Thursday, 10 February 2022

THE PERIL OF THE PRINCE IN THE DAYS OF TRANSITION by Niyi Adetiloye

 A Prophetic Word

THE PERIL OF THE PRINCE IN THE DAYS OF TRANSITION

(The Foremost Pitfalls Today's Emerging Gospel Ministers Must Avoid)

The foremost temptation of ministers now is self-promotion. The crave to erect their own IMAGE, to humanly and illegitimately thrust their presence upon the Church and upon a generation. Ultimately, there will be two kinds of ministers: those who promoted themselves and those the Lord promoted...

Those promoting themselves are poised to trend first, just like princes Absalom and Adonijah rose before Solomon. And how Ahimaaz arrived before Cushi in the race to deliver THE message 'for' the King. Self-promotion is a potent short-cut.

Lot, Abram's nephew, is also after their order. Others, still, will preempt and hijack God's program for their lives like Hazael who slew his master King Benhadad, hastening the hand of God's clock by their own hand. A breed of men bereft of meekness. God can not truly use such. It was for this cause He had to break Jacob's hip.

The Ahimaazs actually will be authorized and endorsed by the princes (fathers), and his ministry will be tolerated and even earthly-rewarded by the King (the Lord). Unlike Absalom and Adonijah, Ahimaaz's ministry move wasn't in absolute rebellion, his only failure was that he lacked THE message for his generation that would satisfy the King's heart. Because He intruded into someone else's line of ministry. Speed was Ahimaaz's gift, and that was the ultimate impact he generated to his generation: zeal to serve the King. Yet an unguided and unbroken zeal will always spiral into self-serving ambition.

But watch out for the Absaloms and Adonijahs, they are often the leading ones. And "a number" of today's emerging ones are after their kind. The ultimate penalty of their rebellion is "death". (The Davids are a kind of upstarts too, but with an entirely different heart.) Absalom's rebellious spirit will be inherited and continued by his grand-daughter Maachah, the idolatrous Queen. Yes; rebellion always matures as witchcraft and idolatry. But that rebellion will never escape the third generation, to slip through to and contaminate the fourth. No. It will be judged in Maachah by David's fourth dynasty scion, Asa. 

Absalom's ambition will be driven by both intimidation and manipulation, while Adonijah's will be purely diplomatic and relational. Lobbying his way through via "throne-for-power" transaction with the Joabs and Abiathars. And mesmerizing a gullible followership with the 3 Prides of life, namely, knowledge, power and mammon/success. The marks of the image of the Beast.

The Solomons will appear slow, in fact, generally considered dull and sluggish. But they won't miss their calling. They are childlike concerning worldly craftiness and self-promotion; but in spiritual understanding they are mature. They've renounced the hidden things of walking in craftiness of ministry politicking. They are neither self-serving, nor men-serving, as menpleasers. They preach not themselves, nor for themselves. They genuinely serve the church for Jesus's sake. 

The chosen path of the Solomons will subject them to trouble on every side, physical and psychological pressures, persecution, and humiliations, indeed they will taste death in their mortal body; but they will not be distressed, despaired, nor destroyed. These physical, psychological and sociological reproaches will attract the Spirit of Glory to rest UPON them, first in an unannounced manner. Then they will be adorned with an even deeper dimension of inner Glory that will be fresh WITHIN their spirit, like Job... The candle of God will shine upon their heads, and their wordministry will descend like dew upon people... Their inward man will be renewed day by day. Their "light" affliction will work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory. The weight of the Glory of God will be their signature, stamp and seal... 

These are the ones who the Lord will advance, as He did Samuel, Moses and Aaron. He will cause them to always triumph, and spread FAR the fragrance of His knowledge through them, like Paul. For as Paul was, their lives are a sweetpleasing aroma to Christ. They are not corrupt at heart, neither are they of them that corrupt the word of God for personal gain...

But even these Solomons yet face a looming temptation, a peril and plight of which they must beware... it is ignoring the quest for the perfect heart. The heart that not only receives wisdom, but sustains it...

Musing... "Quest for The Perfect Heart"...

Your brother,

Niyi Adetiloye



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Tuesday, 4 February 2020

A word from a Hero of Faith ... Apostle Ayo Babalola

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Because of the reservoir of supplications I have made, God has promised that true and authentic ministers of the Gospel will continually emerge in Nigeria
Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola
1904-1959
Just like a line caption in the Nigeria National Anthem:
"The Labour of our hero's past shall never be in vain"
Nigeria must rise to fulfill and preserve the destiny and prophecy of the great heroes that have labored over the terrain and territories of the nation for the establishment of the gospel and sustenance of our faith today
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Monday, 3 February 2020

Profile of Dr. D. K. Olukoya (General Overseer, Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries)

Profile of Dr. D. K. Olukoya (General Overseer, Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries)
Dr. Daniel Kolawole Olukoya was born 56 years ago (1957) to Mr. And Mrs. Olukoya, a retired police officer and a petty trader respectively.
Dr. Olukoya had his primary education at Saint John’s CAC Primary School, Akure, Ondo State and later moved to Lagos to complete this at Saint Judes Primary School, Ebute Metta. In both institutions, he excelled.
He proceeded to Methodist Boys’ High School, Lagos, where he finished with Grade One Distinction and was the best student of his set. Indeed, this provided a lead way of the academic exploits which Dr. Olukoya eventually unleashed. In his quest for higher education, he preceded to the prestigious University of Lagos (UNILAG) where he studied Micro-Biology and came out with a first-class degree honors, the first from the department since the university was established in 1962.
Not done, after about two years of teaching and subsequent employment as a Research Assistant in the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, Lagos, Dr. Olukoya traveled to the United Kingdom under the commonwealth Scholarship, to the University of Reading, where he obtained Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics. It is worth pointing out that Dr. Olukoya finished his Ph.D. degree in record time, in spite of the difficulty of the subject and was probably the first Nigerian to obtain a Ph.D. in this subject area.
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Sunday, 2 February 2020

