AFRICAN PLUME

By Akin Ojumu Simply speaking, theology is the study of God. For Christians, theology is the attempt to understand the nature, character, plan, and purpose of God for humanity.  Unlike the mystic religious systems such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and New Age Mysticism, Christian theology is nothing mystical. True Christians do not seek the knowledge of God from esoteric experiences. In Biblical Christianity, the study and knowledge of God comes from studying the Word of God, i.e., Holy Scriptures. Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” Theology is the study of the Bible in order to know God. Sound theology comes from a sound understanding of the revealed truth about God as taught in the Bible. True knowledge of God doesn’t come in dreams and visions. God is not known through angelic visitations or celestial travels. God reveals Himself in the pages of the Bible. Sound doctrine is the product of sound theology. A preacher lacki...

By Akin Ojumu Clearly and explicitly, the Bible teaches that God wants us to worship Him by engaging every fiber of our being. Matthew 22:37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Despite this clarity in what the Bible says about the engagement of our heart, soul, and intellect in worshiping God, Brother Gbile Akanni teaches that the intellectual mind is a hindrance to us building up our inner man. In total contradiction to what the Bible teaches, the man claims that human understanding is an obstacle to our edification. “It is the deliberate design of God that your inner man will engage with God without the interruption of human understanding to edify yourself, to improve yourself, to grow your muscles in the inner man. You don’t need interruption of people. You don’t even need the interruption of your intellectual mind. Because your intellectual mind does not build your inner man. Your intellectual mind only builds your p...

MAY GOD HELP US ALL!!!

“When Strength Turns to Weakness” By Akin Ojumu In the last installment of this commentary series, we learned that as the hosts of Heaven rejoice over the triumph of a Christian in his walk with God, the legions of hell burn in fervent indignation. Whenever a child of God is victorious, there’s an uproar in Hades. Because Satan cannot stand a Christian living triumphantly, he’ll do all he can to pull him down. So, it’s often the case that the fiercest attack a believer is ever going to face in life comes right after the greatest victories. Consequently, a Christian cannot afford to be complacent. The Christian life is lived one battle at a time. It’s a mistake for the soldier of Christ to bask for too long in victories won. Just as soon as one fight is over another one starts. The believer who lets down his guard following a victory in one battle risks turning the sweet taste of victory into a sour taste of defeat.  If you think I’m being hyperbolic, ask Elijah, the prophet. Soon a...

By Akin Ojumu Temptation is a reality of life. You can’t run from it. You can’t hide from it. It’s an inescapable fate that haunts all humankind. Like a cunning predator stalking its prey, temptation doggedly hunts all mankind.  Ensconce yourself on a remote island, and be totally cut off from all human beings, soon enough, temptation will come calling. Seclude yourself in a cavernous dark dungeon, devoid of all human contacts, even in there, temptation will come knocking. When it comes to temptation, your spiritual status is irrelevant. As far as temptation is concerned, your religious stature is immaterial. Temptation is an equal opportunity tormentor. It doesn’t matter how high you are on the spiritual totem pole, temptation will bring you down low if you are not careful.

“Invincibility Leads to Vulnerability” By Akin Ojumu Temptation is a reality of life. You can’t run from it. You can’t hide from it. It’s an inescapable fate that haunts all humankind. Like a cunning predator stalking its prey, temptation doggedly hunts all mankind.  Ensconce yourself on a remote island, and be totally cut off from all human beings, soon enough, temptation will come calling. Seclude yourself in a cavernous dark dungeon, devoid of all human contacts, even in there, temptation will come knocking. When it comes to temptation, your spiritual status is irrelevant. As far as temptation is concerned, your religious stature is immaterial. Temptation is an equal opportunity tormentor. It doesn’t matter how high you are on the spiritual totem pole, temptation will bring you down low if you are not careful. Last time, we saw that the word tempt is the Greek word peirazo (temptation is peirasmos). In its Greek usage, the word can have either a positive or a negative connotatio...

“Test & Temptation are Two Sides of the Same Coin” By Akin Ojumu This commentary series is an examination the significance of the temptation of the Lord Jesus by the devil. We are hoping to glean, from this destiny defining encounter between the beloved Son of God and the condemned Son the Morning, nuggets of wisdom that the Holy Spirit would enable us to perceive and receive. Matthew 4:1-2 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.” There are those who may struggle to reconcile what they know about God not being an instigator of temptation with the fact that it was the Holy Spirit who led the Lord Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” If, according to James 1:13, God does not tempt anyone, why would the Holy Spirit l...

By Akin Ojumu Church folks are easily susceptible to deception because the lies they are told are exactly what they want to hear. And what people want to hear are words that inflame the cardinal weaknesses of human nature, which are the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Romans 16:17-18 “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.” Charlatans understand and exploit these three cardinal weaknesses of human nature. So, they are more than willing to appease the fleshly passions. With their smooth talk and flattery messages of greed and id, they massage the lust of the eyes. Spiritual phoneys arouse the lust of the flesh in their victims by feeding their cravings and carnal desires. By making their prey feel like...

By Akin Ojumu Here’s something to chew on while we wait for The Temptation of Jesus (Part II) to finish cooking. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” The sad reality about the vast majority of church folks is the fact that they despise the truth of God. As a result, God has brought upon them a strong delusion. It’s for this reason many of them cannot see through the charade of their false apostles. And it’s why they are unable to detect the chivalry of the false prophets who parade themselves as ministers of the Gospel.  Matthew 13:15 “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears the...