Author: Deji Okegbile

A PASTOR OF BISHOPS AND ECUMENIST, VERY REV. PROFESSOR OYALANA: 10 YEARS AFTER.

A PASTOR OF BISHOPS AND ECUMENIST, VERY REV. PROFESSOR OYALANA: 10 YEARS AFTER.

Posted by | Jan 25, 2023 | , |

Ten years after the passage of our distinguished professor Very Rev Professor Andrew Sunday Oyalana, one of this era’s leading Christian ecumenists, we continue to experience a deep void, which will remain in our hearts until our eschatological reunion. Very Rev Prof Oyalana’s legacy is essential to orient aspiring ecumenists. Very Rev Prof Oyalana was an ‘interdisciplinary and learned ecumenist, researcher, and practitioner. The ecumenist demonstrated broad and profound knowledge of philosophy, history, and theology across different ecclesiastical traditions and ethnicities in his multiple teaching appointments as a distinguished professor of ecumenical and historical theology.’ Very Rev Prof Oyalana’s...

Read More
Standing on the Shoulder of BISHOP OJUMU, An Evangelical Bishop and Giant: 15 YEARS AFTER:

Standing on the Shoulder of BISHOP OJUMU, An Evangelical Bishop and Giant: 15 YEARS AFTER:

Posted by | Jan 24, 2023 | |

“We stand on the shoulders of giants” – Bishop Akinleye Kehinde Ojumu was one of my giants. Beyond being a giant of great stature, Bishop Ojumu was a spiritual giant, almost of John Wesley’s height in life, 5foot 1 inch. The late Bishop Ojumu tremendously influenced many people’s lives – clergy and laity. I first met him in 1994 at Methodist Church Nigeria headquarters, Wesley House, Lagos, when he took over from prelate emeritus, His Eminence Sunday Ola Makinde as a Chaplain to prelate emeritus, His Eminence Sunday Mbang.  I learned of him more upon reading his first contribution...

Read More
Overseas ‘Reverse’ Missions: Post-Christian Evangelism Beyond Methodist Decline.

Overseas ‘Reverse’ Missions: Post-Christian Evangelism Beyond Methodist Decline.

Posted by | Jan 16, 2023 | , |

Look unto Him, ye nations, own Your God, ye fallen race Look and be saved by faith alone, Be justified by grace – Charles Wesley The reverse mission is understood within the context of reverse migration equipped and sent to ‘serve the present age.’ These services are with a consecration that put all the practical powers of life and its cherished possessions at Christ’s disposal. Reverse mission as a consecration to a mission, to the world-mission of the Redeemer Himself is shaped by order of things in the economy of grace – saintship and service, inward dedication, and outward activity;...

Read More
Hayford, A Missional Leadership Model of Renewing a Declining Church in a Post-Christian Nation.

Hayford, A Missional Leadership Model of Renewing a Declining Church in a Post-Christian Nation.

Posted by | Jan 13, 2023 | , |

The vision of a missional leadership model of renewing a declining church in a post-Christian nation is not to mistake means for ends. The vision is the missional renewal for the leadership and the church as the community of the Holy Spirit rather than a restoration of churches and Christian institutions to their former states of strength. Jack Hayford will not only be remembered as the Foursquare Church leader ‘who taught evangelicals that God is enthroned in the praises of his people.’ Hayford’s identification with evangelicalism or ecumenism is found more in its Pietist and Wesleyan roots, where the...

Read More
Examine Me, O Lord: Prayer for Personal Renewal.

Examine Me, O Lord: Prayer for Personal Renewal.

Posted by | Jan 8, 2023 | |

God is the Ultimate Examiner. Psalm 139 takes an unexpected turn, concluding with a prayer for the Lord to examine David’s heart: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and leads me along the path of everlasting life.” The beginning of the New Year offers us an opportunity to ask God to examine and search us for a fruitful year. The human part always rationalises and resists dealing with what is wrong in the heart, but the truth is that we need to...

Read More