OPEN LETTER TO ALL KINGDOM PERSONS

Now, many reading this already know and accept, as true, the biblical assertion that we are sons of God. Many might even be walking in this truth in some areas of their life. But many of us are slaves masquerading as servants; some others are servants parading as sons, while some of the very best are merely living on the fringes of sonship. And it shows glaringly in everything. It shows in the way we pray and what we pray for. It shows in the way we praise and worship God whom we say we have accepted as our father. It shows in our attitude to work; in how some of us have become slaves to work in the pursuit of what we call putting food on the table and providing for the family. It shows in how desperate we sometimes get in the pursuit of this all-important provision for the family such that compromise has become the norm even among Christians whether we are business persons, academics, politicians, civil servants or holders of high government posts.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, I am writing this letter to you from the very depth of my being. If you have been a reader of my weekly exertions, you probably know that there are a few basic assumptions about who you are; the most fundamental of which is that you know that there is a Kingdom of God on earth and that you either see yourself as belonging in that Kingdom already or would like to belong.

Now what is the Kingdom of God on earth? You most probably know that a kingdom is a territory ruled by a potentate by whatever name called. And wherever that territory may be, the will of that ruler prevails. The same applies to the Kingdom of God on earth. The simplest way to understand this is to refer to the prayer the Lord Jesus taught His disciples, famously called the Lord’s Prayer. Two lines of that prayer are relevant to the matter at hand and they read: Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth; as it is in heaven (see Matthew 6:10). In other words, God already has a kingdom in heaven where his will is done and if the Lord Jesus is asking that we pray that his will be done, it is easy to see that he implies that God desires a Kingdom on earth where his will prevails. Now there are those who say that that kingdom is yet to be established; that it is to happen at a latter day. But of course there are those, like me, who believe that that kingdom is already in existence in the heart of millions of men and women who are living or are committed to living according to God’s will as expressed in his word, the Bible. The environment in which these kingdom persons operate and wield influence therefore represents and exemplifies the Kingdom of God on earth. The Church is the visible manifestation of that kingdom; it is the organism that works to keep the kingdom running and growing.

A major difference between this kingdom and other kingdoms is that whereas kingdoms of men normally consist of the king and his subjects. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of sons. That is to say that if you belong to the kingdom of God you are a son of God, not his subject or servant or slave. The Bible is clear about that. John 1:12 says: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name”. Romans 8:14 corroborates: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

In order to understand the import of this, it might be necessary to tarry a while on this subject of God’s preference for a kingdom of sons. The Bible shows us that angels, who were the main population of heaven, were originally styled as sons of God. In the book of Job are passages that refer to angels, including the one who used to be known as Lucifer but had become satan, as “sons of God”. For example, Job 1:6 reads: “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.” Job 2:1 uses the phrase “among them” to further clarify who this sons of God were. It reads, “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord”.

When God decided to create his earthly kingdom, he began with a son, not a servant or slave. Proof of this is that God gave Adam dominion over all that he created, as in an inheritance. He did not ask him to keep and tend the garden as a condition for exercising dominion. Nor did he make his access to the things he had created commensurate to the quality or quantity of his garden-tending activities. Beyond that is the Bible’s express reference to Adam as the son of God in “Luke 3:38 –“Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God”. These should explain why Jesus’ work of redemption led inexorably to the restoration of man to sonship, not servanthood as indicated in the earlier quotes from the books of John and Romans. That should explain the designation of Jesus as “the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29). and the rest of us as: “…children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…”(Romans 8:17).

I have gone through all of these because what I am about to say in this letter will be meaningless unless we understand God’s concept of Kingdom, the kingdom he has called us into. That is why I am pausing at this juncture to pray, along with Apostle Paul that “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power" (Ephesians 1:17-19). For the avoidance of any doubts, this prayer is as much for you, my dear reader, as it is for me.

Now, many reading this already know and accept, as true, the biblical assertion that we are sons of God. Many might even be walking in this truth in some areas of their life. But many of us are slaves masquerading as servants; some others are servants parading as sons, while some of the very best are merely living on the fringes of sonship. And it shows glaringly in everything. It shows in the way we pray and what we pray for. It shows in the way we praise and worship God whom we say we have accepted as our father. It shows in our attitude to work; in how some of us have become slaves to work in the pursuit of what we call putting food on the table and providing for the family. It shows in how desperate we sometimes get in the pursuit of this all-important provision for the family such that compromise has become the norm even among Christians whether we are business persons, academics, politicians, civil servants or holders of high government posts.

