KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Paul Crouch Jr, chief of staff at the famous Trinity Broadcasting Network, TBN was the first to catch a whiff of persecution from a recent event in the United States of America, the Grassler Investigation. In a strongly worded rejoinder to an article by columnist and Charisma Editor, J. Lee Grady, he describe the requests for information sent to six famous ministries in the Pentecostal/charismatic wing of the Church as an “inquisition”.
The so-called Grassler Investigation, by the way, has its origins in the letter sent by a ranking member of the US Senate Committee on Finance, Chuck Grassler requesting detailed information on the finances of the ministries of the following men and women of God: Creflo & Taffi Dollar; Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; Randy and Paula White; David and Joyce Meyer; Benny Hinn; and Eddie Long.
The Republican Senator had rationalised his action in a press release which reads in part like this: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
The six were to have responded to the senator by December 6. Some did, some requested for more time while at least another one has bluntly refused to comply citing infringement on his ministry’s rights and privileges. We will bring you developments in what promises to be a long drawn battle.
In the mean time however, this columnist senses an increase in the feeling that the Grassler Investigation is simply the first tentative steps in an impending wave of persecution of the Church in America. For this writer, since there is really ONLY ONE CHURCH, that can only imply a creeping challenge to the church irrespective of its geographical location.
Speaking during the week in Lagos, one of my pastors, who runs an international ministry, made copious references to the Grassler investigation as nothing short of persecution, implying that if it could happen to those ministers and their ministries, it can happen to any one. He didn’t mince words: this simply is persecution!
But easily the one development that suggests to me that the suspicion of persecution may be reaching fever pitch is the announcement of the founding of a body styled as Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, headed as chairman and chief executive officer, by one Gary Cass. Cass, formerly the executive director of the Center for Reclaiming America at Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA was touted as having “experienced firsthand what happens when Christians are marginalized and persecuted during his stint with Terry Law Ministries behind the Iron Curtain in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was involved in music evangelism.”
A former pastor who was arrested three times for his pro-life activism, Cass, recalling his experience during those dark days said: "the state told the church what they could and couldn't preach and forced real believers to go underground, and then as a result, risk arrest and imprisonment for not complying with the state's mandated version of what Christianity could be." Persuaded that the same thing can happen in the US, he called for vigilance, quoting one of America’s founding fathers, he said: "It's as Thomas Jefferson said, ‘we have to be eternally vigilant to protect these rights’.”
But it is these words of his that, I believe, reveal the underlying fears of the founders and supporters of the group: “If we allow ourselves to be defamed then we are being set up to be marginalized. Once we're marginalized, then we can be treated differently. And that is the beginning of the cycle that leads to persecution."
If Gary Cass is to be believed then there is only one conclusion to be drawn from recent well-publicised events in the Church: we are at the defamation stage of his three-steps-to-persecution! This in turn would be followed by the marginalisation stage which will inexorably lead to the persecution stage.
The pattern is so clear, the enemy has been unveiled! Makes you want to call a church-wide fast; call out the prayer warriors, begin a series of mountain-top events to cast out persecution demons. But just hang on a moment. Who is defaming whom?
When Ted Haggard finally confessed to homosexual liaison with a male escort and had not only to leave the ministry that he founded but also the leadership of the umbrella body of evangelicals, National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) in November 2006; who defamed whom?
When charismatic televangelists Randy and Paula White recently separated after years of a troubled marriage; when Thomas W. Weeks punched up his televangelist wife Juanita Bynum at a hotel parking lo,t and subsequently had to split; who defamed whom?
Who defamed whom when three former professors, John Swails, Tim Brooker and Paulita Brooker filed a suit against Oral Roberts University (ORU), its president and three administrators in October, stating they were wrongfully terminated or forced to leave after bringing alleged school secrets to light. According to these insiders, they lost their jobs as retaliation for pointing out possible financial and ethical indiscretions on the part of school officials, including President Richard Roberts, son of founder Oral Roberts. Also named in the suit are Mark Lewandowski, provost; Jeff Ogle, associate provost; and Wendy Shirk, dean of the College of Arts.
Who defamed whom when, in spite of the grave allegations against him and a no-confidence vote among tenured staff of the ORU, our dear Richard Roberts implied that it took God Himself to get him to resign his exalted position. A report quoting him said it was God who sealed his decision to submit his resignation as president of the university…. “Every ounce of my flesh said ‘no’ to the idea,” Roberts said after weeks of allegations surrounding his mishandling of school finances. After praying about the decision with his wife, he felt God was insisting that he step down. Earlier he said God had told him to deny the allegations leveled against him. Upon his resignation, Roberts said, “For the first time in 60 days, peace came into my heart.” He also claimed God had promised “something supernatural for the university” if he stepped down...
Still on the ORU debacle, these two quotes from the Ministry Report magazine might help answer the question, who is defaming whom: “I'm sure there is corruption everywhere. But if you're holding students to such a high standard, making them sign an honor code and live by these strict principles, I expect the administration to be living an even stricter set of principles. To see something like this, it feels empty, like an elaborate masquerade party.” (Ben Conner, ORU freshman).