24 FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BISHOP SAMUEL AJAYI CROWTHER Leke Beecroft

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1. Samuel Ajayi Crowther was born in 1807 in Osogun in what is now Iseyin Local Government in Oyo State of Nigeria, he was of Yoruba descent.
2. At 12, he was captured with his mother, brother, family members and entire village, by Muslim Fulani slave raiders and sold off to Portuguese slave traders.
3. His slave ship was boarded by a British Royal Navy ship and he was taken to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he was released.
4. In Sierra Leone Crowther was catered for by the Church Missionary Society and was taught English. He soon became a Christian and on the 11th of December 1825 was baptized.
4. He began to develop an interest in languages. In 1827, on return from the U.K, he became the first student to enroll at the newly opened Fourah Bay College, an Anglican missionary school, where his interest in language found him studying Latin, Greek and Temne.
5. Fourah Bay College in Freetown, Sierra Leone, founded on 18 February 1827, is the oldest university in West Africa and the first western-style university built in West Africa.
6. He married a schoolmistress, Asano (Hassana) a former Muslim who was baptized as Susan.
7. Ajayi Crowther accompanied the missionary James Schön on the Niger expedition of 1841. He was expected to learn Hausa and the goal of the expedition was to spread commerce, teach agricultural techniques, spread Christianity, and help end the slave trade.
8. He oversaw J.C Taylor's groundbreaking work in Eastern Nigeria leading to the evangelization of Eastern Nigeria, the next major influence after perhaps only the Catholic Church during which he also directed the evangelization of the Niger Delta.
9. Following the expedition, he was recalled to England, where he was trained as a minister and ordained by the Bishop of London.
10. In 1843 along with Henry Townsend, Ajayi Crowther opened a mission in Abeokuta, in today's Ogun State, Nigeria.
11. Samuel Crowther began translating the Bible into the Yoruba language and compiling a Yoruba dictionary. In 1843, a grammar book which he started working on during the Niger expedition was published; and a Yoruba version of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer followed later.
12. He also compiled A vocabulary of the Yoruba language, including a large number of local proverbs, published in London in 1852.
13. He then began codifying other languages. Following the British Niger Expeditions of 1854 and 1857, Crowther produced a textbook for the Igbo language in 1857, another for the Nupe language in 1860, and a full grammar and vocabulary of Nupe in 1864.
14. In 1864, Crowther was ordained as the first African bishop of the Anglican Church; he was consecrated a bishop on St Peter's day 1864 despite great protest, by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He later received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Oxford.
15. Crowther completed the supervision of the translation of the Yoruba Bible (Bibeli Mimọ) in the mid-1880s.
16. Regarded as the father of Anglicanism in Nigeria, Bishop Crowther is credited with bringing many Nigerians to Christ.
17. Despite his passion and achievements, Bishop Crowther’s mission was undermined and dismantled in the 1880s by racist white Europeans, including some of his fellow missionaries.
18. Samuel Ajayi Crowther died on 31 December 1891.
19. About 39 years later, with a bell and a Yoruba Bible in hand, Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola started the first major Christian revival at Oke-Ooye, in the western part of Nigeria.
20. Crowther's grandson Herbert Macaulay became one of the first Nigerian nationalists and played an important role in ending British colonial rule in Nigeria
21. In 2014, the Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Church of England, Justin Welby apologized for the church's mistreatment of Africa's first bishop, Samuel Ajayi Crowther in a service titled ‘thanksgiving and repentance’ service marking the 150th anniversary of Bishop Crowther’s ordination.
22. In August 2014, a 6th generation descendant of Bishop Crowther, Dr. Stella Ameyo Adadevoh, led the team that detected the first case of Ebola in Nigeria, Patrick Sawyer, placing him on quarantine despite pressures from the Liberian Government and in the process paid with her life thereby stopping what would have been a catastrophic spread and explosion of the Ebola Disease in Lagos, a city inhabiting about 20 million people and in fact the 170 million Nigerian population.
23. In 2016, the Anglican church in Nigeria which is the largest province in the Anglican Communion and led by Archbishop Okoh requested a “special status” within the Anglican Communion as she continues to uphold the traditional biblical standard on marriage and homosexuality.
24. Today well over 80 million Christians in Nigeria are spiritual heirs to Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther.
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Saturday, 1 February 2020

Christ Apostolic Church Worldwide... Leke Beecroft

CHURCH OF THE WEEK:
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The story of indigenously established Nation-Churches in the 20th century will not be complete without the story of Christ Apostolic Church. Whilst it is true that the Nigerian Pentecostal revival was led mainly by university staff and students, the first major revival in Nigeria, the Oke Ooye revival of 1930 which led to among many things, the birth of this indigenous establishment, was mainly manned by non-academics and in fact primary school leavers.
This first apostolic movement in the 1930s heralded what has now become "Nation-Churches" reaching out of Nigeria.
What exactly is a Nation-Church and when does a church institution become one?

The three million Israelites led by 'Pastor' Moses, who marched out of Egypt towards Canaan can be considered the first Nation-Church scripturally. The term Nation-Church is therefore thus defined:
A church, numbering over a million members, which has grown into a major group or conglomerate several Mega-Churches and with a reach and spread internationally, such that she is now a veritable source of influence within and outside her foundational Base and as such is now respected the world over.
Such a church in Nigeria must fulfill several requirements such as:
*Physical presence in terms of membership, structures, and facilities in all Nigerian states and her capital (100 percent local coverage).
*Physical presence in at least 4 continents (more than half) of the world and not less than 58 foreign nations (a quarter of the countries of the world) spread over these continents.
*Online presence in at least 120 nations (about half of the countries of the world).
*Membership of not less than 1 million people.
*Facilities and infrastructure to administer followers and organise large gatherings.
*Minimum of a thousand branches in Nigeria and another 500 branches cumulatively in other nations of the world.
*Self funded: No sponsorship or funding by any external agency or organisation.
*Annual budgets running into multi-million dollars or the same size with several other nations.
*An established international headquarters with functional administrative structures.
*Numerous other organisations such as welfare organizations, schools, colleges, media houses and other institutions, established for the goal of the "Nation-Church" and which have inherent power to influence nations in which she has been domiciled.
*An organised system of succession.

The Christ Apostolic Church is distinctly an indigenous African Church. By its structure, belief and practices, it is an independent Pentecostal Church.
The history of the Church is traceable directly to her fore-fathers, namely Oba/Pastor Isaac Babalola Akinyele (Former Olubadan), Pastor David Ogunleye Odubanjo, Joseph Sadare, Miss Sophia Odunlami and Evangelist (late Apostle) Joseph Ayodele Babalola who was called to the ministry by the Lord on 11th, October, 1928. Apostle Babalola’s call subsequently led to the great revival of 1930.

