Pastor Isaac Oyedepo, son of Founder of Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo has recounted how he struggled with pornography. He added quickly however that he was able to overcome the addiction in good time.
He made the confession in an interview with Pastor Leke Adeboye n Thursday May 16 in an online programme tagged Confession
Box.Oyedepo in the interview also made remarks on some other aspects of his ministry including his growing-up years.
When asked about the confession he would like to make, he said, “I have struggled with pornography. And I remember when it started. I can’t recall the country we traveled to and I was supposed to be in a room alone and that was it.”He said if he had met a pastor honest enough to share his experience on the issue, perhaps he would not have been carried away. “But God brought me out of it quickly. I think the lack of authenticity is not making people get out of it. Pastors and members are struggling with it because nobody is owning up to have experienced it before.”
The name Isaac
The interview, which lasted for about 40 minutes, also gave insight into some of the other areas of his personal life.
Commenting on his name Isaac said, “The name has worked for me because it assures him that whatever circumstance I find myself in, I would overcome. It will end in laughter”
He recalled how guests were given biscuits and water at his naming and how he almost got electrocuted when he was age five in the course of playing at home.
Winners chapel
Isaac Oyedepo denied leaving Winners Chapel. He added however that, “the challenge is seeing me on the altar and ministering as a pastor.”
He said, “I am still in Winners, I am still a steward. I am still born again. I am currently planted in a church in Abuja but then I now have the liberty to pursue what God has called me to do. I can’t do that while also pastoring in Winners. But nothing has changed except that I am in a new chapter of my ministry life.
“That you knew me in chapter 1 does not mean the book has changed because I am in chapter 2. One thing I know is that our times are in His hands. He is the only one who knows the end from the beginning. While many are shocked, God is not. ”
Quoting the book of Isaiah, he said the vision has been sealed for an appointed time. “God seals our destiny from many people”
Experience as a young man
He disclosed he attended a catholic school, Doregos Private Academic before he left for the US.
According to him the best of his memories was when he went to the US. “It was in the US I got to enter into relationships because nobody knew me there. The relationships I had was not because of my background. I met good Christians I am sure they are doing well in their marriages today. it is just that the combination with them did not work.”
While in high school in Nigeria, he said dated one or two people. He also recalled how he once wanted to go to the club while in university in the US but as he was in the queue about to enter the clubhouse, he turned back.
Covid-19
Isaac Oyedepo recalled how COVID-19 changed his life. He said it was during COVID that he began to have a revelation about his ministry.
“One of the things Covid did for me was that it drove me to my closet. All the activities the pastors had to do, were no longer there. March 15, 2020, was a defining day for me. We had received the news that churches would be shut down because of Covid.
“I was praying around that time and God told me, that men are made in crisis and directions are heard in crisis. God made me realise I had to use the season wisely. My hunger for God grew.
“It became difficult for me to be satisfied with the church meetings including the one I was pastoring. I wanted something new and refreshing. I knew there was something that happened to me in that instance. I was just hungry for God. I started reading books and that opened my eyes to many things about ministry.”
He said God made him realise that “amid crisis, there is refining. Before crisis we were crude, if we subject ourselves to the crisis, we become refined. I saw the covid as a refining period for me”
Large crowd
The young Oyedepo said many of his ministrations have attracted large crowds because he covets the grace of ministering to a large audience. “When I see people who carry the grace that I desire, I go after it with hunger, not with money.”
According to him closeness to persons who carry so much grace sometimes does not guarantee receiving such grace.
He said making an impact in ministry stems from having a consistent prayer life. “The preparation for me is how consistent I am in my secret place.”
He however warned that performance does not translate to acceptance. “That people get a large number of people in their meetings and also experience miracles does not mean that such person is approved of God.
“You can have miracles in your meetings and impact many lives. But don’t be deceived by them. That is why Jesus said, on the last day some people would come to him and he would say he does not know them.”
God’s dealings
While urging pastors to stay humble, he said “If we are to be sincere, there are many times God bless his people and do special things in their lives without the input of the pastor. He does it in his sovereignty.”
Oyedepo also called on pastors to be original and authentic. “there is no room for competition in the church. Our originality and authenticity must be guarded by all means We don’t have to compete.”
Marriage
On his marriage, he said, “Nobody introduced me to my spouse. I saw her and I told her I wanted to marry her. There was no scripture, no long letter, and within one week, I got the reply. I am not in for a lot of pretense.
“When things become official they don’t work for me. I did not kneel when proposing. ”
Evangelical Outreach
Since he began his evangelical ministry, Isaac Oyedepo said he has seen things that made him afraid. He lamented that there is a lack of unity in the church.
“In three months of the evangelical outreach, have seen things that make me afraid. We lack unity. I said recently that God did not create denominations, man did. Our fathers created denominations but we have moved from denominations to competitions. There are people doing things they are not called to do.”