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| Superintendent of CAC Yaba DCC, Pastor S.E.A. Oludare |
By Rachael Oke
Supervising Superintendent, Christ Apostolic Church Youth Fellowship, Akinyele Region and CAC Yaba DCC Superintendent, Pastor S.E.A. Oludare has appealed to CACYOF Akinyele regional leaders to go back to the basics.
He said this while addressing youth leaders across the region on the topic “Carrying the Identity of True Apostolics” at the 2024 All Leaders Congress held in CAC Yaba DCC, Lagos on Saturday, March 9, 2024.
Pastor Oludare enumerated the knowledge of the Lord, belief in the word of God without questioning, demonstration of raw power of God, faithfulness in money matters, making the useless useful, holiness and righteousness, moderate dressing, originality, brotherly love and mutual respect, and solid prayer life as the identities of the Apostolic.
Most of these identities, according to him are nowhere to be found amongst the Apostolics today.
“The reason why we need packaging today is because the signs are no longer there. We lost our identity, that is why we have become copycats” he added.
Drawing lessons from Jeremiah chapter 35: 1-10,18, the clergy cited the example of the Rechabites who were invited by the renowned prophet Jeremiah to drink wine as against the instruction their father, Jonadab gave them, but they refused, hence, God commended their obedience and blessed them.
He stated that if the Rechabites will not go against the instructions their father gave them even when the invitation came from a renowned (major) prophet of God like Jeremiah, Apostolic youths should also be careful of practices that are against the identities of an Apostolic.
“Many youths have gone into errors because of some teachings they claim they heard from renowned ministers online,” Pastor Oludare said.
Identifying another lesson from the Rechabites, Pastor Oludare also stated that some of the instructions and practices God gave the fathers may not be biblically sinful, but they stand as covenant between God and them.
“Looking at what Jonadab told his children not to do, please which of them is a sin? None. God only used it to make a covenant with them; our Apostolic identity is meant to mark us out from among all other people. Some people will not enter heaven because of what they did not do but because of the disobedience they exhibited under the covenant they found themselves," he added.
Pastor Oludare then urged leaders to go back to the Apostolic foundation laid by the fathers, adding that there are blessings in obeying them.
"Let us go back to Bethel, let us go back to the basics, let us go back to the upper room," he adjured.