KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
With Remi Akano Sr
E-mail: kpeditorpublisher@yahoo.co.uk
It’s five o’clock in the morning. The lilting sound of Moses Olusegun Oyebola’s electronic organ was wafting through the air into the room, rousing me from sleep, finishing off the task the cock crow from my phone had started ten minutes earlier.
Now since that early December day that my wife and I found ourselves moving in with this wonderful man and his indescribably warm wife, both of them pastors, this has been the experience. And although the pattern is similar – not one day has been exactly like another at these morning devotionals. There is always something to take away; a food for thought; a word of knowledge or wisdom; encouragement. But for reasons that I cannot easily fathom, there was to be something extra special about this Wednesday.
Praise and worship over, Mrs Jennifer Oyebola, a woman who, like her husband, has a zeal for things of God that constantly challenges those around them to higher heights, began to read from the well-known “Our Daily Bread,” a publication of Radio Bible Class. The piece titled “Look It Up” written by one of RBC’s staff writers, Anne M. Cetas reads in part:
“Some online dictionaries report each year on what words were looked up the most on their site…The most popular lookup for the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary that year (2005) was the word integrity. The definition given is: “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values.” It’s used to describe those who are unwilling to be bribed or morally corrupted. Why was that word on the top of the list? Could it be because integrity is so lacking that many don’t know what it looks like in someone’s life?”
Cetas went on to cite, as God’s example of integrity, the life of Joseph as contained in the Bible. Her words: “Potiphar had put him in charge of overseeing ‘his house and all that he had’ (Genesis 39:5). When he was propositioned by his master’s wife, Joseph refused, saying, ‘How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’ (verse 9). He knew what God’s standards were, and he chose to stand for the right—at the cost of his freedom.” She concluded: “Integrity - look it up in Genesis 39. Then live it out in God’s strength”.
A number of things struck me about this piece of exhortation, such that I felt a need to read and meditate more on the issue of integrity. This is surprising, given the fact that the issue had been on the front-burner for sometime within the men’s group that I have the priviledge of coordinating. But meditate on the subject, I did, all the same and as I did, I begun to see why.
Cetas raised a very important point, one that I believe is so tragically applicable to our situation in Nigeria, when she asked the question: “Could it be because integrity is so lacking that many don’t know what it looks like in someone’s life?” That question speaks to the heart of our national condition today.
Who, for instance, modelled integrity in public life in our nation in the eight years of democratic rule preceding the unfolding Yar’Adua administration? Is it the governor being hounded by the law for sundry malfeasance? Is it the local government chairman who rose from dirt poor to stinking rich while his constituents wallow in poverty? Is it the helmsman who taught Sunday School, identified with and revelled in photo opportunities with great men of God from all over the world; never lost a chance to take the pulpit at mega-churches and Holy Ghost meetings, yet now stands accused of some of the most despicable things you can think of by his own son?
Of the people who took centre stage at national events, graced the cover of celebrity magazines, won awards of all kinds, how many truly mirrored integrity?. That’s what I tried to highlight in the introductory part of my HEROES 2007 piece a couple of weeks back. Our nation needs godly heroes otherwise the future is bleak because the younger ones would always need dictionaries to figure out what the word means!
Also noteworthy for me was the definition of integrity by the dictionary quoted by Cetas as “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values”; as well as what appeared to be her own take on who the word describes: “It’s used to describe those who are unwilling to be bribed or morally corrupted.” I agree absolutely with both definition and application and would to God that we would all begin anew and afresh to hunger and thirst to have the word apply to us by our adherence to high moral values.
Cetas’ example of integrity taken from the Bible is particularly instructive. So straight as a rod was Joseph, that, as a child he would report the wrong-doings of his brothers to their father; he would not hold back the telling of his dreams even when it was obvious it did not please his brothers! When he had the opportunity of sleeping his way precariously to the firmer control of Potiphar’s fortunes by becoming the wife’s lover, he thought about God! Of course his integrity got him into slavery and into jail, but it also inexorably got him to the prime ministerial office of Egypt. Please read the story of Joseph again in Genesis 39.
I wish especially to call on all who lead or aspire to lead in any and ever area of our national life to take a close look at their lives by asking these questions. I urge that both the leader, the aspiring leader as well as the led begin to see integrity as the PRIMARY QUALIFICATION for leadership. This is because, ironically, it is in leadership that integrity, character, adherence to strict code of moral behaviour are in the shortest of supply. That is because good looks, oratorical prowess, liberality with half-truths and down right falsehoods and in some cases competence are rated higher than integrity. So are access to ill-gotten wealth and an easy recourse to violence.
Incidentally, as I prayerfully studied and meditated on this subject, I came across a wonderful piece written by one of Cetas’ colleagues in answer to a question I know must be dancing in your head as you read the last few paragraphs: “How important is good personal character to effective leadership?” Permit me quote excerpts from Dan Vander Lugt’s answer to that important question:
“Some people don't think it (good personal character) is very important. Since leadership requires flexibility, some think that a person with high ideals and deep moral convictions will be less pragmatic or realistic than a person with fewer scruples. In the short term it's undeniable that unscrupulous people sometimes have an advantage. People often find personal accountability and a long-range vision less appealing than immediate advantages and an opportunity to fall in line behind a charismatic leader”.
“Even the psalmist eloquently described the temporary success of the wicked (Psalm 37:35; 73:3 ). Jesus also recognized the short-term advantages of the unprincipled (Luke 16:8 ). But although unprincipled people in power may gain quick success, they and their followers always reap the consequences of their immorality and opportunism. The Old Testament writers vividly described the results of evil leadership as did Jesus.
“In the long term, however, a person of integrity has the advantage. Good character may limit a person's options at times, but wisdom flows from good character (In the long term, however, a person of integrity has the advantage. Good character may limit a person's options at times, but wisdom flows from good character (Job 28:28).
Under the “For Further Thought” column, Cetas concluded her exhortation with a few questions we all need to ask ourselves. And they are questions, I believe, we all ought to ask ourselves at this, the onset of a new year: “In what ways have I been a person of integrity when it was tough? When have I failed? Whose standards do I live by? What do I need to change?” I assure you that yours sincerely has asked himself these questions, and did not rate so high as to talk down to anyone; which is not my intention, anyway. But I assure you, I am well on my way! Are you?
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Friday, 25 January 2008
Friday, 4 January 2008
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE’S HEROES 2007
Edwin Louis Cole, recognized as founder of the modern Christian men’s movement from the great works he did through Christian Men’s Network once made a declaration to this effect: I will make only the godly my heroes; I will invite them to my home; I will celebrate them. Now, those may not have been his exact words, but they certainly capture his conviction. Those words have ministered to me so powerfully. The truth they contain has influenced me in my personal life and in ministry, and will continue to till the very end. I believe with all my heart that even as the Bible has declared “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…(Psalm 33:12)”; so also is it true that “blessed is that nation whose heroes are the godly”.
Yes, sure, it’s the fad thing to do; celebrate creativity, athletic prowess, intellect, efficiency, and all those things which we do and have elevated to high art as part of a global community of shadow-chaser. They give our world a sense of going somewhere; a sense of achievement and raise up role models of all kinds, many of whom warp up our values and send the impressionable on a wild goose chase after the ephemeral.
At about age 60, yours sincerely is not a star-struck doting worshipper at any man-made altars, but I do admire those who manifest godliness a great deal; possibly because I am still struggling along that path, but certainly because I do have a witness in my heart that we are a nation currently holding up near-villains as heroes, while the real heroes get scant attention.
That is why I have decided to name and publicly acknowledge those I have called KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE’S HEROES 2007. These are mainly people I had the opportunity of writing about in this column since its inception. Of course, there are many more I had the privilege of meeting, reading about and checking out, during the year and whom I would have loved to recognize, but since I didn’t have the privilege of writing about them earlier I shall limit myself to these three (alphabetically by surname): Dr Peter Jasper Akinola, Mr Peter Obi and Elder Felix Ohiwerei
Akinola has featured in this column a number of times. The most recent of this was in May 2007 when in the gloom that enveloped the nation after “Elections 2007,” a ray of light broke through by way of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Primate’s listing among the world’s100 most influential leaders by TIME magazine.
In “Something To Cheer” published May 13, I found myself joyfully joining “other Nigerians in celebrating one of our own, Most Rev Dr Peter Jasper Akinola, Primate and Metropolitan, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and President, Christian Association of Nigeria. For the second time in three years, he has been named in The TIME 100, a TIME magazine list of the 100 most influential persons in the world. These are people, in the words of TIME’s Managing Director, Mr. Richard Stengel who “by virtue of their character, their drives and their dreams change the world and make history”. He first made the list last year”.
