Christ did not die for us to acquire material things- Emiko Amotsuka

Emiko Amotsuka

A foremost teacher of the word and president of Koinonia Bible Ministries, Rev Emiko Amotsuka has decried the penchant for material things by believers in this present generation pointing out that Christ did not die so people could build mansions and acquire stuffs.

Amotsuka who was guest at a Dove Television programme tagged The Father’s which was anchored by Mr. Dele Oke, said he has had to begin to emphasise the need for people to go back to fundamental teachings of Christ which according to him bothers on holiness and character.

It will be recalled that Rev Amotsuka was one of the leading lights in the faith movement in Nigeria. He was noted for his teachings on faith and prosperity in the 80s and 90s. But he said at the programme which was aired on Monday March 5 that the reason Christ died was to save us from sin and give us eternal life and not for us to build houses emphasizing that he has had to begin to focus on those fundamentals lately.

Amotsuka whose ministries clocked 40 years last November recalled that when he surrendered his life to Christ in 1971 at the age of 20, the primary desire he had was to know more about God. “In those days when we surrendered our lives to Christ our concern was to know more about God. I remember my aunt used to be wary of giving me money in those days because she knew whenever money hit my hand I would look for the next available Christian bookshop to buy books that would edify me.”

He however regretted that the focus in this generation has changed. “Today young people have been so engrossed in looking for fame and money that they have little time for God. The devil has made the world so attractive to them that they feel by getting so committed to God they would lose out on the good things of life.’ While stating that God is a God that delights in the prosperity of his people, he said, “The attention should not be the stuffs that we get. We were not saved so we could get more houses. Our focus should be Christ and he in his wisdom will bless us with what we need to live the good life.”

The Bible teacher said one of the greatest challenges of the church today is that many find it difficult to concentrate on what they have been called to do because of fear of not being financially secure. “There are many people who have been called to run ministries rather than starting a church. But because of what they would eat they find it difficult to obey that instruction. They are afraid that if they run ministries they will not be able to survive and so they start a church. But God has not called everybody to start church.” He said.

On how he has been able to survive in ministry without starting a church that would guarantee a steady flow of income, he said, “I have simply acted on God’s word. It is faith in God and obedience to his instruction that has kept me. I may not have done all that God asked me to do but I must confess that God has been faithful in keeping me strong till now. I had every cause to thank God when our ministry was 40 last year for sustaining us and keeping us focused.”

Amotsuka

He said people have fought him in the past for not starting a church while many continued to put pressure on him. “But I have refused to yield to the temptation. One of my friends upon learning that my wife is a medical doctor said to me to come over to a state in the US where he said our lives would be transformed forever. But I told him that I had no leading for such. The work of the ministry is like a soldier. You are given an assignment and you have to keep to that assignment until the commander assigns you to another place.”

When asked who his fathers in faith are, he mentioned the likes of Mike Oye, Paul Jinadu. Archbishop Benson Idahosa, Kenneth E Hagin and a host of others noting the ministry of Paul Jinadu, influenced him a great deal. He said one of the regrets he had was that he did not stay long enough under the tutelage of Paul Jinadu whom he described as a father in faith.

He however declined to mention those he regarded as his sons in faith. “There are people who say I am their father in faith but I don’t call them my sons because the father-son thing has been bastardized. What we have is a situation where the sons pay homage to the father by giving the father money and sowing into their ministries. I am not for that stuff. I will rather support those who call me father than ask them to support me. And that is what I have been doing. I help those who call me father but I don’t call them sons. That phenomenon has been bastardized in the church.”

He explained further that his commitment to the teaching ministries was born out of the need to train people to stand on the word of God and not for them to rely on the man of God. “People should be taught to depend on God and his word not men of God. The teaching ministries disciples and trains people to stand on their own and rely on God’s word rather than wait on pastors. If the likes of Pastor Adeboye, Bishop Oyedepo and Rev. Uma Ukpai are not around people should be able to connect with God by themselves. They should know God by themselves. That is the beauty of the teaching ministry.” He stated.

The revered clergy who is albino said there is nothing spiritual about albinism noting that some countries in Africa out of ignorance label albinism and regard it as strange. “The Bible is clear that the colour of our skin does not matter before God. Albinism is like sickle cell disease. There are people who carry the sickle cell gene but who are not sicklers. So also, there are people who have the albino gene in them but who are not albinos. “What happens is that if man and woman who are married have the gene in them they could produce an albino child. In my case I am the only boy in a family of five children and I am the only one that is an albino.”

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