Why there is internal war in church —Isah

Reverend Craig Isah, the vissioner of the Citizens of Heaven Church, Lekki, Lagos, believes empowerment must go hand in hand with evangelism to achieve spiritual and physical growth in Christendom. In this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, he speaks on his experience in the ministry and qualities of church management.

DO you think the church is doing enough in its core responsibilities to humanity?

I feel the church is doing fine, but it can be better. Trying to divide matters of state and religion is a subtle thing and I noticed that a lot of us (pastors) have to be careful so that it won’t look as if we are meddling too deep in the affairs of state. Personally, what I am doing is to influence my society. One person at a time, because it is the individuals that make up the society and if the individuals are influenced positively, the society will be become better. So, I am approaching national development from that angle. The scripture even confirmed it that ‘an idle mind is the devil’s workshop…’ People need to be empowered and if they are not, there is little or nothing they can achieve, even if they are religious. There must be self-actualisation and that comes through training and giving other incentives. This, without any doubt, will also boost the spiritual growth of people and make ungodly acts in the society become a thing of the past.

Buhari can do whatever he wants in London —Presidency

So, how have you been empowering the youth?

As I said earlier, this is one of our goals in the ministry. We have impacted lives in many ways. One of the things we do is to educate the mind so that our perception can be different at all times, as well as be self-sufficient. We train them in business, skill acquisitions and encouraging their talents and natural gifts from God. We have seen people grow over the years, even for more than a decade now of people achieving different goals in life. Many of our members are employers of labour, because we have taught them on the importance to work with their hands. We have taken up the responsibility to help the younger generation to expend their energy appropriately in doing laudable things.

How did you receive the calling?

I began my journey as a Christian in 1994. At that time I was in a particular church. I remember that my first encounter with the cleric of the church: Christ Embassy. He told me I had a calling. I began to have strong urges that I needed to share the message that I have received with people. It was more like a burden for me. I found something special telling people about Jesus and I wanted everybody to know about the Jesus I had found. For me, that was the motivation. Also, Mark 16 vs 15 was real to me. When Jesus said we should go and propagate the gospel to the world and I see this as personal instruction. Since then, I have been following suit.

 What did it take you to heed the call to serve?

It has been an interesting journey and you will agree with me that nothing good comes easy. I thank God for the grace and the privilege for knowing Christ at my early stage in life and seeing the importance of doing His will. We cannot thank God enough for counting us worthy to be part of his vessels, as well as the grace He has bestowed on the ministry for growing in leaps and bound. It didn’t take me a long time to head to the call since I had the conviction of the path I chose. My relationship with God was smooth even before I heeded the call and I have never regretted of dumping other things to follow Him.

Though nothing comes easy, the church has continued to expand, even beyond humans’ imagination. Aside the efforts of setting up a conducive haven to worship God, which has been under construction for about four years, 2015 precisely in the heart Lagos, Lekki, we have not lost our core assignment as Christians. The propagation of the gospel of Christ is our priority and we are even taking a step further to impact lives positively, especially the Nigerian youth.

The involvement of youths in the vineyard is still diminutive probably because of the fear of the unknown and life aspirations. In your own case, what was the conviction for you to have dumped other things to follow this path?

I was born into a Muslim background. So, becoming a Christian from such background was not a welcomed development. My parents were not pleased with it. God blessed me with successful parents. At a time, I was about going into the ministry, my father was a director at NNPC. My decision to convert religion and even go into full-time ministry did not go well with him. It was like a stab in his back, because what he wanted was for me to go and further my studies in the United States. However, I turned all that down because of the call and passion for soul winning. I felt God pulling me in this direction, because I had always had the passion for youth’s empowerment basically.

How true is the belief that the propagation of the gospel has not reached the specific areas God wants it to be, despite torrents ‘crusade’ for many years?

We cannot say that for certain. The gospel is moving, but I don’t know whether it is moving as far as it should, yet it is moving. Pastors and churches are trying to deploy all kinds of mediums to reach as far as possible. This is where you see churches making use of the emerging technology and traditional mediums to reach out to a lot of people at once. To the end of the earth, we shall go and when we finally get there and it is only God that can know. So, Christians must keep working, spreading the gospel till the trumpet sounds.

How did you come about the name of the church?

The name of the church, Citizens of Heaven Church, was borne out of my understanding of the scriptures. I have a clear understanding that when we become born again, we are now children of God; therefore, we have dual citizenship of the earth and heaven. This is according to the scripture. So, for every born again believer, their names are written in heaven as citizens of the Holy land.

Church management is one of the things that make or break clerics. How have you been able to handle it?

It is tedious, because it has to do with people and people are dynamic. So, what we have tried to do is to build a dynamic system that is tailored to meet different people’s needs. We have a suitable structure and capable departmental heads, so, that reduces the load upon me. We have been doing our best with the help of the Holy Spirit to do our best.

What is your advice to Christians?

The church of Jesus should stop being so judgmental. There is an internal war in the church, because it is the Christians that crucify themselves. For me, it is an evil that we need to open our eyes to. It is an attack against the church, when churches begin to injure themselves, pastors and members. We need to seize the spirit of acquisition immediately in the church. It is the ministry of the devil. That is why we call it the actual of the brethren. We must not judge anyone; it belongs to God and nothing should be judged before its time. The ultimate instruction from Christ to us all is love and we must always have that at heart. I want to urge the body of Christ to put on the amour of empathy, instead of passing judgments.

Has all these sacrifices becoming rewarding?

The calling of the Lord is calling to sacrifice basically. So, the day I embraced the ministry, I let go more or less the luxury that came with my upbringing. It has not been easy. I have made a lot of sacrifices; a lot of season when one has to depend solely on God. Above all, I have no regret about all I have been through because I have a goal and God has been sufficient in all.

What is your advice for President Buhari?

He should genuinely exhibit to be a father of a nation. He should try to lead the country with the fear of God and steer the country away from ethnic and religious devices. President Buhari has to be religiously neutral and ensure to surround himself with competent hands.