TOUCH NOT MY ANOINTED...A PHRASE USED BY 'JIBITI' PASTORS

As of a Christian background, i remember vividly during my childhood days in my hometown, Ijebu-Ife ,how  the real men of God are behaving then .I call them real men of God because they impacts lots of moral, discipline, love, care, spiritual growth on all the people they came in contact with. Men of God like Rev.J.O.Akinyemi(Retired) of Anglican Church. Rev.Ajetunmobi (Retired) of Baptist Church. Pastor Dopemu (Retired) of Apostolic Church.

These men of God are just too good to compare, they are what you can call men of the people, they will visit every home immediately after morning devotion to pray for all, either you are a Muslim, Christian, Traditional worshipers , or  a free thinker. They encourage you to excel , collected college forms for the youths, they play a role of a Pastor, Social worker and counselor all together. I can say without minimizing my words these men(Akinyemi, Ajetunmobi and Dopemu) are few among the men of God we can use the statement ‘’touch not my anointed’’ for.

Of recent, especially in Nigeria, things have taking another dimension, poverty and political situation have turned majority of the people to seek God at all cost, everybody is looking for  Miracles. Spiritual help, they want to be saved, they want break-through, they want good job, good wife, good husband, etc. Hence, this makes it easy for every Tom, Dick and Harry to see  an avenue of making money...they become emergency PASTORS with the help of whatever means.......all in the name of Miracle.

Anytime you comment against any of the so called Pastors, you will incur the wrought of his follower as if to say the man in question is God. ‘’Why have we suddenly assumed and believed that defending our pastors mean defending God? Who told us that when our pastors fall God will fall? Are we mad or are we just spiritually insane? Our Christianity is no longer about God, it has since become about pastors and our church’s brand. We are more obsessed with what people perceive of our church’s reality than what God cares about. Even the most seemingly independent minded among us lose their ability to rationalize anything as long as it is about defending these pastors and their increasingly way ward ways. In our usual way, we misinterpret the bible for our end, saying for instance “touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm.” I leave you with this .What does it really mean when it says not to touch the anointed?’’(Japhet Omojuwa)

From the above statements, you will see the way our people behaves by putting pastors above board, beyond questions and their actions protected inside our common ignorance of God’s word. and it shows that people continue to perish for lack of knowledge. As the bible says my people are perish because they lack Knowledge. If at all they don’t have much knowledge, they should make use of the little one they got.

Men of God...At the presence of Bishop David Oyedepo, some days ago,  two journalists attached to Ogun State Television. Peter Falomo, a reporter, and Lekan Egunjobi, a cameraman who were on duty were assaulted by the Pastors working under Oyedepo. Then are these pastor working for God?

Oyedepo’s diary of controversies reads like a rap sheet. It  was the same Oyedepo that slapped another man’s wife in public ,claimed she is a witch !!! Who is Oyedepo to call someone a witch on a public television? If Oyedepo is God none of us will exist again including Oyedepo himself.

In the Newswatch edition of 7 July 2010 detailed his alleged ill-treatment of three pastors of his church–Akah Ikenna (Benin), Ifeakwachukwu Sunday (Asaba) and Dick Abiye (Port Harcourt)––who were involved in auto crashes that left them with disabilities. According to the magazine, the pastors, who earned N45,000 monthly, were on official assignment for Winners’ Chapel when separate accidents occurred.

Sunday, ordained a pastor of the church in 2001, was serving at Umunede, Delta State, when the accident occured. One of his legs broke into two and he also suffered severe  pelvic dislocations. At a hospital in Benin, Edo State, he underwent  several surgeries, including one through which steel braces were inserted into the leg and the pelvis. He was then discharged and asked to come back for a second operation to remove the objects. But, as he claimed, the church abandoned him at the hospital in Benin, “but through the help of some brethren, I came back to my station”, bed-ridden.

Sunday was redeployed to the church’s district office at Asaba. But he got another letter the same day terminating his appointment. He went to the headquarters to appeal to Oyedepo for a re-consideration of his case. “Luckily, I met Oyedepo himself as he was coming out from the church. After I had introduced myself, he asked me what I wanted. I told him I needed money for the operation to remove the metals from my body. He then directed me to one Ndubuisi, who was then the secretary. Ndubuisi asked me what it would cost and I told him I did not know till we meet the doctors. He then asked me to go and do so and get back to them. When I got the documents from the doctors, I went and submitted them to him, but the church never acted on them.”

Desperate, Sunday said he wrote to Oyedepo on 12 August 2009: “I had written series of letters to you, attached with the medical bill (N230,000) for my surgery, but all to no avail. I believe the letters did not get to you. From the time I was relieved of my service to the church, it has not been easy for me following pains from the injury. Now, I cannot stand for a period of three minutes, not alone walk. I solicit for your fatherly care. I have nowhere else to turn to but this organisation I once belonged to.” 

He never got a response and claimed not have been paid his entitlements.
Sunday resigned to fate. So did Abiye, his colleague. But Ikenna, the third pastor, hired Lagos-based lawyer, Festus Keyamo and went to court. They won the case at the Ota High Court. But Oyedepo and his church headed to the Appeal Court, where the case has remained since 2009.

The church’s spokesmen denied that they were abandoned. In a statement, the church said: “They were not abandoned. They were treated on moral ground and in demonstration of good Christian character. The church (Winners’ Chapel) has the right to review its workers’ performances and release from service any staff it feels his or her services are no longer needed.” It was in the 11 November 2011 edition of Newswatch that Oyedepo publicly commented on the issue. “I almost cursed them (i.e. the three pastors). If there is any case that is serious to take to the court, you go to the court and lawyers will take charge,” he said.

When Nasir el-Rufai made a comment about Pastor Ayo Orisejafor’s jet people stood to defend the Pastor, without looking inward and digest within themselves what are the real economic implication of this jet.

 “Look Nasir, withdraw those statements you are making against a man of God! But, if you still insist, then, the anointing upon his life will respond to you drastically.  Remember that a man who makes trouble for others is also making trouble for himself. Thank you,” one Okechukwu Chukwuemeka  wrote.. You will see from this man response that he fear Pastor Orisejafor more than God.

Augustine Oregie-Okpomeh  wrote, “In the first place, what are pastors doing with private jets worth billions of naira in a country where a large percentage of your members can ill afford three-square meals daily? Christ never preached expensive lifestyles and neglect of the poor while He was alive.  You (Oritsejafor) called the insults to yourself. From Augustine response you will see logical thinking in it. It is better for our people not to allow the phrase ‘touch not my anointed’ becloud us.

Isaac Owusu Bempah, Ghanaian Bishop Founder and Leader of the Glorious Word Power Ministries International, has labelled two of Nigeria’s celebrated pastors ,Dr Christian Oyakhilome (popularly known as “Pastor Chris”) and General Overseer of The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet Temitope Balogun (aka TB) Joshua ‘’as partners in winning souls for the devil.’’ Since the time he made this statement, i am yet to see any comment about it!!!  May be is because the man who made this statement is also a man of God.

The confession of Juliet Ezeonye Idu who was once a follower of Lazarus Muoka, the General Overseer of the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Renewal Mission.Whom she
accused  of employing all sort of devilish act to con his followers and deceive the people with all sort of staged miracles. She also accused him of being fetish and acquires wealth in controversial circumstances is still fresh on the memories of a lots of people but some will see her statement as blaspheming because she dare to speak up.

A case between the senior pastor of an Abuja based Pastor, Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of COZA over his love affair with his female member, especially Ese Walter are yet to clear from the ground, but the members who knew the truth are just keeping mum, and the Bible says you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.