“There was a time when the wagons would circle and we'd protect our own. But we don't know what our own is anymore. People are asking questions and questioning answers, and we're not used to it.” (Carlton Pearson, former member of the ORU board of regents and current United Church of Christ minister).
Need I add more? The Gary Cass theory might have been useful in the days behind the iron curtain; today it is seductive deception. What we have on our hands is a call to self-cleansing. Paranoia won’t do it; large bunches of hyssop applied with sobriety and humility will.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Wednesday 19 December 2007
MICHAEL AONDOAKAA, HERO OR VILLAIN?
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Republic, is fast becoming the issue in Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade. And depending on your perception of the man’s activities since coming to office, he can be either an impediment to the crusade or a stickler for the rule of law; a shield for the corrupt or a determined agent of change in the way sleaze is fought; a demagogue or a nationalist; an emerging hero or a burgeoning villain.
Beginning with that famous press conference where he announced that all anti-corruption prosecutions were to henceforth originate from his office, through the allegations and counter allegations on the roles played or being played by his office and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the attempt to prosecute ex-Governor Ibori, Aondoakaa has found himself in the thick of controversies.
I have tried to listen to the man, I have tried to read his lips and analyse his body language and I am humble enough to admit that I am none the wiser for my effort.
Take his rhetoric. He says he has the right under the law to supervise the anti-corruption agencies including the power to authorize or withhold approval for prosecution; that has not and, from what I understand, cannot be controverted. So his decision to allow the EFCC to continue to initiate prosecution and step in only when he considers it necessary to do so is an act of magnanimity!
He says the request for documentary evidence from the EFCC to pursue the case against Ibori was procedurally flawed. According to him, the request should have come from the British Home Office and not from a lowly officer at the London Metropolitan Police. In his books that is a slap in the face of our sovereignty as a nation. He also pointed out that the attempt by EFCC to aid the London Mets was also inappropriate, because, EFCC had not only sent documents without his knowledge, even the letter requesting his retroactive authorization did not include copies of the documents he was supposed to be authorizing the Commission to release.
His words, according to a recent newspaper report:
“In Nigeria, a Crown counsel is the equivalent of a state counsel, a level 8 officer. So, I refused and told them that they had to do the right thing. I think Nigeria, as a sovereign nation, deserves some respect. They knew they were wrong, otherwise why did they now write through the Home Office requesting for mutual assistance to quiz Adenuga? I cannot compromise the sovereignty of this country. If they make incompetent requests, I will turn them down 20 times. Any request from the Metropolitan Police will be refused by this office, period. We had made a request in 2004 to the Metropolitan Police. They faulted us and refused until we did the right thing. If they bring another request under the MLAT signed by the appropriate authorities, I will attend to it. .When I rejected their request on Ibori, the then British Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Gozney, came here with a superintendent to say that they did not mean to undermine the AGF and I agreed with them. What I am saying is that the procedure they adopted was wrong. Otherwise, why are they now doing the right thing in the case of Adenuga?”
On his refusal to authorise the use of evidence sent to British authorities by EFCC, he was quoted as follows:
“Now, how can I sign something which did not pass through my office? I do not know the documents in question because they were not even attached to the letter the commission sent to me. How can someone accuse me of shielding Ibori under such a circumstance? People should ask why the commission has not initiated his trial all this while. The truth is that the EFCC sent the documents to London without authority. That is the position of government. I did not write any letter to President Umaru Yar’Adua that Ibori should not be prosecuted. There is nothing like that. I simply refused the request for mutual legal assistance because it was procedurally flawed.”
But of course, this stance of Aondoakaa is being taken with a pinch of salt, dismissed as mere posturing while providing a shield for some governors who are said to be his friends.
Dr Edwin Clark, an Ijaw leader is one of such people. A media report recently quoted him as saying that the Attorney General was working with some unnamed officials in the Presidency to ensure that Ibori did not stand trial. Clark, a lawyer and former national information minister specifically queried what he said was the AGF’s letter to his British counterpart in the United Kingdom, requesting the stoppage of the trial of Ibori in London. “There must be something going on between the AGF and Ibori, if he has approved six cases out of eight leaving Ibori’s, there must be something going on. He mentioned all Ibori’s associates and say they cannot be tried by the British Government,” he said.
Opinions such as Clark’s have endured in spite of an earlier assurance by the Presidency that there would be no shield for any corrupt Nigerian, no matter how highly placed.
Presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi had issued a very categorical statement on the issue when the Ibori case first broke into national consciousness. The statement read in part:
“In the particular case of Ibori, contrary to suggestions that Yar‘Adua and his administration are wilfully shielding the former governor from prosecution by the EFCC and the British authorities, the President has in fact authorised a visit to Nigeria by officers of the Metropolitan Police who are conducting a criminal investigation of Ibori.
“Furthermore, the President has directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to give the fullest possible cooperation to the officers of the Metropolitan Police in their quest for evidence of offences allegedly committed by Ibori. Because the war against corruption is a process and not an event, the President believes that it is best to follow the path of legality in its prosecution.
