![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Abel-Damina-300x300.jpg\")
A Nigerian pastor, Abel Damina, has faulted the belief that it was God that sent down fire when the biblical Prophet Elijah prayed during the contest between him and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.<\/p>\n
He said it was not God but Satan that sent the fire that consumed the burnt sacrifice made by Elijah as recorded in I King 18: 19 \u2013 40.<\/a><\/p>\n Verse 38 of the chapter says, \u201cThen the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stories, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.<\/p>\n According to the account in Vs 19, the 450 prophets of Baal were taken to brook Kishon where they were killed.<\/p>\n Damina, who leads the Power City International Church, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, South South Nigeria, said Jesus Christ would have shut Elijah up if he (Jesus) was there when the prophet called for fire.<\/p>\n He therefore said God couldn\u2019t have sent the fire because Jesus rebuked his disciples when they wanted to copy Elija.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I be a man of God let fire, if Jesus (Christ) was there, he would have said stop that.<\/p>\n \u201cJesus would have told him (Prophet Elijah) (to) stop that. Shut up! Go and sit down, if you don\u2019t know what to do. Jesus (Christ) would\u2019ve rebuked Elijah. If he rebuked the disciples that wanted to copy Elijah. It means if he was there, he would have rebuked Elijah.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means it was not Jesus that answered Elijah\u2019s prayer, it was Satan,\u201d a video clip posted on the internet showed him telling the congregants.<\/p>\n The clergyman further said these are not the days of Elijah but that of the manifestation of the sons of God.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wicked, demonic books<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Without referring to any particular book, Pastor Damina, who hails from Kaduna State in North Central Nigeria, asked his listeners to burn the \u201cwicked books\u201d they bought.<\/p>\n He said, \u201cAll those wicked books you bought, go and burn them this afternoon. Bring them out, pour fuel, I licence you (to) burn it to ashes; those books are demonic.\u201d<\/p>\n It is not clear if he was referring to any Christian literature that says it was God that sent down the fire when Elijah prayed.<\/p>\n Some clerics have reportedly called for the expulsion of Damina from Akwa Ibom State for allegedly preaching heresy.<\/p>\n But the state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Chris Nyong, has called for calm, stating that \u201cNo Nigerian has the right to expel anybody from any part of the country.\u201d He said only God has the right to judge.<\/p>\n Courts controversy<\/strong><\/p>\n Pastor Damina is not new to controversy.<\/p>\n In 2017, the 63 years old popular cleric faulted<\/a> the donation of money to churches, arguing that it does not bring financial blessing to those who do so.<\/p>\n