A true believer with politics.

 

With upheavals here and there, with many Christians expressing frustration with their government, some view these outright expressions of opinions as ‘getting involve; in politics, which they think contradicts the position of Christ when in said, ‘John 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. And Paul’s admonition in the book of Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.[KJV] Today, Sapphire Strokes feels a sense of fulfilment to extract and publish the opinion of a respected evangelist in the world who holds sway all over the world with signs and wonders following, yet, without being loud. Titled” A genuine believer in Christ will not ridicule those in power“. General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor William Kumuyi, has advised Nigerians against criticising those in positions of authority. In a Twitter thread on Sunday titled, ‘The Church and the challenges of a nation’, Kumuyi admitted the failures of the Muhammadu Buhari regime but stated that God is more interested in a “fusion of obedience to His Word and relating amicably with fellow human beings, regardless of class, colour, caste (religion) or culture”. The cleric further stated that true Christians should never disdain those in power because of perceived failures, and neither should Christians go on the rampage, destroying government property or pillaging the public till. He further clarified that human needs are both physical and spiritual, and while the government caters for the body, the church is saddled with providing spiritual needs. He, however, said none is mutually independent of the other. he Twitter post reads, “At a public forum in Lagos in September this year, a visibly disturbed former Vice-Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, Professor Dapo Asaju, challenged me and my brother minister, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, to speak up in the face of the pall of insecurity overlooking our dear country, Nigeria, and threatening us all with a pin down. He says it’s not enough to ‘’keep quiet’ and pastor only our congregants. He wants us, among other charges, to meet President Muhammadu Buhari and tell him, ‘Enough is enough.’ The don said: ‘All ministers of God must speak out…I (am) looking forward to Baba (Kumuyi) addressing a World Conference, with Baba Adeboye seated beside him. Let them call people and say Enough is enough’.They need to lead other people to convene a high-powered meeting with the President.’ He tied his call to the Scriptures, where troublous times in ancient Israel always witnessed the emergence of faithful messengers offering Divine succour and intervention.’Nigeria of this age is also under the weather, Asaju laments; she needs the clerics’ cuddling and comforting care.We cannot dismiss the concerns of Bishop Professor Asaju. The patriot that he is, he, like all of us, wouldn’t want the escalation of our problems to get to the boiling point of no return. If all else has failed, he seems to say, God’s true representatives in the confines of His Holy Church here in Nigeria cannot fail to lead us away from the cusp pointing down to a dark abyss. He is also right to insist that pastors must not be satisfied with the ‘narrow’ mission of entering the annals as the clergymen with the largest congregation in Africa or the world. They must worry more about the environment these worshippers go into when they are discharged from the precincts of the Church.Do they march into the deadly embrace of harlots, armed robbers, kidnappers, drug addicts, the sick, unemployed youth given to crime and hopelessness, corrupt political office holders, broken homes, occult campuses, idolatry, immorality, urban violence etc.?At Deeper Christian Life Ministry, we are far more aware of this existential crossroads than many perceive. We present the Word of God as delivered in the Holy Bible, alright. But we warn that in the long run, the Lord is interested in a fusion of obedience to His Word and relating amicably with fellow human beings, regardless of class, colour, caste (religion) or culture. 

“We teach that if you’re a genuine believer in Christ, you wouldn’t hate your neighbour. Nor would you disdain those in power because they appear not to be delivering on electoral pledges such that you would go on the rampage, destroying government property or pillaging the public till. 

” We teach a linear “life of a Christian” walk: you can’t be a saint on Sunday and a monster on Monday. God recognizes the dual nature He has clothed us with: physical body and soul. Both need to be fed proportionally. The inner soul requires the Word, while the external body needs material fulfillment through food, shelter, healing, job, joy, justice, etc. The Creator hasn’t annulled that order. “He expects the state to cater for the body while He saddles the Church with providing for the inner being. None is mutually independent of the other. Societies run into straits, setbacks and storms when they neglect this arrangement.“But diligently keying into this plan as individuals, nations and Church, gives us the far-reaching blessedness of obedience to His Word. We can testify to this as we have adopted the strategy, given by Heaven, to constantly embarks on global crusades, with the community, and not the Church, as the epicentre. 

“The gatherings are all-inclusive, nondenominational. The limitless reach of today’s smart media and the Internet has enabled us to touch almost every inch of the globe. In real-time audiovisual streaming, many across Nigeria, the African continent, Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia and New Zealand can get connected to our crusades. 

“Those who can’t make it to the viewing centres connect to me in their homes, hospitals, workplaces, etc. Everywhere the Lord has been faithful to His promise to answer our prayers. 

“As the Lord graciously uses me to deliver His Word at these events, He never ceases to accompany the ministration with astonishing miracles of salvation, healing, restoration of hope to the despondent and deliverance of the nations from instability, insecurity and the invidious grip of the devil.

“We have verifiable testimonies all over the planet underscoring the incredible power of the God of the Bible times being here with man again. He is leaping from the past to the present to prove that in any generation He doesn’t forsake those who repose full faith in the finished work of Christ, in His promises and in His prophets…”

AS DELIVERED BY

Pastor F Kumuyi in 2020