Before then, there was the 1918-28 Faith Tabernacle era characterized by the formation of praying groups’ such as the Precious or Diamond Society found in small pockets all over Nigeria. The brethren in control were Joseph Sadare (a.k.a. Esinsinade), D.O. Odubanjo, I.B. Akinyele (late Olubadan of Ibadan) and Miss Sophia Odunlami. The majority of the members of the first group of Diamond Society were worshipers at St. Savior’s Anglican Church, Ijebu-Ode, where they began meeting regularly for prayers and spiritual guidance in 1918. Mr. D. O. Odubanjo soon developed contact between members of the ‘Praying Band’ and Pastor A. Clark, the leader of Faith Tabernacle in Philadelphia, USA. through correspondence and receipt of tracts and magazines such as ‘The Sword of the Spirit’.
Soon, tension rose between the group and the Anglican Church over such practices as divine healings, opposition to infant baptism, reliance on dreams and visions, abstention from dancing, drumming, debt-owing, drinking of alcohol, gambling and mixing with non-Christians. Mr Joseph Sadare was compelled to give up his post in the Synod and others were forced to resign their jobs and to withdraw their children from the Anglican School.
But in less than a decade, branches of the group had been established in Lagos, Ibadan, Ilesa, Oyan, Ile-Ife, Minna, Jos, and Zaria. Their members had also imbibed reliance on the power of prayer, divine healing and the All Sufficiency of God.

The Oke Ooye Revival
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Joseph Ayo Babalola joined the Faith Tabernacle Church in November 1929 where he was baptized in Lagos lagoon in December the same year. The revival of his mission began with the raising of a dead child in September 1930 at Oke Ooye . What followed this in three weeks was the healing of about 100 lepers, 60 blind people, and 50 lame persons. This also resulted in the desolation of Churches in Ilesa because their members transferred their allegiance to the revivalist and that all the patients in Wesley Hospital, Ilesa, abandoned their beds to seek healing from Babalola.
This divinely kicked off The Great Revival of 1930, which saw people coming from diverse places such as from parts of Africa and the diaspora without posters, handbills or Television adverts to receive healing.

The Great Revival of 1930 with Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola as its medium thus emerged in July 1930 at Oke Ooye, Ilesa. Those who assisted him during the Revival included D. O. Odubanjo, Oba I. B. Akinyele, and J. A. Babatope as well as Babalola’s followers such as J. A. Medayese, A. O. Omotoso, John Oye, J. B. Orogun, and Philip Mabigbade among others. Prophet Daniel Orekoya, later on, came to the scene.
The Great Revival did not only embrace all the beliefs accepted by the Faith Tabernacle group but also went further by embracing the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual manifestation of seeing visions, prophesying, speaking in tongues and dreaming. Consequently, upon this, people with diverse deceases were healed in thousands and, in turn, they spontaneously rejected their “juju” and other medicines. Massive revivals hitherto unknown in Nigeria ensued. Thousands of people surrendered their lives to Jesus.

Meanwhile, the Church leaders were subjected to avoidable intimidations, harassment, and humiliation at different levels of the society. So, on their behalf, Mr. D. O. Odubanjo sought co-operation with The Apostolic Church Brothers in Bradford, England. Thus on 23rd September 1931 three missionaries, viz. Pastor D. P. Williams, A. Turnbull and W. J. Williams arrived in Nigeria as guests of the Church. In November 1931, the visiting missionaries ordained the first seven Pastors of the Church who had earlier on been ordained by proxy by Pastor A. Clark in America. Three of the new Pastors namely, Pastor J. B. Sadare, D. O. Odubanjo, and Oba I. B. Akinyele later came to play important roles in the growth of the Church. After the return of the white Missionary delegates to Bradford, Pastor George Perfect and Prophet Idris Vaughan came to Nigeria on 22nd June 1932 to strengthen the bond of fellowship between the two religious bodies. For a time, the religious activities of the white brothers complemented the religious exploits of Joseph Ayo Babalola.
From the side of Nigeria, the hope that the partnership would mitigate, if not totally eliminate, their untold sufferings and persecutions became an illusion. The partnership, however, staggered for a decade before it crumbled during the 1939/40 crisis.
As a result of the disagreement over the issue of “Divine Healing” as well as issues of finance, trust, and betrayals, two groups had emerged. The pro-European group was led by Pastor S. G. Adegboyega while Apostle Joseph Babalola, Pastor D. O. Odubanjo, and Pastor (Oba) I. B. Akinyele led the Nigerian Group.
Over time, God revealed to Apostle Ayo Babalola to name the Revival Group “APOSTOLIC CHURCH”. About 1939, the Church changed its name to NIGERIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH. This name was again changed to UNITED APOSTOLIC CHURCH until 1942 when God specifically revealed according to Joseph Ayo Babalola that the name of the Church should be CHRIST APOSTOLIC CHURCH. It was thereafter that the name was registered as No. 147 of May 4, 1943, under the Lands Perpetual Succession Ordinance.
During the decades 1940-1960, the CAC was subjected to a series of strain and stresses. Stiff opposition came from the detractors of the Church including some of the orthodox churches, most government officers, some Obas, and high chiefs and even evil forces. There were also problems with internal administration, inadequate training, recruitment of unqualified Church personnel and weak finances.
However, the following factors later tilted the pendulum in favor of the Church; political power had then passed to the Africans who were free to embrace the Gospel; the church had produced literate children; prominent men and women who had directly or indirectly benefitted from church then gave it their support; the oil boom of the 1960s provided money for better church personnel throughout Nigeria. The golden era of the Church ended in 1959 when Pastor D. O. Odubanjo and Apostle Ayodele Babalola died.
The history of the church witnessed remarkable developments such as the establishments of a Bible Training College, Ede (1952) (the Bible Training College moved to Erio Ekiti in 1954, to Efon Alaaye in 1958 and to Akure in 1969), Pastoral Training College at Ibadan (1946), School of Prophets and Evangelists at Ilesa (1949), defunct Teachers’ College at Efon Alaaye (1955), Faith Home at Ede (1959). Grammar Schools at Ibadan, Efon Alaaye and Iperu (all in 1960), Ilesa (1962), Akure (1964) and Odo-Owa (1970), Press and Publications Department (1966-67), Sunday School Department (1977), Theological Seminary at Ile-Ife (1979) by merging the Bible Training College and Pastoral Training College, and the formation of Societies, Associations and Fellowship groups. All these organs soon helped the Church to firmly establish religious practices and liturgy peculiar to it.
The teaching of the Church had grown out of many sources, namely the Bible, the remarkable soul-searching sermons of the founding fathers; borrowing from Europeans and American kinds of literature especially tracts and magazines; the lessons produced by the various tensions within the Group over the prophylactic use of medicine and other issues of administration. Besides the belief of C.A.C. members in prophecy, visions, divine healing and holy living, the focal points of all tenets and practices of the Church are prayers which when accompanied with fasting, it could accomplish the impossible.
The C.A.C. has a strong belief in the efficacy of prayer and that no divine healing could be achieved without FAITH and TRUST in Jesus Christ. These two religious virtues are the bedrock of the Church’s spiritual power.
As a Pentecostal denomination, the Church, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is administered by the orders of Apostle, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and teachers. Ultimate power rest with the Authority of the Church; but it involves elders/deacons, women leaders (deaconess) and leaders of recognized organizations as finding appropriate in the process of administration (Eph. 4:11-13).
In sum, for a little over seven decades of its existence, the C.A.C. has grown from groups of persecuted and inconsequential Christians to a church denomination that today claims some five million adherents residing in different parts of the world. The Church possesses its uniqueness and identifies in liturgy hinged on praying and singing of hymns, anthems, and choruses. It had an impelling message of worshiping in a truly African pattern for all Nigerians. The most distinctive feature of the Church attractive to people of different faiths is the tenacious belief in, and practice of, divine and Christian healing.
The church still considers the era of Babalola as her golden age.
In the 90s, 2 major factions went to court. The Supreme council as well as the General council. After about 20 years, the much larger General Council got judgment in her favour and administers the church today. Also, in 1989, a Sunday School teacher, Dayo Olukoya led a prayer group, a number of whom were academicians out of CAC to start the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM ). MFM is now a Nation-Church.

