Prophet Timothy Funso Akande is the presiding pastor of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Ori Oke Baba Abiye, Ede, Osun State. In this interview with OLAIDE SOKOYA, he speaks on Christianity, the church, among other issues. Excerpts:
There have been various reactions following the closure of borders by the Federal Government. Do you think the closure will solve the country’s problem?
The Federal Government claimed there are so many smuggling activities going on in the border areas which made them to take such action, but I think it is not okay. It is part of their responsibilities to curb smuggling activities around our borders, but not to close them outright. When you are closing down borders, you are punishing millions of people. We can’t say because Mr. A had an accident and died on the Lagos-Ibadan highway yesterday, so Mr. B should walk to Lagos the next day. There are so many people, even Nigerians that are importing things who follow due process. Where do they want them to start from? And if the Federal Government wants us to promote our own products, it should be a gradual process because before you can eat a dry dog, there must be a reserved meat at home.
Churches have continued to be on the increase with all sorts of people parading themselves as clerics. How can one identify a true prophet?
The Bible says: “By their fruits, you shall know them.” Everybody should know that our ministration is in the Bible. Anybody that does something contrary to the Bible is not a genuine man of God. There are many of them in the society today. Our first assignment is to the people. Jesus Christ told His disciples, “Feed my sheep with the word.” Part of our responsibilities is to cater for the needy and build lives physically and spiritually. Many people that attend churches are not going because of spiritual problems, majority of them go because of various needs. The church has a lot of responsibilities, so, rather than taking advantage of the problems of members, we should always be godly in all our endeavours.
Many clerics don’t bother about the welfare of their members because of the situation in the country. How do you react to this?
It depends on individual’s beliefs. The Lord told the Israelites that in the land they are going to, there will still be poor people, but He told them not to pick fallen crops whenever they were harvesting so that the poor could have something to eat. So, there is no way a pastor can cater for all his members, there will still be those in need in the church. Some people are poor due to various reasons and it is only God that can take sufferings away from someone’s life, not the pastor. It’s not the duty of a pastor to look after the welfare of his members, it’s the duty of the government, but we have shouldered the responsibilities because it is part of the work God gave us as good shepherds. I remember a year I was given a huge bill in a hospital due to the fact that I asked some of my members to get treatments there. I was amazed, but I had to clear the bill. We pastors are now doing what the government ought to do. It is a pity Nigerians cannot get basic social amenities from the government.
Many churches now hardly preach about salvation but instead, they focus on prosperity.
It depends. Some clerics don’t know the principles of pasturing. There are strategies of winning souls. For example, one of my children in the Lord held a crusade with the theme: “Rapture is at Hand,” and I told my wife that no one would attend. People will hardly listen or even attend such programme, especially with the economic situation in the country. Some are of the opinion that they have been hearing same news since the time of the Apostle. The thing is that you have to firstly attract people with something, afterwards, you will engage them with the true word of God and also preach the second coming of Jesus Christ to them. I am saying churches should preach about salvation, but there must be a way to attract people not by posters and banners alone.
What advice do you have for the government?
They should provide various policies that will take care of the demands of the citizens. They should pay salaries of the workers on time. They should also reopen the border so as to avoid more economic problems in the country.
Despite the presence of churches in virtually every corner of the country, acts of lawlessness remain pervasive in the land. Why is it so?
We should be mindful that these are the signs of end-time. Even armed robbers attend churches. If we all condemn crime, who will remain holy? My perception to high rate of crime in the country is as a result of poverty. Even criminals are looking for refuge and the only place they can hide is the church. When we are in church, we are brothers and sisters and above all we are one big family. So, it is very hard to identify criminals. What we can only do is to continue to pray and not relent in the propagation of the gospel of the truth.
What informed the theme of this 10th year’s Abiye convention?
The theme for this year’s convention, “The horse and the rider,” was revealed by the Holy Spirit. The children of Israel after crossing the Red Sea composed a song, ‘I will sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously that the horse and the riders perished in the red sea.’ This indicates that the horse is the weapon which the enemy uses in advancing towards someone’s life. Whenever God wants to destroy or fight an enemy, He will first face the weapons which they are using to fight and when the enemy doesn’t have any weapon to fight with again, he will be defeated. Therefore, the horse is the weapon of we Christians and God is the rider. This is a caution to all ministers of God that they need to be very careful. The Bible says: “Where there is no vision, the people perish. Another version said: ‘Where there are no people, vision perish’ and another person said: ‘Where there is no money, vision perish’. The rider is the visioner, the horse is the money. So many people that have visions in this country are wandering on the streets, what a lot of them need may be a token to make their vision a reality, but where is the money to assist? The Lord has interpreted the theme to me in so many ways which will be revealed at the convention and so many lives would be blessed. It promises to be an eye-opening convention.
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