•Says we have too many things to correct before talking of hate speech By Michael Nnamdi
P RESIDING Bishop of Bible Life Church Cathedral (BLCC), Ajegunle-Apapa, Lagos, Bishop Leonard Umunna, recently unveiled a book and a gospel music album in his church. After the event, the educationist and an entrepreneur bared his mind on the state of the nation and many more. Excerpts: How do you manage to sing, write, preach and do other things at the same time?
I used to compose every minute but now I am looking for stronger words and greater melodies; inspired words that can explode into the hearts of people and solve their challenges just like my book. I used to draw inspiration from events and sounds around, but now I concentrate on any message given to me or incidents that will change lives. Incidents that people can learn from and can make mankind better.
God wanted me to be a preacher that sings and not a singer that preaches. I cannot be going from church to church because I am training people that can do that. I am into all aspects of music….I write, compose, sing, produce and also market. You know God made me king in that He trained me to sing. I discovered Engineer Nelson, the one who featured the Plantashun Boiz that consisted of 2face Idibia, Faze and Blackface. The same thing with my way of prophesying, people say it’s mathematical and world class. People come from all over the world and say they have not seen my style of prophesying. The last set came from London, before then those who came from the US also said they had not seen this kind. It is an innovation which came from God. Some people say they dream or have vision….but my inspiration comes in diverse ways. God speaks to my hearing and uses things happening to quicken me to take action, to show myself responsible and responsive to the needs of the hour. I don’t hear from God only, I hear from people, I hear from circumstances.
All I want is to advance my generation. Every generation has its own music and message. Everyone born into this world must experience a forward match, so if the person thinks that the forward march is only possible through the old means, the person will be left behind. Nowadays, some churches pay much attention to music and allocate fewer minutes to sermon. What is the place of music in Christian worship? I hesitated to respond because I tell the Muslims that I do not preach to them to convert them to Christ but to transform them to Allah who will use them. It is the same word that I am using to speak to them which is wisdom. I am not sent to convert Muslims but to make them useful. Those into music for money become antagonistic when they are told the whole truth. Music to such people is synonymous with anything in the church; they are not seeing music the way God sees it. David used music to glorify God. Paul and Silas used music to praise God and received their freedom. The children of God used it to pull down the wall of Jericho. I use the portion of the scriptures where the demons left the king whenever David played the harp. So I tell them that the effect of your music shows whom you are glorifying. Satan, who is Lucifer, the first musician in heaven, lost it all because he used his music to glorify self, not God. If when you sing people begin to lust after you, then know you are glorifying self. Perhaps after singing, you proceed to committing sexual immorality, fight or drink alcohol, you know it is the devil that is using you. If while you are singing, somebody who is possessed is freed, you know it is to the glory of God. You know they no longer sing songs like ‘In the name of Jesus send the light’, ‘The name of Jesus, the name that conquers Satan that can send demons parking because they contain God’s words tailored to meet the needs of people and free souls’. The type of songs we hear today is more of self-worship; they are anything but songs that can free a soul and shift focus to God. Some churches emphasise music to buttress their message while others do not play music that much. How does this affect worship? Any music that does not change lives for good, inspire people and give God glory is not from God. In 2006, they sent for me from Aso Rock. President Olusegun Obasanjo was ruling then and he asked me to pray and I did. But when we were singing choruses, I started dancing and the ambassadors, kings and elders held me and asked that I teach them how to dance. My dancing gave me opportunity to preach to them. Dance steps are part of the practical part of preaching. Dancing should not suggest immorality or laughter that will not edify the soul. What touched the people in Aso Rock that day was not my prayer but my dance steps. The youths are not seeing matured ministers who love God and dance like David before the Lord. They engage in quiet, gentleman kind of dancing instead of wagging the tail as a dog does to greet its master as David also did. Youths are simply following the elders just like in politics. Again the kind of song youths want to hear is the song that get them excited. When you begin to sing, the soul that sinneth shall die, and they ask, who is bringing that old school song? With those words ‘old school’ they have classed you on the wrong side. During the service, you said you are 65 years old but you feel like 12 or 13 years old. Can you let out the secret? There is a scripture I found that says ‘thou restoreth me, thou renew me as an eagle…’ Until it happens to you, you may not be able to know. Last May when I was 64 years old, after preaching, I went to kneel in the office to thank God. I felt dizziness for the first time and I was shocked and I asked God why. He said He reduced my age by 35 years. He told me what and what to take for the renewal of my age. I work 24 hours a day and when I want to sleep, I sleep like a baby. I do not have a clerk, driver or messenger. I sing, compose songs, prophesy, write, attend to my schools and do several things. During the time I had the dizziness, some of my brethren advised that I engage in sports, take days off, but my spirit did not say yes to the suggestions because I was looking for what God will say to my spirit. God told me to consume foods like pumpkin seeds, flat seed oil, etc. Shockingly, I noticed I was waking up from a different time I used to wake before I started consuming the food God prescribed for me. Without these things that I am eating that are slowing me down to rest and renew my strength, it would not have been easy. So God taught me to renew through His words, the type of food I am eating to meet up with my health needs not necessarily what my body likes and my lifestyle, surrounding myself with positive things and forgiving in advance. You mean you don’t engage in any form of physical exercises? Forgive me; what exercise is more than dancing? My eyes are seeing clearer than when I was younger. My ears are sharper; everything about me is not weak. With Nigeria’s life expectancy being 45, don’t you know that, with God, I can be 100 years and not feel any weakness? How long do you dance in a day? It is not all about dancing; I have different things I do. I move from one work to the other. I am always on the move. I try not to live a sedentary life. God taught me when I was inside a hole to always take garlic, tomato and onion. Later I realised that with garlic, Indians have learnt to live long. I do not need to jog; God has conditioned my life this way.
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