BISHOP OYEDEPO, PROPERITY GOSPEL, AND 419 IN THE CHURCH - PART1

Nigeria’s wealthiest pastor, Bishop David Oyedepo is in the news again – this time in the United Kingdom.  Sadly for him, Britain is not Nigeria, where the corrupt courts absolved him of all wrong doings, his abuses and violence against a young worshiper of his church at Winner Chapel – aka “Cananland”   It was the video of his satanic slap of a young girl, probably an uneducated parishioner, who didn’t know how best to express her love and witness for Jesus, that exposed the abuse and muddled message that is being promulgated by the bishop to his gullible and biblical ignorant followers.   Since then, I have penned a couple of articles calling on the federal government intervention to enact laws and policies to checkmate  abuses - physical, sexual, emotional, mental, and moral abuses in places of worship in the nation in order to protect the vulnerable.  I’m not too concerned about the learned and intelligent parishioners that sit under such blasphemous teachings every week.  Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”  To earn a PhD or have a lucrative job or business does not make one knowledgeable. However, it still baffles me how an educated and intelligent person could sit under such teachers and listen to the junks that some of them teach from their pulpit every week.   So, it behooves the government to protect the weak and vulnerable especially from physical and sexual abuses in the name of God.
Christianity is no longer an intellectual exercise in an age of prosperity gospel
The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Walton, the new Pusey Minister of Harvard’s Memorial Church, and professor at Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in his first  “morning prayers,” a ritual of welcoming freshman move-in day to Harvard University at Cambridge, said, “Religion (faith)  is an intellectual as well as spiritual exercise. The Memorial Church, he declared, is a place to educate minds and expand hearts - action that defines faith, belief that encourages discussion, and joyousness that allows for the occasional bout of existential angst.”  I agree with Professor Walton.  If theology, spirituality, faith, religion and the call to teach the infallible Word of God, was not an intellectual exercise, I would have quit being one long time ago.   Training to become a priest/pastor takes years of study and preparation.  Sadly the “holy office” is no-longer sacred and intellectually stimulating because cone men and women, who have no business with the “holy calling”, have desecrated it in order to dwindle and deceive the gullible and weak in the society.  This kind of unbalanced gospel messages that are being promulgated by the so-called “men of God” and super pastors and preaches of our day around the world is appalling and troublesome.  
Christianity has lost its moral mandate and mission. Today, the gospel message, the good news of the kingdom is perverted.  What we have nowadays is another gospel, a false gospel, and a religious syncretism.   “The gospel teaching that subtly implies and often overtly states that God wants you to be rich is a false gospel,” writes Pastor Jim Bakker, a former prosperity preacher and proponent of “God wants you rich theology,” who dwindled his parishioners millions of dollars and later while serving term in prison, he diligently read and studied the Scripture and God opened his understanding.  That teaching he says, does not lineup with the tenets of the Holy Scriptures.  It is another gospel – another Jesus, in fact, a gospel of Satan and message of hell fire - a prosperity-tinged Pentecostalism.”

