Review of Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa
Posted: 20 Sep 2021, 04:00
[Following is a volunteer review of "Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa" by Elijah Oladimeji.]
Jesus, Prosperity Gospel, and Poverty in Africa by Elijah Oladimeji is a very educative, interesting, and short religious book of fiction about 69 pages which is worth a single day read. The author, pastor Elijah is a survivor of the covid-19 pandemic and therefore writes this book as a thanksgiving to God for another opportunity. How is poverty in Africa is intertwined with religion? Why Is prosperity Gospel more in Africa? Is it biblical? Why is gospel rising in Africa and dropping in European countries? The author discusses the possible answers to these questions. It also explains the hardships found in Africa, for instance, lack of access to health care, food, shelter, education, and the more rampant is lack of jobs which has severe consequences as explained by Elijah.
He begins by giving statistics on the rate of poverty in Africa compared to other continents, which shows how Africa is on the brink of poverty. The author explains how brain drain has affected Africa whereby the talented individuals and those Africans with skills have moved to Western countries for a better pay cheque or for a better lifestyle and where their potentials will be valued.
Pastor Stephen aganga, who is the senior pastor in Agape Love Evangelical Church, is a pastor of a different level. How he demonstrates a top-notch level of faith in God is admirable. How they believed in God and prayed during 'Visa application' which seemed impossible until a miracle happens. With over ninety percent of members being poor, the senior pastor had faith that the young boy will still go to America to study without knowing where the boy will get the money. Despite having pressures from all corners, the senior pastor would still handle every situation with calmness and with the utmost wisdom, which is a character to be held by all leaders.
I liked most how the author used real stories and some church programs on various denominations to address the issues in Africa and their solutions. The topic of "tithes, offering and robbing God" captured my attention. What is a tithe? Is giving tithe biblical? What percentage should you tithe? Is tithing not in the old Testament? The senior pastor addressed the issue very satisfactorily, he gave biblical references and even went ahead on elaborating. It even paused a challenge in my giving life. How I wish as many people as possible could read this piece and they will never be the same when it comes to giving to God.
The real situation of church ministers or pastors is very evident, the kind of struggles they encounter and how people often judge them. They have as many problems as other believers but with no one to talk to, for instance, many financial obligations or even marital problems. Poverty has taken over Africa to an extent, pastors are using tithe and offerings for the wrong purposes. Poverty has forced believers of the gospel to be swayed from the main course.
The book has been incorporated with several songs with their translations which I must admit were well done and perfectly fit the context, I enjoyed it so much as I could sing along in some songs. The dialogue was very substantial since it made it easier to understand the content with questions asked a bit by a bit.
I was confused at some point, I couldn't get how the author, having healed from covid-19 relates to him writing the book as thank you to God through my reading was not affected at all. I didn't come across any grammatical error or typo hence with no doubt, the book was professionally edited.
The book has uncountable Bible quotations which motivated me the most and also the absence of profanity. I would recommend this book to everyone who is open-minded and interested to know how poverty is related to religion and Africa. Again, one will grow spiritually as far as faith in God is concerned as I was also ascertained that miracles exist. Therefore, with the mention of the above reasons, I give this book a perfect score of four out of four stars.
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Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Jesus, Prosperity Gospel, and Poverty in Africa by Elijah Oladimeji is a very educative, interesting, and short religious book of fiction about 69 pages which is worth a single day read. The author, pastor Elijah is a survivor of the covid-19 pandemic and therefore writes this book as a thanksgiving to God for another opportunity. How is poverty in Africa is intertwined with religion? Why Is prosperity Gospel more in Africa? Is it biblical? Why is gospel rising in Africa and dropping in European countries? The author discusses the possible answers to these questions. It also explains the hardships found in Africa, for instance, lack of access to health care, food, shelter, education, and the more rampant is lack of jobs which has severe consequences as explained by Elijah.
He begins by giving statistics on the rate of poverty in Africa compared to other continents, which shows how Africa is on the brink of poverty. The author explains how brain drain has affected Africa whereby the talented individuals and those Africans with skills have moved to Western countries for a better pay cheque or for a better lifestyle and where their potentials will be valued.
Pastor Stephen aganga, who is the senior pastor in Agape Love Evangelical Church, is a pastor of a different level. How he demonstrates a top-notch level of faith in God is admirable. How they believed in God and prayed during 'Visa application' which seemed impossible until a miracle happens. With over ninety percent of members being poor, the senior pastor had faith that the young boy will still go to America to study without knowing where the boy will get the money. Despite having pressures from all corners, the senior pastor would still handle every situation with calmness and with the utmost wisdom, which is a character to be held by all leaders.
I liked most how the author used real stories and some church programs on various denominations to address the issues in Africa and their solutions. The topic of "tithes, offering and robbing God" captured my attention. What is a tithe? Is giving tithe biblical? What percentage should you tithe? Is tithing not in the old Testament? The senior pastor addressed the issue very satisfactorily, he gave biblical references and even went ahead on elaborating. It even paused a challenge in my giving life. How I wish as many people as possible could read this piece and they will never be the same when it comes to giving to God.
The real situation of church ministers or pastors is very evident, the kind of struggles they encounter and how people often judge them. They have as many problems as other believers but with no one to talk to, for instance, many financial obligations or even marital problems. Poverty has taken over Africa to an extent, pastors are using tithe and offerings for the wrong purposes. Poverty has forced believers of the gospel to be swayed from the main course.
The book has been incorporated with several songs with their translations which I must admit were well done and perfectly fit the context, I enjoyed it so much as I could sing along in some songs. The dialogue was very substantial since it made it easier to understand the content with questions asked a bit by a bit.
I was confused at some point, I couldn't get how the author, having healed from covid-19 relates to him writing the book as thank you to God through my reading was not affected at all. I didn't come across any grammatical error or typo hence with no doubt, the book was professionally edited.
The book has uncountable Bible quotations which motivated me the most and also the absence of profanity. I would recommend this book to everyone who is open-minded and interested to know how poverty is related to religion and Africa. Again, one will grow spiritually as far as faith in God is concerned as I was also ascertained that miracles exist. Therefore, with the mention of the above reasons, I give this book a perfect score of four out of four stars.
******
Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon