The general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has confessed that he was wrong to have said that any believer who does not pay tithes will not make heaven.
Adeboye tendered the apology yesterday while ministering at the youth convention of the church.
Recall that the general overseer had previously said that paying tithe was one of the prerequisites for going to heaven.
While addressing the youths, he said his earlier statement was a mistake, stressing that the bible says peaceful and holy living are the prerequisites for making heaven.
“I apologise for saying ‘If you don’t pay tithe, you might not make it to heaven.’ I’m sorry, that’s wrong, and it’s not in the Bible. What the Bible says is ‘Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see God’,” he said.
Furthermore, he said: “It is possible to be right and wrong at the same time. I will proof it to you. I’m a scientist so I know that for years we thought that light travels straight. Later on we discovered light travels in waves,” he said.
Thereafter, the French suit-wearing clergyman advised the youths to give “violently towards to God’s work” like an unnamed American and the biblical David and Solomon did.
“It is wrong to limit you to 10 per cent when someone is talking of 20, 30, 40 per cent. 10 per cent should be for beginners I believe God will give me an opportunity very soon to give you the details,” he added.
He related his experience at one of the conventions of late American preacher, Kenneth E Hagin in Tulsa, United States, where a man made a promise to give more than all participants at the convention.
He said all participants had given about $3.5 million towards the building of the Rhema Bible College.
However, Adeboye said the man promised he was going to give more than what everybody gave towards the project.
“The man told me how he had started a business with 500 dollars and had told God if he blessed him, he would not insult Him with 10 per cent.
“Five years after the man started the business, he said he was making a turnover of $50 million. And that was what inspired me also to give towards God’s work violently.
“If you want to dominate, you must know how to praise God violently. How did David become king? He was not the first in the family, he was not even recognised but he knew how to praise God, he did not do it gently but violently, with all his might.
“Unfortunately, most of us don’t appreciate that. When we are much younger in the Lord, we praise God freely. As we begin to grow in the Lord, our praise becomes gentle, more civilised, and more polite. David, even after he became king, danced so vigorously that even his wife mocked him.
“Your giving must be of the violent type. King Solomon gave thousands of burnt offerings to God and God said there would not be a king before or after him, and he would not fight a single war, because kings fight war to retain their domain and the Bible records that he has peace all round,” he stated.
