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| Pastor Samuel O. Oladele |
By 'Gbenga Bankole & Boluwatife Oparinde
The President of Christ Apostolic Church, Nigeria and Overseas, Pastor Samuel O. Oladele has urged Pastors not to turn their personal experiences into doctrine.
"We are called, consecrated and charged to pay close attention to our lives and what we teach or model. We must be careful to avoid 'death in the pot' by serving only the meal which God prepares for His people, not our own concoction," the President said.
Pastor Oladele gave this charge while delivering his President's Address on Tuesday, September 20, 2023 at the ongoing CAC 2023 Pastors' Conference holding at Joseph Ayo Babalola Memorial International Miracle Camp, Ikeji Arakeji, Osun State.
Speaking to the ordained ministers of the church, the clergyman noted that the scriptures (1 Timothy 4:6; 2 Timothy 2:15) from which the theme of the conference was drawn are quite instructive, explaining the texts as Paul's admonition to Timothy, the bishop of Ephesus "as well as other believers, to be deliberate about what knwledge they acquire, bearing in mind that as gifts from the Lord to the church, we are to nurture the body of Christ in such a way that every believer will grow to the same level as the minister and be able to stand their ground against every wind of doctrine."
Describing that the current age is such described in 1 Timothy chapter 4 as when some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy etc, the CAC President proferred that, "as ministers, we are God's servants providing services to His people - the blood-bought church of Christ. The Lord expects us to function as 'servers' not 'chefs'. We are to be deliberate, direct and diligent in getting the right knowledge of (and from) God which will equip us in 'rightly dividing' the Word of Truth - that is the Mal which God has prepared - to His people."
According to him, the thirteen tenets of Christ Apostolic Church are enviable heritage "bequeathed to us by our forebearers."
Explaining the tenets in detail, the President noted certain updates in some of the departments of the church, concluding that, "I encourage you to be upright and keep the banner of Christ flying wherever the Lord has placed you, bearing in mind that He who called you is faithful, He also will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Remember, we do not own the church, Christ does. We did not die for the Church, Christ did. We are only called by His grace to Shepherd his flock (the Church) and make her ready for His imminent return. Let us vacate the throne and let Jesus Christ be Lord of all. Above all, I enjoin you to do your best to keep thr unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3)."