I'd like to share with you some issues and concerns I have with the Nigerian megachurch known as Deeper Christian Life (aka Deeper Life, and Deeper Life Bible Church), led by its pastor and General Superintendent, Dr. William F. Kumuyi. Perhaps the best way to summarize those issues and concerns is to simply quote an email I received recently from a sister in Christ I know in Kenya, who will remain anonymous for privacy reasons. Here is what she wrote:
"Dear brother Len
I wanted to share with you some of the reasons I left Deeper Life. Paul told the Galatians that he brought his gospel to the apostles in Jerusalem just to be sure he had not run in vain. I want to share with you just for transparency.
I joined Deeper Life on the first Sunday of October last year (2023) and left the last Sunday of September (2024), exactly one year.
When I joined, if you remember, I was really struggling on whether to join, and I decided to do so, because it was the only holiness-preaching church I knew in Kenya, including the matter of of modest dressing. My first Sunday there I was overcome by a deep spirit of slumber, so heavy. I had never experienced that before, even in the few Pentecostal churches I had attended before briefly. I was just sleeping and couldn't stay awake and heard nothing of the sermon. I knew it was an attack, but assumed the devil didn't want me to be there. That night I had a dream where pastor Kumuyi was my supervisor, and I was introducing him to my family, and I took it as confirmation and stayed.
It was a good church with sound Bible preaching and no sin or dishonesty. Anyone in it with the intention to make heaven can do so, if they are sincere, but there were a few issues that bothered me:
1. New people never stay. The church is mainly made of up of people who joined many years ago, and their families.
2. There isn't much love. Because I had been delivered out of sin, I was pretty much self-driven, but most people feel lack of love there and leave. There isn't much concern for one another.
3. The Bible study on Mondays is pastor Kumuyi all over the world and streamed in English on Video screens in every Deeper Life branch. This means anyone who doesn't speak English -- even in Kenya -- can't fit into Deeper Life.
4. The local pastors hence can never teach bible study to their members. Every last Sunday of the month is a combined service where a live service from Nigeria is streamed with pastor Kumuyi.
5. One Sunday is the overseer of east Africa whose message is live streamed to all Kenya branches.
6. This leaves any local pastor with only 2 Sundays a month to preach from inspiration. And even that can be affected if he is given sermon notes of pastor Kumuyi message to preach.
7. Sunday morning Sunday school called "search the scriptures" is from pastor Kumuyi books. That means all youth and women teachers and children teachers have to use this book and can't preach from inspiration.
8. Every month pastor Kumuyi has a global crusade and it must be televised in all Deeper Life churches, so we would go outdoors, put up a video screen, and show that crusade to Kenyans. This was odd to me, because it should be the locals going out to do crusades
9. Baptism manuals, discipleship manuals, church doctrine manuals are all by Kumuyi. Again a teacher cannot teach from inspiration.
10. Only hymns are sung. There is no praise and worship. This means any person with a gift to write songs or music can't have a place in Deeper Life or their gift will be buried.
11. We only had holy communion twice in that year that I attended. This struck me as off. It's done rarely, unlike other churches I was used to where it was monthly.
12. People don't pray in tongues in church. I never heard tongues mentioned once.
13. There is no talk of the gifts of Holy Spirit, except marveling at pastor Kumuyi healing the sick in his crusades.
14. Prophecy is not accepted. Word only.
15. The only ministries people can join are teaching, ushering, or things like cleaning; and even teaching [in this church is just] using Kumuyi's books, so you're not actually teaching.
16. There are too many meetings, and I found this cumbersome to spiritual growth, even though they encourage evangelism. But there is no time for it, if one has a full time job, and still has to attend Monday Bible study, Thursday meeting, Saturday workers meeting in the afternoon till night, and Sunday service.
I found if one has a ministry from the Lord, it would not work in Deeper Life, because there is no room for it. If you wrote books they would not be welcome, as only Kumuyi's books are sold. If you wrote music, or were called as a pastor, or had the gift of tongues, or prophesy, etc., you can't use it in this church.
As a result, the church has a spectator-like atmosphere, where everyone is just watching Kumuyi in the ring, unless one is very determined and self aware, or has a relationship with Jesus. Most are just church attendees, following holiness to go to heaven, but their gifts and life are dead. You see it in the quiet prayers and dead looks. People are dead, and sadly witches have infiltrated because of this. I was shocked to be told while I was new that there are witches in the church, and people know them, but they just let them be, hoping one day the Word will change them
I also just felt aloofness from the pastors and lack of love and a lot of "criticism".
I know it is [supposed to be] a Pentecostal church, but for me I felt such a coldness the time I was there, but the people are genuine and fear God and strive to live holy. The verse came to me that the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. They began very well, and I do not know what happened.
Deeper Life had the Word of God and balanced teaching, and it's a great church, but they don't allow the gifts of the Holy Spirit to operate, which also became a problem for me to bear, because I feel people's gifts get killed in that church. And also Pastor Kumuyi is highly exalted until the pastors in that ministry cannot truly shepherd by inspiration, because it's only Pastor Kumuyi who can do certain things (e.g., write books. his books are used in everything and his sermons leaving no room for the pastors or teachers to by inspiration teach the Word). Prophets or anyone with revelatory gifts cannot operate in that church, and that to me is a problem, because they will be accountable to God for burying their gifts for a church. Speaking in tongues is not encouraged in meetings, and I found the place to be dead with very little to no prayer, which allows witches to infiltrate the church.
The final thing that happened that made me feel I must leave was that pastor Kumuyi in August began a program called Change Makers International, where he is trying to bring change in Nigeria by bringing leaders together: religious, political, and tribal. This program had people give speeches on driving social change, and pastor Kumuyi also used the Bible to inspire. And what shocked me was to see a Muslim cleric stand up and pray to Allah, and give his message, too. I was shocked and felt grieved and put off. We had been told to tune in while in church and listen to this program. It is not meant to be a regular thing. but that's the day I began to feel something was off. How could pastor Kumuyi invite Muslims and non believers, and even people worshipping ancestors, together to drive social change with him as a pioneer being a man of God? When people questioned him, he said this program was not a gospel one but a social one. yet he used church funds and had it televised in all Deeper Life branches."
[END OF EMAIL FROM KENYAN SISTER]
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I hope this has helped to show the true state of things within Deeper Life. This is not the true life of the Body of Christ that we read about in Scripture, where all Members of the Body are healthy, functioning, and encouraged to do their part, operating in their gifts and calling by the power of the Holy Spirit with Christ as their head, rather than man. I trust this has helped provide you with some things to prayerfully consider, if you are considering joining Deeper Life in any country around the world. Let the Lord lead you.
Do You Want to Know Him?If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "
Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of
Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission.
www.dmiworld.org.
