The church will boom after pandemic, Pentecost Fire pastor assures

Harvest of souls

He said the church will grow stronger and more populous because according to him God has used the pandemic to preach salvation to sinners.

He made this declaration in a telephone conversation while sharing his views with Church Times on the prevailing global situation.

He said, “The church is an identity that cannot be broken by anything whatsoever. Those who think the pandemic will affect the way we do church are only living in a dreamland. It is an identity that cannot be defeated. It has come to stay till the trumpet sounds.

“Nothing will change the church. There are a lot of countries who did not believe in God but praying in public places at this period. If that could happen now you can imagine how the church will become stronger and overcrowded after the pandemic.

It is going to be a great harvest for those churches who are serving God in truth and in spirit. I have that strong conviction that the church will have a great and powerful awakening after this current situation.

According to him the church has been having both physical and online worship even before the pandemic noting however that, “This pandemic has made a lot of sinners to be saved. It has preached salvation to sinners. The Bible says in the end time no neighbor will tell his neighbor to be born again. Some things will happen to you that will make you go back to God and confess your sins.”

Bassey asserted further that the coronavirus pandemic lockdown does not have any adverse effect on the body of Christ saying that people are mistaking building for the church.

He declared, “This is not the first incident of pandemic that had happened in the past according to history. There have been series of pandemic. Why we think this one is strange is because it happened in our generation. The impact is not so much on the church; people are mistaking the building for the church.

“The church is not the building; the building is the physical representation of where people gather for the church. But the church is a spiritual entity that has to do with believers. It is the blood property of God called out from darkness to light who are also to shine further light on this dark world.

“So, the church has been moving on in spite of pandemic lockdown. The pandemic has no effect on the body of Christ. We can only say it affected the body of Christ in gathering form because what makes the race enjoyable on earth is the coming together of the brethren which the Bible warns that which should not forsake the assembly of the brethren.

“It has just restricted our activities. Even at that, the church begins from individual and then to your family and in the family setting church is still going on. This period of social restriction has even given us an opportunity to study the Bible from book to book thoroughly. Sometimes I read up to ten or fifteen chapters every day. So, the church is still on. It is the larger gathering of the brethren that is affected temporarily.”

He said however that those who are merchandising the gospel will weep after the dust of this pandemic might have died adding that churches had to obey government lockdown laws because the Bible encourages us to obey the authority.

“There are three stages of God’s creation, namely, the Nation (States), the Family and the Church. The church is the last of God creation. Even the family is older than the church. So, when government made the isolation ban, it is to contain the pandemic. One of it is the closure of social gathering which church is inclusive. We all must comply with the preventive measures. There is nothing we can do until government deems it fit that the ban should be lifted. Whether you are God’s general or pastor, everybody must obey the government that is the first of God’s creation. We only need to pray fervently for normalcy to return so that we can start our activities again.”

He said it will be wrong to insinuate that God did not tell his servants about the pandemic. “ Your ear is not all over the world. Let us even forget about whether God did not show it to His servants. When we talk about prophecy, the sure and everlasting prophecy is the word of God. There has been the word from time immemorial. The word has been there from the beginning.

“Let us use the word of God to analyze it. Now, do you want to tell me that this pandemic has not been prophesied in the scriptures about what would happen in the end time? This is the part of the prophecies. The Bible has already specified that many things will happen. This is an indication of the end time. Though the end has not come but it is the preparation towards the end of age. According to the scripture, there would be wars and rumours of wars, many would come as Christ and nation would rise against nation and all that. If this did not happen now how do you expect the prophecy to be fulfilled?

“It will be wrong to say men of God did not see it. There are people gathering in local places around the world who are not in the limelight and God is in their midst but no money to patronize the media. How these people can make their prophecy public? Personally, this is what God showed me two years ago but I did not broadcast it. Of what use is it when God has not instructed me to say it publicly? At least, I have about five people who can bear me witness.

“God actually showed me in a very funny way. I don’t like things that have to do with self-promotion. I have even stumbled on a lot of prophecies about this pandemic from some men of God. Because it was not broadcast in the media does not mean that men of God did not prophesy.

“You know, we cannot be everywhere. When something like this happens people tend to dig into archives. In the ministry, we have to be very careful. You don’t just do things anyhow. Those who are called by God are led by God. I will not blame people that said men of God did not see this pandemic because some ministers of God have made mockery of the Body of Christ with their prophecies. Many of them have engaged in competition of prophecy.”