₦airaland Forum

                                                                         Overview


This segment of this course concludes by summarising the entire course and explaining the method and criteria used for assessing all whose names where mentioned.

The aim of this course was to inform and enlighten all christians who may be affected by the antics of these men and the businesses that have become so influential to the point of managing even the minutest part of their everyday life and also let them understand what is truly required of them as chrisitians.


First let me state that I am by no means trying to control the human thought process anyone who has found this course interesting, controversial or agonising. It is my believe that all who read this course with an open mind and learnt something from it are either glad they read this course or have developed a more mature approach to how their faith ought to be conducted. As for any other group of persons I can only say I have tried my best.



Criteria used for assessing all whose names were mentioned;


1. I used the bible as my major reference point being that all christians see it as the ultimate decider of contentious issues relating to faith. If there are any standards that fall short of bible we are safe to attack such standards by pointing out their faults and seeking to make adequate amendments.


2. Conscience and justice.


If any act is immoral, it is ungodly and therefore not God's work. Oppression in the form of lavish lifestyle and extravagance of pastors is inexcusable in the face of overwhelming poverty surrounding them. This is why the purchase of private jets, exotic cars and luxury houses being disguised as necessities for spreading the gospel  by mammon loving, materialistic pastors should not be encouraged. The functions of the church is especially to cater for the needs of the poor, remember the scriptural injunction " He who gives to the poor, lends to their creator". This is all the more reason why tithe collecting, seed reaping, money thieving pastors should be made to account for how 'God's money' is acquired and spent.


3. Good Social norms.


A normal society rewards enterprise, positive achievement, good mores and productivity while it frowns on anti-social behaviour and tendencies. We cannot truthfully say the Nigerian society fits this bill. It is infact a morally sick nation that needs a postive social revolution. Churches today are becoming financial advisers, resource centres and wealth building institutions that are more interested in teaching people how to become rich not because it is God's will for them to do so but because they need to teach messages with mass appeal that would increase offerings, tithes and gifts from the gullible.



Summary of course



The course was divided into four segments which I felt were adequate to describe the totality of the menace these mega institutions of greed and gluttony represent. The first part was an introduction into the course, explaining the very nature of the cases being studied. Module 2 described some of the tricks and techniques used in manipulating and fleecing the gullible and weak at heart, while module 3 gave a mock recommendation on how to pursue a career in holy business and become successful in the process. Module 4 and 5 were merged to give another module 4 which gave a rough estimate of these businesses in terms of asset base. There was also a concluding commentary which stated my motive for preparing the course plus the advice on what should constitute the right manner to serving God.



And now this overview which is summarising the course. I promised to talk about the contentious issues of tithes and judgement and that will follow shortly.


I will publish an article on the 11th titled 'why God instituted tithing' to explain my position on the irrelevance of the culture of tithing in present day christianity.

Next on the 13th will be the article on judgement.

Till then

@eArThMaMa

Keyamo is not just a criminal lawyer he is a celebrity, "notice me" kind of lawyer with a knak for attention grabbing events. He made his name and continues to get big cases for himself by doing just this. Remember Senator Afikuyomi 419 and bail jumping case, Bola Ige murder, House of Representatives car contract cases?

oloriooko:
What is your gragra all about, bros?
If you talk about God, they will say you are a fanatic.
If you do not talk about God, they will say you are fake.
What do you really want?
I beg let's hear word ojare!

And what is your point mr man?

@all

My desire to resume this course and see it to its conclusion was instigated by my fellow on this thread kunleoshob, who wondered why I abandoned the course and left everyone hanging. I apologise for not being able to finish what I started.

However I will conclude with the overview where I will comment on the criteria used in observing and scrutinising all those whose names were mentioned. I will especially comment on the controversial issues of tithes and judgement.

I leave out the criteria used for measuring the asset base of those holy businesses I mentioned.

Till then.

KunleOshob:
@paulipopo
It was not very nice of you to abandon your lectures on "how to become a super rich holy business man". You just left your students hanging with no conclude post to the series of lectures.

I am sorry kunle, My school project, examination plus my part time job needed my attention so much that I had to abadon the lectures.

I am more chanced now and will resurrect the course next week.

Till then.

@ Sir john

Don't mind pepeye it is obvious from all her responses so far why she would make comments like that.

Now for those still defending or trying to cover up the scam at christ embassy's healing school my questions for them are;

1. If it is to the glory of God to publicise claims/testimonies of healings or miracles is it also not to the glory of God and shame of the devil to provide evidence that validates those claims?

2. When there are deliberate attempts to frustrate efforts of independent observers to validate claims of healings by Christ Embassy is it not because they do not want the veracity of those claims to be established? The only reason why that would happen is because those claims are false since God's work would not be undermined if evidence behind those claims are established. Remember Jesus Christ showing Thomas his pierced hands and sides?

3. Where those claims are false then clearly the so called miracles and healings are staged. Which is exactly the case with christ embassy and their myriad of entertainment shows in the form of Night of Bliss. Let the likes of Donnie and Pepeye prove me wrong by providing just one evidence to validate any of the claims of 'healings' we see on atmosphere for miracles.

Hi all,

I'm sorry for my absence so far I have been busy of late with School project, work and family commitments. I'll try and conclude in the coming days.

@Olabowale

It is obvious that you are misrepresenting my views. You deliberately Pick out what you desire to highlight, misrepresent them as my views and set up a process for an endless and pointless journey of arguments.

All the questions you have asked are anything but reasonable and any informed ignoramus will know that from the way you push them across.

Since you have deviated from the topic and asked questions that have nothing to do with this topic please do me the favour of answering all of them by yourself.

huxley:
You can start with these, baba:

What's with the "baba" term.

Anyways to answer your questions

huxley:
1) I did not come to bring peace BUT a SWORD. (Matthew 10:34)

Jesus Christ did not advocate the use of a physical sword nor did he preach violence in Mathew 10:34 since he was speaking metaphorically otherwise why would he turn around in Mathew 26:52 - 53 when he advocates that those who live by the sword will perish by the sword.

huxley:
2) Do NOT go into the towns of the Gentiles (Matt 10: 5)

Because he had not commissioned the gospel to be preached at the time. He would have to leave to join his father in order for the advocate (the holy spirit) to John 16:4 - 7. Paul and Barnabas were especially commissioned to bring the gospel to the gentiles Galatians 2: 1 - 2.

huxley:
3) I was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:22-28)

If your read it through mathew 15 : 22 - 28 honestly it would have been easy for you to see that Jesus was merely testing the woman's faith, afterall her daughter was healed by Jesus Christ.

huxley:
4) Abandon your family and follow me. (Matt 8:21, Matt 10:21. Matt 10: 34-37, Matt 19: 29, Matt 23:9
Matt 24: 19, Mark 10: 29 - 30,

Again Jesus did not mean it the way you are putting it. In all the cases you have cited he was asking his disciples to forfeit (again not literally) everything including family to be his disciples. In other words he wanted them to be devoted whole heartedly to him as proof of their commitment to him.

huxley:
5) Caused suffering to innocent animals by inflicting demons on them (Matt 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26)

Animals do not have emotions nor self awareness. How did Jesus cause them to suffer?

huxley:
6) Advocated the killing of recalcitrant children

I am waiting to see where he did this using the bible of course as your reference point.

huxley:
7) Advocated and upheld the laws of the Old Testament (Matt 5)

Wrong. He said he had not come to abolish the Law and the prophets (scripture) but to fulfill it. Read verse 18 well when he says " not the smallest letter or smallest part of a letter will pass from the law until all things have taken place.

huxley:
8-) Advocated eternity in hell

I am waiting for where he stated this lie.

huxley:
9) Advocated a life without planning for the morrow (Matt 6: 31- 34)

Clearly he meant we should not be have anxiety over the future but rather face it without worries. There is no where he indicated living a life without planning for the future. Is this not the same Jesus who told the parable of five wise and five foolish virgins? The foolish ones waited till the last hour to find oil for their lamps where as the wise ones had prepared ahead of time.

huxley:
10) Advocated passiveness to unwarranted aggression and oppression.

huxley:
11) Killed an innocent tree for not having fruits out of season

huxley:
13) Advocated the maiming of bodily parts to avoid sin.

