The Nation Newspaper

Category: Worship

  • Cleric seeks unity against terror

    The General Overseer of Shiloh Word Chapel (aka Faith Nations), Prophet Ikechukwu Samuel, has urged Nigerians to unite against the Boko Haram terror ravaging the nation.

    Samuel, who spoke with reporters in Abuja ahead of the forthcoming third anniversary of the church, appealed to members of the Boko Haram sect to have a change of heart and stop bloodshed to avoid the wrath of God.

    He said: “If members of Boko Haram want to release the Chibok girls, it is a change of heart that will make them do so.

    “Let Nigerians pray because this country is a nation with faith. Every citizen of Nigeria has faith; let us use our own faith, irrespective of our religious beliefs to ask our God to change their hearts.”

    He added: “Boko Haram insurgents are still in the dark because they will still do more and we will keep exchanging. Yet, it will not solve the problem.

    “Let our leaders and every citizen show love. Releasing people in places of evil will in turn increase the problem. It is not the solution; we should kneel down and pray for a change of heart.”

    The church, he assured, has been raising a generation that will change the nation.

  • Ex- commissioner vows to draw closer to God

    The former Rivers Commissioner for Budget and Economic Affair during the Peter Odili-led administration, Sir Ejims Ewukwe, has pledged to improve his relationship with God.

    He made the declaration at the weekend in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, shortly after his installation as the Knight of Saint Christopher at the Diocese of Evo Anglican Communion Woji Community.

    Ejims noted that the investiture of the knighthood is “for selected members of the church who have been singled out for their outstanding performances in the vineyard of God.”

    The honour, he said, has humbled him to put the best of him in serving humanity and God.

    “Today, the church has honoured me and my wife and others who they think have made enough contribution to the development of the church.

    “I give God all the glory; this means I will intensify my relationship with God as a soldier of Christ,” Ejims stated.

    The Bishop, Rt. Rev Innocent Uchechukwu Ordu, said the knighthood should not be regarded only as a reward for job done but also as a new call for greater responsibility in the church.

  • Nigeria needs prayers, cleric declares

    The District Superintendent of the Apostolic Faith Church in West Africa, Rev. Emmanuel Adeniran, has called for intense prayers to save the nation.

    Nigerians, he stated, need prayers that move the hands of God and flow from pure hearts.

    He spoke at the West and Central (WECA) District Headquarters of the church in Anthony Village Lagos with reporters on the camp meeting that commences today.

    The meeting ends on August 24, according to him.

    Adeniran said: “At the, moment, the stability of our nation is greatly threatened and the future will forever remain lost in oblivion, should we fail to heed the call of our creator.

    “For every fabric of our society to experience true salvation and transformation, we must all resolve to experience the true transformation and cleansing from within through the shed blood of our lord and saviour, Jesus Christ.”

    This year’s meeting, according to Adeniran, commemorates the 70th anniversary of the church.

    On what to expect at the camp, he said: “It is a period of spiritual rejuvenation wherein we converge with great expectation to hear, receive and be blessed of God.

    “It is a time set aside and ordained by God through His divine purpose to bless, heal and deliver both the spiritually and physically oppressed.”

  • Nigeria needs prayers, cleric declares

    The District Superintendent of the Apostolic Faith Church in West Africa, Rev. Emmanuel Adeniran, has called for intense prayers to save the nation.

    Nigerians, he stated, need prayers that move the hands of God and flow from pure hearts.

    He spoke at the West and Central (WECA) District Headquarters of the church in Anthony Village Lagos with reporters on the camp meeting that commences today.

    The meeting ends on August 24, according to him.

    Adeniran said: “At the, moment, the stability of our nation is greatly threatened and the future will forever remain lost in oblivion, should we fail to heed the call of our creator.

    “For every fabric of our society to experience true salvation and transformation, we must all resolve to experience the true transformation and cleansing from within through the shed blood of our lord and saviour, Jesus Christ.”

    This year’s meeting, according to Adeniran, commemorates the 70th anniversary of the church.

    On what to expect at the camp, he said: “It is a period of spiritual rejuvenation wherein we converge with great expectation to hear, receive and be blessed of God.

    “It is a time set aside and ordained by God through His divine purpose to bless, heal and deliver both the spiritually and physically oppressed.”

