RELIGIOUS ERROR (Part 4)

         Rev. Prof. Ben. Onyeukwu

RELIGIOUS ERROR (PART 4)

THE UNFORTUNATE MEASURES OF CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (CAN)

MAIN TEXT:

…”I will build My Church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it”, (Mathew 16:18).

INTRODUCTION;

Recently, the South-East wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in a meeting at Enugu resolved to close down churches in the region that are not registered with the association. According to the National Sparrow Newspaper of Monday, May 21 – 27, 2012, the South –East Chairman of CAN, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma of the Anglican Church, in a plain language said that some of the suspected churches have turned into hideout for thieves, armed robbers and kidnappers, and that CAN would employ the services of the security operatives to clamp down on the illegal churches. In fact, one does not need a prophet to understand that the measure is a plot against the Pentecostal Churches, which the Lord is mightily using to accomplish His end-time evangelization of the world (Act 2).

Meanwhile, the planned demolition of some Pentecostal Churches in Imo State has been alleged as part of the outcome of the South-East regional meeting of CAN at Enugu, which it now tries to implement through the Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA) in the name of adhering to master plan. For, according to the Nigeria Newspoint Newspaper of May 30 – 31, 2012, the agency had already on May 28 marked the affected churches along Dee Sam Mbakwe Road. The Churches alleged that the planned demolition is a conspiracy against the Pentecostal Churches in the state, since at the commencement of the ongoing construction of the road, the churches through their leaders held a meeting with the state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha during which they agreed that the affected parts of their church buildings be removed, and that those whose entire church structure are affected would be compensated, and therefore, expressed surprise why the matter suddenly played up again, almost immediately after the regional meeting of CAN in Enugu.

But, what is CAN, and who is Bishop Chukwuma, the South-East Chairman of the association to have taken up a blasphemous decision against the church of the Living God?. Who made them inspectors or regulators of God’s work? And, from where did they derive the authority to close down churches? It is statutorily obvious that CAN has no such powers it intends to exercise, except that it has made itself a mole in the sheepfold, since it now tries to use security or other government agents to fight the Body of Christ in the  name of regulation or master plan, and so, CAN, as well as the Imo State Government must be made to understand that such a demonically inspired exercise is a declaration of war against the Almighty God, and carries devastating consequences. Based on the foregoing, therefore, please learn that;

GOD DID NOT APPOINT ANY ASSOCIATION TO REGULATE THE CHURCH FOR HIM.

            Christian associations are not regulatory bodies, but are designed to pursue the collective interest of those voluntarily registered with them, and if there are measures of control to be taken by such organizations, they must be restricted to their members. This means that the South-East unit of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) goofed in its decision to close down churches which are not registered with it. Also, there is no where in the Holy Scripture that shows that God appointed any person or group to regulate the church for Him. For, Jesus in a parable says, “the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? An enemy did this”, he replied. The servants asked him, “Do you want us to go and pull them up?” No, he answered, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned: then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn”, (Mathew 13:24-30).

Therefore, the decision of CAN to use security operatives to clamp down on churches which are not its members is most unfortunate, demonic and blasphemous, as it now tries to engage in a duty exclusively reserved for God, and this, Jesus as well explains after the cited parable, and I quite, “then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to Him and said, Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field”. And He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father”….(Mathew 13:36-43). In this connection, CAN should retrace its steps, and stop bullying or calling new churches “den of thieves and kidnappers” or making attempts to close them down, for all those who have ever embarked on such a demonic mission have always been lowered down to their graves untimely.

CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA SHOULD STOP INCITING GOVERNMENT AGAINST NON-ORTHODOX CHURCHES

            Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is often an instrument used by the orthodox churches to incite successive governments in Nigeria against the non-orthodox ones, and the duo use various styles in their scheme to achieve this fruitless goal. At times, they cite proliferation of churches, and in some instances, noise pollution, as well as accuse them of habouring people of questionable character, especially when there are waves of insecurity in the state or country, just to move the government against these gospel preaching churches. For instance, the South-East branch of CAN and its Chairman, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma know full well that armed robbery  and kidnapping are presently at a very high degree in the country, and that government can easily be incited against any person or group that is said to be associating with such criminals, thus, the association and its chairman in a shameful communiqué stooped so low to brand the Church of God hideout for thieves, armed robbers and kidnappers in their bid to engage the government and its security operatives against it, a trick that will always fail.

