Pastor Joseph Ikea is not an Easter Bunnies man.
"We eat them but it's not what Easter means. Easter is not just Easter bunnies," the founder and pastor of the Agape Pentecostal Fellowship in Canberra said.
As the important Christian festival continues, the preacher said he would deliver the true message of Easter at the church he founded in Weston Creek.
"Our Easter message is that Jesus came to die to save mankind," he said.
Unlike some of the more traditional churches, his church is growing. It has 160 members, pretty well evenly divided between adults and children.
Many members came originally from Nigeria or neighbouring Cameroon but Dr Ikea emphasises that the church is Australian and not African. People of all backgrounds are welcome.
It is part of the Australian Christian Churches Pentecostal organisation which includes 1100 churches across the country. Scott Morrison's Hillsong Church was affiliated until 2018.
Pastor Ikea's congregation has Bible classes on Wednesdays. They meet exuberantly on Sundays at the Weston Community Hub, an old primary school in the suburb.
He propounds a fundamentalist view of the Bible.
His views are not fashionable: homosexuality is a sin; there are lax morals because of a deviation from God; honour thy father and thy mother.
"We are Christians that believe in the Bible and who live in the way that God wants.
"A society that veers from the word of God is on a downward path, and that is what's happening in the world."
He blames the rise of drugs in Australia and other countries on the decline of a belief in God.
He says that a general loss of parental control stems from the same godless cause.
"There is a lack of parental respect," he said. Christianity tells the young to respect their parents, citing the fifth commandment: "Obey your father and your mother".
On homosexuality, he is even more out of tune with the times.
"The Bible condemns it because it's not sustainable," he said. "Where are going to be the lawyers, the doctors, the public servants of the future? God intends that the earth will be inhabited by people forever.
"A man and a man can never reproduce. A woman and a woman can never reproduce. It's a lie that a man can marry a man and have children."
He said he is not worried about being an unpopular preacher. "I can't deny my Christian views. I am resolved to follow Christ.
"I am not a person who tells people what they want to hear. I tell people what they need to hear to be saved."
Dr Ikea is a molecular biologist who came to Australia from Nigeria in 2000. He specialised in the genetic modification of crops. His first job was with the CSIRO - "I arrived on the Friday and started work on the Monday."
His church is not a quiet church. Some of the hymns are old-style Anglican. Some are African choruses.
"I love those old-time hymns. They are everlasting - 'Worship the King, all glorious above' - they are all good.
"Any song which is Christian. I just get carried away with it."
