Controversial preacher and seer, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has stirred the hornet’s nest again. The founder of INRI Evangelical Church, headquartered in Oke-Afa, Isolo, Lagos, just dropped what may pass as another bomb in the Christendom.
According to him, most pastors lie to their congregations and deploy various gimmicks to extort money from them. Ayodele who spoke to YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine in his church on Sunday, February 14, 2016 during one of his empowerment programmes also bared his mind on other issues affecting the Christendom. Excerpts…
WHY HE DOESN’T VISIT OTHER CHURCHES
I don’t like going to churches because when you go to churches, there’s nothing to learn.
WHY HE RARELY TRAVELS ABROAD
I can travel, but I’m afraid to travel. If I want to travel now, I will have to go on Business Class or First Class. So, I will first of all think, this N1.8m, I have 10 people in the church that I can help with this N1.8m. That’s why I don’t travel out of the country. But I go to African countries because it’s cheaper. I don’t have holidays in order to meet the needs of my members…
WHY HE ENJOYS TOUCHING LIVES
In taking care of widows, I have sold my cars, my land, just to take care of them. This church thing is just a service to humanity – I don’t take salary. I don’t want to talk about other churches, but me, I’m not in charge of money in the church. My own is when they want to do anything I will say, no, don’t do it that way, do it this way…In other churches, they tell members, go and bring N10m for pastor; pastor will tell you if you have two cars, you have to give one to the pastor.
It’s not Biblical, it’s not in the Bible. To be honest! And collecting money for tithe…Even tithe should be crops, but we don’t have fruits in Lagos, we don’t have crops in Lagos. That’s why we turned it to cash and normally, how you spend it; are you using it for yourself? Or your members, like we do here. If I’m using it, I will be very, very rich. You won’t even be able to see me, like in some churches.
WHO IS A TRUE MAN OF GOD
See, it’s only God who knows a true man of God. Not the press, because it’s what I present to you that you will write. But inside me, you don’t know me. Until when you get closer to me, you will never know me.
It’s only God o! But the way people decide men of God is how rich you are, if you are driving the latest car, do you wear the latest suit, shoes, how many times do you travel overseas, who are your friends? That’s the only way people around justify who’s a true man of God. But to know the true man of God, it’s God o! I may fast for 100 days, make predictions, it may not please God. Only God will tell you that this is a genuine man of God.
HOW HE DEALS WITH WOMEN AND THEIR TEMPTATION
As a matter of fact, if I want to do anything with a woman; I don’t have days of visitation. If I have to attend to any woman, I would have reported myself – this woman is coming. And if you are spending more than 10/15 minutes in my office, call me. So, for me, I have not seen any kind of temptation.
WHY LITTLE IS KNOW ABOUT HIS WIFE
Me, I’m a prophet. I have a lot of characteristics. I don’t want…Mummy is not part of my work. Before I married Mummy, I had started working. I have got a lot of experience about Mummy and Daddy’s church. So, my own is, I respect my wife, I am married and everybody knows that. I’m married to a wife and I have my children. But she’s not part of my work.