The history of Christ Apostolic Church has witnessed remarkable developments in education. Such developments include:
1946 - Establishment of Pastoral Training College, Ibadan
1949 - Establishment of The School of Prophets and Evangelists, Ilesa
1952 - Establishment of Bible Training College, Ede (the Bible Training College moved to Erio Ekiti in 1954, to Efon
Alaaye in 1958 and to Akure in 1969)
1955 - Establishment of Teachers’ College, Efon Alaaye (defunct)
1979 - Establishment of Theological Seminary, Ile-Ife, with 13 satellite campuses
Later, the Bible College and the Pastoral College were merged to establish the CAC Theological Seminary in 1979, Ile-Ife with 13 satellite campuses.
The church has established, several secondary grammar schools, teacher training colleges, bookshops, and the printing press.
The church has also established a Nigerian Christian University at Ikeji-Arakeji, Osun State where Joseph Ayo Babalola was called to the service of the Lord. The University (JABU) was approved in February 2006.
High Schools of CAC are:
CAC Grammar School, Ibadan (1960)
CAC Grammar School, Efon Alaaye (1960)
CAC Grammar School, Iperu (1960)
Babalola Memorial Girls Grammar School, Ilesa (1962)
CAC Grammar School, Akure (1964)
CAC Grammar School, Odo-Owa (1970)
CAC Grammar School, Ogbomoso
CAC Grammar School, Osogbo
CAC Commercial High School, Ilesa
There are over 300 nursery and primary schools
Tertiary School:
JABU - Joseph Ayo Babalola University
Seminary school:
Theological Seminary
CAC despite all odds has continued to increase on every side and has remained a pacesetter in Christendom in Nigeria.
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Friday, 31 January 2020

AND JESUS WENT DOWN TO JOHN by Ojo Stephen Gbadegeshin

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To walk in God's anointing you must go down to John! Our John differs; you have to be loyal to that pastor who is less educated and exposed than you, you must follow God into the path of humility and meekness, there God will develop your character and build up your readiness for open heaven. Meekness and Humility are vital for whoever that wants to carry God's power for his generation.
I read something very interesting; One day Billy Graham was preaching at a place and that was the time Oral Roberts had a problem of the collapse of his tent which got some people wounded, and was seen as a scandal by his critics who felt that God ought not to allow such to happen to His anointed which truly Oral Roberts was. Oral Robert at his height of frustration and depression decided to visit Billy Graham's crusade, he sat at the back and listened to the Word of God and was greatly refreshed. At the end of the meeting, Oral Roberts walked up to Billy Graham to appreciate him for the message, what? You mean you were in the service and you refused to let us know? I would have introduced you to the people, what an honor to have a great man of God in our meeting. No sir, Oral Roberts replied; I was depressed and needed to hear the word of God so i sneaked in to just hear God speak through you, and I'm greatly refreshed now! Billy laughed and told him that was the same thing I did when I became frustrated not quite long and I also sneaked into your meeting to hear the word of God. We all need our John.
When John Wesley returned frustrated from USA having lost his books, he was depressed, he later visited the church of his spiritual son, who ministered powerfully and at the end of the service he saw Wesley coming out for "Altar Call". Sir are you here? when did you come back from America? John Wesley made him to understand that he arrived depressed and needed to hear the word of God and that was why he sneaked in and sat at the back. In these two instances, we see accounts of those who were already great, doing exploits for God yet at their state of confusion and depression, and they humbled themselves to seek help; how much more a beginner in the ministry.
All great men of God had their John, Andrew brought Peter to Jesus, Apostle Paul had a Pastor who pastured him in the church in Antioch of Syria even after when Paul had met the Lord on the way to Damascus, heard His voice "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me", he had experienced a miracle (his eyes were opened through a disciple named Ananias), he had been to the Desert of Arabia for 3 years where he had an unparalleled communion with the Master, went to the third heaven where he saw things not lawful for a mortal to see or talk about yet despite all these lofty qualifications, Paul sat under the ministry of a Pastor whose name was not even mentioned in the Bible. Paul just like every other person needed his John; he was in Antioch church waiting as a church member for 13 years under an obscure spiritual leader and Paul was loyal, obedient, teachable, submissive and dedicated. He needed to wait!
Now when God decided to confirm Paul's call, he spoke to his pastor; "And the Holy Spirit said, separate for me Paul and Barnabas for the work I have assigned them to do". It was this unknown face who called Paul and Barnabas out and separated them for ministry.
It is at this juncture many of us miss out on anointing. We rely on the Pre-time exposure and refused to grow into the full release of oil for ministry. Billy Graham had Mordecai Ham, Joseph Ayo Babalola had Prophet Fopounda, Archbishop Benson Idahosa had Pa. S.G Elton, Pastor Adeboye had Rev. Josiah Akindayomi, etc. Humble yourself to locate your John; he is the last hurdle on your way to an open heaven.
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Thursday, 30 January 2020