That is a Lie. He was making an illustration that if any part of you (common sense would tell anybody that your hand, eyes or ear cannot cause you to sin but rather what comes out of you) causes you to sin it should be removed from you in order to save your soul. That part of you could be a habit, a thought or behaviour not a hand, eye or ear. He after all said it is not what goes into a man that defiles him but rather what comes out of him.

huxley:
The god of the Christians (aka Jesus) is supposed to have advocated or said the following:

1) I did not come to bring peace BUT a SWORD.

2) Do NOT go into the towns of the Gentiles

3) I was sent to the lose sheep of the house of Israel

4) Abandon your family and follow me.

5) Caused suffering to innocent animals by inflicting demons on them

6) Advocated the killing of recalcitrant children

7) Advocated and upheld the laws of the Old Testament

8-) Advocated eternity in hell

9) Advocated a life without planning for the morrow

10) Advocated passiveness to unwarranted aggression and oppression.

11) Killed an innocent tree for not having fruits out of season

13) Advocated the maiming of bodily parts to avoid sin.



How many of the above do Christians today adhere to? If not, why do they not adhere to the injunctions of their god. What is their basis for picking & choosing?

@Huxley

I would love to reply you but please do well to quote relevant biblical verses for reference. This is in order to pick out the right context and put things in their proper perspectives.

mazaje:
you understood very well what i was saying but you prefer to not discuss it but erupt in a wild distortion of what i laid down. . . . .

simple question for you pilgrim how can your god claim that he is the greatest source of love and justice but turn around and kill, tell others to kill even the innocent for trivail reasons like looking at something or for no reason at all as recorded in the bible, how can he say that he is just when he punishes innocent children for the sins of their parents? all his actions are in his holy book called the bible. . .

My God will only do such a thing to people who are convinced that evil should go unpunished. But that was the 'jewish god' anyway, the very one who had not yet revealed his secret plan for mankind i.e to unite all mankind Jews and Gentiles by making them partakers of his grace. Go over those verses you think God was cruel and ask yourself if he meted punishment to good people who never caused harm and destruction.

Due to the hardness of their hearts (jewish people) he made laws that were meant to order their steps according to his will. All the laws no matter how harsh they may have been were meant to force his people to obey and serve him since he had made a covenant with Abraham to preserve this people.

The gift of the holy spirit which would have made them love and keep his commandments without being coerced had not yet been given and that was why he sent his son.

This same God is unchangeable because there is no contradiction in his ways what seems to be contradictions are the ranting imaginations of the , you know who.

Part II Concluding commentary

Under the second part of this module we will look at the effects of holy business on the Nigerian society.

First we need to consider that holy business is very much a worldly system and as a result will only manifest worldly fruits as evidence of its stewardship. Let’s take a look at some of this evidence:

1. Despite a large number of churches there seems to be a very low level of moral standards being practiced by Christians and commitment to Patriotism. The mere mention of Nigeria in the foreign media evokes mixed feelings of distrust, resentment and caution from nationals of various countries of the world. A Nigerian regardless of his social standing is seen as a potential criminal not minding if that person in question is a cleric. Enoch Adeboye recently narrated an experience he faced at a foreign country where he was thoroughly searched and interrogated when he mentioned that he was a pastor from Nigeria. The point I am making here is that no Nigerian is seen as being worthy of trust abroad as many other prominent Nigerians such as Wole Soyinka and even Pat Utomi have faced similar embarrassment in the past. All these are due to our reputation as a nation that condones criminality in the form of; Advanced fee fraud, drug trafficking, armed robbery, kidnapping, forgery, money laundry among others. The fact that the European Union had to pressure former president Olusegun Obasanjo to set up an agency to fight Economic and financial crimes (that was why and how the EFCC came about) proves my point about our failure as a nation to inculcate the right moral values in our citizenry. The church just like our Educational institutions, are to receive the bulk of the blame since the family as a social unit in typical Nigerian Urban settings is subordinate to these institutions with regard to child training, moral instruction and etiquettes. Check and see for yourselves that majority of Nigerians serving jail terms abroad are professed Christians some of whom were active in church before their incarceration and convictions. Also majority of Nigerians seeking to flee the economic hardship of this country are also professed Christians not muslims, pagans or atheists.

2. Nigeria is ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world despite also being ranked as one of the most religious countries in the world. Transparency international ranked Nigeria as 147 least most corrupt country in the world or the 31st most corrupt for 2007. Despite having 52 million Christians far more than what Denmark or Finland which are the least most corrupt countries in the world. The implication is that our brand of Christianity is a joke. True Christians should have greater moral and social standards than pagans and atheists which is not the case with Finland and Denmark which have large populations of atheists.

3. Indolence and hypocrisy have become common place occurrence among Nigerian Christians. Many Christians have taken it upon themselves to assert faith in owning or conquering the world but have failed to meet these ‘faith’ with commiserate action that is both productive and selfless. Instead there are contradictory signs as evidence to show for their faith and obedience to God. The case of Gbenga Kehinde and Joseph Agada of Christ Embassy in 2005 and 2006 are examples of indolent and hypocritical lifestyles that have befallen Christianity in this era of ours.

4. Social Problems such as economic problems continue to have their telling effects on the nation. For instance travelers returning to Lagos from other parts of the country through the Lagos Ibadan Express way, pray that one of these mega business centres especially RCCG and Mountain of Fire are not holding one of those their man made ceremonies for fear of being held up in stand still traffic for upwards of 12 hrs or as was witnessed in 2006 Good Friday night of Christ Embassy 24 hrs. The man-hours lost plus damaged cars and other avoidable expenses that follow are economic costs which have an indirect effect on the economy.

5. Mental enslavement and fanatism go together. While Christians readily finger Islamic fundamentalists as fanatics they fail to see that they are neither better nor widely different from those they finger as zealots. Blind trust and submission to any man is tantamount to fanatism, which sadly is what many Nigerian ‘Christians’ are practicing. They have been so mentally enslaved that they fear asking probing questions about their ‘man of God’ will offend God which is merely an imaginary reality.

In conclusion holy business thrives because of intellectual laziness, wide spread ignorance and the reluctance of people to hold those in authority accountable. It is my belief that Nigerians ought to be vigilant and fearless just as they also need to celebrate good moral causes rather than materialism or wealth.

End of the Concluding Commentary


Next is the over view where I will summarize this course and also discuss some ideas used in this course such as;

1. Tithes
2. Criteria used in arriving at The Asset base of the big 5 Holy businesses and
3. Judgment

Pilgrim.1

Without doubt we will both go on and on arguing without shifting ground. Feel free to hold on to what you believe but with regards to the attitude and that talk about trying to use scripture to justify my action I can honestly tell you that you are wrong, I was merely making an illustration and not trying to win an argument.

Thank you and that is all I have to say.

Please bear with me I will round off this course on the 15th of October. I have been occupied of late and haven't been chanced to complete the final part of the concluding commentary. In the mean time you are free to comment or criticize the course or method used.

@pilgrim1.

We may need to define judgment to really know what we are debating here.

I define judgment to mean an opinion you form about someone or something after thinking about observation caused by that person or thing.

Now to refer to Romans 14:4-10.

Clearly Paul was referring to hypocritical and self righteous Judgment when he said who are you to Judge the Lord's servant. Judgment in this case meant the use of a self imposed, self righteous and hence hypocritical standard for measuring the correctness in which other people served God. Paul makes mention of how some people consider one day more important than another and others consider all days alike (verse 5), verse 6 he says "whoever observes the day observes it for the Lord , "

Verse 10 merely recapitulated on his earlier posture in verse 4. Paul did not mean that we should keep quiet and not condemn actions that clearly breach Godly standards. Why would Paul 'Judge' the man who was sleeping with his father's wife (1 Corinthians 5: 1-5) and even recommend punishment for him. Or confront Peter for being cowardly in his biased posture against gentile Christians (Galatians 2: 11-14)?

