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THE CONFESSION OF A SLOW-WITTED CONTRARIAN

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By Akin Ojumu | Originally Published on 28 February 2020 Of the many foibles that beset mankind, some have mercifully failed to sink their claws into some of us. By the grace of Almighty God, we are not dipsomaniacs. Nicotine has never touched our tongues or invaded our lungs. Gluttony has never managed to make us a permanent resident at its table. And philandering, thankfully, does not appear to be encoded in our DNA. But being the mere mortals that we are, our inadequacies are nevertheless as numerous as the stars in the heavens, and our blemishes as plentiful as the sand on the seashore. Our imperfections are not exactly hiding in a closet. They stand there like a lighthouse on a dark coast, visible from several nautical miles away. And while we may have escaped the clutches of alcohol, nicotine, gluttony, and womanizing, there is one vice that has our number. Argument. More specifically, scholarly argument. Cerebral combat. The irresistible urge to question assumptions, interrogate...
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SOPATER, SON OF PYRRHUS OF BEREA, WAS A COMPANION OF PAUL

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By Akin Ojumu | Originally Published on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 There is a particular disease that has infected large sections of contemporary Christianity, especially in our part of the world.  It is the disease of sanctified intellectual surrender. The symptoms are easy to recognize. “Daddy G.O. said it.”  “Papa has spoken.”  “The Apostle revealed it.”  “Prophet said the Lord told him.”  “My spiritual father cannot be wrong.” And once any of those sentences is uttered, the discussion is supposed to end. Close your Bible. Switch off your brain. Suspend your judgment. Fold your arms. Nod reverently. The man of God has spoken. Case closed. A few years ago, while returning home from a visit to Connecticut, a friend and I became engaged in a rather heated discussion about Christian beliefs and doctrines. Well, to be more precise, I was producing most of the heat. At some point, perhaps exhausted by the theological combustion coming from my direction, my friend...
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WHEN MIRACLE STORIES COLLAPSE UNDER SCRUTINY (PART II)

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“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...
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WHEN MIRACLE STORIES COLLAPSE UNDER SCRUTINY (PART I)

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“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...
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LUKE 6:38 IS NOT HEAVEN’S INVESTMENT SCHEME

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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...
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