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NIGERIA HOUSES OF HORROR (PART IX)

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“Theological Significance of Refuting False Teachers” By Akin Ojumu Before proceeding with the discussion about the frequent-flying intergalactic travelers of the Myth and Mystery Church, I must of necessity take a detour, again, to address those of you who, through 3rd parties and back channels, are sending distress signals to me to express your frustration and displeasure with the topics and tone of my commentaries. I know some folks who read these commentaries would like nothing more than to have me tickle their ears with titillating posts such as, “How to move the hand of God in the place of prayers” or “Unlocking financial blessings from the heavenly realms” or “Defeating the enemies standing in the way of your progress” or “I decree and declare your thousand-fold miracle is on the way, say Amen!” If this is what you are looking for, you’ve come to the wrong place…simply pass and go. Of course, I know that’s the sort of thing that draws massive crowds. You get a lot of likes when
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NIGERIA HOUSES OF HORROR (PART VIII)

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“Myth & Mystery Churches of Nigeria” By Akin Ojumu This commentary series remonstrates the spiritual abuse and the misuse of spiritual authority that have come to characterize the horror houses, called Churches, in Nigeria. We’ve said that Churches in Nigeria fall into different broad categories. While the grouping may be somewhat loose and undefined, the specific category a particular denomination belongs can be determined by the type of sermon they preach, beliefs they hold, customs they emphasize, and the practices for which they are best known. So far in the commentary series, we’ve discussed the Motivational Churches as well as the Buying and Selling Churches. Motivational Churches, we said, are supposedly “Christian” religious denominations where the preaching of the true Gospel has been subjugated by motivational sermonizing. The latest trend among the leaders of the motivation-centered Churches – many of whom are proficient in the use of intelligent sounding catchphrases an
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NIGERIA HOUSES OF HORROR (PART VII)

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“Selling Souls for Shining Stones” By Akin Ojumu Secular music is not my thing. I detest them. I shun them. I steer clear of them. Their impurity corrupts the mind, and their lewdness torments a righteous soul. Sadly, though, as long as you voyage in the world wide web, and inasmuch as you wade in the waters of social media, sooner or later, you are bound to encounter a secular song. And that was exactly what happened to me while I was researching the subject of this commentary. As I was thinking through the contours of the topic, I stumbled upon the song titled “Wolves” written and performed by an English singer named Rory Charles Graham, whose professional name, Rag’n’Bone Man, tells you everything you need to know about the man. As I listened to the song, I couldn’t help but notice how aptly the lyrics capture the very essence of the evil and corruption that have taken hold of the Church in Nigeria. Here’s how the song goes: I don’t wanna drown no more Sick of the same old people Th
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NIGERIA HOUSES OF HORROR (PART VI)

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“Buying & Selling Churches in Nigeria” By Akin Ojumu Ignorance is the coin of the realm of charlatans. Impostors in the House of God feed off on the gullibility of the people of God. Just as scam artists exploit the trust and stupidity of their victims, the confidence of false teachers relies on the naivety of those who become their prey. As practiced today, Christianity in Nigeria bears no resemblance to the faith practiced and handed down to us by the early Church fathers and those who succeeded them. What many consider to be the Christian faith today is nothing more than a syncretic amalgamation of aberrant religious practices held up on the shaky pillars of twisted and mangled Scripture. Sadly enough, the vast majority of self-professed Christians, many of whom are good people who genuinely love the Lord and sincerely want to serve Him, are oblivious of the fact that what’s being sold to them as biblical-Christianity is neither biblical nor Christian. Because of their sincere d
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NIGERIA HOUSES OF HORROR (PART V)

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“Shysters in God’s House” By Akin Ojumu That we have snake oil salesmen parading themselves in the aisles of the Church today is nothing new. Since the inception of Christianity, there have always been conmen selling nonexistent bridges from the Church pulpits. In the 16th century, Johann Tetzel was the most notorious of them all. Johann Tetzel was a German monk of the Dominican mendicant order. Not particularly known for his theological depth, Tetzel made up for his shortcomings by becoming the leading hawker of indulgences for Pope Leo X and the Archbishop Albert of Mainz. As a hawker of indulgences, Johann Tetzel built a reputation as an unseemly and despicable snake oil salesman. As stated last time, an indulgence is a penance sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church where an individual is said to receive full or partial remission of punishment for their sins. By obtaining an indulgence, a person could have some or all of their time in purgatory eliminated after their death. Purgator
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NIGERIA HOUSES OF HORROR (PART IV)

