Christians Must Know What They are Doing and What They Want – Rev. David Aboderin
Rev. David Kayode Aboderin is currently the senior pastor and General Overseer of Faith Family Bible Church, Ojodu, Lagos and convener/ president, Joint Christian Ministers’ Crusade (JCMC Int’l.). He has a great burden to see the land delivered from every situation and with like minded ministers of God, to take over the land for Christ. In this interview with Gracious Akintayo, Rev. Aboderin speaks on the need for fresh fire in the present state of the church and the society. Excerpt;
Briefly tell us about JCMC and it’s activities:
Joint Christian Ministers’ Crusade (JCMC) is a vision God gave me in 1996 and came into reality in the year 2000 and with collective effort of ministers from all churches and denominations, we have done some Crusade at Ogba and in many other location around Lagos that has attracted thousands of people to Christ with many souls won into the kingdom of God.
In actual fact, JCMC is not really about crusades, it is about revival and evangelism. That churches come together regardless of their denomination and in togetherness, we take the land for Jesus Christ. One of the words that God gave to me was John 1:4, “in Him was life and life was the light of men. And the light shone in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it”. Let your light shine before men and when the light shines in the darkness, the darkness would not be able to comprehend the light. Where the light of the gospel is, it will illuminate and darkness will be overpowered. This is what JCMC has been doing in many villages, towns and cities across the country, where we bring together pastors and ministers, irrespective of their denomination, to work together for revival and evangelism of the land.
Is JCMC membership limited to Pentecostal churches and ministers?
We see the sign of end time written everywhere in the church and the entire world without pointing to a particular direction of denomination or christian organization. This is what JCMC is doing, to break denomination barriers and foster unity among christians and ministers in the light of taking bold steps to actualize the mind of God concerning revival and evangelism. The membership of JCMC is not limited to Pentecostals ministers, it is voluntary and open to every minister of the gospel, irrespective of denomination they belong. So many other denomination ministers have caught the fire as a result of associating and fellowshipping with JCMC, just like the Bible says iron sharpens iron and there are Pentecostal ministers who have not caught the fire, they are encouraged to catch the fire.
Is JCMC membership and activities not conflicting with that of CAN?
Not at all. There’s nothing to conflict about with CAN and PFN or any other organization. I remain a member of CAN and PFN, and I regularly participate in their activities as a member. Likewise, other members of JCMC belong to either PFN or CAN or both. JCMC activities have not in any way conflict with these respected christian organizations. What JCMC stands for, is to give birth to something that is burning in the heart of God, to foster unity among churches and cause revival to happen. We have seen it happening that as we foster unity, people could work together and we take our Communities and land for Christ. The place of unity is okay so far the word of God says so. That is what is happening in JCMC.
Tell us about the coming fresh fire conference:
Fresh Fire Conference have been an annual gathering of ministers since 2006 and the purpose of the gathering is for ministers to come together, get fresh oil of the Holy Spirit to start the year. Get better insight into the work ahead and start the new year on a new note and better platform. Great things are happening, ministers that participate in the annual Fresh Fire conference, came and went back with a very new foundation. And they move with the fire from the conference into starting the year and that has been the experience with confirmed testimonies.
Who are those expected at the Conference as participants and speakers?
Participation is open to all categories of gospel ministers, church workers and others from all denominations. We are expecting some respected ministers from different denominations, youth leaders and women including others from corporate and professional fields, to speak and share knowledge on various topics at the 3 days Conference that begins from Tuesday, 3rd to Friday, 5th January, 2023.
What advice do you have for church leaders in the present situation of our society?
All we need most is the presence of God. We must go back in the place of obedience to His word and cultivate the habit of being in His presence. Submit to His commandments, fervently pray always and diligently walk with Him in the light of righteousness. The heroes of faith in the Bible made it and God manifest through their lives and generations, and they became our reference points, pathways and good examples. On a serious note, let us go back to the Bible, seek God’s presence and genuinely get refreshed in His presence for a solution to our present situations.
The Bible is clear on this, if we continue to look for human and sensual methods to get solutions to our situations, we will continue to fail and get it wrong. Church leaders must genuinely go back to God, to draw the church and the people to God. Then, we will experience divine intervention and solutions to our difficult situations.
What applicable principles do we need to achieve this?
Going back to the Bible principle and passion for His presence is the only way we can achieve this and get results. Unfortunately, today we have so many churches everywhere, but they only exchange members as followers without leading them to the presence of God. Rather, they limit their membership to church attendance and crowd. We need fresh fire of the Holy Spirit and the spirit of revival to walk and manifest the original plan of God.
What is your take on the present political journey to 2023?
Though, there’s another platform purposely for politics with the plan to reach out to grass roots with information, also to engage, encourage and educate christians in the grass root to participate and get involved in party politics without fear.
But 2023 is in the hands of God and He has not spoken to me about His plan. But, from the way things are going, we just have to work with the best of the candidates. Someone who is competent enough and has antecedent of integrity. Structure or no structure, if we have to vote, let us vote for a leader with capacity and capability, who is mentally and physically sound. It is important for christians to be very serious in the coming general election to elect credible leaders. We can’t risk selling our birthright and if we as Christians don’t play our roles now, things will be getting worse. We must know what we’re doing and what we want to do. Get our PVC to go and vote according to our conscience.
