LAGOS – Bishop Dr Joseph Ighalo Edoro, the Founding Overseer of A Touch From Heaven International Ministries and the President of a non-governmental organisation (NGO), A Touch of Love Humanitarian Foundation, is heavily burdened by events in some Nigerian Churches these days. In a chat with Sunday Independent during an event in Lagos, he laments the inability of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to properly regulate activities of pastors, warning that ‘Enough Is Enough’.
Bishop Edoro is a minister cum businessman and philanthropist whose church is among the very few that do not collect offerings and tithes during services and programmes. Rather, during programmes, the church provided free feeding and clothing to the needy.
During the discussion with him, Bishop Edoro lamented what he termed the current fraud going on in the body of Christ. He lamented that extortion of people by those who call themselves ministers of God is becoming alarming.
According to him, “This trend has indeed become a burden to some of us as things are deteriorating to a shameful and embarrassing level. The social media are now awash with several things happening in churches to the extent that people now see pastors as jesters, while unbelievers now mock church leaders.
“If this trend is not checked immediately, it will become explosive to the detriment of the Church. The insincerity of some men of God, the do-or-die attitude to make money from ministries is becoming alarming.
“There is now the quest to scam people to buy jets, flashy cars, and live flamboyant lifestyles. Ministers are now materialistic and go the extra mile to secure favours through extortion of the people who believe in them.
“The earlier we start talking about this ugly trend, the better for the church. The world (unbelievers) is now challenging the authenticity of the gospel.”
Bishop Edoro lamented that the validation of the gospel is no longer there, stressing, “What we now have are fakes and in the interest of the people who claim that they are evangelising the gospel. Enough is enough.”
He maintained that the era of fake and orchestrated miracles should have been over by now, stressing that this trend is not acceptable.
Bishop Edoro maintained that all these evil are going on in the church because the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has not been checking and regulating the activities of ministers of the gospel that are embarrassing the Church.
He stated: “The CAN should not create a vacuum that will force the government to interfere in the running of the church. The men of God should be made to explain how they spend the church tithes and offerings.
“It is now common knowledge that there are now orchestrated miracles and contrived and unfounded testimonies in churches. We now hear of people who claim to have been shot with AK-47 from behind and the bullets could not penetrate them. It is wrong for people to claim that they were shot with AK-47 and the bullets did not piece through their bodies because they are the Chosen ones. Some people even go as far as converting their dreams and presenting them as testimonies of what the Lord did for them. Enough of these jokes and comedies now going on in the church.”
Bishop Edoro insisted that Nigerians should learn to seek God themselves, adding that the Bible says that people should test all spirits, whether they are of God or of the devil.
He lamented: “What we see now is that people who call themselves men of God are dabbling in occultism just to make money from gullible people. It is in this generation of Pentecostalism that people put money together to build schools and their children cannot attend such schools. I term this development as a scam.
“We have cases of people who donate cars to the churches when they are buoyant. At a point when their finances nosedive and their situations change, the Pastors cannot assist such people to rise again or even give them a ride when they pass them on the road.
“Some pastors have taken to voodoo and soothsaying. Some have taken to Freemason. They no longer preach the truth of the gospel. Judgment will come upon them. As many as are deceiving innocent people, they should await the judgment of God.
“There is a particular pastor who makes money through the videos he makes. In these videos, he is not preaching the gospel to win souls for Christ, but is advertising and selling miracle water, miracle handkerchiefs, spiritual ATM and special anointing oils.
“Although there is liberty and Nigeria is a secular state, but, people are not allowed to extort money through false pretense. When one is in the world, the world will challenge one. If one is not on the side of God, the world will also challenge one.
“The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has not been able to check what is happening within the Pentecostals. It is in the place of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to quickly intervene by regulating gospel ministers and ministries in all its blocks.
“Licences should be issued where necessary and enforced. If CAN does not do so, there will be trouble because the government will be forced to come in to regulate the church.
“The people are tired of charlatans. The love for Pentecostalism is diminishing. People are fast returning to the Orthodox Churches. There is no real prophet in the land anymore. Pastors are more concerned with how much they can collect from the people.
“People are watching. Few people have formed themselves into cults. They are now cabals. If you are not in their clique, they bring you down. Pastors now live flamboyantly and drive expensive cars. But, they cannot help the people who worship with them in their churches. Enough is enough.”