“He (Yar’Adua) is convinced that while this may seem unduly slow to some people, it will ultimately prove to be a much more effective and enduring approach to the war against corruption in our country. I reaffirm that as far as Yar‘Adua is concerned, nobody, no matter how highly placed, and no institution, no matter what it considers the rightness of its cause, will be considered a sacred cow or above the law in the bid to rid Nigeria of corrupt practices.”
Beautiful, forthright statement, don’t you think? Yet the doubts won’t go away. And you wonder why. I don’t know for sure, but as a person, I have the usual struggle between my head and my heart. My head, worldly wise and wont to cast do-gooders as the biblical angels of light says to distrust the minister and his principal. My heart, which is where issues of life emanate, says to give him a chance; to err on the side of due process.
I have decided to hearken to my heart. Due process, after all, is of God. As I remember saying on this page before, God could have arbitrarily snatched the world back from satan after Adam wilfully handed it to him in the Garden of Eden. He did not. He patiently went through the due process of raising the “Seed of the woman”, (Genesis 3:15) that is the Lord Jesus, to be born, walk the earth and eventually “utterly crush and eternally defeat Satan” and wrest the prize back from him.
That is the way of God. That is the way Aondoakaa and the President say they are treading. So, let’s give them a chance to prove their sincerity, after all, as the Lord Jesus Himself said “…there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known (Matthew 10:26).
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Republic, is fast becoming the issue in Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade. And depending on your perception of the man’s activities since coming to office, he can be either an impediment to the crusade or a stickler for the rule of law; a shield for the corrupt or a determined agent of change in the way sleaze is fought; a demagogue or a nationalist; an emerging hero or a burgeoning villain.
Beginning with that famous press conference where he announced that all anti-corruption prosecutions were to henceforth originate from his office, through the allegations and counter allegations on the roles played or being played by his office and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the attempt to prosecute ex-Governor Ibori, Aondoakaa has found himself in the thick of controversies.
I have tried to listen to the man, I have tried to read his lips and analyse his body language and I am humble enough to admit that I am none the wiser for my effort.
Take his rhetoric. He says he has the right under the law to supervise the anti-corruption agencies including the power to authorize or withhold approval for prosecution; that has not and, from what I understand, cannot be controverted. So his decision to allow the EFCC to continue to initiate prosecution and step in only when he considers it necessary to do so is an act of magnanimity!
He says the request for documentary evidence from the EFCC to pursue the case against Ibori was procedurally flawed. According to him, the request should have come from the British Home Office and not from a lowly officer at the London Metropolitan Police. In his books that is a slap in the face of our sovereignty as a nation. He also pointed out that the attempt by EFCC to aid the London Mets was also inappropriate, because, EFCC had not only sent documents without his knowledge, even the letter requesting his retroactive authorization did not include copies of the documents he was supposed to be authorizing the Commission to release.
His words, according to a recent newspaper report:
“In Nigeria, a Crown counsel is the equivalent of a state counsel, a level 8 officer. So, I refused and told them that they had to do the right thing. I think Nigeria, as a sovereign nation, deserves some respect. They knew they were wrong, otherwise why did they now write through the Home Office requesting for mutual assistance to quiz Adenuga? I cannot compromise the sovereignty of this country. If they make incompetent requests, I will turn them down 20 times. Any request from the Metropolitan Police will be refused by this office, period. We had made a request in 2004 to the Metropolitan Police. They faulted us and refused until we did the right thing. If they bring another request under the MLAT signed by the appropriate authorities, I will attend to it. .When I rejected their request on Ibori, the then British Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Gozney, came here with a superintendent to say that they did not mean to undermine the AGF and I agreed with them. What I am saying is that the procedure they adopted was wrong. Otherwise, why are they now doing the right thing in the case of Adenuga?”
On his refusal to authorise the use of evidence sent to British authorities by EFCC, he was quoted as follows:
“Now, how can I sign something which did not pass through my office? I do not know the documents in question because they were not even attached to the letter the commission sent to me. How can someone accuse me of shielding Ibori under such a circumstance? People should ask why the commission has not initiated his trial all this while. The truth is that the EFCC sent the documents to London without authority. That is the position of government. I did not write any letter to President Umaru Yar’Adua that Ibori should not be prosecuted. There is nothing like that. I simply refused the request for mutual legal assistance because it was procedurally flawed.”
But of course, this stance of Aondoakaa is being taken with a pinch of salt, dismissed as mere posturing while providing a shield for some governors who are said to be his friends.
Dr Edwin Clark, an Ijaw leader is one of such people. A media report recently quoted him as saying that the Attorney General was working with some unnamed officials in the Presidency to ensure that Ibori did not stand trial. Clark, a lawyer and former national information minister specifically queried what he said was the AGF’s letter to his British counterpart in the United Kingdom, requesting the stoppage of the trial of Ibori in London. “There must be something going on between the AGF and Ibori, if he has approved six cases out of eight leaving Ibori’s, there must be something going on. He mentioned all Ibori’s associates and say they cannot be tried by the British Government,” he said.
