Coronavirus: Poju Oyemade Disagrees With Oyedepo, Oyakhilome Over Opening Of Churches

Pastor Poju Oyemade of the Covenant Christian Centre, Lagos has noted that closing down churches during the coronavirus pandemic does not limit God in any way.

He added that God does not reside in physical buildings and Christians do not need to gather in a physical building to serve or worship God.

According to Oyemade, who also referred to happenings in the bible, Church buildings may be shut down, but true faith and the anointing of the Spirit has not stopped working.

Naija News recalls some prominent pastors, including Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy and Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith International, had criticized the decision of the government to close down churches during the pandemic.

As previously reported by this online news medium, Oyakhilome had said church leaders who agreed to shut churches did not show enough faith while Bishop Oyedepo said opening markets and shutting churches was a questionable move by the government.

Oyemade however in his submission via a post on his Instagram page, said God can not be restricted to just physical buildings.

He said, “Closing the doors of a physical building does not in any way mean the closure of the anointing of the Spirit from working. The sick we see healed in the Book of Acts were healed on the streets, in people’s homes, in public places and not within the four walls of a church. Church buildings may be shut down, but true faith and the anointing of the Spirit has not stopped working.

“There is a difference between expression of emotions and the manifestation of the anointing to heal the sick. There is nowhere in Jesus’ ministry where the healing of the sick was preceded by a congregational service.

“In the Book of Acts, the sick were healed predominantly on the streets with no fanciful service going on. Closure of a church building does not stop the rivers of living water from flowing out of your belly.

“Charles Finney began a massive revival by people praying in their homes all keeping watches at the same time. They all chose the exact time to pray and they did in their homes until the Spirit broke out on the streets.

“They did not criticise any other church or ministry of weakness. Criticising others doesn’t attest to the fact that you have strength. They only stayed with God until something broke out on the streets.”

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, on Thursday, May 7 reported three-hundred-and-eighty-one confirmed new cases of Coronavirus.

The development brings the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria to 3526.