AFRICAN PLUME

By Akin Ojumu There you are a permanent fixture at the so-called Holy Ghost Conventions. As far back as you can remember, there’s no Shiloh Encounter that you’ve missed. In the past two decades, you can’t count the number of miracle crusades you’ve attended. There’s no week that goes by that you don’t find yourself in one prayer conference or anointing service or special program or the other. When they asked people to bring combs to the Holy Ghost Convention for the special anointing prayer that would turn the combs into talisman of good wishes, you cheerfully brought a box full. Since then, you’ve been combing your hair every day, multiple times a day. Even now that you no longer have a single strand of hair left on your head, you still continue to comb your bald head with the magic comb anyway. Do you remember the time when people were told to come with handkerchiefs to the miracle crusade? You joyfully arrived at the campground 4 days before with bundles of white handkerchiefs. As s...

By Akin Ojumu Contemporary Church is like the Roman mob.  Conjure up a razzmatazz for them, and you’ll get them quickly captivated.  Stir up magic for them, you’ll find them easily enchanted. Whip up their emotions, and they get readily merismerized.  Rouse up their greed, they become handily delighted. Modern-day Church is like a gullible horde. Rob them of their last farthing, and they’ll still roar in ecstasy. Bewitch them with stirring words, and they’ll soar in rhapsody. Take away their freedom, and they’ll screech is exhilaration. Lead them in the broad road to destruction, and they’ll sheepishly follow in jubilation.  The Church of our time is a transactional marketplace. Their beating heart isn’t Christ or His Word. It’s the murky mire of mammonism and the sinking sand of materialism.  You bring them death and destruction of corrupted gospel, They’ll worship you and sing your praise to the highest heavens.

By Akin Ojumu There’s no joy in swimming against the tide. You can’t expect to make many friends when you choose to stand athwart traditions and long-held cherished beliefs. Unfortunately for me, that’s exactly the position in which I find myself.  Like Don Quixote of La Mancha, I’ve been engaged in a quixotic quest to wrest my brothers and sisters from the clutches of false theological beliefs for quite some time now. Concerned that they are being misled and duped by the people to whom they entrust their soul, I have been trying again and again to open their eyes to see the truth, but to no avail. To my chagrin, I have come to the realization that this is a thankless undertaking. The whole endeavor has been one of frustration and heartburn, to say the least. Many a time, I’ve considered calling it quits altogether. Nobody likes to be known as a glum dour downbeat killjoy.  But it’s at those low moments of self-doubt and near surrender that God seems to remind me that I have g...

“People Who Long to be Rich Plunge into Ruin and Destruction.” By Akin Ojumu Truth matters. Without truth, we are doomed. In a world polluted by the toxic fumes of obfuscation, truth is the oxygen that keeps us alive. Stop the flow of oxygen of veracity, we all suffocate on the carbon monoxide of prevarication. There’s no truth in a gospel that promises divine health and abundance of material wealth to the listeners. A preacher who comes to you telling you that it’s your divine destiny to be stinkingly rich and permanently healthy is a lying scoundrel. To such, godliness is nothing but a means to great gain. 1 TIMOTHY 6:5 “People who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.” Those who view spirituality as a business venture or a money-making adventure are false teachers depraved in mind and deprived of truth. These wolves in sheep’s clothing often come to you sounding devoutly godly and looking piously holy. Yet, in their soul is a se...

“When Desire Turns into Greed” By Akin Ojumu As I explained in Part 1 of this commentary, what prompted me to write this screed was the inscription on the T-shirt that Emmanuel Olumide was wearing in a video interview I found on one of the social media sites. In the video, the man who calls himself the Guru of Commonsense spotted a T-shirt with the words, “KINGDOM BILLIONAIRE” plastered across the front. In addition, he had on a face cap that had “JESUS” written on it. Horrified by the blatant greed and the derision of the Name of the Lord, I couldn’t help but comment. “Kingdom billionaire? Really? Which kingdom exactly? How many of the Apostles of Jesus, the people who actually laid the foundation of the Christian faith, were billionaires? How many of them were millionaires? How many were thousandnaires? How many were hundrednaires? How many were even kobonaires? This shallow and hollow, ear-scratching mammon gospel will only keep you on the broad road that leads to destruction.” Offe...

“Who Wants To Be a Kingdom Billionaire?” By Akin Ojumu Prosperity preachers, as well as the victims of their scam, like to throw up names of Old Testament saints such Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Boaz as important worshipers of YAHWEH who were extremely wealthy. In the New Testament, they often refer to Joseph of Arimathea, Lydia the seller of purple, Philemon, and others as examples of wealthy people who believed in Christ. Because there are these wealthy individuals mentioned in the Bible who believed and worshiped the LORD God Almighty, messengers of the health, wealth, and success gospel consider this as evidence that God wants all Christians to be wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. They’ll tell you that God wants you to be stinkingly rich, period. It’s as though to stink is something to be proud about. Of course, this type of argument is based on extremely flawed theology about which I have written several commentaries. But I’m going to repeat ho...