Yes there is something of an Apollonian streak in even some of the very best of among us. Yes Apollo, remember him? The Bible describes him as eloquent and mighty in the scriptures. But he knew only the baptism of John. He had fervency and diligence, but as Apostle Paul would have put it, his zeal was “not according to knowledge.” The 18th book of Acts told his story like this: “And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly…(Acts 18:24-26).

The story continues in Acts 19 where it was recorded that Paul met those to whom Apollos had ministered yesterday’s truth of baptism unto repentance and asked them if they had received today’s higher truth of baptism in the Holy Spirit. They hadn’t, because their teacher hadn’t either! Verses 4-6 of that concludes the story thus: “Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”

Today’s situation in Christendom is uncannily similar. Many of us seem content to continue skirting the fringes of sonship. Yet I know, without a shadow of doubt that, God is calling all of us who know that we know who we truly are in Christ Jesus, to a higher appreciation of our privileges and obligations as his children. In fact, from deep within me, I hear believe that, if there’s anything God wants us to hear and internalise today, it is this: “My sons, it’s time to purge yourselves of the servant mentality; there’s work in the family business.” (CONTINUES NEXT WEEK)

TAXATION AND THE CHURCH

In the third part of the serial, we painted the following scenario and raised a poser: “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?

As I write this, I am fully aware that I am reacting to a speculation. I am not aware that the Lagos state government or any other government has plans to tax the churches. What I believe I have heard said by Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos is that wage earners in ministry would be expected to pay tax, like every other income earner in the state. But the question has been on the questionnaire of virtually every journalist who has had an interview with a church leader lately.

For example, Sunday Independent’s last edition carried an interview with Rev Dr Felix Nwosu, General Overseer of Christ Foundation Sabbath Mission, Lagos in which Ejikeme Omenazu dwelt extensively on the subject. He opened by asking the man of God if there were conditions under which churches could pay tax. To which the man of God replied “no” and went on to describe any such attempt as “asking God to pay tax”. That, to him “amounts to rebellion.”

In the same edition, Aramide Oikelome’s report of a press parley with the Prelate of Methodist Church Nigeria also contained a reference to the subject. The relevant portion reported Archbishop Sunday Ola Makinde as cautioning “against government’s proposed imposition of taxes on the income and tithes of churches and other non-profit organisations…” Makinde, continues the report argued that “as charity and non-profit organisation, which bring hope to the hopeless by preaching the message of healing and salvation, exemption from tax payment is something that remains laudable and commendable.”

As if those were not enough, Pastor Wale Adefarasin, national secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria was also confronted with the same issue in another newspaper interview. Is it really biblical for the Church to be taxed, he was asked. His reply: “You know what Jesus Christ said considering collection of tax. He said render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar. There is a legal obligation for every Nigerian to report and complete an assessment form at the end of every tax year upon which the income is assessed, and tax is based.”

Mercifully, there is substantial agreement between (Lagos) government pronouncement, as I recall it, and the Christian leaders whose reactions I have read on this otherwise potentially contentious issue. As evident from Pastor Adefarasin’s statement above, it can be inferred that PFN is not averse to tax payment by church workers as distinct from the church. Rev Nwosu also drew a line between ministry and mission works on one hand and commercial activities of churches on the other. He told his interviewer: “If a church is involved in commercial activities for profit, it is right to ask it to pay tax. Books, CDs and VCDs, which bring in money, should attract taxes because they are forms of business. Schools, hospitals, transport ventures and factories run by churches should attract taxes…The government should strike a balance, clarify their policies and categorise the classes of men of God who should pay tax…” The report on the Methodist leader’s media meet also indicated a similar viewpoint: “The Prelate who showed a card certifying him as a tax payer said payment of property tax was understandable since churches derive profits from such ventures, but frowned at any attempt to tax offering, tithes and donations to churches.”

It would therefore seem that if the Lagos state government restricted taxation to salary-earning clerics and well defined commercial activities of churches, there would be no controversies. The problem, as Archbishop Makinde put it, would be if they “attempt to tax offering, tithes and donations.”

Does government want to do that? I think, indeed I hope, not. But as I said, when reporters begin to hammer on an issue, it would be unwise to dismiss it. That is why I wish to join my voice to that of others to call on the authorities in Lagos to step away from any such contemplation, as it will create unnecessary disharmony.

Having said that however, I wish to state without equivocation that the church, particularly the non-denominationals run largely as sole proprietorships, need to get their accounting acts together. This is an issue we had raised in this column before. In a serial titled “Integrity Check for the Church.”

In the third part of the serial, we painted the following scenario and raised a poser: “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...”

