Bishop Taiwo Akinola is President and Founder, Rhema Christian Church and Towers, Ota, Ogun State, which turned 20 on Wednesday, November 2, 2011. The former lecturer tells CHRIS IREKAMBA why the church decided to roll out the drums in celebration.20 years!WE have weeklong events to mark the anniversary. From November 6 to 13, the Champion Cathedral, 1-7, Rhema Venue, off Lagos Road, Temidire, Sango Ota, will be a beehive of activities.The theme for this year's convention is 'Amazing Grace.' I believe God gave us this theme because of what He wants to do with His people this time around. He wants to connect people to a higher level of grace and favour.As we have always said here, except the grace of God shows up in a man's life, such will be grounded, no matter how well connected or powerful or rich or educated or versed he might be. If grace is absent, the rest is nullity. That is why this year, we believe God's grace wants to serve us and give a lift to God's people as they participate in the convention.People are invited from all walks of life. That is why we called it Rhema World Convention. And happily, people will be coming, not only from Nigeria, but also from other parts of the world. For instance, we are expecting people from America, Japan and other parts of the world. Some of our guest ministers this year include people like Prophet S.K. Abiara, the General Evangelist of CAC Worldwide; Bishop Jide Orire; Dr. Kunle Adesina; Apostle Mike Tomonewo and Dr. K. Agbeyomi, all the way from Atlanta, USA. We are also expecting a man from Dallas.The convention promises to be very rich and resourceful. It promises to be a destiny enhancing tag, and that is why we are going to feature Word Explosion, in other words, the Word of God coming richly to bring revolution in the life of people. We are also going to have miracle services. We will also dwell in God's presence in what we call Prayer Rain.Of course, there will be powerful worship, peculiar anointing, anointing for favour, person/family deliverance and indeed, there will be salvation for all.The time for Prayer Rain is 6am. A seminar holds at 9am on various topics, and there will be ministers' meeting also in the afternoon.Hossana night will hold on Friday. We are expecting some great artistes such as Buchi and Aje Jesu'people who have proved that there is ability in disability. People call them disabled but they said they are able. So, they will be singing at Hossana night. It's going to be powerful; it's going to be prophetic. The grand finale will be Sunday, November 13.Uniqueness of the conventionIt's been a great privilege serving under God's banner for two decades. Today (November 2) marks the 20th anniversary of the church because it was inaugurated on November 2, 1991. The journey so far has been blissful. God has been helpful. He has been encouraging us. It's just like any minister would say to you, 'many waters have passed under the bridge'. But God has always made His grace available to us to sing a new song every time.In the past 20 years, it has been very unique. There has been the turning around of destinies; lives have been changed dramatically, and also there have been healings, deliverance and touch of prosperity for people.Not only that, the Lord has shown that Rhema Christian Church is not just a church to touch lives only within the locality; He has also opened up for us frontiers of civilization. That is why we have some churches outside this country, like in Japan and America, to the glory of God.So, we thank God that for 20 years, He has been faithful and greatly blissful to us and we give Him all the praise.Insecurity in the countryNigeria, I must say, is a nation that has enjoyed tremendous grace. There are not many nations that fought the kind of war we did and came out still united. There are not many nations that have ethnic differences like we have or religious crises and still remain the same. Nigeria is very significant because we have been enjoying grace and we need more of this grace. What is grace' Grace is divine blessing in spite of our demerit. That is why some call it unmerited favour.God has been blessing us, in spite of our demerits.People say we are a godly nation but we don't display godly traits very much. Even the Boko Haram you are talking about, they said they are doing so in the name of God. But we know that God cannot be that uncaring and unruly. So, what we are saying essentially is that the nation should cry for the grace of God, to help us; to save us and sustain us. If we get more of that we get more security; we get more blessings even with our demerit.Maybe the nation should call for a day of prayer and fasting. I think we need God. He's the one that can save us from these myriads of problems. That is why, no matter how saintly a man is, once he gets to Aso Rock, somehow, within months, you begin to see things and you will be wondering what is happening here. This is the same thing with our governors. When you see one, you will think this one will be the one to save the nation. But once he gets there, he will put on some funny things and you will be wondering, 'was he the one we voted for''Those are confusing signals and I believe Nigeria needs grace. It's when we have grace that we can keep rank and stand as a nation that is blessed.Removal of fuel subsidyHonestly speaking, I do not believe that the proposed removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government is the best option for now. I am not an economist but I do know that life is about cause and effect. There is bound to be ripple effects. By the time you remove the subsidy, the price for petroleum products will go up and then, manufacturing concerns and transport industries and all that will be affected.So, with that I believe the already overburdened Nigerian populace will probably groan more. I think the government should do a rethink on that and probably consider what the ripple effects will be. I know they must have given some thought as to what they want to do. They should analyse it critically.This is not the best of time to take any decision or toe any policy line that will make people feel bad. Particularly, as you look at what is happening in the Arab world. I will advise Jonathan with the generous goodwill that he enjoys to think on that and not aggravate people the more because they are really suffering....Subsidy on pilgrimageMatters of faith are personal issues, if somebody thinks he wants to improve his spiritual life by going to Jerusalem or Mecca. I think the government in the first place should not even meditate on that. If you want to go to the mountain, you transport yourself there. If you want to travel out of the country, you must be able to transport yourself there. I think it was a mistake originally made by whosoever was there before. It's part of those wrong policies we are talking about. Anybody who wants to go to Jerusalem or Mecca should pay for it. Those who are coming for this convention the government is not giving them money. That is my opinion.
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