Book Launch In Honour Of Pastor W. F. Kumuyi Titled: Kumuyi – Defender Of The Faith

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REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE BOOK LAUNCH IN HONOUR OF PASTOR W.F KUMUYI, GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT OF DEEPER CHRISTIAN LIFE MINISTRY ON THE 17^TH OF SEPTEMBER, 2021

Protocols

It is a special honor and privilege to be here to join you in the presentation of the book, Kumuyi – Defender of the Faith.

I can imagine how difficult it was to persuade Pastor W.F Kumuyi that writing a book about him is a good idea.  I can imagine what my friends, Emeka Izeze and Segun Babatope went through.

The reason I am sure that it would have been difficult convincing him is because of that innate resistance of humble men to any form of adulation, or celebration of personal success. This is especially so for a servant of God who knows more than anyone else that all glory must go to God for the enablement, the opportunity, and the results. After all, without Him, we can do nothing.

But there is another side to the issue; every person, especially those who succeed in their endeavors in life owes society three taxes. The first is income taxes  (personal income tax) and if you own a company,  company or corporation tax.

The second is a social tax, another name for that is  Philanthropy. The obligation of the wealthy or simply those who have to give back to society or to those who do not have.

The third tax is a civic tax; the obligation of the successful to write their stories, to share the histories of the phenomena they have become, in order to instruct,  to admonish, and to inspire the present and the future.

But for the successful preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is the fourth tax – this is the Pentecostal tax. The obligation of men and women since the day of Pentecost, the day described in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to preach the gospel, to tell the story of their missionary journeys.

The miracles, signs, and wonders that God has wrought on that journey, the deprivations the fastings, and the persecutions, the victories and failures, the mountains and the valleys.  This is a huge responsibility. But the saints before us discharged that responsibility so we are of the beneficiaries of the Acts of the Apostles, the stories of the men and women who carried the gospel first to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Their stories have encouraged generations of Christians since, their recorded experiences may seem to make them stars but they are meant to instruct us in adherence to sound doctrine, to rebuke us, and instruct us unto righteousness. Their stories continue today and the baton has been handed over to our generation.

This book, Kumuyi – the Defender of the Faith,  begins the work of discharging the Pentecost tax obligation of Pastor Kumuyi. The book tells the story of the incredible work of the Holy Spirit in his life and Ministry. How by His grace he not only preached and continues to preach holiness to a whole generation, but lived and lives it himself daily.

The book tells the story of how the Holy Spirit worked miracles through him and how from a Bible study group of 15 members in 1973,  the ministry grew to what is now the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, at one point with 120,000 members making it the third-largest single congregation in the world. And now, it is firmly established in several countries of the world.

How by the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God, Pastor Kumuyi has kept faith with the great commission, preaching the gospel to all persons,  without compromise or embellishment, keeping his eyes and focus on Jesus,  and keeping faith with the words of that Deeper Christian Life Ministry anthem – “Jesus is our only message, Jesus all our thence shall be. We will lift up Jesus forever. Jesus only will we see.”

This is not really a book about Pastor Kumuyi, it is about the grace and mercies  of God in the life of His servant, and how by His mercies, his servant, Kumuyi, has in the words of the Scripture that is said to be on the backdrop of every Deeper Christian Life Ministry pulpit the world over, is fulfilling the instruction to “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints” Jude 1:3

Brethren, the Pentecost tax is never fully discharged. While the man of God is alive, the acts of this apostle must be written, so we commend all those who have taken on the task of discharging that obligation, especially the joint authors of this book, Banji Ojewale, Segun Babatope, Emeka Ezeze, and Tunde Opeibi, and the editorial board led by Pastor Philip Oluwi, and that includes Steve Obidi, Andrew Umaru and Euriel Momah.

Let me inform them that the mission has only just begun, and if the Lord tarries, there is still a long way to go.

I have had an opportunity to read the book, and every page of it is worth reading more than once. I recommend it to all.

Once again, we thank God for the life and service of Pastor Kumuyi.

Thanks, everyone and to God be all glory!