There are very many ministries today whose ministers are not tutored
Joseph Ojo, the presiding Archbishop of Calvary Kingdom Church (CKC), recently led the congregation in a celebratory mode at the Zion mega convention 2025, themed, ‘The Culture of the Kingdom’; held between Sunday October 5 and Sunday October 12, 2025. In this interview with JOHN SALAU, Ojo spoke about what people need to do within the kingdom; saying “the revelation of God to people and to humanity is progressive.” Excerpts:
Could you tell us more about the theme for this year’s convention; Culture of the Kingdom?
According to our theme and the scripture, Culture of the Kingdom talks about how to behave oneself in the household. Every kingdom, ethnic kingdom I mean, has their behavioural pattern. You can see an Igbo man can hardly behave like a Yoruba man. The differences are glaring. An Edo man can hardly behave like a Hausa man. He may have lived in the Hausa land for 20, 30 years; but he can hardly behave like a Hausa man. Also in the kingdom of God, when we become born again, there are values; there are things that a child of God should know that is permissible or not permissible in this kingdom. How to behave ourselves in the house of God and many other things. So that’s what we’re talking about.
What influenced the theme or was there something you’ve noticed in the ministry or in the church at large?
Not necessarily. It comes by inspiration. You know, you get inspiration from scriptures. Politicians get their inspiration from maybe philosophy or from the general occurrences in the country. They are motivated to know and see what they are going to pursue. But in our own case, the kingdom of God, we get our instructions from the word of God. Now, the word of God stands out, as the main push for us to know what the gospel says about certain things; and that’s what influences our choice of the theme. You know, in the kingdom of God, there are so many things – in Timothy where we took our key theme from. It says to know how to conduct ourselves, in the house of God. First Timothy 3, verses 14 and 15. I’m writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon. So that if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the house of God. We’re not trying to run people down. I don’t want to do that. But there are very many ministries today whose ministers are not tutored or don’t have the knowledge of how people can conduct themselves in the house of God. Even how to conduct on the pulpit when preaching, many don’t know it. If we don’t teach, they won’t know. Jesus Christ said, go and teach all nations what I have commanded you. So, we are emphasizing on people’s conduct in the house of God. That’s what the theme is about.
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You have been in PFN leadership for a while; don’t you think it is now an assignment for the elders of faith in PFN to take up this challenge and do the teachings?
Yes, it’s a challenge. But you know the problem we have in PFN is a very big one. What I mean by this; PFN is a body of several denominations, and many of them have their doctrinal dogmas. The head of a camel can go through the hole of the needle than the possibility of trying to straighten some of them. Some have anointing that you can’t control. Some have money that you can’t control. So, like I was saying, in the kingdom of God, I was sharing with my people. Every kingdom has their rules and regulations. We are in the kingdom of God, but we have different tribes. These different tribes have their culture; but it doesn’t make us not to be Nigerians. That’s the same thing with PFN – big body. At times when you are trying to correct or direct somebody, he thinks he knows more than you. So all we have in common is prayer. All we have in common is fellowship.
In the early days of the ‘Church Movement’ you can easily spot who a Christian is: don’t you think there is an incursion of strange culture within the church in the recent past?
Yes. When you were in those days, where evangelism was important – holy living was important. Those things are still part and parcel of the church. Both evangelism, holiness, all those things are there. But the only difference is the way people define holiness. Those things are quite different now. The way people define evangelism. The time you are referring to – we have no phone. So, you can’t even evangelize by sending text messages or this thing. You know, those days, if you write a letter, it will take maybe two weeks before you get it, depending on the distance. But things have changed. I can just stay here now and be talking with you. If you want to see my face, I just put it on Zoom or something like that. We can chat, we can hold meetings; but it wasn’t like that those days. The revelation of God to people and to humanity is progressive. God is the author of all these things to make the gospel being preached. Those days you are referring to, there was no television. Idahosa was the first person to preach on television. NTA Benin in 1975, I was there. But today, people even have their own TV station and they are disseminating the gospel, preaching it on the various media – so things are improving. The definition of holiness then is based purely on the way you look. The way you dress. If you just go to dress shabbily, you wear bedroom slippers; you are the holiest person. If your shoe is polished, you are godly; but it has changed.
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What advice do you have for the leaders?
That was one of the strengths and the culture of the New Testament. When I say that we are here together, my worry these days is, there are things I can settle with you if I have advice over the phone. Don’t go and use social media or mass media to be criticizing – It’s not of God. You didn’t preach well, you didn’t pray well, you didn’t do this. No, it’s not of God. English people say they are washing their dirty linen in public, even though it’s not dirty. Once you are washing it outside, people say it’s dirty.
But how can we address this issue because it seems PFN is now a toothless body in this context?
Many of the things happening is because of what they call – Facebook or YouTube, and hunger. People don’t have jobs. They are getting something from how many people can view or respond to views. They have one million people. So they are getting subscription money from it – even lies. People are purchasing products that don’t even work. When they paint it, you want to buy it or try it, it won’t work. I’ve been foolish enough to use one or two. It didn’t work. One day I said, look, this was the trick they used on Adam. So they are getting their money from this.
What is the solution to it?
The solution is, only God; that’s true. There cannot be a time that we just have everything clean. Take my word for it. Jesus said; a farmer went to sow seed in his field. And as the seed was growing, they saw also tares growing with it. And the sower said to the master, we planted good seed here, but how come that what we didn’t plant is growing? Let’s go and uproot them. And Jesus said, no, leave them. Let them grow together until harvest time. The angels will come, take the good ones, put them back, and the bad ones, go and burn them.
Finally, is there genocide in Nigeria?
I think I cannot be categorical because I don’t know the statistics that they use. I would be biased if I just say anything because I’m a Christian leader, I say it’s true. Unless I’m able to lay hands on the data – if I don’t have the data, I’ll be a false prophet to say things that I have not verified. Look, the things we have handled, the things we have touched, that’s what we are saying: that’s my view.
