Spiritual prosperity is the true prosperity
By TONY UDEMBA
Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Rev. Dr. Michael C. Okike, General Overseer, Throne of Power Ministries, a.k.a. Zion Assembly, a fast growing church in Lagos, feels fulfilled and very much at home whenever the topic centers on the word of God. As a man of God, with true love and affection for the propagation of the message of Jesus Christ, and with vast knowledge of the gospel, he does not compromise on the biblical teachings.

According to him, “the word of God must be strictly preached to all, in order to win souls to Christ and for the spiritual prosperity of the people.”

He believes that the “raw” word of God preaches about spiritual prosperity of the people, just as he noted that “spiritual prosperity leads to physical and material prosperity.”
In a chat with Daily Sun in Lagos recently, Dr.Okike talked about Christianity, religious harmony and other issues concerning the nation.

Background
My names is Rev.Dr.Michael C. Okike. I became born-again in Kano in 1979, and fully answered the call in 1985,and worked as a pastor in the United Church of Christ (UCC). Then I worked variously at UCC parishes in Enugu, Kano, Port- Harcourt and Kaduna.
In 1997, God spoke to me in a vision to open the ministry and this was done immediately. But the ministry started fully in 1999, after a 21-day fasting period.

God’s calling
Yes, someone had prophesied about it many years back, though I had series of visions right from the early days when I became born-again in 1979, concerning it.
Then, I was working in a private company. In a particular occasion Pastor Amadi, my pastor then, had called me up to minister to the congregation, I became afraid and jittery, since I had not preached before such a large number of people before. But as I mustered up courage , and ministered to the people, great anointing fell upon them, and many of them fell on the ground, and started speaking in tongues, under the power of the Holy Spirit.

Again, I had traveled to the village immediately after I became born-again, and while I was ministering to my people, many of them came under the power of the Holy Ghost, and the power of anointing was so much on them. Lots of healings, speaking in tongues and other wonderful works of God were experienced.

Most importantly, since the beginning of the ministry, lots of healings and wonderful works of God have been happening in this church.

Challenges
Lots of challenges do exist in the Missionaries field in Nigeria. So, church leaders have turned the church into commercial venture. Unfortunately, they have deviated from preaching the “raw” gospel of Jesus. Instead, they tend to adopt certain styles of worship in order to attract much crowd to themselves, thereby negating the true word of God. They tend to believe that when you don’t preach the “raw” gospel , people will flock to your church, and that when you preach the true message of God, people will run away from you. But, I don’t support such unholy practices, which are simply unscriptural. Doctrinally, I have been very strict in all my preaching.

Christianity In Nigerian
Nigeria is regarded as one of the most evangelized countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and indeed in the world , and the nation has taken the gospel of Christ to Europe, Americas and Asia. In fact, one of the biggest churches in the UK is founded by a Nigerian.

Unfortunately, Christianity in Nigeria has suffered seriously in the past years due to the fact that some clergies have deviated from preaching the true word of God. Rather, they have compromised the true gospel message in order to attract much people. Christianity, in Nigeria has moved from what it used to be, to material things, thereby affecting the main purpose of the gospel.

Prosperity message
Prosperity is supposed to be a spiritual message, and it is the soul prosperity that determines the other levels of prosperity, which includes, physical and material prosperity. True gospel is all about winning souls for Christ and working in accordance with the will of God.

Unfortunately, some church leaders too, use occultic means, going by their activities, ways of life, wears, and general dispositions. But, the truth is that you cannot use unscriptural means to preach the gospel, and be acceptable in the eyes of God.

Religious harmony
Christianity and Islamic religions are great religions that preaches about peace and mutual co-existence of people, but the challenge has always been from the leaders of both religions. My advice is that Islamic and Christian leaders in Nigeria and indeed in the whole world, must be well disciplined in all their activities and teachings, and must desist from inciting their followers against other religious groups.
As religious leaders, we are expected to exert certain influences on our members, and whatever advice we give them is what they will follow. Therefore, it is our responsibility to guide them well and be careful about what we say and what we do.

Prayer for Nigeria
I pray that God will take charge of this nation and infuse His fear on our leaders. Also, I pray that Yar’Adua will lead with the fear of God, and that God will guide and protect him to do that which will promote peace, progress and socio-economic development of our nation. Similarly, I pray that the legislature will behave more honourably, and represent the people well.