Christianity is in crisis
Dr. Hank Hanegraaf, president of Christian Research Institute in California, and one of the finest and courageous Christian apologists of our time, in his book, “Christianity in Crisis” prophetically and passionately argued that modern-day Christianity is in crisis. He said that the Church is undergoing a major transformation and that millions of Christians have embraced another gospel, another Jesus, a gospel of false promises of prosperity, wealth, healing, signs and wonders.  He attributes the problem to lack of sound biblical training and Seminary education.  George Barna, the famous Church consultant, researcher and writer, also supports Dr. Hanegraaf postulations that the Church is dying due to lack of sound Bible teachers and strong Church leadership.  
There is no doubt that the Christian faith has lost its value, respect and dignity. C. S. Lewis, the famous Oxford apologist for the faith, wrote:  “We must return to Christianity in order to preserve the things we value.  But we cannot return to Christianity at all unless the thing we value above all else is Christ….. Otherwise, we are in effect, asking to save our idols for us.”
In his best-selling book, “Crisis in the Village,” Dr. Robert M. Franklin, a theologian and public intellectual, wrote that the “Church has lost her moral mission, call and commitment.”  Today baby boomers and the new “millennials” are flooding to churches and synagogues because of widespread hunger for meaning and many bring aversion to such traditional teachings such as sin, evil, forgiveness, commitment, even truth itself.  As a result, what we have today  in many large churches is “designer gospel message” and “religious syncretism” where the gospel are re-packaged to suit those who want a faith to satisfy their “felt need,” the gospel message that “God wants you to be rich.” “Send money as a step of faith and God will bless you message.” “Give a $1,000 pledge and God will bless you.”  Name it claims it.” “Give to get rich message.”  “100 fold return-blessing and even 1000 times return” is another gospel, a different gospel from what Jesus Christ taught.  Their tricks are working because many of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ are biblically ignorant and gullible and that is why ‘god-want-you-rich theology’ is a booming business for their proponents.
It is true that Jesus taught on the subject of money and finance more than any other subject in the Bible – but all His teachings on money were in negative connotation.  I will write more on Jesus’ teachings on prosperity in the part-2 of  my article.
Big faith equals wealth $millions$
In the July 2007 edition of Christianity Today, it carried a survey conducted in 2006 by the PEW forum on religion and public life.  They found that 25% of Nigerian Christians are renewalists - that is Pentecostals and Charismatic.  The same survey noted that 33% of South Africans and 50% of Kenyans were also renewalists.  Out of nearly 900 million Africans, which include Christians, Muslims, pagans, Atheists and other religious persuasions, about 150 million Christians are now renewalists. Professor Paul Gifford of the University of London, England, in his 2004 book:  “New Christianity: Pentecostalism in a Globalizing African Economy” writes, “African Christians believe  that success is determined by your faith.” Professor Gifford notes that these renewalists have moved beyond traditional Pentecostal practices of speaking in tongues, prophesying,  and healing to the belief that God will provide – money, cars, houses, and even spouses – in response to the believer’s faith – if not immediately, then soon. In the same 2006 survey by PEW forum, 92% Nigerian Christians, 90% South African and 85% of Kenyan Christians agreed that “wealth and material blessings are based on one’s faith.”  What a tragedy and travesty!   
This is how sad and drastic prosperity gospel has become among Christians in Nigeria and most of Africa.  Prosperity message is destructive and has negative effects.  This blind spirituality is not only destructive, damaging, and deceptive but worse than slavery.  It is bondage, abuse, deception, manipulation, godlessness and satanic capitalism.   Most Nigerian Christians are only not enslaved spiritually, morally and financially but intellectually as well.  It is economic, moral, and intellectual slavery. Million of Nigerian Christians are now victims of Satanic Churches and their false prophets.   The prosperity gospel is also destroying Nigerian society –family, homes, causing a combination of disappointment, hurts, discouragement, and anger toward God and sometimes causes people to turn away from God.  What we have nowadays is moral bankruptcy, biblical ignorance,  a modern day voodoo and satanic spiritual spiritualism.  In a nutshell, what we have today is 419 in the Church. What we have today is materialistic Christianity and there is enormous danger in it.