SYDNEY GRANVILLE ELTON: HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT HIM? Ojo Stephen Gbadegeshin

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Pa Elton – as he was fondly addressed – had arrived Nigeria in 1937 with a clear mandate to raise a new breed of leadership in the Nigerian Church, who, powered by the Holy Spirit, will take the message of God’s kingdom and the all-conquering King to the very ends of the earth. He lived in Ilesa (about 30km from Ile-Ife) from where he undertook those momentous missionary assignments. He is undoubtedly the father of the Pentecostal Revival Movement in Nigeria.
In Ile-Ife, he found a potent platform to impact and disciple young men and women who continue to be in the forefront of genuine Pentecostal revival and missionary enterprise in Nigeria.
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Wednesday, 29 January 2020

THE STORY OF THE LIBERATION MANDATE by Leke Beecroft


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On a newly declared public holiday (May Day) by Nigeria’s first executive President, Shehu Shagari and on the 1st day May 1981, during a period of crisis between Ife and Modakeke, Brother David Oyedepo, 26, went to visit Pa S.G Elton and another friend in Ilesa, a town in the old Oyo State but ‘unfortunately’, the friend was not home. He was disappointed, but instead of going to stay with any of his numerous friends in Ilesa, he said in his spirit that all things work together for good to them that love God.
He then heard God say to him “Seek a quiet place; I want to talk to you”. David went ahead and rented a room in the ‘International Hotel Ilesa’. The hotel was anything but ‘international’ in its outlook. As he knelt down to pray, he had an open vision. At the end of the open vision encounter which lasted about 18 hours, he saw a roll of afflicted, battered, beaten, tattered, deformed people.
The blind, the lame and those in rags were weeping, wailing, groaning and agonizing as a result of pains and pangs and crying for rescue. David was moved with compassion, sobbed profusely and even joined them in weeping, asking “Why Lord?”
He heard God respond “But from the beginning, it was not so”. Still, David questioned further, “But why Lord?” and then he got a mandate
“ The hour has come to liberate the world from all oppressions of the devil through the preaching of the word of faith, and I am sending you to undertake this task”.

The mandate was further confirmed to him from the epistle of Paul in the book of Ephesians of the new testament of the Bible. “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:16).
EARLY PREPARATIONS
After that encounter, David called his partner, Faith Abiola Akano, along with Brother David Abioye, Emmanuel ‘Oset’, Joseph Ebrohimen and Dickson Olorunda among others and shared the vision with them. Shortly after, a weekly teaching program took off known as the “Faith Liberation Hour” Also, a group known as the “Power house” was assembled which engaged in prayers and fastings among other activities in order to actualize the heavenly vision. Additionally, Brother David began to engage in deep study. He studied 39 selected biographies, among them were those of Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola, Bishop Benson Idahosa, John G. Lake, Kenneth Erwin Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Thomas Lee Osborn, Oral Roberts, Smith Wigglesworth, Asa Alonzo Allen, Jack Coe, Billy Graham, John Alexander Dowie, Kathryn Kuhlman and many others. This he did because of his knowledge that there was nothing new under the sun and he wanted to understand how people were called, how they pursued their calling and the mistakes they made so that he would not have to remake those mistakes. He also checked what gallant steps they took as instructed by God and what came out of it.
Among the lessons he learnt was from the biography of Jack Coe who engaged in endless competition with his contemporary ministers of the gospel and died at the age of 38. He learnt that as Christians, “ we are not in a competition but pursuing the great commission in our various commissions”.
Brother David was inspired in the school of prosperity by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, in the school of faith by Kenneth Hagin, in the school of boldness by Asa Alonzo Allen and in the healing school by Smith Wigglesworth. He spent 26 months in preparation, communion, watching, praying, fasting, thinking and planning.
There was need for him to lay hold on details of the vision as well as a time chart to follow. During that period, he once wrote a letter to Florence his fiancee, it stated:
“Jerusalem is in pains, our mother is in travail, the whole creation is groaning, awaiting Zion to manifest her sons. Prisoners are awaiting their emancipation. Zion shall not only bring forth prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors and teachers, but shall bring forth saviours” (Obadiah 21).
He continued ’Yet a little while and these saviours shall surface on the face of the whole earth. Joel 2, Zechariah 8 and all the related scriptures shall be fulfilled. The arrival of these saviours will compel the followership of multitudes that cannot be numbered. They will carry such aroma, the awesomeness of God will be so visible upon them, their operations shall be unique and strange. Yet a little while and saviours will surface on the face of the whole earth. Zion is in her month, this mighty army shall be released in just a moment.”