Opinions such as Clark’s have endured in spite of an earlier assurance by the Presidency that there would be no shield for any corrupt Nigerian, no matter how highly placed.
Presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi had issued a very categorical statement on the issue when the Ibori case first broke into national consciousness. The statement read in part:
“In the particular case of Ibori, contrary to suggestions that Yar‘Adua and his administration are wilfully shielding the former governor from prosecution by the EFCC and the British authorities, the President has in fact authorised a visit to Nigeria by officers of the Metropolitan Police who are conducting a criminal investigation of Ibori.
“Furthermore, the President has directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to give the fullest possible cooperation to the officers of the Metropolitan Police in their quest for evidence of offences allegedly committed by Ibori. Because the war against corruption is a process and not an event, the President believes that it is best to follow the path of legality in its prosecution.
“He (Yar’Adua) is convinced that while this may seem unduly slow to some people, it will ultimately prove to be a much more effective and enduring approach to the war against corruption in our country. I reaffirm that as far as Yar‘Adua is concerned, nobody, no matter how highly placed, and no institution, no matter what it considers the rightness of its cause, will be considered a sacred cow or above the law in the bid to rid Nigeria of corrupt practices.”
Beautiful, forthright statement, don’t you think? Yet the doubts won’t go away. And you wonder why. I don’t know for sure, but as a person, I have the usual struggle between my head and my heart. My head, worldly wise and wont to cast do-gooders as the biblical angels of light says to distrust the minister and his principal. My heart, which is where issues of life emanate, says to give him a chance; to err on the side of due process.
I have decided to hearken to my heart. Due process, after all, is of God. As I remember saying on this page before, God could have arbitrarily snatched the world back from satan after Adam wilfully handed it to him in the Garden of Eden. He did not. He patiently went through the due process of raising the “Seed of the woman”, (Genesis 3:15) that is the Lord Jesus, to be born, walk the earth and eventually “utterly crush and eternally defeat Satan” and wrest the prize back from him.
That is the way of God. That is the way Aondoakaa and the President say they are treading. So, let’s give them a chance to prove their sincerity, after all, as the Lord Jesus Himself said “…there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known (Matthew 10:26).
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Sunday 2 December 2007
INTEGRITY CHECK FOR THE CHURCH (3)
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
As we were saying, two recent developments: one here in Nigeria, the other in the United States may well be pointing in the direction of critical self-examination in the church.
To refresh your memory, reports emanating from the Federal Ministry of Finance indicate that at least one well-known church may have been implicated in the import duty waiver policy abuse that has led to the policy’s suspension. Specifically, it was said that waivers granted the church for the importation of building materials were extended to cover other imports. The value of duty thus evaded was, according to a media report, put at up to N20 billion.
Two investigations, I believe, are on-going; a general one by a panel led by Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma and the other hopefully by the Christian Association of Nigeria which requested for and eventually received certain documentary evidence of the church’s involvement in what one newspaper has dubbed “a holy scam.” Further comments on this particular issue must therefore await the report of these probes both of which we expect would be placed in the public domain.
The development in the US, on the other hand, revolves round an investigation into the uses to which churches are putting the finances collected by way of tithes, offerings and other collections for which they are tax exempt. Citing reports and complaints reaching his office, Senator Charles Chucks Grassler, an influential member of the Senate Committee on Finance wrote letters to six of the top Pentecostal/charismatic ministries asking detailed questions about their expenses pattern and the tax exempt status of some specific expenses or associated projects or establishments. The six who received and have till December 6 to reply the letters are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
As in the Nigerian case, it would be premature to comment on the culpability or otherwise of any or al the ministries until Senator Grassler and his colleagues on the finance committee conclude their assignment. So, I shall refrain from doing so. It’s however probably not out of place to attempt to read the handwriting on the wall.
First, let me state that the power of the Senate of the United States of America, to initiate the kind of investigation that Grassler is undertaking, derives from the oversight function of the legislature on issues pertaining to public finance. And if you wonder how the account of religious bodies could fit into the realm of public finance, read this quote from Grassler’s press release on the issue: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Second, I wish to state that, from my little knowledge of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the National Assembly has similar oversight powers and so can, should it feel a need to do so in the public interest, conduct such an investigation for the same reasons.
Thirdly, I also state that initiators of any such investigations in Nigeria will be subjected to emotional and religious blackmail, no matter who they are, their antecedents and intentions, but in the end, should they persevere, I would be surprised if they do not unearth cans and cans of worms (no puns intended).
I know for sure that I am treading on dangerous grounds here and might even be accused of inciting the legislature against the church, with such dire consequences as calls for my excommunication! No matter. This is an issue, I believe we need to be in your face about and that’s what I propose to do in my own little way.
Let’s begin with the tax exempt status of our churches and ministries. The status is universally conferred on not-for-profit organizations. This is as it should be because, if the profit motive is not the reason for your existence, there is technically nothing to tax. But what happens when a not-for-profit body establishes profit-making associates? Should such an associated company be exempted from tax?
