and hair styling, were automatically provided with shops and financial assistance to start their businesses.

    The OPM leader also provided them with starter packs containing cooking utensils, food stuff, pillows and new dresses to replace the former mini-skirts and trousers they had on.

    He also promised to equip the shops the new converts want for sustenance while announcing immediate commencement of baptismal classes for them.

    Chinyere also promised to bankroll the traditional and white wedding of any one of them that approaches him with their fiancées.

  • Alpha trains church leaders, others

    A three-day intensive training for church leaders and others involved in gospel global evangelisation holds from October 6-8.

    Alpha Nigeria, organisers of the conference, said the training is packaged to expose participants to the foundation of the Christian faith.

    National Coordinator of the evangelism and discipleship ministry, Andrew Olatunji, in a statement explained day one of the conference takes place at 9, Anifowose Street, Victoria Island from 10am-12noon.

    The conference moves to Dike hall, Air Force Officers Mess 1, KofoAbayomi Street Victoria Island from 10am-4:30pm daily.

    There will also be launch of the NEW Alpha film series and showcasing of other exciting resources at the conference.

  • RCCG glory sanctuary clocks two

    The Pastor of province 10, Pastor Isaac Olutimehin has preached to the members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Glory Sanctuary Area 4, zone 2, Lagos Province 44, arise and shine to God’s glory during the celebration of it second year anniversary.
    Pastor Isaac, in his Sermon, made it known to the congregation that to ‘arise’ means to stand out amongst odds and also explained from the bible source, Isaiah 60:1-2, that ‘you need to arise before you can show forth the glory of God to shine.
    ‘There is no way you can shine if you are not a child of God’. He also gave the reasons why Christians should shine because they are children of light and the light of the world.
    He prayed for the church that “the Lord shall take you to your own promise land, the next anniversary shall be celebrated on your own property, and every of your impossibilities shall become possible in Jesus Name”.
    The pastor in charge of the parish, Pastor Annie Bassey said that the parish was birthed on the 22nd of September 2014 with four ministers and eleven workers and the attendance of the congregation has increased by the grace of God to the total number of 75 adults and 30 children.
    The Nation learnt from the pastor that the beginning of the parish till date has been a drive of the Holy Spirit and in years to come, they expect with the help of God that more people would be increased in the kingdom of God.
  • ‘Why hyper-grace preachers are dangerous’

    ‘Why hyper-grace preachers are dangerous’

    Senior Pastor of Grace Family Church International Lagos, Rev Yinka Ojo is disturbed about the wave of extreme grace teachings. He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on the dangers of the trend and how it can be reversed. Excerpts:

    Do you believe once a Christian is saved, such a Christian is saved forever?

    The name of our church is Grace Family International Church. So nobody can tell me I don’t believe in grace.

    But the grace of the bible we are talking about believes in holiness, purity and sanctification. I believe that without holiness no one man will see God.

    I believe the need to perfect holiness is the fear of the Lord. Grace, in itself, is a scriptural message. But we are beginning to see extreme imbalance of grace teaching.

    Can grace be extreme?

    The teaching of it can be. And that is by overstretching scriptures and saying scriptures says what it does not. That’s why the scripture talks about us not doing violence to the word of God. We can do violence to the word of God.

    Even Satan himself quoted scriptures to Jesus to let you know Satan can deal with the scriptures. He quoted the scriptures he used to talk to Jesus. God is a God of grace and the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of grace.

    But like every other thing in the scripture, teachings on grace must be balanced. The devil can come and push a thing to imbalance and cause a lot of troubles for the body and that is the problem we are having now concerning this hyper grace, extreme grace teaching.

    The grace that reduces your conscious of holiness is unbiblical and unscriptural.  Titus 2: 11says”the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching us….” The real grace of God is a teacher and it teaches something to us that deny godliness.

    Anybody who teaches grace but does not teach it to deny ungodliness is not inspired by the Holy Spirit. Any kind of grace teacher or grace teaching that makes you feel careless about living godly and makes you feel this issue of holiness and Christian living is too hard is not from God. Real graces teaches us to live holy and soberly.

