President, CAC Nigeria and Overseas, Pastor Samuel O. Oladele
By 'Gbenga Bankole
The President of Christ Apostolic Church, Nigeria and Overseas, Pastor Samuel O. Oladele has said the notion of repentance has been lost by many people today and that is why ministers of God need to always emphasis the message of repentance to their congregations.
He noted that not every member of the church is a candidate of God, urging Ministers to preach repentance to them.
Giving the final charge on the topic "Things that are surely believed among us" (Text: Acts 1:1-4), at 2023 Ministers' Conference of CAC Anosike Region held last week in United Kingdom, Pastor Oladele said it's unsound to think or preach that everybody in church is a member of the house of God.
Speaking further on message of repentance as one of the things that are surely believed among us, the President said the yardstick to measure a good church is not how financially bouyant the church is or the aesthetics, but the number of sinners who have repented from their sins
He told the ministers that there is a difference between crowd winning and soul winning and that is why in churches, ministers need to keep reemphasizing the message of repentance.
The Clergyman further explained that "the Bible says Solomon was crowned the king second time. Why the second time? It's because the first time was in a hurry. He was crowned when Adonijah wanted to make himself the king and in order to avert the crisis, Solomon was crowned. The Bible says when everything was calm Solomon was crowned for the second time. There are people in church who have Jesus the King in their lives to avert a crisis because of the Adonijah of trouble of this world (Adonijah of failure, Adonijah of stagnation, Adonijah of sickness etc.) that was threatening them. So many people came to church unprepared which could be because of some 'Adonijahs' threatening their lives. There are people we need to tell in our churches to make Jesus Christ the King for the second time. Radical change is what is expected from every Christian."
Another thing that is surely believed among us as Christ Apostolic Church, according to the President is water baptism.
He noted that it entails dipping people into water to identify with the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, noting that being baptized in the Holy Spirit doesn't stop anyone from water baptism.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit, according to Pastor Oladele is one of those things that are surely believed among us, explaining that it's our uniqueness and it's the reason we are known as father and mother of pentecost revival in Nigeria.
"One serious tendency in pentecostal churches today is replacing the Holy Spirit with academics. We are not evangelical church, we are pentecostal church. Don't be afraid to speak in tongues, don't be afraid to use prophetic gifts. The gift of Holy Spirit is not for Pastors alone. On the day of pentecost, the Holy Spirit came on them all. Out of the 120 of them in the upper room, only 12 of them were Apostles, the remaining 108 were simple members of the church. If a Bishop is baptised in Holy Spirit, the simplest member of the church can also be baptised," he explained.
Speaking further on those things that are surely believed among us, the President stated that as Christ Apostolic Church, we believed in the Second Coming of Christ.
He stressed that the second coming of Christ has become a neglected truth, adding that prosperity message has replaced second coming of Jesus Christ message on most pulpits.
"We believe God prospers His people. If God would not prosper us who else would? Prosperity message is when you tell people that their roads will be smooth throughout life's journey. Don't neglect or do away with things that are surely believed among us. Hold on to them, doing this it will be said of us that we have prepared God's people for His kingdom," Pastor Oladele told the Ministers.