On the weekend that Fr. Mbaka was shamelessly trying to extort money by harassing and blackmailing Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, you, Bishop David Oyedepo was busy maliciously gossiping (from the altar) about President Buhari as one Jubril from Sudan. While Fr. Mbaka was driven by the quest for money, you, Bishop Oyedepo, blinded by hatred was driven by desperation for power. As a Christian, it was a depressing weekend as I was left wondering what’s happening to Christianity in Nigeria?
Clearly, you, Bishop Oyedepo was blinded by his hatred of President Buhari when you read the satire “Matters miscellaneous” by Prof. Olatunji Dare in the Nation Newspaper of November 27th, 2018. If not, there is no explanation why you and your team should degenerate to the devilish innuendos that Nigerian President is one Jubril from Sudan. Prof. Dare employed satire by exaggeration in his piece as a technique to expose the foolishness of people insinuating that Buhari is one Jubril. Yet, blinded by hatred, you, Bishop Oyedepo fell for it. What a ridicule you made of yourself and your congregation that was shouting Amen in unionism to malicious prayers.
Dear Bishop Oyedepo, beyond your unhidden desire to regain influence that you used to exert when Goodluck Jonathan was in power, there is something gratingly noxious about your hatred of President Buhari. From making a mockery of President Buhari at every opportunity to shamelessly embracing a corrupt Atiku and the PDP in a desperate move to regain influence, your “blind” hatred of Buhari is so intense that it has led you to utterances that are unbecoming of a man of God.
Proverbs 26:24-26 says that “whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.” Dear, Bishop, you goofed by exposing your hatred of Buhari. What should the people of God do when hatred is spewed from God’s altar? Shout Amen to prayers that are driven by disdain and hate or cover their eyes and run out of the church? What is happening to Christianity in Nigeria?
In Exodus 23: 1, we were told “do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. But here we you, Bishop Oyedepo acting as a malicious witness, Nnamdi Kanu’s mouthpiece and Atiku’s campaign manager all at once. I wouldn’t have worried so much, but the fact that you did all these from the altar of God should trouble every Christian.
To show how mischievous and malicious you are, you made no mention of Prof Dare’s reference in the same satire, to dependable sources telling him that “Abuja is close to unraveling the identity of the fake Jew parading himself on faked foreign soil as Nnamdi Kanu.” Selective amnesia? You, Bishop Oyedepo and your team clearly selected a section of Prof. Dare’s piece that will advance your malicious agenda of slandering President Buhari, period.
Dear Bishop, your blind hatred of Buhari is unreasoning hatred, a hatred and fury over which you have lost control of yourself, yet again. This is grievously sinful as we are to remain in control of ourselves always, loving our brothers, and not wishing death on fellow beings. Hatred may not be sinful if it is directed towards some evil quality that a person has but does not touch that person. For example, it would have been understandable if you dislike Buhari because of the failure of his administration to deliver on the promise of stamping out Boko Haram or revamping Nigerian economy. It is, however, sinful when you, Bishop Oyedepo extends your hatred to the person of Buhari by engaging in malicious gossip. Of course, you cannot possibly claim to hate Buhari for not stamping out corruption while kissing and caressing Atiku Abubakar and the PDP. So, why engage in this needless slandering?
Scripture uses the word slander which means making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation. Slander can destroy someone’s marriage, job, wealth, and family. Let me refer you, Bishop and your congregations and all Christians to the Words from the Holy Book. Ephesians 4:29 says “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” What was the benefit of the gossip on Buhari from you to your congregation and Christians? Nothing spiritual or related to salvation. The gossip was purely political to advance your personal agenda.
Among the things that the Lord hates is a false witness who pour out lies (Proverbs 6:16-19). What were you expecting Bishop when he poured out his heart about an imaginary slavery from a Sudanese Jubril? In his testimony and witnessing, Paul spoke the truth faithfully (2 Corinthians 11:31; 1 Timothy 2:7). Did you speak to your congregation faithfully and truthfully? Was Fr. Mbaka speaking truthfully when he cajoled Peter Obi to spit money or his December 31st prophesy will go against him and Atiku? What happened to true Christianity?
Bishop, you stated in the video that went viral that “if the President will not address the nation on a subject as sensitive as this, it must have been proved beyond any iota of doubt that maybe he is not our President.” In case you and your team are claiming ignorance, I want to inform you that President Buhari saw the evil in their hearts and have addressed that unnecessary and idiotic insinuation over the weekend in Poland. He stated and I quote “I can assure you all that this is the real me. Later this month I will celebrate my 76th birthday. And I’m still going strong!”
Leviticus 19: 16 warned Christians not to “go about spreading slander among your people.” So, I challenge you, Bishop Oyedepo to retract your malicious innuendo and apologize to President Buhari and Nigerians in the same altar of God. I will love to see the same congregation shout a loud Amen to your prayer of good health for Buhari next Sunday. Failure to do this, to use your exact words, “will prove beyond any iota of doubt” that you are not a true man of God. It is that simple.
Finally, to my Christian brothers and sisters, I will leave you with these Words from the Holy Book. As followers of Christ Jesus, our testimony should be based and anchored on TRUTH. If you tell lies, you draw loyalty to yourself, and not to Christ; He is TRUTH! (John 14:6) and He testified to the truth (John 18:37). We should earnestly pray for deliverance from deception (Joshua 1:8; 2 Timothy 2:15). We should not seek to hear only what is appealing to the ears or the flesh (Jeremiah 5:31; 2 Timothy 4:3). The time to STOP the foolishness on Jubril or Jubrin or whatever is NOW. These are the Words of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
From Brother Churchill, with Love.
*Written By Churchill Okonkwo