    The proponents of extreme grace teaching are worried Christianity is becoming a legalistic religion that expects people to conform to certain stereotypes. What is your take on this?

    You see you cannot throw away the baby with the dirty birth water. Jesus was against the Pharisees and the Sadducees yet His messages were not watered down. The fact that some people are putting the children of God to bondage of legalism does not mean you should be preaching this strange grace type of messages.

    Teaching on extreme grace is swinging the body of Christ to the other side of the pendulum. And both extreme are bondages. We are talking of balanced, wholesome, sound doctrine and this strange wind of weird grace that is coming in is not balanced doctrine.

    What would be the balanced doctrine?

    The balanced doctrine simply is yes we are not saved by works but there is a work you must put into your life after you are saved. We are saved by grace by putting our faith in the finished works of Christ.

    But when you receive that, the Bible says work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Examine yourself whether you are in the faith. You cannot throw caution to the wind and think that is true Christianity. You see as a disciple, the word disciple comes from discipline; it took a while before Christians were called Christians and they were just basically called disciples- that mean discipline.

    A disciple is a disciplined follower of Christ. That means the call mark of the follower of Christ was discipline. Now we say ‘come as you are with the way you are dressed. It doesn’t matter and all that’. Yea, when you first come to Christ, He’s not judging you based on the cloth you wear.

    But as soon as you come you get saved. The salvation that will not affect your dressing is not true salvation.  The Holy Spirit you received will let you understand moderation is what the bible teaches. The bible says let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand.

    If the Holy Spirit does not bring that scripture to you, I wonder what you call the Holy Spirit. And so I have talked to quite a few ministers who have started pushing some of these doctrines and I have told them that I entered the full time doctrine in 1987 and I have seen some of these winds of doctrines come and go. Usually the people that push them, they don’t end up well.

    They don’t want to endure sound doctrines anymore. It seems like this strange grace, hyper grace seems to probably, potentially pull in a lot of crowd in the house. But what kind of crowd? What kind of so- called bigness?

    Is bigness a bad thing?

    There are two kinds of bigness that can happen. It is not crowd at all cost that God is after. If you look at those who have elephantiasis, their legs are big too. That is not proper growth but swelling, disease- induced swelling.

    There is some bigness that is elephantiasis bigness in the body of Christ. It is not healthy bigness and so we ministers must resist the trapping of success that big size congregation produces.

    What is leading to big size? Is it the sound doctrines of the word of God? Are these the disciples multiplying? The Bible says the number of disciples multiplied greatly. So we need to be very careful. This hyper grace doctrine will not produce disciples.

    When there is a major shaking, they will fall away and as ministers Jesus warn us, if any little one falls away, we are in troubles. Romans11:22 saybehold therefore, the goodness and severity of God… That is balanced teaching.

    A balanced teacher refers to the goodness and severity of God. If you teach only the severity of God, you will put the people of God in bondage. If you preach only the goodness of God, you will put the people of God into bondage. You must focus on both at the same time.

    If you know Jesus only as the lamb, you get into errors. If you know Him only as a lion, you will get into errors. So, you must know Him both as a lamb and a lion. This is mature, balanced Christianity. I know striking a balanced can be challenging. You need to depend on the Holy Spirit because the devil will always want you to swing the body into one of the extremes.

    It’s like the terminal of a battery. There’s the positive and negative. When you connect both, the engine kicks to life and moves. If you connect only one, say for example, the positive, it won’t go. If you remove the positive and put the negative, it won’t work. You must combine both for the engine to move.

    So, you preach and teach the severity and goodness of God to produce strong Christians.

    So what would you tell extreme grace preachers?

    My message to them is I want you to pull back a little bit and search your conscience.Ask yourself ‘why am I preaching this’?‘Why won’t I listen and subject this teaching to other people who are very mature in faith’?

    Jesus said broad is the way that lead to destruction and many are going there. But then narrow is the road that leads to life and very few are going there. Genuine Christianity is not as popular as we’ve made it to look.

    Christianity is not a popular faith?

