INTERVIEW: Why we should not trade salvation for church legacies- Pastor Adeyemi

Pastor Remi Adeyemi

Pastor Remi Adeyemi is the Senior Pastor of Christ Apostolic Church, Living Sanctuary, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. CAC NEWS Editor, 'Gbenga Bankole caught up with him recently at the Mighty God Revival annual programme organised by the church. Pastor Adeyemi speaks on many interesting issues. EXCERPT !


Have you always been in CAC since you started your journey in the ministry?

By the grace of God I was born and bred in Christ Apostolic Church and my father was a Pastor in the church. But when I was to start the ministry work God led me to the incumbent DCC Superintendent of Vineyard of Mercy DCC, Pastor Anu Ojo. He was then in Ebute-Metta DCC headquarters and it was at the peak of the crisis in CAC. Ebute-Metta DCC headquarters was the seat of the interim then in Lagos. When I got to Pastor Anu Ojo he told me that God has informed him about my coming. He however said that as a starter he won’t want me to start in a church where there is crisis. He took me to the General Overseer of Mountain of Fire Prayer and Miracle Ministries, Dr. D.K. Olukoya. I was doing my tutelage with MFM for about two years. When I was told by God to leave, Dr. Olukoya didn’t want me to go and it was understandable. God told me I should go back to my root which is Christ Apostolic Church. God led me to a prayer mountain to pray and I was there for about 10 days for marathon fasting and prayers. It was from there He led me to come to Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State. I never knew anybody in Ijebu-Ode. He led me to Ijebu-Ode in 1994. I worked with MFM from 1992 to 1994.




When were you ordained a Pastor?

I was ordained as a Pastor in Christ Apostolic Church on December 13, 1995 and since then we have started CAC Living Sanctuary.



What informed or inspired the annual Mighty God programme?

Three years ago I went somewhere to pray and it was for a different reason. While I was asking God for something, He was busy telling me about this programme. God said it should be tagged “Mighty God Revival.” It was around February in 2017. But when it was around August of the same year, God reminded me again about the programme. Then I called some people together and shared the vision with them. We did little publicity and in the process we started the programme. God gave me a blueprint of the programme right from the beginning. God said I should do the first one in my church, second one within the church and when it is the third one we should go out. He has told me right from the beginning. Everywhere was packed full when we held the first edition. By the time we were holding the second edition in 2018 we had to look for more space within the church premises. The church is situated on four plots of land, but we had to get two plots of land each around us to be able to gather people. Pastor Olu Olorunpomi, by the grace of God was around with us. The second edition gave us an idea of what the third edition would look like and that was why we took the third edition to Otunba Dipo Dina Stadium in Ijebu-Ode.



What are the precautions you are putting in place so as not to allow "well-meaning" people hijack or derail the vision of Mighty God Revival?

Thank you for that question because I have already seen ahead that a time will come that a lot of people will want to hijack the concept of the programme. Some may even be well intentioned. They may feel they can give the programme a better look or some may come to associate with the success that God has given the programme. I think if your ministry or vision is not going to be hijacked you must stand your ground.  We will keep doing what they Lord has told us to do.  Some people say who plays the piper dictates the tune. God is the one who plays the piper and He will continue to dictate the tunes. Even if you bring your money you can’t control or influence us because God is already paying us. Once we are not short of that, it will still be the God’s way.



Considering the standard the programme has attained this year, I think in the next couple of years you will be brining the likes Prophet Hezekiah Oladeji, Dr. D.K. Olukoya, Pastor Anu Ojo and co. Do you have such plans in the future?

 It is on the agenda. The problem is this: there are some big names in the gospel music industry that some people want me to bring and I told them that one of the reasons I won’t bring those big names is because I don’t want any gospel singer to think I want use him or her to pull crowd. God has already given us the crowd. Let God continue to do His work the way He’s doing it now. Eventually if we invite anybody to come and sing, such person will see it as an opportunity or priviledge, not as if we are using him or her to pull crowd. I deliberately said that because I want to bring out something. I believe that we should continue to do it. A time will come that we won’t be able to hide again. Even if we are not calling the Babas, they will tell you “we heard you are doing something.” I believe that we should get to a stage that even the authority will want to associate with it. That is how I do my things. I don’t love to blow things out of proportion. Definitely the Babas you mentioned are in the offing but the time has not come.



What do you think is responsible for single assemblies hosting such a programme like Mighty God Revival successfully and combined programmes of DCCs and Regional events almost flop? 

I’m tempted to speak Yoruba (laughing). “Nkan yi nkan mi ni, o yato si nkan wa ni.” This thing is mine is different from this thing is ours. Bringing different people together to form organizing or planning committee for a programme is very good, but it has a lot of demerits. One of the demerits is that when you bring people together from different backgrounds everybody has an interest to protect. But here  I am by the grace of God as the Senior Pastor of the church I don’t have any personal interest.  My interest is for God to do what He says He wants to do in Ijebu land and God has blessed me with vibrant youths. The average age in the planning committee for the Mighty God Revival should be around 37 years. It is only one or two of them that have clocked 40. Majority of them are in their 30s. Youths are vibrant and they have ideas. And whenever you give them freedom to perform or operate, though with supervision, they will excel more than your imagination. I have the vision. I told them what the Lord wants us to do, they put in the planning and the execution. There is no way it won’t be better at assembly level because it is about one man who is the carrier of the vision working with people who have collective interest. But when it comes to DCC level, one DS thinks this is way it should be which is different from others. When it comes to regional level, one DCC or Zonal Superintendent thinks this is the way it should be because he has a personal interest. The only interest we have here is God do what you want to do. 