A typical scenario goes like this: A ministry sustains itself from the tithes, offerings and other donations from members of the public, including, but not limited to its members and congregants. From this tax-free income, it establishes a book store, video and audio tape shop and sometimes even a printing press. Whether the materials and services sold in these outlets are solely those of that ministry or not, profit is made from such operations. Should such profit be tax-free particularly as the products and services are hardly ever subsidized?
Incidentally, this situation is clearly exemplified by the fees being charged by secondary and tertiary educational institutions established by churches and ministries. As I was preparing this article, a brother told me of a secondary school whose fees are so high that the teachers who are members of the owner-ministry and who live on the campus cannot afford the fees and so send there children to schools outside the campus residence. In addition to the tax exempt status of such institutions is the issue of how well staffers of these ministries and ministry-owned institutions are remunerated.
There is the issue of the fixing of remuneration for ministers. How much should a general overseer or superintendent or presiding bishop earn? Who fixes such income and by what criteria? Of course this speaks directly also to the issue of whether not-for-profit organizations should be run as sole-proprietorships. In other words, is a ministry independent of its founder or are they one and the same legal persons? What obtains today, with very few exceptions, is that there is no difference.
We can go on and on. The point being made, however, is simple: if the system in the USA threw up a Senator Grassler, it certainly will incarnate one in Nigeria sooner or later. And like Grassler, he might even be an anointed, tongue-talking, devil-chasing, born-again Christian; so that there won’t be convincing ground for demonisation.
To everyone who reads this and is wont to begin the name-calling right now, I commend the scripture in 1Corinthians Chapter 11 and verse 31 which the Message renders like this: “If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on.” That is my call to the Church.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
As we were saying, two recent developments: one here in Nigeria, the other in the United States may well be pointing in the direction of critical self-examination in the church.
To refresh your memory, reports emanating from the Federal Ministry of Finance indicate that at least one well-known church may have been implicated in the import duty waiver policy abuse that has led to the policy’s suspension. Specifically, it was said that waivers granted the church for the importation of building materials were extended to cover other imports. The value of duty thus evaded was, according to a media report, put at up to N20 billion.
Two investigations, I believe, are on-going; a general one by a panel led by Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma and the other hopefully by the Christian Association of Nigeria which requested for and eventually received certain documentary evidence of the church’s involvement in what one newspaper has dubbed “a holy scam.” Further comments on this particular issue must therefore await the report of these probes both of which we expect would be placed in the public domain.
The development in the US, on the other hand, revolves round an investigation into the uses to which churches are putting the finances collected by way of tithes, offerings and other collections for which they are tax exempt. Citing reports and complaints reaching his office, Senator Charles Chucks Grassler, an influential member of the Senate Committee on Finance wrote letters to six of the top Pentecostal/charismatic ministries asking detailed questions about their expenses pattern and the tax exempt status of some specific expenses or associated projects or establishments. The six who received and have till December 6 to reply the letters are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
As in the Nigerian case, it would be premature to comment on the culpability or otherwise of any or al the ministries until Senator Grassler and his colleagues on the finance committee conclude their assignment. So, I shall refrain from doing so. It’s however probably not out of place to attempt to read the handwriting on the wall.
First, let me state that the power of the Senate of the United States of America, to initiate the kind of investigation that Grassler is undertaking, derives from the oversight function of the legislature on issues pertaining to public finance. And if you wonder how the account of religious bodies could fit into the realm of public finance, read this quote from Grassler’s press release on the issue: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Second, I wish to state that, from my little knowledge of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the National Assembly has similar oversight powers and so can, should it feel a need to do so in the public interest, conduct such an investigation for the same reasons.
Thirdly, I also state that initiators of any such investigations in Nigeria will be subjected to emotional and religious blackmail, no matter who they are, their antecedents and intentions, but in the end, should they persevere, I would be surprised if they do not unearth cans and cans of worms (no puns intended).
I know for sure that I am treading on dangerous grounds here and might even be accused of inciting the legislature against the church, with such dire consequences as calls for my excommunication! No matter. This is an issue, I believe we need to be in your face about and that’s what I propose to do in my own little way.
Let’s begin with the tax exempt status of our churches and ministries. The status is universally conferred on not-for-profit organizations. This is as it should be because, if the profit motive is not the reason for your existence, there is technically nothing to tax. But what happens when a not-for-profit body establishes profit-making associates? Should such an associated company be exempted from tax?
A typical scenario goes like this: A ministry sustains itself from the tithes, offerings and other donations from members of the public, including, but not limited to its members and congregants. From this tax-free income, it establishes a book store, video and audio tape shop and sometimes even a printing press. Whether the materials and services sold in these outlets are solely those of that ministry or not, profit is made from such operations. Should such profit be tax-free particularly as the products and services are hardly ever subsidized?
Incidentally, this situation is clearly exemplified by the fees being charged by secondary and tertiary educational institutions established by churches and ministries. As I was preparing this article, a brother told me of a secondary school whose fees are so high that the teachers who are members of the owner-ministry and who live on the campus cannot afford the fees and so send there children to schools outside the campus residence. In addition to the tax exempt status of such institutions is the issue of how well staffers of these ministries and ministry-owned institutions are remunerated.
