Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, Rev Sam Adeyemi has observed that the times we are in are not normal while urging the Church to be on its guard.
He made the submission at the conference on insecurity organised by the Church Administrators’ Society of Nigeria on Monday, September 26 in Lagos.
Church Administrators’ Society of Nigeria (CASON) is a body established to bridge the knowledge gap that exists between church managers and their counterparts in the corporate world.
The focus of the CASON is to train church administrators and also provide resources for effective church management. It was established by Pastor Seyi Oladimeji.
Church should be proactive
Adeyemi who addressed participants at the conference via the internet said the church should not expect things to get better.
He advised instead that the church should be proactive. “We need to put in place measures that could forestall possibilities of being victims of the bad security situation in the country,” he said.
Adeyemi said further, “When Jesus was talking about the end time he was talking about crisis. When I took time to meditate on that passage I realised we gloss over those things that he said. One word that describes those things that Jesus said is disruption.
“There will be wars and earthquakes. These are not normal times. We should not expect that things will be normal. When we have those seasons of normalcy we crave it continues. But it does not work like that. Disruptions are inevitable”
How to deal with insecurity
He said one of the ways to deal with the rising insecurity in the country is to plan with the possibility of many scenarios
“When we make a plan we usually base it on one scenario. That does not help because what we never planned for may come up. We should plan for the possibility of other scenarios”
He noted for instance that the pandemic had been predicted long before it happened.
“The prediction of the pandemic was based on the fact that it happens every 100 years. When George Bush was the president of the US, he read a book on it. He got experts together and they made plans to curtail it if it happens.
“And nothing happened for many years. It was when Donald Trump came that he disbanded the office and the pandemic struck thereafter.”
Adeyemi said the Boko Haram insurgent had also been predicted long before it happened. He recalled that he was privy to it adding that, “insecurity has now become our reality in Nigeria. The North has been experiencing it for decades.”
It’s not lack of faith to plan
The Day Star Senior Pastor said it is not a lack of faith to plan. “Faith people have problems with scenario planning. We must ask ourselves questions in the area of technology and indeed other areas of our operations about the possible changes that can happen.”
While trusting God for the best scenario in Nigeria, Adeyemi said, “We must ask, what if something else happens? When it comes to security it is not a sign of lack of trust to plan. Jesus said there will be war.
“It is a fact that the earth is not a perfect place. It is important to develop security plans for our churches. We need to make provisions to make sure people are protected in our assemblies when they come to worship.”
He counseled churches to conduct risk assessments and get professional advice on what to do to strengthen their security systems.
“Conduct background checks on people. Sometimes the security risk is in the house” he said.
Adeyemi said the church needs a combination of divinity and humanity for us to have security. He then prayed that “God will protect our churches. He will protect our families .”
