NOT YET IN MARVEL AKPOYIBO’S IMAGE

In spite of these however, Akpoyibo has a major question to answer. Police extortion of motorists has been on the rise. Ask any bus driver or conductor. Interview any commercial motor cycle operator. They’ll tell you how brazen, how in your face this practice is. For instance, between Ikeja and Ogba bus terminals, there are up to five such “toll” collection points every night in the last several months. Of these, three are between ABC bus stop on Adeniyi Jones Avenue and CMB, a mere three stops apart, with each team of uniformed men (with at least one armed) openly collecting “dues” from bus and motorcycle operators

It was an unusual sight… a senior police officer flat on his belly, microphone in hand, “confessing” to having been a patron of the occult. For many his presence in church, a Pentecostal church, was akin to meeting a virgin in a maternity ward – an impossibility sang about some decades back by Nigeria’s own country and western music star, Bongos Ikwue.

But it happened. There he was at the sanctuary of the headquarters church of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, TREM in Lagos. The occasion was the 6th edition of Breeding Leadership and National Transformation (BLENT) organized by the church. Dressed in civvies, Marvel Akpoyibo, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State told an audience which included the church’s Founding/Presiding Bishop and chief host, Dr Mike Okonkwo about his sojourn in the occult in his search for “supernatural power” to enable him excel as a policeman.

He recalled how as a young officer, he was persuaded to seek spiritual protection from occultic sources so that he might survive in the Nigeria Police. But he soon discovered the futility of relying on charms for protection, declaring that he never really felt secured until he accepted God into his life. He then called on those who might still be looking for protection and guidance from other beings besides God, to retrace their steps.

Testifying further to the place of his faith in the Lordship of Jesus Christ in his assignment in Lagos State, Akpoyibo was quoted as saying God had been of tremendously help to him in policing the economic capital of Nigeria. His words as reported by one of the newspapers: “When I was made the CP of Lagos, after I signed a hand over note, I told God I will not deliver the note until he signed his own column. I want you to help me police Lagos State. Before then, we were losing 10 policemen everyday, and 20 to 25 cars were being snatched everyday. But I handed over Lagos State to the almighty God and since then crime has reduced.”

Akpoyibo went on to solicit the prayers of Nigerians for the Nigeria Police, while urging youths and those indulged in crime to turn their minds to God. He counselled: “there is no virtue in criminal activities and those who engage in it will never end well…read the Bible and learn new things everyday. It will change your life for the better and take you away from sins.”

Akpoyibo left the church that Sunday, happy that he had opened up in order to encourage others to change their ways, expressing great joy that a large crowd of people went out to give their lives to Christ after his testimony. Not everybody applauded him, however. While some accused him of playing to the gallery. Others felt he was labelling his colleagues as cultists. Yet others dismissed him as superstitious and therefore unfit for his office.

So vociferous was the criticism in some circles that the State Police Command had to issue a statement clarifying issues. Spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, explained that his boss’ comments “were not meant to cast aspersion on any group or individual and should not be misconstrued…it was meant to admonish the youth on the futility of seeking power in whatever form from occultic forces.”

Mba wrote: ”I want Nigerians to know that the CP never made the comment to elicit negative reactions; he was in fact, making himself an example of what Godliness means in everybody‘s life…Particularly, he wanted police officers to know that the only source of guidance and protection they could have is from God and not any evil forces. We are all aware that policing a state like Lagos is not a tea party, hence the commissioner thinks that if the youth become more God-fearing, they will shun crime and the state will be the better for it…”

All of that was September last year. Since then I have watched the policing scene in Lagos with heightened interest. Has the fact of having a “born again” Christian as police commissioner changed anything? Has crime rate dropped since his public confession that he sought the assistance of God to police Lagos? Has there been any dramatic, not to say, miraculous unravelling of any crime since then?

Although, I do not have statistics to support this, I believe that the crime rate has indeed dropped. It is true that factors such as increased funding through the security trust fund, which translates to better equipping; the reduction of the pool of miscreants through creative employment policy of the state government, and the God-fearing leadership of Governor Babatunde Fashola have all combine to make this possible. But it is true, isn’t it that, “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain (Psalm 127: 1)?