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ABROAD TRIP CANCELLED
He was also of the opinion at the start of the ministry that he had to go to the United States of America for tutorship in ministry at a Bible School just like Benson Idahosa had done a few years back. Paul also had been tutored in Arabia he reasoned. This was therefore announced to other brethren who were to go along with him. One day God spoke to him via scriptures “the things you are looking for come not from Abroad but from ABOVE; you are going to NO America”. Immediately he announced this to the brethren which got some of them upset and even left the young budding ministry.
PROPHECIES
On 10 April 1982 at a unique vision sharing meeting of the Power House, God gave Brother David the following prophecies which he declared at the meeting. He said God told him the following:
1.This ministry is not out to debate doctrines, but to prove the power of the Holy Ghost.
2. The work of this ministry shall not be limited to this country alone, but to other nations and Church establishment on the mission field shall be the goal, where the living word will be taught”.
3. “At the base of this ministry, a tent shall be built to contain 50,000 people”.
4. ‘A telecast shall be used to put on screen the gospel across nations”.
5. “The printing press shall operate at an industrial scale, first to christian organizations, and then to the public at large…..”.
6. Brother Oyedepo declared that he saw ‘wings passing across nations’. this was interpreted to mean an airplane flying to other nations carrying the gospel of liberation. 
7. Lastly, it was declared that very soon, millions shall gather at the base of the ministry to listen to the gospel. These prophecies were however too hard for some members of the group and they soon left the power House.
REVELATIONS
During this period, Brother David was involved in so much fasting and prayer in his quest for genuine power that he grew very lean and on many occasions vomitted blood. Many times, he would go up alone to the mountains like Apostle Babalola to seek God’s face in prayer.
On one occasion, he encountered a snake but came to no hurt. Another time, he was under heavy rain for 3 days and nights in spiritual solitude. He decided to ‘burn his bridges’ early and bind himself to his new assignment. He said to God “Lord, should I pretend not to have heard You, see to it that I do not succeed in any other thing I do”.
Shortly before the 18 hour vision, David went on a trip in March 1981 to locate the secret of ’Kingdom Prosperity”. he took along 3 books. The Bible, ‘God’s Will is Prosperity’ by Gloria Copeland and ’The Law of Prosperity’ by Kenneth Copeland on the trip meant to last at least 3 days. At the end of the first day, he came across Jeremiah 33:20-22 and understood that prosperity for God’s children was a covenant. Illuminated with that understanding, he came out of the room where he had been studying in only his short knickers and screamed “ I Can Never Be Poor”.
On October 4, 1981, while in prayers and meditation in the city of Jos, Plateau State in Nigeria, David wrote a letter to his future wife, Faith sharing some things he believed God was saying to him. This day according to him was when he entered the office of a prophet. “I speak from my office as a prophet” he said “that we matter to this generation by divine election”. David continued “The living faith is the acting faith, and the acting faith is the winning faith and the winning faith is the conqueror’s faith”. That day, he received the name of the church to be established “LIVING FAITH CHURCH”.
DIRECTION
At about this time, Brother David prayed to God to connect him with the secrets behind the Acts of the Apostles. Shortly after, he was called to minister and as he was preaching, he found himself at the back of the congregation without realizing he had gotten there.
Shortly before then, he had gone into the mountain in Illesa town to spend some time with God. He got into the mountain and went on a study of the Book of Ezekiel with a torchlight and in the process, saw a snake. Later it began to rain heavily and he got drenched in the rain. At the end of the study, he heard God say “Behold, I have touched your tongue with a coal of fire, from henceforth, as you say it, you shall see it.”
CHURCH PLANTING DIMENSION
The initial understanding brother David had about the liberation commission was that it was going to be an outreach operation since as he felt then, all every kind of church was already existing. He could not imagine a church connection with the commission and believed that what was needed to ignite the fire of the Holy Ghost in churches was itinerant preaching in churches instead of founding new ones. One day in November 1982, he heard God clearly from Luke 1:1-3,
“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
IT SEEMED GOOD TO ME ALSO…..
From these verses, he understood that the mandate shall have a church base, all that was in existence notwithstanding.
PUBLISHING
On the 4th of February 1983, as he was in his study going through a magazine called ‘New Wine’, he heard God say “The word I put into your mouth, the same commit into writing and I will cause the same unction upon the spoken word to rest upon the written word, bringing about the same effect.” This gave birth to the Dominion Publishing House (DPH) of the ministry. While waiting in a fast in May 1983, he heard a voice saying “I will through this ministry raise the foundation of many other ministries.” This was understood by brother David to mean that the ministry would be involved in training men and women for spiritual leadership, not only in pulpit ministry, but in all areas of human endeavours.
BE IN TIME!
Brother David began to sense in 1983 that the stage was set for the vision to set off. He set time apart to secure his marching order. He asked in prayer if it was time and he heard a heavenly host singing “Be in time, the harvest is ripe”. He was in tears and knew the time had come.
David Oyedepo resigned from the Federal Ministry of Works to begin the quest. A respected minister then called him and asked him to make sure he had money to fall back on since he was embarking on a very challenging vocation. He replied that he did not have any savings and that if he had any, he would make sure he spent it before starting off. It was an action that seemed like arrogance. His Brother Hezekiah called to ask him what he was going to be doing in Kaduna and he said he would be writing tracts. Amazed at the answer, his uncle asked how he would be feeding and he answered “God will provide!”
THE COMMISSION
In September 1983, David was directed to request a certain pastor, Enoch Adejare Adeboye, a recently ordained General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) to come and lay hands on him to commission the ministry as he was not supposed to start off on his own like other ministers had done before him. This direction was based on Deuteronomy 34:9. He requested Pastor Adeboye’s presence in Ilorin but Pastor Adeboye declined since he had another engagement for that same day. Oyedepo went back to God in prayers and God directed him to go back to Pastor Adeboye and before he could do so, Pastor E.A Adeboye sent a message that God had asked him to come and do the commissioning.
RIDE ON MY BACK!
On 17 September 1983, in Ilorin, Kwara State, Pastor Adeboye preached a message from Matthew 21:1-11. The lesson was that Brother David was the ‘donkey’ who was stepping on people’s garments while Jesus was his rider and that as far as he kept Jesus the rider on his back, people would keep spreading their garments for him to step on.
During the service, Pastor David made a statement which upset a number of people present. He narrated an encounter he had with God while praying. He said God told him “My son, you have two eyes. Can you make one to look up and the other to look down?” he gave it a try and discovered that it was not possible. God then said “Whenever you are looking unto man, never claim you are looking unto Me, and whenever you are looking unto Me, you can not be looking unto man. For they that look unto me are lightened and their faces are not ashamed (Psalm 34:5). Look unto Me and you will not be ashamed. If you look unto men, you will fail. I am your source, I am your strength for the battle. I am all that you need, I am your sufficiency. The moment you start looking to any other source for help, you will fail woefully.” Brother David declared “God has warned me not to rely on you.” The newly ordained Pastor declared that the ministry will not have ‘supporters’ or ‘partners’ which was the vogue in many other ministries. He added that the salaries of the Ministry workers for their whole lives will never be enough to run the Ministry.
The Ministry was named the “Living Faith World Outreach Centre” (LFWOC).
Watch out for Part 2 and the concluding part tomorrow 0530 GM



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Tuesday, 28 January 2020

THE GROWTH AND BALANCE OF NIGERIAN PENTECOSTALISM: By Ebele Uzo Peters

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A simple call to discern the Body.

IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND Apostle Joseph Babalola, you have to remember that in Acts 8, when Philip went down to Samaria with the gospel of Jesus Christ, it was not to speak many words. He went there as Paul went to Corinth, not with words of man's wisdom, but with the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power. The people of Samaria were so confused and awed by witchcraft, that they called it the power of God. Philip changed all that so much that the sorcerer himself, wanted to be saved
When Ayodele Joseph Babalola was raised by God in southwest Nigeria, it was to silence witchcraft that had gripped men so viciously and to turn them from the power of Satan to Jesus Christ. Many were saved. Men saw the raw power of God in manifestation destroying the power of witches and wizards and obliterating fear and black magic from their lives. This man will clear a field in the forest for a crusade and the town will be waiting for him and his team to drop dead because it is an evil forest. Instead, witches will start confessing their evil works and crying out for Jesus, in the crusade.
There were thousands of miracles and manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. People were able to interpret tongues, even though they had not been TAUGHT these things from the word. The lame walked and many with terminal diseases were healed. Many incredible things happened. A woman who had died for four days with a baby in her womb was raised back to life. Joseph Babalola preferred to use water in the literal sense to bless and heal people. It was a demonstration of faith, NOT a doctrine. He was doing it to help the faith of the people in a way they could understand. He was not an academic person, and the people were not academic people. He knew little of the Bible. It was after the power of God came on him that he began to study the Bible.
BUT HE WAS A PRAYING MAN. It was basically a prayer revival, hence the term Aladura. Adura is a prayer in Yoruba. Apostle Babalola could pray seated on one spot for three days. He would visit you and that prayer thing will just start and you will sleep and wake up, go out and come in, and the man of God will still be on that seat praying.
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Monday, 27 January 2020

A Biography of Bishop David Olaniyi Oyedepo By Leke Beecroft

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CHAPTER 5: SEND A MESSAGE TO MY SON ADEBOYE
EARLY PREPARATIONS
After that encounter, David called his partner, Faith Abiola Akano, along with Brother David Abioye, Emmanuel ‘Oset’, Joseph Ebrohimen and Dickson Olorunda among others and shared the vision with them. Shortly after, a weekly teaching program took off known as the “Faith Liberation Hour” Also, a group known as the “Powerhouse” was assembled which engaged in prayers and fastings among other activities in order to actualize the heavenly vision. Additionally, Brother David began to engage in deep study. He studied 39 selected biographies, among them, were those of Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola, Bishop Benson Idahosa, John G. Lake, Kenneth Erwin Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Thomas Lee Osborn, Oral Roberts, Smith Wigglesworth, Asa Alonzo Allen, Jack Coe, Billy Graham, John Alexander Dowie, Kathryn Kuhlman, and many others. This he did because of his knowledge that there was nothing new under the sun and he wanted to understand how people were called, how they pursued their calling and the mistakes they made so that he would not have to remake those mistakes. He also checked what gallant steps they took as instructed by God and what came out of it. Among the lessons he learned was from the biography of Jack Coe who engaged in endless competition with his contemporary ministers of the gospel and died at the age of 38. He learned that as Christians, “ we are not in a competition but pursuing the great commission in our various commissions”. Brother David was inspired in the school of prosperity by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, in the school of faith by Kenneth Hagin, in the school of boldness by Asa Alonzo Allen and in the healing school by Smith Wigglesworth. He spent 26 months in preparation, communion, watching, praying, fasting, thinking and planning. There was a need for him to lay hold on details of the vision as well as a time chart to follow. During that period, he once wrote a letter to Florence his fiancee, it stated “Jerusalem is in pains, our mother is in travail, the whole creation is groaning, awaiting Zion to manifest her sons. Prisoners are awaiting their emancipation. Zion shall not only bring forth prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers but shall bring forth saviours” (Obadiah 21). He continued ’Yet a little while and these saviours shall surface on the face of the whole earth. Joel 2, Zechariah 8 and all the related scriptures shall be fulfilled. The arrival of these saviours will compel the followership of multitudes that cannot be numbered. They will carry such aroma, the awesomeness of God will be so visible upon them, their operations shall be unique and strange. Yet a little while and saviours will surface on the face of the whole earth. Zion is in her month, this mighty army shall be released in just a moment.” He was also of the opinion at the start of the ministry that he had to go to the United States of America for tutorship in ministry at a Bible School just like Benson Idahosa had done a few years back. Paul also had been tutored in Arabia he reasoned. This was therefore announced to other brethren who were to go along with him. One day God spoke to him via scriptures “the things you are looking for come not from Abroad but from ABOVE; you are going to NO America”. Immediately he announced this to the brethren which got some of them upset and even left the young budding ministry.

PROPHECIES
On 10 April 1982 at a unique vision sharing meeting of the Power House, God gave Brother David the following prophecies which he declared at the meeting. He said God told him the following which were aptly documented by Joseph Ebhohimen, the Secretary at that meeting:
1. This ministry is not out to debate doctrines, but to prove the power of the Holy Ghost.
2. The work of this ministry shall not be limited to this country alone, but to other nations and Church establishment on the mission field shall be the goal, where the living word will be taught”.
3. “At the base of this ministry, a tent shall be built to contain 50,000 people”.
4. ‘A telecast shall be used to put on screen the gospel across nations”.
5. “The printing press shall operate at an industrial scale, first to Christian organizations, and then to the public at large…..”.
6. Brother Oyedepo declared that he saw ‘wings passing across nations’. this was interpreted to mean an airplane flying to other nations carrying the gospel of liberation. 
7. Lastly, it was declared that very soon, millions shall gather at the base of the ministry to listen to the gospel. These prophecies were however too hard for some members of the group and they soon left the powerHouse.

REVELATIONS
During this period, Brother David was involved in so much fasting and prayer in his quest for genuine power that he grew very lean and on many occasions vomited blood. Many times, he would go up alone to the mountains like Apostle Babalola to seek God’s face in prayer. On one occasion, he encountered a snake but came to no hurt. Another time, he was under heavy rain for 3 days and nights in spiritual solitude. He decided to ‘burn his bridges’ early and bind himself to his new assignment. He said to God “Lord, should I pretend not to have heard You, see to it that I do not succeed in any other thing I do”. Shortly before the 18-hour vision, David went on a trip in March 1981 to locate the secret of ’Kingdom Prosperity”. he took along 3 books. The Bible, ‘God’s Will is Prosperity’ by Gloria Copeland and ’The Law of Prosperity’ by Kenneth Copeland on the trip meant to last at least 3 days. At the end of the first day, he came across Jeremiah 33:20-22 and understood that prosperity for God’s children was a covenant. Illuminated with that understanding, he came out of the room where he had been studying in only his short knickers and screamed: “ I Can Never Be Poor”.
On October 4, 1981, while in prayers and meditation in the city of Jos, Plateau State in Nigeria, David wrote a letter to his future wife, Faith sharing some things he believed God was saying to him. This day according to him was when he entered the office of a prophet. “I speak from my office as a prophet,” he said, “that we matter to this generation by divine election”. David continued “The living faith is the acting faith, and the acting faith is the winning faith and the winning faith is the conqueror’s faith”. That day, he received the name of the church to be established “LIVING FAITH CHURCH”.

