Celestial Church of Christ (CCC), Ile-Iyanu Model Parish, Abosede Aro Avenue, Abesan Estate, Lagos will hold a 3-day revival between December 28 and 30, with the theme ‘New Glory’. The shepherd in charge of the church and Secretary, Lagos State evangelism council of the CCC, Superior evangelist Tajudeen Olayemi speaks on the theme and its link with Covid-19. Excerpts by SEYI JOHN SALAU
‘New Glory’: What inspired your topic?
God will never talk and deny he has not spoken; our ability to hear from God and interpret his commandment is very pertinent. If you move closer to God you will surely hear from him. Our Bible made it clear that our iniquity is the reason why God seems far away from us. When we turn a new leaf and decided to come back to God, God is willing to take us back just like the prodigal son. God himself inspired my topic, from the book of Isaiah 43 verse 18, 19.
Can you shed more light on the theme of the crusade?
According to the holy book of the Christians (Bible), Isaiah Chapter 43 verses 18 and 19, gave birth to my topic New Glory. The Lord Almighty is a God of possibilities, there is nothing he cannot do. Things seem pretty difficult or impossible is what God will make possible. It was easy for God to create a way in the sea path for the Israelites to pass, he is a destiny changer. Looking at the extract from the Bible, we can see that desert is a dry land where water will be very scarce, but God is assuring us from the Bible quotation that it is not difficult for him to turn around our stories to glory. From that book of Isaiah, God said he will do a new thing that will make you to be convinced. God does not promise and not fulfil, he will not promise you water but a mighty ocean that flows from one region to the other. Meaning the promises God has for us will be a continuous one after this turbulent time; all we need is to have faith in him. The purpose of the topic ‘New Glory’ is to restore what the devil has taken away from us during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. We can actually visualise it that families have lost lives and properties, that is why God has sent me to reach out to the world through the three-day revival that He will restore what you have lost overtime if only you are willing to turn a new leaf and come back to God.
Your mockery will become praise, you will rise and will never fall again. Your glory will be from grace to grace, from nothing to something and from nobody to somebody. That is God, he will never lie, what he will not do, he will not promise it. (1st Samuel 15 verse 19). What he wants from you is to believe in him and you will certainly experience his wonders (Amen).
Many consider Covid-19 as a test of the Christian faith: what do you think?
When we read through our Bible, there is a clear understanding that this present pandemic is a test of faith. God has visited many nations, countries, regions and communities with different diseases in the past, those that held on to their faith survived it, why those that could not, perished; I pray we shall never perish in Jesus name. We must learn from what is happening now that the coming of Christ is just at hand. My condolences to the families that lost their members; may God grant them the fortitude to bear the loss. God will restore in hundred folds all that the devil might have taken from them. It is also a lesson for all of us that are still living that we must be watchful and be prayerful because we don’t know when our time will come.
People are currently conscious of the second wave of Covid-19; don’t you think that might scare people away from the revival?
I was given a revelation to stage a three-day outside revival; the day before the start of the revival happens to be a Sunday, myself and every other member of the church I worship (C.C.C. Ile-Iyanu Model Parish) will go out in mass and reach out to the world through singing, dancing and preaching the word of God; telling people that after the long days of Covid-19, there shall be a new glory. Note: the glory is only meant for people that are willing to have a positive change of mind about God, people that are willing to forsake their old ways and turn back to God. The God we serve is a multipurpose God, he operates in many standard, the revival is meant to reawaken the spirit of worship in the minds of people and also to project the words of God to the populace that after the end of the tunnel there comes light. It’s an outside revival that will attract different evangelists from Celestial Church of Christ and in the Christendom at large. The purpose is to tell the world that after every wilderness there must be light.
What do you mean by the word ‘Wilderness’?
According to my understanding a wilderness is a thick forest that will be very difficult to make a road or path. We have long been in wilderness in this part of the world. Many people use their mouth to confess God but their mind is 100 kilometers away from him; such person or persons is/are still in the wilderness. Some people believe they are Christians but still indulge in some shady activities; they are still in the wilderness; some people are religious critics, they do not believe God exist, they are in the wilderness, if you work in any organisation be it public or private and your motive is to steal from them, you are still in the wilderness. And the most important is the family, because the family is the bedrock of every society. If you are a married man or woman and you still engage in extra marital affairs you are still in the wilderness. Our celestial hymn (hymn 205) says little of our sin will not come close to God.
We need to understand that we are the architect of the wilderness we found ourselves in. Despite the fact that religious organisations are much in this country, we have many religious people that can pray and God will answer our prayers, but the reverse is the case because people are lovers of money than being lovers of Christ. We really need to go back to God, he has not and he will never change but our iniquities make it seems that God is far away from us. I pray may we find a right path in this wilderness of life (Amen).
