Bishop Oyedepo Denies Accusation That Convenant University Was Built With Offering And Tithe Money

Pastorpreneur Bishop Oyedepo last night again, floored those accusing him of ripping off church members through tithes and offering to live in affluence while cruising in private jets. He said,”the last time Church paid my salary was December 1987, nobody heard it, not even the Ministers in the church until 1997 and church members didn’t hear this until 2007″.

Again he said: “In January of 1988, my wife asked me of money for feeding and I told her I had give my salary to God, and that was the last time she ever had to ask for feeding til date” He again queried whether anybody has ever been approached by him for any form of financial assistance?

He also shocked the people accusing him and church of using poor people’s money to build universities that themselves can’t afford to send their kid when he said; “Covenant university was built within 7 months without any collection of any one naira tithes and offerings or donation of any kind from anywhere”

Something tells me people wont buy this for a second at all. Are you kidding me? Did I buy it?

Now, if you enjoyed this article I’d like you to do two things for me. I’ll really appreciate it!

1. I have social media buttons just below this post. Use them to share this article with your friends. I’m sure they will appreciate reading it too.
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The Values Of A Nigerian Pastor And Nigerian Politician Are the Same - Patrick Obahiagbon

I cast my vote for Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah and Pastor Tunde Bakare in their demosthenic vitriol against spiritual megalomaniacs whose modus vivendi has become increasingly byzantine and repulsively narcissistic.

We must all begin to deprecate this razzmatazz and Nestorian braggadocio in the "HOUSE OF GOD" because when there is no difference between the values of a Pastor and a typical Nigerian Politician, then it's truly a bolekaja ambience.....

Finally what did he say?

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Tony Rapu Speaks On Issue Of Ownership Of Private Jets

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and his wife Helen

First of, look at how "BLINGED UP" the wife is, does she want to wear the gold refinery on herself?

The controversy surrounding Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s recent receipt of the gift of a jet has cast a harsh glare of scrutiny on the Church and its leaders. It has also caused no small dissension among pastors and Christians. This has been amplified by the social media where the vigorous debate has gone viral. As president of the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, he is seen not only as an important and influential figure in Christian circles but also, the most prominent representation of Christian leadership in the country. \

His profile also makes him influential in the corridors of power where he is seen to represent the Christian position on national issues. All this has made his acquisition of a jet an issue of contention. Of course, he is not the first to own a private jet. Some other pastors and clerics do and so do a number of politicians, tycoons and socialites. But perhaps because of his profile, his pastoral vocation and prominence, Oritsejafor has drawn attention and ire. Or perhaps because the media in very recent times has been awash with heated debate on the issue of ownership of jets in Nigeria, the acquisition of yet another jet by yet another prominent Nigerian was just more fuel for the fire of contention.

On one side, there are those who have vehemently condemned the ownership of jets by pastors. They criticize the trend as too ostentatious, too flamboyant and as being at complete variance with the sobriety and low profile expected of ministers of the gospel. They have gone ahead to berate especially, Pentecostal pastors for fleecing the people. Furthermore, they argue, such displays of wealth are not in consonance with a reality in which the vast majority of the country’s population is mired in poverty. The opposition counters that Oritsejafor is well within his rights as an individual to receive gifts from his congregation in appreciation of his service to God and humanity. They say that the jet is less a luxury than a necessity; a tool for aiding the ministry of an evangelist whose missions require him to be able to travel swiftly and at short notice without suffering the bottlenecks and aggravation of the airports and public aviation.

Thus, the jet should be properly seen as an instrument of the gospel. Perhaps if Paul the Apostle were alive today he would have achieved much more if he had a jet and a mobile phone. There is also the idea that Oritsejafor has been justly blessed by God for his 40 year meritorious exertion for the sake of the gospel; and that the new jet is simply an example of God rewarding his servants with material prosperity. Therefore, those criticizing him are belly-aching, envious and speaking out of a mindset conditioned by poverty that cannot grasp the awesome grace of God in the lives of his servants. How can we mediate this collision of fiercely-held views?

The truth of the matter is that clerics are well within their rights to acquire or receive jets or other material assets. They have the inalienable right to pursue after ownership of property or other material acquisitions. God is a God that cares about the material endowment of His people and asking His servants to swear to vows of chastity and poverty negates the tenets of our faith and becomes a throwback to the medieval days of the Church of monks, nuns and monasteries. But as we delve deeper into Scripture we begin to see other considerations that inform our perceptions of what is right or wrong. Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, ‘All things are permissible but not all things are beneficial or expedient.’

Or as The Message Bible succinctly renders it: ‘Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate.’ The import of the Apostle Paul’s admonition is clear – the fact that something is legal does not mean that it is beneficial. While pastors might be well within their rights to acquire or receive jets, what makes it right at this time is its interpretation on the platform of motive and expediency.