            On church proliferation scheme of CAN, the association, apart from being hypocritical knows that institutions naturally proliferate as a result of increase in population, and Nigeria today is a country of about 160 million people, and requires more of social and spiritual institutions. So, it is a good thing to witness the proliferation of universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, states, local governments, autonomous communities, hospitals, hotels, filling stations, motor parks, co-operative societies, unions and more, and the church as spiritual institution must as well proliferate to catch up with the spiritual needs of the people, whether CAN and other persecutors of the Pentecostal Churches like it or not. Furthermore, orthodox groups in CAN and elsewhere, which cite the proliferation of churches as the reason to close down new churches should by this know that they also proliferate, as they multiply dioceses, parishes, as well as other social institutions (schools, hospitals, maternities, chanceries, rehabilitation homes, etc) within the existing foundations of their denominations, and this brings to light that both the Pentecostal and Orthodox Churches proliferate, the difference being that the Pentecostal groups proliferate externally, whereas, the orthodox ones do so internally, and so CAN and its allied forces should stop being blind judges of God’s people, (Mathew 7:3-5).

            Another way the enemies of the gospel of Jesus Christ try to enforce the closing down of churches is by referring to them as channels of noise pollution. But, it is unfortunate to cite the use of public address system in the preaching of the gospel as noise making, without considering the efficacious values of such exercises, as it is equally wrong to abuse the privileges offered by such an opportunity. In line with this, those who use public address system in the preaching of the gospel should be prudent in managing such equipment in order not to allow the devil and his agents the chance to plot against the church, (Ephesians 4:27).

CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA OR SOME OF ITS AFFILIATE CHURCHES MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MEDIA DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT IN THE SOUTH-EAST REGION OF NIGERIA.

            The recent resolution of the South-East section of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to close down churches that do not belong to the association speaks volumes as to the source of the media discrimination against the Pentecostal Churches at the Radio Nigeria Heartland FM, Owerri, which has since shun the airing of gospel news from their pulpits, except on commercial arrangements. For, there seems to exist a secret “contempt policy” subtly implemented against the Pentecostal Movement by the management of the said branch of this national radio outfit in Owerri, as a meticulous listener of the programmes to the station on Sundays would clearly notice that its religious news are often, either from the Catholic or Anglican pulpits, and sparingly from that of the Methodist Churches, with non from the Pentecostal Platform, yet the latter remains a strong financial source of the radio-house through its evangelical programmes. Investigation shows that the management of the Heartland FM Radio, Owerri does not send reporters to cover the Church services of the Pentecostal denominations, as it does for the Orthodox ones on Sundays, but only lures them into taking up slots for its sponsored religious programmes, with its exorbitant changes designed to rip-off the movement, coupled with the allegation that some of the religious groups in CAN which incite their members who are managers in the said radio-house against the Pentecostal groups are also the brain behind the decisions of some of such members who do not lease or let out their lands or houses for Pentecostal Fellowships.

            But, the cited religious segregation above does not exist at the central point of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), as on Sundays, one notices that there is a spread out in religious news gathering, since no Christian denomination is discriminated against during the relay of the network news of the corporation. With the foregoing in mind, one begins to wonder why some staff of the Heartland FM station of the Corporation hold evil in their hearts against the Pentecostal Churches that hold the highest level of the patronage which the radio-house enjoys, and if one may ask, are these wicked workers of this branch of the FRCN not agents of hell in sheep-clothing? Or, do they not know that God does not take it kindly with those who work against the gospel in any generation? Therefore, by their actions, such staff of the corporation risk the future benefits of their labour, unless they repent, as well as desist from the media discrimination which they have put in place against the Pentecostal arm of the Christian Church in the station, which is supposed to evenly cover the programmes of people of all walks of life and religions in Nigeria, without any manner of segregation.

            In conclusion, it is a fearful thing to watch certain people move into certain points where angels fear to thread, as CAN, the management of the Heartland FM Radio, Owerri and some political leaders are currently doing. If not the lack of the fear of God, why must any mortal person or group attempt to destroy the Church of God, for any reason. In fact, one painful experience of the Pentecostal Churches is that they are often used to install governments, but are often the prime target of destruction by such governments. That the administration of Governor Rochas Okorocha could attempt to work against the Pentecostal Movement in Imo State in whatever guise, is the height of ingratitude. However, the writer stands to be corrected, for he may be having some good plans to reposition or compensate them for the loss so far recorded. But, if his reasons fall short of the positive, let if be stated that the Lord is able  to turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness, (2 Samuel 15:31) FEAR NOT.