The Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, says the church is fast losing its true value in society due to excessive focus on material prosperity at the expense of the gospel of salvation.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo made the assertion when he received a delegation from the Nigerian Baptist Convention, led by its President, His Eminence, Reverend Israel Adelani Akanji, in Government House, Yenagoa, over the weekend.
He described the church as the promoter of morality and righteousness, with the salvation of man as its primary objective.
The deputy governor , however, expressed concern that the attention being given to prosperity in recent years was causing the body of Christ to lose its rightful place and respect in society.
Ewhrudjakpo, who stressed the need for both pentecostal and orthodox Christians to always see themselves as members of one big spiritual family, urged them to propagate the gospel in its undiluted form to save souls from eternal condemnation.
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Speaking on the Prosperity Agenda being championed by the Governor Douye Diri-led administration, he pointed out that the prosperity mantra, which is both spiritual and material, was borrowed from the Holy Bible.
He expressed the government’s readiness to collaborate with the Baptist Church and other Christian religious bodies in building schools and other institutions to revive and promote moral values.
He thanked the eader and his team for the visit, assuring them that he would convey their appeal for an access road to the Baptist Church Campsite at Nyambiri-Zarama in the Yenagoa Local Government Area, to the governor for consideration.
Earlier, the President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, His Eminence, Reverend Israel Adelani Akanji, said he and his team were in Bayelsa specifically for a special investiture service for the new state conference president of the Baptist Church.
While appreciating the administration’s monthly and annual Christian programmes, Reverend Akanji, appealed for the state government’s support towards the building of the Baptist conference secretariat, as well as the construction of an access road to the church campsite in the state.