We also raised issues about 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 wrote in 2007 against the background of an investigation just commenced on the finances of some well-known Pentecostal televangelists in the United States by Charles Grassley, an influential member of the Senate Committee on Finance. He had written letters to Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn, asking “detailed questions about their expenses pattern and the tax exempt status of some specific expenses or associated projects or establishments”. In a press release explaining his action, Grassley had said: "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."

Of course Grassley was condemned in several circles as an instrument of the enemy with accusations of persecution and inquisition freely hauled at him. A number of the ministries eventually complied while some declined. We are yet to see the end of the matter.

But we did warn at the time that the same oversight rights being exercised by Senator Grassley is available to legislators in Nigeria and so, should the National Assembly, for instance, feel a need to do so in the public interest, it could conduct such an investigation. As we said then we know 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…”

Thankfully, no such investigation has yet been initiated. But think what might happen if, for instance, government were to be unconvinced about a certain church’s differentiation of the strictly non-profit activities from its profit operations for accounting and therefore taxation purposes, and decide to find out! What would be our reaction? As in 2007, I commend to all church leaders 1Corinthians 11: 31 which in the Message reads: “If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on.” Food for thought, don’t you think?

FROM MY IN-BOX
RE: NOT YET IN AKPOYIBO’S IMAGE
On your report on the Lagos State Commissioner of Police Mr Akpoyibo, it's important to ask if Christians, including you the editor, do pray constantly for his success in policing Lagos State. We can contribute to his success by sending information, albeit of known criminals and criminal activities around us to his office, even anonymously, should such fall into wrong hands.
A.Olajide, London, UK.
PIXES: Archbishop Sunday Ola Makinde (Right) &
Pastor Wale Adefarasin

WAS MICHAEL JACKSON SAVED?

In all of these, however, I have been more concerned for the soul of this wonderful performer. Is Michael Jackson in heaven or hell? We may not know for sure, unfortunately. He was born and raised, at least by their mum, a Jehovah’s Witness, but there were rumours that he converted, like Jermaine, one of his brothers, to Islam last year, and took the name Mikhaeel. Whether that is true or not, reports about his meeting with two Pentecostal pastors, Andraé and Sandra Crouch three weeks before he died give room for hope. Although they have denied that he specifically asked to be led to say the sinner’s prayer, as earlier suggested by Mary Mary on her Facebook page, the following quote from Dave Nassaney, Andraé Crouch's Facebook page administrator, points in the direction of salvation for the one who sought to heal the world with his music and philanthropy.

What a week that was – the last full week of June 2009. It had everything: pace, drama, passion and the very stuff of history – change. Consider the line-up: Farah Fawcett fell to the terror attack of anal cancer; the Anglican Church of North America formally came into being, pulling 100,000 conservative Anglicans out of the liberal Episcopal Church; President Umaru Yar’Adua proclaimed Amnesty to all Niger Delta militants, and Michael Jackson died.

You can be forgiven for yawning at some of the items, possibly all but the last, after all the media generally speaking, simply buried every other item the moment the demise of “Wacko Jacko” happened! KPerspective isn’t about to be different. But before we join the frenzy, let’s at least give each of these items, its brief moment in the sun.

On Monday June 22, conservative former members of the Episcopal Church, TEC, gathered at St. Vincent's Cathedral in Bedford, Texas, US for the first provincial assembly of the newly established Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). By Wednesday June 24, they had ratified their constitution and elected an archbishop in the person of Robert Duncan, who had been in the vanguard of the struggle against the liberal policies of TEC, including ordination of gay priests and recognition of intra-gender marriages.

ACNA, which as at April 2009, had 100,000 members from about 700 parishes in North America and Canada was formed by member bodies of the Common Cause Partnership such as: American Anglican Council, Anglican Coalition in Canada, Anglican Communion Network, Anglican Mission in the Americas, Anglican Network in Canada, Convocation of Anglicans in North America, Forward in Faith North America and Reformed Episcopal Church. Others are the Missionary Convocations of Kenya, the Southern Cone and of Uganda which were established to provide provincial oversight for disenchanted former Episcopalians.

While ACNA is not yet a member of the Anglican Communion because that requires a long process, both the Church of Nigeria and the Church of Uganda, with combined membership of about 26 million, are in full communion with the new province. This translates easily to recognition from about a third of the Communion.. This is a significant development that has potential for shaping not just for the future of the 77million-member Communion, but ultimately the Church in general. We shall return to this issue at a later date.

As ACNA was being dedicated on Wednesday, actress Farah Fawcett was taking her exit from this side of the great divide. Felled by anal cancer, a disease she had famously described as a terrorist, she was 62. Fawcett rose to fame on the wave of her blonde hair, when a Hollywood talent agent spotted her among "10 most beautiful co-eds" in a student magazine at the University of Texas in Austin, where she was a student.

