West Africa Theological Seminary
Graduation Convocation Guest Speech
“Contending for the Christian Faith: The Challenges of Christian Education.”
Rt. Rev. Prof. Dapo Asaju
Bishop of Ilesha, Osun State, Nigeria
Bishop Theologian, Anglican Communion
29 November 2025
INTRODUCTION
Our dear father, the founder and proprietor of this great institution, undoubtedly the best in the whole of West Africa, Rev. Professor Gary Maxey and Mama, Rev. Emma Lou. Both of you are one of the best things that happened to Nigeria.
You will observe at the procession I insisted that Emma Lou would be just in front of Professor Gary Maxey. That is how it will be from now on. In the processional order, after the academics have gone, the management will follow, Governing Council will follow, then the Board of Trustees will follow, and finally the proprietor. Rev. Professor Gary and Emma Lou Maxey are the proprietors.
Not long ago, Prof. Maxey and Emma Lou visited Ilesha, Osun State, where I am the resident Anglican bishop. I must thank both of you for visiting Ruth Elton there, who served Nigeria for eighty-seven years as a missionary. Shortly after you left her, she went home to be with the Lord, and it was my great privilege to be the one who buried Ruth Elton. Ruth was the daughter of Pa Sydney Elton. Whenever we tell the story of Pentecostalism in Nigeria, we must tell the story of Pa Elton—his story is foremost. Among our Pentecostal leaders today, he raised them all—from Idahosa, to Adeboye, to Oyedepo, to Wale Oke, to whoever. He was a naturalized Nigerian, like yourselves. You have made your mark. Heaven has good record of your sacrifices and will duly reward you.
The Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, retired, Archbishop S. C. K. Uche, represented by my Lord Bishop, Michael Simeon. Usually, the chancellor presides over the graduation ceremony. My Lord, stay with your fellow graduands, because you are graduating today.
I must also thank you, Rev. Professor Maxey, for asking me to be the chairman of the Board of Trustees. I want to assure you by the grace of God that it is the duty of the Board of Trustees to handle everything about WATS property. Therefore, by the grace of God, Imala will be built. I declare that Imala will soon see us there.
I spent 42 years of my life as a university lecturer, and 33 years as a university professor. I have served as a former Deputy Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University, many years ago, as well as Vice Chancellor or Ajayi Crowther University. Currently I am the Pro Chancellor of a university in Ibadan, as well as a member of the governing councils of six other universities.
At the university in Ibadan of which I am the Pro Chancellor, we had a meeting last week. We are moving to the permanent site very soon, and within six months we are putting up 50 buildings. And it will be done, by the grace of God.
And so, right here at WATS, I am assuring you that on behalf of the Board of Trustees, working with the Governing Counsel, Imala will be built.
In the name of Jesus. Whatever the provost announced as donation was just a donation by one man for a building in his own name at the permanent site. It has nothing to do with you. You will do your own part. In Jesus’ name.
To the Chairman of the Governing Council, most esteemed Gen. Kayode Oni, I thank you for bringing great stability to the Governing Council. I want to thank you and all those who labored with you. God bless you.
To the Kabiyesi Imala, represented. Can I hear you, “Kabiyesi-o” (more greetings in Yoruba).
To all of the team members of council, our great academic staff, the chairman, etc. About 25 years ago I also taught like you right here at WATS, at the same time when Ogbu Kalu, my mentor, was also teaching here. He taught here at the same time I was sitting here, under his mentorship. So, I assure you that I am at home with you. Thank you for playing your role.
I will never forget Professor Ogbu Kalu. Praise God. There is a story about him. He sent me to the Lagos State University (LASU). When I was to become a professor at Lagos State University he was the one invited as my external examiner. However, before I came for the professorial interview somebody went before me, and they appointed him professor before my own arrival. I came in after him and I had more than 60 papers, but the university said they could not appoint two professors. I was a radical and they said over their dead bodies they could not appoint me. Ogbu Kalu said, “What nonsense. You have just appointed a man with one-third of the qualifications as Asaju. I am taking Asaju to Nsukka. If you do not value him, I am taking him to Nsukka.” The examining board quickly changed their minds. They said, “If it is as serious as that, we will appoint him.” Praise God!