There is the issue of the fixing of remuneration for ministers. How much should a general overseer or superintendent or presiding bishop earn? Who fixes such income and by what criteria? Of course this speaks directly also to the issue of whether not-for-profit organizations should be run as sole-proprietorships. In other words, is a ministry independent of its founder or are they one and the same legal persons? What obtains today, with very few exceptions, is that there is no difference.
We can go on and on. The point being made, however, is simple: if the system in the USA threw up a Senator Grassler, it certainly will incarnate one in Nigeria sooner or later. And like Grassler, he might even be an anointed, tongue-talking, devil-chasing, born-again Christian; so that there won’t be convincing ground for demonisation.
To everyone who reads this and is wont to begin the name-calling right now, I commend the scripture in 1Corinthians Chapter 11 and verse 31 which the Message renders like this: “If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on.” That is my call to the Church.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
INTEGRITY CHECK FOR THE CHURCH (2)
KPerspective November 25 2007
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Last week, I drew attention to an altercation between the Federal Ministry of Finance and The Christian Association of Nigeria. As we saw, one of the reasons the Yar’Adua government suspended and is currently reviewing the previous administration’s import duty waiver policy is its widespread abuse; and among those being fingered for the abuse is at least one church.
Unfortunately, because the finance minister is a Moslem, it is all too easy to read motives other than the public good to his public declaration of the church’s culpability. And that would seem to be what CAN, through National Secretary Salifu implied in the first reaction when the news broke. The minister’s subsequent response and at least one newspaper report would seem to suggest, however, that there might be something in it worth our collective attention as members of the body of Christ, the Church. Which is why, I see in it the first note in a clarion call on the church to do an integrity check; a clarion that is bound to increase several decibels per day this season of the flood of righteousness. To see it otherwise, in my humble view, is to miss the import of this call to integrity and that would be truly tragic.
This is particularly so because, as I intimated last week, it does seem that the call to integrity in the church is not limited to Nigeria. And we need to understand it for what it is - yet another evidence that these are the end-times and the Lord Jesus is determined to come back for a glorious church.
As you read this, six of the more prominent Pentecostal ministers in the United States of America would most probably be getting their acts together to send, as Charisma magazine editor, J. Lee Grady put it in a recent column, “a boatload of paperwork to prove they are in compliance with U.S. tax laws”. This would be in reply to a request by Senator Charles Chucks Grassley, described as “the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.” The Big Six who received Grassley’s letter are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
Giving reasons for initiating this investigation, Grassley said in a media release: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Towards achieving his objectives, Grassley asked the six ministries to send to him, within a month from November 6, which was when the letters were faxed to them, a long list of explanations, clarifications and documents.
For example, the letter to Joyce Meyer and her husband, David required of them the following in the words of a newspaper report:
• A "detailed accounting" of all her and her husband's expense-account items, including clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• Information about any overseas bank accounts and deposits made outside the U.S. after international evangelical crusades.
• The tax-exempt purpose of items purchased for her ministry's headquarters, such as a $23,000 marble-topped commode, a $30,000 conference table and an $11,219 French clock.
• A detailed accounting of total monthly expenses for upkeep on the Meyers' personal residence, and any vacation homes, from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation of any personal use of the ministries' tax-exempt assets, including "jets, employees, facilities," from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation for how personal gifts from donors, such as money or jewelry, are handled and reported to the IRS.
Randy and Paula White, divorced pastors of Without Walls Ministries were asked for:
• A detailed explanation of the compensation paid to them, as well as cash and noncash gifts, housing allowances and personal use of assets.
• A detailed list of any expenses paid for by their church or ministries toward the purchases and monthly maintenance of their residences on Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa, and in New York, San Antonio and Malibu, Calif.
• Credit card statements for expenses paid by their tax-exempt entity, including a list of all expense account items such as clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• A list of all domestic and overseas bank accounts and investments belonging to their organizations.
• A list of all vehicles purchased, leased or maintained by their tax-exempt organizations.
• Copies of flight records of any aircraft leased or owned by their ministries, as well as flight itineraries for both of them.
• A copy of the bill of sale, type of payment used and an explanation of the reported tax-exempt purchase of a Bentley convertible as a gift for Bishop T.D. Jakes.
• A detailed accounting of $871,000 worth of items reportedly sold to the church since 2005 by two of the private businesses owned by them, and an explanation as to who determined that the church would purchase these items.
• An explanation of who determines how the funds of Without Walls and Paula White Ministries are spent, copies of all board minutes and whether any of the decisions, both operational and financial, are subject to oversight by an elected or appointed body.
Lee Grady summarized other key requirements listed in Grassley’s letters as follows:
• Information from Bible teacher Joyce Meyer about expensive furnishings in her Missouri headquarters—including a $30,000 malachite table, a $23,000 toilet with a marble lid and a $19,000 pair of Dresden vases
• Paperwork explaining how Benny Hinn’s ministry purchased his $3 million home in Dana Point, Calif.