Two incidents serve to reinforce my belief that Akpoyibo and his team have indeed had the divine hands of God working with them. You probably heard about the story of the boy who was kidnapped at his parent’s church at Magodo on the outskirts of the metropolis. The boy was found, if my memory serves right, within 24 hours. What struck me about this was the commissioner’s testimony on television that when the boy’s father came to his office, among the first things they did was pray together! To someone else that was wasting valuable crime-bursting time. To the commissioner that was obviously touching base with his senior partner! The second incident was the Niger Delta-like abduction of some foreign nationals in the creeks of Lagos Island. The speed with which the crime was detected and the victims freed was uncharacteristic of the Nigeria Police.

In spite of these however, Akpoyibo has a major question to answer. Police extortion of motorists has been on the rise. Ask any bus driver or conductor. Interview any commercial motor cycle operator. They’ll tell you how brazen, how in your face this practice is. For instance, between Ikeja and Ogba bus terminals, there are up to five such “toll” collection points every night in the last several months. Of these, three are between ABC bus stop on Adeniyi Jones Avenue and CMB, a mere three stops apart, with each team of uniformed men (with at least one armed) openly collecting “dues” from bus and motorcycle operators. These, for the avoidance of any doubts, are not “stop and search” operations or any other kind of crime prevention efforts. They are undisguised, devil-may-care N20-N50 extorting exercises.

Now, street wisdom has always had it that these guys are not acting alone; that they report to their various bosses, who give returns to their own bosses, right up to the highest level. State commissioners are rumoured to be somewhere in this chain. Is this still true? Does it happen in Lagos under a born-again, spirit-filled police commissioner? Or is it beyond a commissioner to tackle? The characteristics of a kingdom is said to derive from the character of the king. Something is terribly out of sync between the perceived image of Commissioner Akpoyibo and the street image of the police he leads in Lagos State. Will it still be so this time next year? We wait and watch.

PIX: Mr Marvel Akpoyiboh, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State...Wanted, A Police Command in his image


FROM MY INBOX

RE: THE RISE AND RISE OF CARNALITY
This is a perfect reportage of a powerful message by an inspired child of God. It is a timely warning to all in position of leadership in the body of Christ. I pray that the Holy Spirit will further minister on this to our hearts. Rev. Bayo's main theme is actually on "Holiness and Christian compromise". Christians are gradually blending with the world, adopting worldly tactics even for evangelism. This has resulted in the breeding of a generation of shallow, superficial believers, "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof..."

Church and ministries leaders in Nigeria, especially the pentecostals, should come together and agree on certain biblical standards of holiness in worship, which are not to be compromised in our worship of God. Jesus Christ is coming soon, we must not be caught napping. God bless you, Sir.
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" - Anon

Akintunde Makinde,
Apapa, Lagos

THE RISE AND RISE OF CANALITY

His antidote to this is “worship in the Spirit”. That is, worshipping in other tongues, which is currently not in vogue, even in pentecostal and charismatic churches. Referring to the following words of the Lord Jesus Christ: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24), Rev B said our humility must lead us to depend on the Holy Spirit even in our worship. Otherwise, it is not true humility and our worship would, more often than not, be unacceptable to God, since it is likely to be tainted by the flesh. Praise and Worship led of the flesh is unacceptable to God. It’s like Cain’s offering.

Carnality is on the rise among us Christians and many of the churches are helping its growth. In fact, many churches are today more carnal than spiritual. That about sums up the wake-up call issued last Tuesday by one of my pastors. Though, it was a revisit of what had become, for him, the most critical issue in the church today which, I had occasion to report last year, still, I feel an urgent need to share it again.

“Him” here refers to Rev Bayo Oniwinde, one of God’s gifts to the Body in the area of teaching the undiluted word of God. A man of faith who moves in the utterance gifts, he traces the genesis of his ministry to the year 1977 when he clearly heard the Lord say to him, “Feed My Sheep". He subsequently went into full time ministry in 1986 joining the Voice of Faith Ministries which is more popularly known as Christ Chapel International Churches in Lagos Nigeria, founded and led by Word of Faith icon, Rev Dr Tunde Joda.

