The Senior Pastor/Bishop-elect of Agape Believers Church, Dr. Bola Omokorede has officially been consecrated as the Bishop of Agape Believers Church by Global College of Bishops and Clergies. The consecration service and ceremonies were conducted by the bishopric college during the Compass 2023 annual programme of the International College of Ministers held from April 26-28, 2023 at the church auditorium in Ikotun, Lagos. The three-day event with Passion as the theme, featured as guest ministers some officials of the Lagos state chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and some other prominent church leaders.
Leading the charges at the consecration service, the Lagos state PFN chairman, Apostle Dr. Eyinnaya Okwuonu, in his exhortation addressed ministers of the gospel on the gospel of materialism which he said is a deviation from people-oriented church. He advised the ministers to desist from the pursuits of materialism and merchandising acts in the Church, lest they suffer the wrath of Jesus in the way he whipped out the merchants in the temple. He urged them to take the Church back to the owner.
“Unfortunately, the Church has deviated from people-oriented church to material- oriented church. We have to take the church back to the owner. I tell pastors they are not the owner of the Church. Hand over the Church back to the owner. Jesus Christ said I will build my church and the gate of hell shall not prevail against it. So, Jesus is the owner of the Church. We are only called to build His Church.”
He continues: “There was a time Jesus came to the temple and met people buying and selling and changing money in the temple. And he took a whip and chased them out of the temple. He threw their tables, and said my father’s house is a house of prayer, but you have turned it to the den of robbers. I warn you, that same whip Jesus used that day for those merchants in the temple is still there. He will bring it back to the Church and use it on you too irrespective of your status,” he warned.
Apostle Okwuonu, who said he is a messenger from God called to give warnings to the Church, particularly to the leaders, also warned on sexual sins among church leaders. He read Ezekiel 33:7 as a stern warning to the church leaders in the acts of sexual sins. “In the church today, pastors sleep with their members. Woe unto you for the things that shouldn’t be in the Church of Christ. I want to awaken you from your slumber. I bring warnings from the Lord. Stop all the pretense and be sincere. When you fall into a sexual sin, and you say grace covers you, you are fooling yourself,” he said.
While encouraging such ministers to desist from the acts, Okwuonu noted that it is the responsibility of church leaders who have fallen into sexual sins to wash their own garments. “The responsibility of your garment is on you. God has provided the soap and the water for you to apply it on yourself and be clean,” he charged.
The Lagos state PFN leader also warned ministers on manipulations to get results. He shared how some pastors manipulate people to dispossess them of their money and other belongings. “A pastor walked into a church and he said my shoes cost Twenty-five thousand dollars. If you want God’s grace, come out and take the shoes for Ten thousand dollars. Some pastors tell lies on the pulpit.
“A supposed man of God was preaching somewhere and he said to a woman among the congregation that God said if you sow your jeep car as a seed to Him, in three months He would surprise you. Who would not like that kind of thing, especially if your jeep is doing overheating, consuming fuel or having other problems? So, the woman gladly sowed her jeep. After three months and nothing happened, she went back to the pastor, and said pastor, please return my jeep to me.”
“The Church has lost the passion for people. We now beg or manipulate them of their possessions. We now do all kind of things, tricks and gimmicks to raise money for the Church. In John 4:1-42 where Jesus needed to pass through Samaria there was one soul that needed to be saved. For the sake of that one soul, God rearrange things so that he can reach out to that soul and save the soul.
There are people around us who have given up. They have lost their identities, that we need to reach out to with passion but we do not. God is coming to judge his Church. All manners of things are going on the altar today while souls are perishing. A supposed pastor was invited to preach at a wedding service and he started deliverance service, laying hands on the wedding guests in the church and they were falling. When he got to a particular man and laid hand on him, the man refused to fall. He was helped to remove his coat because he was sweating profusely while ministering deliverance to this man that refused to fall until the man screamed at him. When the devil wants to disgrace you, he won’t ask for permission. So, don’t wait till the devil disgraces you in that acts,be warned,” the Lagos PFN chair finally warned ministers.