Picture:At 3, Obasanjo’s church rolls out the drums

-SunIt was praises and thanksgiving all the way as members of the Chapel of Christ
The Glorious King (CCGK), a church founded by former President Olusegun Obasanjo
in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, celebrated its third anniversary
recently.

Amid dancing, drumming and singing, the former president was
full of praises to God, saying he was divinely directed to establish the church.
He also expressed his gratitude to the invited guests, who honoured his
invitation.

Obasanjo also appreciated members of the church, a spacious
and fully air-conditioned facility within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential
Library complex.

Dignitaries that graced the occasion included boardroom
mogul, Chief Gamaliel Onosode, with his wife, former governors of Osun and Ekiti
States, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Engr. Segun Oni as well as the
governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State in
the last elections, Gen. Tunji Olurin (retd.).

Others were Senator Ayo
Arise, Dr. Austin Ifenayi Chukwu Epunam, President and founder of Sweet Home
Africa Humanitarian Foundation
The former president, supported by his wife
and well-wishers, said: “I want to thank you for dancing. I want to thank you
for your generous donation. I believe that any church of God in addition to
preaching evangelism must lift souls and help others.

While thanking God
for taking the church and the congregation this far in the past three years,
Obasanjo charged the congregation not to relent in evangelism as well as in
touching lives.
Rev. Dr. Gold Amie, Assistant General Secretary of the
Nigerian Baptist Convention, in his sermon, said a church must stand firm on the
rock of Jesus Christ.

According to him, the time for bread and butter
Christianity is over. “The church that is moving must be a living church. In
church administration, we don’t define the church in terms of organisation or
structure, but we define it in terms of organism which lives, moves, grows and
matures.
“The church grows; it is a living organism. It multiplies by binary
fusion and it lives forever. And if it is the body of Christ as indicated here,
that church must be a living church.”

He added that because a church of
God must grow, it must diversify into other areas of evangelism and ministry.
“It may seem to be slow. It can’t be static, but the growth of the church is
steady because it is found on Christ.
“If this is a living church, it has its
obligation to grow; it must grow by leaps and bounds from now to eternity,
developing people, lives, giving help and concern to people who need to have
them.”

Speaking on the menace of Boko Haram in the country, the Baptist
Secretary said: “We don’t pray for it, but let me say that what is happening up
North can happen in the south. We are not immune, so let us be watchful.”
He
recalled that the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) said that Christians
of today should learn to defend themselves.

“That has been misinterpreted
by many people in many ways. We keep saying that we are not sending you to war,
to retaliate. But definitely, you can’t fold your alms and see somebody come to
your house, chop your neck and that of your children and do
nothing.”

Sounding a note of warning, Amie said: “I think the life we
have is a gift from God. We are stewards of such lives and we must take adequate
care of such lives because we are made in the image of God.” He urged Christians
to remain prayerful.

Speaking on the need for Christians to always assist
others, he said: “As Christians, whatever you give or donate to a church for
evangelism or developing others is not a waste, because in giving, you are not
giving to a human being.”
Using his example, he said God picked him from the
dustbin and turned him into what he had become today. “I am one of those people
that people would say had no backbone. But Jesus Christ lifted me
up.

“You can never tell who your money will groom, or make someone. For
Christ’s sake, touch the life of someone today, and I can tell you that you will
never regret it. A moving church can’t be pulled down by the gates of
hell.
“Only three years, we have seen marvellous things. By the time it
clocks ten, we will have more wonderful things. Jesus Christ is the chief corner
stone of the church,” he concluded even as the congregation gave him a
thunderous applause.wp_posts