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“Buying Your Way Out of Hell” By Akin Ojumu After the slight detour, we now return to our deliberation on the houses of horror, erroneously called Churches, in Nigeria. In today’s commentary, the category of Churches under discussion are those I’d call the “Buying and Selling Churches.” Often attributed to the Spanish-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist, George Santayana, the aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is a popular saying many of us use today. It aptly applies to the modern-day Church. A lot of the problems confronting Christianity today can be attributed to the profound amnesia of modern-day Christians. Because the Church has forgotten its history, the Body of Christ is repeating the tragic mistakes of the past. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean Jan Hus. If you are wondering who or what in the world is Jan Hus, you’ve proven my point. The fact that you’ve never heard the name Jan Hus until just now is indicative of the a
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I’M A GAY CHRISTIAN. NO SCRIPTURE CAN DISPUTE THAT

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By Akin Ojumu Before continuing with the “Nigeria Houses of Horror” commentary series, I thought to share this video clip which sort of encapsulates everything that’s wrong with contemporary Christianity. The video is produced by Jubilee Media, a social media platform whose stated mission is to: ‘bridge people together and inspire love through compelling stories, create shareable, human-centric videos that create connection, challenge assumptions, and touch the soul, and ultimately to inspire people to live deeper.’ One of the most popular series produced by Jubilee Media is a dialogue session called the “Middle Ground.” Fashioned after the deliberative colloquy format, the Middle Ground brings together groups of people with shared identities and asks them a series of questions. The participants are generally presented with a series of serious prompts, such as, ‘LGBTQ people won ’ t go to heaven. Step forward if you agree.’ All participants from either side who agree with the statement
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NIGERIA HOUSES OF HORROR (PART III)

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“Church or Cult, Which is Yours?” By Akin Ojumu For far too long, many have mistaken dens of demons for the Dwelling of the Divine. Tragically, the world confuses horror houses with God’s House. As we said last time, just because a group of people gather together and call itself a Church doesn’t mean it’s a Church. A Church isn’t a Church simply by the name by which it’s known. Before proceeding to discuss the next broad category of Churches in Nigeria, I think we should first clear the air and erase the confusion about what a Church truly is. Simply speaking, the Church is an assembly of dead sinners whom it has pleased the LORD to call out of damnable sinful existence into a union with Christ and into communion with each other. This is a living Church and a holy Household of those who have received the Spirit of adoption as sons and to whom God is, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15). Members of this Household of Adopted Sons are “beloved of God and called out to be saints” (Romans 1:7). T
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NIGERIA HOUSES OF HORROR (PART II)

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“Sam Adeyemi’s Gospel Profits Nothing” By Akin Ojumu What makes a Church a Church, in the eyes of many people, is that it calls itself a Church. A popular misconception among the hoi polloi is to accept as a true Church any group of people gathered together under the guise of a Church. This mendacious mental image, cynically and maliciously implanted in our subconscious mind, must be expunged forthwith. It’s high time to expel the fallacious notion deep-seated in our collective psyche that any building that has the name “Church” stamped on its walls is indeed a true Church. A Church is not a Church simply because it names itself Church. Calling itself a Church does not make it a Church no more than standing in a garage makes anyone a car. It’s not what an assembly of people calls itself that makes them a Church. What defines a Church is its fidelity to Scripture, fealty to the Lord Jesus, and loyalty to God Almighty. As the late R.C. Sproul put it: “Just because a Church is a Church do
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NIGERIA HOUSES OF HORROR (PART I)

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“The Parable of Dollars” By Akin Ojumu Every so often, I’m asked the question: “Which Church would you recommend without any reservation to a new Believer in Nigeria? Is there a place of worship you would suggest without the slightest hesitation to anyone looking to make a change of the Church scenery?” Whenever people come to me to ask this question, their furrowed brow, puzzled expression, quizzical gaze, fidgeting, stuttering, and trailing off in mid-sentence betray the pent-up frustration and the barely concealed exasperation that undergird the inquiry. These questions are not, in anyway, asked whimsically or facetiously. They are posed by serious Christians genuinely sick and tired of the state of affairs in their various denominations. Unlike the average penny-pinching Scrooge who keeps her eyes perpetually open for the next BOLO (i.e., Be On the Look Out) deal or the discount-chasing Couponer who seems to always know where to find a BOGO (ie., Buy One Get One free) bargain, once
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