Proportion this submit
Opinion
seventh April, 2014
Via Emmanuel Ayomide-Reward
It’s not very ceaselessly that we in Nigeria have a good time our religious leaders, exchange brokers, remarkable sportsmen and girls, public figures, most lovely girls, human and civil rights activists, outstanding marketers and rich capitalists who’re ceaselessly massive employers of labour and heavy members to the expansion and luck of our financial system.
One among such remarkable and noteworthy Nigerian achievers is Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, senior Pastor and founding father of the multi-faceted Kingsway World Christian Centre(KICC),London, United Kingdom, that used to be based within the very early nineties and is now provide and energetic in numerous international locations in Africa and the United States, touching masses of hundreds within the four-walls of her church buildings and impacting thousands and thousands of others around the international locations of the earth thru its Satellite tv for pc TV declares and expansive media outreach. Only a few folks on the planet, black or white, Asian or Caucasian, have the affect of Reverend Ashimolowo on management, exchange, public existence, governance, luck and private building. But at about 62 years of age, he stays some of the unassuming ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ this is recognized these days, across the world.

Born at the seventeenth of March 1952 to a Nigerian Muslim Soldier and rising most commonly within the Northern a part of Nigeria, Ashimolowo  transformed to Christianity on the age of twenty-two, after the dying of his father. Whilst I do know little or no concerning the instances of his formative years round this era of his existence, I’m of the opinion that possibly the standard clergyman can have been puzzled, pissed off and exasperated after his father’s dying, therefore the wish to give his existence to Christ, an stumble upon which certainly has made him a world and iconic determine in our global these days and in all probability some of the influential black individuals on this planet.
Pastor Ashimolowo himself has ceaselessly mentioned how his father served within the Nigerian Military and in consequence misplaced his existence all the way through the Biafran warfare along with his corpse being deserted on a bridge (the place it gave the impression there can have been a fight between the Nigerian and Biafran Armies with Ashimolowo’s father being shot within the procedure) with none legitimate conversation by any means from the Military management or the Federal Govt of the time.
Ashimolowo started to develop in his new-found religion in Jesus Christ across the mid-seventies, enlisting in Bible Faculty to procure his seminarian credentials and later turned into ordained as a pastor within the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria in 1974 the place he would later meet his spouse, Yemisi, with whom he has been thankfully married for greater than 3 a long time. Now, the tale of Ashimolowo’s paintings with the Foursquare Church in Nigeria has ceaselessly been informed, retold and misconstrued. I’ve learn many unfaithful tales, particularly  on the web, the place it used to be mentioned that Ashimolowo used to be despatched to pastor a department of the Foursquare Church in London, United Kingdom and after a couple of years made up our minds to head and set-up his personal Pentecostal denomination, thereby splitting the church he used to be answerable for.
Not anything can also be further from the reality! It’s obviously glaring that on the time that Ashimolowo turned into an ordained Non secular Shepherd on the Foursquare ministry in Nigeria again within the Nineteen Seventies, he may just by no means have dreamt of even pastoring a department of the similar denomination out of doors Nigeria, let on my own founding an unbiased denomination of his personal in another country. Ashimilowo used to be obviously running laborious and that specialize in his ministerial project and should have had no such plans on his thoughts.

It should due to this fact be a mix of windfall, or name it, the hand of God, that used to be upon his existence, just like the Biblical David, who by no means dreamt of killing Goliath, the uncircumcised Philistine, for intimidating all of the country of Israel for greater than 60 days, let on my own turn out to be King of Israel on the age of 30. David used to be best on an errand to ship much-needed foodstuff to his older siblings on the war-front when God’s hand discovered him. In the similar manner, Reverend Ashimolowo by no means considered pastoring a church in London, God’s hand obviously discovered him out! Having a look at it from any other attitude, all of those may also be because of his laborious paintings, perseverance and faithfulness to God and to these within the Foursquare denomination who positioned a number of pastoral tasks on his younger shoulders.
Allow us to no longer put out of your mind that within the Nineteen Seventies and Eighties, there used to be no motivation for anyone to turn out to be a pastor, clergyman or perhaps a priest; no longer in nowadays of fats choices, sacrificial giving, seeds, automobiles and homes for pastors and their households in addition to personal jets for overseas missionary journeys or global outreaches. No longer that I used to be born within the 70s. Even at that, I will be able to obviously recall that the majority, if no longer all, of the pastors that I grew as much as know within the 80s and 90s have been most commonly deficient priests who brandished the bible like a symbol or banner overtly however had not anything to turn. So I will be able to consider what it used to be to were a pastor, within the Nineteen Seventies.
Neatly to the problem of pastors flying personal jets, it’s no longer that there’s anything else flawed with it. I see completely no flawed with pastors proudly owning personal jets,using rapid automobiles, residing in expansive homes, dressed in the most efficient fits, and taking part in superb circle of relatives holidays, as a result of as it’s mentioned within the Holy Scriptures, those that paintings within the winery should be the primary partakers of the end result, particularly after they paintings faithfully. Like I mentioned previous, opting to turn out to be a priest, priest or pastor in the ones days of Reverend Ashimolowo’s formative years used to be corresponding to being cursed or bringing your circle of relatives into public disgrace and mock as any individual who selected to turn out to be one used to be regarded as a failure, never-do-well or perhaps a renegade. So, if folks like Ashimolowo spoke back the decision into ministry and carried their move for round 40 years, in particular in the ones days when it used to be ignominious and ridiculous to be a person of God, and they have got hung on steadfastly to their name and to the God who referred to as them, it must be no motive for alarm that that very same God has duly rewarded them.

