Posts

LOVE & WORSHIP ROOTED IN TRUTH

Image
By Akin Ojumu  Charlatans all have one thing in common, they are intolerant of people who think. A derisive Biblical anti-intellectualism is a virulent disease prevalent among Gospel hucksters. False prophets and false teachers are fiercely hostile to the idea of engaging the mind in order to understand the Word of God. Biblical anti-intellectualism, roughly defined, is a mindset that cynically, surreptitiously, and systematically undermines the sufficiency of Scripture. Wherever you find this disease, Bible-based truths, theological competencies, and fidelity to wholesome hermeneutics and precise expository teachings often give way to the myth and mysticism of neo-Gnosticism and New Age beliefs. Characteristically, Scriptural anti-intellectuals put more premium in the word they purportedly heard from God than the sure Word of God written in Scripture. To perpetuate their myth of hyper-spiritualism, aka “heavy anointing,” impostors tend to look down with disdain on those who engage the

NIGERIAN SENATE IS ANIMAL FARM

Image
By Akin Ojumu Senator Ali Ndume was on Seun Okinboloye’s Politics Today show this morning to tell Nigerians what they already know about the country's ruling class.  Unwittingly, the Senator characterized his fellow colleagues in the Nigerian Senate as animals who recognize and approve of existing pecking order. In an attempt to defend the huge sums of money he and his colleagues got for the so-called  “ constituency projects, ”  and to justify the huge disparities in the funds allocated to various Senators, Senator Ndume quoted from George Orwell's Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than the others.” I couldn’t agree with him more. The Nigerian Senate is indeed a wild zoo, and the Senators that roam the chambers and corridors of this animal farm are untamed beasts and ferocious scoundrels. As it’s in the nature of all wild animals and scoundrels to behave according to type, these dangerous savages are devouring their owners, i.e., the citizens of Nige

WALK AND LIVE AT ANY SIZE

Image
By Akin Ojumu If, you are like me, you live a mostly sedentary lifestyle and you are somewhat petrified by what deleterious impact your stationary lifestyle may have on your overall well-being in the near future, do not despair, I’ve got good news for you. A group of researchers from Harvard and University of Sydney, as well as from various institutions in Spain, Brazil, Chile, and Denmark, have solved the riddle of whether sedentary people might be able to offset the alarming health risks associated with sedentary lifestyles by taking daily walks. The result of their pivotal research study was published recently in the British Medical Journal of Sports Medicine. What they found was that even the most sedentary among us could ward off the harmful effects of prolonged sitting by incorporating a few steps into their daily routine. With just a couple of thousands steps a day, a sedentary person may be able to swing in his favor the odds of dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer a

ERRONEOUS GOSPEL OF MERITED FAVOR

Image
By Akin Ojumu “Remember that favor can only be activated by fasting. Esther activated her own favor by fasting.”  So says Leke Adeboye, the son of Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.  Last time I checked, favor – which in this case means the divine favor of God – is something that God gives freely and not something that can be earned. Favor is an unmerited gift that God bestows according to His sovereign will. We don’t earn it by the multiplicity of our good works. And we most certainly don’t deserve it because of our long record of good deeds. Apostle Paul made this abundantly clear in his letter to the Church at Ephesus, when he wrote: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). The word translated “grace” in the New Testament comes from the Greek word charis, which means “favor, blessing, or kindness.” We can

DAILY BREAD NOT WEEKLY GROCERIES

Image
By Akin Ojumu Everybody knows the LORD’S PRAYER. This was Jesus’ teaching to His disciples and, by extension, us as well, on how and what to pray. Matthew 6:8-14: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father, which art in heaven,  Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:  For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” When we pray, the Lord Jesus teaches us to come to Our Father who art in Heaven in a spirit of worship, thanksgiving, reverence, humility, and dependence.  “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11). In our petition to God for our specific needs, we are told to ask for not more than what we need to sustain us from day to day i.e., “Give us this day our daily bread” and nothing more. When we come to God, our petition should be about the bread for

IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED (PART III)

