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THE JOHN G. LAKE BUBONIC PLAGUE FAIRY TALE (PART I)

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“Religious Folklore in a Laboratory Coat” By Akin Ojumu In The Trouble Makers: Dissent Over Foreign Policy, 1792–1939, the British historian A. J. P. Taylor wrote: “Conformity may give you a quiet life… But all change in history, all advance, comes from the nonconformists. If there had been no troublemakers, no Dissenters, we should still be living in caves.” He was right. Had every generation been too timid to offend, too frightened to challenge convention, too deferential to question inherited assumptions, and too committed to preserving a counterfeit peace, humanity would not merely still be living in caves. We would be wandering barefoot in foliage while congratulating ourselves for maintaining unity. There is a reason God placed roughly three pounds of extraordinarily complex matter inside the human skull. He intended us to use it. Unfortunately, critical thought is treated almost as a spiritual defect in large sections of the Pentecostal–Charismatic–NAR movement. Too many people ...
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JOHN G. LAKE: FAKE HEALER, HOLY SHOWMAN, AND FRAUDSTER

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By Akin Ojumu John G. Lake has been polished, perfumed, and placed in the Pentecostal Hall of Fame as one of the legendary “God’s Generals.” But once the devotional fog is cleared and the historical record is allowed into the room, a rather less glorious figure emerges. Not merely a controversial preacher. Not merely an eccentric miracle worker. But a man accused of habitual lying, theatrical deception, unscrupulous financial promotion, and calculated fraud. Lake faced allegations involving what was known as “Blue Sky” fraud—the sale of speculative, misleading, or essentially worthless investments to people persuaded to believe they were buying into something valuable. Apparently, performing miracles was not enough. The “general” also needed a sideline in mining shares. After returning from South Africa, Lake reportedly used his Church, his pulpit, and his spiritual influence as a sales network for dubious investment schemes. The congregation did not merely receive sermons; they receiv...
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BIBLICAL HOSTAGE-TAKING & THEOLOGICAL BANDITRY

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“How Proof-Texters Kidnap Scripture and Demand a Ransom By Forcing It to Lie for Them” By Akin Ojumu One of the greatest scandals of contemporary Christianity is the enormous number of people who quote the Bible with the confidence of apostles while interpreting it with the discipline of fortune-cookie writers. They can effortlessly recite entire Bible passages from memory in multiple Bible translations. They can decorate sermons with biblical vocabulary. They can shout, “The Bible says!” until the microphone begins to tremble. Yet, many of them have never learned the elementary principles of biblical hermeneutics or sound exegesis. They know how to locate a verse, but not how to interpret it. They know how to quote Scripture, but not how to submit to what Scripture actually says. The result is a thriving culture of careless proof-texting in which Bible verses are kidnapped from their contexts, blindfolded, dragged onto the preacher’s platform, and forced at microphone-point to testify...
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THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH DOES NOT CONTRADICT THE WORD OF TRUTH

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By Akin Ojumu A few days ago, I published an essay titled “When Spiritual Science Fiction Masquerades as Theology.” The essay was written as a direct response to Toluwalogo Agboola’s teaching titled, “The Exactness of Prophetic Intelligence.” I am not one to shy away from theological confrontation—especially when the issue at stake is contending for “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” Nor am I the sort who throws stones from behind the convenient anonymity of the World Wide Web. If I am prepared to criticize a man’s teaching publicly, I am equally prepared to take that criticism directly to him. So, I posted a condensed version of my critique beneath Tolu Agboola’s own YouTube video, where he and his audience could read it for themselves. His response was revealing. Toluwalogo Agboola wrote: “We appreciate your comments...Unfortunately we have found out it comes from a Soul that is estranged from the Government of The SPIRIT. So your submission is easy to underst...
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VICTIM OF CHRIS OYAKHILOME’S FAKE HEALING STREAM SPEAKS OUT

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By Akin Ojumu I was shattered watching this young woman recount what she says she experienced under the influence of Chris Oyakhilome’s teachings. This is not normal. This is not harmless. And it should not be dismissed as merely another theological disagreement among Christians. The theology propagated by Chris Oyakhilome have devastating consequences—not merely for the physical well-being of those who embrace it, but for their spiritual lives as well. Within religious systems where sickness is treated as something that must never be acknowledged, where seeking medical treatment can be portrayed as evidence of unbelief, and where believers are conditioned to regard ordinary expressions of pain as “negative confession,” vulnerable people become prisoners of their own indoctrination. Imagine being seriously ill and yet feeling afraid to admit that you are sick. Imagine being in excruciating pain but believing that saying so gives Satan power over you. Imagine needing medical attention b...
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THE POSITIVE-CONFESSION PRISON

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“ When “Faith Healing” Becomes a Cage ” By Akin Ojumu I was shattered watching this young woman recount what she says she experienced under the influence of Chris Oyakhilome’s teaching. There comes a point when theological error ceases to be merely ridiculous and becomes dangerous. This is one of those points. What disturbed me most was not simply her suffering. It was the theological machinery surrounding it—the system that can teach sick people to distrust their symptoms, fear their own words, and treat an honest acknowledgment of illness as though they had just signed a peace treaty with Satan. Welcome to the Positive-Confession Prison. It is a strange religious penitentiary where the inmates are told they are free, the sick are required to announce that they are well, the suffering must insist that they are victorious, and reality itself is treated like an agent of the devil. In this prison, you are not merely expected to endure your illness. You must deny that it exists. Have a fe...
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