Various questions were directed at the ministers and they took turn in answering them individually or collectively as the case may be in some instances.
Q: Rev Sam, what did you do after you prayed and God called you, did you immediately launch into your ministry? What were the steps you took?
A: Rev Sam: It was a process of development. I served in fellowship in school (campus), during my youth service, in my local in my local church, at home, as a youth pastor, then was promoted to associate pastor and eventually became a branch pastor. I was trained in character, management, leadership, pastoring etc. That is God’s process. Even Jesus was trained for 30 yrs before moving into ministry.
Q: Also, what do you do if you are 10- 15 years ‘behind’ due to disobedience and are desperate to get back on track with God?
A: Rev Sam: However far out you have gone, you can come back to the place where you missed it. Come back to that place and obey Him. Usually, you’ll have to obey the Lord’s last command or instruction. With God, there is restoration so don’t worry about the time that has been lost.
Q: Pastor Taiwo, Joseph became Prime Minister by favour but collected the lands of the Egyptians and made them slaves. This is the origin of capitalism. Is it right?
A: Pastor Taiwo: Joseph saved them from years of waste by the wisdom God gave him. He didn’t collect anything for himself. He collected what they had to give them what they needed and the proceeds went to the government. So rather than capitalism, he saved the masses.
Q: Pastor Tony, how do I as a New Testament believer appropriate the various offices of Pastor, Prophet, Apostle etc given to the Body Of Christ?
A: Pastor Tony: I believe that believers need to be planted in local churches. There’s one Body of Christ expressed in different local assemblies. Each local assembly has a set man/pastor who usually operates in one of these offices. The grace of the set man is usually made available to you. You should be stable in a local assembly in order to grow spiritually.
Q: To all the men of God: I would like to know the meaning of a spiritual father or mentor. What is the characteristic of a son? How do you choose a son? And who checks up on whom?
A: Rev Sam: do not get confused by semantics and technologies. Jesus said ‘call no one father’ not meaning that you should ignore your earthly fathers. Paul also referred to fathers but not as it is done these days which is usually manipulative and controlling. A father should have a foundational effect in your life. Despite the recent technology, don’t get confused by attending too many services online for example. It is important that you are planted in a local assembly, that you are known, that you are committed to the vision and that you take advantage of all the training available. Don’t be confused. Pray for direction and God will lead you
Pastor Tony: There’s a difference between spirituality and religiosity as was asked earlier. All things are lawful but not all things are expedient. The brass snake that brought healing to the Israelites bitten in the wilderness was worshipped many years later by the Israelites in the time of King Hezekiah and they were caught up in idolatry. Seasons change, what is legal in one season may not be in the next. You need to know the constant and the variable. Be spiritual not religious.
Pastor Taiwo: Having a father or mentor is not a prerequisite for ministry. It’s not a precondition for your calling. Your strength in life is determined by how well you’re able to manage relationships. There might be areas in their life you want to learn from, and there might be people who have a grace you admire and want to have so you want to learn from them. It is up to you to decide who is father or mentor.
Everything God will give you will come through people, you have to relate with people, through good relationship you get what others have that you do not have. When you see someone who is an authority in a field you humble yourself to learn from the person. So you might take such a person as a father or mentor. You may have many teachers, and submit yourself to benefit from the grace of God’s calling on His people. Along the line there might be friction between you and your mentor, there will be offences in the relationship but that doesn’t mean there is something wrong with having a mentor. Sometimes some of the frictions in father/son mentor relationships are not intentional.
However do not lord it over people. The only Lord of the church is Jesus. Everything God will give you will come through people.
Q: I am in a church and I am not getting blessed there, what do I do?
A: Pastor Taiwo: No man owes you anything but to love. You should live your life in gratitude. Instead of going to church to get blessed for your selfish needs, you go there to get the Word and the anointing and take it out into the world and be a blessing.
Pastor Tony: The just shall live by faith. It’s in your daily existence. Faith is a lifestyle. Not for getting a car or a house. Faith isn’t what you use to get something else. It is to live as can be seen in the lives of those in the hall of faith in Heb 12. Some issues are technical and others are adaptive so your questions should be solved from the roots. Are they spiritual or natural? Work from revelation and understanding and not the natural.
Pastor Sam: As valid as fatherhood and mentorship is, most people end up with low self esteem because they feel incomplete without someone else. In the dynamics of relationships with mentors and fathers, you might end up low self esteem. We have some things in our culture that has entered into our Christianity, we have a culture that is permissive, even when we know what to do we still want permission from certain people. You should strive to be brought into spiritual maturity. Ask questions, query, crosscheck. Don’t just absorb things hook line and sinker and ask for permission for everything. It’s a cultural issue
Pastor Tony: However, where culture clashes with kingdom, culture has to go! Be bold and courageous. God moved from Moses to Joshua: it was a new dispensation. That is how you should view things. God changes rules.
Q: The gap between leadership and followership is widening. What can be done to bridge this gap?
A: Pastor Sam: When the music changes, so should your dance. Churches are larger now. As a people, we are too personality driven. However, the discussion has now moved from leaders to leadership. From the top down i.e. from the one person that leads to include the team of people that lead. The level at which you serve will determine the level at which you interact with leadership. The less personal interaction people had with Jesus happened to be the ones whom Jesus said they had great faith e.g. the Centurion who said The Lord should send His Word to heal his servant without coming to his house; the woman who touched the hem of His garment…
Pastor Tony: We need to deal with breaking the idol of the worship of man. We all have equal access to God, the Holy Spirit and the Word. You need to shift your concept of a man of God.
Q: As a woman, my husband and I do not agree on a vision. The visions we each have are different and time is running out, what do I do? Submit?
A: Pastor Taiwo: Someone is not hearing well. It must be admitted that men don’t like to be told what to do. Pray for your husband, be gentle and God will intervene.
Q: I am a music and sound minister and I’m being asked to pastor a youth group which I don’t feel called for. What do I do?
A: Pastor Tony: There are many dynamics in the situation, we don’t know who asked Uzzah to lead the Ark, it seemed it was David but when there was trouble it was Uzzah who died. Hypothetically, if Moses told Joshua to March round Jericho 6 times and God said 7, what was he to do? You obey your general. Spiritual authority is very important. As a soldier, you must obey orders especially in battle. Try to discuss and resolve any issues with your general before you go into battle so as not to end up in disobedience to God directly or indirectly either way.