Pastor Chris and his critics (2)

BETWEEN 2003 and 2004, a small group of inveterate spoilsports, parading themselves as publishers (of soft-sell maga­zines), journalists and phony cler­ics, ganged up against the person of Rev. Chris Oyakhilome, a quintessential man of God, and against the Believers’ Loveworld Inc. (aka Christ Embassy), a flour­ishing and powerful ecclesiastical ministry founded by him. That was when I wrote the article of the above title that was published on page 63 of the Wednesday, Sep­tember 10, 2003 edition of The Guardian. The said article is now chapter 23 of my book, “The Way It Is” (Vol. 1).
Bewildered and frightened by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s giant strides in the spiritual realm, this group vigorously craved the sup­port of the then Federal Govern­ment in its rabid crusade against Pastor Chris’ TV miracles and teaching programmes.

The Federal Government was promptly enlisted in the web of the journalist-pentecostal-orthodox-cleric conspiracies and banned Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s TV healing programmes on the envy-soaked ground that miracles had no place in Christianity in spite of the numerous scriptures, includ­ing, but not limited to Mark 16: 17-18, 1 Cor. 12: 9-10, which make Christianity incomplete with­out miracles that characterized the three-year ministry of Jesus Christ. Following the unconsti­tutional and illegal ban, a group of concerned lawyers, including this writer, donned their wigs and gowns and repaired to the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, to file an ac­tion against the banning authori­ties. Not unusually, that action was effectively smothered by the court in deference to the Federal Government. In the event, Pastor Chris had to shift his base from Nigeria, his motherland, to South Africa, where he established a blossoming Healing School. The loss of Nigeria became the gain of South Africa! Today, the Christ Embassy Healing School, apart from being in South Africa, is in Canada, United States of Ameri­ca, United Kingdom, etc.
Now, this group of green-eyed Nigerians is at it again. It has again removed its evil sword from its scabbard by reason of some domestic hiccups in Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s family.
The reverend gentleman’s wife, Rev. Anita, has petitioned for divorce, asseverating some grounds (other than adultery) as the reasons therefor. A cursory reading of Rev. Anita’s stated grouse against her husband (as conveyed by the London court process) would show that she has taken umbrage at her husband’s alleged scant attention for her and her children.
Although Rev. Anita is widely respected as the consort of Pas­tor Chris, the latter’s character is simply untarnished and unim­peachable. Like Caesar’s wife, Pastor Chris lives above board. In spite of his inimitably prepos­sessing looks, he is an uncommon moral exemplar, a role model, against whom no allegation of adultery can be levelled.
But perhaps it is pertinent at this juncture to state that a pe­titioner for divorce who alleges adultery against the defendant would have a Herculean task of proving it, unless the defendant was caught in flagrante delicto, in the act, or red-handed, as it were.
No reasonable petitioner for divorce would allege adultery against his/her spouse without definitive proof thereof. And Rev. Anita is a reaåsonable lady. Did the social and the terrestrial me­dia men, who are forever looking for anything to pillory the irre­pressible Rev. Chris Oyakhilome, ever investigate their source(s) of information to establish the authenticity or otherwise of their claims, dripping, as they are, with malice, spite and improper mo­tives? Never!
But now that the statement of claim is published, it should be clear to this small group of in­veterate malefactors, with abaci­nated eyes and defective audi­tory stimuli, that adultery is far from the reason Rev. Anita has petitioned for divorce. It is fa­tally easy, sadly enough, for some journalists, in and outside Nige­ria, to forget that truth is sacred. I am of the opinion that every se­rious journalist should have more than a smattering knowledge of media law, including the law of libel. From all indications, many journalists, including those in the soft-sell magazines and some newspapers, do not even have a nodding acquaintance with the elementary principles of the law of libel. Or so it seems. They are doctrinaire journalists without doctrine!
Every generation produces a few notable and all-star prodi­gies, with sound spiritual and in­tellectual credentials. Rev. Chris Oyakhilome, PhD (Pneumatol­ogy), is easily and irrefutably one of the few such spiritual and intellectual giants our generation has produced. Acutely intelligent, devout, spirit-filled and firm-minded, Rev. Chris is a peerless exegete of the Bible and the very epitome of determination and will power.
A qualified graduate architect-turned televangelist, his spiritual prowess dates back to his early childhood, when he exhibited a precocious talent for efficacious prayers. He had early given promise of distinction, and, with favourable parental influences, his mind rapidly developed. A retentive memory, a lively imagi­nation, strong reasoning powers, untiring application, and, more importantly, a penchant for the Word, soon placed him in the foremost rank among his peers. Today, Rev. Chris Oyakhilome heals all sorts and conditions ofailments afflicting humankind, in the matchless Name of Jesus Christ.
He is the embodiment of love and is possessed of a philan­thropic bent of the mind. He is a busy man, shuttling between Ni­geria, South Africa, Canada, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, etc., restoring hope to the hopeless and physi­cal vitality to countless people with terminal medical conditions from every nook and cranny of the world.
For a long while, the devil drove a wedge of disunity be­tween Evangelist Benny Hinn, that ebullient faith-healer, and his wife. Then the knee of the devil bowed at the mention of the Name of Jesus Christ, and Ben­ny Hinn and his estranged wife came together again, for good. Praise God! There is nothing that is beyond God.
Therefore, let no one gloat over the transient discomfort of any person. The Scripture warns against touching God’s anointed