Bishop, as he is fondly called is therefore a product of the “Coach” Tunde Joda school of ministry, under whose tutelage, he served for about fifteen years, learning and functioning in such diverse areas of church and ministry as pastoral, administrative, church planting, and marriage counselling. He was also involved in Bible School coordination and lecturing as well as conference planning. He is still on the teaching staff of the church’s Patmos Bible School of Faith.

Author of three books, "It is Written", " Believers, Your Case in Life is Different" and "What You Say Will Make Your Day", he currently runs Bayo Oniwinde Ministries, an independent international ministry which has seen him minister at seminars and conferences in places as far-flung as India, Britain, the United States, Estonia, Norway, and Sweden.

Ministering at CCIC, Ikeja Centre, his home church, Rev Bayo told the congregation that the level of carnality appears to be growing by the day, aided and abetted by what might be called the seeker-friendly disposition of many church leaders. This itself is the result of the drive for increased membership, which has led many churches to adopt ministry styles that are trendy and deliberately designed to pander to the preferences of the potential congregant.

But let’s put things in context. The theme for the month of June is Humility and the centre pastor, Rev Ajibola Oluyede had set the tone by defining humility as total, child-like dependence on God, rather than some external self-deprecation. He had explained that unless properly understood, it is possible for pride to manifest as false humility. The kind of humility God expects of His people is the kind that does not say I can’t; it’s the kind that says I can, because I am not the one who is going to do it; it’s my God. In other words, it’s humility borne out of total submission.

Ten days or so into the month-long programme, Rev B, who had been away, began to speak about humility in much the same terms, homing in on total dependence on the Holy Spirit in everything - to the exclusion of all else. He began, as he was wont to, with praise and worship in the Church. In his opinion, too much flesh has been brought into this very important part of the church’s fellowship. Referring to the showmanship, stylistics and histrionics that have become the hallmark of music ministry in many of our churches, he dismissed them as Christian entertainment rather than worship.

His antidote to this is “worship in the Spirit”. That is, worshipping in other tongues, which is currently not in vogue, even in pentecostal and charismatic churches. Referring to the following words of the Lord Jesus Christ: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24), Rev B said our humility must lead us to depend on the Holy Spirit even in our worship. Otherwise, it is not true humility and our worship would, more often than not, be unacceptable to God, since it is likely to be tainted by the flesh. Praise and Worship led of the flesh is unacceptable to God. It’s like Cain’s offering

What applies to the music ministry applies to all other areas of activities of the church. He said of ministry of the word: “It is not phonetics or eloquence; it is about the Holy Ghost and the plan of God”. In his view, what is happening in the churches today is simply following the vogue. It is about ‘this is the way they are doing it’. So people just copy what they see others doing that looks successful, irrespective of whether it is God’s plan for their own ministry or not. And since, the way they are doing it is not of God, He plays the observer rather than lead participant. This has to change.

Touching other salient points, Rev B said church leaders quarrelling with one another and refusing to make up; some refusing to apologise to their brothers, even when the Holy Spirit is leading them to, are not doing God’s will. He’s not going to stand for that in the new dispensation. There are those who think they can go it alone and are therefore unwilling to associate with others. God’s position on unity is clear; the Church is one body, indivisible and interdependent.
Speaking on the carnal pursuit of wealth in the church, Rev B recalled that he had been at ministers’ conference where a lot of time was spent on the marketing of stocks and shares. At one such conference, the sales pitch for a particular company’s stocks was that the G.O had bought. Well there’s nothing wrong with buying shares, but it does reflect the state of the church if such a thing takes considerable time at a ministers’ conference. Wealth belongs to the church, children of God are expected to be financially buoyant, but if it’s of God, it will come by the supernatural. Citing example of the early church, he said they lacked nothing. The Holy Spirit was in charge and nobody needed to be cajoled to bring resources into the kingdom. People did it voluntarily laying it at the apostle’s feet. The couple which attempted to fool the Holy Ghost, Ananias and Sapphira never lived to tell the story (see Acts 5). The power to make wealth comes from God. And if we will humble ourselves and listen for the voice of God, we will prosper.