I recalled that he was “listed among the Leaders and Revolutionaries; a category that includes such individuals as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton and a front-runner for the United States presidency, Condoleezza Rice current US Secretary of State, Queen Elizabeth 11 of England and; Pope Benedict XVI…”
Explaining TIME’s choice of Akinola in a three-paragraph piece David Van Biema identified him as “a harsh critic of the Episcopal Church (U.S.A.), which elected an openly gay bishop in 2003” whose imprint was on “the rancorous disunion within the worldwide Anglican Communion and whose “impatience with earlier, more deliberate measures” was being echoed by “Anglicanism‘s 38 primates” which had just then “ presented the Episcopalians with demands for a retreat on sexuality and direct communion involvement in Episcopal governance.“ Such had become Akinola’s influence that TIME was already positing that should “Anglicanism‘s conservative southern provinces decide that the Anglican Church‘s top official, the Archbishop of Canterbury is too liberal and chose their own leader”, Akinola was a likely choice. TIME acknowledged though that “the Nigerian cleric has denied any (such) leadership ambition”
I then added: “What makes Akinola’s award very significant and much more worthy of celebration is the enduring nature of the value for which the man of God is standing and for which even a largely cynical secular publication like TIME could not ignore him. It’s the war against gay ascendancy in the leadership cadre of the church. It is a war for the soul of the church and society that has been lost largely in many parts of the world, particularly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and even next door, South Africa…”
Although Akinola has vacated the presidency of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, he remains a good example, a model of courageous, godly leadership worth emulating by all.
Readers of this column would have been very surprised were Anambra state’s Governor Peter Obi not on my Heroes 2007 list! This is simply because of my admission of ecstasy at the man’s faith in God which saw him doggedly wrestle down all odds to retrieve his mandate and retrieve it to the fullest, and his magnanimity in victory. The following quotes from the June 24 piece titled “Upon This Rock…” should throw the light on Governor Obi’s place among the heroes:
“In an interview with Sunday Independent, which was held before the Supreme Court judgment that correctly put his tenure as enduring till 2010, but which was not published until after it, Obi was quoted as saying the following prophetic words:
‘Mark my word, I will return to the Government House, Awka, to complete my tenure. I say so because the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria makes it imperative that I serve out my term as elected governor of the state. Besides, I see myself as a child of destiny raised by God to salvage my people and, as a Christian, I know that God does not lie…At the appointed time, the will of God concerning me and Anambra State will be made manifest. It may seem that justice is being delayed now, but definitely, it cannot be denied when that time comes…I have asked just one thing from my people, and that is: that they should continue to pray for the will of God to prevail in my situation and in the situation of Anambra. God, in his infinite mercy, should give the Supreme Court justices the wisdom and courage to do the right thing whenever they will take the final decision on his matter.’
“He did not have any doubt whatsoever about the triumph of good over evil. He was fully persuaded of the victory of righteousness over wickedness. And he did not mince words. As those of the school of political correctness would have cynically put it, he was “wearing his faith on his sleeves” or “playing the religion card.” But a man, any man who would swim against the swift current of evil flooding our land and stay the course must stand firm on his faith. That is what Obi has done and is doing. That is the secret of his success.” That is the stuff that godly heroes are made of.
Elder Felix Ohiwerei, 70, whom I had the privilege of interacting with very briefly during the third quarter of the year also left such a great impression on me that he certainly stands tall as a true Nigerian hero. He spoke on “Wanted: Men of Character” at a luncheon organized by Christian Men’s Network Nigeria and during the interactive session that climaxed the event left no one in doubt that he walks his talk.
In the column of November 4, 2007, I reported that part of the meeting this way: “…In answer to one of the questions on his experience as a born-again Christian at the helm of a big company like Nigeria Breweries, he recalled one of his encounters with corruption at one of Nigeria’s seaports.
“According to him, the top man in charge of raw materials was for some reasons not available and so he was contacted on the need to “do something” (euphemism for paying some bribes) about clearing their consignments at the port. He refused. Things began to drag and raw material stock was running low with possible adverse consequences for production. He knew he had to do something else! So he instructed that fresh orders for raw materials be made and air-freighted into the country. This was done. Production was not affected and he virtually had to be begged to come and clear the earlier consignment. Needless to say, this sent signals to people in certain quarters and the rest, as they say, is history! “What Elder Ohiwerei was saying was ‘I walked my talk’. It could not have been easy, but he had the courage to do what had to be done...” A man like this would be my hero any day!
Happy New Year to all and may 2008 be a year of great new beginnings for you, your family and our nation.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
RICARDO IZECSON DOS SANTOS LEITE
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
No, the headline is not the “other tongue” for Merry Christmas. It is actually Portuguese and it is the name of a certain young sportsman. But, yes, it does represent the spirit of the season and the victory that comes from being a true, unabashed follower of the one who, as the cliché goes, is the reason for the season.
As every lover of the beautiful game known to the rest of the world as football, but which the Americans like to call soccer, knows, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, 25, more widely known and called as Kaka, was on Monday named FIFA World Football Player of the Year 2007. The AC Milan and Brazil star beat two worthy competitors, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, to the prestigious trophy at the annual FIFA World Gala which held at the Zurich Opera House in Switzerland.
He was the choice of 1,047 national coaches and captains who were polled for the award. Messi was first runner up with 504 votes while Ronaldo scored 426 votes to come third. Kaka's latest crown climaxes for him a fantastic year during which he led his club, AC Milan, to European Champions League victory this season, scoring 10 goals in the process and barely two weeks earlier on December 2, bagged the European Player of the Year title.
Kaka, though only 25, did not arrive on the world football stage as an overnight wonder. According to Wikipedia, he began his club career with Sao Paolo Football Club at the tender age of eight and signed his first playing contract with that Club’s youth squad seven years later. He graduated to the legendary club’s senior team in January 2001.
His first and to date only major career move came two years later when “AC Milan, fresh from winning the 2003 Champions League, brought him aboard in 2003 for $8.5 million…Kaká was a part of the five-man midfield in the 2004-05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko. He scored 7 goals in 36 domestic appearances as Milan finished runner-up to Juventus. Despite Milan losing the 2004-05 Champions League final to Liverpool F.C. on penalties, he was nonetheless voted the best midfielder of the tournament, and also finished ninth, with 19 votes, in the running for the 2005 Player of the year.”
Wikipedia records that,the football world was began to take notice of a superstar in the making when in the 2005-06 season Kaká score his first hat-tricks in domestic and European competitions respectively.
Kaká became the focal point of Milan's attack in the 2006-7 following Shevchenko's departure to Chelsea FC. He began to alternate between the midfield and striker positions finishing the season as the top scorer with ten goals, which helped to steer AC Milan back to European success. One of them helped the Milan beat Scottish team Celtic FC 1-0 after extra time in the quarterfinals on a 1-0 aggregate, and three others proved fatal for Manchester United in the semi-finals in spite of Milan’s earlier loss of the first leg. Following that convincing 3-0 second-leg defeat at the San Siro on May 2 that knocked out the English champions, Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson confessed that Kaka was one of the two best players in the world, naming this own ward, Cristiano Ronaldo as the other. Sir Alex was however only echoing what was already being widely accepted! In April, a panel of experts set up by Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport proclaimed Kaká as the world's best footballer. Shevchenko also included his endorsement, while suggesting that Kaká deserved to win the FIFA top trophy.
Kaká won the Champions League title he was so outstanding that for the first time when Milan defeated Liverpool F.C. 2-1 in Athens on May 23, 2007. Though he went scoreless, his performance was so stellar throughout the competition that he was voted the Vodafone Fans' Player of the Season in a poll of over 100,000 UEFA.com visitors. In June 2007, German football publication Kicker named him the world's best player, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho finishing second and third, respectively, while he was also given this honour by UK publication The Times. On August 30, he was named by UEFA as both the top forward of the 2006-07 season and Club Footballer of the Year.
He played his 200th career match with Milan in a 1-1 home draw with Calcio Catania on September 30, 2007, and on October 5, he was named the 2006-07 FIFPro World Player of the Year.
On December 2, 2007, Kaká was officially announced as the European Footballer of the Year, becoming the eighth Milan player in history to receive the honor. He finished with a decisive 444 votes, far ahead of runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo.
But this piece is not about Kaka’s many victories. This piece about the source of those victories! This is about a young man’s recognition of who is source and sustainer is! It is about an athlete sold out to Jesus Christ!
Receiving the European Player of the year trophy in Paris, France on December 2, he was quoted as saying: “It was an exceptional year and this crowns an extraordinary 2007...I want to thank God who allowed me to be here today. I thank my wife, my parents and Milan, the team that allowed me to win. I also thank my teammates, both at Milan and Brazil, and all of the fans.”
If you thought that was the typical half-hearted platitude of the average athlete, listen to him quoting from Ephesians 3:20 after the great Pele handed him the World Player of the Year trophy in Zurich on Monday: . "It's really special for me - it was a dream for me just to play for Sao Paulo and one game for Brazil…But the Bible says God can give you more than you even ask for and that is what has happened in my life. I had always thought about winning this award, but there are always doubts until it is actually confirmed. It is not just this award but the whole year that has been very nice. Winning the Champions League and everything that has happened, it's just been wonderful."
