AFRICAN PLUME

By Akin Ojumu Many of us come from denominational backgrounds where we’ve been taught a lot of things erroneously. To this day, a vast number of us continue to struggle to disentangle and disengage ourselves from all those things we used to know that are wrong. As a result, when we read the Bible, we fail to believe the texts staring us in the face without realizing it. Instead of proper exegesis (which is interpreting Scripture within its proper context and allowing the texts to guide us to conclusion) we engage in eisegesis (i.e., we subconsciously inject our own ideas and preconceived notion into the text, and we make it mean whatever we want). Sadly, this subjective way of interpreting the Bible was how many of us were raised as Christians. And this is what’s at play here with the issue of the Gift of Tongues. Nothing I say here will change a mind that’s already made up on what he/she believes. I’ll only advise you to take off the blinders next time you read the Bible. Now concerni...

“The Road from Ephesus to Laodicea” By Akin Ojumu Christians in the seven churches of Revelations 2 and 3 were redeemed people. Many of them had turned from idol worship and immoral living to embrace Christianity wholeheartedly. These people paid a heavy price for serving the Lord in the midst of immoral and idolatrous societies.  Having been taught by Apostle Paul, the most gifted Christian apologetic of all times, the believers became one of the most doctrinally sound Christians in the history of the Church. Paul spent more than two years at Ephesus pouring himself into the congregation, teaching them the Word of God and sound doctrine. Right there, in the middle of a licentious pagan culture of the imperial cult and worship of the goddess Artemis, Paul helped these believers to grow in the faith, becoming some of the most pious and Biblically literate Churches of any era. In his valedictory message to the elders of the Church at Ephesus in Acts 20: 26-27, Paul told them:   ...

“Pathogenesis of a Moribund Church” By Akin Ojumu In His letters, written by Apostle John on the Island of Patmos, to the seven Churches of Asia Minor (namely, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea), the Lord Jesus gave us what can be described as the Christian roadmap for sustaining the fire of the faith and manual for living an enduring Christian life. In the letters to five of the seven Churches, the Lord provided us a codebook for discerning the fading glory from a Christian ministry and He showed us the path that leads to lukewarmness. The Church at Ephesus (Revelations 2:1-7) – Religiously Loveless A Church that reduces the believers walk in the faith to cold orthodoxy and where spiritual service of worship becomes dutiful drudgery devoid of deep-seated devotion and heart-felt love for the Lover of our soul will soon become a compromised Church that assimilates with the world and becomes indistinguishable from the outside world. The Church at Per...

“Living on Past Glory” By Akin Ojumu For the most part, all Christian ministries often start well. Unlike nowadays when Christian ministry has become a synonym for joblessness, it used to be rare to find a Christian minister who took on the mantle of the ministry in error or with an ulterior motive. Many Christian denominations that are known today for their bad reputation were actually founded by people who had genuine passion for lost souls, and whose primary purpose was to serve the LORD. A vast number of pastors who have gained notoriety for conducts unbecoming of a Christian were once pure-hearted lovers of God who wanted nothing other than to lead sinners to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the very beginning, when they were still wet behind the ears, their motives were pure and their intentions genuine. All they were about was preaching the Gospel and raising hell for the kingdom of darkness. The pleasures of this world weren’t any of their concerns. ...

“God’s Word is Quick and Powerful” By Akin Ojumu Upon arriving in Ephesus, Paul, customarily, went to proclaim the Gospel first in the Jewish Synagogue. The Jews, however, hardened their hearts and cursed him out. Shunned and rejected, Paul together with his converts relocated to the Lecture Hall of Tyrannus.  It was here, in the first Bible School, that Paul, through his teachings, raised some of the most Biblically literate Christians the Church has ever known. They disputed daily, in a back-and-forth, question-and-answer-type dialogue, five hours a day, for two straight years. From 5th to the 10th hour – which was the hottest part of the day in that city – the believers were immersed in the Scripture. In the heat and humid condition, Apostle Paul saturated the converts with sound doctrine. “This continued for the space of two years so that all they who dwelled in Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” (Acts 19:10). Tremendous things happen whenever the Wo...

“Inspired by a Doctrinal Debate” By Akin Ojumu Doctrinal debates are as old as the Christian faith. This commentary was inspired by a doctrinal debate I had with an elder brother of mine. This is someone for whom I have profound respect, and he i s, in my opinion, far more vast in Christian theology than myself. Spirituality is not what a Christian does but who he is on the inside. Our spirituality is not measured by the list of dos and donts we follow. For instance, it isn’t the length of a woman’s skirt or the size of her head covering that determines whether that person is a spiritual Christian. The person who wears a nasty body odor as a badge of their spirituality is not any more spiritual than someone who prefers to put on fragrance so as not to choke a room full of people to death with what’s oozing from his body. “ For “the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, since ma...

By Akin Ojumu Since its infancy, false teachings and erroneous beliefs have dogged Christianity. The Body of Christ have had to combat and repel the invasion of heretic doctrines right from the very beginning of the Christian faith. Two of the first notable heretic groups to assault the Church were the Judaizers and the Gnostics. The Judaizers were a group of Jewish Christians who insisted that gentile Christians must follow the Mosaic Law and must first be circumcised – i.e., become Jewish through the ritual of a proselyte – before they could receive salvation. Paul, in his letter to the Galatian Christians, rebuked them for believing in the Judaizers. “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many th...