Perhaps he was being hypocritical not practicing what he preached? or maybe the judgment he was talking about in Romans 14:4 is nothing like what he did in 1 Corinthians: 5 1-5 and Galatians 2 : 11-14?

James 3: 1 - 8 talks about the power of the tongue by especially mentioning that it cannot be tamed by human effort (verse 7) of course this is very true as the cliche 'slip of the tongue' confirms this.

However if we as Christians are to test the spirits and ensure that they are of God (discernment) how do we hope to do this without 'judging'?

That's my contribution and I hope it clears somethings about 'judgment'?

donnie:
@poster
It wasnt my intention to gv satan my attention by contributing to this thread

Of course it wasn't but now that you finally have I hope you don't end up regretting it.

donnie:
but i will to show a few people where they are headed for, perhaps they'D hv a rethink.

I hope after deluding yourself you will come to know the truth and eventually have a rethink yourself.

donnie:
Firstly, @ Christembassy No money is charged like somone hd earlier mentioned, for seat reservations. I hv bn personally involved with taking these reservations for CEC programs. So what does that make u and ur fans Paul?

O.K agreed CEC does not charge for seat booking.

donnie:
false witnesses and candidates for hell fire!

Only God can say that with such authority.

donnie:
Secondly, @ Christ Embassy, the first and biggest giver is the pastor of the Church. I hv hd d opportunity of working @ several CEC churches (PH, Lagos,Maiduguri, Calabar, Asaba, Nnewi) and as a volunteer staff n i have hd close relationships with many pastors so i cnt count hw many time i winess them empty their houses in order to carry out church projects. CEC calabar pastor gave away several cars and had to treck in order to meet d needs of the church. I know himself, Nnewi and Aba pastors hv emtied their houses including furniture to meet one church need or the other.

Please do well to differentiate between God's work and 'church work' (which is what your so called pastors seem to be doing that in any case is if you are not lying).

donnie:
@poster
It wasnt my intention to gv satan my attention by contributing to this thread

Of course it wasn't but now that you finally have I hope you don't end up regretting it.

but i will to show a few people where they are headed for, perhaps they'D hv a rethink.

I hope after deluding yourself you will come to know the truth and eventually have a rethink yourself.


Firstly, @ Christembassy No money is charged like somone hd earlier mentioned, for seat reservations. I hv bn personally involved with taking these reservations for CEC programs. So what does that make u and ur fans Paul?

O.K agreed CEC does not charge for seat booking.

false witnesses and candidates for hell fire!

Only God can say that with such authority.

Secondly, @ Christ Embassy, the first and biggest giver is the pastor of the Church. I hv hd d opportunity of working @ several CEC churches (PH, Lagos,Maiduguri, Calabar, Asaba, Nnewi) and as a volunteer staff n i have hd close relationships with many pastors so i cnt count hw many time i winess them empty their houses in order to carry out church projects. CEC calabar pastor gave away several cars and had to treck in order to meet d needs of the church. I know himself, Nnewi and Aba pastors hv emtied their houses including furniture to meet one church need or the other.

Please do well to differentiate between God's work and 'church work' (which is what your so called pastors seem to be doing that in any case is if you are not lying).

donnie:
Pastor chris is known @ CEC to be the first and biggest giver at all times, all he has belongs to God and so it is with several other of his close pastors.
by faith he stopped recieving a salary from the church several years ago.
He does not get a dime as payment from the sale of any book tape or CD including rhapsody of realities(i know what i am saying). These department hv their directors who control finances and manage their staff. He only gives the message they publish.
I thot he was the only preacher who lived like that until i recently hrd Oyedepo say that till date he has never taken a dime from the sale of a single book.
now what does that make u and ur fans? False accusers; People on the express way to hell, and at full speed!

Stop your futile attempts meant to cover up your jokes. A holy businessman will always be recognised by his fruits. Chris Oyakhilome preaches word of faith just like Oyedepo and this teaching is no where near being true and sound christian Doctrine. All that talk about not receiving money from books, C.Ds etc does not change the fact that their fruits have shown us who they really are.

donnie:
U must hv seen wt CEC did with the rhapsody of realities, recently. This money u worship; see hw they treated it. . . like the servant that it is. And again, the pastors took d lead. The pastor of my own local assembly gave 1 million naira.
Now with ur knoiwledge of business. What will it profit a business, man to do such? 1 rhapsody costs N150 we gave out over 10million free of charge to Nigerians. We believe this gospel that we preach! U guys should be ashamed of urselves.
Unfortunately, some christians seem to have taken sides with this misled guy called Paul. Remember u will gv account of every idle word u utter.

10 million copies X 150 = =N= 1,500,000,000

So by your own claim christ embassy ltd dolled out this amount of money to promote a booklet that has the pictures of mr and mrs Oyakhilome on almost every page instead of granting same amount to providing scholarships to needy but deserving students, providing more for orphans or promoting 'patroitism' (like your holy businessman is trying to make everybody believe) which makes more sense if the money is used to encourage and assist unemployed youths to start small scale enterprises that way discouraging them from seeking greener pastures outside Nigeria or making them understand that indeed Nigeria can only be made great by Nigerians.

pilgrim.1:
I'm not a PRO for Christ Embassy; but one thing I have learnt is what I'll share here:

@topic: "Chris Oyakhilome Is A Phoney"

Romans 14:4
Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?
to his own master he standeth or falleth.
Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

James 3:8
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Complaining on the basis of suspicion is quite unhelpful: because such an adventure will come back to hurt no one other than the complainer. Those who are convinced that the topic has any substance should hold concrete evidence. . or be careful what they say about someone merely on the basis of 'hearsays' or 'suspicions'.

Shalom.

Sorry but Judgement as you claim from Romans 14:4 is not contextually applicable to this case. Please include verses 5 to 10 to get the full grasp of the message paul was passing across.

As for James 3:8 I don't quite understand what you are trying to state. Are you perhaps saying calling Chris Oyakhilome a Phoney is evil even if there is an obvious truth to it?

I am not complaining on the basis of suspicion but like I rightly stated what I observed him to do which is quoting habakkuk 1: 5 out of context for no better reason than trying to dissuade viewers from believing reports about his ministry with the man on the wheel chair story.

KunleOshob:
By your own submission of the metod you used in arriving at your estimates, you cannot claim to be any were near accurate. perhaps you can enlighten us further on how you determine their tangible assets and market value, also how did you determine average revenue per member. that apart, from your analysis you cannot possibly determine their networth from their income streams even when you assume they all retain 40% of annual income ( which is debatable) Kindly furnish us with more facts and figures + sources less you make us look stupid when we quote your estimates.

I am not claiming to be accurate but rather making estimates. You will find out more about my method in the overview. Also the figures quoted are not their net worth but total monetary value of assets they oversee.

duabba:
Children of the Most High, this thread no be small suntin o!

My humble view; Apostle Paul admonished everyone (pastors inclusive) to work for their needs (food) so that no-one would be a burden to the other. In the new testament era, everyone should work, therefore, tithing can't be said to be compulsory. We are all advised to care for the needy, which I perceive to be a cardinal point for the Christian faith as what use would be paying your tithes when people around you suffer and are in need. One fact I have come to accept in this era of the multiplicity of churches is that churches should be a place where the word of God is shared (not dictated). We have promoted people to the level of mortal 'gods' that people hardly read their Bibles but believe whatever the pastor reels out. The word says the spirit of God would minister and teach us accordingly. Shouldn't Christianity be a personal experience?

The body of Christ is not the buildings, speakers, chairs etc that we have come to accept as 'the church'. We should see christianity as a faith not religion, for we are saved by faith not by righteous works. The way I see it, most people tithe because of what they would gain spiritually (selfish) while others give to the needy based on the love and concern within their hearts (selfless), which is the foundation of christianity. BOTTOMLINE: Whether it's tithe-based giving or mercy-based giving, it is the intention and faith behind it that matters.

GBAM!

You are very correct with your submission. Tithing is historically and scripturally non-christian.

KunleOshob:
@paulipopo
What is your source of reference for the net worth of the mega businesses which you used as examples, as i know that these type of businesses usually keep their accounts a closely guarded secret( they don't believe they are accountable to any one). The figures you posted are mind blowing actually and i believe you have to authenticate them for us to verify the credibilty of the source.