So the question is not ‘is it right or wrong to own a jet?’ It goes deeper. The more penetrating issue being unearthed is ‘is it expedient at this time to own a jet?’ Elisha the Old Testament prophet berated his servant Gehazi who had surreptitiously obtained some gifts from Naaman the Syrian General. Elisha asked Gehazi, ‘Is it the time to receive money and to receive clothing?’ (2 Kings 5:26). The question for Gehazi was that of expediency of the moment. There were other issues at stake.

There were other considerations. Solomon the wisest man who ever lived said ‘To everything there is a season and time to every purpose under heaven.’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1) The Apostle Paul also urges us to ensure that our liberty in Christ does not become a source of grief to others or cause them to sin. He said, on one occasion, that he was legally justified to eat food offered to idols, a practice that would have horrified many of his listeners who found such pagan practices abhorrent. But Paul conceded that if something he had a liberty to do caused his brothers to stumble, he would refrain from doing so.

Thus, careful and continuous thought must guide our daily decisions beyond the technical issues of right or wrong. There is another process of thinking that should inform our perceptions of what is permissible and what is not. Therefore, legitimate questions can be asked about the propriety of owning a jet in a country where poverty is rife (unfortunately it is often done in cruel and contemptible language). People’s perceptions of issues are their own realities. The ownership of jets currently paints a picture of pastors who live in alienated opulence, quite removed from the laity to whom they minister. This unfortunate and unflattering portrait casts a dark shadow on our witness and our ministry.

With the growing trend of jet ownership, we also run the risk of being ensnared in the trap of competitive acquisition and conspicuous consumption. For instance, a jet that can only cover the African continent might soon be deemed unsatisfactory and discarded in favour of a jet that is capable of transatlantic distances. After a while, it may not be enough to be able to fly to Europe at a moment’s notice; one may find it necessary to find a jet that can cover greater distances, perhaps reach America or the Far East. How far do we go in acquiring such expensive items in the name of facilitating the gospel?

Secondly, the more we seek or accept such expensive gifts, which are not just pricey but also inordinately expensive to maintain, the more beholden we will be as pastors to those who can afford us the means to maintain them. Already, in many churches, attention is heavily skewed in favour of the rich and the powerful. In a country where corruption and abuse of power are rife, this leaves the pastors open to charges of colluding with the corrupt. Indeed, we must humbly admit that many who bring gifts to our churches may have obtained them through dubious means and questionable methods. This exposes us to accusations of sanctifying greed, theft and graft, in return for receiving expensive gifts and status symbols. It also negates our ability to operate with moral and prophetic authority and fulfill the function of speaking truth to power – a much needed role in our society which is steeped in moral degeneration. Under these circumstances, the ownership of jets must be deemed, as Paul the Apostle clarified, ‘technically legal but spiritually inappropriate’.

So also are all displays of ostentation that cast clerics in the mould of the super-rich elites. The argument that a pastor is entitled to a jet because bank chieftains, moguls and CEOs own theirs as well reflects a misunderstanding and misrepresentation of pastoral ministry. There should be no basis for comparison. Our goal should be to emulate Christ, not to compete with CEOs. There is a need for sobriety in the times in which we live. We have to always balance the things that are permissible with sensitivity to the expediency of the times in which we live and continuously process the ethical demands of our higher calling – - an understandably difficult and arduous task.

Indulging in displays of opulence is currently inconsistent with those demands. This is why pastors in a spirit of deference, ought to see this debate, not through the prism of technical legality, but through the prism of spiritual propriety. The gospel is already, in the words of Paul, ‘a stumbling block.’ Our insensitivity in these depraved and trying times need not constitute another stumbling block. We live in times of national turmoil, combustive passions and volatile emotions; times in which the people we lead, as God told Jonah concerning Nineveh, do not sometimes know their right hand from their left.

* Dr. Rapu is the Senior Pastor and head over the multi-faceted group of ministries comprising This Present House, God Bless Nigeria, The Underground Church and The Waterbrook.

Thenetng

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The Pastorpreneur Bishop Oyedepo Allegedly Exploited UK Worshippers

The Pastorpreneur Bishop Oyedepo and Wife

A church run by a controversial multi-millionaire African preacher has been accused of ‘cynical exploitation’ after its British branch received £16.7 million in donations from followers who were told that God would give them riches in return. Followers are ferried in double-decker shuttle buses to the church, handed slips inviting them to make debit card payments, and are even told obeying the ministry’s teachings will make them immune from illness.

Today’s Mail on Sunday revelations about the Winners’ Chapel movement have prompted the Charity Commission to review the charitable status of the church – one of the fastest-growing in the UK. Winners’ Chapel is part of a worldwide empire of evangelical ministries run by Nigeria’s wealthiest preacher David Oyedepo a.k.a The Pastorpreneur  , who has an estimated £93 million fortune, a fleet of private jets and a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Branches of the church have sprung up in major UK cities in a huge recruitment drive centred on Mr Oyedepo’s ‘prosperity gospel’. This claims that congregants who make regular donations and pay tithes – a ten per cent levy on their income – will be rewarded financially by God.Followers are urged to target vulnerable people such as the lonely, the sick, the homeless and the suicidal as potential candidates for conversion.

