Please rest assured I am not promoting this issue of tithing. I wrote this only after I saw a very recent video of Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo going on and on about the issue and Daddy Freeze. I thought it was an overkill and avoidable.
THE BATTLE VS. THE WAR
PASTOR ASHIMOLOWO, IT’S NOT ABOUT TITHES. IT’S ABOUT LEADERSHIP, RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Dear Pastor Matthew,
Greetings. I am not sure if you will remember. Many years ago you accompanied my dear friend and brother Bishop Abraham Olaleye to my then Ilupeju office adjacent his home. A few times we have also been on the same Virgin flights either going to London or Lagos and once we sat next to each other.
I have just viewed your message at TREM where you spoke on Daddy Freeze and indeed the title of your message was on Tithing. In my opinion, Daddy Freeze will appear to have finally been shouted down from many eminent pulpits, but the issue he raised has raised the real issues, i.e.
*Financial Accountability in the church
*Judicious use of church resources
*Modest living by the clergy
*What the Bible truly says about tithing and a few doctrinal issues etc.
He has been called names but oddly none has used the Bible to repudiate what he said.
My advice to senior evangelical leadership like yourself is very simple. AFTER ALL THE NOISE FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE DEBATE, THE NAME CALLING, STOUT DEFENCE, SPINS, BRAVADO etc., PLEASE GO BACK INTO YOUR CONCLAVES AND HONESTLY CONSIDER THE MAIN ISSUE DADDY FREEZE RAISED AND THE OTHER ISSUES THAT FLOWED FROM IT AS MANY PEOPLE JOINED THE CONVERSATION.
Pastor, no doubt Freeze is a very boisterous young man, appears to have little respect for traditions and protocols etc., BUT HE RAISED KEY ISSUES AND SUPPORTED THEM WITH SCRIPTURES. AND NO ONE, I REPEAT, NO ONE COULD CONVINCINGLY CONTRADICT HIM FROM THE SAME BIBLE.
IN MY OPINION GOD HAS USED DADDY FREEZE TO GIVE PENTECOSTAL LEADERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW MANY THINGS AND SET CORRECTIONS IN PLACE. THEY SHOULD NOT ALLOW THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE COVERED WITH THEIR HASTE TO SHOW THAT THEY ARE RIGHT AND HE, WRONG.
Something profound has been set in motion and the Pentecostal movement cannot be the same again. For the first time the leadership has been successfully challenged in a major doctrinal position. And either we like to admit or not Daddy Freeze literally received a standing ovation.
Pastor, in my opinion, Daddy Freeze is a passionate believer. It is so obvious. He means well too. Now, his style and communication may be different and even irreverent, but he has been supported by many older, eminent men of the collar like Pastor ADELAJA. We should pay some attention to him and simply not harass him off. And we should not personalize the debate. It’s not about Freeze.
He should be taken seriously. We should concentrate on what he said and what he set in motion and not the fact that he beats his wife and other trite, mundane issues. Many church Ministers do worse: one of them even said on YouTube that masturbation is not wrong! A few have had issues at home, divorced, remarried etc. So!
And a Minister like you and father in the faith should not have gone to TREM to openly and maliciously talk about Freeze’s domestic challenges with his wife and son. It was wrong and Unchristian and uncharitable. Even if you hate him so much, you shouldn’t have succumbed to this. And saying it on the TREM altar was an abuse of privilege and being insensitive to your host.
Permit me to illustrate with one of my favourite Yoruba proverbs on this matter of publicly discussing Daddy Freeze’s personal life and challenges as a response to the issues he raised: “There is no one that we will inspect his or her anus and not find excreta; it will be either dry or fresh”. Freeze may have domestic issues, but a Minister and father in the faith like you should not be using it maliciously against him. And publicly too. It was mean. AND AS YOU MUST KNOW WE ALL HAVE OUR DARK SECRETS.
What I am saying Pastor is that it would have been better and in line with our faith if you made your point with scriptures and you then went along to pray for Daddy Freeze asking God to correct him if he’s wrong. More importantly, that God should heal his family; not using an altar to gloat about his marital and domestic problems. This is the LOVE the Bible teaches. This is the CHRISTIANITY Jesus lived as an example Sir.
For those in the Spirit, the debate is not about Tithing; that just triggered it off. THE DEBATE IS ABOUT LEADERSHIP, RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
Daddy Freeze the precocious enfant terrible may have lost the battle, but certainly not the war.
Best personal regards.
LA
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