· Urges Christians to unite against common enemies
The General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM), Pastor William Kumuyi has called for renewed hope in God, saying the Lord will rewrite the history of the church in Nigeria, following the wave of divine visitation, spiritual awakening and unprecedented revival currently moving across the church in Lagos.
He gave the assurance at the Ministers’ Development and Networking Summit held at the African Bethel Cathedral, Ikorodu in conjunction with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
The programme, which was tagged ‘Growing your Church, was designed to break all denominational barriers and empower the body of Christ not just in Lagos State, but also across the federation.
At the summit, Kumuyi said denominational barriers had been the bane of the church in Nigeria, noting that the barriers had rendered it unproductive to deliver the heavenly divine purpose of winning the world to Christ.
Instead of fighting a common enemy, he said: “we are fighting one another. We are looking down on one another. We are pushing one another until the church is not even sure on which ground it stands.
He explained that the vision of the summit “is to make the church in Nigeria strong by injecting power into the local churches. The body of Christ in Nigeria is losing relevance, hence the need to develop the ministers especially at the grassroots.”
Speaking on undeniable power of united faith in the Saviour’, Kumuyi explained that the church in Nigeria “must be united in faith to lead sinners to the Saviour, Jesus Christ. Recovery will come by leading the people to their Saviour. The pursuit is to make the body of Christ strong in Nigeria.”
Taking his text from Mark 2:1-12, Kumuyi urged the church to manifest the same faith the friends of the man who was sick of the palsy manifested that got the man healed. They lowered through the roof the bed on which the sick man laid for Christ to heal him.
According to the cleric, to cause the desired revival in Nigeria and win souls for the kingdom of God, the church must manifest “United unwavering purpose, unselfish pursuit, unrepentant perseverance, unbreakable partnership, unabated passion and unusual procedure.”
He said that the manifestation of the above would open heaven’s door for “uncommon possibilities, uncommon miracles and uncommon breakthroughs” through the church.
The Bishop of Lagos West Missionary Diocese, African Church, Rev. Akin Ajayi, said the summit provides an opportunity for ministers to train themselves, stating that it was a divine blessing for the ministers to develop and grow their local church.
“We believe that with what we have heard today, the church will continue to grow stronger than before, and we believe that things will change and there will be peace in every area of our lives, provided we have faith because the Lord is our God of faith,” he said.
Ajayi urged ministers “to humble themselves before God. For Pastor Kumuyi to have come to Ikorodu; that means he has humbled himself and we should all learn from him. I believe there is nobody God cannot use. If you allow God to take charge of your life, he will definitely deliver you and grant you whatever you think is impossible in your life.”
On the 59th Independence , Ajayi urged Nigerians “to imbibe the fear of God to experience divine peace. People have been shouting freedom, independence but it seems we are still in bondage, but if we move closer to God and have faith in God, the Lord will definitely grant divine freedom; independence to Nigeria as a whole and to Lagos State in particular.”
The Chairman CAN in Ikorodu Division, Pastor Emmanuel Adegoke, said the church in Nigeria should break all the walls of barriers and make sure it becomes one.
“We are united by the cross; we are united by that message and divine commission, ‘go ye into the world’ and that is our unity. That is what we should be preaching; we should forget about church traditions and other things, and stand for the gospel.”
Adegoke said the ministers’ summit “is a divine initiative of CAN aimed at deepening unity and strengthening the body of Christ in Lagos and beyond. I see it as a divine plan of God for the church itself and I think we are opportuned to share in the grace that the Man of God comes here, and we are following up with the programme.”
