While many pastors are fasting and praying for large congregation so much that they are ready and willing to go rent pimps and prostitutes as worshippers just to prove a point that they have arrived, Ezekiel says he is not interested in having a large crowd as members. In fact, he says it is for this reason that his church doesn't count members that worship at the headquarters located at the Historical Resource Centre on Nnobi Road, Nnewi. “I don't want the number to get me swollen-headed,” he says.
In this interview with Daily Sun, Pastor Ezekiel not only explains the reason he assumes such stance but also expresses his views on some burning issues in Christiandom such as tithes and offerings, dressing, emphasis on materialism, miracles and giving.
My call as a minister
The central word that I received from the Lord many years ago is ‘teaching the whole counsel of God to the whole congregation, the whole people or the whole world'. From what people are saying, I see myself as somebody who has been called into the teaching ministry even though by the grace of God, there are aspects of what people call deliverance that God has been using me to do. Yokes are being broken on the areas of delay in marriage and child-bearing. But I am still learning. I want to know all that God can do with me, for me and through me for His glory.
Reality of miracles
Miracles are real because I have witnessed them. But the greatest miracle that can ever happen to anybody is the miracle of being born again. That is number one miracle. There is no philosophy, teaching or medicine that can change the heart, that can transform a person who was a drunkard, a fighter, a smoker, a womanizer.
All of a sudden, his life undergoes a dramatic transformation. It takes a miracle for that to happen. There are other miracles of healing, divine provision. I have been a witness to some of them, myself. In my former ministry, I have seen people who were barren, who could not get married, but after praying for them their situations changed. So, miracles are real. And they will keep on happening. What I am not happy about is people making too much noise about miracle. Whether it is real or not is not the issue. Let the people who have received the miracle show forth. If the claim is false, we will know. If it is real, we will know.
Tithe and offering
I believe in tithe and offering because it is biblical. It came before the law when Abraham met Melchizedek. After that, Jacob promised to give a tenth part to God if He would go with him. And God didn't say, no, no, no. In the law, Moses spoke about tithe and offering. At the time of the kings, it was practised. In Malachi, God was not happy with the people because they had abandoned tithe and offering and He spoke to them to that effect. In the New Testament, when Jesus was speaking against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, he didn't condemn tithe and offering.
He only said, they have left the weightier matters of the law to pursue the ones that were less. In essence, tithe and offering is scriptural. The only thing is that it is a personal thing between one and God. In our ministry, we don't encourage people to give tithe and offering if they have gone to steal money from government or to dupe people.
Dressing
We are in the last days and the spirit of the last days is affecting so many things including dressing. Our sensibilities are assaulted everyday by the outrageous, ungodly dress pattern that is everywhere now, even in the churches. I think the devil actually has discovered that since through persecution he is not getting the church, he has now come through dressing by influencing some leaders to tell people that it doesn't matter what they wear.
But we still believe that when God gave us dressing, the purpose was to cover our nakedness moderately, sufficiently and economically. Flamboyant, transparent dressing that reveal what should be covered or tight-fitting as to elicit and promote sensuality is out of it. Unfortunately, that is what is in vogue. But we have decided to stick with the Bible.
Temptation
Temptation is real. Sometimes through telephone calls or text messages, some ladies somewhere may say, ‘ah, we love your preaching'. ‘We love your dressing'. And then they say some things that are intended to elicit some unclean thoughts in you. For me, personally, there had been instances like that but the Lord has been helping me to overcome.
Emphasis on material things and money
Anybody who is into business or who is into paid employment expects to get money and live a measure of comfortable life, maybe have a car, live in a decent environment, eat well, dress well. There is nothing wrong with having money or being blessed with material things. The problem comes when we make it our major focus and we are looking for it by hook and crook, when we believe the end justifies the means, and so we don't care whether we push people down, or whether we offend God. That kind is essentially wrong.
Too much emphasis on giving
Well, it depends on churches. In our own ministry, we talk about giving quite alright, but we emphasize more one's character and conduct. We believe that if somebody has really had an encounter with God, his life has been transformed and he is appreciative of what God has done for him, you don't even need to emphasize giving before he gives.
Challenges in ministry
The challenge essentially has been the response of people to the truth. I have discovered that people don't really love the truth. This is one of the reasons I am satisfied with the number of worshippers we have at the moment. I don't want a large crowd of people who will come just to fill up the church but they don't love the truth. You will know the truth, it is said, and the truth will set you free. Sometimes, when I meet people on the road, in the market and in their houses, I see that they are different persons from what they were when they are in the church. It is unfortunate.
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