RELIGIOUS leaders and members of the Northern Christian Elders Forum (NORCEF) have criticised Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly, Lagos, over his comments that a revolution would consume religious leaders in the country, just as he condemned the acquisition of jets by renowned Christian leaders in Nigeria.

Reacting to Bakare’s comments, the chairman of the Northern Christian Elders Forum, Evangelist Matthew Owojaiye, said Bakare’s comments should be ignored.

In a similar reaction, Apostle Isa El-Buba, General Overseer of Evangelical Bible Outreach Ministries International, Jos, Plateau State, defended preachers who own jets, concluding that Bakare’s condemnation of these men of God was blasphemous. “There is nothing wrong for a preacher to own a jet. If people in the secular world can acquire jets for chief executive officers of big private enterprises, there is nothing wrong in giving gifts to a man of God of Pastor Oritsejafor’s standing. This is a man of God that travels across the whole world. He deserves what he has been given.”

Similarly, the General Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Musa Asake, flayed Bakare, saying: “What is wrong with giving a gift to Pastor Oritsejafor? Did Pastor Oritsejafor embezzle church money? Did he collect somebody’s money? Some people came together and bought it for him so as to ease his work. This is to help him to continue with the work of the gospel. Oritsejafor is a man of God. He is doing everything for the work of God.

“It is a welcome idea. I support people who help ministers of the gospel in their work. He did not go out to lobby for it. It was a surprise for him. I was at that occasion. I saw things myself,” he argued.

President of the Delta State Baptist Conference, Reverend Gideon Oyibo, exonerated Pastor Oritsejafor, saying there was nothing wrong with such gesture.

“The environment influences the way people talk. If you come from a family background of poverty and a member of the family is rich, people will conclude that he is a ritualist. They will conclude that he has stolen money, because in that family, the members do not expect anybody to be rich.

“In Nigeria, we have a traditional environment in which a pastor is expected to operate by our own evaluation. Whenever a pastor is living above our own evaluation, then we can say anything about that person.

“The question we should ask is that: did Pastor Oritsejafor ask for the jet? Did he beg for it? Or was it that certain people gathered together under the leading of God and decided to buy it and present it to him as a gift?

“These ministers of God travel from one place to the other frequently. What is morally wrong if their movement is eased by getting a jet? What is morally wrong if someone gets a car for the purpose of making transportation easy? What is wrong if a pastor is given a jet as a gift so as to contribute to the expansion of the gospel which the Lord has entrusted to his care?” He asked.

However, Archbishop Magnus Atilade called on Bakare to exercise caution in his utterances, especially at this period of the nation’s history, just as he argued that his reactions were not necessary.

“It is not good to reject any gift. What is expected is that once a person is given a gift, then it should be taken and put to the use that it is meant for. If it is not needed, then it can be converted to other things that can help for the work of the gospel.

“I urge Tunde Bakare to exercise temperance in his statements and utterances. Nothing should be condemned outrightly. The Bible kicks against being judgmental. Billy Graham had a means of a private jet which aided him in travelling round the world. If your ministry is as wide as that and you can afford it, then there is nothing wrong with that,” he said.

More: http://channelkoos.com/index.php/news/3036-christian-leaders-chide-tunde-bakare-say-there-is-nothing-wrong-for-a-preacher-to-own-a-jet

there is nothing wrong with owning 1 jet.
But everything is wrong when it passes one.
But hope these pastors are meeting the needs of the congregations before buying these jets.

I love how the reaction to Bakare's utterances reveal the shallowness and emptiness of the so-called MOGs..

The Church isn't an investment!!! How can a sane person compare a CEO of a company and a Pastor. A company is set up to make profits, but same can't be said abt a church..

Y comparng corporate guys wit pastors in terms of buying jets.Thousands of dollars can impact a lot on a congregatn.How many youths can be given capital to start business,how many poor students can be granted scholarships,how many orphans nd widows will be assisted wit such a sum?.When u weigh d pros nd cons ,u will find dat d 'cons' by far outweighs d 'pros'

Its getting clearer how these MOGs view their respective churches.

The see it as an investment from which they must get profits. Modesty and Simplicity isn't in their dictionary.

Jesus, the Apostles and even the prophets of old were all very modest in their acquisition of material things.

Pastors and Politicians have a comparable level of greed...

Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Maximillian Kolbe, Madre Antonia were people who walked the face of this earth and they lived by the precepts of their religion: moderation.

The Bible says let your moderation be known to all men for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Phil 4: 5

Pastors are now making their wealth known to all men. Their esteem and social status is much more important than the core reason why God called them to work.

Can't our Pastors learn from the great Preacher Charles Spurgeon who had a very large poultry farm and donated all the profits to widows? What legacies do they want to leave for young ministers of God.

Tunde Bakare is just one controversial man who Nigerians will not love because he says the truth.

Can't they just take a cue from the missionaries that brought gospel to this nation? I mean, these people gave us education free of charge and our own "christian universities" can't even serve a middle-class family because the tuition is on the high side.

My message to Christians is to know themselves and their God. I can't vouch for any minister of God. I believe in the Bible which is the word of God and I believe in my God. All other "things" are on their own because if you add all the wealth of these men of God, a small porton of it is enough to raise 3million people out of poverty.



Frawzey

I'm very angry at those pro-cleric-jet...very very angry!

God would bless this church leaders. The words of the delta pastor is so true. We like to judge pastors by our own standards. Abeg Papa Oritsejafor keep flying high