God’s vessel has to be holy, submitted to him and willing to carry the anointing with humility and use it with responsibility, he said. When some ministers get big, they become complacent. Much time is spent in carnally putting up programmes and projects; while so little time is spent on the pursuit of spiritual direction and the power that comes with it. If we put the Holy Spirit in the driving seat, the world would see a church that is united and powerful. Even the intellectual bows to the supernatural. When people see the power of God at work, even the most “religious” of them will come running.

Concluding on an almost apocalyptic note, Rev B reminded us that Jesus Has made it clear that He would come back for “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27) and He’s not going to allow anything or anyone get in the way of his plans. He said, although God really doesn’t want to bring judgement upon the people, it doesn’t seem like we are giving Him a choice. Unless we change, it will happen and it will begin at the top, with those who are supposed to know. The point is that God is going to bring revival into His church. And if that requires that some current leaders be removed, He’ll do it and replace them with those who will follow his set pattern.

The Holy Ghost, not our intellect and the wisdom of the world, must be allowed to stay in the leadership of the church.

PIX: Rev BAYO ONIWINDE... A burden for revival in the Church

BARRISTER JITI OGUNYE’S DILEMMA

“It is this. An election holds. It is roundly adjudged to be far from being free, fair and credible. Therefore, those declared winners and who subsequently assume office could not have been said to be freely chosen leaders of the people. But no sooner have they resumed office illegitimately, than prayers for their success begin to ring out from pulpits across the land, presumably including his own church. Mr Ogunye traces this to the English tradition of praying for the King or the Queen, as is currently the case. He didn’t see why he should be called upon to pray for vote riggers and usurpers. And I won’t be surprised if on each such occasion, he chose to excuse himself.”

You probably have heard him speak. He is a lawyer and public affairs commentator who serves as a regular resource person on news and current affair programmes on a couple of television stations. Last Sunday, he was on Galaxy Television’s “Democracy Today” programme where, as usual, he spoke passionately about the ills of our dear nation. As the show was drawing to a close, he opened up on what I consider one of the deepest dilemmas of the politically conscious Christian. Jiti Ogunye is his name and as he said on the programme, he is a Christian, a member of the Anglican Church and a communicant. A communicant, for the benefit of the uninitiated, is someone qualified to and who receives the Holy Communion regularly. It also signifies his commitment to his faith in Christ Jesus. But there is something that bothers him.

It is this. An election holds. It is roundly adjudged to be far from being free, fair and credible. Therefore, those declared winners and who subsequently assume office could not have been said to be freely chosen leaders of the people. But no sooner have they resumed office illegitimately, than prayers for their success begin to ring out from pulpits across the land, presumably including his own church. Mr Ogunye traces this to the English tradition of praying for the King or the Queen, as is currently the case. He didn’t see why he should be called upon to pray for vote riggers and usurpers. And I won’t be surprised if on each such occasion, he chose to excuse himself.

I truly feel his pain. I share his dilemma. As readers of this column might remember, I had a thing or two to say about the place of God in the aftermath of the elections of 2007. When Vice President Goodluck Jonathan said their election was the Lord’s doing, I challenged him. In a piece titled, “The Lord’s Doing? No Sir!” (April 29, 2007), I concluded on this note: “Goodluck Jonathan, the Vice President-elect says their election is the Lord’s doing and I say no, it’s the doing of one man and his courtiers and that man is Obasanjo. How do I know? God is a God of justice and equity; He is also a God of due process. So committed to due process is our God that, he did not snatch control of the world from satan unilaterally when Adam foolishly handed it over to the serpent. Jesus had to come as the second Adam to pay the price for Adam’s rebellion and thus become qualified to retrieve what the first Adam lost. That is due process. Were God to want to install Yar’Adua and Jonathan, he would not use a flawed, fraud-filled and violent process. God is therefore not in this charade and because he is not in it, it cannot stand….”

When Professor Iwu described his INEC’s ability to commission, print and receive ballot papers for the Presidential election within 48 hours as a miracle and an evidence that God loves this country, I reacted this way: “Thank God that we are in this wonderful dispensation of grace! … Iwu allowed himself to be drawn away by his own pathological desire to do his master’s bidding in the exclusion of candidate Atiku Abubakar; attempted to play God by foreclosing the man’s participation in the presidential race and when a just, due-process committed God upturned their plan, he turns round to pat himself on the back for expensively half-solving the problem! And horror of horrors, he brings the name of God into it! Now how close to sacrilege can you get!” [On the Wings of Sacrilege (May 20, 2007)].