And if you still think that is a skin-deep affair, recall the following:
• Most memorably he, along with some of his team mates, removed his jersey to reveal to a worldwide television audience, an "I Belong to Jesus" T-shirt after Brazil's defeat of Germany in the 2002 World Cup final;
• He sported the same shirt during Milan's 2004 league celebration;
• During the postmatch celebration following Brazil's 4-1 win over Argentina in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup final, he and several of his teammates, among them backup keeper Gomes and defender Lúcio, wore T-shirts with "Jesus Loves You" printed on them in various languages
• In addition to the’ I Belong to Jesus’ T-shirt, he openly engaged in prayer moments after the final whistle of Milan's 2007 Champions League triumph.
Kaka, reports say has the phrases “I belong to Jesus” and "God Is Faithful," stitched onto the tongues of his boots. He is a member of the Brazil-based organization Athletes of Christ. All of which explains why his goal celebration consists of him pointing to the sky as a gesture of thanks to God. This wonderful Christian role model says his favourite music is gospel music; his favourite book is the Bible and he is proud that he was a virgin when he married.
All of which explains why football icon, Pele said of him: "Kaka …is also a great example off the pitch. He's the complete player." That is also why I joyfully present his story to you, dear reader, with my wishes that your life and mine be more Christ-like as we celebrate the birth of the Saviour. Merry Christmas.
By the way, please join me in wishing Treasure Olufunmi Yinyinola Akano, my wife of 27 years, God’s continued abundant blessings as she celebrates her birthday today. Thank you.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
No, the headline is not the “other tongue” for Merry Christmas. It is actually Portuguese and it is the name of a certain young sportsman. But, yes, it does represent the spirit of the season and the victory that comes from being a true, unabashed follower of the one who, as the cliché goes, is the reason for the season.
As every lover of the beautiful game known to the rest of the world as football, but which the Americans like to call soccer, knows, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, 25, more widely known and called as Kaka, was on Monday named FIFA World Football Player of the Year 2007. The AC Milan and Brazil star beat two worthy competitors, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, to the prestigious trophy at the annual FIFA World Gala which held at the Zurich Opera House in Switzerland.
He was the choice of 1,047 national coaches and captains who were polled for the award. Messi was first runner up with 504 votes while Ronaldo scored 426 votes to come third. Kaka's latest crown climaxes for him a fantastic year during which he led his club, AC Milan, to European Champions League victory this season, scoring 10 goals in the process and barely two weeks earlier on December 2, bagged the European Player of the Year title.
Kaka, though only 25, did not arrive on the world football stage as an overnight wonder. According to Wikipedia, he began his club career with Sao Paolo Football Club at the tender age of eight and signed his first playing contract with that Club’s youth squad seven years later. He graduated to the legendary club’s senior team in January 2001.
His first and to date only major career move came two years later when “AC Milan, fresh from winning the 2003 Champions League, brought him aboard in 2003 for $8.5 million…Kaká was a part of the five-man midfield in the 2004-05 season, usually playing in a withdrawn role behind striker Andriy Shevchenko. He scored 7 goals in 36 domestic appearances as Milan finished runner-up to Juventus. Despite Milan losing the 2004-05 Champions League final to Liverpool F.C. on penalties, he was nonetheless voted the best midfielder of the tournament, and also finished ninth, with 19 votes, in the running for the 2005 Player of the year.”
Wikipedia records that,the football world was began to take notice of a superstar in the making when in the 2005-06 season Kaká score his first hat-tricks in domestic and European competitions respectively.
Kaká became the focal point of Milan's attack in the 2006-7 following Shevchenko's departure to Chelsea FC. He began to alternate between the midfield and striker positions finishing the season as the top scorer with ten goals, which helped to steer AC Milan back to European success. One of them helped the Milan beat Scottish team Celtic FC 1-0 after extra time in the quarterfinals on a 1-0 aggregate, and three others proved fatal for Manchester United in the semi-finals in spite of Milan’s earlier loss of the first leg. Following that convincing 3-0 second-leg defeat at the San Siro on May 2 that knocked out the English champions, Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson confessed that Kaka was one of the two best players in the world, naming this own ward, Cristiano Ronaldo as the other. Sir Alex was however only echoing what was already being widely accepted! In April, a panel of experts set up by Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport proclaimed Kaká as the world's best footballer. Shevchenko also included his endorsement, while suggesting that Kaká deserved to win the FIFA top trophy.
Kaká won the Champions League title he was so outstanding that for the first time when Milan defeated Liverpool F.C. 2-1 in Athens on May 23, 2007. Though he went scoreless, his performance was so stellar throughout the competition that he was voted the Vodafone Fans' Player of the Season in a poll of over 100,000 UEFA.com visitors. In June 2007, German football publication Kicker named him the world's best player, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho finishing second and third, respectively, while he was also given this honour by UK publication The Times. On August 30, he was named by UEFA as both the top forward of the 2006-07 season and Club Footballer of the Year.
He played his 200th career match with Milan in a 1-1 home draw with Calcio Catania on September 30, 2007, and on October 5, he was named the 2006-07 FIFPro World Player of the Year.
On December 2, 2007, Kaká was officially announced as the European Footballer of the Year, becoming the eighth Milan player in history to receive the honor. He finished with a decisive 444 votes, far ahead of runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo.
But this piece is not about Kaka’s many victories. This piece about the source of those victories! This is about a young man’s recognition of who is source and sustainer is! It is about an athlete sold out to Jesus Christ!
Receiving the European Player of the year trophy in Paris, France on December 2, he was quoted as saying: “It was an exceptional year and this crowns an extraordinary 2007...I want to thank God who allowed me to be here today. I thank my wife, my parents and Milan, the team that allowed me to win. I also thank my teammates, both at Milan and Brazil, and all of the fans.”
If you thought that was the typical half-hearted platitude of the average athlete, listen to him quoting from Ephesians 3:20 after the great Pele handed him the World Player of the Year trophy in Zurich on Monday: . "It's really special for me - it was a dream for me just to play for Sao Paulo and one game for Brazil…But the Bible says God can give you more than you even ask for and that is what has happened in my life. I had always thought about winning this award, but there are always doubts until it is actually confirmed. It is not just this award but the whole year that has been very nice. Winning the Champions League and everything that has happened, it's just been wonderful."
And if you still think that is a skin-deep affair, recall the following:
• Most memorably he, along with some of his team mates, removed his jersey to reveal to a worldwide television audience, an "I Belong to Jesus" T-shirt after Brazil's defeat of Germany in the 2002 World Cup final;
• He sported the same shirt during Milan's 2004 league celebration;
• During the postmatch celebration following Brazil's 4-1 win over Argentina in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup final, he and several of his teammates, among them backup keeper Gomes and defender Lúcio, wore T-shirts with "Jesus Loves You" printed on them in various languages
• In addition to the’ I Belong to Jesus’ T-shirt, he openly engaged in prayer moments after the final whistle of Milan's 2007 Champions League triumph.
Kaka, reports say has the phrases “I belong to Jesus” and "God Is Faithful," stitched onto the tongues of his boots. He is a member of the Brazil-based organization Athletes of Christ. All of which explains why his goal celebration consists of him pointing to the sky as a gesture of thanks to God. This wonderful Christian role model says his favourite music is gospel music; his favourite book is the Bible and he is proud that he was a virgin when he married.
All of which explains why football icon, Pele said of him: "Kaka …is also a great example off the pitch. He's the complete player." That is also why I joyfully present his story to you, dear reader, with my wishes that your life and mine be more Christ-like as we celebrate the birth of the Saviour. Merry Christmas.
By the way, please join me in wishing Treasure Olufunmi Yinyinola Akano, my wife of 27 years, God’s continued abundant blessings as she celebrates her birthday today. Thank you.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
PERSECUTION & THE CALL TO INTEGRITY
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Paul Crouch Jr, chief of staff at the famous Trinity Broadcasting Network, TBN was the first to catch a whiff of persecution from a recent event in the United States of America, the Grassler Investigation. In a strongly worded rejoinder to an article by columnist and Charisma Editor, J. Lee Grady, he describe the requests for information sent to six famous ministries in the Pentecostal/charismatic wing of the Church as an “inquisition”.
The so-called Grassler Investigation, by the way, has its origins in the letter sent by a ranking member of the US Senate Committee on Finance, Chuck Grassler requesting detailed information on the finances of the ministries of the following men and women of God: Creflo & Taffi Dollar; Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; Randy and Paula White; David and Joyce Meyer; Benny Hinn; and Eddie Long.
The Republican Senator had rationalised his action in a press release which reads in part like this: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
The six were to have responded to the senator by December 6. Some did, some requested for more time while at least another one has bluntly refused to comply citing infringement on his ministry’s rights and privileges. We will bring you developments in what promises to be a long drawn battle.
