RiverNaija

By Femi Aribisala The riches and glories of this world are counterfeit. If we were to ask Christians what Jesus saves us from, many would say we are saved from the torments of hell. However, the hell Jesus spoke about is a real place called Gehenna; a valley outside Jerusalem where apostate Israelites sacrificed their children to idol gods, which later became a rubbish dump where criminals were burnt alive. Thus, while the hell Jesus spoke about was well-known to the Jews, it is entirely imaginary to us. The hell we know today is in this world. Hell is Nigeria; where armed-robbery and kidnapping is rampant; and the Boko Haram increasingly blows up the innocent. Hell is Norway; where Anders Breivik massacred nearly one hundred people in cold-blood. Hell is Germany; where millions of Jews were gassed to death. Hell is the United States; which routinely rains down “shock-and-awe” bombs on non-Americans; including Iraqis, Afghans and Libyans. Hell is in every home; every neigbour...

By C. K. Ekeke, M. Div., Ph.D.        Nigeria’s wealthiest pastor, Bishop David Oyedepo is in the news again – this time in the United Kingdom. Sadly for him, Britain is not Nigeria, where the corrupt courts absolved him of all wrong doings, his abuses and violence against a young worshiper of his church at Winner Chapel – aka “Cananland” It was the video of his satanic slap of a young girl, probably an uneducated parishioner, who didn’t know how best to express her love and witness for Jesus, that exposed the abuse and muddled message that is being promulgated by the bishop to his gullible and biblical ignorant followers. Since then, I have penned a couple of articles calling on the federal government intervention to enact laws and policies to checkmate abuses - physical, sexual, emotional, mental, and moral abuses in places of worship in the nation in order to protect the vulnerable. I’m not too concerned about the learned and intelligent parishi...