The beginning of a new year comes with new expectations and hopes for most people. And for some Christians or denominations in Nigeria, the new year’s eve to the very early days of January has become a season of predictions for many church heads, especially, prominent General Overseers.
This yearly tradition has, however, become quite controversial, with many of the predictions being widely off target, or coming across as mere permutations by a gambler that usually misses the mark.
Are predictions necessary at the start of the year? To what extent can this widespread practice be termed Biblical? What informs the regularity of this practice over the years at this same period? And of what benefits are some of the unpalatable predictions to which the heads of these denominations or churches supply no way out? These questions and more beg for answers, considering the embarrassment that comes with rampant, false predictions in the Christendom.
The Bible contains many prophecies by God-ordained prophets whose words, when such come out as prophecies to the people are cast in iron, surely becoming reality, and on rare occasions when there would be a change, God does it by assigning these real prophets to announce such reconsiderations by God. Over the years in Nigeria, however, new year predictions, especially by founders of several, prominent modern denominations appear to have been turned into an attention- seeking exercise, usually emanating from heads of modern or Protestant denominations.
Over a decade ago, Pastor W.F Kumuyi of the Deeper Life Ministries Worldwide was asked by some journalists to come out with his prophecies for the new year. And Kumuyi replied that he had none to offer. According to him, prophets of Biblical times never churned out prophecies for the new year, and as such, the basis of such practice is obviously not scriptural. He further noted that it was not a Biblical command, especially as today’s calendar is not same as that of biblical times. Kumuyi made it known that there is a clear difference between a mere wish, desire, prayer and a real prophecy.
The position of the Deeper Life founder on the matter is not out of tune with that of Bamidele Johnson, analyst, Former Associate Editor of TheNews magazine and currently the Chief Operating Officer at Strategic Outcomes Limited. Johnson, who penned an earlier, incisive piece on matters of such hit-and-miss prophecies titled “Prophecy, Prayer and Pulpit Freestyling,” thumbed down the practice. According to him, most of the prophecies are as accurate as the horoscopes. “These so-called new year predictions are usually wooly, never specific, such as traditional rulers needing to pray for long life. Who does not need to? The Bible does not command yearly prophecies,” he said.
Julius Anjorin, a part-time pastor with one of the most prominent protestant denominations chose to put the blame for the rise and regularity of the practice on lack of spiritual discernment of many Christians. According to him, these prophecies coming at the period of the year’s beginning are not necessarily scriptural. ” The reason I think it has been turned into a yearly exercise by these GOs is that they have discovered that many christians are quite gullible, wanting to know what the future holds for them. If you’re a church leader that doesn’t prophesy, people tend to believe you are not close to God,” Anjorin said.
Anjorin recalled a particular incident when a church member accused him of not performing in terms of delivering prophecies like the former pastor of the church. “I just walked away from the confrontation, understanding her low level of faith. These are difficult times and people are hungry for predictions of hope, and that is why many so-called “men of God” go the extra mile and even seek unnecessary power to see such visions,” Anjorin stated.
Anjorin, however, added that there are still genuine pastors and ministers out there whose prophecies are true echoes from God.
“There are some men of God that hear from God frequently, and this cannot be ruled out. There are those that set time aside to hear from God when they ask from him specifically on these matters,” he said.
“There are some men of God that hear from God frequently, and this cannot be ruled out. There are those that set time aside to hear from God when they ask from him specifically on these matters”.
On his part, Olaolu Olufemi of Rhema Chapel, Ilorin explained that God is not known for ambiguity and confusion. He pointed out that God may give a church leader an insight into the future by a word of wisdom or knowledge by the Holy Spirit, with these capabilities being clearly unambiguous and full of sanctity with capacity for accomplishment. “If God has given it, certainly it must come to pass or perform,” he stated, adding that God is not in the business of guess works. “Prophecy is for God’s purpose, plans and, especially “performance, not an open ended warning or suggestions, advice or postulation, it is emphatic and affirmative and must happen,” Olufemi stated.
“Prophecy is for God’s purpose, plans and, especially “performance, not an open ended warning or suggestions, advice or postulation, it is emphatic and affirmative and must happen,” Olufemi stated.
Olufemi explained further that God can send His prophets to warn people of imminent evils and dangers ahead, for such to be averted, but that such warnings cannot be termed prophecies. According to him, the GOs can pray and make pronouncements based on God’s promises for nations and even the world, but definitely not in the prevalent manner and fashion of blank predictions that the GOs in Nigeria have unreasonably turned into a tradition and turned the use of God’s gift and calling for church consumption into a commodity for vain gain. The exercise labelled “new year prophecy” by heads of these denominations makes a mockery of God’s work, word and His person. For the sake of mentioning, what has God’s purpose got to do with the death of a prominent politician, for instance, or the qualification and winning of a football team in a scheduled international tournament, and other forecasting not worth mentioning. These pronouncements rarely come to pass and are in no circumstance the vehicle for advancing God’s kingdom on Earth,” he noted.
Olufemi observed that the practice is grossly affecting the integrity of the church, in terms of creating room for those bent on challenging the efficacy of the gospel.
“Such false prophecies give people the reason to doubt the truth of God’s word, confusing and emboldening the people of other faiths to confront the truthfulness of God’s purpose for us all,” he said. He posited that in clear terms, any General Overseer engaging in these predictions is not instructed by God.
“Their motive is more of marketing a product for gains than for God’s use.
Many Christians may frown at these hit-or-miss guesses termed prophecies coming from some church leaders and founders of denominations at the beginning of the year. But there’s no indication that it has been a basis for reduced flow of worshippers into these denominations. Olufemi admitted these false prophecies appear inconsequential, “it is very unfortunate that despite their errors and wrong predictions, many people still throng after them, and the naïve, deceived gullible and dispirited Nigerians still turn to these merchant of lies for solutions to their problems,” he said, pointing out further that the situations bedeviling the nation most times require no prophecy or predictions to bring about solutions. For him, this is quite apparent as the act of predicting the future by General Overseers has never solved any national crisis, neither are they designed for that purpose.