DIRECTION
At about this time, Brother David prayed to God to connect him with the secrets behind the Acts of the Apostles. Shortly after, he was called to minister and as he was preaching, he found himself at the back of the congregation without realizing he had gotten there. Shortly before then, he had gone into the mountain in Illesa town to spend some time with God. He got into the mountain and went on a study of the Book of Ezekiel with torchlight and in the process, saw a snake. Later it began to rain heavily and he got drenched in the rain. At the end of the study, he heard God say “Behold, I have touched your tongue with a coal of fire, from henceforth, as you say it, you shall see it.” The initial understanding brother David had about the liberation commission was that it was going to be an outreach operation since as he felt then, all every kind of church was already existing. He could not imagine a church connection with the commission and believed that what was needed to ignite the fire of the Holy Ghost in churches was itinerant preaching in churches instead of founding new ones. One day in November 1982, he heard God clearly from Luke 1:1-3,
“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; IT SEEMED GOOD TO ME ALSO…..
From these verses, he understood that the mandate shall have a church base, all that was in existence notwithstanding.

ANOTHER WARRIOR IS BORN
Brother David had a serious cold at another period and needed to constantly use a handkerchief to clean up his nose; however, he had to minister at an event which was a night vigil. Once he got there and was invited to the pulpit, he took a step of faith and threw the handkerchief down on the Altar; a worshipper tried to pick it up but he rejected it and continued to minister. Later he realized that the cold had left. When the time drew near to get married, Brother David and Sister Florence went to meet an elderly family member of the clergy for counseling. He asked, “David, what do you see happening in your marriage?” He replied, “I see a hitch-free marriage”. The elder asked, “How do you mean?” He replied, “We have been in courtship for about four years now and it has been wonderful”. The elder then said, “It is easy not to step on each other’s toes when you are not living together, but when you start living together, it would be impossible not to step on each other’s toes”. David answered “Sir, you and I are sitting on the same sofa, why am I not stepping on your toes? For two reasons: I am not blind and I am not wicked”. The respected father in the faith nodded his head quietly. After getting married, Brother David came home one day and saw his wife looking despondent. She had noticed a flow of blood and so she told him she had just had a miscarriage. Filled with aggressive faith, he responded: “It cannot happen, can I have my food please?”. A few months later, David (Jr), the first child of Pastor and Pastor (Mrs) Oyedepo was born. A while after the birth of David Oluwamakinde Oyedepo (Jr), the doctor said he had jaundice. Brother David stated, “He does not have jaundice.” The doctor in anger replied, “You mean I do not know my job?” Brother David remained adamant. “My son cannot have jaundice!” David (Jr) had gotten his first dose of faith. The understanding of divine health made him always declare “I cannot be sick”. Once, one of Pastor David’s cousins, a medical doctor visited and checked his blood pressure and told him he had high blood pressure. He replied as usual “I do not have high blood pressure.’ The doctor answered, “Are you saying I don’t know my job?” David added emphatically, “I mean, I cannot have high blood pressure.” The doctor responded “Okay O!”.

PUBLISHING
On the 4th of February 1983, as he was in his study going through a magazine called ‘New Wine’, he heard God says “The word I put into your mouth, the same commit into writing and I will cause the same unction upon the spoken word to rest upon the written word, bringing about the same effect.” This gave birth to the Dominion Publishing House (DPH) of the ministry. While waiting in a fast in May 1983, he heard a voice saying “I will through this ministry raise the foundation of many other ministries.” This was understood by brother David to mean that the ministry would be involved in training men and women for spiritual leadership, not only in pulpit ministry but in all areas of human endeavours. Brother David began to sense in 1983 that the stage was set for the vision to set off. He set time apart to secure his marching order. He asked in prayer if it was time and he heard a heavenly host singing “Be in time, the harvest is ripe”. He was in tears and knew the time had come. David Oyedepo resigned from the Federal Ministry of Works to begin the quest. A respected minister then called him and asked him to make sure he had money to fall back on since he was embarking on a very challenging vocation. He replied that he did not have any savings and that if he had any, he would make sure he spent it before starting off. It was an action that seemed arrogant. His Brother Hezekiah called to ask him what he was going to be doing in Kaduna and he said he would be writing tracts. Amazed at the answer, his uncle asked how he would be feeding and he answered: “God will provide!”

THE COMMISSION
In September 1983, David was directed to request a certain pastor, Enoch Adejare Adeboye, a recently ordained General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) to come and lay hands on him to commission the ministry as he was not supposed to start off on his own like other ministers had done before him. This direction was based on Deuteronomy 34:9. He requested Pastor Adeboye’s presence in Ilorin but Pastor Adeboye declined since he had another engagement for that same day. Oyedepo went back to God in prayers and God directed him to go back to Pastor Adeboye and before he could do so, Pastor E.A Adeboye sent a message that God had asked him to come and do the commissioning.
On 17 September 1983, in Ilorin, Kwara State, Pastor Adeboye preached a message from Matthew 21:1-11. The lesson was that Brother David was the ‘donkey’ who was stepping on people’s garments while Jesus was his rider and that as far as he kept Jesus the rider on his back, people would keep spreading their garments for him to step on. During the service, Pastor David made a statement that upset a number of people present. He narrated an encounter he had with God while praying. He said God told him “My son, you have two eyes. Can you make one look up and the other to look down?” he gave it a try and discovered that it was not possible. God then said “Whenever you are looking unto man, never claim you are looking unto Me, and whenever you are looking unto Me, you can not be looking unto man. For they that look unto me are lightened and their faces are not ashamed (Psalm 34:5). Look unto Me and you will not be ashamed. If you look unto men, you will fail. I am your source, I am your strength for the battle. I am all that you need, I am your sufficiency. The moment you start looking at any other source for help, you will fail woefully.” Brother David declared “God has warned me not to rely on you.” The newly ordained Pastor declared that the ministry will not have ‘supporters’ or ‘partners’ which was the vogue in many other ministries. He added that the salaries of the Ministry workers for their whole lives will never be enough to run the Ministry. At that time, the first office of the church was a two-room office with rent costing One Hundred Naira (N100) per month. The Ministry was named the “Living Faith World Outreach Centre” (LFWOC).

Excerpts from ‘A HEART FOR GOD’
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Designed by Jide Ogunsanya.