Following a recent comment by the General Overseer of Salvation Ministries, Pastor David Ibiyiomie, allegedly against white-garment churches, the Shepherd-in-charge of Celestial Church of Christ, City of David Cathedral, Ibadan, Oyo State, Prophet Gabriel Evans, speaks with IMOLEAYO OYEDEYI on how hate speeches from pastors can disintegrate the body of Christ and the implications of wrong prophecies they give to set political agenda in Nigeria, among others.
Pastor David Ibiyiomie recently attacked the white-garment churches and the video has since been gaining traction online. Don’t you think these acts will threaten the unity of the body of Christ which the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) professes?
We have five arms in CAN. We have the pentecostal fellowships. The Catholic Church stands as a body on its own. We also have the orthodox, the Organisation of African Instituted Churches (OAIC). Each block comes together to form CAN, whose motto is ‘That all may be One’. No matter which block you are, I believe we are all Christians and the terminology of what Christianity is all about now depends on the representation of what each group brings to the table. But when hate, suspicion and insecurity begin to come in, that is when people begin to align with denominational values. But generally, we are Christians and followers of Christ. I think that is the benchmark of all true Christians. So basically, when they begin to stigmatise, you then begin to know which block you belong to. I belong to OAIC under which CCC is.
I believe we are always attacked in CCC because of what we carry. When these people attack white-garment churches, they do specifically mention CCC. They always do that because our fathers never had a good idea of what communication did when these pentecostal fellowships started. They used the power of the media to demonise CCC and white-garment churches to make people feel they are of no value and our fathers never cared, because they believed that their works would speak for them. But over the years, people became convinced by what they saw and heard. And over time, false stories gained ground and people believed them. Fortunately, for CCC now, we are having a generation of people who are learned and can speak against false narratives to set the records straight. Basically, that is what people like us have stood for. For instance, when Baba Adeboye came out and said this and that, I was the one who stood up and said, ‘You don’t say that.’ This is because Baba Adeboye was seven-years-old when Papa Oshoffa had his calling.
Take away the block we belong to. In the ministry, Adeboye had been there before I came in. I could advise him, but I cannot condemn him. If I have any advice, I can go privately or look for a channel to send the advice to him. As stated in Acts of the Apostle, if this (CCC) is of men, it would have crashed when Oshoffa died. I can boldly say that after the death of Oshoffa, CCC had over 1,500 parishes that were growing every day since 38 years ago. So, this is not the work of men. God is part of this.
As wonderful as Moses was, he had his shortcomings. As wonderful as Jacob was, he had his shortcomings. As wonderful as Peter the Apostle was, he had his shortcomings. As beautifully schooled as Paul was, he had his shortcomings. This is because they belong to the flesh. Even Jesus when he was in the flesh had his own. As I have said, we know what they do. But we do not want to talk about that. We are only focusing on their attack on us and what they are saying about us, which is wrong. We have seen what they do. I have seen scandals on social media about them. But we will not say this is a body of Christ, because a house will not stand divided against itself.
What do you think the CCC leadership across the board can do to reduce the attacks on the church?
What we have done so far is like a warning, because they have never seen a backlash as big as this and it is a strong warning to every one of them that you cannot do it again and go scot-free with it. You cannot do it like in the days of old when nobody will talk or do anything. We will not do that again. This time, if you come for us, we will come for you. If you come in peace, we will come in peace. If you come the other way round, we will come the other way round depending on the angle you come from. But I think as Christians, we should all come in peace. I do not believe in engaging in legal battles against them. I believe in correcting them and letting them understand that CCC is a spiritual church. The fact is there and there are certain red lines you don’t cross. When you cross them, there are consequences. They may not come in one month or year, but they will surely come because we know that CCC and all other white-garment churches are spiritual churches. We do not go by the book. We go by the Holy Spirit. And that is the way it is.
Don’t you think the attack is in one way demarketing the Celestial brand on social media?
Our ultimate goal of Christianity is to make heaven. We are not like others that believe it is a business venture. That is why you will have a wife being the deputy general overseer, a husband being the General Overseer, and a son being the third in command. It is a business enterprise. We do not want to go into so many things about them. But that is what they do. In the Catholic Church, have you ever heard of the brother of Jesus becoming the Pope? In the Anglican Church, did you hear that the second child of King Henry became the primate of the Anglican Communion? No, it will not happen. Even in ECWA, and GOFAMINT, you don’t have that. Did you hear that it was the son of Joseph Ayo Babalola that became the next GO? Did you hear any of the children of Moses Orimolade becoming the GO? Before Mobiyina became the pastor of CCC, we had over five pastors before him. So basically, it is within the pentecostal fellowships where you have them setting up a whole organogram of a business empire and bringing it into the church. That is where you have the word ‘demarketing’, which is a business term to them.
But to us, we believe that CCC was founded by SBJ Oshoffa on the mandate that we should have candidates that will make heaven when they die. We shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free. Meanwhile, as much as they are demarketing CCC, people still join the church every day. They will raise shepherds tomorrow who will build new parishes. We do not pull people from pentecostal churches; we put together pagans and those who do not know God into the fold and introduce God to them. We really don’t believe in whatever strategy the pentecostals are using, but what we are saying is do not soil our name because we know what you do. Do not come out and start saying what you do not know, because we know what you do.
Several pastors came out with various prophecies at the last election. Some even said President Bola Tinubu will not be declared the winner of the election, but the reverse is the case. What do you think is the reason for the inaccuracies of the prophecies?
Did God call them? Have you ever waited to investigate the people talking and find out if they are truly called? Do they have a divine calling? And what is their call if they are called as stated in Ephesians 4:12? Are they called to be pastors, evangelists, or teachers? Everybody just wants to be a prophet because they want to see. So, why don’t they just take care of their office and leave the original prophets? I had a vision for 2023. It was in videos everywhere. God told me that Nigerians, if you do not pray very well, the ruling government will take power, very pure and simple. And when Nigerians did not pray very well, the ruling government retained the power, APC to APC. If Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar had come together, they would have taken over the power.
That was the prophecy, no more, no less, because God did not send me more than that, but how can a pastor begin to predict, because he has the power of the television? How can a preacher begin to predict because he or she has a microphone? Because you have the power of the media, you will just go there and start ranting. Has God told you anything? God himself spoke in the Book of Joel. He will not do anything on earth without telling His prophets. But how many of the church leaders are prophets by calling? Deuteronomy 29, “God cannot be mocked.” So, speak when God speaks and leave popularity. Basically, the pastors will begin to soil the image of Christianity if they act otherwise. They will allow the average man to categorise all of us together. So, they should please, leave the job for those who own the job. If you are a pastor, continue to pastor. If you are a teacher, continue to teach. If you are an evangelist, continue to evangelise. If you are an apostle, continue to be an apostle, but let prophets do their job.
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