Apostle Suleman Johnson, the General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries International (OFM), Auchi, Edo State has encouraged Nigerians, especially the leaders to forsake pride in order to move the nation forward.
Apostle Suleman during a recent interview spoke on his take on Biafra, his ministry’s mission of peace and giving. He also explained why he’s called the “Oracle of God”.
Read excerpts from the interview below:
What’s your take on pastors against prosperity preaching?
Well, that is not too bad, but every man interprets the Bible as he understands it. In my own view, the message of the Bible should be total and not one-sided as some people preach. God gave some pastors message of salvation, some prosperity, some end-time, but that does not mean that salvation or end-time preachers will not buy car or build houses for God and his family by God’s given prosperity. Or because a pastor is called into prosperity-preaching ministry, he decides not to talk about salvation again: he will end his journey in hell. Every ministry assignment ordained by God should complement one another. We need each other no matter the calling difference. Romans 12:3
Tell us about your recent American Raw Power crusade experience, and the charity visit to the US orphanage home.
The trip to Philadelphia, America was successful one among our trips. We had attendance of about three thousand people in a meeting with divine visitation that culminated in diverse testimonies. The word of God was preached with power and great insight given by the Holy Spirit. The Lord spoke to the people by prophecy in a very deep form; obviously we know that the people have not recovered from the encounters. As regards Charity visit to the US orphanage home, I love doing this and that is the reason we did it.
Recently, you attended to about 350 Youth Corps members at your ministry’s headquarters and gave them N7 million. What was their mission to the church.
The students came to see for themselves wonderful things they have been hearing about us. They were 358 in number. It was a courtesy visit. And when they were leaving, we realized that they needed to be encouraged back to their orientation camps. We believe doing that is a way to assist them, their parents and the community at large.
There is this issue of your alleged stand against the Biafra struggle. And this has become an issue with some groups fighting for a Biafra nation. As a man of God and not a politician, how does this connect with you?
I have heard that before, that I granted an interview to some faceless interviewers against the agitations of the Indigenous People of Biafra which is not true. I’m not the one, it was an evil concoction. To start with, I’m a preacher and Ambassador of Peace for the United Nations. I’m not in support of violence, I was one of the pastors in Nigeria who spoke several times on live worldwide satellite TV broadcast for the release of Nnamdi Kanu.
People who are jobless should look for something to do rather than fabricating stories that have no basis in order to confuse the people. Pastors should not be dragged into unnecessary debate and tribal rancor.
You have become synonymous with charity. How do you hope the world should pay you back?
In the book of proverbs 19:17, the scripture says; “Whoever is kind to the poor is lending to the Lord the benefit of his gift will return to him in abundance”. We are only doing what we know how to do and our rewards are from God. We are not expecting anything from men or any group. The world cannot pay us back. I’m not a politician who installed a bore hole for his community or does other projects and is expecting his people to vote for him in his second term political election campaign bid. Ours is not like that, we are only privileged to do what we know how to do to the glory of God.
You are not afraid to shoot at every issue while on the pulpit. What inspires you at all time?
There are things you cannot learn in your old age about life. Life is all about what you are made up of from the original dictate of God’s will. The source of my inspiration is God. From the Holy Scripture, it is God who works in us both to do His good pleasure. Whatever we are seeing today is God. A person cannot hold petrol in his hand and at the same time holds fire in his hand. These are two contrary matters. Whoever wants to shoot at issues must avoid issues.
What more are you doing as a resonate voice in Christendom to ensure that Christian leaders take the initiative to push for the necessary and positive changes in our society?
From one of the interviews granted in early May, 2016 with me about intercession we plan for Nigeria, the interviewer asked “How many other pastors are you bringing into this plan?” The response was that we are praying and good number of people in the nation would be carried along to pray for Nigeria. The only way out is prayer and by declaring the truth regularly. We are praying. There is better future for Nigeria.
One of the qualities for which you are admired on the pulpit is your entertaining the audience in the most modest sense of the word and informing them. Is that the magic wand behind the ministry increasing growth?
To start with, no man has strategy for ministering expansion or growth, except it is given from above. We are not actually entertaining the people in the course of sermons as you think but revealing the mystery in the word by the Spirit of God. One thing we should know and understand about the word of God is that, it has sweet side and bitter side. All work together to form the totality of ministry’s growth when they are strictly adhered to. Some laughed themselves into their next level as they hear the word while some are sorrowful by the same word into their freedom. The Spirit of God backing the word knows what to do to individual by the word.
At what point do you have the time to be alone with your family, given your regular movements to preach Gospel across the world?
Every minister of God at the top has similar time challenge due to crowded daily ministerial schedules but time has to be created as family matter is paramount in the heart of God. The order of life is God first, family second and ministry third. Generally, when ministry is getting larger and the demand is obviously on the increase, the attention given to family tends to suffer but all it requires is having understanding wife or husband and balance the family time and the ministry time. I create time.
You are called The Oracle of God, this title must be special to you because almost every pastor also bears this title. What’s the secrets behind the title?
There is nothing complicating about the unique title. It’s is biblical, according to 1Peter 4:11.”If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. I bear the title and If other Pastors are bearing the same title, it is not bad, it is biblical and it’s borne out of individual revelations. Oracles of God speaks divine counsel and the mind of God.