    The message of the church is not a populist message because it’s confrontational. It comes against sin, worldliness and ungodliness. We are swimming against the currents.

    The tide of this world is a tide of perversion, looseness, gratifying the flesh and indiscipline all in the name of sophistication, westernization and modernisation.

    But you cannot modernise the message. You cannot tamper with the message. There’s a curse Jesus placed on anyone that tampers with the message of the Bible as it is. You cannot review the message. You can use different methods but the message remains the same.

  • Catholic Church partners NDE on skills acquisition

    Catholic Church partners NDE on skills acquisition

    Saint Michael’s Catholic Church, Ketu in conjunction with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has kicked off a three-month integrated empowerment/ skill acquisition programme in the parish.

    The scheme is targeted at empowering parishioners.

    The Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Sebastian Ngene told participants at the opening ceremony to seize advantage of the opportunity to create a solid wealth base for their lives.

    The skills at the centre, he told the over 150 participants, are sufficient for God to usher them to a lifetime of abundance.

    He explained the Parish decided to organise the training to cushion the effect of the biting recession that has forced several job cuts.

    Ngene assured to make this training will be continuous.

    State Coordinator of NDEOlogbenlaAdebowale, told participants that this exercise is a life- changing one.

     He said the NDE is ready to give them the best, adding”this is what they have been doing for the past thirty years.”

    He finally admonished the participants to be law abiding, good ambassadors and shining stars in the society.

    The training will focus on areas such as computer programming, GSM repairs, event management and catering as well as hair dressing and make-up.

    The elated participants thanked the Parish Priest and the church for this wonderful opportunity given to them promising to make effective use of it.

    The church is also organising a six- weekend entrepreneurial development scheme for young graduates, unemployed/underemployed as well as those working but need entrepreneurial knowledge to aid their disengagement.

    This programme will be anchored by experienced and successful business men and women as well as those in the academia.

  • GOFAMINT in prayer rally for Nigeria

    The General Overseer of The Gospel Faith mission International (GOFAMINT) Pastor (Dr) Elijah Abina will lead a prayer rally for an end to the socio-economic challenges facing the nation.

    The rally, which takes off at the church’s International Headquarters at Km 40, Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, Aseese, will go through Ikeja with stops at some strategic points, including the Lagos State Governor’s Office, Alausa to offer prophetic prayers on behalf of the nation.

    Abina will lead 55 other ministers from the church for the exercise.

    The theme of the rally, which holds on October 1, is let God arise.

    A statement by the General Secretary of the church, Pastor Femi Omowumi, said: “We have the strong conviction that when these fifty six men of God raise their voices to prophesy over the nation and affairs of Nigeria, our fortunes will change for good.

    “The choice of the number 56 is symbolic, representing all the years of Nigeria nationhood.

    “This is not a new thing as it has happened before in the Bible days when a prophet of God prophesied that by this time tomorrow, a measure of flour will be sold for a shekel.

    “Though, there was a doubting Thomas there who never believed the prophecy, God still honored the prophetic pronouncement of his servant Elisha and there was surplus the following day.

    “The rally is also to call on Nigerians to join in prayers for our present political leaders for God to guide them on how best to lead the nation out of the current challenges facing the country.

    “As well, it would also be important to point out to all leaders at various levels to have the fear of God and recognize him by making him first as they steer the affairs of the nation.”

    He added that necessary logistics arrangements have been made with relevant security and para-military agencies to have a hitch- free rally.

  • Foursquare commissions 5,000–seater auditorium

    Foursquare Gospel Church, Orelope Lagos has commissioned a 5,000-seater auditorium to mark its 25th anniversary.

    The church also planted a new branch to commemorate the milestone.

    Speaking at the commissioning, the Minister-in-charge, Pastor Victor Iwala, charged Christians to beam the lights of Jesus within their immediate environments.

    Iwala said Christians must turn up their lights in the face of turmoil and unrest in the globe.

    “We will make Nigeria better and safer and corruption will be drastically reduced if the values of love, favor, honesty as exemplified by Jesus are entrenched in our society,” he said.

    The church, he said, has planted nine churches with seven in Lagos and two in Ekiti State.