You are absolutely right. They do keep info about their finances a guarded secret, but I arrived at my estimates by using intelligent guesses based on the following criteria:

1. Estimated market value of tangible assets

2. Income generated from size of congregation multiplied by estimated average payment per member

3. The fact that most of them maintain reserves from plough backs which I estimate to be 40% of annual income

If by chance I am wrong it would be by +10% or -10%.

carmelily:
@paulipopo
This is SO TRUE of Christ Embassy. Everything comes at a price. You neglected to mention that his and his wife's pictures are splattered all over everything related to Christ embassy or Love(the)world. In Rhapsody of Realities, their pictures appear on every single page. Their headquarters in Ikeja looks like a shrine to Chris, with life-sized picture banners and all. And all their "pastors" are clones of him. sometimes i think the "christ" in Christ Embassy is the full form of his name, Chris. But are you sure they charge for seat bookings?? is the commercialization so absolute?

Also, like kunleOshob has asked, how can we verify the credibility of their net worth like you've estimated?

As for seat booking my sources were the news magazine and life testimony of two people I know attended night of bliss.

Facts and figures of the big 5 holy businesses in Nigeria

Let us take a cursory look at the big 5 holy businesses in Nigeria and take stock of what constitutes the asset base and spread of these businesses. We are going to start from the least of the five entrepreneurs and talk about their origin, membership strength, growth and age.


Name: Mathew Ashimolowo

Date of Birth: March 17, 1952

State of Origin: Osun

Head Office: Hoe street, Wathamston, London, England. (temporary address)

Kind of Business: Prosperity gospel business, publishing and seminar presentations.

Status: Church Proprietor

Asset base of Holy Business he oversees: base: £85 million or =N= 17.85 billion



Mathew Ashimolowo founded KICC in 1992 with 300 former members of foursquare gospel church the denomination he had come to serve in England. Today KICC which is very popular among Africans and Caribbeans in the UK is regarded as the largest Pentecostal Church in western Europe. The business has 10,000 members and hopes to increase its size to 25,000 by 2010. He is married to Yemisi and they both have two children, Tomi and Tobi. Mathew preaches prosperity as a right of every believer. Between 2002 and 2005 Mathew’s KICC was probed by the UK’s Charity commission and was found to have abused his King’s ministry’s trust, which although being a charity was run like a personal property or asset extension. Both him and his wife Yemisi were reputed to have been paid £384,000 for personal expenses including £80,000 purchase of a car, free accommodation plus £13,000 purchase of a timeshare property in Florida and over a million pounds paid into his private companies. Initially Mathew resisted Charity Commission’s inquiry but later co-operated and even admitted wrong doing. His KICC was later returned to him in 2006 after the Charity Commission was satisfied with changes made by Ashimolowo in the King’s Ministry Trust. KICC has branches in the UK, Nigeria, Ghana and the United States.

The charity commission estimated that KICC made £7.5 million in 2005 and had cash reserves of £25 million. Ashimolowo’s KICC was also paid £38 million compensation for it to relocate from its Hackney Headquatres to its present wathampton location.



Name: Temitope Joshua

Date of Birth: June 12, 1963

State of Origin: Ondo
Head Office: Headquarters Address:
1 The Synagogue Church Of All Nations Avenue
Synagogue Bus Stop, Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos, Nigeria

Postal Address:
The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations
PMB 017, Ipaja Post Office, Lagos, Nigeria, West Africa
Office Number:
Tel: +234-(0)1-4783584; +234-(0)1-4721522;
+234-(0)1-4719606; +234 (0) 8077679597
Kind of Business: Voodoo miracle business

Status: Church Proprietor

Asset base of Holy Business he oversees: $ 215 million or =N=23.65 billion


TB Joshua married to Evelyn has four children. He is highly controversial due to his unconventional methods of carrying out healings and exorcisms which are clearly not grounded in scripture or in the similitude of Jesus’ Apostles. However, unlike most holy businessmen he is very generous and modest. He clearly has little desire for material comfort. He gives out a sizeable part of his income to the less priviledged and this is seen by his many humanitarian gestures such as;

1. Granting scholarships to thousands of Nigerian Students
2. Providing relief materials to orphanages and elderly people
3. Providing drugs to hospitals in need of them
4. Accommodating sick and infirm people.
5. Providing vocational and skills training programmes for many social misfits including armed robbers, prostitutes, Area boys/girls etc.
6. Adopting orphans one of such cases was his famed adoption of 60 dwarves
7. Providing capital for traders to start their trade
8. Among many other generous gestures.

He also does not emphasise paying tithes and encourages members of his church to give as they can afford. Despite his modesty, he receives tidy donations from all over the world mainly from missionaries and expatriate visitors to his SCOAN head quatres.


My estimate for his SCOAN asset base is $215 million.



[b]Name: Chris Oyakhilome (PhD)

Date of Birth: December 7, 1961

State of Origin: Edo

Head Office: Love World International Conference Centre Kudirat Abiola way, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos.

Kind of Business: Word of faith business, publishing, miracle crusades, monetization of faith and Media services.

Status: Church Proprietor

Asset base of Holy Business he oversees: =N= 56 billion

[/b]Chris Oyakhilome (PhD), is sometimes described although unofficially by some of his followers as General of God’s Generals, is a 47 year old multi billionaire with a unique touch to this business. He is married to a mulatto by name Anita and they have two daughters; Charlyn and Sharon. He pioneered monetization of faith with virtually everything faith related becoming saleable from cleverly packaged messages in the form of mp3, video and audio cassettes, vcd and dvd etc. to paying partnership programmes not forgetting daily devotionals, books, requests for donations, seat bookings, even miracle crusades, the list is endless. Hardly anything faith related which comes out of his stables goes uncharged. Besides being flamboyant and debonair, he is mysterious and media shy. His supporters would often post birthday congratulatory messages in national dailies but would never state his age. His famous programmes atmosphere of miracles is currently being viewed by a global audience in places like the UK, the United States, Europe, Africa, parts of Asia and South America. According to a statement by Christ embassy, about 2 billion viewers world wide will watch the various programmes from their stables such as Pastor Chris teaches, Atmosphere of Miracles, Atmosphere for faith etc.

The following are a list of assets he either owns or controls with their estimated values:

Christ Embassy ltd

Global plus ltd (an ultra modern printing press with state of the art machines described as among the best in Africa)

Love world publishing

Christ Embassy Publications & Tapes

Minaj Broadcast International

www.christembassyonlinestore.org

www.raphosyofrealities.org

Love world media

International School of ministries



Name: Enoch Adeboye (PhD)

Date of Birth: March 2, 1942

State of Origin: Osun

Head Office:

Kind of Business: Mega franchisor, conglomerate and group of companies.

Status: Church CEO

Asset base of Holy Business he oversees: =N=106 billion


Popularly referred to as Daddy GO, Enoch Adeboye is the Chairman board of directors RCCG. Born on 2nd March 1942, he is married to Folu and has four children. According to Enoch Adeboye, he had a strict Christian upbringing and under went primary and secondary Education which was almost curtailed due to poverty. He claims that he went to school barefooted and in tears until he was seventeen years old. He further states that “as God would have it, I survived against all odds to graduate from the University in 1967, at the age of 25”. Between 1967 and 1975 he had added two more degrees, an M.Sc in hydrodynamics and a Ph.D in Applied Mathematics, and lectured at the University of Lagos and university of Ilorin. He claims he became born again after himself and his wife Folu had sought remedies for the persistent problems of caesarian operations (which had been their lot for their first two children) they needed to have due to his wife’s inability to conceive and deliver naturally. He then sought to patronize traditional medicine men but was persuaded from doing so by his uncle, Rev. Chris Fajemirokun who invited him to Redeemed Christian Church of God then led by the unlettered Josiah Akindayomi. It was at this encounter he claimed to have seen the superiority of God over man and decided to become born again. He was ordained a minister on September 14, 1975 and became General Overseer on January 21, 1981 following Akindayomi’s death on November 2, 1980.

