Global megachurch leader Pastor Enoch Adeboye recently warned his congregation at the Nigeria-based Redeemed Christian Church of God to “flee youthful lusts” while alluding to the recent sex abuse allegation against Gateway Church founder and former pastor Robert Morris. “The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:22, flee youthful lust. When it comes to sexual temptation, don’t fight; run,” said Adeboye, who is the global general overseer of churches in his ministry, including those in Africa, Europe, and North America, in a recent sermon.

“Remember, a couple of years ago when they accused one man of God of rape? I told my children, and I said, I don’t believe he committed rape. ...He did something, no doubt about that, but that he did it by force? [No.],” he argued.

According to The Christian Post, he added that he also warned his children, particularly his sons, to be vigilant when dealing with sexual temptation.

“I warned my children, particularly the boys; I said, if the devil comes against you, tell the devil to get lost. When you see a girl smiling at you in one coy-coy way, run because you can’t win the battle. …Some of you say, Daddy, what are you saying? Are you saying you are running from [sex]? I say [run] fast. Without your anointing? Does your anointing turn your body to stone?” he asked before pointing to the story of Samson.

“Samson was anointed. Singlehandedly, he killed 1,000 soldiers. A woman finished him,” Adeboye declared.

“I hope the boys are listening. You see that woman smiling at you everywhere you go? She’s there smiling, and she’s not your wife. Run!” the megachurch leader said.

“And for you girls, when you see this boy who comes and begins to say when I look at you, where have you been all my life? It looks as if the sun has just come out. He’s calling you sunshine. By the time he [is] finish[ed] with you, you won’t even know the difference between sunshine and sunset. You may laugh, mark my word,” he insisted.

Despite being now 82 years old, Adeboye said he still can fall under the trap of sexual temptation if he’s not careful.

“Somebody said, ‘Are you saying that even at your age you are still running?’ Faster than before,” he said.

“Why? Because the closer you get to the finishing point the more careful you must be. Write that down. I’m not joking. Can anybody still be interested [in] an 82-year-old man?” he asked.

“It’s not interested in you for you,” he said, explaining the manner in which the devil operates. “He’s interested in you so that he can put an end to all the great work God had done through you.”

Then, he referred to the allegations against Morris without calling him by name.

“Didn’t you read the paper that a man committed an offense or something around 42 or so years ago, and now his ministry is finished,” he said.

“Anybody tells you that whatever you’ve done is hidden; it’s hid until the wind begins to blow,” Adeboye explained. “Don’t say daddy didn’t tell you. I’ve told you, [the] Bible say[s] flee youthful lust. Flee. He didn’t ask you to stay and say grace will be sufficient. There’s no grace for what God says you should run from. Maybe grace to run.”

Last month, 54-year-old Cindy Clemishire alleged that Morris sexually abused her for about four-and-a-half years in the 1980s, beginning when she was 12 years old. The allegations were first brought to light in 1987, and Morris stepped away from the ministry before being restored two years later.

When asked about the allegations by The Christian Post, Morris confessed to engaging in “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady” over 35 years ago and that he has since repented and was restored to ministry.

Clemishire, however, contended she was no young lady when Morris abused her.

“I was 12 years old. I was a little girl. A very innocent little girl. And he was brought into our home. He and his wife, Debbie, and their little boy, Josh, trusted and preached at the church that my dad helped start and then began grooming all of us to do this, which took me decades to wrap my brain around as an adult,” she told CP.

“It went on for many years. He says there was no sexual intercourse, but he did touch every part of my body and inserted his fingers into me, which I understand now is considered a form of rape by instrumentation. I was an innocent 12-year-old little girl who knew nothing about sexual behavior.”

Currently, Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, is conducting an independent review of Clemishire’s allegations years after she first contacted Morris through his Gateway email demanding restitution.

“The leadership at Gateway received actual notice of this crime in 2005 when I sent an email directly to Robert Morris’ Gateway email address. Former Gateway elder Tom Lane received and responded to my email, acknowledging that the sexual abuse began on December 25, 1982, when I was 12 years old,” Clemishire said in a statement previously released by her attorney Boz Tchividjian.

“Again in 2007, my then attorney Gentner Drummond (the current Attorney General of Oklahoma) sent a letter to Robert Morris with the hope that he would help reimburse me for the thousands of dollars I had expended in counseling as a result of this abuse. His attorney acknowledged the dates as well and then attempted to blame me for the abuse,” she claimed.

“At the very least, both the Gateway pastor and at least one elder had specific notice that I was sexually abused beginning when I was 12 years old. Gateway had the information but intentionally decided to embrace the false narrative Robert Morris wanted to believe.”

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