In the mean time however, this columnist senses an increase in the feeling that the Grassler Investigation is simply the first tentative steps in an impending wave of persecution of the Church in America. For this writer, since there is really ONLY ONE CHURCH, that can only imply a creeping challenge to the church irrespective of its geographical location.
Speaking during the week in Lagos, one of my pastors, who runs an international ministry, made copious references to the Grassler investigation as nothing short of persecution, implying that if it could happen to those ministers and their ministries, it can happen to any one. He didn’t mince words: this simply is persecution!
But easily the one development that suggests to me that the suspicion of persecution may be reaching fever pitch is the announcement of the founding of a body styled as Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, headed as chairman and chief executive officer, by one Gary Cass. Cass, formerly the executive director of the Center for Reclaiming America at Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA was touted as having “experienced firsthand what happens when Christians are marginalized and persecuted during his stint with Terry Law Ministries behind the Iron Curtain in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was involved in music evangelism.”
A former pastor who was arrested three times for his pro-life activism, Cass, recalling his experience during those dark days said: "the state told the church what they could and couldn't preach and forced real believers to go underground, and then as a result, risk arrest and imprisonment for not complying with the state's mandated version of what Christianity could be." Persuaded that the same thing can happen in the US, he called for vigilance, quoting one of America’s founding fathers, he said: "It's as Thomas Jefferson said, ‘we have to be eternally vigilant to protect these rights’.”
But it is these words of his that, I believe, reveal the underlying fears of the founders and supporters of the group: “If we allow ourselves to be defamed then we are being set up to be marginalized. Once we're marginalized, then we can be treated differently. And that is the beginning of the cycle that leads to persecution."
If Gary Cass is to be believed then there is only one conclusion to be drawn from recent well-publicised events in the Church: we are at the defamation stage of his three-steps-to-persecution! This in turn would be followed by the marginalisation stage which will inexorably lead to the persecution stage.
The pattern is so clear, the enemy has been unveiled! Makes you want to call a church-wide fast; call out the prayer warriors, begin a series of mountain-top events to cast out persecution demons. But just hang on a moment. Who is defaming whom?
When Ted Haggard finally confessed to homosexual liaison with a male escort and had not only to leave the ministry that he founded but also the leadership of the umbrella body of evangelicals, National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) in November 2006; who defamed whom?
When charismatic televangelists Randy and Paula White recently separated after years of a troubled marriage; when Thomas W. Weeks punched up his televangelist wife Juanita Bynum at a hotel parking lo,t and subsequently had to split; who defamed whom?
Who defamed whom when three former professors, John Swails, Tim Brooker and Paulita Brooker filed a suit against Oral Roberts University (ORU), its president and three administrators in October, stating they were wrongfully terminated or forced to leave after bringing alleged school secrets to light. According to these insiders, they lost their jobs as retaliation for pointing out possible financial and ethical indiscretions on the part of school officials, including President Richard Roberts, son of founder Oral Roberts. Also named in the suit are Mark Lewandowski, provost; Jeff Ogle, associate provost; and Wendy Shirk, dean of the College of Arts.
Who defamed whom when, in spite of the grave allegations against him and a no-confidence vote among tenured staff of the ORU, our dear Richard Roberts implied that it took God Himself to get him to resign his exalted position. A report quoting him said it was God who sealed his decision to submit his resignation as president of the university…. “Every ounce of my flesh said ‘no’ to the idea,” Roberts said after weeks of allegations surrounding his mishandling of school finances. After praying about the decision with his wife, he felt God was insisting that he step down. Earlier he said God had told him to deny the allegations leveled against him. Upon his resignation, Roberts said, “For the first time in 60 days, peace came into my heart.” He also claimed God had promised “something supernatural for the university” if he stepped down...
Still on the ORU debacle, these two quotes from the Ministry Report magazine might help answer the question, who is defaming whom: “I'm sure there is corruption everywhere. But if you're holding students to such a high standard, making them sign an honor code and live by these strict principles, I expect the administration to be living an even stricter set of principles. To see something like this, it feels empty, like an elaborate masquerade party.” (Ben Conner, ORU freshman).
“There was a time when the wagons would circle and we'd protect our own. But we don't know what our own is anymore. People are asking questions and questioning answers, and we're not used to it.” (Carlton Pearson, former member of the ORU board of regents and current United Church of Christ minister).
Need I add more? The Gary Cass theory might have been useful in the days behind the iron curtain; today it is seductive deception. What we have on our hands is a call to self-cleansing. Paranoia won’t do it; large bunches of hyssop applied with sobriety and humility will.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Paul Crouch Jr, chief of staff at the famous Trinity Broadcasting Network, TBN was the first to catch a whiff of persecution from a recent event in the United States of America, the Grassler Investigation. In a strongly worded rejoinder to an article by columnist and Charisma Editor, J. Lee Grady, he describe the requests for information sent to six famous ministries in the Pentecostal/charismatic wing of the Church as an “inquisition”.
The so-called Grassler Investigation, by the way, has its origins in the letter sent by a ranking member of the US Senate Committee on Finance, Chuck Grassler requesting detailed information on the finances of the ministries of the following men and women of God: Creflo & Taffi Dollar; Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; Randy and Paula White; David and Joyce Meyer; Benny Hinn; and Eddie Long.
The Republican Senator had rationalised his action in a press release which reads in part like this: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
The six were to have responded to the senator by December 6. Some did, some requested for more time while at least another one has bluntly refused to comply citing infringement on his ministry’s rights and privileges. We will bring you developments in what promises to be a long drawn battle.
In the mean time however, this columnist senses an increase in the feeling that the Grassler Investigation is simply the first tentative steps in an impending wave of persecution of the Church in America. For this writer, since there is really ONLY ONE CHURCH, that can only imply a creeping challenge to the church irrespective of its geographical location.
Speaking during the week in Lagos, one of my pastors, who runs an international ministry, made copious references to the Grassler investigation as nothing short of persecution, implying that if it could happen to those ministers and their ministries, it can happen to any one. He didn’t mince words: this simply is persecution!
But easily the one development that suggests to me that the suspicion of persecution may be reaching fever pitch is the announcement of the founding of a body styled as Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, headed as chairman and chief executive officer, by one Gary Cass. Cass, formerly the executive director of the Center for Reclaiming America at Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA was touted as having “experienced firsthand what happens when Christians are marginalized and persecuted during his stint with Terry Law Ministries behind the Iron Curtain in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was involved in music evangelism.”
A former pastor who was arrested three times for his pro-life activism, Cass, recalling his experience during those dark days said: "the state told the church what they could and couldn't preach and forced real believers to go underground, and then as a result, risk arrest and imprisonment for not complying with the state's mandated version of what Christianity could be." Persuaded that the same thing can happen in the US, he called for vigilance, quoting one of America’s founding fathers, he said: "It's as Thomas Jefferson said, ‘we have to be eternally vigilant to protect these rights’.”
But it is these words of his that, I believe, reveal the underlying fears of the founders and supporters of the group: “If we allow ourselves to be defamed then we are being set up to be marginalized. Once we're marginalized, then we can be treated differently. And that is the beginning of the cycle that leads to persecution."
If Gary Cass is to be believed then there is only one conclusion to be drawn from recent well-publicised events in the Church: we are at the defamation stage of his three-steps-to-persecution! This in turn would be followed by the marginalisation stage which will inexorably lead to the persecution stage.
The pattern is so clear, the enemy has been unveiled! Makes you want to call a church-wide fast; call out the prayer warriors, begin a series of mountain-top events to cast out persecution demons. But just hang on a moment. Who is defaming whom?
When Ted Haggard finally confessed to homosexual liaison with a male escort and had not only to leave the ministry that he founded but also the leadership of the umbrella body of evangelicals, National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) in November 2006; who defamed whom?
When charismatic televangelists Randy and Paula White recently separated after years of a troubled marriage; when Thomas W. Weeks punched up his televangelist wife Juanita Bynum at a hotel parking lo,t and subsequently had to split; who defamed whom?
Who defamed whom when three former professors, John Swails, Tim Brooker and Paulita Brooker filed a suit against Oral Roberts University (ORU), its president and three administrators in October, stating they were wrongfully terminated or forced to leave after bringing alleged school secrets to light. According to these insiders, they lost their jobs as retaliation for pointing out possible financial and ethical indiscretions on the part of school officials, including President Richard Roberts, son of founder Oral Roberts. Also named in the suit are Mark Lewandowski, provost; Jeff Ogle, associate provost; and Wendy Shirk, dean of the College of Arts.
Who defamed whom when, in spite of the grave allegations against him and a no-confidence vote among tenured staff of the ORU, our dear Richard Roberts implied that it took God Himself to get him to resign his exalted position. A report quoting him said it was God who sealed his decision to submit his resignation as president of the university…. “Every ounce of my flesh said ‘no’ to the idea,” Roberts said after weeks of allegations surrounding his mishandling of school finances. After praying about the decision with his wife, he felt God was insisting that he step down. Earlier he said God had told him to deny the allegations leveled against him. Upon his resignation, Roberts said, “For the first time in 60 days, peace came into my heart.” He also claimed God had promised “something supernatural for the university” if he stepped down...
