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Why did you roll out the drums at 60?
This became necessary simply to appreciate God for the gift of life. Recognizing the fact that life is a gift not a right. There is nothing anyone has done specially to remain alive. So, I will say life is a gift and the adventure of life is a privilege. The purpose is to say lets return the glory back to God for the gift and sustenance of life. This little life, by the grace of God, is evident in so many areas. Life expectancy in our part of the world is 47 years and if anybody crosses 47 to 48, 49 and then 50 and you then count to 60, you should recognize that this is God not man and to that extent, you give him praise. This is to celebrate the abundant grace of God for his gift of life. Any platform that seems to make anyone achieve is sufficiently by Gods grace.
How did you get to this staggering height as a clergyman?
I believe that the real worth of man is the value he adds, the contributions he makes, the feat he accomplishes and the impact he generates. By his grace I am the president, Living Faith Church Worldwide with over, 6000 churches in most cities , towns and villages of Nigeria and across nations of the world with followers numbering in millions. I am the founding pastor of Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland in Ota-Lagos , the acclaimed 50,000 seat church statuary reputed to be the largest church auditorium in the world benchmarked in the Guinness Book Of Record in 2008 and 2009.
Today, the tabernacle plays host to about 20,000 worshipers every Sunday morning in four services, making it probably the largest gathering of worshipers in one location on Sunday morning anywhere in the world with over 22, 500 house fellowship centers spread across Lagos and Ota. Suddenly, we woke up one day and discovered that the sanctuary is being listed in Guinness Book of World record in 2008 as the largest church auditorium. What they rated the largest church auditorium is what we built in just one year. The largest cathedral listed after the largest church and Catholic Church is 2000 years old. It is all a celebration of the grace of God, nothing else.
Technically, there is no one who could have built that massive structure in one year but God made it possible. We are sitting down in the Covenant University today, it was built in seven months to accommodate 1,500 student. Faculty buildings, staff housing, roads and everything was done between March and October 2002 and it is still rated today as the best maintained campus. All at his cost, all at the cost of grace. Interestingly, we are not owing a dime to any bank, persons and institution and we have no foreign inputs into what we are doing. And no one in the church is under any form of pressure. What happened here is possible in our country and our continent. We have never had power outage here since 1999 and this is part of Nigeria. Our tap has never run dry since 1999 so, it can be done anywhere. It’s all grace, faith and work.
How did you meet your wife?
Interestingly, I met my wife by divine direction. I met my wife when I was 22. The Spirit of God ministered to me about it. We had a spiritual alignment and came together. We had six years of courtship before we got married.
It is like you have developed thick skin towards criticisms and negative publicity by not reacting to them. Why is it so?
My understanding of opposition and persecution is someone’s opinion harshly expressed. Everybody has his rights to his opinion. I don’t feel it is necessary the energy.
What do you feel when referred to as richest Pastor ?
May I say here that God owned the silver and the gold and he is the most holy God. If wealth and righteousness are not the best of friends there is no way God will be the wealthiest of all. From his fullness we all received we are also told that Jesus died so that through his poverty we will be made rich and I think there is no father who wishes his children poverty. If God is truly a father he will not wish his children poor and the wealth of every parent is reflective in their children.
About Unknown
Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.
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