In that same piece, I recalled the then president, Olusegun Obasanjo as saying to an audience of congratulators: “although sceptics had doubted the conduct of the 2007 elections, it has come and gone and to a majority of Nigerians and God the results are acceptable.” In reaction, I wrote: “…It is clear even to the blind that majority of Nigerians do not find the elections acceptable. As for God finding the result of fraud and brazen manipulation acceptable, all I can say is “which god?” Certainly not the God that many of us know and worship. He is too holy, too just, to be a part of the massive rigging of April 2007. Surely as a Sunday school teacher, the president would certainly know that one of the most basic things taught children in churches is “thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). One Bible scholar explains that this commandment is not only against false swearing, but also against ‘all profane, trivial, and irreverent uses of God's name.’ Can anything be more profane and irreverent than these? Lord have mercy.”

From the foregoing, I am sure you’ll agree that Barrister Jiti and I are virtually on the same page in these matters. But let’s take a close look at the issue. The first point to make is that the practice of praying for leaders is not peculiar to the Anglican Church; it is therefore not a British export. It is a biblical injunction that can be found in chapter two of the First Epistle of Paul to Titus, verses one and two thus: “I exhort therefore that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving thanks be made for all men, For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” This passage does not say pray for those who deserve to be in authority or those who got to office legitimately. It did not discriminate! So, in praying for “kings and for all that are in authority,” we are simply being called to obey the injunctions of God who spoke through the mouth of one of His apostles.

Mr Ogunye also found unacceptable the usual rationale given by the church for urging acceptance of usurpers and going the extra mile of praying for them, namely that all powers belong to God and He gives it to whomsoever He wills. Again, I am with the learned barrister. It’s just that that is what the Bible says! And we either accept the Bible as the word of God, which cannot be broken or reject it in its entirety.

Psalm 62:11 says, “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.” In the Book of Proverbs, God declared, “By me kings reign…” Since only the one who has it can give it, then we must accept this as the gospel truth. But does that mean God supports injustice and inequity? Does it suggest that God Had a hand in, for instance, the charade of April 2007 or the most recent devil-may-care, in your face imposition of Mr Segun Oni upon the Ekiti people? I am absolutely certain the answer is NO!

So where does that leave us? If He does not approve of the method, why should He ask us to pray to sustain them in office? I do not claim to know the answers, but the following passages of Scripture reassure me of God’s unchanging attributes.

First and foremost that His ways are beyond my complete understanding: " For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9). Next, I know He is faithful and just: “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." (Deuteronomy 32:4). And lastly that He always has our best interest in mind: “For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome (Jeremiah 29:11 AMP).

My final take on this is this. Evil may seem to be on the rise in our land, but I assure you, for as long as we pray without ceasing and work the works of the One who has sent us diligently, doubting nothing, compromising nothing, evil will burn itself out. Its greatest capability is not in replication, although it does replicate for a season, its ultimate attribute is self-destruction - in due season. What we do by praying for them is to secure peace in the land even as we pour hot coal upon their heads.

Peace, my dear brother.

PIX: Mr Jiti Ogunye...Why pray for election riggers?

“Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy also has this eye-opening passage: ‘Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life’ (1Timothy 6:17-19). This is true prosperity theology and, the truth is, it is more widely taught than the campaigners against it would like to believe. And its influence is more purifying than corrupting.”

The point has been made that financial and material prosperity is an integral part of the blessing that God spoke into the lives of his first son, Adam and his helpmate, Eve. It has been seen from scripture that God provided for them to live in splendour. He did not intend for them to merely get by! Otherwise, why put the gold and other precious stones in Havillah?

We also saw that even when God decided it was time to begin again with Noah and his family and the Flood wiped out mankind, He restored the Blessing in exactly the same words – be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth etc. The only difference being that he then instituted, as it were, a kind of methodology when He declared: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). This has great significance for mankind, but we won’t go into that today. It should suffice to say that, by that statement God introduced the seed principle as God’s method of blessing His children; the only one for a season! (For more on this, you’ll have to await my forthcoming book).