Still on the ORU debacle, these two quotes from the Ministry Report magazine might help answer the question, who is defaming whom: “I'm sure there is corruption everywhere. But if you're holding students to such a high standard, making them sign an honor code and live by these strict principles, I expect the administration to be living an even stricter set of principles. To see something like this, it feels empty, like an elaborate masquerade party.” (Ben Conner, ORU freshman).
“There was a time when the wagons would circle and we'd protect our own. But we don't know what our own is anymore. People are asking questions and questioning answers, and we're not used to it.” (Carlton Pearson, former member of the ORU board of regents and current United Church of Christ minister).
Need I add more? The Gary Cass theory might have been useful in the days behind the iron curtain; today it is seductive deception. What we have on our hands is a call to self-cleansing. Paranoia won’t do it; large bunches of hyssop applied with sobriety and humility will.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
MICHAEL AONDOAKAA, HERO OR VILLAIN?
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Republic, is fast becoming the issue in Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade. And depending on your perception of the man’s activities since coming to office, he can be either an impediment to the crusade or a stickler for the rule of law; a shield for the corrupt or a determined agent of change in the way sleaze is fought; a demagogue or a nationalist; an emerging hero or a burgeoning villain.
Beginning with that famous press conference where he announced that all anti-corruption prosecutions were to henceforth originate from his office, through the allegations and counter allegations on the roles played or being played by his office and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the attempt to prosecute ex-Governor Ibori, Aondoakaa has found himself in the thick of controversies.
I have tried to listen to the man, I have tried to read his lips and analyse his body language and I am humble enough to admit that I am none the wiser for my effort.
Take his rhetoric. He says he has the right under the law to supervise the anti-corruption agencies including the power to authorize or withhold approval for prosecution; that has not and, from what I understand, cannot be controverted. So his decision to allow the EFCC to continue to initiate prosecution and step in only when he considers it necessary to do so is an act of magnanimity!
He says the request for documentary evidence from the EFCC to pursue the case against Ibori was procedurally flawed. According to him, the request should have come from the British Home Office and not from a lowly officer at the London Metropolitan Police. In his books that is a slap in the face of our sovereignty as a nation. He also pointed out that the attempt by EFCC to aid the London Mets was also inappropriate, because, EFCC had not only sent documents without his knowledge, even the letter requesting his retroactive authorization did not include copies of the documents he was supposed to be authorizing the Commission to release.
His words, according to a recent newspaper report:
“In Nigeria, a Crown counsel is the equivalent of a state counsel, a level 8 officer. So, I refused and told them that they had to do the right thing. I think Nigeria, as a sovereign nation, deserves some respect. They knew they were wrong, otherwise why did they now write through the Home Office requesting for mutual assistance to quiz Adenuga? I cannot compromise the sovereignty of this country. If they make incompetent requests, I will turn them down 20 times. Any request from the Metropolitan Police will be refused by this office, period. We had made a request in 2004 to the Metropolitan Police. They faulted us and refused until we did the right thing. If they bring another request under the MLAT signed by the appropriate authorities, I will attend to it. .When I rejected their request on Ibori, the then British Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Gozney, came here with a superintendent to say that they did not mean to undermine the AGF and I agreed with them. What I am saying is that the procedure they adopted was wrong. Otherwise, why are they now doing the right thing in the case of Adenuga?”
On his refusal to authorise the use of evidence sent to British authorities by EFCC, he was quoted as follows:
“Now, how can I sign something which did not pass through my office? I do not know the documents in question because they were not even attached to the letter the commission sent to me. How can someone accuse me of shielding Ibori under such a circumstance? People should ask why the commission has not initiated his trial all this while. The truth is that the EFCC sent the documents to London without authority. That is the position of government. I did not write any letter to President Umaru Yar’Adua that Ibori should not be prosecuted. There is nothing like that. I simply refused the request for mutual legal assistance because it was procedurally flawed.”
But of course, this stance of Aondoakaa is being taken with a pinch of salt, dismissed as mere posturing while providing a shield for some governors who are said to be his friends.
Dr Edwin Clark, an Ijaw leader is one of such people. A media report recently quoted him as saying that the Attorney General was working with some unnamed officials in the Presidency to ensure that Ibori did not stand trial. Clark, a lawyer and former national information minister specifically queried what he said was the AGF’s letter to his British counterpart in the United Kingdom, requesting the stoppage of the trial of Ibori in London. “There must be something going on between the AGF and Ibori, if he has approved six cases out of eight leaving Ibori’s, there must be something going on. He mentioned all Ibori’s associates and say they cannot be tried by the British Government,” he said.
Opinions such as Clark’s have endured in spite of an earlier assurance by the Presidency that there would be no shield for any corrupt Nigerian, no matter how highly placed.
Presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi had issued a very categorical statement on the issue when the Ibori case first broke into national consciousness. The statement read in part:
“In the particular case of Ibori, contrary to suggestions that Yar‘Adua and his administration are wilfully shielding the former governor from prosecution by the EFCC and the British authorities, the President has in fact authorised a visit to Nigeria by officers of the Metropolitan Police who are conducting a criminal investigation of Ibori.
“Furthermore, the President has directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to give the fullest possible cooperation to the officers of the Metropolitan Police in their quest for evidence of offences allegedly committed by Ibori. Because the war against corruption is a process and not an event, the President believes that it is best to follow the path of legality in its prosecution.
“He (Yar’Adua) is convinced that while this may seem unduly slow to some people, it will ultimately prove to be a much more effective and enduring approach to the war against corruption in our country. I reaffirm that as far as Yar‘Adua is concerned, nobody, no matter how highly placed, and no institution, no matter what it considers the rightness of its cause, will be considered a sacred cow or above the law in the bid to rid Nigeria of corrupt practices.”
Beautiful, forthright statement, don’t you think? Yet the doubts won’t go away. And you wonder why. I don’t know for sure, but as a person, I have the usual struggle between my head and my heart. My head, worldly wise and wont to cast do-gooders as the biblical angels of light says to distrust the minister and his principal. My heart, which is where issues of life emanate, says to give him a chance; to err on the side of due process.
I have decided to hearken to my heart. Due process, after all, is of God. As I remember saying on this page before, God could have arbitrarily snatched the world back from satan after Adam wilfully handed it to him in the Garden of Eden. He did not. He patiently went through the due process of raising the “Seed of the woman”, (Genesis 3:15) that is the Lord Jesus, to be born, walk the earth and eventually “utterly crush and eternally defeat Satan” and wrest the prize back from him.
That is the way of God. That is the way Aondoakaa and the President say they are treading. So, let’s give them a chance to prove their sincerity, after all, as the Lord Jesus Himself said “…there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known (Matthew 10:26).
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Republic, is fast becoming the issue in Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade. And depending on your perception of the man’s activities since coming to office, he can be either an impediment to the crusade or a stickler for the rule of law; a shield for the corrupt or a determined agent of change in the way sleaze is fought; a demagogue or a nationalist; an emerging hero or a burgeoning villain.
Beginning with that famous press conference where he announced that all anti-corruption prosecutions were to henceforth originate from his office, through the allegations and counter allegations on the roles played or being played by his office and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the attempt to prosecute ex-Governor Ibori, Aondoakaa has found himself in the thick of controversies.
I have tried to listen to the man, I have tried to read his lips and analyse his body language and I am humble enough to admit that I am none the wiser for my effort.
Take his rhetoric. He says he has the right under the law to supervise the anti-corruption agencies including the power to authorize or withhold approval for prosecution; that has not and, from what I understand, cannot be controverted. So his decision to allow the EFCC to continue to initiate prosecution and step in only when he considers it necessary to do so is an act of magnanimity!
He says the request for documentary evidence from the EFCC to pursue the case against Ibori was procedurally flawed. According to him, the request should have come from the British Home Office and not from a lowly officer at the London Metropolitan Police. In his books that is a slap in the face of our sovereignty as a nation. He also pointed out that the attempt by EFCC to aid the London Mets was also inappropriate, because, EFCC had not only sent documents without his knowledge, even the letter requesting his retroactive authorization did not include copies of the documents he was supposed to be authorizing the Commission to release.
His words, according to a recent newspaper report:
“In Nigeria, a Crown counsel is the equivalent of a state counsel, a level 8 officer. So, I refused and told them that they had to do the right thing. I think Nigeria, as a sovereign nation, deserves some respect. They knew they were wrong, otherwise why did they now write through the Home Office requesting for mutual assistance to quiz Adenuga? I cannot compromise the sovereignty of this country. If they make incompetent requests, I will turn them down 20 times. Any request from the Metropolitan Police will be refused by this office, period. We had made a request in 2004 to the Metropolitan Police. They faulted us and refused until we did the right thing. If they bring another request under the MLAT signed by the appropriate authorities, I will attend to it. .When I rejected their request on Ibori, the then British Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Gozney, came here with a superintendent to say that they did not mean to undermine the AGF and I agreed with them. What I am saying is that the procedure they adopted was wrong. Otherwise, why are they now doing the right thing in the case of Adenuga?”
