General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has apologized for saying anybody who does not pay tithe will not make heaven.
He tendered the apology on Thursday while ministering at the ongoing youth convention of the church monitored online by Church Times.
Adeboye who tried to inspire the youth to aspire to do more for the Lord took a pause in the course of the message; changed his countenance and said he was sorry for saying those who don’t pay tithe will not make heaven.
He said, “I am sorry for saying that if you don’t pay tithe you won’t go to heaven. That is not in the Bible. What the Bible says is, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man will make heaven.”
Alluding to his message a couple of years ago that none tithers will not make heaven, he said, “It is possible to be right and wrong at the same time. I will prove it to you. For years, we taught that light travels in a straight line. Later we say it travels in waves.”
10 percent, the limit
He however told the youth that it was wrong to have limited people to “10 percent when some of you should be giving 20 percent, 30 percent, etc. 10 percent should be for beginners. Giving should be done violently. If you want to be on top to control finances you will give beyond 10 percent.”
The RCCG overseer recalled his experience at one of the conventions of the ministry of Kenneth E Hagin in Tulsa, US where a man made a promise to give more than all what the 17,000 participants at the convention gave.
He said all participants had given about 3.5 million dollars towards the building of the Rhema Bible College. But the man promised he was going to give more than what everybody gave towards the project.
When Adeboye asked the man the secret of his sacrificial giving lifestyle, he told him how he had started a business with 500 dollars and had told God if he blessed him, he would not insult Him with 10 percent.
Five years after the man started the business, he was making a turnover of 50 million dollars according to what he told Pastor Adeboye. That was what inspired him to give towards God’s work “violently”
Adeboye then apologized again, saying, “I am sorry for saying you should pay 10 percent. If we are going to dominate, we have to give violently,” he said.
He said further that they also have to embark on violent soul-winning if they are going to dominate.
Making reference to his early years in the faith, he said he took young men to Badagry for evangelism on the first Easter holiday that followed his conversion.
He also recalled how he used to make it compulsory for all the non-teaching staff at the Faculty of Science of the University of Lagos to attend bible study during break time in his office. “When my office could not contain people again, we had to look for a classroom to do our Bible study during break time,” Adeboye said.
He added, “My oga then, the well-known Prof Chike Obi said it would be a waste of time trying to tell me not to preach Jesus but that I should wait till the school closes before holding such Bible study. I preached violently because I knew how close I was to hell before Jesus saved me”
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