THE KINGDOM HERALD

(NB: This article was first published about nine months ago. Its message is still very relevant today and it is being rerun this week with some marginal editing. God bless you as you read.) It had been on my mind to write about something like this and I was watching out for when to tackle it. Then I came across an article in this week’s Sunday Punch here in Nigeria, Boko Haram: The Challenges of Messianic Movements . You could call it a fire under my seat! For the uninitiated, Boko Haram is a fundamentalist Islamic sect that recently unleashed terror on parts of Northern Nigeria. The incident, according to last week’s editorial of the same newspaper, claimed hundreds of lives and displaced several thousands. In the mind of the writer of the article, Minabere Ibelema, the event evoked memories of some “messianic” groups that have executed similar horrors around the world. Included in the recount was the “Reverend” Jim Jones-led group that took to

He has come a long way and done great things. But when we look beyond the surface of his giant strides and the allure of his homeland – called “God’s own country” with good reason – we discover some amazing portents of “things which must shortly come to pass” on a global scale! It has been said that he is on a decline. He has to, for the real thing he has long prefigured is fast approaching! Let’s consider one facet of his activities that interestingly prefigure an impending and very significant stage in the Almighty’s great agenda for the world – the establishment of the promised earthly kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ . Here’s a nation in anarchy, the making and revelry of a “tyrannical” ruler. Things get so bad till General Sam, the “self-appointed” commander of the global armed forces, would have no more of it. Too bad He doesn’t have a unanimous vote; he is going to carry out his plans all the same! He mobilizes and arms his forces, inva

The first territory that the devil invaded on his crusade to usurp the authority of God among men was the arena of human knowledge, wisdom and understanding. It was in Eden, where he enticed the bride of the “first Adam” to eat of the fruit of the tree that imparts knowledge – an offer of wisdom apart from the divine program. The fact that the devil went for the realm of knowledge first isn’t a coincidence but proves that he knew something all along. As I noted in THE NEXT WAVE , knowledge, or know-how , is at the foundation of all human activity. If you would have dominion on the earth, as God planned for Adam and his descendants, you only have to be competent at something . And if you are good enough and know how to exploit it, you can bring the world to your feet. Testimonies to this truth abound around us, even among the ungodly and rebellious. Notice how the devil baited Eve with his dubious offer of knowledge: “Ye shall be as gods” (Genes