African Plume

By Akin Ojumu As an avid fan of detective movies, riveting police procedurals and crime-investigation dramas are right up my alley. Binge-watching criminal-investigation series is how I spend many of my weekends. Law & Order, Monk, CSI, Blue Bloods, Longmire, and Unforgotten – name the show, and I have probably watched it more than once. For me, a truly great weekend consists of lying on the sofa and binge-watching six seasons of Longmire. Besides the vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, and witty sayings I pick up from these shows, I have also learned about what may be called the criminal-investigation trinity: means, motive, and opportunity. Although these are not necessarily formal elements that prosecutors must prove in every criminal case, investigators frequently use them to determine whether a suspect could have committed a crime. The perpetrator must have possessed the necessary resources or ability to commit the crime – the means. He must have had a reason or intention to co...

One of the most pervasive myths in contemporary Evangelicalism is the belief that the Gospel must be made attractive, acceptable, and culturally palatable so that the perishing may be enticed into the kingdom of God.  In the attempt to make the message more appealing, the sharp edges of biblical truth are repeatedly hammered, chiseled, and reshaped. Consequently, the true Gospel is struggling to survive beneath the hammers and chisels of modern Christianity.

By Akin Ojumu Beloved, there is a great famine in the land. It is impossible to survey the profound biblical illiteracy now widespread among professing Christians without being reminded of the prophecy of Amos. Amos 8:11-12 ““Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD God, “when I will send a famine on the land – not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the Words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the Word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.”” A severe famine of the Word of the LORD has indeed overtaken much of the visible Church. Tragically, many of those suffering from this biblical kwashiorkor do not even realize it. A spiritually marasmic Church is totally oblivious of its severe spiritual protein deficiency syndrome. On the contrary, they fervently believe they are full and well-fed with the Bread of life. Biblically malnourished churchgoers run from pillar to post in search of a...

“When a Greeting Becomes a Gospel: Baba Adeboye’s Distortion of 3 John 1:2” By Akin Ojumu Regardless of a preacher’s oratorical flair or theatrical sermon delivery, no religious gathering can rightly be called a Church without the true Gospel. Fabulous stories, astonishing accounts of supernatural encounters, enormous congregations, imposing auditoriums, sophisticated branding, and aggressive marketing cannot transform a religious organization into a House of Worship of the God of the Universe. A true Church is distinguished by the faithful proclamation of the Gospel and the sound teaching of God’s Word. Contrary to what many modern-day preachers would have their followers believe, the knowledge of God is not an esoteric secret reserved for a select few who have attained some higher spiritual status through prolonged prayer and fasting. Scripture is God’s gracious gift to His Church. In it, He has revealed Himself and made known everything necessary for faith and godly living. 2 Timoth...

By Akin Ojumu Recently, Abel Damina was the guest speaker at the L.O.G.I.C. religious business enterprise in Lekki, Lagos.  What sort of religious organization calls itself L.O.G.I.C, anyways? As is often the case, Damina captivated the spiritually undiscerning crowd with theatrical gestures, rhetorical flourishes, and an air of profundity. He unleashed his torrent of heretical teachings upon a biblically uninformed audience. Yet beneath the dramatic presentation was the same aberrant theology for which he has become notorious. Taking his cue from the ancient deceiver, Lucifer, Abel Damina sought to diminish the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and the incomparable wonder of His incarnation. According to Damina, there is apparently nothing particularly extraordinary about the eternal Word becoming flesh, entering His creation, and dwelling among humanity. With characteristic confidence and theatrical bravado, he declared: “It’s not only Jesus that the Word became flesh in!” The statement...

“Personal Letters in Ancient Greco-Roman World” By Akin Ojumu One of the remarkable features of the modern prosperity movement is the way it has transformed a single verse from the brief Third Epistle of John into a sweeping promise of health, wealth, and material success. 3 John 1:2 (KJV) “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” 3 John 1:2 (ESV) “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.” From this verse, advocates of the so-called Prosperity Gospel claim that God guarantees every believer financial prosperity, physical health, and worldly success. But is that what the Apostle John intended to communicate? To interpret this verse accurately, a careful student of Scripture must ask several important questions: (1) Who wrote the letter? (2) To whom was it written? (3) Why was it written? (4) What did the writer intend to communicate? (5) How would the...