By SAM EYOBOKA

NATIONAL President of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor last Sunday urged Christians to ignore enemies of the Church who have continued to preach heresies just because they have access to influential media.

Preaching a sermon titled; ‘Power of expectation’ in his church, Word of Life Bible Church, Warri, Delta State, Pastor Oritsejafor further advised Christians to study the Bible for themselves, instead of swallowing hook, line and sinker unorthodox doctrines from people whose stock in trade is to disparage genuine preachers of the gospel and rubbish the Church.

While explaining the principles that make expectation to translate to tangible miracles, he said the individual must do two things; “speak your expectation because words are powerful instruments on the surface of the earth.

“Secondly, you must give for your expectation,” he noted, adding that what you give has a voice and in due time, God will respond accordingly.

Drawing inspiration from several Bible passages including the story of Cain and Abel, two brothers who gave offerings to God; one was accepted and the other was rejected, Oritsejafor admonished Christians to be weary of critics of the Church.

He said: “Why will you allow a person who knows next to nothing about the Bible teach you what the Church, they know next to nothing about, to deceive you on the basic principles of giving and harvesting. Because these outsiders can speak eloquent English and have access to influential newspapers and magazines in every part of the country, you disrespect what God said in His word,” noting that the people have continually accused pastors and preachers of extorting money from their members.

According to him, “God had respect for the offering of Abel because every offering you give has a voice as we saw in the case of Cain and Abel”, adding “if you study the Bible you will discover that there are several persons who brought offering to the Church and were rewarded for every offering.”

He narrated a story of the late proprietor of J.C. Stores who was born on a farm outside of Hamilton, Caldwell County, Missouri to James Cash Penney, Sr. and Mary Frances (née Paxton) Penney.

According to him, J.C. Penny was the seventh of 12 children, (out of which number only six lived to adulthood), children of a Baptist preacher/farmer whose strict discipline included making his son pay for his own clothing once he reached his late pre-teens. His intentions after graduation from Hamilton High School were to attend college with the hopes of becoming a lawyer; but his father’s untimely death forced a change in plans, with Penney taking a job as a store clerk to help support the family.

“J.C. Penney had a story to tell and he said because of his Baptist background he was giving generous offerings and paying his tithes regularly but some persons persuaded him to stop the practice, arguing that the monies he gave to the Church could be used to establish other businesses.

“He succumbed to the pressures and soon after his business began to decline which made him to decide to go back to his old practice of generous giving to the Church. His business started picking up again and by the time he died on February 12, 1971, the number of his stores and other businesses climbed to several thousands,” he stated.

Oritsejafor then emphasised the need for Christians to give for their expectations, arguing that the most profound biblical principles is the Law of Harvest, the Law of Sowing and Reaping; Seed time and harvest shall not cease, noting that “every giving you make will not be in vain.”

According to him, the first thing Noah did when he came out of the Ark after the flood, was to build an altar and sacrifice a thousand animals on the altar despite the holocaust; and God declared that He smelt a sweet savour.

“Do you think what God described as sweet savour was the combination of the aroma oozing from the burnt animals? No! Instead, God smelt the heart of a man, that He vowed not to curse the ground again. So, what we are enjoying today is as a result of the sacrificial offering of Noah in a time of lack,” he noted.

He therefore urged Christians to search from the Old to the New Testaments and find out for themselves biblical principles for propserity instead of following herectic offerings by persons who do not mean well for the Church of Jesus Christ and hence they are always looking for avenues to pitch pastors against their members.