The Association of Nigerian Christian Authors and Publishers (ANCAPS) has berated Nigerian churches, especially the Pentecostal sect on the replacement of evangelism manuals with prosperity textbooks authored by their Pastors and leaders.
According to ANCAPS, “the aim of evangelism manual is to preach that message of salvation and see people come to Christ. It builds layers of an outward, gospel focus that makes it normal and inevitable for people to come to Christ in your church while Prosperity textbooks put riches first before Christ. “
In a statement made available to newsmen in Ibadan, Wole Adedoyin, ANCAPS President said replacement of evangelism manual with prosperity manual is weakening the spiritual structures of the body of Christ that is why crimes, corruptions, delinquencies, dishonesty, rituals, kidnapping and stealing are now rampant in Nigerian churches of today, all because they wanted to be rich.
The Statement further reads “A holistic, biblical approach to evangelism as inscribed in the evangelism manual employs all practices in ways that inform and enhance one another so that we share the gospel and move closer to God through Jesus Christ. Many churches struggle with evangelism. For some, evangelism is an important objective, but the methods of pursuing it are vague or ineffective. For others, the term itself is uncomfortable, bringing to mind manipulative ways of leading people to faith.”
“Replacing evangelism manual with prosperity manual written by the church pastor or the church leader is like nailing Christ to Cross the second time and leading non-believers to Satan. The Salvation of the unbelievers should be first met using the evangelism manual before any other books introduced. “
Wole Adedoyin who is also the National Coordinator of the Christian Democratic Movement of Nigeria (CDMN) also decried the scarcity and low prints of quality and Christo-centric evangelism manuals. Also admonished Christian authors in the country to write more evangelism manual under the control of the Holy Spirit aim at winning souls for Christ and promoting the kingdom of God.
ANCAPS finally urged Nigerian Pastors and church leaders to be well grounded in the basic biblical principles of missions, evangelism, and discipleship so that the church can accomplish its God-given task of bringing lost people to Christ and building them up in Christ.
Packaged by Mayowa Owogbade