  • Akin-John advises northern churches to close down

    Churches in the troubled northern parts of the country should shut down to avoid the unabated attacks against them, the President of International Church Growth Ministries, Dr Francis Bola Akin-John, has stated.

    He said it is suicidal for churches to continue operating in locations where they are not wanted and subjected to unwarranted attacks.

    According to him, shutting down does not amount to cowardice but simply acting in strict adherence to the Biblical injunction.

    Akin-John spoke last week with reporters ahead of the 20th anniversary of the premier African church growth institute.

    ‘’There is no sense in doing church where you are not wanted. We have suffered too many deaths and destructions already in the north.

    ‘’Churches in that part of the country should just close down. A living dog is better than a dead lion.

    ‘’Even Jesus said when you preach to a community and you are rejected, you should dust your shoes and leave.’’

    He added: ‘’If they kill everyone there, who will remain? Why kill yourself to preach the gospel? I believe the wisest and the most biblical step to take is to leave until there is an opening again.’’

    The church growth consultant pointed out that the blood of a martyr is a seed, noting that in other climes where Christian where killed, the faith experienced leaps in no sooner time.

    To illustrate, he recalled once reading about a community in Algeria where over 400 people saw Jesus in a dream in one night.

    ‘’All of them had the same dream and Jesus appeared to them. They saw him asking them to serve Him. When they woke up, they narrated the same.

    ‘’Without preaching or a missionary, the entire community surrendered to Christ. It was later discovered that one missionary was killed in the same place over 400 years ago.’’

    Churches in the north, he advised, should take a cue from the story and leave to strategise until where there would an opening for mission work.

    He reminded missionaries in the north that the gospel is not by force, saying only God can save people.

    ‘’When an area says they don’t want the gospel, we should leave until God has done His own works for our mission activities.

    ‘’I know we want to save lives but we shouldn’t do it at the expense of our lives. We should leave until calm returns so that Christians are not wiped out,’’ he explained.

  • Akin-John advises northern churches to close down

    Churches in the troubled northern parts of the country should shut down to avoid the unabated attacks against them, the President of International Church Growth Ministries, Dr Francis Bola Akin-John, has stated.

    He said it is suicidal for churches to continue operating in locations where they are not wanted and subjected to unwarranted attacks.

    According to him, shutting down does not amount to cowardice but simply acting in strict adherence to the Biblical injunction.

    Akin-John spoke last week with reporters ahead of the 20th anniversary of the premier African church growth institute.

    ‘’There is no sense in doing church where you are not wanted. We have suffered too many deaths and destructions already in the north.

    ‘’Churches in that part of the country should just close down. A living dog is better than a dead lion.

    ‘’Even Jesus said when you preach to a community and you are rejected, you should dust your shoes and leave.’’

    He added: ‘’If they kill everyone there, who will remain? Why kill yourself to preach the gospel? I believe the wisest and the most biblical step to take is to leave until there is an opening again.’’

    The church growth consultant pointed out that the blood of a martyr is a seed, noting that in other climes where Christian where killed, the faith experienced leaps in no sooner time.

    To illustrate, he recalled once reading about a community in Algeria where over 400 people saw Jesus in a dream in one night.

    ‘’All of them had the same dream and Jesus appeared to them. They saw him asking them to serve Him. When they woke up, they narrated the same.

    ‘’Without preaching or a missionary, the entire community surrendered to Christ. It was later discovered that one missionary was killed in the same place over 400 years ago.’’

    Churches in the north, he advised, should take a cue from the story and leave to strategise until where there would an opening for mission work.

    He reminded missionaries in the north that the gospel is not by force, saying only God can save people.

    ‘’When an area says they don’t want the gospel, we should leave until God has done His own works for our mission activities.

    ‘’I know we want to save lives but we shouldn’t do it at the expense of our lives. We should leave until calm returns so that Christians are not wiped out,’’ he explained.

  • Nigeria will rise again, says cleric

    The General Overseer of God’s Mercy Revival Ministries (GOMERM) Idimu Lagos, Dr James Akanbi, has assured that Nigeria will rise again.

    The nation, he stressed, will not go down despite the socio-economic challenges bedeviling it.

    He urged Nigerians to stand firm and patiently wait on God to fix the seemingly intractable problems in the country.

    Akanbi spoke on Thursday with reporters ahead of the 15th anniversary of the church with the theme “Arise and glow.”

    He noted that the country is bleeding but assured that the phases will come and pass because “the sons of Baals cannot hand-on for life.”

