A gathering storm
against the dominance of fathers of the Christian faith in the country like has
been in covered.
There is a
built up anger in the church against many fathers of the faith, among them,
Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Bishop David Oyedepo and Rev Tunde Joda , hence the
plot by the younger generation of preachers and church
administrators in the country for a systematic upstage.
In this piece, Femi Adepoju revealed how those behind the plot expressed their grievance, "we are angry with them on how they are managing their
successes.
 |
| Bishop David Oyedepo |
"They have
built schools with tithes and offerings that came to them through the grace of
God upon them. They run ministries that do not give opportunity for the
Holy Ghost to raise new generation of leaders. They are the "holy
ghost" of their ministries. They tell you what to do in every location.
What they feed their sheep in Lagos is what they sent to you to feed your
sheep in Jos"
According
to one of the aggrieved church operators who spoke with TRN in confidence, the
character of many of the fathers of faith is based on the fact that they don't
trust the new generation operators.
"The
truth is, the character of many of our fathers of faith is based on the fact
that they do not trust us. This generation does not know what it takes to
lead in the kingdom. We think it's like working a bank job, where everything is
about deposits. Some thinking it's about market place competition, the best of
them think it's about displaying spirituality before the people, some think
it's about seeking personal success, to some it's all about what they can
get.
"This
generation does not know how to seek God's face and wait on Him.
 |
| Pastor Enoch Adeboye |
" Some have said that the failure of believers of this generation
should be put on the shoulders of these fathers because they have used them to
build mega churches which they cannot manage. They did not teach them enough
character that will help them to move in the anointing. The focus these fathers
gave us was to populate their ministries and not to develop the character of
the anointing"
Another
aggrieved operator, who pastors a new generation church while making a case for
the plot said "now that we have done what they asked us to do, they don't
trust us because we could not reproduce their anointing; we don't have their
characters."
But reacting to
the development, the Senior Pastor of The Wisdom Restoration Ministries,
Beautiful Gate Parish, Akute ,Ogun State, Witness Kiishi Emmanuel said the new
generation operators may have woken from their slumber, but urged them to
however be tidy with the bid to take over from older generation operators.
According to
Witness Emmanuel, " we can go on and on in the blame game. It is
time to tell ourselves the truth. It is true that these fathers have made some
mistakes by focusing on growth rather than development. It is true that the
apostolic and the prophetic have been injured for the evangelical and the
pastoral, it is true that the way some of the fathers are managing their
success leaves much for concerns" he offered however that there is one
thing that could not be taken away from these established operators " you
cannot take away from these fathers that they did pay the prices of their faith
to attract the anointing that has produced the results in their successes.
Continuing, Emmanuel said "If we continue to blame them for not getting
better results than they have got, we remain where we are at the mercy of their
incentives. Succeeding generation is supposed to be better than the preceding
ones because we have their shoulders to climb.
"The truth
is, many of us don't want to climb their shoulders, we rather walk where they
are walking to manipulate ourselves into their incentives.
"How can
you walk where they are walking and claim to be better managers? How can you
walk where they are walking and hoping to get better results? You may not like
it, but their shoulders are available for you to climb. When you climb it you
see what they see, and what they do not see. One of the divine truth about
fathers is they have old clothes more than new ones, the older they become the
dimmer they see. The Holy Ghost has appointed it so. If you disrespect their
old clothes, you never have your new ones. Until they see you managing the old
clothes they have given you and with the new clothes you have decently, they
will not trust you."
Proffering a way out of what is largely been seen in the church as
an imminent showdown, the Pastor said the new generation should climb on the
shoulders of the established fathers in the faith, but with the determination
to do better than them.
 |
| Rev Tunde Joda , |
"Here is
my advice for this generation of preachers. Instead of hating these fathers
because of how they are managing their success, climb their shoulders and get
better results.
"It is
possible. Don't just sit around them for the incentives their successes can
offer you, climb their shoulders see their pioneering character, develop it and
the Holy Spirit will cause you to get better results. When you begin to get
better results outside their ministerial territory, then you can produce better
management system that will challenge them.
"You cannot
correct someone who is getting better results than you are getting. You cannot
criticize the management of someone who has better results than you have. If
you want to correct the management of that person, you must have better result
than the person"
Speaking
further, Witness Emmanuel said Fathers want every generation to produce their
own fruits of the Holy Ghost preachers.
However
if that will lead to the destruction of what fathers have worked
tirelessly to build, they won't be part of that, they will protect what they
have built".
To get better
results than these fathers, Emmanuel counseled that the agitators will not only
be at par with them in discipline, but must exceed them in gifts of the Holy Ghost.
"Why
should your generation listen to you if all you are doing is recycling afresh
the messages of fathers, why should your generation listen to you because of
talks no power, why should any father take you serious if you are still arguing
with what they did 40years ago." he queried and called on the agitators to "let
us raise the bar dear brethren. That is what the Holy Ghost wants us to do. One
father prophesy almost every month that 'in my lifetime let me see many
of you twice me' another Papa prays always at every Holy Ghost night 'Lord let
them be better than me', Instead of trying to correct or criticize how
they are managing their own success, let us say amen to their prophesies. I can
tell you, it will come to pass".
Concluding, he
said " there are many explanations for having a problem but very little
reasons for hiding it." Hence, his call to "let us come
together and break through the yokes because our authority is d word, the
unstoppable Holy Ghost is our power and the access we have to both is our
confidence".
Also
responding, Pastor Ifabiyi Olanrewaju of ECWA church said "the blunt truth
is that the older generation operators are living us behind"
Making
particular reference to Pastor Eunoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church
of God, Olanrewaju said "i tell people often that the sustenance of the
church is only in Baba's hand " Praying that something urgent will
be done by the elders to carry the young church operators along, the Pastor
said though some of the young ones could be overzealous and money conscious, he
added however that it is not unlikely that there are some highly
spiritual young pastors under the elderly ones but submitted further that
"no matter how spiritual some of us may be, we won’t have the experience
of the old men .
"The
consequences would be very great for the church if they leave the stage without
doing the needful.
"Though it
is not out of place that some of them may be afraid that they may not be
relevant again if they show us the wisdom of church operation, but the truth is
that, they should be our consulting room"
Insisting that
the trend is not limited to the Pentecostal alone, Olanrewaju said the
"elders need to wake up and tell us how they are making it".
By Femi Adepoju
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