|PIC1|Rev Nims Obunge told the black church to think less about money and more about sowing back into the land in an honest address at the Christians in the Marketplace conference on Saturday.

Referring to the scene in the Bible where Jesus overturns the tables in the temple, the Peace Alliance leader said, "We must raise a mature church that is not ashamed to be church because when the world comes in and sees some of our schemings ... I am angry that sometimes the church is not being the church and Christ will come with a whip and whip us out."

Rev Obunge told delegates at the conference, hosted by Pastors Olatunji and Joana Adebayo of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, that the black church had to put a stop to spiritual manipulation and start encouraging members to give financially according to the will of God rather than the will of man.

"Give what you have, not what you don't have," he told them.

"God is looking for people who have a vision for his last days. [God] will give you the power to get wealth in order to establish [His] covenant upon the face of this earth.

"God is looking for a people who are willing to establish his covenant, men and women who are hungry to see His kingdom come.

"Be faithful in your £10 ... or your £100 and start using that to bless and see what God will do."

He also challenged the black church to return to the greatest commandment.

"The reality is that you've got to come to a place where the love of people and the love of God are the two things that drive you. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your mind. It's the greatest commandment Jesus left on this earth. Are we living it out? Or are we 'Lord just bless me and then I will'," he said.

Fresh from preaching at Spring Harvest, Rev Obunge said that in the aspect of giving, the black church should follow the example of their white brothers and sisters in the largely white Church of England and evangelical streams in Britain.

"Black people are in thinking about what they can get but many of the English folks I see are thinking of what they can give, they are greater givers than our blackness," he said. "We give to ourselves, [but] they give to us too. They give to black issues, they give to the needs in this country and they give to the needs in that country. We are still being the charity case."

Rev Obunge said it was time for black Christians to respect the land God has placed them in by sowing back into the country.

"He expects you to be faithful custodians and stewards of the land and if you are not faithful ... don't ask for a harvest if you haven't sown a seed. What is the harvest we are sowing into this land?" he asked.

"I am sowing this seed for a generation that will come after me. We must become men and women that have a clear concern for the generation that is coming after us, not being people so greedy just wanting to consume it upon our own loss."

Rev Obunge called on all Christians to seek the peace of the city by following a simple P.E.A.C.E acronym - Parenting, Education, Achievement, Communities that are mobilised, and Enterprise. Sound parenting structures had to be developed to prevent a breakdown in society, he said, whilst the achievements of young people should be celebrated more.

He also told black Christians to make sure that they come out to vote in the London mayoral elections on May 1, and not be discouraged by the enormity of the challenges. "Be part of something big that starts small," he said.