EVANGEL AFRICA

I am human as a human can be. This means I don’t only sympathize with the troubles of my fellow kind, but I also share the same. Yet, my issue today is this famous statement that is all over social media, television and radio talk shows, which says that “people are going through a lot.” Indeed, a lot of my brothers and sisters are finding life harder than they can bear. I can pause here and start to detail true life stories of women who are abused, young people who are forced into drugs, black people who are oppressed, fathers who are underappreciated and mothers who are abandoned. Some even have real physical conditions that have contributed much to their discomfort on this earth. I don’t think it’s even needless to write about the mental stress that people deal with every day, as evidenced by the number of suicide cases. Therefore, my point is not to deny that people are causalities of these circumstances but to express my legitimate concerns about the way we are making much of our t...

When we talk of a Spirit-filled place where the presence of God is moving powerfully, many people imagine the minister screaming “fire!”, waiving his hand and the crowd responding in frantic shaking, screaming, falling and vomiting all over the place. This phenomenon is believed to be the power of God at work, mainly to confound and confuse the powers of darkness in people’s lives. This is supposed to be a mark – on the minister’s part – that he is a powerful man of God who is being “mightily used” to liberate people from the troubles of life – poverty included. In fact, an average charismatic preacher loves this so much that he doesn’t like it when he touches you and you fail to respond by falling. Some are never content even after you fall, because as soon as you are on your feet, you are sprayed to the grown again and again until they are satisfied. I cannot count how many church services I have seen, where people folk in numbers, just to have the pastor touch them on the forehead s...

There is a very popular theology that the African church imported from American televangelists. Its basic idea is that your faith in God will get you a free ticket out of life’s hardship. “Just believe in Jesus and you will live like a king; you will be healthy and wealthy; all the desires of your heart will be fulfilled.” According to that mindset, all you need is to speak positive words and perhaps plant a financial seed and all your problems are gone. Just like all the false teachings, this one is also based on a wrong understanding, or many times willful twisting of Scripture, most particularly Jeremiah 29:11 . As I hinted in one of the articles, the Jeremiah 29:11 promise was given in the context of a people that were beginning their 70 years of suffering in Babylon under the cruel hands of Nebuchadnezzar . All that teaches us that God many times allows the best of His children to face the worst kind of suffering on this earth. That is not only biblical but it is also the reality...

Throughout the Bible, music has always been a significant part of God and His people, from the days of Israelites all the way to the modern church age. Which means it didn’t begin with this generation. If you go back as far as Genesis, you'll encounter arguably the first musician ever recorded in Scripture by the name of Jubal, the 4th generation from Adam through Cain ( Gen 4:21 ). Other early references to music include Exodus 15, which records the Israelites being led to sing a song of victory after the overthrow of the Egyptian army. Most notable figures in the Bible, such as Moses and David, were professional musicians. If we want, we can also include, the sons of Korah, Asaph, Solomon and Heman as part of our singers list. In fact, the longest book in the Bible contains only songs (psalms). Believe it or not, Scripture also records our Lord Jesus singing with His disciples ( Mat 26:30 ). Paul the good Apostle also gave instructions regarding the use of music during Christian ...

Of all the concerning issues we have discussed, nothing is as worrying as the habit of some believers who boldly stand before others and announce that “the Lord spoke to me”, when in reality, there is no proof – even in their consciences – that it was indeed God Himself or just an imagination of their minds . This, I tell you, is the source of confusion that we have in the African church today. It needs to be addressed, lest we become guilty of turning a blind eye to the very thing that brings dishonor to the Name of the Holy One. Our aim today is to answer the question; why do people do that in the first place? Believe it or not, everything man does always has a motive; good or bad. Although no one can truly know or judge other people’s motives except the Almighty Himself, still, I believe, anyone who has diligently studied his Bible – which is able to discern thoughts and secret intents of the heart ( Heb 4:12 ) – can surely know the hidden truth about human nature.  Influence fr...

Suppose you are looking for a church; a community of local believers that will serve and be served by you, not only for your growth but also for the wellbeing of your children, what characteristics would mark that good church? I tell you from experience that church hunting is one of the most heartbreaking activities you will ever do. We are all aware that when it comes to churches today, we are in the book of judges where “in those days was no king and everyone was doing what’s right in their own eyes” ( Judg 21:25 ). As much as worship buildings continue to fill up every street corner, it is still a proven fact that good churches are as rare as gold itself.  Before we go far, let us be sure that there is no perfect church. One has said it well that if you ever find that “perfect church”, don’t join it because you will mess it up. Regardless, I still argue that there is something called a “good church” as compared to the bad ones that have flooded this good land of Africa. How then...

Often times when people discuss marriage – and I have been to those conversations – the highlight is always the sufferings and pains that it has brought to our brothers and sisters. Such talks have given everyone the impression that marriage is nothing but another form of a prison sentence . Because of such negative sentiments, we are seeing a new generation of young ones that no longer aspire to get into marriage. In fact, more and more people prefer to have short-term relationships than to “enslave” themselves to a lifetime commitment with someone. My question is: if being married is the worst mistake that one can make, why then is marriage still the most sort after (far above riches) thing on the earth’s surface? It’s because, no matter the bad publicity, we all know within ourselves that there are still great benefits of being a married somebody. This is what I wish to remind my readers today.  Mind you, we are taking this from a Christian perspective. Companionship Humans are ...