By Akin Ojumu When the average contemporary Christian thinks of the Mosaic Law, what comes to mind are the “thou shalt nots” of the Ten Commandments. Centuries removed from when they were first instituted and remotely distant from its modern practice, most Christians don’t appreciate the breadth and scope of the customs, rituals, and traditions of the Law of Moses. As an all-encompassing manual for living, the set of regulations and decrees that God gave Moses on Mt Sinai cover every aspect of the lives of the people. The Mosaic Law is a code of conduct that regulates worship, governs behavior, guides relationships, controls commerce, and directs social interactions. While some of these customs and practices are conveniently popular, like the instructions on tithing for instance, the others are mostly obscure, hidden in those sections of the Bible that most Christians skip and avoid. One of those arcane aspects of the Mosaic Law is a rather fascinating instruction given by God to Moses...

By Akin Ojumu Christian calling isn’t hereditary, it cannot be bequeathed. Spiritual gifts are not inheritable, the Holy Spirit is He who distributes them as He wills. Christian ministry isn’t a corporate entity, a husband cannot hand it over to his wife, neither can a father pass it on to his children. When our Lord and Savior came to the end of His ministry, He didn’t leave instructions to install his father or mother to take over His ministry. His four brothers – James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas – were never anointed to replace Him. It was unto the twelve disciples that He gave the Great Commission. Succession in Christian ministry is by God’s appointment and not family arrangement. There are clear instructions given to us in Scripture for the attributes a person must possess to be qualified for the position of a pastor. Being a family member or blood relative of the pastor isn’t one of them. To be appointed an overseer of God’s flock, Apostle Paul listed the requisite qualifications...

“Eternal Security Demands Temporal Purity” By Akin Ojumu By their deeds and utterances, there are many born-again Believers who unwittingly call into question God’s Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence. Without realizing it, they doubt that the written Word of God, which was inspired by the Holy Spirit, is without error. This they do whenever they push ideas that are inconsistent with God’s Word. Any time they use a particular Bible text as proof text for a particular Christian practice that’s not supported by other Bible texts, they are basically saying that the Bible is inconsistent. Questioning the consistency of the Bible is to suggest that God made a mistake. Inferring that God made a mistake is to cast aspersions on His Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence. Besmirching God in this manner is to make Him a liar. “May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, “that you may be justified in your words, and prevail when ...

“Simon Magus, the Sorcerer” By Akin Ojumu In the previous two commentaries, we’ve been discussing the Book of Hebrews with specific reference to the composition of the Christian congregation that was the original recipient of the epistle.  As we saw last time, the assembly was composed of two broad categories of people, namely, true believers who had genuinely given their lives to Christ and were devoted to living according to His commands. The other category of people were unbelievers who hadn’t received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The unbelievers in this congregation were of two types. There were unbelievers who, having heard the preaching of the Word of God and witnessed the demonstration of the power of God by virtue of the ministration of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, were intellectually convinced about the basic truths of the Gospel.  These unbelievers couldn’t honestly deny the outpouring of the power of the Holy Spirit that they saw with their own eyes. But instead...

“Book of Hebrews Congregation” By Akin Ojumu Just as in modern-day Churches, the early Christian congregations were a mixed bag of all sorts of people who were at various stages of spiritual commitment. Back then, you’d find in any typical Christian assembly those who were truly converted and had genuinely surrendered their lives to Christ. Within the same congregation were also unconverted folks whose hearts were far from God. The Christian congregation to which the Book of Hebrews was written was no different. They had genuine believers among them; true converts committed to Christ. It was to these people the epistle was primarily written. It was written to encourage them as they were passing through a period of severe persecution and great suffering at the time. Within the congregation also were those who hadn’t yet been converted. This group of people still very much continued in their sinful lives even as they attended the Church gatherings. This category of unbelievers were of tw...

“Inerrant and Infallible Word of God” By Akin Ojumu Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible is without error or fault in all its teachings. On the other hand, Biblical infallibility is the belief that what the Bible says regarding matters of faith and Christian practice is wholly useful and true. The Bible is completely trustworthy as a guide to salvation and the life of faith and will not fail to accomplish its purpose. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16). Whenever doctrinal or theological disputes arise, it’s crucial for all disputing parties to remember the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture. Debates about doctrines arise not because of inconsistency or conflicting texts in the Bible. The reason there are theological disagreements is simply because our knowledge is limited, and our understanding is incomplete. “Let God be true, but every man a liar.” (Romans 3:4)....

 

By Akin Ojumu There’s a lot to be said about Coco Gauff’s rise to the top of the tennis world. Here are just a few that come to mind. As I think about this, I’m reminded of a saying among the Yoruba people. It goes like, “Omo to ba maa je Asamu, ati kekere lo ti nse enu samu samu.” What this means is that “a child that’s likely going to achieve greatness in life will begin to exhibit the signs right from childhood.” Coco Gauff's passion for tennis started from the time she was just a child. The chances for success in life increase exponentially when a child is raised by parents who appreciate the gift they were born with, believe in their potential, and are willing to invest in them. “My dad told me I could do this when I was eight, and obviously, you never believe it,” says Coco Gauff. They took her to watch champions play at the highest level. Happy is the child whose parents will give up everything to help their child achieve her dreams. Coco Gauff’s parents quit their jobs and ...