Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the world would become better if successful people write their stories and share how they attained greatness with others.
He made the submission on Friday, September 17 at the launch of the biography of General Superintendent of Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor Williams Kumuyi.
The biography titled, Defender of Faith was jointly written by Banji Ojewale, Segun Babatope, Emeka Ezeze, and Tunde Opeibi
Pastor Williams Kumuyi (third from right) and the authors of the book Defender of Faith From Right, Prof Tunde Opeibi, Mr. Segun Babatope, First from Left, Mr. Emeka Izeze, Mr Banji Ojewale
The fourth tax
Osinbajo according to a statement made available by Mr. Laolu Akande Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity Office of the Vice President said, “every person, especially those who succeed in their endeavours in life, owes society three taxes. The first is income taxes – personal income tax, and if you own a company, company, or corporation tax.
“The second is a social tax, another name for that is philanthropy. The obligation of the wealthy to give back to society.
“The third tax is a civic tax; the obligation of the successful to write their stories, to share the histories of the phenomena they have become, in order to instruct, to admonish and to inspire the present and the future.”
He however said there is a fourth tax called “the Pentecost Tax,” which he said was for successful preachers of the gospel.
“But for the successful preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is the fourth tax, this is the Pentecost Tax. The obligation of men and women since the day of Pentecost, the day described in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to preach the gospel, to tell the story of their missionary journeys. The miracles, signs, and wonders that God has wrought on that journey, the deprivations, the fastings, and the persecutions. The victories and failures, the mountains and the valleys.”
According to the Vice President, “this is a huge responsibility. But the saints before us discharged that responsibility so we are the beneficiaries of the Acts of the Apostles, the stories of the men and women who carried the gospel first to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
“Their stories have encouraged generations of Christians since, their recorded experiences may seem to make them stars, but they are meant to instruct us in adherence to sound doctrine, to rebuke us and instruct us unto righteousness.”
Defender of faith, a continuation of the baton
Commenting on the book, “Kumuyi – the Defender of the Faith,” Osinbajo said it is the continuation of the baton handed down over to our generation since the day of Pentecost.
While unveiling the book, he stated that “the book, Kumuyi the Defender of the Faith, begins the work of discharging the Pentecostal tax obligation of Pastor Kumuyi. The book tells the story of the incredible work of the Holy Spirit in his life and Ministry. How by His grace, he not only preached and continues to preach holiness to a whole generation but lived and lives it himself daily.
The Vice President noted that, “the book tells the story of how the Holy Spirit worked miracles through him (Kumuyi) and how from a Bible study group of 15 members in 1973, the ministry grew to what is now the Deeper Christian Life Ministry and at one point, with 120,000 members, making it the third-largest single congregation in the world.”
Prof Osinbajo said further that, “Pastor Kumuyi has kept faith with the great commission, preaching the gospel to all persons, without compromise or embellishment, keeping his eyes and focus on Jesus, and keeping faith with the words of that Deeper Life anthem – “Jesus is our only message, Jesus all our thence shall be. We will lift up Jesus forever. Jesus only will we see.
He commended the authors for persuading Pastor Kumuyi to accept writing the book adding, “this is not really a book about Pastor Kumuyi, it is about the grace and mercies of God in the life of His servant, and how by His mercies, his servant Kumuyi has in the words of the Scripture that are said to be on the backdrop of every Deeper Life pulpit the world over, is fulfilling the instruction to “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints,” according to Jude 1:3.
While delivering his speech, the keynote speaker, Prof. Dapo Asaju, used Chief Obafemi Awolowo and writings about great Bible characters such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Acts of the Apostles, as examples, urging Nigerians to write down their experiences for posterity.