Dunamis Church Replies Man Demanding Refund Of His Tithes

One of the regional overseers of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Pastor Ezekiel I. Pius has replied a man identified as Maazi Chukwudiaso Onyema who recently said the church should refund all the tithes he paid so far.

Dr Paul Enenche is the founding pastor of DIGC.

Onyema claimed he was not in the right frame of mind when he paid his tithes.

In a viral video, Onyema said “I’m hungry, give me my tithe back”, and explained that he joined the church in 2008 and has been paying his tithes.

He also alleged that he has been suffering financially despite tithing.

While not mentioning the name of the man calling for his tithes, Pastor Ezekiel posted a write-up on Friday, tagged “IN RESPECT OF THE MAN DEMANDING THE REFUND OF HIS TITHE.”

Onyema was advised by the cleric to seek help from the church and not try to blackmail the church of God and giving channels approved by the Bible.

The post reads, “The church of God is God’s embassy representing the Kingdom of God on earth.

“The church exists to spread the good news of God’s Kingdom, and demonstrate God’s love and goodness to mankind.

“The church is therefore an agency for the administration of God’s welfare package to humanity.

“Every genuine church exists to give and not to take, to help and not to hinder, to enrich and not to impoverish, to feed and not to starve her members.

“In the same manner, the instructions of God as contained in the Holy Scripture are for the profit of man. God instructs us to our profit (Isaiah 48:17).

“No teaching of God’s Word by a genuine pastor is intended to extort money from people or cause losses to them.

“Furthermore, the earth and the riches thereof belongs to God (Psalm 24:1).

“God is too rich to depend on man. Therefore, no genuine church or servant of God is after the resources of the people.

“The people come to church to be helped spiritually, physically, emotionally, materially, financially, maritally, etc.

“As touching givings in church, they are done based on personal conviction and leading, no coercion or persuasion involved.

“It is therefore preposterous, callous, and devilish for someone to call out a church in a media for the refund of tithes allegedly paid willingly and not by coercion. This is an unwarranted assault on the church.

“It is the height of insanity and foolhardiness, and the consequences may be too grave for him to bear, except for the mercy of God.

“Even if the man in question was not a Christian, and he is stranded, in dire need of assistance, he could be assisted by the church.

“And if he is a member, the church would not ask for his tithe records before assisting him.

“The pastor who is now the target of this man’s blackmail is known for his impeccable integrity.

“He had rounded off major services many times without remembering to take offerings, only to be reminded by worshippers; he had refunded offerings given to him by the sick and challenged in need of divine intervention; he does not take worship offering on crusade grounds with tens of thousands of people in attendance, even though it cost hundreds of millions of naira to conduct a single crusade.

“Moreover, the man of God and the church are known for their philanthropic endeavors to individuals, communities and institutions.

“The church and the man of God give scholarship to innumerable indigent students, undertake community development endeavors like road construction, rural electrification, provision of classrooms to public schools, boreholes to communities, humanitarian responses to victims of emergency and crises situations, monthly welfare ministration to orphanages, economic empowerment to widows and the less privilege, etc.

“The question is, how much is this man’s total tithes compared to the amount of money used in the above projects?

“Won’t the church assist a man with this level of self-destructive frustration if he ever approached her for help?

“But unfortunately, he never did. Why did he take to social media to vent his grievances without first approaching the church for assistance if money was what he truly needed?

“It is either he is mentally deranged or perhaps, being sponsored to embark on public blackmail against the man of God and the church.

“Therefore, think twice before you join him to blackmail the church. This is not the time to vilify the church and men of God. The church remains the greatest source of hope and inspiration in our nation today.

“In conclusion, if the man genuinely needs help, let him retract his statement, seek forgiveness from God and approach the church for assistance.

“The church can assist him, not only financially, but in rescuing him from earthly and eternal damnation by restoring his sanity and spiritual health.”