The Senior Pastor of The Covenant Christian Centre, Lagos, Pastor Poju Oyemade, has said that the closure of Churches due to the Coronavirus pandemic does not stop the work of the Holy spirit.
He argued that the miracles recorded by the early Christian leaders in the Bible did not take place within the four walls of a church but on the streets, people’s homes and open places.
Recall that Pastors, David Oyedepo of the Winners Chapel and Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy have on separate occasions lambasted the Federal Government for failing to reopen the Churches closed down in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic in the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on March 30, in a nationwide broadcast directed that worship centres in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory be closed down as part of efforts to curb the spread of the Coronavirus in the areas.
This was as he announced a complete lockdown in the areas.
Some other states in the country also gave similar directives.
However, on May 4, the lockdown was eased in Lagos, Ogun and FCT, but the President ordered that worship centres should remain closed till further notice.
The decision did not go down well with pastors Oyedepo and Oyakhilome.
However, in a recent post on his Instagram page, Oyemade expressed the view that the closure of churches does not in any way stop the Holy Spirit from working.
He added: “Closing the doors of a physical building does not in any way mean the closure of the anointing of the Spirit from working.
“The sick we see healed in the book of Acts were healed on the streets, in people’s homes, in public places and not within the four walls of a Church.
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“Church buildings may be shut down but true faith and the anointing of the Spirit has not stopped working.
“There is a difference between expression of emotions and the manifestation of the anointing to heal the sick.
“There is nowhere in Jesus’s ministry where the healing of the sick was preceded by a congregational service.
“In the Book of Acts, the sick were healed predominantly on the streets with no fanciful service going on.
“Closure of a church building does not stop the rivers of living water from flowing out of your belly. It resides in our inner man.
“There was collective prayer to receive a supply of the Spirit which led to outdoor manifestations.
He referred to Apostle Paul insisting Christians don’t have to be together in a physical space to receive that supply.
“Did he not say to the Church at Phillipi, I know this shall turn to my salvation through your prayers and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus? The Church was miles away from where Paul was.”
Oyemade recalled that Charles Finney began a massive revival by people praying in their homes all keeping watches at the same time. “They all chose the exact time to pray and they did in their homes until the Spirit broke out on the streets.”
He pointed out that they did not criticise any other Church or ministry of weakness adding: “Criticizing others doesn’t attest to the fact that you have strength. They only stayed with God until something broke out on the streets.”