I greet the executive board, my lord bishop, chairman of counsel, Mama, graduands, friends, all of those graduating today, congratulations, and your families and friends, ladies and gentlemen:
I am supposed to give a lecture. I will be as brief as possible. The title is, “Contending for the Christian Faith: The Challenges of Christian Education.”
Let me start on a note. I am convinced that theologians are the best thing that can happen to any society. I delivered my professorial inauguration lecture twenty-three years ago. The title of the lecture was “Re-enthroning Theology as the Queen of the Sciences.” In that lecture I put it to the people that theology is the queen of every profession. Theology produced medicine. It produced accountancy. It produced the structure of governance we have in the world. That came from Isaiah 32 – “The Lord God is your King. He is your lawgiver, legislature, righteous judge. That is the judiciary. Everything came from theology. Is theology philosophy? Is it? Science, is it engineering? Everything, Artificial Intelligence, everything came from theology. What they have given you here is the raw material, it is what you make of it that ultimately matters.
However, our problem is that the kingdom of the devil has entered the church. Devilish men have grown through the ranks and become General Overseers. With that perspective they want to destroy the church. See what is happening in the Anglican Communion today. We are fighting them, the nonsense they are doing, destroying the name of the Lord.
But for you, whoever you are, the Bible is your constitution. You cannot be wiser than the Holy Bible. One thousand theologians cannot negate a single verse of the Bible. “This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth.” So, God told Joshua, “Don't turn to the left or turn to the right.”
Beware of revisionist theologians. Beware of those who want to rewrite the Bible. Don't let your brain overcome your heart. We walk by faith and not by sight. Human rationalism and science is experimental of sight, of proof. We walk by faith and not by sight. We deal with a God who has appointed you to be his agent in the world. Therefore, your training here at WATS is to enlist in an army. What you are getting today is not a degree for you to go and say, “This is what I have acquired.” No. Borrow from the wisdom of Solomon.
He was talking to you academics. Solomon said, “Of the writing of books, there's no end.” Too much academics is a wilderness of the mind. What is the conclusion of the matter? “Fear God. For this is the duty of man, for God will bring every work to judgment whether they are good or bad or evil.” So your primary purpose is to go back to the basics and to do things the way Jesus Christ and the apostles did it. Your knowledge is to make you make a difference in all parts of the society.
Whoever you are, the Bible is your constitution. You cannot be wiser than the Holy Bible. So, your primary purpose is to go back to the basics and to do things the way Jesus Christ and the apostles did it. They made a difference. Look at the Apostle Paul. He made a difference. The wisdom, the knowledge, and the theological erudition of Paul made a difference. He boasted about it, and that all those who had come before him he had surpassed them by the grace of God, by what God has used him to do. A Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Jew to the Jews, a Gentile to the Gentiles, studying under Gamaliel. You who are graduating today have studied under Gamaliel here at WATS. It makes a difference—the huge theological expenditure that has taken place. It makes a difference. Look at the letters of Paul as just one example.
There's a professor in the University of London who has been doing nothing more than teaching the Book of Romans For the past forty-five years. That is his specialization—a Professor of Romans. What of the man who wrote the book to the Romans? I want to encourage you, there is nothing happening today that has not been forewarned and foreshadowed in the Bible.
So settle down. When you leave this place with your certificate, continue your education under the University of the Holy Spirit. He will guide you and interpret the word into your heart. He will tell you where he wants you to work. We had a warning so many years ago from a good man of God, Jude. He didn't write much. Jude just wrote one chapter. Hear what he said,
Jude 1:1-25 – “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James. To them that are sanctified by God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: Mercy unto you, peace, and love, be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of this common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men they have crept in unawares. They were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, homosexuals, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. Remember also the angels that did not keep their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Remember, even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for us as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
Did you hear that? Are these new problems? NO! There were three major sins in the Old Testament. Look at them: One, homosexuality. Two, bestiality—sex with animals. Three, incest. Three of them—and for each of them there was a death sentence.
Even animal know better than many human beings today. The devil has brought these very sins into the Church. You will recover the Church. You will not eat theological nonsense. God has warmed that he has reserved hell for those who violate his laws. Look at Sodom and Gomorrah. What God did to them is what is in store for people in our own day. If pastors and people are following the devil today they will face the consequences. It is a pity that the majority of theological colleges today are not helping us. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah. And thank God for a seminary such as West Africa Theological Seminary,
Remember that God is the one you are serving. May greed and materialism perish among us. Paul said that godliness with contentment is great gain.