On his refusal to authorise the use of evidence sent to British authorities by EFCC, he was quoted as follows:
“Now, how can I sign something which did not pass through my office? I do not know the documents in question because they were not even attached to the letter the commission sent to me. How can someone accuse me of shielding Ibori under such a circumstance? People should ask why the commission has not initiated his trial all this while. The truth is that the EFCC sent the documents to London without authority. That is the position of government. I did not write any letter to President Umaru Yar’Adua that Ibori should not be prosecuted. There is nothing like that. I simply refused the request for mutual legal assistance because it was procedurally flawed.”
But of course, this stance of Aondoakaa is being taken with a pinch of salt, dismissed as mere posturing while providing a shield for some governors who are said to be his friends.
Dr Edwin Clark, an Ijaw leader is one of such people. A media report recently quoted him as saying that the Attorney General was working with some unnamed officials in the Presidency to ensure that Ibori did not stand trial. Clark, a lawyer and former national information minister specifically queried what he said was the AGF’s letter to his British counterpart in the United Kingdom, requesting the stoppage of the trial of Ibori in London. “There must be something going on between the AGF and Ibori, if he has approved six cases out of eight leaving Ibori’s, there must be something going on. He mentioned all Ibori’s associates and say they cannot be tried by the British Government,” he said.
Opinions such as Clark’s have endured in spite of an earlier assurance by the Presidency that there would be no shield for any corrupt Nigerian, no matter how highly placed.
Presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi had issued a very categorical statement on the issue when the Ibori case first broke into national consciousness. The statement read in part:
“In the particular case of Ibori, contrary to suggestions that Yar‘Adua and his administration are wilfully shielding the former governor from prosecution by the EFCC and the British authorities, the President has in fact authorised a visit to Nigeria by officers of the Metropolitan Police who are conducting a criminal investigation of Ibori.
“Furthermore, the President has directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to give the fullest possible cooperation to the officers of the Metropolitan Police in their quest for evidence of offences allegedly committed by Ibori. Because the war against corruption is a process and not an event, the President believes that it is best to follow the path of legality in its prosecution.
“He (Yar’Adua) is convinced that while this may seem unduly slow to some people, it will ultimately prove to be a much more effective and enduring approach to the war against corruption in our country. I reaffirm that as far as Yar‘Adua is concerned, nobody, no matter how highly placed, and no institution, no matter what it considers the rightness of its cause, will be considered a sacred cow or above the law in the bid to rid Nigeria of corrupt practices.”
Beautiful, forthright statement, don’t you think? Yet the doubts won’t go away. And you wonder why. I don’t know for sure, but as a person, I have the usual struggle between my head and my heart. My head, worldly wise and wont to cast do-gooders as the biblical angels of light says to distrust the minister and his principal. My heart, which is where issues of life emanate, says to give him a chance; to err on the side of due process.
I have decided to hearken to my heart. Due process, after all, is of God. As I remember saying on this page before, God could have arbitrarily snatched the world back from satan after Adam wilfully handed it to him in the Garden of Eden. He did not. He patiently went through the due process of raising the “Seed of the woman”, (Genesis 3:15) that is the Lord Jesus, to be born, walk the earth and eventually “utterly crush and eternally defeat Satan” and wrest the prize back from him.
That is the way of God. That is the way Aondoakaa and the President say they are treading. So, let’s give them a chance to prove their sincerity, after all, as the Lord Jesus Himself said “…there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known (Matthew 10:26).
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Sunday, 2 December 2007
INTEGRITY CHECK FOR THE CHURCH (3)
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
As we were saying, two recent developments: one here in Nigeria, the other in the United States may well be pointing in the direction of critical self-examination in the church.
To refresh your memory, reports emanating from the Federal Ministry of Finance indicate that at least one well-known church may have been implicated in the import duty waiver policy abuse that has led to the policy’s suspension. Specifically, it was said that waivers granted the church for the importation of building materials were extended to cover other imports. The value of duty thus evaded was, according to a media report, put at up to N20 billion.
Two investigations, I believe, are on-going; a general one by a panel led by Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma and the other hopefully by the Christian Association of Nigeria which requested for and eventually received certain documentary evidence of the church’s involvement in what one newspaper has dubbed “a holy scam.” Further comments on this particular issue must therefore await the report of these probes both of which we expect would be placed in the public domain.
The development in the US, on the other hand, revolves round an investigation into the uses to which churches are putting the finances collected by way of tithes, offerings and other collections for which they are tax exempt. Citing reports and complaints reaching his office, Senator Charles Chucks Grassler, an influential member of the Senate Committee on Finance wrote letters to six of the top Pentecostal/charismatic ministries asking detailed questions about their expenses pattern and the tax exempt status of some specific expenses or associated projects or establishments. The six who received and have till December 6 to reply the letters are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
As in the Nigerian case, it would be premature to comment on the culpability or otherwise of any or al the ministries until Senator Grassler and his colleagues on the finance committee conclude their assignment. So, I shall refrain from doing so. It’s however probably not out of place to attempt to read the handwriting on the wall.
First, let me state that the power of the Senate of the United States of America, to initiate the kind of investigation that Grassler is undertaking, derives from the oversight function of the legislature on issues pertaining to public finance. And if you wonder how the account of religious bodies could fit into the realm of public finance, read this quote from Grassler’s press release on the issue: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Second, I wish to state that, from my little knowledge of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the National Assembly has similar oversight powers and so can, should it feel a need to do so in the public interest, conduct such an investigation for the same reasons.
Thirdly, I also state that initiators of any such investigations in Nigeria will be subjected to emotional and religious blackmail, no matter who they are, their antecedents and intentions, but in the end, should they persevere, I would be surprised if they do not unearth cans and cans of worms (no puns intended).
I know for sure that I am treading on dangerous grounds here and might even be accused of inciting the legislature against the church, with such dire consequences as calls for my excommunication! No matter. This is an issue, I believe we need to be in your face about and that’s what I propose to do in my own little way.
Let’s begin with the tax exempt status of our churches and ministries. The status is universally conferred on not-for-profit organizations. This is as it should be because, if the profit motive is not the reason for your existence, there is technically nothing to tax. But what happens when a not-for-profit body establishes profit-making associates? Should such an associated company be exempted from tax?
A typical scenario goes like this: A ministry sustains itself from the tithes, offerings and other donations from members of the public, including, but not limited to its members and congregants. From this tax-free income, it establishes a book store, video and audio tape shop and sometimes even a printing press. Whether the materials and services sold in these outlets are solely those of that ministry or not, profit is made from such operations. Should such profit be tax-free particularly as the products and services are hardly ever subsidized?
Incidentally, this situation is clearly exemplified by the fees being charged by secondary and tertiary educational institutions established by churches and ministries. As I was preparing this article, a brother told me of a secondary school whose fees are so high that the teachers who are members of the owner-ministry and who live on the campus cannot afford the fees and so send there children to schools outside the campus residence. In addition to the tax exempt status of such institutions is the issue of how well staffers of these ministries and ministry-owned institutions are remunerated.
There is the issue of the fixing of remuneration for ministers. How much should a general overseer or superintendent or presiding bishop earn? Who fixes such income and by what criteria? Of course this speaks directly also to the issue of whether not-for-profit organizations should be run as sole-proprietorships. In other words, is a ministry independent of its founder or are they one and the same legal persons? What obtains today, with very few exceptions, is that there is no difference.
We can go on and on. The point being made, however, is simple: if the system in the USA threw up a Senator Grassler, it certainly will incarnate one in Nigeria sooner or later. And like Grassler, he might even be an anointed, tongue-talking, devil-chasing, born-again Christian; so that there won’t be convincing ground for demonisation.
To everyone who reads this and is wont to begin the name-calling right now, I commend the scripture in 1Corinthians Chapter 11 and verse 31 which the Message renders like this: “If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on.” That is my call to the Church.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
As we were saying, two recent developments: one here in Nigeria, the other in the United States may well be pointing in the direction of critical self-examination in the church.
To refresh your memory, reports emanating from the Federal Ministry of Finance indicate that at least one well-known church may have been implicated in the import duty waiver policy abuse that has led to the policy’s suspension. Specifically, it was said that waivers granted the church for the importation of building materials were extended to cover other imports. The value of duty thus evaded was, according to a media report, put at up to N20 billion.
Two investigations, I believe, are on-going; a general one by a panel led by Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma and the other hopefully by the Christian Association of Nigeria which requested for and eventually received certain documentary evidence of the church’s involvement in what one newspaper has dubbed “a holy scam.” Further comments on this particular issue must therefore await the report of these probes both of which we expect would be placed in the public domain.
