TheCable

Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer Worldwide of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has prophesied that proverbial “significant goliaths will fall” this year; just as before the end of the year, there will be rays of hope that all will still be well. He did not explain who the goliaths are.

Adeboye, noted for his careful choice of words, reeled out his 2018 prophecies for individuals, Nigeria, and the world at the church’s Cross-Over Service held at its Redemption Camp and watched in over 198 countries, where the church has branches.

“I have to put it carefully so I am not misunderstood,” he said as he prophesied that, “many people will wake up to realise that their future is not in the hand of any government and as a result a lot of lost ground will be reclaimed”.

Continuing the prophecies for individuals, he said “Erstwhile stubborn mountains will move; while saboteurs who pretend to be friends will be disgraced and displaced.

The international prophecies are as follows:

• This year there will be less fire outbreaks but there will be more floods.
• There will be misunderstandings amongst nation but no major wars.
• There is need for prayers against assassination attempts globally.
• There will be record breaking temperatures both high and low.
• There will be a handful of breakthroughs, both scientific and medical.
• Global warming, sexual perversion and others signal the countdown to the end.

Enforcing victory

The prophecies came towards the end of his ministration, which centred on ‘Enforcing your Victory’. Expressing his displeasure about passive attitude to prophecies and God’s promises, he challenged members of the church, and Christians in general, to possess their victories and live them with boldness and thanksgiving.

“It is one thing to be victorious and another thing to possess it,” he stressed, citing the example of the hen that still remained at the spot where it had been tied for days even when the rope was cut until someone kicked it to make it move away.

Referring to the last Holy Ghost Congress where God promised the congregation a victory song, he wondered why some people were not looking victorious and singing victory songs.

He explained that it was God who chose the theme of the Holy Ghost Congress and everything he did during the programme had God’s authority.

He revealed that prior to every monthly Holy Ghost Service, he shuts himself in for three days to communicate with God and that although he sleeps off sometimes, they communicate enough to know what to do during the service.

He taught the congregation that to enforce their victory, they have to exercise unshaken faith that what God has said is as good as done.

Victory, he said, is also enforced by confession; quoting relevant Bible passages to the devil when he tries to sow the seed of doubt in us. “The problem with some Christians is that the devil believes the written word more than they do. When the devil hears ‘it is written’ it shuts him up,” he said.

Other ways of enforcing victory, he explained, are through giving, hard work, praying and fasting. He urged the congregation not to ask for small things from God during prayers, buttressing his point with his testimony on his request for a flat when he moved from the University of Ilorin into a one-room apartment in Mushin to be the General Overseer of the church.

Redemption camp testimony

The testimony: “Prior to becoming the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, I was the head of Department of Mathematics at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. I was living in a mansion with a two-bedroom guest quarters. I also had servants’ quarters with four bedrooms. “All these were not part of the main house. But when I became the General Overseer, I had to live in a one-room apartment at Mushin (a relatively poor suburb in Lagos). I left my wife and children in Ilorin to be in Lagos to work in the church. Due to my difficult living conditions at that time, I had to tidy up things before my family could join me.

“Before bringing them over, I went to God in prayers and explained the challenges I was facing to Him. I told God to build a house for me. Left to me I did not mind using the one-room apartment, but the thought of housing my entire family in one room posed a great challenge to me.

God’s response to me was, “Son, don’t ask for house because I have decided to build you a city.

“That response was beyond what I could comprehend. After this encounter, I began to dream of a city where everybody would be a Christian; a city where there would be no molestation; a city where there would be no power failure or water shortages. God began to stretch my mind to see a city where His praises would fill every mouth.”

That is The Redemption Camp, which is now a large town or city.

The beginning

Noted for punctuality, the church kicked off the day’s programme at 7pm with worship and praise songs, even when the congregation was well below the sitting capacity of the expansive auditorium because the various parishes held similar events. Nothing much had changed though. Pastor Adeboye, who has attended every major programme of the church since he was appointed its General Overseer, and perhaps before then, since he was the interpreter of the founder of the Church, was present. So was his wife, Folu, who is also a pastor, as were many elders of the church.

While the singing was ongoing, arrangements were made for the administration of Holy Communion. There was no formal introduction of Pastor Adeboye, who was to administer the Holy Communion, but as his voice sliced through the air with a song, “You are the Mighty God, the great I am…..”It was obvious that he was already kneeling at the pulpit to pray. To pray along with him, all knees in the twin auditoriums at the original Camp, and the new three-kilometre-by-three-kilometre auditorium went down. It ended shortly after with the popular “Let somebody shout Halleluyah!”

Preaching from Exodus 12, he said a time comes in everyone’s life when God decides that enough is enough – enough of pain, enough of weakness, enough of life in bondage, enough of poverty, enough of oppression.

Giving the examples of the Israelites who laboured in slavery for years, and the man at the pool of Bethesda‎, who lay there helpless for 38 years, he prophesied that God was going to step into people’s lives to put an end to their suffering before daybreak.

Since sinners are barred from taking the Holy Communion, there was an altar‎ call, which was responded to by over 600 people.

The Holy Communion was taken with prayers of: “Enough of sickness; enough of pain; enough of weakness” after which Pastor Adeboye also prayed.

There was a break for the choir to prepare for the next session. The colourful over 1,200-strong mass choir of the church was not assembled because of the holiday season and the need for some of the members to attend their local parishes. But those who were present did well, churning out inspirational songs. They were later commended by the pastor, who is himself a musician, and the composer of many of the songs sang during the programme

The second part of programme began with songs and prayers after which Pastor Folu Adeboye and a group of women, all dressed in white, rendered three thanksgiving songs on behalf of all parishes/branches of the church around the world.

A play reenacting the freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt by the church’s Drama Group, entitled ‘Songs of Victory’, was beautifully performed to a loud ovation. And as the cast left the stage, Pastor Adeboye clapped in admiration, while Pastor Folu followed them.

Songs and more songs by the choir followed, with the congregation singing along.

Many more people, targeting the midnight prayers, poured in as the programme went on. The New Year was welcomed with loud cheer, jubilation and prayers.

Pastor Adeboye revealed that in 2018, the church is going to take the battle to the enemy, starting with the first Holy Ghost Service on Friday.

Photo Credit: Segun Komolafe