Apostle Paul Jzobam is not your everyday man of God. The founder of the Ogba, Lagos-based Jesus Government Ministries describes himself as one blessed with five talents, which he is fully putting to use by the grace of God. In this interview with Assistant Life Editor, TERH AGBEDEH, he talks about his walk with God, his latest single and search for a Christian managerial team.
Is Present Place Assembly the alias of Jesus Government Ministries?
Yes, Jesus Government comprises of so many things; the music arm, the reach-out arm, which I call Rebuilding the Tabernacle of David. That is the reach-out arm to the youth to bring them back.
Do you also do publications?
Right now, I am majorly into outreach because the Lord asked me to bring back the youth who are totally lost to the world of entertainment. If you look at the trend now, the youth are totally lost out to entertainment; that is where the bulk of the youth are. The Lord said: go and bring them; see how you can catch them and bring them to me.
I believe that one of the greatest things to happen to me is that I came to know Jesus. By His grace, He has called me into the work, and by His grace I am a senior elder or what they call the senior pastor of the Present Place Assembly and apostolic leader of the ministry called Jesus Government Ministries.
So, your church is more or less a youth church?
Not really! The church is there; you have elders and youths. But Rebuilding the Tabernacle of David is an outfit to reach out to the youths. It is not a church thing; it is to reach out to the youths, catch them young for Christ, an empowerment ministry so to say, because I have a record label called Takeover Earth Records.
Would you say the youth outreach has been successful?
Yes, right now I am having a programme in the church which is called Youth Praise Night, which brings so many youths together. By so doing, I am looking at the ones that can really go far, the ones that are filled with the spirit, the ones that can be empowered because I understand through my dealing with the Lord that most pastors are not helping issues as regards catching these ones that are talented for Christ young. They will rather use that money to continue to build mega churches and don’t build the people because the present move of God now is to build the people.
A lot of men of God, when they start in the ministry, say the same thing; but once the church they head becomes big, they change tactic. Why do you think the case will be different with your own ministry?
Alleluia, praise the Lord. One thing is this; people look at success as ‘it’s about me’. But if you read the Bible, you will understand that the people that God has called, their major work has been to build the people and they are ready to sacrifice. So you see that so many have shifted because of this ‘all about me’. Anyway, that is the spirit of the end time, 666, that is, me me me. So at the end of the day, you see them shifting because that is the spirit of the end time. But God is still raising up people who will do all He pleases. He said I will raise David, a man after my own heart who will do what pleases me. So, I believe I am part of the people that God is raising for this end time to do what He wants. Remember that at the end of the day, what is going to be there is well done my rightful servant. These people like to be applauded by men, so we are not taking any applause by man; we want to take applause from God. And because these ones have lost focus, they want to please men. So it is all about building the physical tabernacle that will fail with time.
An example is Solomon, the tabernacle of Moses; Jesus rubbished it just by a statement, it is all grass. The wisdom of Solomon is all encompassed in the building of the temple, and Jesus called it grass because one day it was all ruins, and so nothing. And they are building without learning.
When did you start singing?
I have been singing from the world. Then there was a competition that can be likened to what is happening now in the Nigerian Idol, Project Fame. But then in the late 1980s, there was a competition that was (for people) about 13/14 years old. I happened to be in such competition and I won. I had a record deal in the United States and all that, but I was stopped.
What competition is that?
It has been a long time and I don’t remember.
Where was this?
In Lagos, here.
Could it have been Golden Tones?
No, Golden Tones had not (started).
So you were supposed to go to the U.S. then.
I was singing in the world then, and was supposed to go to the U.S., but my parents insisted that I am not going to sing – not going to be a musician. I was still in the secondary school. That was what dashed that dream. Then I was singing, but when I gave my life to Christ in the early 90s, I told the Lord specifically that I just wanted to serve God because I saw it as the greatest thing that happened to me.
What year was this exactly?
It was 1993. A friend invited me to Chris Okotie’s Household of God Church, and when I went there, it was like, you know being a musician is also awesome. I wept all through. That was when I gave my life to Christ. Then I also had an encounter with the wife then, Tina. I think on that very day I was having a packet of cigarette, and this woman saw me with it and wept. I have never forgotten that experience. She said, “oh, with all this we have been talking, you guys can still come to church with a packet of cigarette?”
Have you stopped smoking?
(Laughter) Since then.
How easy was it for you to quit?
It wasn’t easy, but when I had that encounter with God, (that did it). After that, I promised her I am not going to smoke again. But I discovered that after three months, because it was man, I went back to smoking, but later had an encounter with God, nobody could tell me that this was God.
Where is your church based?
We are on College Road in Ogba, Ikeja, by His grace. God has been doing things, as it is a growing assembly.
Some pastors invite people to come and sing; do you do that in your church?
Yes, actually, like I told you, I am called an apostle, so I go out on crusades and, by His grace, I have ministered along with great men of God outside Lagos. I have been invited to so many places, towns and villages. I also have Take Over the World Outreach; so that is the evangelical aspect of my ministry. It is also in the Jesus Government Ministries. I have been to Owerri, Port Harcourt, so many places ministering in crusades. I have also had instances where I have brought so many people to the church; just like last month, we had our major programme, which is the Wedding Festival. We brought in so many ministers, even some from Europe.
How often do you have the Wedding Festival?
The Wedding Festival is an annual event.
Like a convention?
Yes, it is our major convention because I got a revelation from the Lord to bring my church together and remind them that there was going to be a wedding because the Church is the bride of Christ: It is like the people now in the church don’t know I am married to the church, and I am going to have the wedding in heaven someday; so remind them that they should prepare themselves.
How is being an apostle different from being general overseer or senior pastor?