Image
“People Don ’ t Go to an Abattoir for Brain Surgery” By Akin Ojumu God’s Word is sustenance for the soul. It is the bread that nourishes the heart and provides the essential vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and calories the spirit needs to be healthy, strong, and active. The Word of God protects against spiritual and physical chronic communicable and noncommunicable diseases. A well-balanced diet of God’s Word keeps us spiritually alive and well. Given the importance of the Word of God for the salubriousness of the soul, it’s imperative that the truth of Scripture be handled with accuracy. In order to fully enjoy the spiritual nourishment that it offers, the essence of the Prophetic Word Made More Sure must be preached with great care. For the most part, people care a lot about their physical well-being. Even those who engage in risky lifestyles and are given to all kinds of foibles put great premium on their healthcare. When it comes to choosing a physician, they’ll break the bank to ge

IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED (PART II)

Image
“By His Power, Wisdom & Outstretched Arm” By Akin Ojumu The Word of Faith Movement is the source of some of the most blood-curling heresies in modern times. As the Grand Poohbah of the “Name It Claim It Blab It Grab It” false gospel, Kenneth Copeland is one of the most prolific false teachers ever to disgrace the name of Christ. The man has promoted so many bizarre teachings, it’s virtually impossible to catalog them all. For instance, it’s common in the Word of Faith Movement to diminish the deity and glory of God and to edify man. Their deification of man starts with the first man, Adam. This erroneous movement teaches that Adam was a carbon copy of YAHWEH. Kenneth Copeland not only believes that “Believers are equal with God,” the man has gone as far as to say that “God is the greatest failure and loser in the Bible.” A brazenly blasphemous utterance any degenerate mind could ever conjure up. Kenneth Copeland has told so many lies about God and His Word that I wouldn’t believe a

IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED (PART I)

Image
“Did God Create Heavens & Earth By Faith?” By Akin Ojumu Everybody has their own pet peeve. There’s that one thing that sticks in your craw; an intolerable annoyance that pisses you off and makes you want to pull your hair out every time it happens. If you say you don’t have one, you are lying. We all do. While seeing preachers mangle the Word of God, twisting it to make it mean whatever it is they want it to mean, is a pet peeve of mine, others may see it as nothing to fret about. There are even those who have gone as far as to suggest that Scripture isn’t even the Gospel. According to them, the “Gospel is whatever it is that God tells you in that season for your life.” For me, however, the mishandling of God ’ s Word is one thing that makes my blood boil. Which brings me to Kenneth Copeland. This man is one of the most influential preachers in the world today. The man has been preaching for as long as many of us are alive. His following is massive and his influence on the theolog

GRASS WITHERS & FLOWER FADES

Image
By Akin Ojumu Man, regardless of how powerful, wealthy, or wise he may be, is nothing but dust. It doesn’t matter how highly exalted a man is, he remains an ordinary flesh in the sight of God. A man may cloth himself in majesty and splendor, and he may be wrapped in magnificence and grandeur, at the end of the day, he’s nothing but man. “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field…” (Isaiah 40:6). At his very best, and in all his glory, wisdom, power, and might, man will always be man and nothing more than a mere man. No matter how hard he tries, man will never be equal with God or achieve the perfection and glory of the Almighty God. Man cannot match the excellence of the matchless God.  “The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:7-8). When everything is said and done and his numbered days on earth come

BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT (PART VII)

Image
“Shine the Light of Love” By Akin Ojumu As we bring this commentary to conclusion, I ’ d like to discuss another important way of testing the spirit. And that ’ s the test of love. Test 3: True work of the Holy Spirit manifests in perfect love for God and perfect love for neighbor. “...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and…You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39). You know that the Holy Spirit is absent in a gathering whenever you find the “I, me, mine, and myself” spirit in control. What they practice in such places is false Christianity propelled by the “everything is all about me” spirit and not the Holy Spirit. The gifts are for me to edify me. The prayers are for me, to get me what I want. It’s a false religion focused on me and me getting whatever it is I desire.  In congregations where the Holy Spirit isn ’ t in control, these are the type of prayers you find: “Father, please divinely repositio