It is indeed a rare privilege and honour for which my gratitude to the Lord Jesus Christ cannot possibly be expressed in words. Over the course of my gospel career, I have come to realise that ministry is all about service, really. It is probably the best nursery and training ground for leaders in any sphere of human endeavour. It is in ministry that the complex problems of humanity stare you in the face. You encounter circumstances that only God could handle because of their sheer complexity and bizarre nature.
My career as a successful recording artiste did not prepare me for the task of leading a church when I stepped out on February 1, 1987, to start The Household of God International Ministries in my sitting room at Obasa street, Ikeja, Lagos. I had no preaching experience; never served under any minister before or had a strong grounding in scripture other than my one-year stint at the Bible College of His Grace Fellowship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, where I had gone for formal ministerial training.
So, to the carnal mind, it was a big gamble; a high risk venture to go into, without the benefit of a cognate experience or financial capacity. I was the last person anyone expected to mount the pulpit at the time I did because of my pedigree as a popular music star with huge following nationwide. The phenomenal success of “I Need Someone”, my debut album, gave me an unprecedented fan base and immediately put me in the spotlight as a folk hero. How my teeming fans would accept my new career as a pastor created its own conflict in the public
consciousness. That was an image issue I had to contend with for many years.
To a large extent, this controversy helped a great deal in giving my new ministry the needed momentum and publicity it required to take-off sensationally. It is in God’s character to use the least qualified to do a great job, by qualifying them supernaturally. Though inexperienced, God provided the wisdom; His grace supplied my needs and His mercies forgave my inadequacies as I took those first initial steps on a journey that has stretched these 27 long years. To God be the glory and honour.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing, if it was, God wouldn’t be in it. God indeed uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. He really helped me to cope with the transition from a pop star to a preacher. It was to be expected that the hoopla and show business coverage, with its gossip, colour and controversy would follow me into the ministry. Initially, the crowd out there didn’t take me seriously.
But as my teachings began to make an impact, an implosion took place in our church, which reflected in our rapid growth. The turning point came when Apocalipsis, the telecast of my teaching, debuted on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). With the ministry now on television, sceptics realised this was serious business.
In our church, we do things differently. For those who attend our service for the first time, a culture shock awaits them, even to this day, and it is because no two callings or ministries are the same.
Moreover, the character of a pastor invariably reflects on the congregation. We are a one-branch church because that’s what Jesus Christ asked me to do. Our church is structured in a unique way that enables me to fulfil my commission. We have no template other than the one the Lord Jesus gave me, that is why we are the way we are; just as Apostle Paul says, “...by the grace of God, I am what I am”. Isn’t it a coincidence that God introduced Himself as I AM to Moses!
For me, therefore, running a church ministry acquaints you with the fundamentals that you need to run a nation. How? A church, with its diverse ethnic groups composed of men and women, children and adults with various levels of education and mindset, is a microcosm of a nation. Anyone who is able to run a church successfully must have weathered all the types of storms associated with political leadership, even at the highest level of governance.
As a pastor, you’d have to cope with intrigues, betrayals by trusted associates, threats of pulverisation energised by Satan; financial challenges, domestic upheavals, issues of economics, ministry politics, envy, rivalries, competition, you name it! That sounds familiar to veteran politicians, I guess. I’ve had to go through all of that at huge cost to my reputation and public image. But thank God for His grace that has kept the vision alive and well.
However, despite all we’ve accomplished in the ministry and through my monumental book, The Last Outcast, which revealed the Anti-Christ, it is my forays into elective politics by the leading of the Holy Spirit, which for me, is the high point of my entire life.
This is because my political assignment is an expression of the Melchezedek Priesthood epitomised by the Lord Jesus who is both a King (political leader) and priest (spiritual leader). This is the biblical basis of my political assignment. At the initial stage of the venture, most people, including leaders in the body of Christ in this country who criticised me for my nascent bi-vocational career, had not come to that understanding. But thank God, the perception is changing gradually. I bear the brunt of hostile reaction for my pioneering role as a pastor-politician in good faith.
Finally, Nigeria figures in the plan of God for the end times. Our country is a client nation of Almighty God. There’re men of destiny that have been placed here and given specific mandate to carry out God’s divine plan for our country. And I say without fear of contradiction that I am one of such people. That’s why I took on the prophetic title appellation of the Prince of Nigeria. It defines everything I am doing on the political front. It is not an ambition but a mission.
Reverend Chris Okotie writes from Lagos.
Culled from Tribune Newspaper
No comments:
Post a Comment