African Plume

“This is What Apostasy Looks Like” By Akin Ojumu Apostasy takes two forms. The first occurs when there’s a falling away from key and true doctrines of the Bible into heretical teachings that claim to be “the real” Christian doctrine. A second form of apostasy is when a self-professed Believer completely renounces the Christian faith and fully abandons Christ. You can determine the extent of the apostasy of a Church body by how the people react and respond to transgression. A Church that rejoices when God’s law is flaunted is a Church that’s far gone into an apostate state. Whenever a group of professing Christians celebrates a rebellion against God ’s  command, you know that’s a people who have abandoned biblical Christianity for a man-made idolatrous religion. Considering the rejoicing, celebration, and the outpouring of congratulatory messages that trail the installation of Mrs Funke Felix-Adejumo as a Bishop in the Household of God, you know that the Church in Nigeria is an apos...

“Woman Bishop: What Does the Bible Say?” By Akin Ojumu For reasons that would become very obvious from the reactions I know I’ll get to this commentary, I have shied away from commenting on the latest farce in Christendom. And I’m referring to the recent consecration and elevation of Mrs. Funke Felix-Adejumo to the office of a Bishop. Well, you must know that the only reason I’m now allowing myself to get dragged into this is because someone close to me asked my opinion about it. So, here’s what I think. This is an iniquitous charade and a public parade of haughty hearts. What we are witnessing here, by this appointment of a woman to the office of a Bishop in the Household of God, is a violation of the Word of God. This is nothing short of an all-out assault on God Himself. The installation of a woman to exercise authority over men in the Church is another evidence that these people, who call themselves Christian leaders in Nigeria, have no fear of God and neither do they have any rega...

By Akin Ojumu I cannot begin to stress how vital God’s Word is to the spiritual well-being of the Believer. It’s not an exaggeration or a hyperbole to say that a Christian who is not fed, or does not feed himself, with the Word of God is spiritually dead; he’s nothing but a walking corpse. Faith grows on the soil of God’s Word. When faith is not rooted in the rich soil of sound doctrine, it will shrivel and die gradually over time. The spiritual dryness and lethargy that many Christians experience in their lives often come as a result of their thirsty souls not being watered at the fountain of God’s Word. Several Bible texts attest to this fact. Here are just a sample. Psalm 19:7 “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the Testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” Psalm119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your Word.” Psalm 119:130 “The unfolding of your Words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” John 6:63 “...

By Akin Ojumu What would it be like if after all you think you’ve done and accomplished for God in this life and then you get to the pearly gates of Heaven and you are told, “I never knew you?” It’s such a scary thought to contemplate, isn’t it? But guess what! The vast majority of self-professed Christians will find themselves in that exact situation. You’d be surprised to know that a significant number of the General Overseers, Apostles, Prophets, and Pastors, these men and women of God that you adore, revere, and worship will be denied entry into God’s kingdom. How do I know this? Well, the Lord Jesus Himself told us so. Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart ...

By Akin Ojumu Satan’s most potent weapon is not fear, it’s not calamity, it’s not poverty, and it’s most definitely not sickness or disease. His most lethal instrument of mass destruction is deception. Deception is Lucifer’s most effective strategy. Gaslighting is Satan’s invention. John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” From the very beginning, deception was Satan’s strategy to bring ruin to the beautiful world the LORD had created. It was chicanery that the Devil used to lure Adam and Eve to rebel against their Maker which, consequently, ushered sin, sickness, disease, and death into our world. If you thought Satan is done away with cunningness, you are grossly mistaken. On the contrary, the intensity of his mendacity is increasing exponen...

“Scripture Supersedes Experience” By Akin Ojumu Obsession with supernatural power and supernatural phenomenon has eclipsed the love and devotion of many Christians to Christ Jesus and His Gospel. Personal subjective experience like taking a 30-day trip to heaven to go receive divine lectures, for instance, has replaced the historic eyewitness accounts and testimony of those who actually saw Lord Jesus live, die, and rise again and ascend to heaven 40 days later. Many of these Church folks who are susceptible to stories of otherworldly experiences often come across as devoutly pious and passionate. Unfortunately, they are impoverished as to the biblical basics that are able to anchor one’s faith securely in the harbor of God’s truth, love, and grace when confronted with the inevitable vicissitudes of life.   Peter, more than anyone else in his time, understood that a faith based solely on experience, is a faith built on a sinking sand. The Word of God is the solid foundation up...

“Prophecy is Foretelling & Forthtelling” By Akin Ojumu This commentary was inspired by what one of the Prophetic Kingpins in Nigeria shared on his Instagram handle. In the post, the Guru of Prophetic argued that prophecies deliver on two faith systems. These two systems he described as “Faith in God” and “Faith in God’s Prophets.” Although I’m not particularly hung up on the Prophetic Giant’s assertion that prophecies deliver on two faith systems, I’d be remiss if I failed to use this opportunity to remind you of the Biblical definition of prophecies. Strictly speaking, prophecies are messages from God. It is God communicating His heart, mind, will, thought, and intention to mankind. To prophesy is to proclaim what God intends to do. The human vessels through whom God’s message is proclaimed are who we call prophets. The gift of prophecy is the ability given by the Holy Spirit to an individual that enables him to proclaim God’s message to others. Biblically speaking, what a prophet...

“Peter Repudiates His Detractors” By Akin Ojumu From very early on, the early Church Fathers had to deal with impostors who embedded themselves within various Christian assemblies scattered around the Roman world of the first century. Gradually, these pseudo-Christians started to pollute and corrupt the congregations with destructive heresies and erroneous teachings. Some of these wolves in sheep’s clothing even tried to undermine the authority of the true Apostles in order to discredit the Gospel message they preached. Apostle Paul used his second Epistle to the Corinthians to respond to some of the wild accusations that had been levelled against him by charlatans. For instance, Paul’s detractors suggested that he was not a true Apostle. If Paul were a true Apostle, they argued, he would not have suffered so much and so often as he had suffered.  Another one of the fraudsters’ accusations was that Paul only spoke boldly in his letters, which he wrote from far away. In person, he w...

“A Cacophony of Prophetic Utterances” By Akin Ojumu We hear a lot these days about prophetic this and prophetic that. A Tsunami of all things prophetic is drowning the Church. It doesn’t matter which corner of the social media you turn, you are bound to find some prophetic person issuing some type of prophetic something. From these prophetic beings emanate a cacophony of prophetic utterances, prophetic declarations, and prophetic decrees which, streaming through the walls of cyberspace, flood your safe space. Predictably, these prophetic supreme beings draw motley crowds looking for someone to scratch their itching ears with prophetic words, prophetic statements and the prophetic agenda. Because the prophetic super humans operate in stratospheric prophetic dimensions, they like to claim they have the authority to offer prophetic lifelines to anyone for a sizable contribution, of course. These prophetic gurus are also known for dishing out prophetic signs, prophetic counsels, prophetic ...

By Akin Ojumu Unlike pagan religions which are all based on subjective, uncorroborated, unsubstantiated, and unverifiable ecstatic and enthusiastic mystical experiences, Christianity is based on objective, historical, rational, revealed truth from God intended to be understood, comprehended, and believed. This revealed truth is contained in His written Word, the Holy Scriptures. 2 Peter 1:2 “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” By studying the Scripture, our knowledge of God gets deeper, our love for God grows higher, and our intimacy with God becomes closer. The deeper, higher, and wider our knowledge of God gets, the more His grace and peace become abundantly multiplied in our lives. 2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” And that’s not all. As we know God more fully, thoroughly, and intimately, the di...