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GOING BEYOND WHAT’S WRITTEN (PART II)

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“Chaos in the Church at Corinth” By Akin Ojumu Piety without morality is mere religiosity. Repentance that’s not manifested in progressive sanctification is futility upon futility. When the profession of faith fails to translate into transformation of life such a faith is dead and it’ll ultimately lead to eternal damnation. Such was the sad case of the Corinthian Christians. When it came to the Word of God, the Christian assembly in the ancient pagan City of Corinth was second to none. Much of Paul’s ministry was heavily invested in these failure-to-thrive believers. He brought them the Gospel, established them in the faith, taught them sound doctrine, and impacted spiritual knowledge upon them richly. “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift…” (1 Corin
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YOUR WAISTLINE IS A LIFELINE

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By Akin Ojumu Everybody fears something. For some, it’s the fear of height (i.e., acrophobia). Others are petrified of flying (i.e., aerophobia). There are those who would crouch under the bed whenever they hear lightning and thunder (i.e., astraphobia). I have seen people faint at the mere sight of blood (i.e., hemophobia). Some of my friends, I won’t mention their names, shiver and sweat when they see roaches squirreling into hiding (i.e., katsaridaphobia). And there are also some people who can ’ t stand being left alone (i.e., monophobia). Potbelly. Beer belly. Spare tire. Love handles. Muffin top. Call it what you want, but excessive fat around the waistline is one of the things that send cold shivers down my spine. Yours truly has a phobia for protruded tummies. An inch of gain in my abdominal girth sends me into an apoplectic fit. I’m terrified whenever I see my tummy bulging from underneath my shirt. For me, it’s an ugly sight that I cannot tolerate. In response, I beat myself
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I’LL CHOOSE GOD OVER MEN, EVERY TIME

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By Akin Ojumu Throughout human history, the story of those who elevate the word of men above the Word of God always has a tragic ending. It’s a calamitous chronicle of life riddled with sordid iniquities.  By choosing to glorify man, they derogate God. Those who denigrate God make Him irate. Since the protective covering of God’s mercy is not upon anyone who violates His sovereignty, such a person invites the flames of God’s all-consuming wrath. This was the case with Adam and Eve: “And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.” (Genesis 3:17). Similar fate befell Saul, son of Kish, king of Israel: “I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.” (1 Samuel 15:24). O what a joy to choose the Word of God
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THERE’S A COMING TAX DAY FOR US ALL

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By Akin Ojumu Today is Tax Day in America. April 15th is the day of the year when everyone who earned an income in the previous year is required to file their tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Severe repercussions await anyone who fails to file their taxes on this day or does not report their taxes accurately. The almighty IRS has the power to garnish the wages of tax defaulters. Just like the April 15th Tax Day, there’s an even more important Tax Day coming for all mankind. A day is approaching when our taxes will come due. On that fateful day, everyone of us will be required to file his/her own tax returns without fail. What’s different about this particular Tax Day, however, is that the due date is different for everyone. Unlike America's April 15th Tax Day, which is the same day for everyone, for this other Tax Day, each person has their own tax due date. And the Tax Day I’m referring to here is our appointment with death. As Benjamin Franklin famously said:
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SCRIPTURE IS ALL ABOUT JESUS, THE ANOINTED ONE!

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“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:27). “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” (Hebrews 10:7).
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SCRIPTURE ALONE!

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“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the SACRED WRITINGS, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ALL SCRIPTURE is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17)
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AIRPORT RESTROOMS ARE SURROGATE MARKERS OF A NATION’S HEALTH

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By Akin Ojumu “Cleanliness is next to godliness” or “Cleanliness is godliness.” That’s a phrase commonly attributed to John Wesley, the English theologian and evangelist who founded the Methodist church. He is said to have first mentioned it in a sermon he gave almost 250 years ago. To many of us, the phrase is nothing more than a cliché employed by adults who are trying to impress upon a child the importance of personal hygiene. While the modern use of phrase may have been credited to John Wesley, the concept of an outward cleanliness as a reflection of an inward purity is as ancient as the Babylonian and the Hebrew religious worship. Prominent in the Hebrew Torah – as well as the Christian Bible – are prescriptions and regulations for washing of hands and other body parts before a Hebrew can enter into the Temple to offer sacrifices. Due to the nature of my job, I get to do a fair bit of traveling. These trips take me through many airports in many countries around the world. Along wi
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MUCH ADO ABOUT SOLAR ECLIPSE

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By Akin Ojumu A total solar eclipse is expected to cross parts of 15 states in the United States on Monday, April 8, 2024. According to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, about 31.6 million people live in the path of totality, i.e., the area where the moon will fully block out the sun. Expectedly, the celestial event has generated a lot of buzz. Small towns along the path of the solar eclipse are agog with excitement and there’s exhilaration in the cities over which the solar eclipse is expected to pass.  Not a few school districts have cancelled classes for the entire day. A state of emergency has been declared in one Texas county in anticipation of the huge crowd expected to flood to the county to watch the eclipse. Even my own office, which is in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and miles away from the path of the eclipse, has also organized a solar eclipse viewing party. Trust your brother, he ain ’ t going. Looking to cash in on the solar eclipse kerf
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GOING BEYOND WHAT’S WRITTEN (PART I)

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“Carnality of a Christian Congregation” By Akin Ojumu Compared to any other church at the time, the Christian assembly in the ancient pagan city of Corinth was by far the most problematic. This was a Church bedeviled with serious spiritual issues and it was a congregation beleaguered with myriads of grievous moral failings. The Corinthian Christians were carnality personified. Unlike Apostle Paul’s other epistles where serious doctrines are scholarly expounded and deep theologies are methodically enunciated, the entire Book of 1 Corinthians, except for a few instances, is dedicated to rebuking, reproving, and correcting the various shortcomings of a problematic congregation. Ancient Corinth was a city with a sordid reputation. To think about Corinth was to think about the ultimate kind of idolatry, the ultimate forms of false religion, and the very ultimate life of sexual immorality (John MacArthur). The Christians at Corinth lived in a morally depraved and profoundly promiscuous socie
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EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE FAITH (PART II)

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“Plague of Erroneous Doctrine” By Akin Ojumu You cannot pray doctrinal error away or cast it out by the laying on of hands. Falsehood cannot be vanquished by wishing it to end. Truth is the only antidote for duplicity and the medicine for mendacity is veracity. The potent serum that can neutralize the venom of lies is an abundance of truth.  Unvarnished truth that’s told is the only remedy that can cure a multitude of falsehoods. It’s the knowledge of the truth in the heart of man that sets him free. And in order to know, one must be told. Error is like aggressive metastatic cancer. You don’t cuddle it, smooch it, or treat it with kid gloves. When it comes to neoplastic diseases, gentility is not an option. The rule of engagement for cancers is mano a mano aggression. It’s medical malpractice for a doctor – any doctor – to turn blind eyes on a fast-spreading cancerous disease.  It’s standard medical practice to treat an advanced cancer with aggressive therapy. If it’s cancer of the bre
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