Do you have mentoring plans for young ministers?

By the grace of God I mentor many ministers of God, some in Christ Apostolic Church while many are in Mountain of Fire and Prayer Ministries.  Before you came I was being invited for a programme by MFM. Dr. Olukoya wants to raise young rugged Evangelists and they are bringing me in to hold a major session with them. Dr. Olukoya trained me and understands what I can do in areas like this. God has given me the understanding and grace in that respect. There are visions God has given me which I believe is for an appointed time. One of the visions is to raise youth and youth Pastors, Evangelists and Prophets who will be able to do God’s work and who will have no vested interest rather than “God be glorified.” There is another vision which has to do with ministerial rehabilitation. It is for ministers of God who have fallen on the battle field or ministers of God who have been wounded. There are ministers like that not only in CAC, but also in other denominations. It is programme where people can come together and share the experience of what has happened to them in order to team up for their rise. The downfall of a man is not the end. The fact that a man falls today does not mean it is over.



You are one of the vibrant planters we have in CAC. Over the years how do you balance obedience to God and loyalty to church authority?

The Bible says “His commandments are not grievous.” So far so good the commandment and directive from the church authority are not grievous. What does it take to do what the authority wants? The authority of CAC Worldwide from its inception doesn’t disturb anybody from doing the work of God the way God wants it. They have never brought any directive to us that is grievous. Just do what they say. Give them their dues. As far as I am concerned, it doesn’t take anything to balance obedience to God and loyalty to church authority.




There are always clear differences between assemblies planted by the planters and the ones by authority of the church. One of such differences is that almost all planters have their logo apart from the logo of CAC. What is responsible for this sir?

The logo will surely mean something. If you ask them it could be what reflects the vision God gives to them (planters) which of course is still embedded in the vision of Christ Apostolic Church. It doesn’t negate the vision of CAC. What I don’t like is when you exalt your own logo above the logo of Christ Apostolic Church. Whatever logo you are bringing in has to be under the logo of Christ Apostolic Church.


How do you entrench the legacies of Christ Apostolic Church in your assembly?

Thank God for the legacies of our church, but first and foremost every of us should realize that accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is the most important thing whether we are following one legacy or the other. When you have a striving ministry like ours different types of people will come. You will see those who want to wear trouser to church. One thing we don’t do here is that we don’t send anybody packing. Even if you are going to tell them we don’t do some certain things in CAC there are people who are saddled with such responsibility not just anybody. There is a way they are told that they don’t get offended because in the process you might lose a worldwide Evangelist. I believe that when they come to the church and they are beginning to understand the nitty-gritty of salvation and what CAC stands for, with time, they will change. There are lots of them in our church who were like that before but now they have changed even without anybody telling them anything.



You mean being born again should be more important to us than the legacies of our church?

Thank God for these legacies, but legacies cannot replace the finished work of the cross. Legacies are meant to play supportive role in moderating our lifestyles. I say it again that legacies cannot replace the finished work of the cross. At times we focus our attention on the legacies at the expense of the real salvation. Then you begin to wonder that is this salvation? Why don’t we bring in people first and let us start with them systematically on what we stand for, eventually they will embrace it. If somebody is coming to the church for the first time and what you are presenting to him or her is the legacies, it is wrong. It is very wrong to present legacies to someone who has not even encountered salvation.



What relationship do you have with CAC approved associations like CACYOF, CACMA and Good Women?

By the grace of God we have relationship with all the associations, but I am so much in tune with CACYOF. To the glory of God I am one of the stakeholders in CACYOF Akinyele Region and I am fully entrenched there. We do both CACMA and Good Women in our assembly; but personally I am a CACYOF person.



What is the role of the church in building a new Nigeria we can be proud of?

The church in Nigeria is doing so much, though a lot of people may not agree with that.  I have heard some people say that despite the number of churches we have in Nigeria, crime is on the increase. It would have turned out to be a disaster if there were no church. I was talking with some of my brothers in the Lord and they told me that if not because of the word of God they are hearing in our assembly they know what to do in this Nigeria. That tells you that it is just the word of God that is calming them down and piloting their lives towards what they should be. Having said that, I think preachers have to sit right and be more focused. The kind of teaching, message or preaching people hear these days make them to focus on the ephemeral. There are really no focuses on the eternity. I am not saying the church should not prosper. The church should prosper. Great things should happen in the church. The church should control wealth, but it shouldn’t be the controlling factor. The Bible says we should seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things shall be added. The church should focus more on building kingdom people and when you build kingdom people they will usually be prosperous.



What is your advice to youths who are gradually coming into the ministry? There are young ministers who are already repeating mistakes made by some in the past. They see ministry as an avenue to accumulate wealth or travel abroad.  

If there is any minister who does anything wrong in the ministry, go and look at his spiritual father or mentor. Light begets light and darkness begets darkness. The first question I will ask those young ministers is this: “are you truly called or ministry is your survival strategy? Some people see ministry as a survival strategy. Majority of young ministers see ministry as a survival strategy. But if you are called and you know what you are called to do try your best to do it accordingly. God will not call you to come and make money for Him. That is an insult to him. He will only call you to come and make souls for Him. Jesus said “follow me and I will make you fishers of men. If every minister stays on his or her calling, I believe the vision of a man will moderate his action. What you want to achieve at the end of the day will moderate your action. My advice to young minister is that if you are truly called, stay put and focus on your call.