African Plume

By Akin Ojumu At a time when it seems the mushroom cloud from the tithing brouhaha nuclear explosion is settling down in Nigeria, Baba Enoch Adeboye is reluctant to let the sleeping dogs lie for reasons he is yet to disclose. With no apparent prompting or provocation, the old man has decided to stir the hornet’s nest. As a keynote speaker at the plenary session held on Day 4 of the ongoing International Youth Conference of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, the General Overseer of the Church addressed the gathering of young people about dominion. Using Matthew 11:12 as the anchor text, Pastor Adeboye taught the crowd strategies on how to dominate and take charge. In order for them to dominate and be in charge, they must learn to praise God violently, win souls violently, and pray violently. In addition to the above three things that they must do in order for them to dominate, Pastor Adeboye also spoke of a fourth strategy. If they ever want to dominate, they must learn to give viole...

2 Peter 2:3 “In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.” Titus 1:10-11 “For there are many who are…empty talkers and deceivers...They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.” Never ever entrust your soul to a conniving grifter. He is nothing but a window sneaking thief out to steal, kill, and destroy your soul.

“Jerry Eze, the Water Walker” By Akin Ojumu Wolves in sheep’s clothing don’t want you studying the Bible. Their mission is to keep you stupid. In their greed, these false teachers exploit your ignorance. Because those who do not know what the Bible actually says are the easiest to manipulate by those who twist and misuse it, charlatans would prefer you remain perpetually naïve of the truth of Scripture. One of the ways erroneous preachers twist and misuse Scripture is by interpreting it in a way that makes you the hero of the story. In their presentation of the Gospel, man, not God, is the superstar. They exalt man to god-status and reduce God to man-status. Cynically, they take every Bible passage and make it all about themselves and their worldly desires. They turn the Word of God into magic words that people speak to get the Genie out of the bottle to grant their wishes.  There’s no piece of Scripture that is sacrosanct to false teachers. Bible texts that speak of spiritual heal...

“Truly You Are the Son of God” By Akin Ojumu Enough ink has been spilled to turn the ocean black in the retelling of the extraordinary story of Jesus walking on water. If you’ve attended Church long enough, you’ve probably heard one or two preachers sermonize on Peter walking on water ad nauseam, ad infinitum. This captivating account of the demonstration of the supernatural power of God over nature has been so mangled, preachers of all shapes and sizes have turned it into lyrical tunes with which they serenade self-absorbed audiences with ear-tickling melody of self-glory that satisfies fleshly cravings and satiates carnal desires. In nearly all the instances that I have heard this story preached, the fixation of the preachers has always been on Peter. Blinded by their fascination with an ordinary man walking on water, they are unable to see the huge forest for the trees. Because of their narcissistic tunnel vision, they completely missed the point of the phenomenal story. Jesus walki...

“Scripture Is Not Subject to Private Interpretation” By Akin Ojumu Righteousness, like a tender flower, flourishes when the soul is planted by the streams of the water of God’s Word. Fidelity to the purity of the truth of the Gospel is the manure that fertilizes the soil of spiritual maturity. A daily diet fortified with essential minerals of sound doctrine makes the mind whole and the body healthy.  Theological error corrupts and absolute doctrinal error corrupts absolutely. Profane babbles, vain blathers, and godless chatters will only lead people into more and more ungodliness. The soul of those who feed on erroneous teachings will progressively wither. “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation.” (2 Peter 1:20). For us to accurately and correctly interpret Scripture, we must DRAW OUT from the Bible texts and not READ INTO them. Drawing out from Bible texts is what’s called exegesis. This means the interpreter is guided ...

“Communicable and Incommunicable Attributes of God” By Akin Ojumu We understand from Scripture that being made in the image and after the likeness of God is the exclusive preserve of humanity. No other groups of created beings share in this high and lofty status. Neither the creatures in the sea nor birds in the air nor livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth can evolve or genetically mutate into the image of God. Likewise, we’ve established that it’s very much unlikely that man being made in the image of God could be referring to the physical or material aspect of man. We know this because: (1) God is Spirit “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24). (2) A Spirit has no physical form “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:39). (3) God is infinite and eternal, whatever is created is finite and mortal “Before the mountains ...

“Made in the Image of God” By Akin Ojumu As pure as the driven snow, so is the purity of Scripture. It is free from error (i.e., inerrant) and devoid of any mistake (i.e., infallible). Every word is God-breathed, and every jot or tittle is inspired by the Holy Spirit. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Since no prophecy, i.e., the Word of God, was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit, there are no, and there cannot be any, contradictions in Scripture. Bible text interprets Bible text, and difficult texts are explained by other clearer texts. Whenever we encounter what appears to be confusion or lack clarity in a particular Bible text, what we ought to do is to look for other Bible texts that provide clarity to clear the ambiguity. Opinion is like an u...

“So, You Think You Are Divine?” By Akin Ojumu Aberrant beliefs are the result of foolish expeditions into the jungle of eisegesis. The reason many subscribe to erroneous doctrines is because they stray into the murky waters of esoteric revelations and speculative presuppositions that are totally unmoored from the principles of sound exegesis and proper hermeneutics.  When it comes to interpreting and applying Scripture, I have learned over the years to stay within the safe confines of the contextual boundaries of the Bible text, using as my guide, the literal, historical, grammatical, and synthesis principles which are fundamental to proper understanding of Scripture.   Psalm 82 in its proper context is a pronunciation of judgment by God on the rulers or judges of Israel. As rulers, they were considered the representative of God to the people. Having delegated His authority to them, the Bible says God called them “gods”. Carrying the seal of God’s authority, they were expected...

“The Meaning of Elohim Depends on the Context” By Akin Ojumu Word of Faith heretics like E.W. Kenyon, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, and Joyce Meyers like to boast about being equal with God. In their reprobate minds, they believe they rank as high as the Almighty in the spiritual pecking order. Claiming to have the DNA of God, they say they are partakers of God’s divinity and sharer in all of God’s attributes, majesty, and power. Known as the little gods’ doctrine, proponents of this blasphemous idea believe that “humans are actually divine, created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27) not only in having a soul, having dominion over the earth, or living in relationship with others, but by being of the same “spiritual class” as God Himself. Biblical theologians decry this concept as misguided at best, and heretical and cultic at worst” (Ref: Got Questions). The go-to texts these false teachers use to substantiate their divinity claim are Psalm 82:6 and John 10:34. But ...

“Ambulance Chasing Spirituality” By Akin Ojumu In the United States, the expression, Ambulance Chaser, is a derogatory term reserved for unscrupulous personal injury lawyers who monitor the radio frequencies of the Emergency Medical Services listening for reports of accidents.  As soon as a 911 call is received reporting an accident and an ambulance is sent to the scene, the ambulance-chasing lawyer sets out in hot pursuit of the ambulance. Upon arriving at the scene, he proceeds to recruit the accident victims as clients for potential personal injury lawsuits. He briskly hands out business cards and makes unabashed promises of huge sums of money in personal injury compensation. Ambulance chasers have a bad reputation amongst their peers. They are often looked upon with scorn by reputable personal injury. As the scum of the earth of the legal profession, these bottom feeders of the American justice system soullessly hound accident victims for their own personal gain while the victi...