As we also saw, together, God said what he meant, meant what He said and caused what He said to manifest in the lives of His children thus firmly establishing the seed principle. From Abraham through Isaac and Jacob to all their descendants, financial and material prosperity was part of the bargain.

Did this change in New Testament times? No, not in the least. The Lord Jesus taught so much about the uses of money that it was clear that its availability was a given! And we shall come back to that later. But we chose to address the often touted poor socio-economic status of the Lord Jesus himself. As we pointed out Jesus’ so-called poverty was mitigated by access. All his needs were met every second of time and every inch of the way throughout His earthly ministry. We also noted that the Bible also described his relative poverty as an act of grace, meant to ensure that we live in prosperity. That of course is in addition to the fact that the Lord Himself said ALL that the father Has are His.

Flowing from all of these is one truth; it is God’s will for His children to live life abundantly here on earth as a prelude to the abundance of heaven. As someone graphically put it, we are expected to experience the days of heaven on earth. Therefore any theology that minimises this truth does injustice, even violence, to the gospel. And that exactly was the situation until the advent of those ministers who have been branded prosperity preachers. That was the era of the church rat; when godliness tended to be measured by the holes in your shoes and the patches on your trousers. Those were the days when poverty was the badge of holiness.

Now what is this prosperity theology that is being resisted in some circles?

As I mentioned earlier, God not only wants His children blessed, He established the seed principle as an avenue for them to tap into the blessing that he has for them. That is the full import of Genesis 8:22. That is simple enough for anyone who has ever been near even a backyard garden to understand. It is the principle by which God intended for everything to multiply, including the “seed of the woman.”

It is this principle that forms the core of the prosperity message. And it’s the application of this principle in a non-agricultural setting that would seem to have become contentious, particularly as it applies to the church. But need it be? The Bible teaches: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again (Luke 6:38). This, while applicable to giving to the poor certainly also applies to the Church and its workers. So strong is the injunction to give to the House of God that the Bible described failure to give into the Church as robbery a kind of robbery. Although, it’s been said that the robbery here is robbing God of opportunities to bless, the promise attached to giving are quite clear as this passage from the book of Malachi indicate: “Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts (Malachi 3:9-12).
So, sowing into the work of God, into the life of His servants and into the lives of those in need though tithes and offering, is the main teaching of the church in the prosperity area. Your work, be it in the church or in some secular professional pursuit is in this sense a seed. That is the message you are likely to hear at the church next door and it is the truth as contained in the Bible.
Of course, there are other principles, one of which is wealth by the supernatural or the inheritance principle, but they are not widely taught. The inheritance principle is deep. And it is for those who have caught the revelation and are able to tap into their inheritance in God by Christ Jesus. It takes a coming of age to draw from this source. This is the perfect will of God for His children. Unfortunately, most of us are still in the process of coming of age. That is matter for another time. It suffices here just to say that if God indeed owns the cattle on a thousand hills, own the gold and the silver, as the Bible says in Psalm 50:10 and Haggai 2:8 respectively, why should his children shun this part of the heirloom? But as I said earlier this isn’t even being widely taught yet. But it will, and then the world would see the extent to which God had always wanted to bless his children!
In fact, I personally sense that the new resurgence of anti-prosperity theology is an agenda of the enemy. Money is required, tonnes and tonnes of it, to evangelise the world; to counter the rise of the doctrine of demons in many parts of the world. It is wealth in the hands of God’s children that can be used for this purpose, not those available to non-believers. That’s why God wants us rich, very rich. So, we must be careful not to allow a return to the church rat era through wrong though well-meaning teachings.

But is prosperity teaching therefore danger-free? Can it be abused? Of course, it can and it definitely is being abused in certain circles. And the Bible certainly does warn against this – copiously too!

The required balance can be gleaned from a number biblical passages. The book of Deuteronomy for instance quoted God as warning in these words: “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 8:18-20). That’s validation for wealth and its source. It points to the danger of mishandling it, as well.

Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy also has this eye-opening passage: “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life (1Timothy 6:17-19).

This is true prosperity theology and the truth is, it is more widely taught than the campaigners against it would like to believe. And its influence is more purifying than corrupting. (Concluded)

PIX: Benny Hinn...Recently hosted a Debt Cancellation Prayer Day