African Plume

By Akin Ojumu When it comes to heresies in the Church, nothing much has changed since John, the last of the Apostles, passed away around AD 100 in Ephesus (modern-day Turkey). As it was back then, so it is today. I would even venture to say that the situation has gotten progressively worse in our time. To say that the spread of heretical beliefs is much worse now than in the First Century, is an understatement. At least in the early Church, the early Christians recognize the Apostles and were well acquainted with their doctrines. Back then, the heretics and false teachers constituted a tiny minority of malevolent individuals who were confined to the fringes of the Church. Sadly, what we are witnessing today is the reverse. Unlike in the early Church, where heresies were easily identified and detected as falsehood perpetrated by a handful of malcontent charlatans, the same cannot be said in our time. Heretical teachings have become mainstreamed and have virtually supplanted the Apostle’...

  2 Timothy 2:15 “Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.”

By Akin Ojumu Hermeneutics. Exegesis. Eisegesis. Narcigesis. If you’ve followed my commentaries long enough, you probably have come across those theological jargons in not a few of my writings. These are terms used to describe interpretation of Bible texts. So, what do these terminologies mean” How exactly do they differ? The primary difference lies in the direction of the interpretation and the underlying rules being used to read a text. Hermeneutics is the overarching study of interpretation rules; exegesis extracts the author’s original meaning; eisegesis forces the reader’s own ideas into the text; and narcigesis twists the text to make it entirely about the reader. Hermeneutics is the field of study concerned with the rules and principles of interpretation, while exegesis is the actual, practical application of those rules to understand a specific text. Think of hermeneutics as the theoretical blueprint or rulebook, and exegesis as the hands-on building process or the game itself....

By Akin Ojumu For me, any African team is my team. I always want an African side to win. Well, except when they face Nigeria, of course. Whenever an African nation faces a non-African nation in any sporting competition, my Africanness compels me to root for my fellow Africans.  That ’ s the way it should be, ordinarily.  But not in the ongoing El Mundial.  Watching the Republic of South Africa fall 2-0 to Mexico in their world cup tournament opener at a packed Mexico City Stadium on Thursday, 11 June 2026, sent a sweet thrill up my leg.  With every red card South Africa received and with every goal they conceded, the schadenfreude in me boils up higher and higher until it erupts in an ecstatic delight at the final whistle. I had to hold myself back from bursting out in, “Celebrate good time, c’mon. Tanranranran tan tan tan tan…” Let me be clear. My reveling in South Africa’s misfortune should not be misconstrued as my support for the El Tri. Nope. All I wanted was So...

By Akin Ojumu Christianity is under assault. The faith that was once delivered to the saints is under siege. This has been the case since it emerged out of the dusty dry streets of Galilee. As the centuries have gone by, however, the intensity of the attack has gotten progressively worse.   With stealth and cunning, reminiscent of the serpent in Genesis 3:1, the sons of Satan, masquerading as children of Light, have wormed their way into the Church with one objective in mind; to pervert the faith that was once delivered to the Saints. Jude 1:3-4 “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Ravenous wolves in sheep’s clo...

By Akin Ojumu What’s the African Plume blog all about, really? That was the question I posed to AI out of curiosity. What you are about to read is the response the machine spat out at me. Based on the titles of the posts from the blog dashboard, African Plume is primarily a Christian apologetics and commentary blog focused on defending traditional biblical doctrines and critiquing modern religious and political movements. The content generally revolves around a few key themes: Critique of Modern Church Practices & Leaders: A large portion of the blog is dedicated to calling out what the author views as false teachings, mysticism, or unorthodox practices. This includes multi-part series like “Putting Up Readily with a Different Gospel” and direct critiques of prominent figures (e.g., David Ibiyeomie, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Hagin, Kathryn Kuhlman, Abel Damina, Joshua Selman, Arome Osayi, Jerry Eze, David Oyedepo, and “Baba” Adeboye, etc.). Church History and Theology: The blog covers ea...

By Charles H. Spurgeon Hebrews 12:2 (BSB) “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” It is always the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus. But Satan’s work is just the opposite. He’s constantly trying to make us look at ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates: “Your sins are too great for pardon. You have no faith. You do not repent enough. You will never be able to continue to the end. You do not have the joy of His children. You have such a wavering hold on Jesus.” All these are thoughts about self, and we will never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self. He tells us that we are nothing, but that Christ is everything. Remember therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you. It is Christ. It is not your joy in Christ that saves you. It ...

By Akin Ojumu There are preachers today who claim they possess the spiritual gifts of “word of knowledge” and “word of wisdom.” Ever the inveterate show artists, these scoundrels like to put up an elaborate show and choreographed display of these purported gifts at their meetings and gatherings just for the dramatic effects. Like magicians laying on their tricks, they call out random people in the audience about whom they claim to have just received a word of knowledge or word wisdom about some issues the individuals are dealing with in their lives. And the script usually goes like this. “There’s somebody here,” he’d say, “You have chronic pain in your lower back that makes it difficult for you to sit, stand, or walk. You’ve consulted with and spent a fortune on doctors, to no avail. Now, I want you to stand on your feet wherever you are in the audience. Let me pray for you.” Knowing that all eyes are on him, the showman on the pulpit performs his magical routine; he corks his head to ...

“Living Large on an Oasis of Paradise Amidst a Desert of Squalor” By Akin Ojumu The first installment of the “Songs that Give My Soul Wings” commentary series was published seven years ago, on May 28, 2019. In that write-up, I spoke about how, as an unbeliever, I resisted the effectual call of God to salvation. You see, as an unbeliever, I did not consider myself a bad person. In fact, as far as I was concerned, I was a model citizen compared to people around me. I was a highly self-disciplined teenager and young adult with very firm moral principles. Even as an unbeliever, I had an uncharacteristically unyielding self-control. The typical vices that plagued and ensnared youths my age were a no-no for me. I refused to be peer pressured into indulging in alcohol consumption. Likewise, cigarette smoking was a habit that didn’t quite catch my fancy. Back in those days, which still is today, to imbibe in alcohol and to engage in chain smoking were to look cool. But to me, even then, they l...