The development in the US, on the other hand, revolves round an investigation into the uses to which churches are putting the finances collected by way of tithes, offerings and other collections for which they are tax exempt. Citing reports and complaints reaching his office, Senator Charles Chucks Grassler, an influential member of the Senate Committee on Finance wrote letters to six of the top Pentecostal/charismatic ministries asking detailed questions about their expenses pattern and the tax exempt status of some specific expenses or associated projects or establishments. The six who received and have till December 6 to reply the letters are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
As in the Nigerian case, it would be premature to comment on the culpability or otherwise of any or al the ministries until Senator Grassler and his colleagues on the finance committee conclude their assignment. So, I shall refrain from doing so. It’s however probably not out of place to attempt to read the handwriting on the wall.
First, let me state that the power of the Senate of the United States of America, to initiate the kind of investigation that Grassler is undertaking, derives from the oversight function of the legislature on issues pertaining to public finance. And if you wonder how the account of religious bodies could fit into the realm of public finance, read this quote from Grassler’s press release on the issue: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Second, I wish to state that, from my little knowledge of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the National Assembly has similar oversight powers and so can, should it feel a need to do so in the public interest, conduct such an investigation for the same reasons.
Thirdly, I also state that initiators of any such investigations in Nigeria will be subjected to emotional and religious blackmail, no matter who they are, their antecedents and intentions, but in the end, should they persevere, I would be surprised if they do not unearth cans and cans of worms (no puns intended).
I know for sure that I am treading on dangerous grounds here and might even be accused of inciting the legislature against the church, with such dire consequences as calls for my excommunication! No matter. This is an issue, I believe we need to be in your face about and that’s what I propose to do in my own little way.
Let’s begin with the tax exempt status of our churches and ministries. The status is universally conferred on not-for-profit organizations. This is as it should be because, if the profit motive is not the reason for your existence, there is technically nothing to tax. But what happens when a not-for-profit body establishes profit-making associates? Should such an associated company be exempted from tax?
A typical scenario goes like this: A ministry sustains itself from the tithes, offerings and other donations from members of the public, including, but not limited to its members and congregants. From this tax-free income, it establishes a book store, video and audio tape shop and sometimes even a printing press. Whether the materials and services sold in these outlets are solely those of that ministry or not, profit is made from such operations. Should such profit be tax-free particularly as the products and services are hardly ever subsidized?
Incidentally, this situation is clearly exemplified by the fees being charged by secondary and tertiary educational institutions established by churches and ministries. As I was preparing this article, a brother told me of a secondary school whose fees are so high that the teachers who are members of the owner-ministry and who live on the campus cannot afford the fees and so send there children to schools outside the campus residence. In addition to the tax exempt status of such institutions is the issue of how well staffers of these ministries and ministry-owned institutions are remunerated.
There is the issue of the fixing of remuneration for ministers. How much should a general overseer or superintendent or presiding bishop earn? Who fixes such income and by what criteria? Of course this speaks directly also to the issue of whether not-for-profit organizations should be run as sole-proprietorships. In other words, is a ministry independent of its founder or are they one and the same legal persons? What obtains today, with very few exceptions, is that there is no difference.
We can go on and on. The point being made, however, is simple: if the system in the USA threw up a Senator Grassler, it certainly will incarnate one in Nigeria sooner or later. And like Grassler, he might even be an anointed, tongue-talking, devil-chasing, born-again Christian; so that there won’t be convincing ground for demonisation.
To everyone who reads this and is wont to begin the name-calling right now, I commend the scripture in 1Corinthians Chapter 11 and verse 31 which the Message renders like this: “If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on.” That is my call to the Church.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
INTEGRITY CHECK FOR THE CHURCH (2)
KPerspective November 25 2007
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Last week, I drew attention to an altercation between the Federal Ministry of Finance and The Christian Association of Nigeria. As we saw, one of the reasons the Yar’Adua government suspended and is currently reviewing the previous administration’s import duty waiver policy is its widespread abuse; and among those being fingered for the abuse is at least one church.
Unfortunately, because the finance minister is a Moslem, it is all too easy to read motives other than the public good to his public declaration of the church’s culpability. And that would seem to be what CAN, through National Secretary Salifu implied in the first reaction when the news broke. The minister’s subsequent response and at least one newspaper report would seem to suggest, however, that there might be something in it worth our collective attention as members of the body of Christ, the Church. Which is why, I see in it the first note in a clarion call on the church to do an integrity check; a clarion that is bound to increase several decibels per day this season of the flood of righteousness. To see it otherwise, in my humble view, is to miss the import of this call to integrity and that would be truly tragic.
This is particularly so because, as I intimated last week, it does seem that the call to integrity in the church is not limited to Nigeria. And we need to understand it for what it is - yet another evidence that these are the end-times and the Lord Jesus is determined to come back for a glorious church.
As you read this, six of the more prominent Pentecostal ministers in the United States of America would most probably be getting their acts together to send, as Charisma magazine editor, J. Lee Grady put it in a recent column, “a boatload of paperwork to prove they are in compliance with U.S. tax laws”. This would be in reply to a request by Senator Charles Chucks Grassley, described as “the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.” The Big Six who received Grassley’s letter are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
Giving reasons for initiating this investigation, Grassley said in a media release: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Towards achieving his objectives, Grassley asked the six ministries to send to him, within a month from November 6, which was when the letters were faxed to them, a long list of explanations, clarifications and documents.
For example, the letter to Joyce Meyer and her husband, David required of them the following in the words of a newspaper report:
• A "detailed accounting" of all her and her husband's expense-account items, including clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• Information about any overseas bank accounts and deposits made outside the U.S. after international evangelical crusades.
• The tax-exempt purpose of items purchased for her ministry's headquarters, such as a $23,000 marble-topped commode, a $30,000 conference table and an $11,219 French clock.
• A detailed accounting of total monthly expenses for upkeep on the Meyers' personal residence, and any vacation homes, from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation of any personal use of the ministries' tax-exempt assets, including "jets, employees, facilities," from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation for how personal gifts from donors, such as money or jewelry, are handled and reported to the IRS.
Randy and Paula White, divorced pastors of Without Walls Ministries were asked for:
• A detailed explanation of the compensation paid to them, as well as cash and noncash gifts, housing allowances and personal use of assets.
• A detailed list of any expenses paid for by their church or ministries toward the purchases and monthly maintenance of their residences on Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa, and in New York, San Antonio and Malibu, Calif.
• Credit card statements for expenses paid by their tax-exempt entity, including a list of all expense account items such as clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• A list of all domestic and overseas bank accounts and investments belonging to their organizations.
• A list of all vehicles purchased, leased or maintained by their tax-exempt organizations.
• Copies of flight records of any aircraft leased or owned by their ministries, as well as flight itineraries for both of them.
• A copy of the bill of sale, type of payment used and an explanation of the reported tax-exempt purchase of a Bentley convertible as a gift for Bishop T.D. Jakes.
• A detailed accounting of $871,000 worth of items reportedly sold to the church since 2005 by two of the private businesses owned by them, and an explanation as to who determined that the church would purchase these items.
• An explanation of who determines how the funds of Without Walls and Paula White Ministries are spent, copies of all board minutes and whether any of the decisions, both operational and financial, are subject to oversight by an elected or appointed body.
Lee Grady summarized other key requirements listed in Grassley’s letters as follows:
• Information from Bible teacher Joyce Meyer about expensive furnishings in her Missouri headquarters—including a $30,000 malachite table, a $23,000 toilet with a marble lid and a $19,000 pair of Dresden vases
• Paperwork explaining how Benny Hinn’s ministry purchased his $3 million home in Dana Point, Calif.
• Receipts and other records explaining how Eddie Long paid for his $1.4 million estate on 20 acres in suburban Atlanta
• Records about vacation trips to Hawaii and Fiji that Kenneth and Gloria Copeland took using their ministry plane
• Clarification from Atlanta faith preacher Creflo Dollar about his role in raising a hefty portion of a $2 million gift donated to Kenneth Copeland.
Of course, reactions have been fast and furious with one of the most strident coming from Paul Crouch Jnr of Trinity Broadcasting Network who described Grassley’s effort as “an inquisition”.
Incidentally, Grassley is not a newcomer to this particular kind of exertion. In the words of Grady, “Grassley has been applauded in the past for blowing the whistle on financial abuses among secular nonprofit organizations including the American Red Cross.” So, it would be hard to make a tag of anti-Christianity on him stick. And as some commentators have already noted, any attempt to demonise the senator might rob the church of a wonderful opportunity to do an integrity check. That as I said earlier would be tragic indeed. (CONTINUES NEXT WEEK)
FROM MY IN-BOX
LET’S WALK OUR TALK
Lots of beautifully scripted words in your article, but I think for me, the 5th to the last paragraph in your commentary captures the essence of what's happening (or has already happened to our men & women of "character") - the human being you n I see and worship with in Church is the same human being we see and work with in our various offices. Where human BEINGS not "human robots" or "humanoid replicas"
cannot, refuse to or omit to STAND UP FOR the truth whether in Church, at work, at school or at play, the present situation we have will persist.
