African Plume

“When Four Days Mysteriously Became Seven” By Akin Ojumu In this installment of the commentary series, we will examine a crucial distinction. The difference between believing in an omnipotent God and believing every miracle story told from a Church platform. That distinction lies at the heart of the follow-up question posed by Sopater, son of Pyrrhus from Berea: “Could it be true, since God works in mysterious ways?” Let us begin there. First, contrary to popular assumption, there is no verse in the Bible that says: “God works in mysterious ways.” That familiar expression is not a quotation from Scripture. It comes from the eighteenth-century English poet and hymn writer William Cowper, from his hymn God Moves in a Mysterious Way. Cowper wrote: “God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform.” The sentiment may reflect a legitimate biblical truth—that God’s providence, wisdom, and purposes often transcend human understanding. Passages such as Isaiah 55:8–9, Job 5:9, and Romans 1...

“Before We Start Printing Resurrection Certificates” By Akin Ojumu In the famous words of Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), the English writer and polymath: “When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” Or, as the saying is sometimes rendered in modern form: “Nothing so focuses the mind as the prospect of an impending hanging.” Extreme urgency has a remarkable way of concentrating the human mind. As I have grown older, I have become increasingly conscious of the brevity of life. I know that I do not have forever on this earth. Every morning I wake up still breathing, I count it as another blessing from God. And, to the best of my ability, I want to spend whatever time I have left concentrating on what I consider to be of ultimate importance: Our eternal destiny. That realization is what informs much of what I write. My desire is not only to live in a manner that pleases the One who saved and redeemed me, but also, within the small sphere of influ...

By Akin Ojumu Back in the day, when I was a member of the Christian Union Fellowship at the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria, we had a chorus we regularly sang while the offering baskets were being passed around for people to drop their tithes and offerings: I give, it shall be given unto me I give, it shall be given unto me I give, it shall be given unto me Good measure, pressed down, and running over. Offering time was called “blessing time.” And the reason we sang that chorus was obvious. We were being encouraged—a fellowship made up largely of financially struggling university students living on modest stipends—to give generously with the expectation that, if we gave to God, God would give back to us in multiplied measure. The chorus, of course, came from our understanding of Luke 6:38: Luke 6:38 “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete wit...

“When “Social Significance” Becomes Another Gospel” By Akin Ojumu Like yesterday’s commentary, Olakunle Soriyan remains the subject of today’s examination. This time, we are looking at another clip from the more than hour-long message “Pastor” Olakunle Soriyan delivered at Femi Lazarus’s Beyond Church Walls International Ministers Conference 2026, on September 18, 2026. The full message is available on the Church’s YouTube channel. For those who may not be familiar with him, Olakunle Soriyan—popularly known as PK—is a highly sought-after tickler of itching ears. His Instagram profile describes him as an “Autodidact – (a rather fancy word for self-taught). Wall Street Journal & USA TODAY Best-Selling Author. Iconoclast. Global Thought Leader. Futurist. Manifestation Strategist. Investor.” Quite the résumé. And when you compare Soriyan’s own description of his expertise with the prevailing obsessions of much of contemporary Christianity, it is not difficult to understand why Churches...