Doctrines and messages of some clerics have made Christianity complicated for some of their followings. How do you think this could be addressed?
I want to thank God for every leader and clerics, especially with the way God is leading them in diverse ways. But understanding is the key. It is a factor that everybody must have. The primary thing we are expected to do is to preach the gospel. This is what they even believed in abroad. If you want to be relevant in the foreign land, you have to preach the gospel and nothing else. Preaching the true gospel is like water; it knows no colour, culture or race. The death, resurrection and second coming of Christ are universal message. So, we can pick it from any angle, but the focus must not be altered. This is one of the main things that made me become sought-after abroad.
It is not strange that clerics often fall into temptations, but cases of clerics involving in scandals are becoming rampant. In what way do you think the trend can reduced among church leaders?
I say a prayer every day, that Lord, the thing that I will do to make you remove your hand from my matter, may I not do it. I think spiritual leaders should be celebrated, prayed for and encouraged. It is not easy to be a spiritual leader. For me, I do not judge people or talk down on anybody. I just do what God has placed in my hands well, because the scripture made me understand that I shall give account of every word I have spoken. What we all need to do as Christians is to always be ready to support and raise anyone that fell in the journey of Christ. I pray God grant us the grace to continue to lead people aright.
You have just been elevated from a reverend to a bishop. How does it feel?
I am grateful to the Lord. My view about this bishop election is a bit different. I have also consulted with my fathers in faith. For me, it is not a title; it is an office and that is what the Bible calls it; the office of the bishop. It is just to tell me that I have a lot to do and make me focus, as well as realise that I am sold out completely to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not a fun fair; it is a call to deeper sense of service and commitment. With this new office I need to be very careful. Though I am still finding it very difficult to adjust to that name, I know I will cope with that soon. In it all, I thank God, because it is a call to go deeper in the vineyard. This position reminds one that somebody is watching and you have to do everything to the glory of God.
Going by your claim that it is seems difficult for you to adjust, are you saying you never envisaged attaining the position in life?
God has a way of encouraging children. I was informed about it by my father and one of my fathers’ in faith when I returned from outside the country sometime ago. The office was the last thing I ever imagined. Even in the structure of the church, we never had such position, because the General Overseer is an evangelist. I think God laid it in my father’s heart for the purpose of leadership and continuity. I accepted it with a great honour and having consulting my fathers in faith and spiritual fathers, especially Bishop David Oyedepo. Bishop Oyedepo and Reverend Isaac Omoleyin, to mention a few, had played a serious role in my life. I went through a lot of teachings and counseling. I was made to realise that this is about working and not about title.
Would you say you have the capacity to take the leadership of a church now?
Every leader has a blueprint. For Moses ,it was the rod; for Joshua, it was the fit. Every leader has a style and leadership is transferred. I have been taught and tutored by our father in the Lord who you know that he is an administrator on wisdom and to the glory of God, he has imbibed and transferred the grace. So, I believe God will give me grace to His work. However, the greatest asset of every Christian leader is the ability to hear from God and to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit for a clear direction. I am hearing from God, I am being led by His spirit and my father had channeled a good course for me. With all these, I know I will get there, because I am cool, calm, relaxed and I am hungry for more. The ministry has experience a lot of growth in the last 25 years and we are happy to celebrate God for the success recorded at the Decross Gospel Mission Church with the convention and anniversary thanksgiving. I have been a full-time pastor for 23 years and it was just like yesterday. The 25-year is another realm for us; we are changing season.
How did your parents influence your call to the work of God?
They are my strongest influence in life, especially my father. They are the reason of whatever I have become today. His music and call are instrumental. Mind you the work of God is not by wish; it is a call and I have a divine call from the Lord. I blessed God for my parents. I won a lottery of Godly semen and womb. For me, it is like a spiritual jackpot. My parents are the best in the whole world, because they laid a Godly foundation for us all. My mother, God bless her soul, thought us a lot of things in the way of the Lord. In fact, I can always recite a whole Psalm offhand. My daddy is my role model; his life style is worthy of emulation. This is what God also used to channel our lives in the vineyard, as well as have a godly foundation. This makes it easy for us to respond to the call of the Lord and identify His voice, because our parents were following the voice of God. Getting into the ministry was like a piece of cake. My parents encouraged us and helped us to fan our gifts into flame and the power of God came upon our lives at the early age.
You lost 50kg from your weight recently. How did you achieve this?
I never had any surgery. I thank God that I came across an angel in human body, Reverend mother Esther Ajayi. I cannot forget her. She is my great mentor and a mother. She asked me about what I was doing to my weight in one of our visits to her abroad. She said I can do it in a natural way, through diet control and exercise. She got a good boot camp and I informed my father about it. You will recall that my father did the same thing about 42 years ago and lost some weight naturally at a health farm. So, I also went to a health farm and I thank God for that kind-hearted woman who took care of everything. Fortunately, the same place my father went to about 42 years ago was where I got and I was put in the same room he was attended to. Above all, I was able to shed almost 50kg.
What you have just said, is it an effort to clear the air again on insinuations about your father’s involvement in drug trafficking, as it was widely reported that he swallowed lukudi?
My father did not swallow any lukudi. I experienced and underwent the same process he went through during that time. He went to a health farm, did some exercise, burnt fats and other things. I did the same thing and I was good to go. I was monitored for a while, so that I do not have flabby skin. Though I am still very far from my target, I am much finer now than when I was so big and couldn’t even walk very well. I am now fit; I can run and do lots of exercise. I will have to push hard again to do another 50kg till I reach my target. Would my father still be alive if he truly swallowed lukudi?
Don’t you feel seriously worried that even at his old age he is constantly under popular demand by fans?
I don’t, but I don’t want him to do too much, because music is in his blood; take music out of him, then you have issues. He enjoys what he is doing, so, he should go ahead. Sitting at home will not be ideal for him. It is the grace of God and that is what we are talking about for somebody who has been there over 50 years as a top musician and he is still in demand. We should be grateful to the Lord. When it is the time for him to stop finally no one will tell him. We make sure he rest, but he can still continue with his music. He is still green, so, let us continue to enjoy him.
Your father must be proud of you with your success in the vineyard, even in his life time. Is this part of your effort to pay him back?
He is a good man, if not for him I wouldn’t have come this far in life and in the ministry. His love and investment upon my life and how many times he had picked me up in the ministry whenever I fell cannot be quantified. I cannot pay him back at all. My prayer is that God will continue to keep him alive for as long as He plans. He will witness all his prayers answered and benefit from his investments, as well as reap the dividends of being a good father to a son and all his children. I cannot afford to disappoint him, just as I cannot pay him back and I don’t want to fail. He is my great mentor and hero.
and then