• Receipts and other records explaining how Eddie Long paid for his $1.4 million estate on 20 acres in suburban Atlanta
• Records about vacation trips to Hawaii and Fiji that Kenneth and Gloria Copeland took using their ministry plane
• Clarification from Atlanta faith preacher Creflo Dollar about his role in raising a hefty portion of a $2 million gift donated to Kenneth Copeland.
Of course, reactions have been fast and furious with one of the most strident coming from Paul Crouch Jnr of Trinity Broadcasting Network who described Grassley’s effort as “an inquisition”.
Incidentally, Grassley is not a newcomer to this particular kind of exertion. In the words of Grady, “Grassley has been applauded in the past for blowing the whistle on financial abuses among secular nonprofit organizations including the American Red Cross.” So, it would be hard to make a tag of anti-Christianity on him stick. And as some commentators have already noted, any attempt to demonise the senator might rob the church of a wonderful opportunity to do an integrity check. That as I said earlier would be tragic indeed. (CONTINUES NEXT WEEK)
FROM MY IN-BOX
LET’S WALK OUR TALK
Lots of beautifully scripted words in your article, but I think for me, the 5th to the last paragraph in your commentary captures the essence of what's happening (or has already happened to our men & women of "character") - the human being you n I see and worship with in Church is the same human being we see and work with in our various offices. Where human BEINGS not "human robots" or "humanoid replicas"
cannot, refuse to or omit to STAND UP FOR the truth whether in Church, at work, at school or at play, the present situation we have will persist.
I recently met an elderly man on one of my marketing visits to a multinational company. He is neither an ordained Pastor nor a General Overseer of any Church.
He is presently a Departmental Head in his place of work. He told me that years ago (almost 2 decades now), he made a conscious decision to ensure the employment of qualified Christians. (He meets you, your CV is ok, he forwards it to his Human Resources Dept and follows through until you come in or they formally decline). Please note that he has never worked in the Human Resources Dept of the Company. He says that he realized then that many Christians never ever get the opportunity to "access" highly paid jobs in some "coveted" sectors of the economy. It may interest you to know that one pastor has worked in the Human Resource Dept of the same Company for years (and is still working) and no-one else in his Church has "made it in".
We speak a lot of English on these matters, but you and I can count how many of us "spiritual people" in Church really walk our talk. Do what you can, though. Maybe, God willing, some of the people who read y6our column or visit your site will be convicted by the Lord to do something more. Stay blessed!
CHERIE DIBIANA (Mrs)
Lagos, Nigeria
GOD IS MOVING AGAIN
I have taken time to go through the November Kingdom Perspective and I believe God is moving again in this country by using people like you to stir up hearts of men - after all, issues of life flow therefrom. It has certainly made good impact on me and made me do a re-think of what our life is worth without character? Someone once defined character of any man as '' what a man thinks, says and does in the closet''- i.e. a man is what he is when nobody else is watching him.
Once again, thank you for your labour of love and may the Lord reward you mightily in Jesus name. Blessings!!
SEGUN ASABA
Lagos, Nigeria.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Last week, I drew attention to an altercation between the Federal Ministry of Finance and The Christian Association of Nigeria. As we saw, one of the reasons the Yar’Adua government suspended and is currently reviewing the previous administration’s import duty waiver policy is its widespread abuse; and among those being fingered for the abuse is at least one church.
Unfortunately, because the finance minister is a Moslem, it is all too easy to read motives other than the public good to his public declaration of the church’s culpability. And that would seem to be what CAN, through National Secretary Salifu implied in the first reaction when the news broke. The minister’s subsequent response and at least one newspaper report would seem to suggest, however, that there might be something in it worth our collective attention as members of the body of Christ, the Church. Which is why, I see in it the first note in a clarion call on the church to do an integrity check; a clarion that is bound to increase several decibels per day this season of the flood of righteousness. To see it otherwise, in my humble view, is to miss the import of this call to integrity and that would be truly tragic.
This is particularly so because, as I intimated last week, it does seem that the call to integrity in the church is not limited to Nigeria. And we need to understand it for what it is - yet another evidence that these are the end-times and the Lord Jesus is determined to come back for a glorious church.
As you read this, six of the more prominent Pentecostal ministers in the United States of America would most probably be getting their acts together to send, as Charisma magazine editor, J. Lee Grady put it in a recent column, “a boatload of paperwork to prove they are in compliance with U.S. tax laws”. This would be in reply to a request by Senator Charles Chucks Grassley, described as “the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.” The Big Six who received Grassley’s letter are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
Giving reasons for initiating this investigation, Grassley said in a media release: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Towards achieving his objectives, Grassley asked the six ministries to send to him, within a month from November 6, which was when the letters were faxed to them, a long list of explanations, clarifications and documents.
For example, the letter to Joyce Meyer and her husband, David required of them the following in the words of a newspaper report:
• A "detailed accounting" of all her and her husband's expense-account items, including clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• Information about any overseas bank accounts and deposits made outside the U.S. after international evangelical crusades.