I recently met an elderly man on one of my marketing visits to a multinational company. He is neither an ordained Pastor nor a General Overseer of any Church.
He is presently a Departmental Head in his place of work. He told me that years ago (almost 2 decades now), he made a conscious decision to ensure the employment of qualified Christians. (He meets you, your CV is ok, he forwards it to his Human Resources Dept and follows through until you come in or they formally decline). Please note that he has never worked in the Human Resources Dept of the Company. He says that he realized then that many Christians never ever get the opportunity to "access" highly paid jobs in some "coveted" sectors of the economy. It may interest you to know that one pastor has worked in the Human Resource Dept of the same Company for years (and is still working) and no-one else in his Church has "made it in".
We speak a lot of English on these matters, but you and I can count how many of us "spiritual people" in Church really walk our talk. Do what you can, though. Maybe, God willing, some of the people who read y6our column or visit your site will be convicted by the Lord to do something more. Stay blessed!
CHERIE DIBIANA (Mrs)
Lagos, Nigeria
GOD IS MOVING AGAIN
I have taken time to go through the November Kingdom Perspective and I believe God is moving again in this country by using people like you to stir up hearts of men - after all, issues of life flow therefrom. It has certainly made good impact on me and made me do a re-think of what our life is worth without character? Someone once defined character of any man as '' what a man thinks, says and does in the closet''- i.e. a man is what he is when nobody else is watching him.
Once again, thank you for your labour of love and may the Lord reward you mightily in Jesus name. Blessings!!
SEGUN ASABA
Lagos, Nigeria.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
with Remi Akano
E-mail: remiakanosr@believeandrepent.com
Last week, I drew attention to an altercation between the Federal Ministry of Finance and The Christian Association of Nigeria. As we saw, one of the reasons the Yar’Adua government suspended and is currently reviewing the previous administration’s import duty waiver policy is its widespread abuse; and among those being fingered for the abuse is at least one church.
Unfortunately, because the finance minister is a Moslem, it is all too easy to read motives other than the public good to his public declaration of the church’s culpability. And that would seem to be what CAN, through National Secretary Salifu implied in the first reaction when the news broke. The minister’s subsequent response and at least one newspaper report would seem to suggest, however, that there might be something in it worth our collective attention as members of the body of Christ, the Church. Which is why, I see in it the first note in a clarion call on the church to do an integrity check; a clarion that is bound to increase several decibels per day this season of the flood of righteousness. To see it otherwise, in my humble view, is to miss the import of this call to integrity and that would be truly tragic.
This is particularly so because, as I intimated last week, it does seem that the call to integrity in the church is not limited to Nigeria. And we need to understand it for what it is - yet another evidence that these are the end-times and the Lord Jesus is determined to come back for a glorious church.
As you read this, six of the more prominent Pentecostal ministers in the United States of America would most probably be getting their acts together to send, as Charisma magazine editor, J. Lee Grady put it in a recent column, “a boatload of paperwork to prove they are in compliance with U.S. tax laws”. This would be in reply to a request by Senator Charles Chucks Grassley, described as “the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.” The Big Six who received Grassley’s letter are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland; David and Joyce Meyer; Randy and Paula White; Creflo and Taffi Dollar; Eddie Long; and Benny Hinn.
Giving reasons for initiating this investigation, Grassley said in a media release: "I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries…The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."
Towards achieving his objectives, Grassley asked the six ministries to send to him, within a month from November 6, which was when the letters were faxed to them, a long list of explanations, clarifications and documents.
For example, the letter to Joyce Meyer and her husband, David required of them the following in the words of a newspaper report:
• A "detailed accounting" of all her and her husband's expense-account items, including clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• Information about any overseas bank accounts and deposits made outside the U.S. after international evangelical crusades.
• The tax-exempt purpose of items purchased for her ministry's headquarters, such as a $23,000 marble-topped commode, a $30,000 conference table and an $11,219 French clock.
• A detailed accounting of total monthly expenses for upkeep on the Meyers' personal residence, and any vacation homes, from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation of any personal use of the ministries' tax-exempt assets, including "jets, employees, facilities," from 2004 to the present.
• An explanation for how personal gifts from donors, such as money or jewelry, are handled and reported to the IRS.
Randy and Paula White, divorced pastors of Without Walls Ministries were asked for:
• A detailed explanation of the compensation paid to them, as well as cash and noncash gifts, housing allowances and personal use of assets.
• A detailed list of any expenses paid for by their church or ministries toward the purchases and monthly maintenance of their residences on Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa, and in New York, San Antonio and Malibu, Calif.
• Credit card statements for expenses paid by their tax-exempt entity, including a list of all expense account items such as clothing and cosmetic surgery.
• A list of all domestic and overseas bank accounts and investments belonging to their organizations.
• A list of all vehicles purchased, leased or maintained by their tax-exempt organizations.
• Copies of flight records of any aircraft leased or owned by their ministries, as well as flight itineraries for both of them.
• A copy of the bill of sale, type of payment used and an explanation of the reported tax-exempt purchase of a Bentley convertible as a gift for Bishop T.D. Jakes.
• A detailed accounting of $871,000 worth of items reportedly sold to the church since 2005 by two of the private businesses owned by them, and an explanation as to who determined that the church would purchase these items.
• An explanation of who determines how the funds of Without Walls and Paula White Ministries are spent, copies of all board minutes and whether any of the decisions, both operational and financial, are subject to oversight by an elected or appointed body.
Lee Grady summarized other key requirements listed in Grassley’s letters as follows:
• Information from Bible teacher Joyce Meyer about expensive furnishings in her Missouri headquarters—including a $30,000 malachite table, a $23,000 toilet with a marble lid and a $19,000 pair of Dresden vases
• Paperwork explaining how Benny Hinn’s ministry purchased his $3 million home in Dana Point, Calif.
• Receipts and other records explaining how Eddie Long paid for his $1.4 million estate on 20 acres in suburban Atlanta
• Records about vacation trips to Hawaii and Fiji that Kenneth and Gloria Copeland took using their ministry plane
• Clarification from Atlanta faith preacher Creflo Dollar about his role in raising a hefty portion of a $2 million gift donated to Kenneth Copeland.
Of course, reactions have been fast and furious with one of the most strident coming from Paul Crouch Jnr of Trinity Broadcasting Network who described Grassley’s effort as “an inquisition”.
Incidentally, Grassley is not a newcomer to this particular kind of exertion. In the words of Grady, “Grassley has been applauded in the past for blowing the whistle on financial abuses among secular nonprofit organizations including the American Red Cross.” So, it would be hard to make a tag of anti-Christianity on him stick. And as some commentators have already noted, any attempt to demonise the senator might rob the church of a wonderful opportunity to do an integrity check. That as I said earlier would be tragic indeed. (CONTINUES NEXT WEEK)
FROM MY IN-BOX
LET’S WALK OUR TALK
Lots of beautifully scripted words in your article, but I think for me, the 5th to the last paragraph in your commentary captures the essence of what's happening (or has already happened to our men & women of "character") - the human being you n I see and worship with in Church is the same human being we see and work with in our various offices. Where human BEINGS not "human robots" or "humanoid replicas"
cannot, refuse to or omit to STAND UP FOR the truth whether in Church, at work, at school or at play, the present situation we have will persist.
I recently met an elderly man on one of my marketing visits to a multinational company. He is neither an ordained Pastor nor a General Overseer of any Church.
He is presently a Departmental Head in his place of work. He told me that years ago (almost 2 decades now), he made a conscious decision to ensure the employment of qualified Christians. (He meets you, your CV is ok, he forwards it to his Human Resources Dept and follows through until you come in or they formally decline). Please note that he has never worked in the Human Resources Dept of the Company. He says that he realized then that many Christians never ever get the opportunity to "access" highly paid jobs in some "coveted" sectors of the economy. It may interest you to know that one pastor has worked in the Human Resource Dept of the same Company for years (and is still working) and no-one else in his Church has "made it in".
We speak a lot of English on these matters, but you and I can count how many of us "spiritual people" in Church really walk our talk. Do what you can, though. Maybe, God willing, some of the people who read y6our column or visit your site will be convicted by the Lord to do something more. Stay blessed!
CHERIE DIBIANA (Mrs)
Lagos, Nigeria
GOD IS MOVING AGAIN
I have taken time to go through the November Kingdom Perspective and I believe God is moving again in this country by using people like you to stir up hearts of men - after all, issues of life flow therefrom. It has certainly made good impact on me and made me do a re-think of what our life is worth without character? Someone once defined character of any man as '' what a man thinks, says and does in the closet''- i.e. a man is what he is when nobody else is watching him.
Once again, thank you for your labour of love and may the Lord reward you mightily in Jesus name. Blessings!!
SEGUN ASABA
Lagos, Nigeria.
First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)