Hear the words of Jude:
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Sodom and Gomorrah happened over 5,000 years ago. Let me ask, this homosexual nonsense that they are talking about today, is it a new problem? No, did God call any theological conference to debate on the matter? What are we debating? I have already noted that in the Old Testament, there were three sexual sins that carried death penalty.
1. Homosexuality
2. Bestiality- sex with animals.
3. The third one is incest- sleeping with your own biological children.
But today we call it genetic confusion, yet in God’s law and God’s book all three of them carry the death penalty. God created animals of all kinds, male and female. You don't find homosexual among them, even dogs, they don't do what we do.
We had a new Archbishop of Canterbury, who is an advocate of homosexuality. The Dean of the Cathedral of Canterbury is homosexual. Sin has taken over the Church. Your set will recover the Church. I said, you will recover the Church. You will not teach theological nonsense.
Jude is reminding us that this same God has not changed, if he dealt with the angels and expelled them from heaven. He personally came to judge Sodom and Gomorrah. He brought fire to destroy them, and both literary and archeological evidences tell us that the fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah actually happened. Yet today, what God hates is what we are celebrating. If pastors and bishops are following the devil, of things that are not normal, this is what we find ourselves battling with today.
It is sad that the majority of theological colleges outside of this country are teaching rubbish. So this man, Jude, is advising us, remember Sodom and Gomorrah. He is asking us to hold on to the truth of the Bible. This seminary stands for truth and holiness. WATS stands for truth and holiness. Theological education is training people to serve God. God is the one you're serving, not man. Perish titles. Perish positions. Perish materialism.
How are you a Christian? Imitate Jesus. You cannot be more Christian than Jesus. Can you be more Catholic than the Pope? Simplicity, humility, accessibility, sacrifice. He said, “The birds have their nests, the foxes have their holes, but the Son of Man has no place to put his head.” He said, “I wash your feet. If you don't allow me to wash your feet, You are not part of me.” Paul said, “Godliness with contentment is a great gain.” Jesus Christ was a simple person. He went about doing good, healing and liberating all those that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him.
Jesus was a teacher. He was a rabbi. He was a healer. He was the greatest man that ever came to the universe. The whole world was divided into two camps—those who are for him and those who are against him. He was used by God to create the whole universe. He was used by God to create all. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and nothing was made without him.” He Is the one who gave us the Great Commission. Don't glory because of your achievement. Glory because your name is written in the book of life.
Paul also warned us in I Corinthians 13, even though I speak with the tongues of men and tongues of angels. We say that Pentecostals speak in tongues. Paul says, “If I have both tongues of men and of angels, and I have prophecy, I have faith, and even if I allowed myself to be killed in defense of my faith. If I give off my goods to the people, and if I have no love, I gain nothing.” All the gifts of Pentecostalism taken together cannot match one fruit of the Spirit—love, peace, humility, patience, gentleness, endurance, love, long suffering, kindness. It is your fruit that makes you a Christian. Theological colleges exist for the Church. The fruit of the Spirit exists for the society.
I love Moses. Clap for Moses, everyone. Moses was a man who said, “Lord, I'm not only your lawgiver. I want to see you.” And God said, “No one sees my face and lives.” He saw the back of God. He saw God, whether back or front or up or down, he saw God. May you see God! He got the Ten Commandments in God's handwriting. You can be as close to God as that. You can know about Him.
You have seen that training in theological education has been there since Old Testament times. It was by discipleship. Moses trained Joshua. Jesus trained the Twelve. It was by discipleship.
Let me tell you a story. I tell this story to all my students in class. A professor of mechanical engineering who has a PhD in mechanical engineering, automobile engineering. He was traveling in his car along the express road. His car developed a problem, and the man was stranded.
He now went to look for a mechanic. He found a man who was an illiterate, who didn't pass school certificate. It was the mechanic, however, who dismantled the engine, repaired it, and coupled it back so that the car was working perfectly once again. Now tell me--who is now the professor? Who? It is the man who gets the job done! Take that as a challenge. My point is that your theology makes sense only when it is practical. And it is not about money, sir.