    He restated the commitment of the church to evangelism, which he said is the heartbeat of God.

    “We have a vision that every member must reproduce themselves.

    “It is mandatory because God command us to preach the gospel message to the whole world,” he said.

  • Understanding the healing covenant! (2)

    Last week, we began this two-part series with the understanding that Jesus is the Great Physician. This is because all through His earthly ministry, He never referred any case brought to Him. We also discovered that the Balm in Gilead which is the Word of God is the great prescription of this Great Physician. However, it is not enough to find the Word that addresses our situation; we must apply same in faith before we enjoy the benefits thereof. Furthermore, we learnt that every provision of scriptures, including healing, health and wholeness are delivered based on covenant. In addition, we define what a covenant is and explored the vital terms attached to the healing Covenant. This week, we would examine other scriptural terms that helps us to partake of the healing Covenant, which include:

    Live on the Word: We must place ourselves on regular quality Word medications. This is because God’s Word carries God’s nature which is absolutely immune to sicknesses and diseases. In other words, the more of God’s Word we imbibe, the more of His divine nature we possess and that in turn guarantees our healing,  health and wholeness.

    In addition, it is important to know that God’s Word is the only medication in the world that heals all forms of sicknesses and diseases with zero side effects (Proverbs 4:20-22; Matthew 4:4).

    Think Right: In this context, I mean think healthy thoughts, because the Bible says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Therefore, don’t let the words of your doctors corrupt your mentality; instead, let God’s Word frame your thoughts and your wholeness shall be established cheaply (Proverbs 23:7).

    Also, we don’t need anyone to pray for us before we can be made whole; all we need to do is take our covenant position in God and our healing shall be delivered. For instance, according to science, the moon doesn’t have a light of its own; it simply positions itself at a particular angle to the sun and shines. The sun generates all the heat, while the moon simply reflects all the glory. In the same vein, Jesus is the Sun of righteousness and God’s living Word; when we align our thoughts with what the Word says, we also take delivery of our wholeness. Remember, there is no irreversible case with God; therefore, align with His great prescription (3 John 1:2).

    • Speak Right: The Bible says that death and life are in the power of our tongues. Therefore, we must be careful of what we say because our words are like seeds; what we say today determines what we experience tomorrow.

    Furthermore, the Bible says: …out of the abundance of our heart, our mouth speaks (Mathew 12:34; see also Psalms 34:11-13).

    That means when we don’t have the abundance of God’s Word in our hearts, we cannot speak life to the issues that confront us. Remember, God’s Word is the light that has the capacity to shatter any darkness in our lives, including sicknesses and diseases. We must, therefore, engage it for the establishment of our healing, health and wholeness (Mark 11:23; Proverbs 18:21; John 1:4-5).

    Be committed to Kingdom advancement endeavours: Our commitment to Kingdom advancement endeavours, which include reaching out to the lost and praying to see souls saved, and established in God’s Kingdom, entitles us to a healthy and prosperous life (Exodus 23:25-26; Proverbs 13:17; John 15:2).

    Be committed to fellowship: As believers, Zion is our place of fellowship and the city of refuge that protects us from satanic assaults. Remember the Bible says:

    But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions (Obadiah 1:17; see also Hebrews 10:25).

    Rejoice in the Lord always: Being joyful invokes the mystery of health and wholeness on our lives (Proverbs 17:22; Nehemiah 8:10).

    Refuse to be offended in God: We must understand that God is not the source of our afflictions, the devil is. When we see God as the source of our predicament and not our Healer, and Deliverer, we give room for the devil to afflict us. For instance, Job was offended in God and as a result, he remained in his afflictions until he repented and sought God for his healing. Therefore, we must never be offended in God, lest we remain in our afflictions forever (Job 13:15; Luke 17:1; John 10:10).

    In addition, it is important to know that the Holy Communion, which includes the Flesh and the Blood of Jesus, is another prescription of the Great Physician.  When we partake of this mystery, we share the same Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) with Jesus and as such, our healing, health and wholeness are guaranteed (Matthew 26:26; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30).

