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| CAC Director of Youth Affairs, Pastor Samson O. Gbuyiro at the Christian Wake Keep Service |
By Boluwatife Oparinde
The Director of Youth Affairs, Christ Apostolic Church, Nigeria and Overseas, Pastor Samson O. Gbuyiro has eulogized the great virtues exhibited by the late spiritual juggernaut, Prophet Michael Ojo Olowere, stressing that God will not take excuses from anyone who fails to live for Him.
"God will not take excuses from anyone who fails to live for Him in this generation. No one will have an excuse before the Lord," he said.
Pastor Gbuyiro, who was one of the direct disciples and mentees of the late Prophet, said this in a sermon titled "We are Surrounded by a Cloud of Witnesses" from the text, Hebrews 12:1, delivered at the Tributes Service of Baba Olowere.
Expositing the text and tracing it from Hebrews chapter 11, the cleric said that "the entire chapter 11 of the Book of Hebrews was dedicated to expressing the exploits made by the patriarchs of faith. Quite a number of them were mentioned, and to us, they have formed a great cloud of witnesses. Hall of faith."
"Bible characters are a cloud of witnesses to challenge us, inspire us, motivate us, and encourage us to live for God, having gone through all we are going through now. Men like Daniel, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, David, Enoch, and Joseph are witnesses for us now and sources of encouragement as we have chosen to live the Christian life," he added.
Describing the late Prophet Olowere as an hero of faith, the clergyman explained that "as if these were not enough, God gave us Baba Olowere, who lived with us, worked among us, and replicated this life of faith like men of old, especially Bible characters," adding that the late cleric has now joined the great cloud of witnesses surrounding Christians.
Eulogising the Prophet, the CAC Director of Youth stated that Baba Olowere's life is a message of many truths in the Word of God clear enough to encourage, inspire, motivate, and challenge today's Christians to live for God without excuses.
According to him, "we read about Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Paul, and Peter, but to prove to us that the Bible is not a mere story book, God gave us Baba to bring to life all we have read about them, by which our faith is strengthened."
He noted that despite not having the privilege of secular education, Prophet Olowere was an unschooled man who became a golden pen in God's hands on human hearts; his poor background made a voice for the poor; his sufferings and challenges in life made him a selfless man.
Pastor Gbuyiro then challenged that as excuses would not be condoned from anyone seeing Baba Olowere as a godly example, "the great cloud of witnesses are either for us or against us, depending on our response to God's words we have received through them."
"We can't make progress in this race if we still carry the weight of sin, offenses, hatred, unforgiveness, grudges, unhealthy rivalry, discord, childishness, etc. Eyes are on us; we can't hide," he said.
On the things to do, the cleric continued that, "the race and the work are not optional. We can't run the race without carrying the work; likewise, we can't do the work without running the race. His labor has yielded a great harvest, which we are going to account for."
Challenging the congregation not to mourn or regret seeing the case of Elisha who witnessed his master's transition, the Director of Youth said, "people of God, Baba Olowere has brought to life for us to see what God can do and accomplish through anyone that makes himself available. Now the time has come for us to prove that we know his God and that we are available."
He concluded that, "before us all, members and ministers, there is a race and a harvest of his labor. For this not to be wasted, let us lay aside every weight and face the race and the work. The patriarchs of faith, including Baba Olowere were guided by this same rule.
To make their lives count, make an impact in ministry, run the race, and finish well. They laid aside every weight."