The President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Bishop Wale Oke has said it will not be business as usual for church leaders who preach messages that don’t conform with the generally accepted doctrines of the body in the coming days.
He made this known at the maiden press conference of the fellowship after his re-election for a second term in office.
Oke who was accompanied by executive members of the fellowship during the conference said the PFN is aware of preachers who are preaching messages that are contrary to the scriptures and that in due time the body will make its stance known on them while warning the public to beware of them.
He said, ‘we are aware of the strange messages being preached by some pastors online. We are aware of those who are erring in doctrine. We are going to begin the PFN revalidation exercise during which we will take a position on these preachers. We will take steps to deal with them to protect the name of our fellowship.’
Oke also seized the opportunity of the conference to decry the disposition of some northern governors to education.
He described as anti-progress the decision of some governors in the north to close schools in the name of Ramadan.
‘The education of our wards is fundamental to the protection of our nation . The idea of closing school down because of religious celebration is inimical to the progress of our nation. Those who brought the religion to us in Nigeria would not close their schools for the purpose of fasting. We should not be more Catholic than the pope’ he said.
Bishop Oke them urged the governors to reconsider their stance adding, ‘it is unfortunate this is happening. We are praying that God will give them the wisdom to do the right thing.’
Earlier at the press conference, Bishop Oke and members of the executive debunked insinuations that their first term in office was devoid of positive actions
They maintained that the PFN did all that was needed to be done to keep the fellowship going while also observing that the re-election of Bishop was a testimony of his performance.
He described the PFN as a spiritual body that God has blessed, and has become politically relevant by virtue of its size and influence. “PFN is strong, organized and properly structured.’ He said.
He expressed regret over the last election of the officers of the PFN which became a subject of media speculations.
Oke said, ‘In the 40 years of existence of PFN this has never been so, and it gave us grave concern as a body.’
He praised the founding fathers, and members of National Advisory Council of the PFN for the way the issues of the election was maturely handled.
‘We are a body of spiritually mature, very disciplined and distinguished people. We do not fight press wars. We fight on our knees before God, so we win, and are blessed all the time, because our God is a winner all the time.’ Bishop Oke said.
Second term
On his second term in office, Oke said efforts will be made to unite the PFN and pursue the vision of the founding fathers with vigour.
He appreciated those who served in the executive during the first term while also assuring that, ‘We shall all work together, irrespective of the tribe, race, region or zone that any of us may come from in Nigeria’
‘We will honour our founding fathers and stand for the Biblical values and ethos they hold to faithfully. We will intentionally open our doors wide to bring in the next generation of spiritual leaders in every state of the federation, and at every level of our structure.’
He promised to bring the spiritual abilities that God has bestowed on the PFN to bear on Nigeria’s national life ‘We will pray for, labour and contribute to the economic prosperity of our nation. Nigeria shall prosper greatly through the mercy of God. We will accentuate the pursuit of the commission of Christ to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations as our core agenda, pursuing it with godly wisdom and great passion.’
He assured Nigerian leaders of PFN’s cooperation in building a united and prosperous, egalitarian country “where no man is oppressed”.
‘We will pray, speak, and work against all vices, crimes, violence and evils in our society, asking the Lord to eliminate them from our nation, so we may all live “a quiet and peaceable life in all Godliness and honesty” as directed in the Scriptures.’