The Senior Pastor of The Covenant Christian Centre Lagos, Pastor Poju Oyemade, has opposed the position of prominent preachers in Nigeria on the continuous closure of churches due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, the founder of Christ Embassy, slammed the Federal Government for closing churches, saying they should be healing centres, while Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel backed Oyakhilome, stating the continuous closure of churches was suspicious.
President Muhammadu Buhari had stated, in his last national broadcast, that worship centres will remain shut till further notice, even though the lockdown has been eased in Lagos, Ogun and FCT.
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According to Oyedepo, it was part of the moves to stop the church of God from expanding.
But Oyemade, making reference to the Bible, said that the closure of churches does not in any way stop the Holy Spirit from working.
Oyemade stated:
The sick healed in the book of Acts were healed on the streets, in people’s homes, in public places and not within the four walls of a Church.
Closing the doors of a physical building does not in any way mean the closure of the anointing of the Spirit from working.
Church buildings may be shut down but true faith and the anointing of the Spirit has not stopped working.
There is a difference between expression of emotions and the manifestation of the anointing to heal the sick.
There is nowhere in Jesus’s ministry where the healing of the sick was preceded by a congregational service.
In the Book of Acts, the sick were healed predominantly on the streets with no fanciful service going on.
Closure of a church building does not stop the rivers of living water from flowing out of your belly. It resides in our inner man.
There was collective prayer to receive a supply of the Spirit which led to outdoor manifestations.
He referred to Apostle Paul insisting Christians don’t have to be together in a physical space to receive that supply.
Did he not say to the Church at Phillipi, I know this shall turn to my salvation through your prayers and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus? The Church was miles away from where Paul was.
Charles Finney began a massive revival by people praying in their homes all keeping watches at the same time. They all chose the exact time to pray and they did in their homes until the Spirit broke out on the streets.
They did not criticise any other Church or ministry of weakness. Criticizing others doesn’t attest to the fact that you have strength. They only stayed with God until something broke out on the streets.