Praise God. An apostle is the one that is sent out, you are not called to stay in the church. But at times it can be that the Lord will decide to just keep you there for some time before you move on. But general overseer is the name we used in the old because in the now it is no longer applicable. God is the general overseer and you are just an overseer. When you say general overseer, you are taking the place of God. You can be an overseer of that church alone. But when you say general overseer, that is the title that belongs to God. A senior pastor can actually be the minister in charge; it means there are other younger pastors. So let’s define these things. We can take away this general overseer thing because it gives us so much power and we begin to take the role of Jesus who is the owner of the church. So we must break this and allow the owner of the church to work in His church. Everyone must know this is where and what God called me to do and do it.
Are you married?
By His grace, I am married with three boys and a girl.
Is your wife also in the ministry?
Yes, by His grace, she is a teacher.
And we can call her Mummy?
(Laughter) No, in this present truth, everyone functions; it is not like because you are a general overseer, your wife must be a pastor, and by so doing, we have brought in all manner of things. So let’s look at it. People say that once you are called, your wife is also called. But we look at the scripture again; if your wife is called, she is called and if you are called, you are called. This thing comes from God. But the ones that we call, we see them make mistakes. So many people have called people into ministry and they have made shipwreck of the ministry. So, let us be careful. We have tried not to use that term, ‘papa’ or ‘mama’ because God is doing a new thing on the surface of the earth. The church you are pastoring, you are not lording it over that church. You are a servant of the church and you have a boss, Jesus Christ, who is the owner of the church; so you can’t lord it over the church. That is the present truth. The ones that lord it over the church, you have examples where you see pastors beating the congregation, you must force it on them to do some certain things that are not scriptural.
If there is anybody who would have done that, it is God. But God created us free moral beings because salvation is not by force. He has given us a will to be saved.
You do music and so much else in the ministry and you still have a family to take care of; how do you cope?
One thing I thank God about is that I happen to be one person the Lord has given five talents. The one He gave five was able to bring back five, multiplied it. I thank God for the grace to be able to manage them. There is still so much work to be done for me because, as the days go by, I am taking entertainment to a new level. I intend to move into the movie section because this is where the bulk of the youths are. We want to capture the youths for Christ. If you look at the church and the youths, you will discover that there is no generational transfer. We are not building the youths, which is the future of the church. We leave them and they are all into new age and all manner of things. These days, if you see people say they are born again, you will marvel and say: is this true? It is not like in the 70s, 80s or in the early 90s; now they can come to church with their girlfriends and still go on as long as they are coming.
I happen to be one of those God gave five talents and I thank God for His grace because if God gives you any task, He will give you the grace to accomplish it. And the whole thing is not about you; it is about God because at the end of the day, you bring glory back to him. But don’t say that because you are doing this you are greater than the one who has one talent and is using it wonderfully. It is only God who will determine who has done better. If God has given you talent, manage it to His glory.
Recently, there was an outcry when Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly (LRA) collapsed, with some people claiming that he never rests. You talk about the grace of God, but shouldn’t the pastor himself know how to tap into that grace, so he does not end up overworking?
Pastor Bakare is the man of God I respect so much and I am sorry for what has happened to him. But one thing about ministry is this; if God has given you so much work to do, it doesn’t mean you will not ask Him for the one to do because there is grace. You should be prayerful, you should ask God: “Do I go to this?” You can’t go to everyone. As long as you are on earth, you are still in the body, you are a physical being, a three dimensional person – the spirit, soul and body. You are still in the body, so you must take care of the body because if you overwork the body, you will go home before the time. You must take care of your health because if you die without accomplishing all that God has sent you to do, you will still miss it; you wouldn’t have met your target. Health issues must be dealt with because as long as you are in this body, you must take care of your body.
So, it is not enough to say that His grace is enough and just keep going?
Grace includes wisdom, and wisdom is profitable to direct. You need wisdom from God to operate; that is the reason I am looking for a Christian managerial outfit. It is not every invitation that I receive that I will attend and they will understand this so that they will not be hurt. There are some invitations you will receive with so much money and you will go and just have problems. So there must be wisdom in doing it. I don’t expect that as a gospel artiste, I will go to some places to minister. There are places that I have to ask God. After all, Paul was going to a place and God said, don’t go. So I will always advise every minister: check your body.
How is the reception of your music like?
The reception has been wonderful because I am called into the music to actually talk about the Lord, Jesus Christ. The single I have just released now is titled ‘See What You Have Done to Him’. First of all, if you can see what you have done to Jesus, what you cost Him; the death Jesus died is not about himself, but about you. If you can understand it, it will bring you to the place of repentance. (The single) has been receiving so much applause. I have been receiving calls from Europe and all over Nigeria to come over for ministration. These days, people walk up to me and say, “Can you come and minister here?” So I am working towards that, believing that a management team will come over; so that we can get talking because I am really receiving so many offers.
You said you have gotten offers from secular managers but you’re not interested?
Yes, I am actually looking at a Christian PR (public relations) or management company.
Do such companies exist?
I believe (they do) because the truth is this; whatever God does, the secular world imitates. There are a lot of brothers and sisters out there who know that God must be glorified and they will keep the ethics of the ministry instead of going out of the box. What I am looking at is a managerial team of people who are born again, who have the mindset of Christ. We must do everything within the confines of Christianity and for Christ.
This is not your first song; how about the others? Is there going to be an album soon?
Yes, I have done four albums. The first is Good Morning Holy Spirit. Then I had the second one, Stand up for Jesus. Immediately, the marketers rushed these two and bought them over. My third album is Man After God’s Heart and the fourth is Follow Jesus. This one is a single for the new album, which is to drop before the end of the year, and I titled it ‘He is Coming Soon’.