Remember two stories about Jesus, about his purpose, They came to him and asked him to pay his tax. They told him “You're a citizen of this country.” He said of course, “I will pay,” but he was broke. He said, “Peter, there's trouble. Here. We must pay tax, but we have no money. Go and catch fish and look at the mouth. You will have enough to pay for you and for me.” He didn't need a miracle to pay tax if he had the money.
Peter and John were going to the temple for normal prayer, and then and there a lame man met them and said they should give him money. “Brother, give me money.” They told him silver and gold they had not but in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk! That will be your story. You will be a distributor of miracles. Your hand will be the finger of God. Your word will carry heavenly authority.
You will loose and bind. You will move mountain, you will prophesy. You will preach the gospel. You will heal the sick, you will cleanse the leper, you will cast out demons, you will raise the dead, you will win souls for the Lord and your word shall receive heavenly authority. You will have a fulfilled ministry, in the name of Jesus.
Every leader has a manifesto. Your theological education must be guided by the manifesto--biblical ideology, not like the political parties in Nigeria that have no manifesto. All of them are birds of the same feather just occupying space, with no manifesto. You can’t go around like that. But Jesus had a manifesto. Paul had a manifesto.
Do you want to hear the manifesto of Jesus? He came into the temple and he opened the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah 61 and in Luke 4, he said “The Spirit of God is upon me. He has anointed Me (Messiah) to:
1. Preach the good tidings to the poor.
2. Heal those who are broken hearted.
3. Set the captives free.
4. Release those who are in prison.
5. Declare the acceptable year of the Lord, to bring a new dispensation to the society as a light and salt of the earth.
6. Turn their ashes into beauty.
7. Comfort those who are mourning in Zion.
8. Raise righteous people.
9. Repair all the ways of many generations.
He closed the book and he said, this is what I've come for.
Jesus did not just come to die and for you to accept him as Lord and Savior. He came for justice. He came for liberty. He came to comfort those who are broken hearted, to set those who are captives free from demonic oppression. He came for the transformation of the society, that life that has been like ashes, to turn them, to become beauty. He came for repair all the ways of the society and on the cross, He said, “It is finished.” That is the mission. That is the manifesto. That is your mission as you go, make a difference in your society. I said, make a difference in your society.
When Paul was talking about his own story on the way to Damascus, he said, “I met the Lord, and he gave me commission to open the eyes, turn them from darkness, to light , to take them from the hand of the devil and bring them into the kingdom of God.” Just like David took the sheep from the mouth of the lion and the bear, setting them free, he said to give them forgiveness of sin, and make them heirs of the kingdom of God, that is your responsibility. That is your responsibility. Combine manifesto of Jesus with the manifesto of Paul and you will have a good manifesto to work with.
Christianity has always been attacked. Yes, you remember the Jews killed him. His own people killed him. Pilate said, “I'm a judge. I have nothing wrong with this man.” But they said, “Kill him and Let his blood be upon us and our children.” There were persecutions in the early church. Christians were thrown to the lions. Some of them were beheaded. Many were murdered. Most of the apostles suffered martyrdom.
After that era of persecution, we now have all kinds of heresies that came to the church. Gnosticism, and especially Arianism, and several other isms. And they were great leaders whom God brought up in the church to defend the truth. Thank God. Most of them came from Africa. I speak of Irenaeus. I speak of Origen. I speak of Athanasius. I speak of Augustine of Hippo. Africa resolved to defend the Christian faith at a time of great controversy. And the church councils, they rose against everything. Unfortunately, we slept and Islam came, took over North Africa, took over some of Europe, and Asia Minor and we have Christianity today at risk in the whole of the Middle East. We are struggling for survival in places where Christianity was once very strong. The greatest church in medieval times, the Hagia Sophia, in Constantinople, is now a Muslim mosque.
Many churches are being closed down in Europe, Europe is gradually losing Christianity. Many churches have been sold. The vast majority of the population is no longer going to churches. Through the massive migration of population, Islam is rearing its head all over the Western world. We thank God for righteous madmen like Donald Trump, who will rise up to speak against the genocide of Christians in Nigeria. In the meantime, isn’t it a shame that our Christian leaders are still building their empires. They are still striving to gather huge crowds. They are still buying private jets when our brothers are being slaughtered in the north, in the Middle Belt. The evidences are clear. They've been killing us for a long time. They've been taking over villages in Plateau, in Benue and in other states, and we are pretending as if it doesn't matter.
