TELL Magazine

Two thousand and fifty-one pastors of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, were on Sunday ordained at the climax of the 70th Annual Convention and thanksgiving service of the church with the General Overseer, Enoch Adejare Adeboye, impressing it on them that the office, being the highest in the church, makes them equal to him, being also a Pastor. Adeboye, who spoke before the formal ordination, underscored the significance of the exercise, saying it would be the last time that “they are going to be having oil poured , and hands laid” on them. According to Pastor Adeboye, popularly called Daddy GO, it was their last opportunity “to get anything that they see in the GO that they want for themselves”.In his sermon after the ordination, Ezekiel Odeyemi, Continental Overseer, West Coast and Central Africa of RCCG, reminded them that they are not just pastors, but “Perfect Jubilee Pastors”. The theme of the just-ended 70th annual convention was “Perfect Jubilee”. Sending them forth, he warned that “You must understand this fresh oil is not for show; this fresh oil is not to be commercialised”. Rather, he charged that the fresh oil is to make impact, to win souls, heal the sick, deliver the oppressed, and to make a difference wherever they go.Speaking on the topic, “Fresh Oil For Greater Exploits”, with his text taken from the book of 1 Samuel 10:1; 16:13, Pastor Odeyemi noted that fresh oil is synonymous with the spirit of the Lord, and asked them to put a demand on the fresh oil God had released on them by manifesting the gifts of the Holy Spirit which he said are free for them to manifest.According to him, “I want to tell you categorically, you are not ordinary pastors. You are Perfect Jubilee Pastors. And that means a lot. Many people that come to ordination, many people feel it is a promotion. It is a promotion, no doubt; but it’s much more than that. It’s a great responsibility because the Lord is putting a lot upon you, and is expecting a lot from you. You’ve got to understand the amount of responsibilities that God is placing upon your lives. …“When the oil flowed upon the life of Saul, he became a different person; he began to prophesy. And one of the things that God will want you to do by virtue of what God has done in your life today, is to put a demand on this fresh oil that He has released upon you today by manifesting the gifts of the Holy Spirit. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit are free for you to manifest. God wants you to put a demand on this fresh oil from this moment on. God wants you to know that from now on, He has decided to distinguish you among men. He has decided to do something new in your life that will make people to look up onto you because you are carrying something that is going to be a blessing to your generation and generations to come”.He said like it happened with Saul when the oil came upon him and he raised an army to fight for the people of Jabesh-Gilead who cried to him for help, “God wants you to know that as He has placed this fresh oil upon your life, you are to wipe away the tears from people. He wants you to know, wherever you hear crying, wherever you see people weeping, He wants you to know that is the reason why He has anointed you. He has anointed you to change people’s narratives; to change their stories”. He prayed that they be found worthy of that expectation in the name of Jesus.Further admonishing them on the power of the anointing, Pastor Odeyemi recounted how David killed a lion and a bear with his bare hands when the spirit of God came upon him as contained in 1 Samuel: 17, 32, 34-36. He therefore reminded them that “Lions are always around; bears are always around. Somebody wants to carry away a member of your congregation, God wants you to know from this moment on, He has put you in charge to deal with every Lion, every bear; everything that is negative in your congregation”.Advising them not to allow any nonsense in their congregations, he stated that “God wants you to know from now on, whenever anything is threatening the life of anyone in your congregation, deal with it decisively. God wants you to know; whoever would not allow your congregation to grow, like Goliath who was withstanding the children of Israel, God wants you to know the anointing upon your life can kill any Goliath.Cautioning them against being reduced to mere figure heads by allowing the oil on their lives to go stale, the Continent 2 overseer said “I want you to understand the fact that this oil can become stale and ineffective. Several thousands of people have been ordained in this organisation for several years, but for several people, the oil upon their lives has become stale and ineffective. I want you to know the anointed can become a figure head. Saul became ineffective through disobedience, through arrogance; Saul became ineffective because he loved the praise of men more than the acceptance that comes solely from God. He became ineffective because he became envious of the grace of God on the life of a younger minister, David.“I want you to know that God has raised you up to a leadership position; God has raised you up to mentor younger ministers. From time to time, you will give opportunities to younger ministers and they would perform excellently well; celebrate them. Don’t become another Saul who would be throwing spears against younger ministers. Don’t become another Saul who will raise an army of soldiers. Saul raised 3000 soldiers against David, against a small boy because that boy was carrying fresh oil.“From time to time in your ministry, you will come across people that the Lord has freshly anointed. Celebrate them; it doesn’t matter how young they may be. It doesn’t matter who they are. That’s the reason why God has raised you up; never become envious. Never become jealous of another person’s anointing. At the end of the day, Saul died in the midst of his enemies without anyone to help him.“Compare the story with that of David. David was a different story entirely. Apart from killing Goliath, David became a man who raised several giants in his life time. He raised several giant killers… That is the essence of being anointed with fresh oil. God has anointed you with fresh oil so that you will be able to raise other people who also will be anointed with fresh oil because this battle cannot be fought by you alone. This assignment is bigger than any man. That was the reason why since our father in the Lord came as the general overseer, he has been increasing the number of people that are ordained every year because this is an assignment bigger than any of us. You must raise giant killers.“The greatest thing that can happen to your life is to raise other people. As you have received this fresh oil upon your life, and as God is releasing us to the community, is releasing us to nations, what God wants from us is to go forth and raise other men and equip people for harvests. There are several souls out there that are expecting the touch of the living God. That is the reason why this fresh oil is released upon your lives.“You must understand this fresh oil is not for show; this fresh oil is not to be commercialized. This fresh oil is to make impact; this fresh oil is to win souls. This fresh oil is to heal the sick; it’s to deliver the oppressed. It’s to make a difference wherever you go. Wherever you go, after now, people must be able to say a man who carries fresh oil has just passed here”. Pastor Odeyemi prayed that this would be their testimony.As the special convention wound down, Pastor Adeboye announced that 82 babies were born in the course of the one-week celebration, comprising 48 boys, and 34 girls.