Adeboye applies a rather superficial touch to prophesy which is very unlike what prophets of the bible such as Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel to mention a few were known for doing. For instance, while prophesy used in the bible means to speak the mind of God (this is usually demonstrated in the manner their prophesies were delivered, i.e preceded by thus says the Lord in KJV or it is the Lord who speaks in some other versions), Adeboye more aptly uses it to mean prediction or more cleverly stating obvious facts that are anything but prophetic messages. At every edition of their (RCCG) “ Holy Ghost Night” he makes ‘prophesies’ about things that will happen within that year and these are done rather cleverly in such a way that the ‘prophesies’ can be interpreted in three possible ways by discerning observers. Implying that whichever way they are interpreted, they are bound to come to pass. Also the fact that his prophesies always seem to state the obvious. Let’s see Adeboye’s 2008 Prophesies made at the redemption camp January 1, 2008 it goes like this:


NIGERIA
1. In Nigeria, the Lord will do a new thing.

2. If we His children will pray, He will do a new thing, so that the hot spot in Nigeria will begin to cool.

3. All of us should pray for the president.

INTERNATIONAL

1. There will be scientific breakthrough this year

2. There will be major medical breakthrough this year

3. We must pray against destructive hurricanes coming back this year

INDIVIDUAL
1. For some people, there will be accelerated promotion this year

2. There will be deeper knowledge of the word of God for some people this year

3. For those that are committed to His service, the world will begin to see what a man and God working together can do this year.

4. Whatever you and God tackle together this year will be accomplished

5. Whatever you and God resist together this year shall crumble.

6. This year, "My wind shall be behind you pushing you forward and not in front of you”.

CHURCH:
You will hear this later - not for public consumption.

The long and short of it all is that his ‘prophesies’ defy the essence of true prophesies which is the supernatural ability to speak the mind of God to his people. It might be speaking a message which affects the future, the past or even the present provided such message is composed of knowledge that cannot be obtained through human reasoning. Check Adeboye’s ‘prophesies’ and ask yourself if the messages contain knowledge obtainable through divine revelation or interpretation. Some of his prophesies include the revelation he claimed to have received for the founding of Redemption camp and the annual Holy Ghost festival an annual pilgrimage of some sort which is more of a solution ground for people seeking divine intervention in different forms than a pilgrimage site.

Assets owned by:

1. Redemption Camp comprising Redeemers University, Housing Estates,



Name: David Oyedepo (PhD)

Date of Birth: September 27, 1954

State of Origin:

Head Office: Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland
Km. 10, Idiroko Road, Ota
Ogun State, Nigeria
Tel: 234-1-7747546-8

Kind of Business: Conglomerate.

Status: Church Proprietor

Asset base of Holy Business he oversees: =N= 138 billion


David Oyedepo founded Living faith worldwide inc in 1981 and is the president of World Mission Agency inc, a conglomerate he established in 1995 “to liberate the entire world from all forms of oppressions of the enemy both spiritual and physical through the teaching and preaching of the Word of Faith, schooling men to exploits in life and releasing them to their full potentials to benefit humanity”. According WMA “This is achieved through the general development and upliftment of mankind by stirring up the God-given potentials embedded in people of all races and nations through the propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”. In 1999, he opened canaanland which among other things comprises of a vast 5,000 acre area of land with choice properties doting different parts of the territory. This is in fulfillment of the ‘prophesy’ he made in Kaduna in 1981 when he started his business.
WMA comprises;

Education

1. Covenant University
2. Kingdom Heritage academy
3. Faith Academy
4. Word of faith Bible Institute

Relief: The only known cases being the provision of relief materials to the Koma people in Adamawa State and prisoners in Nigeria, Liberia and some other countries where his missions exist.
Foreign Missions: Over 400 missions (branches) in 250 Nigerian cities and towns as well as 80 missions in 50 countries around the world.

Employment: Printing press, University, Micro finance bank, Bakery, Holy business among others.

Health Care: No information available.

Other Assets owned by Oyedepo include
1. Two aircrafts
2. A fleet of 350 buses which conveys customers to his faith tabernacle
3. Covenant University Community bank
4. Dominion Publishing House
5. Hebron Bottled Water Processing Plant
6. A bakery,
7. Various restaurants and stores
8. And several residential estates that provide for the over 2,000 church employees and 9,000 students that live there.
9. Undisclosed liquid assets such as bank deposits, tenor based investments etc

According to Oyedepo god told him in a vision to make his people rich, hence his desire to eradicate poverty from Africa which is one of his greatest priorities as a servant of god. He his married to faith and according to them they are blessed with godly children.


There seems to be a similarity between Adeboye, Oyedepo and late Gabriel Oduyemi in that they saw visions to establish mega business centres like Redemption Camp, Canaanland and Wondercity respectively. Naturally centres like these are big time money spinning ventures. One would wonder why God would not reveal to his servants the need to extend the churches wealth to the Orphans and widows like the Church practiced during the Apostolic times but would rather buy private jets and set up ego serving man made projects such as magnificient ‘worship’ centres, businesses among others for pastors and others well connected to him.

End of part I of the concluding commentary. I will include a listing of RCCG assets in the final commentary

naomijt:
@Paulipopo,

Was going through my note trying to update it when I discovered that module 4 was missing. Any explanation to this

Modules 4 and 5 have some things in common hence the need to avoid repetitions by merging both modules. But I will still mention some facts and figures of the big 5 holy businesses in Nigeria.

cgift:
Dear Paul,

This your article na wa o. Of course it has its pros and cons but a matured mind will seive out what important lessons and apply them (i don't mean to go set up a a business empire) but to apply caution and gain discerning abilities to be able to decipher the truth when you see any MOG. I don't believe we are meant to be poor or destitute or live average lives as christains, but that we should rather be shining lights to others and bring them to the loving knowledge of Jesus without missing the essence of love and sacrifice of Christ on the cross. For instance this scripture: 2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: says, God wants you to have sufficiency in all things in order to be able to impact society in good works.

You will agree with me that you are obliged to give to further God's work right like meeting needs of widows/orphans, the less privilded, prison services, hospital reachouts, and so on, ? if the answer is yes, then you will also agree with me that the church will definately have a large pool of funds/gifts and control vast wealth with time. Do not also forget that Pastors also get gifrts (cash and kind) and where you have multi-millionares in your congregatio, how can you be poor? No doubt, some misappropriate these things, but we can't throw away the baby with the bath water.

Let me ask you Paul, can you still be a Pastor if God calls you? I guess a yes right? Now, how can you ever meet needs when you are poor? You just can't be poor! You must be rich from gifts and individual blessings from people alone.

But God promised Abraham that his wealth will be uncountable. He blessed Job. He blessed Isaac and Jacob. He blessed this people. There were so many rich men in the time of Christ as well who even later became his disciples. The rich will always have influence and do good with their wealth. See this scripture, James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.; do you know how much it costs to do this alone? I know of Winners for example run Prison services, and do all of these stuffs. Do you know how much in millions it cost to do this regularly ? Or do we have to perform the miracle of feeding 5,000 people every now and then to meet their very basic needs?.


Pastor Adeboye for inastance does not have access to church finance and that is the position of many Pastors who are genuine. The wealth will only come naturally and needs not be struggled for. Pastors are on salaries as well but are blessed by people like you and me when we show appreciation of God's goodness in our lives.

No doubt, the prosperity message has been taken out of context but mind you, you will rather be rich and bless people than be a liability. Meeting needs would make your work as an evangelist/pastor easier.

I hope i have been able to strike a balance with mny two cents?

You are missing my point. That was never the intention of the message. Of course churches need funds to operate, but the method used in raising such funds and the fact that christianity as we have it today is largely distorted is what this course set out to mention. Never I have insinuated that reading this course will make you a super rich holy business man. The course is satirical not literal. The essence is to assist christians to know what constitutes actual christianity and distorted christianity.

@ all

I'll try and round this course off on the 7th of October.

In the mean time comments and criticism are welcome from anybody who has anything to say. Thank you.

