The clarification came during the church’s October Holy Ghost Service on Saturday at the Redemption City on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State, where Adeboye addressed misrepresentations that followed his recent comments on the subject which has now stirred controversy among social media users.

Adeboye acknowledged that he had apologised for any previous statements on tithing that may have been misunderstood.

However, he was surprised by how quickly false reports spread online, claiming he had discouraged tithe payment.

The issue of tithing became contentious, and I decided to apologise for anything I might have said wrong.

Yet, within an hour, it was being circulated online that I said Christians should stop paying tithes,” Adeboye said.

He further explained that he encouraged believers to give more than the traditional 10%, referencing an encounter at Kenneth Hagin’s church where a man shared how his financial situation improved after committing to tithe 90% of his income.

He said, “Today, I’m close to giving 90%, but I am far from 10%. So, I said it is wrong to limit yourself to 10% when God can take you to a higher percentage.

“As you grow in the Lord, you should grow in praising Him, winning souls, and in giving. I said that for beginners, the minimum is what God calls 10%. I said, from now on, begin to increase what you give.”

He added, “Of all I said, the only thing they put on the internet is that Adeboye apologised, and therefore, people should no longer pay their tithes. I said 10% should be the minimum.”

The cleric, while giving his prophesies for 2024 during the crossover night service on Sunday at the Redemption City along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, however, said before getting better, things would first get worse.

He said, “For Nigeria, the wind is already blowing. The wind is blowing.

“Everything God is saying is centered around that little sentence. The wind is blowing, include in your prayers that the wind will blow you well. Things will get worse before they get better. Things will get a little hotter before it gets better.”

While urging Nigerians to be hopeful and get ready to grab the many opportunities that will come their way this year, he said, “because the wind is blowing means things will get better

“Some people will start as nobody but will become significant before the middle of the year.”

Speaking further, the general overseer said there will be divine interventions in parts of the world where things are hot at the moment.

He also prophesied that there would be breakthroughs at the global level in the treatment of diseases like cancer, diabetes hypertension, and others.

“On the international level, there will be breakthroughs for incurable diseases like cancer, diabetes, and others. There will be divine intervention in the parts of the world where things are hot.,” he prophesied.

Over the years, it has become a tradition for Nigerian pastors to engage in the annual ritual of releasing prophecies for the new year.

Some of Adeboye’s prophesies in 2023, include the world experiencing relatively more peaceful, 2023 being a year of many opportunities.

He also prophesied that many troublemakers would lose the ability to make trouble during the year, this, he tagged his favourite.

The cleric who disclosed this at the ongoing annual Holy Ghost Congress of the church on Thursday in Ogun State, said he wanted a death similar to one of his uncles.

He said, “I know somebody will say if we are never sick, how are we going to die and go to heaven? You don’t need to be sick to go to heaven. An uncle of mine woke up on a Thanksgiving Sunday, went to Church, danced like everybody else, came home and his wife gave him a light breakfast before preparing the original food which was pounded yam. She was already pounding the yam when my uncle decided to go to the toilet. After she finished pounding, she knocked at the door of the toilet, when they opened the door, my uncle was gone; no sickness, no ache, no pain. If the Lord tarries His coming, I will go on a Sunday after a good meal of pounded yam.”

Adeboye, while clarifying his position on self-defence for Christians, said Samson was victorious in biblical times with jaw bones, and not with an AK-47.

The respected cleric made the clarification on Sunday in a message, ‘Made for the top’, during the church’s monthly thanksgiving service monitored by our correspondent.

“I never asked Christians to buy guns, Christians don’t need guns. Samson did not fight with an AK-47. Don’t go and buy guns,” Adeboye said.

He said while Nigerians require permission to procure guns, they do not require permission to get the jaw bone of a cow.

Adeboye bemoaned how difficult children could be taught about the exploits of Samson in a Sunday school, adding that jaw bones should suffice.

He added, “I have always wondered how you demonstrate to children in Sunday school, but the best way is to show children using the jaw bone of a cow, don’t buy guns.”

Commenting further on how to escape from danger, especially as it relates to sexual harassment against women and men, Adeboye stressed that they should show diligence, hard work to get to the top and not wait to be contaminated.

Babalola, who announced a donation of N50m for the confab, which he said was billed to hold soon at ABUAD hall and ABUAD Inn, said eminent Nigerians, including former Presidents and leading traditional rulers, would be attended to the confab to proffer solutions to the country’s problems.

He said, “The situation in Nigeria today is gruesome and all hands must be on the deck to save it from total collapse. I am proposing ABUAD as the venue of the summit because it is safe, has a Federal Ministry of Aviation-certified helipad, well equipped 400-bed multi-system hospital, among others.

Among personalities that Babalola said would be invited included the Sultan of Sokoto; Alhaji Saad Abubakar; Alaafin of Oyo; Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe and Obi Of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe; Bishop David Oyedepo; Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah; Pastor Enoch Adeboye; Gen. Theophilus Danjuma; Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Prof. Wole Soyinka; and Chief Ayo Adebanjo.