Posted by By Michael Uchebuaku on
Mrs. Modupe Fadeyi, a lecturer in the Department of Economics, Lagos State University (LASU), has risen by the power of a strong conviction to denounce the activities of some men of God.
Mrs. Modupe Fadeyi, a lecturer in the Department of Economics, Lagos State University (LASU), has risen by the power of a strong conviction to denounce the activities of some men of God.
She warns such preachers of the gospel who have fallen from the standard set by Christ to 'beware of God's punishment." In the same vein, she explores the activities of many self- acclaimed ministers of the word, concluding that they have compromised in many ways. Her final words are these: 'Repent, you men of God and return to the path of holiness and truth. The focus is Christ, not mundane things."
On Pentecostal churches
I have been through many pentecostal and white garment churches, so I can make comparison in a spirit of love. Deeper Life Bible Church founded by Pastor Kumuyi is the best Pentecostal church to me because the word of God remains there and he emphasizes holiness, not material things. Even if Kumuyi is taken out from Deeper Life today, the word of God remains there. But that is not the case with the other churches. In other churches, there is a disconnection or gap between the pastors and their congregations. The word is not so pronounced, they don't really know the Bible, and they don't emphasize holiness.
Kumuyi deserves to be given a pat on his back for the good work he is doing because he focuses on Christ, unlike the others. I'm not saying that other Pentecostal pastors are not good. Some are good, but most of them have excesses, which are incompatible with the word of God.
The excesses
It saddens me that men of God are just carefree. In fact, men of God are falling so cheaply. You see them talking about mundane things. In most of the Pentecostal churches these days, you see them talking about miracle, miracle, miracle. And the love of money, which is a major instrument of the devil, has so much penetrated all the churches.
And a lot of the pastors themselves are not careful, they don't realise that this is the end time. A lot of the men of God are going to be queried on that day (Judgement Day).
Few of them talk about holiness. Only a few of them talk about making heaven. The worldly thing has so much taken over that they think everything will end here in this world. As Yoruba would say: 'Food for the body, body for the food, all these will end one day. And when it ends, where are we going to?" I think this should be the main focus of pastors.
The problem
The problem we have as children of God is that most of us don't have time to read the holy book - the Bible. That is why you see some men of God who are mediocres. Because they have little time to read their Bible. They are opportunists because of the ignorance of their members. They exploit them, since members do not find time to read the Bible and live holy lives.
Most of this type of men of God are after their pockets. God called them to win souls for his kingdom, but they are now doing the contrary.
You find some of them, out of frustration and unemployment they found churches.
The solution
Christians should learn to read their Bibles. They should seek explanation and knowledge concerning verses they don't really grasp, because there is always the danger of misinterpretation. Pastors must respect the whole Bible instead of picking a verse which suits them while leaving out other verses. And more importantly, pastors should focus on Christ and emphasise Him before their congregations. They should teach their congregations to be holy and to serve God faithfully.
They should not advertise miracles and focus on publicity because all those things are mundane things. Miracles and publicity and noise-making will not take anybody to heaven.