Bridge of Reason

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Web site defines an “affinity fraud”: “Affinity fraud refers to investment scams that prey upon members of identifiable groups, such as religious or ethnic communities, the elderly, or professional groups. The fraudsters who promote affinity scams frequently are — or pretend to be — members of the group. They often enlist respected community or religious leaders from within the group to spread the word about the scheme, by convincing those people that a fraudulent investment is legitimate and worthwhile. Many times, those leaders become unwitting victims of the fraudster’s ruse.” You don’t have to be a believer of any kind to fall prey to affinity fraud but if you are a person who is daily looking for the “leading of God”,  who believes that God is bound to have a hand in the minutiae of your every day life, that there is no such thing as a coincidence and that God is “wanting to bless you” as part of his great plan then you  ...

"I belong to the top" (Matt. 5:14). This is the Bible quotation that greets you under the section 'Prophetic Focus for September 2009' on Bishop David Oyedepo's website. You may be thinking - I don't remember that part of the Sermon on the Mount? You may be thinking - I do remember the bit where Jesus in fact says, "Blessed are the meek." The reason why you don't remember that quotation is because it isn't there. Matthew 5:14 actually reads: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." So Bishop David and his Winners' Fellowship may want to gloss the Lord's words as "I belong to the top", but is it really fair to post it as a direct quotation? In fact, is it in any way a fair interpretation of the text? What is the Lord Jesus actually saying here? Jesus says, "You," but Bishop David says, "I." The Lord is giving a statement to a collective 'you' which will soon be...