| Saving souls shouldn’t
be sacrificed for prosperity preaching
By UCHENNA ONYIKE
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Pastor I.B Alfa of New Creation Assembly, Lekki, Lagos is
a person who is concerned about the plight of Nigerians to
the extent that he advises that the greatest favour the citizenry
could can do for the nation is to be alert and ensure that
only good leaders are voted into power at all levels.
He also advised upcoming pastors to learn to be honest, sincere
and concentrate on preaching the word of God and serving God,
not man.
Motivation
It is a chilhood affair. At the age of 12, I saw a vision
of Jesus Christ following me about and at 15, I became born
again. I was hungry for more truth and in 1972 at the age
of 18, I started a church. My church members were about 18
in number then and today, we have 49 branches in Nigeria and
200 pastors, some of who are police and army officers. Then,
I was working with Nigeria Security and Minting Company. In
1991, I retired into full- time ministering.
Relationship with God
I am His child and His servant serving in His vineyard and
by His grace, if I die today, I will go to heaven.
Major calling
My major calling is preaching the gospel of Jesus. That is,
preaching salvation and sanctification in one package. The
church started in 1972 with the vision of preaching holiness
and righteousness to the nation. We were convinced that both
remain the anchor for building a more virile, healthier, stronger
and greater Nigeria.
Church and prosperity
Biblically, It is wrong to preach alone. Jesus commanded us
to preach and seek His salvation and every other things will
be added unto us. Ninety percent of the pastors who preach
prosperity are doing it for their own selfish reason. Real
peachers don’t preach prosperity. Prosperity preaching
is not wrong but it should not be done to the detriment of
souls because if one miss heaven, he has missed everything.
Rating churches in Nigeria
Churches in Nigeria are doing well and they are the ones sustaining
the country. Their prayers keep the nation going. Nigerians
are doing exploits for the Lord and our christians are well
respected globally.
On the crisis in the church, it is normally, when people from
different backgrounds are gathered. In Acts of Apostle, when
the people were few there was no problem but when they started
increasing problem came. I advise church members never to
take each other to court or police station, rather, they should
follow the scriptures where the elders were called in to settle
matters. There is no angelic church on earth; those running
from one church to another are not faithful.
Advice to pastors
Learn to be sincere and honest and serve God, not man. Remember
that He is the one to judge you. If you want to stand the
test of time, preach total word of God and preach it the way
it is. Practice the three P’s- preach, pray and practice.
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