By Sam Eyoboka
& Olayinka Latona
GENERAL Overseer of the
Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye has
charged all members of the church to help themselves by being obedient to every
divine pronouncement. Warning members on the dangers of not paying their tithes
and vows, he maintained that there are two houses; one is built on the Rock and
the other is built on sand, both look alright and beautiful until there is a
storm.
According to the man of
God, at a time such as this when government find if difficult to pay workers’
salaries, God has a way of defending His own people. “Go back and tell your
members to stop robbing God. Tell them not to fail in the payment of their
tithes and vows.
“The reason you must pay
your tithes and vows,” he stressed, “is that nobody knows when trouble will
come. When trouble comes, God has a defence for His people, but such defence
cannot be extended to those who are disobedient to His Word.” He therefore
urged the pastors to ensure the message is delivered undiluted to the members
of the church stressing that “God loves a cheerful giver and that they should
make sure they do not owe or rob God.” Drawing inspiration from several
biblical passages, Pastor Adeboye said: “Not only must they give to God
cheerfully, they must at all time honour Him.”
According to him,
members of the church must be reminded that Jesus Christ said His Father is
greater than him and therefore no one can take His children from Me,
emphasising that the father who protects the child of God can Himself tear the
disobedient children away as a consequence of disobedience.
To stress the importance
of his earlier warning during the Ministers Conference that preceded the
convention, Pastor Adeboye re-emphasised that anyone who introduces tribalism
into the mission will die a sudden, violent and premature death. According to
him, the church belongs to God and the moment one is born again, one
automatically becomes a native of the Kingdom of God, noting that upon that
realization, he has never asked anybody of his/her state of origin. He
therefore re-echoed the warning which was first announced during the ministers
conference, that anyone who introduces ethnicity into the church will die a
sudden and premature death irrespective of the status of the person “because I
have already prayed earnestly to God concerning the matter. “Tell all your
friends that I’ve prayed a prayer that anyone, whoever, tries to introduce
tribalism into RCCG shall die like Ananias and Sapphira died suddenly and
prematurely; anyone including the G.O. himself,” Pastor Adeboye reiterated.
For the benefit of those
who did not attend the ministers conference, Daddy G.O. repeated the
announcement of the promotions and the additional eight provinces that have
just been created. Ekiti is now a Region of its own. On the new 3 kilometre by
3 kilometre auditorium currently under construction, he declared that God will
build for all those who have in one way or the other contributed to the
construction, urging the pastors to tell all those who have not done so, that
God will not forget. He also announced that ministers, including pastors and
their spouses, must from now make a habit of attending house fellowships and
all workers’ meetings. Raffles to raise money for any church activity is
prohibited, he stated, just as he told the pastors that incessant levies on
members for unworthy enterprises are hereby prohibited. “If we want to build
and members can see what you want to build, you can go ahead; but levies for
other personal activities must be channeled through the G.O.’s office. In
addition to that decree which also attracted much acclaim of those present, the
cleric also urged his pastors to always refrain from inviting guest ministers
to their programmes, stressing the need to encourage and develop talents within
the church.
According to him, the
church has reached an advanced stage of raising a12, 000-man mass choir, saying
that any church that has not contributed to the endeavour, should do so.
Without particular reference to the recently retired ministers, Pastor Adeboye
said the General Council of the church has approved some retirement benefits
for part time pastors as well as burial entitlements. On transfer of pastors,
he said there will be minimal transfers this year to avoid pastor’s
capitalising on that as excuse for not meeting the church mandate of doubling
membership every six months. “Our purpose is to win souls. Aggressive
evangelism is the reason we are where we are today. So, if you don’t double
your membership every six months, your pastor will be in trouble,” he said
matter of factly. Acknowledging that soul winning is not an easy endeavour, he
noted that members of the church must strive to equip themselves spiritually
for the onerous task, narrating what it took him to win a very difficult man
like his former Head of Department at University of Lagos, late Prof. Chike
Obi.
He expressed dismay that
some workers within the church cannot speak in tongues, arguing, “how can you
win souls for Christ if you have not received power to do so?” Speaking on a
very contentious issue of personal ministries within the church, Adeboye
decreed that such will no longer be tolerated in the church, saying that
individuals are at liberty to leave the church “so that when next we meet them
we shall greet them as General Overseers.” The ministry currently known as
Youth Church has been renamed as Young Adults and Youth Church to accommodate
young members who are married but are still young at heart.
Adeboye also insisted
that pastors should ensure that hymns are part of their service at all times,
just as he stressed the need for serious cleanliness within the church and in
individual homes. The man of God also warned ministers in the church not to
bring strange practices into the church, stressing that RCCG does not involve
in praying on water or burn candles. We do pray on oil or handkerchief. “Let
your church be thoroughly clean at all times,” he stated, adding “in the
Redeemed Christian Church of God we do not pray on water and we do not burn
candles.” As a result of his busy schedules, he told the crowds of pastors that
his Special Assistants and the Assistant General Overseers will now be saddled
with the responsibility of dedicating new churches in the mission.
In conclusion, he urged all members of the church to
take prison ministry much more seriously from now by visiting the nearest
prison to your church, pray for the inmates and do things as part of your
corporate social responsibilty. According to him, RCCG has rebuilt the chapel
in the Kirikiri Prisons, Kirikiri Town and has also established an outpost of
the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, in the premises for the benefit
of inmates in addition to giving inmates foods every Sunday. He maintained that
the church made it a habit to give them a plate of rice and chicken every
Sunday it was discovered that the chicken does not get to the inmates. “So the
church decided to give the inmates fish instead,” he noted.
source: Vanguard