Warning against false doctrine and false prophets and teachers
Jesus Christ warned his disciples and followers about false prophets who would rise up to lead many astray and to destruction (Matthew 24:11). In Oliver Discourse, Jesus warned, "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name. And will deceive many" (Matthew 24:4-5).  Jesus said if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free – John 8:31-32.  People remain in bondage when they are ignorant of what has been provided for them through the life and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, today, too many Christians are more interested in this present world materialism than in the balanced teachings of Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul dedicated the entire epistle of Timothy to teach against false prophets, false doctrines and godlessness in the last days.  He warns Timothy, his son in the ministry, to flee from such things.  He writes, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” – 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul warns, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,  treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 say, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  The Apostle Paul charges Timothy, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.”  As teachers and preachers of the Word of God, we are reminded to do our best to study and show ourselves approved to God, a workman who odes not need to be ashamed but who correctly handles the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15).  
There is no doubt that that the Nigerian Pentecostal Church and certain bishops in the fold are emulating and borrowing from the rich American Church and her superstar pastors, bishops and televangelists like Pastor Benny Hinn, Bishop TD Jakes, Dr. Creflo Dollar, Bishop Eddie Long, Bishop Dale Bronner, Pastor Joel Osten, Pastor Joyce Myer, Pastor Paula White, and Pastor Darlene Bishop etc. These imitators and imposters refused to understand that United States is a rich and capitalist country. The American Church organizations are big businesses and they have learned to tap into the wealth and prosperity of the nation without depending on the meager tithes and offerings from their members. Today, the streets of major cities in Nigeria are littered with all kinds of Churches promising healing, wealth, prosperity and happiness and yet Nigeria and vast majority of its citizens are among the poorest people in the world. Additionally, the presence and practice of rituals, divination, astrology, sorcery, witchcraft, voodoo, magic, envy, greed, jealousy, hatred, idolatry, hypocrisy, ungodliness, wickedness, lust, immorality, adultery and corruption remain rampant and alarming in the society. There is no sign of righteousness, love, peace and hope, but injustice, unrighteousness, hate, anger, resentment, bitterness, evil, wickedness, violence, killings, and hopelessness reign supreme in every household, neighborhood and city.
Modern-day designer Church is perverted
I’m afraid to say that what we have today is a perverted Church; a Church that is totally misconstrued, misguided and misinformed where spiritual witchcraft and biblical ignorance are in abundance.  What we have today is a Church that is bewitched, a Church that is preaching and teaching another gospel; another Jesus and a message of “get rich and get healed theology,” a Church were the so-called men of God are preaching eisegesis rather proper exegesis and sound exposition of the Word of God, where they are using pragmatic psychological philosophies for attaining success and for solving spiritual issues rather than sound exposition of God’s Word, men who are using the Word of God for lucre and for profit.
The Church was called upon to uphold the honor, glory and authority of Christ on planet earth.  Instead of upholding this divine mandate with dignity, the Church and her leaders have been deceived and trampled upon by demons of antichrist and cultic and pharisaic associations where the presence of God is completely absent and self and pride are enthroned.  What we have today are Church buildings where sin, wickedness, witchcraft and all manners evil are practiced and people accept it so;  multimillion dollar buildings and temples where the spirit of Christ has been thrown out and Satan himself is enthroned on the altar.  No wonder atrocities and exploitations of worshipers such as the ones we read in our newspapers and watch on television are happening every day. The Church must pray for revival and renewal.  I agree with Rev. D. Peter C. Moore, who wrote that, “The Church that God cherishes is one that is “Evangelical in Teaching, Catholic in Sacrament, Reformed in Doctrine, Charismatic in Ministry Gifts, and Liberal in Ethos and Global in Scope.”  Anything else is just humanistic and designer religion.

The danger of prosperity and materialistic message rather than true gospel
The danger of Pentecostal prosperity and materialistic message is giving people false hope – that God will fulfill His promises based on their twisted interpretation of Scripture.  Biblical hope is more of a simple wish; it entails certainty based on God’s demonstration of faithfulness to people in the history of salivation recorded in the scriptures and as experienced by promise of Christ’s return and the anticipation of resurrection from the dead.  That is the blessed hope in God.  Most of these prosperity preachers may have earned PhD’s in other fields of study but not in theology, divinity or ministry.  They should go back to school – Seminary  to study the Scriptures – and take course in exegesis, biblical interpretation, hermeneutics, homiletics, and biblical languages   such as Hebrew w and Greek in order to be qualified to correctly teach the Bible.  Because what most of them are teaching today is another gospel, a twisted and muddled gospel - a gospel of hell and that of Satan designed for the coming of antichrist.  Prosperity teachers are preaching arrogance, foolishness, sin, and false doctrine – because what most of them are propagating today is not true gospel but another gospel, a muddled message.  They should repent and confess their sins for contradicting and twisting the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
In Part 2 of this essay, I will unpack the teachings of prosperity preachers and share what the true gospel message is about including the prosperity aspect of the gospel from the teachings of Jesus Christ, who is the Gospel.

Dr. Ekeke is a theologian, author, consultant, and leadership scholar. He is the president of Leadership Wisdom Institute.

ISLAM V CHRISTIANITY: A SHOKING HISTORY

Fourteen hundred years ago, two groups of Arabs stood before the Ethiopian Christian king, Negus.  Both groups had urgent requests. Although both groups spoke the same language, came from the same city and maybe brothers even, they couldn’t have been more different.
The first group that came to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was that of mostly young men who believed in a new prophet who proclaimed that he had been sent from one true God, Allah.  They called themselves Muslims.  Their request:  They wanted the king to use his famous justice to allow them to remain in Ethiopia and protect them against the other group.  However, the other wanted the exact opposite: they were the (polytheist) chiefs of Mecca who importuned the good king to allow them return home with these deviants - who had blasphemed their gods – so that they could  reform them. However, they conveniently left out the fact that their method of reformation consisted, chiefly, of torture: including spearing a pregnant woman in the stomach. King Negus patiently listened to both parties but he wanted more.  