KunleOshob:
Is that all it ended so abruptly i guess i was enjoying the course too much anyway i hope we have all learnt useful lessons from the course and if i may add on behalf of the poster, this post is not really about how to be a super rich holy business man it essentially tries to serve as an eye opener to make us aware that there are sharks amongst us who are willing and able to exploit our desire to serve God truly. The cousre seeks in no way to discredit christianity but rather the antics of some so called god of men who are deceiving christians in God's name and profitting from it. The course essentially encourages us to remain vigilante and not fall for the antics of these men. It also encourages us to focus more on God than these men who claim to represent him. I urge you all to keep the peace and not just remain steadfast in your christian faith but to study the bible diligently(so as not to be lead astray or deceived) and worship God in truth and in faith. We should also keep the greatest commandments of christ and that is to LOVE.

Kunle the course isn't over yet. This module is in two parts plus an overview which would be a summary of the course.

Module 5: Concluding Commentary

This module will talk about the effects holy business has had on the Nigerian society. It will also highlight the need for Christians to be conscious of their faith and the necessity to guard against false worship.

Before commencing with the actual commentary here are a few things I need to make known.

1. Motive behind this course.

Who is this paulipopo that has brought some ripples to nairaland?

My first name is really Paul, a student of computer science who has been at the receiving end of holy businessmen in the past, my family and especially my late father suffered greatly for being too trusting. That is the main reason for my zeal in this quest. That is to say my personal experience as a victim of men of god is the primary cause of my enthusiasm, and not a compelling vendetta I wish to fulfill against any man of god.

While it may be unfair to some, to point fingers at others, I think making a point about a visible trend using human examples is harmless except to the ones whose names will be mentioned, provided it contains no malice or intent to slander or harm a person’s reputation. I have chosen to do so in order to drive home a simple point that the Church as we have it today is a very distant equivalent of what was both during and shortly after the time of Jesus Christ. I am quite aware that many people already know this but, how many people see things with the same two eyes as I do? Hence the need to air my observation with an enlightened audience such as what obtains on nairaland. While it is obvious to most people that the government is corrupt in Nigeria, it isn’t obvious to them that the church is equally as corrupt. It is my humble submission that if the church in Nigeria is half as corrupt as it is today, Nigeria would be a much better place to live in, hence the need to take the bull by the horns. Not everybody agrees with my method, and I knew this even before coming out with this course but I still have no regrets other than being misunderstood as one who had hatred for some of those whose names I mentioned in this course, or being an aggrieved former member of a church board of trustees or a trouble maker out to sow discord in the minds of Christians against some reputable ‘men of God’. The long and short of it all is the need to warn Christians about the supposed practice of their faith much of which is a departure from true Christianity as enshrined in scripture, or Apostolic standards.

For me to boldly state things the way I did even mentioning names, was seen as being judgmental, stupid and prejudicial by some, but to me it was a personal commitment to do what I hold dear to myself that is being free to state things the way they really are. First when Christians play that old tune of do not judge, judgement is for God only, they fail to realize what constitutes judgement. The judgement Jesus Christ spoke about in Mathew 7: 1-5 and the other often quoted Romans 14: 4 are scriptures taken out of context. Judging in both contexts refer to haughty, self righteous and hypocritical jugdement (selfish and wicked opinion you hold about others) about the self imposed standards people use to measure the correctness or other wise of other people’s actions. It has nothing to do with mentioning and pointing out faults in others that run contrary to the will of God or Godly standards. Paul once rebuked Peter for acting cowardly when he was at a cross roads between jewish and gentile christians, if we are to go with what some say about judgement then Paul would be a hypocrite, one who does not practice what he preaches since he was the one who wrote Romans 14:4 which many quote out of context.

Besides the major reason the church is this way is because of trepidation on the part of most Christians to hold their leaders accountable both for their spiritual duties and for their social conducts as well, on the guise of not judging others. The result of this kind of thinking has been the propelling force responsible for the falling standards of spirituality and rising standards of corruption and embrace of materialism among Christians.


2. How I came about all this knowledge I am sharing

To many people, the only way one can possess insider knowledge about things is if you belong to a system that uses such knowledge. In other words if I seem to know the ‘secrets’ of holy business it must be because I was once a holy businessman myself. But how about learning some tricks of their trade from victims of the trade especially if you are one yourself? In my case I learnt from three sources:

A. Learning from people who had come to see holy businessmen for who they really were.

Starting first with myself, after taking stock of how much harm had been done to my family and the fact that my father’s premature death was indirectly caused by being tricked, it became mandatory to be on my toes against men of god. Learning from scriptures that you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free, I became committed to searching and studying scriptures as well as enlightening myself because I came to see that enlightened minds could not easily be tricked. Being highly educated is not the same thing as being enlightened and I learnt this from my father who despite being a medical doctor and a knowledgeable person for that matter was conned by people far less knowledgeable and intelligent as himself. I closely observed the steps these men used in approaching and manipulating people and soon discovered a lot of similarities with the methods used by tricksters. The only difference between a secular trickster and a holy businessman is the variety in their trade that is, that the holy businessman uses religiousity, the bible and human weaknesses as his tools in this trade.

B. Keen Observation.

Whenever I notice skepticism towards a subject I try my best to observe the facts from all sides in other to arrive at an accurate conclusion. Starting with the rumoured use of stage managed miracles I first heard were employed by the late Gabriel Oduyemi in 1994, to TB Joshua’s use of voodoo/shaman powers, even though quite young I took it upon myself to commit to keen observation of things I witnessed. For instance on December 31 1993, Gabriel Oduyemi ‘Prophesied’ that one Chief Ezebiro would be the next president of Nigeria (he did this by raising his hand and showing him off to a teeming crowd of worshippers at the then popular wonder city grounds in Ajah). Till date the name Ezebiro does not ring a bell to the average Nigerian, that is an example of a conman, exposing himself to ridicule. Choosing to do what many Christians would want me to do i.e not ‘judge’ in this case would amount to moral cowardice and consenting to the antics of men who love money far more than anything else (I am quite sure God will not permit that). I will not be wrong in pointing out that this man is not of God, because he truly wasn’t speaking the mind of God. Added to the fact that the method he employed in his trade are very similar to what Benny hinn and Chris Oyakhilome are currently doing, it would be a big joke for anyone not to think that something is amiss especially when Benny hinn and Chris Oyakhilome deliberately frustrate the efforts of credible independent observers to verify claims of miracles that are allegedly performed at their crusades. For TB Joshua, I have heard scores of claims about some devilish antics himself and some of his followers have employed in deceiving people, but limiting my opinion of him to what I have personally seen him do plus the credible testimony of visiting expatriates on fact finding missions, I have come to know that TB Joshua is also not doing God’s work. As for the third class of holy businessmen the word of faith and prosperity class, common sense and an honest heart will make it obvious to anyone that Jesus came to save sinners from eternal damnation and not make us rich in material terms. Studying my observations closely I have come to see the truth that many people do not seem to know and that is what they have termed ‘secrets’ of holy business which to me is no secret.

C. Personal Investigations.

It took me approximately 3 months to gather sufficient materials from which I investigated those whose names I mentioned. The bulk of this information came from the internet, newspapers and magazines as well as radio. But I equally did a personal understudy of some of them especially RCCG and Christ Embassy. My method involved asking questions about observed trends and looking for answers through inferences and replies I got from interviews I conducted with experienced journalists and church leaders. Anyone can come up with findings like these. It is no big deal.

KunleOshob:
I feel kind of dissapointed that you have decided to omit module four (or are you bowing to pressure?) Module four was supposed to contain facts and figures of Holy businesses in Nigeria, even though i asked for restraint in mentioning names initially i got to appreciate that the course would be incomplete without the insightful / glaring examples you gave. i believe that facts and figures would further enrich what ever we learn from this course. But then as the lecturer, i guess you know better. I feel sad that this course is coming to an end, i was really enjoying it.

I will try and include some facts and figures of holy business in the concluding commentary although only a few.

Thank you for your patience.

carmelily:
ah paulipopo, you've outdone yourself in the brilliance and clarity of your deductions in this Module 3. The Years 1 and 2 plans are spot on what these clowns do. Keep it up. But the suspense as to your "real" motive which you promised to reveal at the end of the course is killing me o!

