Crisis around the world not signs of the end time —Durojaye

You are celebrating 51 years of your calling and 40 years of your church anniversary. How has the journey been?

The journey has been very rough and tough, but God has been faithful. There is no greatness without failure or sorrow. But we thank God that we have a good story to tell today. Everything is now falling in place and getting better. The Bible says: “the good line has come to me in a favourable place and truly I have a good inheritance”. So, in Christ now, all the will of the enemy has been destroyed. The church cannot stand without fighting and helping people to become what God wants them to be.

 

You preside over one of the notable churches in Ibadan. What stands the church out?

God has made us unique in all areas. We don’t believe in popularity. We believe that the Holy Spirit can make us whole; we don’t believe in unrighteousness. We are not saying that we are the best. We are focused on God’s principles and directives as a church. It is a haven of building the spiritual lives and saving mankind. We are not in the league of churches that makes people believe churches are business centres. Our greatest mission is to seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to it. The motive of going to church for money and material things is strange to the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

 

With your wide experience in the vineyard and in life in general, what has life taught you?  

It is not to depend one on anybody, even oneself, because man can be defective anytime. In other words, life has taught me to be very conscious of Satan and sin. We are humans, so, we are not perfect. Since we don’t have power over the flesh, we need to be very conscious of what we do in life.

The devil can use anybody against us any moment; this is why Jesus Christ warned us to always pray not to fall into the temptations. My 51 years as a cleric even has taught me that as a Christian, you are not perfect. Being a Christian is a continuous struggle and calls for carefulness. The church is a spiritual entity. Our spiritual and physical lives must be imbedded in chartist because He has given us everything and taught us how to live a righteous life; so, we should not hesitate to give Him our hearts.

 

You have been in the ministry for 51 years now; are you planning to retire?

No, I am still very strong; I still feel I am much younger. You see, God of Caleb is our God. The problem that most ministers of God have today is that they eat too much. Many clerics need to watch their diet and engage in exercise. This will help us health-wise. Mind you, we are not different from others; it is only the calling that makes us special. So, it is ideal for us to be physically fit and our physical life must work hand-in-hand with our spirituality.  Personally, I often engage in some exercise to keep fit, as well as, some home cleaning. In fact, my regalia have never been a barrier for me in achieving this. I have designed my life in a special way that I find joy in whatever I do. I give my best to keep fit, nurture peoples’ spirituality and to instill discipline in church.

 

There are insinuations high rate of envy and competitions among top clerics, which is causing division in the Christendom?

No, you don’t have to envy anybody. You can only envy someone who is wealthier that you, but you can’t envy the gift of God upon one’s life. The reason there is a lot of envy among clerics is that they all want to be rich and influential. Personally, I don’t want to procure jet; I just want to be a Christian. We are not called to acquire material things, but to fulfill God’s mandate as real Christians. For me, I don’t envy anybody. I don’t belong to any caucus; I have my families and my church members.

• Let’s use solemnity of Easter to heal wounds arising from Nigeria’s last elections — Gov Umahi

Do you often express worries over concurrent scary happenings around the world or will you say that these are signs of the end-time?

No, the end time has not come. The messy events around the world are just the beginning of the signs. When the end-time comes, nobody can stay on the surface of the earth. The Bible confirmed it in Matthew 24 that they are just prelude. But divine protection is rest assured for the righteous. The signs are for the people that are not in Christ. The Bible says: “I have kept you in the hollow of my arm in Christ.” I think the main reason all these crises is because many people don’t have faith.

 

What do you think individuals and the church as a whole can do to ensure that Nigeria attain political stability?

We should all go back to the old ways.  In those days, when you go to church, you will find honesty, which is not so now. The race to become rich and famous has become the order of the day. The act has made many  to derail and even backslide from the Godly way. The act has become rampant in the Christendom presently. A Christian must not endure life but enjoy life in a normal and healthy way. All we need to do is to always resist the devil and remain focus on God, despite any form of distraction or temptation.

 

Part of the focus of the religious body is to encourage Christians to actively join the mainstream politics, sanitise the system, as well as make Nigeria free from corruption. Do you think this has been achieved?

Politics is good, but it is not good with the way it is being practised in the country. We cannot leave it to unbelievers completely. There are two types of Christians: the social and the spiritual Christians. Social Christians have time to mingle and socialise; they are the type of people that join politics, while the spiritual Christians have the measures of the Holy Spirit. For example, I can’t see myself being in politics riddled with injustice and corruption. We have four pillars as a human being:  physical, mental, social and spiritual. You know a sinner and a saint can’t go along with each other. But, we cannot completely leave it to the sinners.

 

What advice do you have for Christians?

Christians, at this time, should go back to Jesus Christ.  We must not forget that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is the only way to go. We are should not forget that we are humans and that God has the absolute power over our lives.