So he asked the Muslim group to explain their religion and to confirm if what their prophet taught was heresy. So the Muslim told the king that their prophet did not come with anything new, that his message was only a confirmation of what came before from other prophets, like Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them). Ja’afar, the leader of the Muslims said: "O King, we and our ancestors turned away in ignorance from the faith of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), who with Ishmael (peace be upon him), built the Kabah and worshipped only Allah. 

We did quite unspeakable things, worshipping idols, treating our neighbours unfairly, oppressing the weak and so on. This was our life until Allah sent a Messenger from among us, one of our own relatives, known always to have been honest, innocent and faithful. 


He asked us to worship only Allah, to give up the bad customs of our forefathers, to be truthful and trustworthy, to respect and help our neighbours, to honour our families and look after orphans, and to put an end to misdeeds and fighting. 

He ordered us to slander neither men nor women. He bade us worship none other than Allah, to pray, to give alms and to fast. We believe in him and follow his lead. 


The Makkans began to come between us and our religion, so we left our homes and came to you, hoping to find justice." Upon hearing this, King Negus said, "Tell me some of the revelations which your Prophet claims to have received from God." Ja'far then recited chapter 19 which is called the chapter of Maryam (Mary) in the Qur’an in which Mary, the pure and devoted mother of Jesus (peace be upon him), had to face angry and disbelieving family members. She pointed to the Baby Jesus, but they said they could speak to a mere baby. Then Jesus, himself astonished them by uttering words of great wisdom. 

Overwhelmed at this, the King exclaimed: "The messages of Jesus and Muhammad come from the same source!" And drawing a line with his cane on the floor, he said joyfully, “between your religion and ours there is really no more difference than this line." King Negus gave the Muslims permission to live peacefully in his kingdom. Some months before, Muhammad had told his followers about the Christian king and Ethiopia “a king rules without injustice, a land of truthfulness.” Tolerance does not fully cover the conduct of the king and the reception he gave the Muslims. One, when the Muslims came, they refused to bow to the king saying “we bow only to Allah” this quite nettled the king’s advisers but the just ruler didn’t mind.  Two, the Meccan polytheists came with many gifts to bribe the king with, so that he could give them the Muslims but he repelled them saying they were not used to taking bribes.  

Third, the Muslims’ stay in Ethiopia was quite prolonged; at point, they heard a rumour that the persecution they suffered in Mecca had abated, they rushed home only to discover that the news was false, some of them returned back to Ethiopia and the king let them into his realm. The Muslims up until today are grateful for the kindness of the Christian king.  A wicked ruler might have taken advantage of the inchoate state of Islam at the time to grant the request of the polytheists so that Christianity wouldn’t have a competition or nib in the bud the rise of a future ruler, but he didn’t.  He allowed Islam to blossom and repelled those who persecuted its adherents. Muhammad never forgot this favour and was forever beholden to Christianity.  Because of this gratitude, this migration to Ethiopia is history 101 in Islam.  
Every Muslim is supposed to know it but we, especially those in Nigeria tend to forget.  And it may come as a shock to Nigerian Christians to know that a powerful Christian king once aided, however indirectly, the growth of Islam when he could have easily done the opposite. But what may shock both Muslims and Christians is the content of the letter that Muhammad (peace be upon him) wrote the Christians. In 628 C.E. - when Islam was already quite powerful - Prophet Muhammad (s) granted a Charter of Privileges to the monks of St. Catherine Monastery in Mt. Sinai. Following is a translation of the clauses in that document: This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate. No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. 
They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world). Let me repeat the last clause for the sake of emphasis:  “No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day” I urge every Muslim to honestly ask himself “have I knowingly or unknowingly disobeyed this covenant?”  And the Christian should ask himself “Am I as large-minded toward the Muslims as the great Christian King Negus?” Two years later, in 630 AD Muhammad received a Christian delegation from Najran in Medina. Muhammad lodged them in the mosque (yes, in the mosque!).   Debate with Christians ensued for some days. Finally, all the kinks were straightened and Muhammad extended the hand of friendship towards them, subsequently, a treaty was signed and both parties left on friendly terms. Finally, just before Muhammad’s death, another Christian delegation from Iraq by Jesujab II headed towards Medina but Muhammad died before it arrived. In the sequel to this article, I’ll discuss how the early Muslims after Muhammad were extra careful not to break the covenant with the Christians.  Until then, peace.
By Ibraheem Dooba

The writer can be reached at idooba@gmail.com
The article was originally published at www.TheMiddle-path.info