By Martin Paul, Abuja

President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN),  Rev. Samson Ayokunle, has bemoaned the spate of immorality pervading many churches in the country, saying  acts of  indiscipline like sexual immorality, gluttony and financial impropriety are glaring being practiced unabated.

He said money has also become thin gods for many church leaders, adding  that there was no difference between  unbelievers and a Christian guilty of the evil acts mentioned above

In his speech at the ongoing Virtual Convention of the Baptist Church, Ayokunle, who is also the President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), said this in a speech: “Moving Forward: Becoming a More Disciplined Church”.

 He said the “church is now in a state where lack of discipline has led to many instances of sexual immorality, gluttony, financial impropriety, laziness, court cases”, among others.

 “The name of the Lord is being maligned in our society today because of the way Christians are behaving.

“Obscene dressing and all forms of impurities are happening in our midst.

“Some Christians cannot be trusted for any noble assignment. There appears to be no difference between them and the unbelievers.

“Money in particular has become the god of some (if not many) Christians, including church leaders! What a shame to the Church.

 “The Lord of the Church is sad concerning the state of the Church. We are robbed of our powers and molested by the children of Satan because of our careless living.

“We came into the year 2020 with high hopes and aspirations. As individuals, families and organisations, we made plans and set goals for the year.

“In the month of February, the Covid-19 virus, which started in Wuhan, China, has become a pandemic. One after the other nations of the world was shutting down. Nigeria was not left out.

“In the month of March, we experienced various lockdowns and different measures put in place by the Federal Government, among which is non-gathering of large numbers of people in the public place. This was why our Convention in Session scheduled for 24th to 29th of April was postponed.

“You would agree with me that this year’s convention is a peculiar one in that it is the first virtual Convention in Session we are holding in the history of the convention.

“I appreciate all who have joined us from different parts of the country and various parts of the world. Blessed be the name of the Lord for His unfailing mercies over our lives.”

Giving an account of the church’s exploits in recent times, he said: “Were it not for the global pandemic situation, this year’s convention would have been a unique one too as we would have held the convention at the Baptist International Christian Centre (BICC), a thirty seven thousand-seat auditorium in our Baptist International Camp at Lufuwape in Ogun State.

“Since we began work on the auditorium on the 6th of June, 2019, work has not stopped on site.

“The Admin building has been completed. Over 100 toilets have been completed. Boreholes have been sunk and the auditorium is about forty-five per cent (45%) completed.

“We wouldn’t forget to make mention of the fact that some people have sacrificially made themselves available for this project to come to reality and at the stage that it is presently.”

CAN urges Christians to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines

Also yesterday,  the CAN urged Christians to sustain adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines in spite of the reduction in the daily number of cases in the country.

CAN Chairman in Okitipupa Local Government Area (LGA) Chapter, Ondo State, Pastor Peter Akinyelure, made the appeal while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria.

He said that Christians must not take the reduction in the number of cases recorded by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for granted.

According to him, people must continue with the regular washing of hands and the use of alcohol- based hand sanitiser.

Akinyelure said that Christians should also continue to maintain physical distancing, avoid hugging, shaking of hands and maintain a clean environment in order to curtail the spread of the virus.

 “We thank the government for partially opening the churches for us to fellowship together. We urge our members to obey and respect the guidelines given to us before opening the churches such as, use of face masks, washing of hands, use of sanitiser and maintaining physical distance in the church.

“The daily figure of COVID-19 is reducing, but we must not lose our guard, we should sustain the adherence to the NCDC guidelines and protocols to chase the deadly disease away from our land,’’