Our political leaders have imposed upon us a Muslim-Muslim ticket. And all those who are sponsors of Boko Haram, many are involved in leadership of the country. Many of them are in the military, and they are looking at them, and nobody is saying anything. They can put Nnamdi Kanu in a Sokoto prison. But those who are carrying AK-47s are walking around the place and nothing is being done to them. When there is serious injustice in the society, God himself will step in, and he will scatter everything and rearrange things. But the leaders who are supposed to talk are not talking. They are not talking.
I was a speaker where one of the most respected Pentecostal leaders in Nigeria was celebrating his 80th birthday. I went to him and said, “Baba, you are doing very well. You and your clan, you have been making so much impact. You have big money, you have large crowds. You have all of that. You have it, but you are getting old. Who are your successors?” I said, “By the way, I've never seen any of you go to challenge Buhari.” And I said, “The two of you who are the most popular, stop whatever you are doing. Go and challenge Muhammadu Buhari and tell him, on behalf of the Christians, that enough is enough.” Oh, he radically disagreed with me. He said that his theology does not allow him to do that.
He told me that God has separated physical things from spiritual matters, and we publish it in the newspaper. He said, “If the government is not doing well, it is not our duty to attack them.” He said, “In spiritual things, miracles are happening. God is moving.”
My dear people of God. At one time, God moved in North Africa. God moved in Asia Minor. But we lost all of them—all the places that Paul wrote those seven letters to all the churches, all the seven churches. As I have said, the biggest church in the world was the church in Constantinople. It is now the biggest mosque. They have taken over. They've taken over.
Muamar Gaddafi said, “I will not shoot a single bullet, and I will take over the whole of Europe and America. I will take over the whole of Europe and Africa.” And they are doing it. We have no agenda. We have no agenda. We have no strategies. They are taking over territories. They are taking your rights. How can we be talking of Christian genocide in the country that Christians founded? You have work to do. May God give you courage. You are not saying “amen.”
I was ASUU Chairman of Lagos State University in 1988. that is some thirty-seven years ago, when the salaries were terrible. I was driving a Volkswagen Beetle at that time. I drove alone to the Dodan barracks to challenge the then Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida. I told them I wanted to see him on behalf of the lecturers, and I succeeded. It was on the basis of that meeting with him that forced the hand of the government, that produced the agreement that is the salary they were earning. At that point I was only twenty-six years of age, but I had the courage to drive to Dodan barracks to challenge the military head of state. And we forced him to the table. What am I saying? We need radicals. May you be radicals, just like Jesus. May you not be cowardly in what you do. May you be simple like Jesus. May you be courageous like Jesus.
I say it again. We need radicals. May you be radical! May you not be Christian gentlemen. May you be radicals like Jesus. May you take koboko and drive out those who are selling in the temple. May you not market your so-called prophecy for material gain. May you not be those who are just feasting on tithes and offerings. May you not be those who are greedily living at the expense of the congregation. May you be simple like Jesus, courageous like Jesus, like the apostles, in the name of Jesus.
Today, we have problems. We used to have leaders in this country. But we do not have leaders anymore. Who is a true and godly political leader among the Igbo people? Forget it. Who is a political leader among the Yorubas? Anybody? No. Among the Hausas? No. In those days, we could talk of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Amadu Bellos, etc. Is anybody in their class today? We need to raise leaders in the church.
in Ghana we raised Kwame Nkrumah, in Nigeria we raised Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Sadauna and the rest, in Zambia we raised Kenneth Kaunda, in Tanzania we raised Julius Nyerere, In Kenya we raised Jomo Kenyatta, in Congo there was Patrice Mulumba, in Jamaica we raised Marcus Garvey. Among the Americans we raised Reverend Dr. Martin Luther Jr. But we must take note of the fact that we have no leaders anymore. May God help you to raise true leaders!
We have some unique challenges today. We have to radicalize people. These are the challenges. Number one, we must learn how to certify who is genuinely a called person. Why? Because we have too many false prophets among us. Do you agree? Number two, we have very insufficient training of ministers, and we are challenged by churches that are multiplying like mushrooms. Where do you find pastors to pastor them?