Ashimolowo didn’t simply turn out to be a pastor on the Foursquare Church in London. He used to be discovered devoted all the way through a number of years of laborious paintings, dedication and perseverance which I consider took him throughout a number of in their church buildings in Nigeria.  It used to be this doggedness and never-say-die perspective that ensured that the person of God used to be duly rewarded and despatched to pastor a church in another country. How we could additionally put out of your mind that Pastor Ashimolowo met this church in London with a substantial choice of contributors and in consequence grew it to turn out to be a big congregation of a number of masses inside a few years, which is a outstanding success in a town  like London.
It used to be crucial that when pastoring this flock for a few years and later receiving the decision of God to start out the KICC ministry, a considerable choice of folks in his earlier congregation, having been touched via his years of impactful ministry, felt the wish to cross with him and improve that new paintings of ministry. It’s glaring that Reverend Ashimolowo it seems that parted at his earlier denomination in an amicable and Christ-like method and that is obviously obtrusive in the truth that even these days, after greater than twenty years of leaving the Foursquare Church, he’s nonetheless ceaselessly sought-after via this identical denomination, as a keynote speaker, at a few of their management meetings and annual conventions. This additionally explains the speedy expansion and growth of the KICC ministry in London which reportedly grew to over 8,000 contributors in lower than 10 years, making it the biggest unmarried Pentecostal church denomination in the entire of Europe, confirming the phrases of Scriptures which say obviously that he this is devoted in any other guy’s paintings will actually have a larger paintings of his personal dedicated into his palms.
One different ceaselessly criticised realities of Ashimolowo’s ministry, particularly within the Western media, is the prosperity message of the clergyman, which is not anything new from the point of view of the Bible. The argument concerning the prosperity message is a unending one that It’s not that i am ready to delve into as opposed to to mention that as I’m professional, and no longer anti-prosperity, I already stand ready of bias, a place which I don’t intend to desert. To be able to everybody who believes that Christians are meant to undergo on earth after which experience or get rewarded in heaven, let me simply it appears that evidently say that I encourage to disagree. Those that settle for Christ and observe him faithfully don’t seem to be given a promise of lack, poverty or hardship via him however that of prosperity, coverage and blessings, with a mix of nice and small persecutions right here and there and a few measure of afflictions and temptations, which the believer is meant to withstand and conquer.
Whilst it’s written that many are the “afflictions” of the righteous ,all of which the Lord delivers him from, it used to be by no means mentioned that many is the “poverty” of the righteous, however best the ‘afflictions’ so the faulty assumption that the believer is meant to are living in lack or poverty is in opposition to Biblical doctrine in its entirety. It’s tough for plenty of secular thinkers to just accept that Jesus used to be by no means deficient as they ceaselessly misconstrue some biblical texts or circumstances. If Jesus used to be deficient, no person would were prepared to solid so much (or in latter day phrases take bets) for His coat as a result of no person desires to take bets for a deficient guy’s clothes. Allow us to additionally keep in mind that whilst Judas stole such a lot from the accounts of Jesus’ ministry, which have been sufficient to have rendered the ministry bankrupt, the ministry by no means went broke, a lot to his personal astonishment!

Allow us to additionally believe the truth that on one instance when Jesus requested Peter and the opposite apostles if after leaving their secular interests and companies they ever lacked anything else and their reaction used to be no. We can’t discountenance the truth that Peter, along with his impatient and temperamental nature, may just no longer have left his fishing trade to observe Jesus, if he wasn’t certain that his wishes can be met and he would have greater than sufficient to deal with his circle of relatives. It’s in doubt that he would have agreed to observe the Messiah if his monetary and subject material wishes weren’t assured to be met.
After all, take into accounts the truth that Jesus used to be by no means at any time financially embarrassed, for when the tax creditors got here to him and the disciples to call for for tax bills, the Grasp merely commanded his disciples to head and take cash from the mouth of the fish, which they promptly did, thereby heading off any type of ridicule, from the Pharisees and Leader Priest. Ashimolowo is due to this fact so as preaching prosperity, as this can be a doctrine of Scriptures, which used to be additional obviously expounded via Jesus himself. Lots of Jesus’ parables targeted on topics comparable to cash, monetary making plans, funding and the like! Likewise, God takes excitement within the prosperity of his servants, no longer of their poverty.
Ashimolowo has achieved such a lot in his 40 years at the pulpit. Then again, a lot nonetheless must be performed. As he celebrates 4 a long time of big strides at the pulpit in 2014, it’s important for him to seem into the longer term as a result of there are such a lot of demanding situations that lie forward of him. The Guy of God should put his affect around the spiritual and secular arenas to just right use via addressing one of the management deficit pervasive in numerous African international locations the place he’s so ceaselessly invited as a keynote speaker at more than a few management meetings and non secular conventions, as a result of some of the elementary issues bedevilling the continent of Africa is the loss of high quality management and the absence of fine governance, and this significantly must be tackled.
Reverend Ashimolowo famous slightly not too long ago at a discussion board in Nigeria that he’s now satisfied that God is looking him into a brand new segment of ministry which mainly comes to management empowerment and building. In this new-found mandate of his he should no longer falter neither should he lose focal point. He should proceed to talk boldly and fearlessly to political leaders, exchange brokers, opinion moulders, public servants and non secular torchbearers as he traverses the duration and breadth of the continent nudging them at the want for selfless management, just right governance, poverty eradication and sound training for Africa’s brightest younger folks. It’s my prayer that God will proceed to endow him with the knowledge, boldness and capability to fulfil this divine project.
•Ayomide-Reward wrote from 41 Highway, Block 6F4, Gowon Property, Ipaja,Lagos. Electronic mail: [email protected] Twitter: @ayomidepraiseng
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