The Founder of Salvation Ministries, Pastor David Ibiyeomie, has warned Christians against buying Christmas clothes and meeting other personal needs before paying their tithes, claiming that failure to fulfil the religious obligation could expose them to misfortunes.
The cleric, in a sermon ahead of the Christmas season, said some problems Christians attributed to the devil could be connected to their failure to pay tithes.
In a video trending online and sighted by PUNCH Online on Sunday, Ibiyeomie urged believers to prioritise tithing during the festive season.
“Don’t buy a Christmas cloth when you have not paid tithe. It’s dangerous. It’s very dangerous,” he said.
He also faulted Christians who paid whatever amount they considered convenient, insisting that believers should calculate and pay what he described as the correct tithe.
“Many of you are Christians, but don’t pay the correct tithe. You pay as you like. It’s not pay as you go. Pay correct tithe,” the pastor said.
To support his position, Ibiyeomie recounted incidents in which vehicle tyres allegedly burst while he was travelling with drivers he claimed were not paying tithes.
He said two tyres of a vehicle conveying him burst during a journey, prompting him to question the driver about his religious commitment.
“I said to the driver of the passenger, I said, you don’t pay tithe,” he recalled.
The cleric also narrated another incident involving a driver employed to drive his Rolls-Royce.
According to him, two tyres burst while he and his wife were travelling in the vehicle. He claimed that an examination of the driver’s records showed that he was not paying tithes.
“I said, go and check his record. Truth was not a tither,” he said.
Ibiyeomie claimed that he had experienced similar incidents involving other Christian drivers who allegedly failed to pay tithes.
He consequently urged believers not to attribute every misfortune to spiritual attacks, arguing that some problems could be linked to their failure to meet their religious obligations.
“Not everything is the devil,” he said.
The pastor also issued a warning about the possible consequences of neglecting tithes during December, suggesting that the decision could affect believers’ families.
“I’m telling you this December, don’t tamper with your tithe. Otherwise, they may rush your children,” he said.
His remarks linked the payment of tithes to protection against misfortunes, although the incidents he cited were his personal accounts and were not independently verified in the report.
He urged Christians to take tithing seriously rather than blame the devil for every difficulty they encountered.
Editorial note: The report retains Ibiyeomie’s claims with clear attribution rather than presenting a causal link between unpaid tithes, vehicle tyre bursts and harm to children as an established fact. This is important for accuracy and responsible reporting.
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