Jesus, at the age of 12, already knew more than the rabbis. They called him. Where did you find this wisdom from? At the age of 12? Did he start his ministry then? No. He waited for 18 years. And when the time came, he had to be tested. He had to be tempted. The Holy Spirit took him to the wilderness to be tempted. When he passed the tests of temptation, he started his ministry, and carried it out for three and a half years. The world can never forget.
By contrast, today people rush into ministry unprepared. Do you want to be a medical doctor? Do you rush through the medical school in six months? Our dear Senior Advocate of Nigeria here today, with due respect, sir, when you are studying for law can you start practicing without first going to law school? No. You cannot become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria for nothing.
Yet in the ministry, we are the only irresponsible people who think we can jump into ministerial success without preparation. Nowadays, everybody believes they are qualified to be an apostle. Everybody qualifies to be Bishop. We are just strutting around bearing titles, titles, titles. Somebody who does not know his left from the right is starting a church. I went to preach in Port Harcourt recently and on the same street, there were five churches, all of them with their big signposts.
What is the problem with us, that we cannot unite? Are you preaching more than the gospel? Why are you building empires? Why are you establishing commercial houses? That's why our children today are saying left and right, church is a scam. The reason is that they cannot see the evidence of genuine Christianity in you.
Look at your Bible. In those days, prophets were people who were holy. The dead bones of Elisha raised the dead. They took Elisha to Jericho. This is a pleasant land, but there's barrenness. He said, “Give me salt.” He made a pronouncement, and he healed the land. Jesus was a man of capability. He performed all kind of miracles—healing miracles, the blind saw, the lame walked, the lepers were cleansed. He performed natural miracles. He turned water into wine. He walked upon the water. He calmed the storm. He fed 5,000 people at a time. He had power over demons. He commanded them, as with the madman of Gadarah.
Jesus never struggled over any deliverance case. He raised the dead and he said, “All this power I've given unto you.” And in Mark, chapter 10, verse 7 and 8, after you leave the seminary, “as you go, heal the sick, preach the gospel, cast out demons, cleanse the leper and raise the dead. Freely you have been given, freely give.” I pray that as you go into the world from WATS to continue your ministry, you will manifest this in Jesus’ name. But never forget that there is insufficient training of ministers. Do not rush through your training.
Number three, we are seeing unpreparedness to withstand persecution. Think about our brethren in the north. They are more serious with their Christianity. We are too comfortable here in the south. We have so much money, and we can help them. Is it the time for us here in the south to start buying airplanes when we are supposed to be feeding the needy all over the nation? Well, see the amount of money they are using to build their fancy buildings. Are the buildings going to be rapturable? What do you need all these things for?
I'm a Pro Chancellor of a university in Ibadan. Recently we gave two honorary doctorate degrees to two young ministers who are in their 40s. I am sorry to tell you that both of them flew in to Ibadan in their private jets. My God! That was money that would have been useful to build churches, to help those who have been persecuted, to comfort those who are in distress and to help the orphans. Why are you building today that the world is shrinking in artificial intelligence? When COVID-19 happened, over 6 million people died all over the world. Where are the prophets? Where are the people preaching on television all over the world were powerless against COVID. Nowadays it seems that every sermon must end with money. 6 million died.
So I want to encourage you, let us raise Christians who are ready to die for Christ. Christians who are ready to face persecution. How many of you have a definite call of God? We must be candid that we have people who are leading churches who are not making impact. In this society, we have a huge problem of churches not making impact on the home host communities.
On the other hand, we have Nigerian churches that are doing well outside this country. God is prospering them. By April of this year I was in New York. I was invited to speak in a Christ Apostolic Church. I am an Anglican Bishop. . . . I had sessions with the CAC in New York and Philadelphia. But what I have discovered is that while many of our churches have branches all over the world, they are still Nigerian churches. Most of the churches there are simply not reaching the surrounding culture. That is not missions. When you say you have branches all over the world, I say NO!
You see, it is a geographical location, the context and content is still the same thing. May God give you the grace to raise people who will be able to do true cross-cultural missions to white men. God has used them over the years to bless us. God has used them to bring the gospel, education and health care. They were great people, people of purpose, though unfortunately another generation has come that does not even remember them. My African brothers and sisters, you must now take the Gospel back and reclaim the West, and reclaim America. Your set will do it. It depends on you.