I will come to that right away in the next submission.

@ Class

There will be no module 4 any more just the concluding commentary. Thank you.

Module 3 Part II

3. Word of faith/Prosperity Theology Institute

Late Kenneth Hagin who influenced the likes of Paul crouch, Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar is the name synonymous with this brand of ‘Christianity’ which among other unsound things is founded primarily on heresy and materialism. Proponents of this word of faith gospel preach a Jesus Christ which is different from the one preached by the apostles of Jesus Christ in that they claim the following of him:

1. That Jesus Christ came to make us rich (not in terms of righteousness but in terms of material riches) and that anyone who is poor does not have the life of Christ in him. Could this Jesus Christ they preach be the same Jesus Christ who asked what shall it profit a man to gain the world, yet lose his soul? Or the same Jesus who said you cannot serve God and mammon at the same time (in order words you cannot love worldliness which includes materialism and love God at the same time). Or the same Jesus who asked a rich ruler to sell off all his possessions and give to the poor?

2. That anyone who believes in Jesus will never suffer from any kind of sickness or disease. The lie here is the contradiction that the word of faith teachers, preach and practice. On one hand they state boldly that they no longer need doctors or medicines because they have confessed their healing and victory over sicknesses and diseases which they attribute to satan’s attempt to rob them of their divine right to total health but many of them turn around to patronize the services of doctors and pharmacists to be cured of various ailments including cancers and heart diseases or succumb to the illnesses they claim to have victory over. Examples of these include; Oral Roberts, Joyce Meyers and peggy capps who underwent surgery at various times during their ‘ministry’ to treat various ailments especially cancer and Kathryn Kuhlman and Kenneth Hagin who both died of Heart failures and Michael Oduyemi who died of cancer.

3. Their teachings promote idolatry in that it tends to diminish the place of Christ in the life of ‘believers’ and elevate that of the preachers to equality with God. For instance, the word of faith teachers, claim that Jesus Christ died both spiritually in hell and physically on the cross and that Jesus’ physical death did not atone for our sins nor did our salvation come through his death on the cross but rather his spiritual death which made him ‘born again’ like every other sinner thus their coinage for “first born from the dead”. This contradicts Christian Doctrine about the sinless state of Jesus because our salvation as Christians comes through the blood of Jesus Christ and not the heretical spiritual death of Jesus. The implication of this teaching is that the sheep (believers of this heresy) listen not to the voice of Jesus Christ, as contained in the teachings of his apostles in scripture but rather the voice of the heretic (the preacher in this case) who might claim received his teachings through revelation.


Even Kenneth Hagin jr, son of Kenneth Hagin sr, admitted the error in this teaching when he said his late father never taught about the born again Jesus nor the adoption of satan’s nature, this was contained in a letter he wrote to the Christian Research Institute in 1991 in response to a critique by D.R. Mcconnell founder of that institute. This brand of Christianity is termed “positive confession” or “faith confession” by its opponents and “name it claim it” by its opponents. Chris Oyakhilome is a well known word of faith teacher.

Then there is the Prosperity School of Holy Business which is a subset of the Word of faith School. Proponents of this school use motivational themes in expressing their belief about the ‘blessings’ of God in the lives of believers. Note that prosperity is truly from God but it affects the lives of both believers and non believers, but the proponents try to make it look like it benefits only Christians. The proponents of this school teach human knowledge about how to succeed in life especially with regard to finance and self-actualization, but not how to fight and conquer sin or resist the devil so that he flees, improve our spiritual work with God or show and express brotherly love towards the less priviledged and the spiritually weak or share knowledge about God’s goodness with the ignorant. They would occasionally use scriptures to make references to points that have no basis with Christianity. Prosperity gospel touches various areas such as Personal Finance and financial independence, Work place success, marital success, victory over human enemies, academic success, business breakthrough and other areas of human life that appeal to human senses and emotions. They would often juxtapose bible verses with points gotten from motivational books in their teachings. Examples of well known prosperity teachers are Mathew Ashimolowo Chairman KICC ltd, S.O Olubiyo Chairman/CEO Triumphant Christian Centre ltd, Sam Adeyemi Chairman/CEO Daystar Christian Centre ltd.

If you wish to patronize the services of these men and the businesses they run look out for Module IV where I shall list their head offices as well as contact information.



Recommended Line of action for any would-be Holy Business man

Depending on your taste and ability, there are a number of styles you need to follow in order to accomplish your desire to become super rich if you are starting off today. Let’s see for ourselves:

1. Adopt the Imperialist approach for growth.

The draw back about this style of trade is that it is the exclusive preserve of innovative and pioneering minds and not copy cats or “follow follow people”. If you lack originality or a unique perceptive ability, then you do not belong here. Imperialism in our case is the fact of a powerful business extending its influence over other businesses. Under this style of business strategy, your aim is to maximize growth through the use of imperialist mentality for conquering and dominating your target market. Ideally you have identified a niche market like let’s say the youths between 18 and 40. You have a product or service which you term ‘ministry’ that will often preach a message that will appeal to this group such as Singles and Married or Youth Conference. The result is an out flowing of people within this group who troop happily to receive the goodies that your business outfit promises them. The phenomenal growth of your business will make you an established authority within that niche and many after you will learn the ropes by “borrowing” some of your mannerisms or philosophies. While the imperialist approach may not necessarily require expansion in terms of opening branches or setting up subsidiaries, but it naturally takes that form and on the long run it is a very powerful approach. Examples of businesses that have recorded success in this regard include Living Faith Tabernacle ltd, Christ Embassy ltd which have a wide network of branches and subsidiaries as well as affiliates and Fountain of Life ltd which is principally a stand alone entity although very influential.

2. Use franchising arrangement.

A franchise is an arrangement by which the manufacturer or sole distributor of a product or service with a trademark grants exclusive rights for local distribution to independent retailers in return for their payment of royalties and conformity to standardized operating procedures. Some mega businesses such as RCCG ltd/plc can trace their size and phenomenal growth to this kind of arrangement. Under this arrangement every Tom, Dick and Harry who can meet the franchising requirement is automatically absolved into the conglomerate and given special instructions on how to run his enterprise. The conditions are;
• That the brand name must not be brought into disrepute
• Be paid royalties (15% of income for franchisees less than 2 years in business and 10% for those longer than that) on time and honestly
• All franchisees must fall under the control of Area, District or Provincial heads which in turn are controlled by the head office.
• You the franchisee, is free to buy, rent or build any structure as long as customers will show up.

The result of this is a branch network of 2,000 business outlets and the fastest growing holy business in the world. The asset base of this mega business will be discussed later. RCCG ltd as it is today is a very different RCCG of 1952 which was founded by late Josiah Akindayomi through the late 80s. The Business has since departed from its core believes and has embraced Prosperity gospel. It is currently led my business tycoon Enoch Adeboye who is the Chairman Board of Directors and CEO.

3. The Benny Hinn approach

Like I already stated, Benny hinn is famous for renting stadia and other open air spaces which is often accompanied by his using razzmatazz in the form of stage managed miracles and televangelism which principally focuses on word of faith and prosperity gospel teachings. The emphasis should be on making people believe that heaven is here on earth. That everything you want in life will be given to you if you ask in ‘faith’ no matter how selfish it may be and even when it clearly violates the will of God. Some modern day preachers in this class argue that just because heaven is beyond this life does not mean we should not enjoy it here on earth and in this life, and they are right at least Paul Adefarasin has corroborated this as well, he has even stated that the next dispensation of Christianity will see the transfer of wealth from industries to the church and he is right, billionaires in the class of David Oyedepo, Enoch Adeboye, Chris Oyakhilome, Lazarus Muochukwuka, Mathew Ashimolowo and TB Joshua (although he gives out a substantial part of his wealth to the less priviledged) have shown that truly wealth will come to the church and of course holy businessmen will be either the main beneficiaries or the sole beneficiaries depending on how self preserving they are. Now back to our discussion, about using this strategy effectively, do not be scared that your joke i.e your stage managed miracles will insult the intelligence of discerning observers, the most important thing is that no one can prove or expose your game as long as the weak and simple minded, gullible and faithless miracle seekers fall for them, expansion, growth and riches will be your portion in our god’s name aaaaaaaameeeeeeeeeennn!!!!!!.