Last night, Labour MP Paul Flynn said Winners’ Chapel was cynically exploiting supporters. ‘They [Winners’ Chapel] are making clearly spurious claims and it seems to be a cynical exploitation of the gullible,’ he said. Referring to the slapping incident, Mr Flynn added: ‘What is also alarming is the reported violence and the lack of respect for the status of women. It’s taking us back to a previous age of ignorance and prejudice that we all thought the church had escaped.’

Congregants are handed a payment slip requesting payments using cheque, cash or debit card when they enter London’s Winners’ Chapel. Donations to the ministry in England almost doubled from £2.21 million to £4.37 million between 2006 and 2010. Mr Oyedepo’s superchurch in Nigeria received £794,000 or 73 per cent of the charitable donations paid out by the British Winners’ Chapel between 2007 and 2010. This was despite claims in Africa that he is enriching himself at the expense of his devotees.

The registered charity has spent £6.81 million on evangelism and ‘praise, worship and fellowship’.

The church’s ‘Joseph Squad’ preaches in British prisons and has a weekly broadcast named ‘Liberation Hour’ on satellite and cable TV here.

In the past three years, Winners’ Chapel churches have been established in Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds and Bradford, adding to those in London, Manchester, Dublin and Glasgow. An undercover Mail on Sunday reporter attended Sunday services at Winners’ Chapel’s ‘London HQ’ in Dartford, Kent, which attracts 1,000 congregants – chiefly African and Caribbean immigrants. It is run like ‘a business conference’ by The Pastorpreneur’s son, David Oyedepo Jnr. Packed buses deliver singing worshippers from South-East London, Essex and Kent to the huge auditorium.

The reporter saw a payment slip being given to every person entering the church encouraging them to donate money by cheque or cash or to fill in a form with their debit card details. The slip said tithes should be paid separately using a ‘Kingdom Investment Booklet’ and the reporter was informed that payments could also be made by phone. A pastor told the worshippers: ‘You shall be financially promoted after this service in Jesus’ name if you are ready to honour the Lord therefore with all your givings, your tithes, your offerings, your Kingdom investment, your sacrifices.’

Congregants were told to fill in their slips and hold them above their heads while the donations were blessed.  The service was interspersed with testimonies. ‘I received a bill from the bank that I didn’t understand, so I prayed,’ said one congregant. ‘A few days later, the bank wrote to apologise for their mistake – Hallelujah!’ ‘Hallelujah,’ the audience shouted back.

Congregants were told they could gain favour by persuading others to follow The Pastorpreneur’s teachings. His son said: ‘Look around you. Someone is sick and already wishing he or she were dead, that is a fruit ripe to harvest. Someone is confounded and considering suicide as an option, that is another fruit that is ripe to harvest.

‘Someone else is lonely and wondering if there is any future for him, that is another fruit ripe to harvest.

‘Also there are many men and women, young and old that are homeless, these are fruits ripe to harvest.’

The reporter was taken, with 20 other new recruits, to a room where preachers gave sermons claiming acceptance of the Lord would prevent them ever being ill or suffering misfortune. The Mail on Sunday has seen video footage of Mr Oyedepo striking a woman across the face and condemning her to hell after she said she was a ‘witch for Jesus’. He attacked her in a Winners’ Chapel superchurch, believed to be in Nigeria, in front of worshippers. A separate video shows him saying: ‘I slapped a witch here last year!’

In May, he was sued for £800,000 over the alleged assault. The case was struck out – a decision which is now reported to have been appealed. The Winners’ Chapel movement, also known as the Living Faith Church, has hundreds of churches in Nigeria and across Africa, the Middle East, the UK and the US.

Mr Oyedepo has received fierce criticism in Africa. One Nigerian journalist accused him of ‘leading a growing list of pastorpreneurs – church founders exploiting the passion and emotion that Christianity commands to feather their nests’.

Among Mr Oyedepo’s fleet of aircraft are said to be a Gulfstream 1 and Gulfstream 4 private jets. It is also claimed he and his wife, Faith, travel in expensive Jeeps flanked by convoys of siren-blaring vehicles. He is the senior pastor of Faith Tabernacle, a 50,000-seat auditorium in Lagos reputed to be the largest church in the world, and runs a publishing company that distributes books carrying his message across the world. His other business interests span manufacturing, petrol stations, bakeries, water purification factories, recruitment, a university, restaurants, supermarkets and real estate. The latest addition is a commercial airline named Dominion Airlines.

A Charity Commission spokesman said: ‘The Charity Commission is currently assessing what, if any, regulatory role there is to play with regard to the complaints made against the World Mission Agency. It is important to clarify that this does not constitute an investigation at this stage.’

Winners’ Chapel administrator Tunde Disu declined to comment.

Dailymail

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