Senior pastor of the Household of God, Reverend Chris Okotie, has kicked against the guidelines for the reopening of churches in Lagos, describing it as “abomination of desolation.”
Pastor Okotie vows to keep the church shut until “these profanation and secularisation have been pulverised by the Emperor of heaven.”
The clergyman had earlier on Monday June 1 criticised the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for proposing similar guidelines, insisting that governor had no right to reorder the worship in the house of God.
Churches and other worship centres had been closed due to ban on religious gatherings in the last three months to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the federal government on June 1 announced the reopening of worship centres from June 2 with strict conditions.
In line with the directive, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on June 3 released guidelines for the reopening of churches in the state.
Parts of the guidelines are that churches should not have more than 500 worshippers at a time while people above 65 years and below 15 years should not be part of the services.
The governor said while mosques would reopen on June 19, churches would reopen on June 21.
“Beloved, yesterday, the abomination of desolation took a giant step towards standing in the holy place. Fulfillment of bible prophecy is being accelerated by the forces of Janes and Jambres,” Reverend Okotie, in a statement on June 4,
“To reorder temple worship is to deny God the divine prerogative of congregational adoration and the holy genuflects of the saints in light.
“Let no man’s heart be trouble by the vengeance of satanic antagonism. Dagon the god of the Philistines fell in obeisance before the Ark of God. Coronavirus, the god of Secular Humanism will be decapitated in like manner.
“Our doors will remain closed until these profanation and secularisation have been pulverised by the Emperor of heaven. Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. To thy tents O Israel…….”
In his June 1 statement, Reverend Okotie said, “Social distancing in the Church of Jesus Christ is tantamount to blasphemous infidelity and an impeachment of the integrity of the Word of God. Healing is fundamental to the redemptive work of Jesus.
“To allow the idol of Corona Virus to determine the scope of congregational worship in the house of God is an abomination of gargantuan proportions. No true minister of the gospel will succumb to such travesty of the faith. This is a summary of my objections.
“I have sent this message hoping that you would respond as one who bears the burden of the Cross of Jesus. I have restrained myself from making a public outcry of this desecration and profanation out of respect for you and the CAN hierarchy. But be assured that this position is transient.”
In May, another popular Nigerian cleric and founder of Believers’ Love World, also called Christ Embassy, Reverend Chris Oyakhilome, had berated pastors for complying with government’s ban on church and other gatherings because of coronavirus.
According to Premium Times newspaper, Oyakhilome said in a telecast to his members, such leaders were not genuine Christians since they did not ask the government to be allowed to pray and consult their congregations.
Oyakhilome said the swiftness with which churches, including his own, complied with the ban was the reason Nigeria is yet to “see the hand of God.”
The cleric noted that the men of God that discussed the issue with the government did not behave like true Christians, as according to him. They never thought about going to pray about it.
He said, “As ministers of God, you are called for such a meeting and you couldn’t say give us a few days, then you call all the ministers and say this is what we just heard from a government representative, we need to pray.
“Then you would have seen the hand of God. But you were not thinking about the Father’s house. Do you know what it means to shut down the congregation of the lord? Do you know what it means? It never meant anything to you.”