• The tax-exempt purpose of items purchased for her ministry's headquarters, such as a $23,000 marble-topped commode, a $30,000 conference table and an $11,219 French clock.
• A detailed accounting of total monthly expenses for upkeep on the Meyers' personal residence, and any vacation homes, from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation of any personal use of the ministries' tax-exempt assets, including "jets, employees, facilities," from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation for how personal gifts from donors, such as money or jewelry, are handled and reported to the IRS.
Randy and Paula White, divorced pastors of Without Walls Ministries were asked for:
• A detailed explanation of the compensation paid to them, as well as cash and noncash gifts, housing allowances and personal use of assets.
• A detailed list of any expenses paid for by their church or ministries toward the purchases and monthly maintenance of their residences on Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa, and in New York, San Antonio and Malibu, Calif.
• Credit card statements for expenses paid by their tax-exempt entity, including a list of all expense account items such as clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• A list of all domestic and overseas bank accounts and investments belonging to their organizations.
• A list of all vehicles purchased, leased or maintained by their tax-exempt organizations.
• Copies of flight records of any aircraft leased or owned by their ministries, as well as flight itineraries for both of them.
• A copy of the bill of sale, type of payment used and an explanation of the reported tax-exempt purchase of a Bentley convertible as a gift for Bishop T.D. Jakes.
• A detailed accounting of $871,000 worth of items reportedly sold to the church since 2005 by two of the private businesses owned by them, and an explanation as to who determined that the church would purchase these items.
• An explanation of who determines how the funds of Without Walls and Paula White Ministries are spent, copies of all board minutes and whether any of the decisions, both operational and financial, are subject to oversight by an elected or appointed body.
Lee Grady summarized other key requirements listed in Grassley’s letters as follows:
• Information from Bible teacher Joyce Meyer about expensive furnishings in her Missouri headquarters—including a $30,000 malachite table, a $23,000 toilet with a marble lid and a $19,000 pair of Dresden vases
• Paperwork explaining how Benny Hinn’s ministry purchased his $3 million home in Dana Point, Calif.
• Receipts and other records explaining how Eddie Long paid for his $1.4 million estate on 20 acres in suburban Atlanta
• Records about vacation trips to Hawaii and Fiji that Kenneth and Gloria Copeland took using their ministry plane
• Clarification from Atlanta faith preacher Creflo Dollar about his role in raising a hefty portion of a $2 million gift donated to Kenneth Copeland.
Of course, reactions have been fast and furious with one of the most strident coming from Paul Crouch Jnr of Trinity Broadcasting Network who described Grassley’s effort as “an inquisition”.
Incidentally, Grassley is not a newcomer to this particular kind of exertion. In the words of Grady, “Grassley has been applauded in the past for blowing the whistle on financial abuses among secular nonprofit organizations including the American Red Cross.” So, it would be hard to make a tag of anti-Christianity on him stick. And as some commentators have already noted, any attempt to demonise the senator might rob the church of a wonderful opportunity to do an integrity check. That as I said earlier would be tragic indeed. (CONTINUES NEXT WEEK)
FROM MY IN-BOX
LET’S WALK OUR TALK
Lots of beautifully scripted words in your article, but I think for me, the 5th to the last paragraph in your commentary captures the essence of what's happening (or has already happened to our men & women of "character") - the human being you n I see and worship with in Church is the same human being we see and work with in our various offices. Where human BEINGS not "human robots" or "humanoid replicas"
cannot, refuse to or omit to STAND UP FOR the truth whether in Church, at work, at school or at play, the present situation we have will persist.
I recently met an elderly man on one of my marketing visits to a multinational company. He is neither an ordained Pastor nor a General Overseer of any Church.
He is presently a Departmental Head in his place of work. He told me that years ago (almost 2 decades now), he made a conscious decision to ensure the employment of qualified Christians. (He meets you, your CV is ok, he forwards it to his Human Resources Dept and follows through until you come in or they formally decline). Please note that he has never worked in the Human Resources Dept of the Company. He says that he realized then that many Christians never ever get the opportunity to "access" highly paid jobs in some "coveted" sectors of the economy. It may interest you to know that one pastor has worked in the Human Resource Dept of the same Company for years (and is still working) and no-one else in his Church has "made it in".
We speak a lot of English on these matters, but you and I can count how many of us "spiritual people" in Church really walk our talk. Do what you can, though. Maybe, God willing, some of the people who read y6our column or visit your site will be convicted by the Lord to do something more. Stay blessed!
CHERIE DIBIANA (Mrs)
Lagos, Nigeria
GOD IS MOVING AGAIN
I have taken time to go through the November Kingdom Perspective and I believe God is moving again in this country by using people like you to stir up hearts of men - after all, issues of life flow therefrom. It has certainly made good impact on me and made me do a re-think of what our life is worth without character? Someone once defined character of any man as '' what a man thinks, says and does in the closet''- i.e. a man is what he is when nobody else is watching him.
Once again, thank you for your labour of love and may the Lord reward you mightily in Jesus name. Blessings!!
SEGUN ASABA
Lagos, Nigeria.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
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