    Let’s recognise that Christianity only becomes profitable by taking covenant responsibilities. Though the price for our total health has been fully paid, its delivery is our responsibility. Just as our signature is required to withdraw from our individual bank accounts, each one’s faith is needed to take delivery of God’s healthcare provision for him/her in redemption (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). Therefore, as you engage the terms of the healing covenant in faith, I see God perfecting all that concerns your well-being and those of your loved ones in Jesus’ name! Remain ever blessed!

    Are you born again? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord? If you haven’t, you can do so as you say this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Deliver me from sin and satan to serve the Living God. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!” For further reading, please get my books: The Healing Balm, Keys To Divine health, Miracle Seed, All You Need To Have All Your Needs Met, Exploring The Riches Of Redemption, Understanding Your Covenant Rights and Possessing Your Possession.

    I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have five services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:35 a.m., 9:10 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. respectively.

    I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 01-4548070, 01-4548280; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

  • CCC parish celebrates 36th anniversary

    Activities marking the 35th anniversary of Celestial Church of Christ (CCC),Oko-Oba Parish III, Abule-EgbaLagos begin from Monday 26th September 2016.

    Anniversary harvest chairman, Hon. Senior Evangelist SegunOgunbayo (JP) and chairperson,Iyabo Ojediran, in a statement said,  revival services will hold from September 26-28 at the church auditorium 9b Jonathan Coker, Fagba road, Abule-Egba by 6pm.

    This year’s harvest is tagged: Harvest of triumph.

    The special praise night holds on Friday September 29.

    The anniversary thanksgiving service is on October 2 by 10am in the church’s auditorium.

    The parish Shepherd, Prophet M.O Gbiri, said the CCC Celestial Worldwide has triumphed over the battles of leadership that have plagued the churches for years.

    He said the recent resolution of the CCC crisis is a big relief among members church.

    The parish patron, Venerable Most Senior Evangelist G.O. Ojediran, also urges all other spiritual leaders to support the pastor of CCC worldwide, Rev Emmanuel Oshoffa for the glory Celestial Church to remain.

  • Speak truth to power, cleric tells church leaders

    The Senior Pastor, Christ Elect Ministry International, Apostle Clement Ogoro, has challenged church leaders to continue to speak truth to powers-that-be in the nation.

    This, he said, will enable them fulfill their prophetic mandate and push the nation closer to the path of greatness and advancement.

    Ogoro spoke at the 30th convention of the church recently.

    The programme tagged Joy unspeakable attracted thousands from across the nation.

    He said that many church leaders are afraid of preaching the truth of God‘s word, leaving their members confused and ill-equipped for Christian living.

    He lamented there are no prophets again in the nation who are bold to spill the beans and confront the powers-that-be.

    According to Ogoro: “God is in dire need of men of God who will raise up the banner of righteousness and lead the nation out of the woods at this point in time.

    “We need men like Daniel, Jeremiah and Ezekiel whose interest is that God will be done”.

    He cited the prophets in the scriptures led by God who spoke His mind without fears.

    Those prophets, according to him, were faithful to deliver God’s words and instructions to the nation even in the face of death and torture.

    Presiding Bishop of The Spirit of His word Church, Bishop Isaac Nmergini, who commended the effort of the senior pastor of the church, urged church leaders to remain faithful to the call of God upon their lives.

    This, he said, becomes necessary because God rewards faithfulness and consistency.

    He said everything God does have a process.

    “God took the children of Israel to the wilderness so he can take Egypt out of them and position them to fulfill destiny.

    “Church leaders should depend on God, wear patience like a cloth, endure and know that God who has called them into ministry is able to prosper them,” he began.

    He continued: “Remove your focus on people and keep their eyes gaze on God and believe that God who has called you into ministry will never abandon you.”

    He also advised Nigerian Christians to learn to trust in God for their desired breakthrough when the country is facing economy recession.

    “As Christians, our economy is not tight to the economy of the nation but tight up in heaven.

    “There is an unknown bank account and resources for God’s people in heaven. Let look up to God and pray for this country,” Nmergini said.