…Challenges church leaders to speak truth to power

By Enyeribe Ejiogu

Dr Olukayode Adeyanju, a dentist and General Overseer, Grace Assembly Christian Church, has urged pastors and other leaders of the church to rediscover the true purpose of the pulpit.

Pastor Adeyanju made this call in his sermon at the God Bless Nigeria prayer crusade organized by the Pentecostal ministry, to mark the 65th anniversary of the nation.

In the sermon, which was directed specifically at three categories of people – leaders, the church and other citizens of Nigeria, and in response to the call of God to raise leadership in Nigeria, Adeyanju challenged some church leaders to make a U-turn.

He said many ministers of the gospel had turned the pulpit into a podium, adding: “The fire of God should come from the pulpit, to purify and transform the people and cause them to walk in righteousness, glorifying God through their lifestyle and what they do in their homes, communities, work or business places and in the way they relate to other people.”

Continuing, he said: “In the past people used to be afraid of the fire that comes from the pulpit, and it filled them with a reverent fear of God. It was that consciousness of God that made them to do the right things most of the time.

“Like the case of Nathan, the prophet in the Bible, who looked into the eyes of King David and told him boldly without mincing words that he committed a grievous sin by sleeping with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed.

“The message for this independence is that God is telling the leaders to reposition the pulpit so that it will once again be a place from where the fire of God will flow for transformation of lives of the citizens of Nigeria.

“If we want to build Nigeria, we have to build institutions; we cannot build institutions if we cannot build people. Righteous people build righteous institutions. You cannot build any institution when you have wayward people. Society or a nation endures only when you build institutions.

“The pulpit of God must be a place where the leaders of the church speak the truth to the people at all times, and not bend the truth when the it concerns their own people in the government.

“The Lord says many people go to church with no effect of any truth. This is because the pulpit does not carry the requisite fire again. The leaders of the church must abandon the ministry of Balaam. God spoke to Balaam, but because he was propelled by greed and love of money, he watered down the truth.

“We must not water the truth. We must let them know the truth and the truth is Jesus Christ. If we want this nation to be great again, then we must share the truth.”

Speaking on the role of the citizens in the task of building the nation, Adeyanju strongly admonished them, saying: “For the citizens, the ordinary Nigerians, the Lord said that many of us destroy our nation with our mouth. Out of ignorance, many of us tear our nation with our mouth. We fail to recognize that Nigeria is a covenant nation created by God. Nigeria is among the nations with the largest pool of well-educated people endowed with abundant intellectual gifts in various fields, and who excel anywhere. Everywhere you go, Nigerians stand out among all people of African descent. They are stars in various areas of human endeavour.

“Right from today, I challenge everyone who is a Nigerian to stop speaking ill of the country. Stop saying negative things about the country. Rather than cursing the country by speaking ill of it, you should be blessing the Nigerian nation with your mouth and your words.

“The Bible enjoins us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Nigeria is our Jerusalem and we all should pray earnestly for Nigeria, so that we may live peaceably in it. Our song should henceforth be, ‘God bless Nigeria, my nation, my nation and my home. Nigeria rise and shine again.’

“Every Nigerian should make sure that he or she is a responsible citizen. Make sure you pay your tax. Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour was a responsible Israelite who also paid tax – and set an example for us. Don’t cut corners and don’t try to beat the system. Make sure you are registered to vote. Make sure you are interested in what is going on around you, to ensure that you shine the light of God on what is going on around you, and thereby glorify God.”

He stressed that the main reason darkness is thriving in Nigeria is because the Christians who should shine the light of God are not involved.

Adeyanju said that God is ready to deliver the nation, noting it would only happen when Nigerians return to God in penitence as the bible says in 2 Chronicles 7:14-16: ‘If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face. I will hear from Heaven and heal their land.”

He spoke further: “Finally, just as we are all enjoined not speak ill of the nation, we should also not speak ill of the leaders or those in authority. Rather, we should pray for them, so that God can change their hearts.”

In this season when many people are fleeing from Nigeria because of the hardship in the land, General Overseer, Applied Praise Ministry International and Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria in Oke-Afa/Jakande area, Pastor Segun Olatunde, who led one of the prayer sessions for the nation during the crusade, advised that people who are hurrying to run away should properly seek the face of God before they japa, so that they do not get into a worse situation and become stranded in the place they want to relocate.

Other Pentecostal ministers who led different aspects of the prayers poured on the Nigerian nation include Pastor S.B. Omoyajowo, Pastor Badejo; Reverend Sunday Ojo (Victory Assembly Church), who prayed for the unity of Nigeria, Sister Tayo Adeyanju (bible reading) and Pastor Adeyemo.