Author: Deji Okegbile

METHODISM, Nigeria Premier Church @180 and Autonomy @60: Indigenised to Decolonise (2).

METHODISM, Nigeria Premier Church @180 and Autonomy @60: Indigenised to Decolonise (2).

Posted by | Jun 20, 2022 | , , |

The Acts of the Apostles is a missional progress of the gospel of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem to Rome. The missional milestones from Samaria, Antioch, Cyprus, across Anatolia and Greece spread westward through the Ethiopian eunuch.[1] African churches, using the words of Professor Andrew Walls, ‘brings into focus the period when Western Europe was converted to Christianity.’ According to Walls, ‘we have a tendency to forget about this period, to jump from Augustine to Luther and forget about Bede and Gregory of Tours. During this period Christian missionary had to explain Christianity to the inhabitants of Europe in light...

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‘On Track to Die Out…’: The “Mother Church” of World Methodism learning from ‘its Offspring?’

‘On Track to Die Out…’: The “Mother Church” of World Methodism learning from ‘its Offspring?’

Posted by | Jun 16, 2022 | |

One of my books, Stop the Funeral: Reverse Methodists Decline, published in 2017 was inspired by the Rev Loraine Mellor’s 2017 Presidential inaugural address. Mellor’s address resonates with the fear of John Wesley. For me, as a student of John Wesley’s writings and practices, his prophetic words near the end of his life is fulfilling a prophetic concern today. Wesley said, “I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without...

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The Path to Prayer: The path to Spiritual Awakening and effective Evangelism.

The Path to Prayer: The path to Spiritual Awakening and effective Evangelism.

Posted by | Jun 14, 2022 | , |

Prayer as the Christian’s vital breath, the Christian’s native air was at the heart of the life of the New Testament church: “They continued steadfastly … in prayers” (Acts 2:42-47). There is no way to learn to pray but by praying. According to Samuel Chadwick, there is ‘no reasoned philosophy of prayer ever taught a soul to pray … Though a man should have all knowledge about prayer, and though he understand all mysteries about prayer, unless he prays he will never learn to pray.’[1] The path to prayer as the path to spiritual awakening and effective evangelism is...

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PRELATE’S ABDUCTION AND THE NIGERIA PENTECOST SUNDAY MASSACRE: “DEATH HAS COME TO REVEAL THE FAITH.”

PRELATE’S ABDUCTION AND THE NIGERIA PENTECOST SUNDAY MASSACRE: “DEATH HAS COME TO REVEAL THE FAITH.”

Posted by | Jun 11, 2022 | , , |

The Nigeria purported amalgamation in 1914,[1] only about a decade after the defeat of the Sokoto Caliphate was a compromise of the Colonial rule founded on the spread of Islam. The affirmative Yes answer to Miller, Walter’s book, Have We Failed in Nigeria? reminds us of the weighty charges against the Colonial rule. The Colonial “Nigeria” is ‘a land where many material advances have been made, but where the intangible things of the Spirit, both personal and political are almost entirely absent.’[2] The failure of the Colonial government is about accepting ‘the full responsibility of taking on the government...

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Pentecost: Means of Renewal, Witness, and Judgement

Pentecost: Means of Renewal, Witness, and Judgement

Posted by | Jun 10, 2022 | |

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. (Acts 1:8). The Acts of the Apostles is a history of Pentecost[1] (Lk 24:49). The greatest need of the Church today ‘in an age of inherited and often nominal church membership’[2] is a renewal of the power of Pentecost. The church must be saved to save the world. Pentecost as means of renewal begins with individuals to save the home, the church and the world. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement had a Pentecost – Holy Spirit moment often referred to as his “Aldersgate warmed-heart experience” that...

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