FREEDOM DAY: Ifeacho Urges Members To Be Steadfast

CHAIRMAN of the Executive Board of God’s Kingdom Society (GKS), the Church of the Living God, Brother Godwin Ifeacho, has urged Christians to be steadfast and not to lose faith, even in the face of difficulties. He said the situations on ground could make Christians to do things contrary to their beliefs.

Addressing celebrants at the Freedom Day Divine Service to mark the birth of Christ, held at the GKS Service Hall Salem City in Warri, two Sundays ago, Brother Ifeacho stated in his sermon entitled, “Pray that ye enter not into temptation,” that people the world over are, at the instance of the devil, being assailed by natural disasters, wars, poverty, unemployment and social violence among others, as a result of which they lament the hard conditions they have to contend with.

“Like in the days of Isaiah, the prophet, the reality today is that many people “call evil good and good evil …(they) put darkness for light, and light for darkness; … (and) bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter,” he said, adding that in many places, value systems have been perverted such that corrupt people are honoured, workers’ merit and competence are battered for sentimental and selfish reasons, as a result of which equal opportunities are not given to everybody. The difficulties of the times are temptations, which have made so many people to take hard and even horrifying decisions for which they have heart-rending stories to tell.”

In a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the church, Brother Benedict Hart, the Chairman stated that as a result of wars and economic problems, more than 300,000 Africans and Asians have flooded Europe in search of improved living conditions, creating a “staggering humanitarian crisis, the largest refugee influx since World War Two.”

The cleric, while calling on Christians to anchor their faith in God Almighty and Jesus Christ to overcome the challenges of the times, asserted that it is “sad and appalling” that countries that are supposedly founded on Christian ideals are now fighting Christianity by legalising unnatural and unchristian practices such as same-sex unions.

Brother Emmanuel Oriaku also spoke on the subject: “Was Christ Born on Christmas Day?” Various cultural groups entertained the congregation in a joyful session of songs.