4. Use the principle of free draws the crowd

This principle states that as long as you give away something valueable for free, you shall draw crowds onto yourself. Offer free seminars on how to make money, land your dream job, find the right life partner or ‘faith clinics’ that will give you all your heart’s desires but not draw you closer to God. You can target students, businessmen, contractors, singles and pastors. Do not target pagans and other unbelievers because you will be following Christ’s injunction about preaching the gospel and making disciples of all nations. The impact of these exploits of yours will be the making of you the holy businessman or your business as a household name. This method is cheap and self sustaining on the long run. You will become a much sought after speaker patronized by both religious and secular entities.

The five year Plan and the =N=1.2 bn connection

This plan is not a guarantee but at least it is a prescribed route by the masters. Follow this plan diligently and you could be among the lucky few. Note I said lucky few but there is some measure of security here and that is that you could go far into the millionaires club (those who count annual incomes in tens of millions). At this stage it is assumed that you already know your market and you are ready to go.

The five year plan goes like this:

Year 1

You have just entered this business, you do not have a name, a voice and a base but you know just what to do to get at people’s money. Let’s assume your niche; are university students, youths and the young at heart apply the following:

1. Start an evangelical outreach intended to meet your target market. This outreach could be a fellowship or bible meeting of some sought. You teach inspiring messages that uplift the emotions and senses of your listeners. Teach practical principles for passing examinations in flying colours, promote self authored books on being gainfully employed or self employed after school or if you haven’t authored any books make sure you have power charged messages of your own to make up for that inadequacy, above all use your bible as your teaching companion and remember the customer needs determine the product that will be produced.

2. Regularly organize free seminars, workshops etc where the emphasis will be on dating, job hunting and skills acquisition.

3. Invite other people of your kind to come and speak for free at your seminars, workshops etc.

4. When you have appreciable followership in the region of say 100, then it is time to start a business. Have your business plan ready at this stage then commence business name registration.

5. Look for a venue where you would have Sunday services. Make sure it is totally secure for your use.

6. Entice patronage for your business, encourage followers and customers to invite others for service.

7. Make sure you have trusted hands collecting and managing your income and expenses. Do not forget to apply your fail proof strategy at this stage.

Hint: Word of faith teachings sell faster than motivational or prosperity teachings because they cover more ground.

Year 2

At this stage you have come to be known by many people, you own and run a business but you are relatively small with only a few thousand adherents and new in the trade. Apply the following;

1. Create mass awareness about your establishment and its products through the use of outdoor signs and posters. Do not hesitate to provide contact information as well as date and time of services.

2. Set up a recruitment and training arm within your business from which you can absolve, train and promote protégés who are mainly opinion leaders and charismatic people.

3. Promote and ordain these protégés and charge them with newer and greater responsibilities. Such as handling services or heading new branches.

4. Create a new branch wherever and whenever you identify a wide disparity needing to be filled up between location, prospects and their needs. If you notice that many of your customers come from a particular place without any of your branches being there, it is an indication that that very place needs you set off to conquer that place if you can prove the viability of that sign.

5. Remain trendy. The rave of the moment must not be ignored, play your game accordingly.

Hint: Be up to date with your customer needs. Teach practical real life lessons especially as they affect human needs. They make more sense to most people.

Year 3

At this stage you have remained consistent in applying first year plan of actions to your business and now probably have a main office and 3 or 4 branches each running 2 or 3 services every Sunday, you have regular customers of say 2,000 – 10,000. Your next plan would be to double this figure within 12 months. Apply the following:

1. Invest heavily in knowledge and skills relating to this trade. Have a reliable databank and storehouse of information within this trade that will be what the CIA is to the global community. You must show yourself a ‘workman’ approved of the Lord. In other words you must seem to know everything and anything. This will bolster your worth in the eyes of many including your detractors who will discover your deep knowledge about life’s lessons and imagine that some mystical force is behind your knowledge. But avoid impromptu arrangement which might test your human abilities because it will be apparent that your knowledge is human and not divine like you have tried to make many believe.

2. Device a means of holding people spell bound for days on end. You could organize your first crusade or annual convention, from which you could declare all sorts of wonders like miracles and anointing, breakthrough, and Holy Ghost visitation. Invite other anointed men of god to come and speak the prophetic word of God. The impact of this programme of yours will be your first real insight into your shot at the big prize.

3. If you have the much needed social and financial connection, play on or insult the intelligence of people by staging miracles that will remain unverifiable forever. This should be your second line of action in this part of the plan and that is if you are intending to use Benny hinn’s approach.

4. Start the launch for your permanent site which would involve soliciting funds from customers and other generous givers.

Hint: Become observant for new opportunities and look out for threats from both competitors and critics also know that poachers are out there looking to expose your game.


Year 4

You have grown phenomenally from 100 customers to 4,000 – 20,000 customers in three years. Now you can blow up by going “televangelistic”. The power of propaganda starts at this point. The most effective way to enlist mass followership is propaganda which is a cleverly packaged set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. In other words it is the act of controlling the beliefs, opinion and mindset of a large number of people at a time. You aim to have a followership of say 10,000 – 50,000 in your fold.

1. Start a programme to be aired once a week on at least two or three popular television stations. This programme must advertise your products and services, propagate your own mission and entice the many gullible people who watch your programme.

2. Draw many to your flock by stating “if you are not born again and wish to be born again then repeat these words …………………………………….” (ellipsis indicates a prayer of confession or whatever other name you wish to call it). At the end of it say congratulations you have just become a member of God’s family. To find out more on what a child of God should do please call the following numbers; ………… (list of phone numbers) those who would pick your calls will often ask the new converts for their names and addresses and would try to convince them to join a bible believing church in which case yours is the most suitable.

3. Also solicit patronage for your business by imploring viewers to “worship with us at _____________ (business name) ___________ (location). Always remember to include the time of services.

4. Solicit financial assistance of various kinds in the form of partnership for your Television program, or other project you claim is for God’s work.

Hint: Use your new found fame to establish prominence. Be especially prudent with the use of information that is self serving.

Year 5

By this time people know and see you everywhere. You have become a household name within a state or two or even three. You have convinced many to join your fold. Now is the time to consolidate. You can start building effective brands around yourself, your business and anything people think is inspired divinely. You probably have

1. You can now start selling messages you preach in VCD/DVD formats, Audio and video cassettes, mp3 formats etc.

2. You already have a subsidiary specially set up to sell these items on your behalf and also run this arm of business for you.

3. Increase the scope of your influence. Increase the intensity of your televangelism. Ensure that you repeat the strategic plans that encourage expansion, growth and increase.

4. Promote your plans and aspirations in cleverly designed projects such as annual conventions, crusades, conferences etc. You should ensure that at this stage you have both technical and financial partners to render assistance to you.

5. Go global. Establish branches outside the shores of your country. Take your televangelism a step further by being on satellite T.V channels. Ensure you apply your plan of actions wherever you spread your fangs.

6. You can diversify your trade. Build or buy real estates for your self and your business interest, do not spend more than a paltry sum of your gross income on charity but instead diversify, the future may not be as favourable as the present.

7. From now on keep up the tempo. Do not lose focus you have 70,000 – 100,000 active tithe paying members. Most of them will pay more than =N= 3000 per month to your business, but let’s stay with =N= 1000. Do not mix things up. Money for tithe should remain within your business. Money collected from partners and the sale of your products which include; self authored books, devotionals, messages, seed offerings, miracles and other “anointed products” can be used to fund your televangelism and other self serving projects.

8. See you at the top.

Hint: Remain humble in victory as in defeat.

End of Module III

Seun:
Stop cutting and pasting.
You're supposed to be sharing your original thoughts.
If you've run out of original ideas, then maybe it's time to lock the thread?

Sorry Seun I was only trying to point to other sources besides my thoughts. I haven't ran out of ideas.