    According to him, all the terror attacks and insecurity in several parts of the nation will soon disappear.

    “Nigeria,” he reiterated, “will arise again and glow. All the things we are witnessing now will drop down and go away.”

    On why no man of God has been able to make a prophetic declaration that will lead to demise of Boko Haram, Akanbi explained such declarations will create chaos.

    He said: “If you expect a Thou Saith the Lord on Boko Haram issue, you will be creating an Armageddonic situation.

    “The maximum a man of God can do is to speak to the conscience of those in power. None of us can speak and expect government to listen.

    “The most we can do is to pray and hope our leaders listen to the voice of God”.

    The anniversary, which starts tomorrow, holds at the church’s headquarters.

    The grand finale holds at Mercy Camp ground KM 4 Papalanto-Shagamu road, Ofada Ogun state, next Sunday by 10am.

    The prophetic impartation service will also witness the ordination of over 200 pastors, assistant pastors, elders, deacons and deaconesses.

  • Serve God, humanity, cleric tells Fayose

    The General Overseer of Rapture Assurance Ministry (RAM) Lagos, Pastor Daniel Ikpe, has urged Ekiti State governor-elect, Ayodele Fayose, to remember his vows to God and serve humanity in his second-coming.

    He reminded him that God played His part in bringing him back to power against all odds.

    Ikpe recalled how he met Fayose in 2006 at the peak of the impeachment plot through a domestic aide attending the church.

    He claimed that God told him then that Fayose would be impeached but restored if he retraced his steps.

    “When the impeachment issue was on, this man introduced Fayose to me and we were invited to Ado Ekiti. I and five other pastors in the ministry went to see him.

    “After seven days of prayers, God told me he would be impeached but that He, God, will bring him back to power,” he recalled.

    He stated that many doubted the prophesied impeachment because several other men of God were making pronouncements to the contrary.

    Ikpe called on political leaders to dissect prophecies by men of God through discernment, saying many of such prophecies are fuelled by greed.

  • Winners of 11th Okonkwo national essay emerge

    Miss Patience Brown of Apapa Senior High School Lagos has emerged the overall winner of the 11th Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition for Secondary School.

    Brown scored 68% to beat other contestants at the prestigious competition.

    Precious Nwaigwe of St. Francis Catholic Secondary School Idimu, Lagos scored 66% to emerge second while Master Akinwande Akinboluwarin of Greater Tomorrow International School, Arigidi Akoko Ondo State was third with 65%.

    Master David Oluwasoromidayo of Roshalom International Secondary School, who scored 64%, was the fourth best candidate.

    The Chief examiner of the competition, Professor Akachi Ezigbo of the Department of English, University of Lagos, said: “In assessing their entries, we looked out for how much they know of the issue, their capacity to express that knowledge in Standard English usage and their ability to follow tested methods of expressing knowledge acquired through observation, reading and experience.”

    She explained that four of the more than 2,000 submissions were outstanding.

    Brown will get N100, 000, a laptop and plaque while her school gets three set of internet-ready computers and a printer.

    Amarachi wins N75, 000, a plaque while her school will get two internet-ready computers and a printer.

    For emerging third, Akinboluwarin will go home with N50, 000 and a plaque while her school gets an internet-ready computer.

    Oluwasoromidayo will get a consolation price of N20, 000.

    The prizes will be presented at the Mike Okonkwo annual lecture, which holds on September 4 at the Shell Hall Muson Centre Lagos.

    The theme for the lecture is the power of your vote: A catalyst for a stable and united Nigeria.

  • Foursquare church brainstorms

    Foursquare Gospel Church, Orile Iganmu,  will hold its annual general membership meeting today.

    Various ministries and departments will present their activities and efforts to advance in the course of the gospel in the last one year.

    The annual meeting will also witness presentation of the church audited accounts for the church year 2013/2014.

    At the meeting, goals for the new church year and other strategic initiatives to advance the course of the gospel will be discussed.

    In a statement signed by the Chairman AGMM Committee, Bro. Eric Ojisua, the programme will be a time of refreshing in the presence of the Lord and fellowship with one another.

    According to the statement, the Senior Pastor, Pastor ‘Femi Akinwande is expected to challenge leaders and workers to re-dedicate their lives to Christ and work for the spread of the gospel.

    It holds at the church auditorium 39, Nurudeen Street, Orile Iganmu.