Oyakhilome tackles fellow pastors, says those yet to reopen churches were never believers

The President of the LoveWorld Incorporated, aka Christ Embassy, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, has said pastors who were yet to reopen their churches for physical services after the lockdown occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic were never believers.

The Federal Government had in March ordered the closure of all public places including worship centres across the country as part of measures to curb the spread of the virus.

The Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 later okayed the reopening of worship centres in June but some states in the South-West region, amongst others, did not permit the reopening of churches and mosques till August.

However, some pastors have announced that their churches won’t reopen because it is still not safe to do so.

“This is a great concern because there were churches that were thought to be churches until recently,” Oyakhilome said in a sermon this week titled, ‘Your Loveworld Specials – Season 2 Phase 4 Day 1’.

In the message aired via social media, the cleric added, “We find a lot of ministers who were thought to be advocates of the gospel advocating for shutting down the churches. It is pressure like this that reveal what is a church and what is not. Do they really believe in God, the same God of the patriarchs in the bible?

“I have laid hands on some of the most infectious people on earth and had no fear of being infected. The word of God guarantees life in  Christ. When you get to that point where you are afraid of opening churches for fear of being infected, you have denied the faith. You never believed.

“You could be a preacher but your fear and unbelief have put you in bondage. If Jesus is real and you have him inside you, shouldn’t you be a healer of diseases? Should you be afraid?

“The bible says ‘if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them’. Don’t you believe that? Do you question the validity of the words of Jesus?”

Oyakhilome also advised governments all over the world to subject information from global organisations amid the pandemic. Punch