Dr. Samson Makinwa, Presiding Pastor, Kingdom of Light Ministries (KLM), Lagos, has enjoined fellow preachers to exercise cautions in their quests for church growth, particularly those who allow comedians on God’s altar in their churches to crack jokes, particulary comedians who he says corrupt the scriptures or joke with the holy writs in the minds of the unsuspecting and immatured members of their congregations. He warns that such acts of desecration of the altar of God and corruption of the scriptures by unguarded comedians are inimical to next generations of believers. The entrepreneurial pastor also shares KLM’s core values on church growth and some survival strategies for Nigerians in 2025 amid the economic hardship in the country in this interview with Christian Benefits. Excerpts.
Sir, I wish you a happy New Year 2025. What does a New Year mean to you?
A new year to me means another chapter. It provides an opportunity to write the next chapter of my life, the next chapter of my ministry and the next chapter of my business to be able to project and pursue the next vision, the next ideas and the next opportunities in all these specific areas of my life at the start of every New Year.
Tell us about God’s move at Kingdom of Light Ministries (KLM) in 2024
The Lord intensified the solidification of Kingdom of Light Ministries (KLM) in 2024 towards achieving all our set goals plans. KLM is still a growing church. In about 22 years old, the church has experienced both entries and exits of members. We are doing a lot of works to solidify the church to become strong as a legacy we would leave behind. I’m not looking for crowd at all cost. I’m looking at building a church that will endure beyond us. I’m looking at how our church members will endure the faith, and understand beyond our church doctrine the nitty-gritty of the word of God, the basic things about Christianity and the basic needs of every true child of God.
What are your efforts at raising genuine believers that truly know God?
First, I do not focus on, or pursue church growth by all means. I focus primarily at raising genuine Christians. Today, many churches pursue church growth by inspirational messages or by comedies and entertainment; turning the sacred altar of God to a stage for jesting and laughter. Staging comedies on God’s altars is inimical to the next generations of believers because they will take the acts to a very dangerous level that will not be good generally for the Church. How can one explain what some churches call Comedy Sunday whereby the pastors invite worldly comedians on their church’s altar to reel out ridiculous and ungodly jokes; corrupting Bible verses, in the minds of the immatured in their congregation? How can pastors be watching people laughing to comedies in their sins and iniquities on their way to the burning hell? Souls are suffering and perishing outside there and we are in the Church laughing. The comedians stylishly make jest of the Bible; corrupting the scriptures in the hearts of the feeble minded people in their congregation, particularly those who are not yet solid Christians. I am not bothered whether KLM has a crowd of members or not. I’m only bothered if I’m unable to make KLM members steadfast in the Lord. I made efforts to ensure all KLM members are very strong in the Lord; filled with the Holy Spirit, sanctified and have the utterance of the Holy Ghost; and to also understand what born again, sanctification and regeneration are all about. I also ensure they understand that we all have either of two places we are going at the end of our earthly life here; that it is either we leave here to spend eternity in heaven with Christ or with the devil in hell. I often tell them that the essence of my entrepreneurship teachings to them is to enable them make money to spend for God, and also for them to live in comfort as happy and fulfilled children of God.
But how did the Church get to this stage of comedians desecrating God’s altar and corrupting the scriptures?
The Bible already foretold this as one of the signs of the End-time, and the Church cannot resist it because it is very sweet and entertaining. Many pastors believe they would attract people on their Comedy Sunday to fill up their churches. Of course, they will achieve filling up their churches with people. But the question is, is it filling up the church with half-hearted Christians who are going nowhere other than hell that matters? Eternity means nothing to most of today’s Christians because the world is too sweet to them to think of one imaginary eternal life. When you preach hell to them, they don’t understand it, not to talk of accepting its reality. Tell them about eternity, they don’t understand it beyond somewhere God lives according to them. But we must still preach to them about the two sides of eternity; the heaven and the hell. In those days we preached and sang where will you spend eternity? Such songs like: “Eternity, eternity where will you spend eternity?” “Eternal Life, eternal life I want to be in eternal life, God save my soul, I want to be in eternal life God save my soul,” broke down sinners into tears thirsting for the eternal life in heaven. When you sing these songs people would be weeping unto repentance from their bad ways. But sing those songs today to people, they will dismiss or ignore you.
Does it mean because the Bible has foretold this, no one can correct it?
We can correct it but we cannot correct it entirely. Jesus left witches and wizards behind. He didn’t wipe them off completely from the surface of the earth. In our own case, each and everyone of us preachers must work on our individual desks. I should be concerned with the eternal life of the members on my own desk. You should be concerned with the eternal life of the members on your own desk. I may not be able to win the entire Lagos residents to spend eternal life with Christ in heaven, but I should make concrete efforts at making and leading those people in all my areas of influence; particulary our church members, to make eternal life in heaven with Christ.
Some people blame many preachers like you who introduced the business and prosperity dimensions to the gospel of the kingdom for the lukewarm attitudes of many of today’s Christians or believers to the undilluted gospel message.
Jesus several times used the market place for references in the Bible in the works of his ministry as illustrations that the people could easily relate with. Most of the churches that made impacts in our land came with business mind. They came with hospitals, schools and industries etc which are all business enterprises. There’s nothing wrong introducing business or entrepreneurship to the gospel message. The essence of my coming to this environment (Idimu) is church. But what introduced me and established me ahead of the church to this environment is business. God gave me a very successful business ahead of the church so that I won’t steal his money.
What is your take on the economic hardhip in Nigeria in 2024, and as a successful entrepreneur, what is your advice to Nigerians on survival strategy in the New Year 2025?
As far as I’m concerned I have never seen any new year better than the previous years economically in Nigeria. There has never been any good or better year. Globally, there’s nothing anyone can do as an economic survival strategy outside the help of God; particularly to individuals who absolutely trust and depend on him for their total survival. The economic situation or hardship in Nigeria and globally this new year 2025 will be worse than that of last year 2024 until the cure for the symtoms of the economic hardship globally is found and applied. However, for individuals the best economic survival strategy in 2025 is to discover, know and understand your vision to be able to work and make money out of it to feed your wife and children and other dependants, and also to take care of God’s work. You must think what can bring you money. I also want people to know that it will better for them to look for businesses that will consitently bring them legitimate money. So, it is all about how you can make money legitimately for yourself.