She subsequently moved to Los Angeles, began a modelling career and eventually posed for a poster in 1975 which was to catapult her into international stardom becoming something of the ultimate poster blonde. The poster, which sold over eight million copies, was Farah’s doorway to acting fame. Ace television producer Aaron Spelling, was so fascinated by her persona that he cast her as one of the crime-fighting babes of in the famous television series, Charlie's Angels in which she starred as Jill Munroe.

Charlie’s Angels, to refresh your memory was that television series featuring three belles working for a private investigation agency to unravel all kinds of crime. It was a trail-blazer in the sense that women were acting that kind of role for the first time. It ran in the United States on the network of ABC Television from 1976 to 1981 before it made its way to Nigeria in the mid-80s. One of the unforgettable features of the series was that you never got to see the face of Charles Townsend or Charlie, their boss. The best glimpse of him you ever caught were scenes where the back of his head and his arms are visible, surrounded by pretty women, assigning cases to the Angels through a speaker phone.

Farah was nominated for two Emmys and five Golden Globes, winning critical acclaim for her characterization of an abused wife in The Burning Bed. The story of her battle with cancer was widely aired in May through a two-hour documentary, Farrah's Story. In it, not even the pain she went through as the cancer progressed from her anus to her liver could rob her of her humour. As the doctors shaved off the last bit of the blonde locks that brought her to fame, she was quoted as telling the doctors, "You wouldn't stop until you got my hair." In the words of her publicist, “Farrah has passed to a better place and left the pain and confines of her bed behind…She is free to be the woman we all knew and loved; so few have touched so many."

Thursday of course was Amnesty proclamation day in Abuja, Nigeria. President Yar’Adua evinced the proclamation and signing ceremony with the solemnity of a historic event. Militants who laid down their arms within 60 days were to go home unmolested while he handed those being tried a get-out-of-jail-free card. It was all like Jesus telling the woman caught in adultery in chapter 8 of the Bible book of John: “go, and sin no more.” And I remember my Shakespeare: isn’t it the “naked truth” that, like King Lear, the people represented by these militants, (as distinct from the criminal elements), are “more sinned against than sinning?” The Amnesty, preceded as it was by the now suspended military operation of the Joint Task Force, with its clearly disproportionate collateral damage, has all the trappings of pacification. Will it work? God have mercy.

Thanks to the sense of balance of the Nigerian media, this subject is still on the front burner, at least one side of it. The announcement later that Thursday night of the death by cardiac arrest of pop music king, Michael Jackson, has since overthrown everything else. And like I said earlier not even this column can ignore such a momentous event as the passing of this iconic character.

So much has been said and written about his life, music, dance, lyrics, fashion, marriages, cosmetic surgery, his philanthropy and much more. The Guinness Book of Record proportion of the sales of his works including “Thrilla” has been chronicled. So has the eleven-tickets-per-second sale of his now aborted farewell concerts at London’s O2 Arena. The circumstances of his death are still been investigated and there are no shortages of hypothesis.

In all of these, however, I have been more concerned for the soul of this wonderful performer. Is Michael Jackson in heaven or hell? We may not know for sure, unfortunately. He was born and raised, at least by their mum, a Jehovah’s Witness, but there were rumours that he converted, like Jermaine, one of his brothers, to Islam last year, and took the name Mikhaeel. Whether that is true or not, reports about his meeting with two Pentecostal pastors, Andraé and Sandra Crouch three weeks before he died give room for hope. Although they have denied that he specifically asked to be led to say the sinner’s prayer, as earlier suggested by Mary Mary on her Facebook page, the following quote from Dave Nassaney, Andraé Crouch's Facebook page administrator, points in the direction of salvation for the one who sought to heal the world with his music and philanthropy.

He wrote: “He wanted to know what makes your hands go up, and makes you ‘come out of yourself' and what gives ‘spirituality' to music. He then requested to hear his favorite song that he loves, and wanted [them] to sing to him, so they sang that song to him, and joined hands and sang together, and he said, ‘It was beautiful.'. Crouch told me Jackson ‘definitely had an encounter' during the visit…He did NOT reject Jesus or the prayer when they prayed, and gladly joined in prayer. Crouch said, ‘He usually doesn't touch anybody, but he touched them, and held their hands in a circle as they sang and prayed. There was NO actual ‘sinner’s prayer,' however, but they did talk and pray about Jesus and the anointing of the Holy Spirit…” Would that this is true.
PIXES: Michael Jackson...As I like to remember him and
Farrah Fawcett...Charlie's Angel in the poster that brought her fame

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