Poverty has been weaponized in Nigeria - Ikeakor
"Poverty has been weaponized in Nigeria by its leaders!" This statement is credited to the Rt. Rev. Ephraim Ikeakor, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Amichi. The cleric made this statement while delivering a sermon on the theme, "Rebuilding the Old Waste" at the 24th synod of Anglican Diocese of Ondo. Each year, by the church tradition, Dioceses across the globe holds synods with relevant and inspiring themes. The Ondo Anglican Diocese is not indifferent to the age-long tradition as the year 2023 synod was held between Thursday 27th and Sunday 30th April.
The evangelical Bishop, Ikeakor decried the way and manner in which charity is being given by Nigerian leaders in the name of palliatives and humanitarian services where less privileged people would be given a tuber of yam, pack of indomie and possibly rice and be asked to be taking pictures for the social media consumption.
Speaking from the context of Isaiah 58:1-14, he highlighted seven points the rebuilder of old waste must do. These points include as exposed by the preacher; losing bond of wickedness, undoing the heavy burden, letting the oppressed free, breaking every yoke, sharing with the hungry and helping of the poor.
Highlighting some of the old waste, the cleric identified the church hymns, liturgy and the church tradition as part of what the church is gradually erasing.and bringing in strange things differently done in the way church fathers laid them down. "What type of Anglican and church are we handing over in our age to the coming generation. Don't treat this topic with a kid glove you will give account of what you do to the Lord", the Bishop warned.
Bishop Ikeakor mentioned marriage as part of the old waste the church has crashed. "The church is quilty preparing the youth for wedding and not for marriage. Radicalism has taken the place of pentecostalism and yet people claim to be evangelical. Sowing of seeds, apportioning fasting and prayers, provoking unguided charity are now being given and marketed by the merchandising preachers who have decided to selectively choose scriptures to suit their purpose and their congregation without emphasizing the saddle point for such claimed blessings. Gentle parenting has displaced godly parenting where the Bible emphasizes the rod not to be spared. The children raised under the guise of modernization have become monumental disaster for this generation and we are gradually losing these children to cultism, satanism and children deliquescence" were the striking words of the Bishop.
The Bishop unveiled some of the old practices that even the society considers as norms for well-behaved citizens which today have been thrown into dungeon. He said that civil servants in those days were known with their dress code and mannerism in the society but today this has become old fashion. He noted that christians are now going into politics with Bible and coming out of politics with occult.
"If you refuse to rebuild your old ways, soon you will become a victim of the old waste you have refused to rebuild. When, where and how did you give your life to Christ, the Bishop concluded with the rhetorical question.
Meanwhile, the opening service, which was an only Eucharist service where the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, Bishop Oni, celebrated was well attended by well-meaning individuals, church chiefs, Diocesan officials, guests, synod delegates, the Diocesan priests and the priests' wives. The women in the archdeaconry presented special number, both in Ondo dialect and in English.
In what follows the preacher, who doubled as the Bible study leader at the synod led the bible study during the morning worship on the second day. He taught on God's demands from re-builders of the old waste. He stressed that obedience is the must-satisfied condition to attract God's blessings and not just the mere singing of "Abraham blessings are mine". He noted that God's judgement is irresistible and incontestable, hence the need for spiritual circumcision of the heart to partake in the blessings of the circumcised.
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