The Church Missionary Society (CMS) was established in 1779. Eight boys. They were graduates of Oxford University, and Cambridge University, in their 20s. They said, “We are going to change the world with the gospel of Christ.” Are you hearing me? Eight boys. Graduates. They said, “We are going to do two things. One, we are going to stop slavery, and two, we are going to take Christianity all over the world.” Thet formed the Church Missionary Society, CMS. It was not the Anglican Church in England that brought Christianity here. No. It was a private society that hired ministers to help them. They said, “William Wilberforce, you are one of us. You are the lawyer, go and join politics and go and move a bill against slavery.” Do you remember that? William Wilberforce stopped slavery in 1807. Clap for that young man. The rest of them, they brought out the map of the world, and they said, “We are taking the gospel everywhere.” I'll be mentioning some names. I want you to mention them after me. Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Madagascar, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Gambia, India, Nigeria, 1842, Iraq, Iran, Israel, all over the world. I am speaking to a few of you in this graduating set today here at WATS, you will do greater work than these people.
Another problem is culture coming into the church. Where culture and the gospel clash, culture must bow to the gospel. False powers in the church. Strange altars in church. Are you not hearing news? A church pastor was recently accused of human sacrifice, burying a human being because of crowd, going to juju to get power. May there not be any strange altar in your ministry!
Number four, we have the problem of lack of watchmen. Don't you read your Bible? Oh, you son of man, I make you a watchman over the society. Blow the trumpet when you see evil and sin. If you don't, the blood will be required of you. We don't have watchmen anymore. We don't have good successors anymore. People make church business and today we are still facing challenges.
What are our challenges? Islam, number one. Secularism from the West, number two, communism in churches in China. Number three, materialism in Africa. Number four: Oh, God, young boys are joining the occult. Are you there? Are you aware that ògbóni now has a website? They have a website. We call them a secret society. They are not secret anymore. Young boys are joining them.
Hello! I'm a bishop. Somebody called me when I got to my diocese. They said, “Go and look at some of your members. Some of them have joined Ogboni, the pastor is joining, and they are there among many church bodies.” Occult is coming again. So many problems are coming.
We are politically disempowered. We are no longer relevant in the affairs of the nation. We can't even boast of Christian leadership in government. There is no voice even among the Christians in the House of Assembly. They are not standing for Christianity, once they give them money. They keep quiet.
There is proliferation and disunity in the Church. We have materialism as a lifestyle of the people and prosperity theology is what we are preaching. I want to plead with you today: Enough of prosperity theology! Stop it. Teach the theology that can save. Preach salvation, repentance, judgment, heaven, hell, rapture. These are the reasons why you are called to go and preach. You also have youth who are going astray into homosexuality and so many other sins of the day.
But there is destruction. Old men and young men are going away. Young men are going to yahoo-yahoo. They have lost spirituality. Homosexuality is making terrible inroads. The Americans, and the Westerners, are spending money to recruit people in seminaries. What happened to England is happening here in Nigeria. They will send them. They will sponsor them. They will take them abroad. They have planted them among us, just like the parable of the tares.
Now the seed planted, good seed, but when men slept the enemies came and started planting. They are planting them, and they will rise up at the end of the day and become leaders. When they become leaders, they take over and change the rules and destroy Christianity. I pray that homosexuality of this kind of Christianity will not ever be known among you, in the name of Jesus Christ.
I want to end by saying we need to have increased potency of the Family Church. We were raised with the family church. People gathered every morning, leading their children before the Lord. That is what made us to be who we are. There was something with power of miracle. I want to end with that. Without miracles, without the power of God demonstrated, people won't listen to you. Jesus said, “If you don't believe me for my theology, believe me for the sake of the signs you see that I perform.” Paul said, “I do not come to you with philosophies of men, but I come in the demonstration of the power of God.”
Those of you graduating today, be on your feet and begin to pray. Heavenly Father, I have acquired good things here at WATS. Now teach me practical ministry after the order of Christ, and of the apostle and of the prophets. Release upon my life, the unction as upon the prophets of the Old Testament, and upon the Lord Jesus, that I can do even greater work. Give me the unction of Peter, of Paul, of the missionaries, of the reformers, Martin Luther, John Calvin and all the reformers. Put them upon me. Give me wisdom, make me an apologist and defender of the Christian faith. Let me have a full proof of my training here. Talk to God Almighty. Thank you for your attention. May God bless you. Happy Convocation.