AFRICAN CHURCH: The reports are impressive and I hope it's all God.

The Washingtimes report is very supportive and encouraging in its tenor, no edge of controversy or conspiracy. No reports of cultish entrapments ... some health wealth/pentacostalism is mentioned ... but other than the appearance of a personality cult there seems to be a clean record all in all.

This is the face of 21st-century Christianity: big, restless -- and African. There is no better symbol of it than the Redeemed Church and the insatiable ambitions of its guiding hand and pastor, the Rev. Enoch Adejare Adeboye. The savvy one-time mathematician leads the fastest-growing Christian movement from a continent that is rapidly putting its stamp on the faith around the world.

All over the world we hear reports of spiritual activity; activity out of the norm and contrary to established methodologies. Often we worry about the source of these "disturbances"; why not Africa?

The Redeemed Church is a prime lesson in the shifting currents of Christianity. Centuries after the Gospel was brought to sub-Saharan Africa by colonizers and missionaries, the faith is coming back to the West. The forms are passionate and powerful.

So potent, in fact, that clergy from Westminster Abbey to the Vatican are fretting about how to keep pace, and the Protestant-dominated World Council of Churches, always wary of Pentecostal and evangelical sects and denominations, is treating these new groups as if they were an invading army.

Scripture tells us God causes the increase [1 Corinthians 3:6] ... so it will never be a movement of man or men, nor a program of man or men, nor message of man or men which causes an ernormous growth in the church no matter what continent it begins on.

However, one must be careful or he will find himself wrestling with God [Acts 5:34-39].

Many theologians say the "African century" of Christianity is under way.

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What began as a living-room Bible study in 1952 is now a juggernaut -- a university, movie studio, satellite television and a wi-fi Internet provider. Now add to that millions of followers in more than 90 nations, including footholds in China and even Dallas.

It is very difficult for me to believe this many people could be "deceived." And that kind of success on a global level is admirable and suggestive of God causing it.

"You want to see where Christianity is heading?" said Campbell Shittu Momoh, an author on Nigerian religious affairs. "Come look at Nigeria. It's already here."

I remember hearing a few years ago about the growth of Christianity in Africa, especially Nigeria. But the MSM will not report on spiritual news no matter how huge; they'd rather report on the advances of Islam in Africa. So I didn't pay very close attention to the truth.

I do experience joy for God's black and ethnic sheep but the presence of the Mohammadens is still of concern. They've shown themselves not content with sitting by and allowing others to succeed in the name of another God. In this case the God-man, Jesus, God's Son.

"The church in Nigeria is very, very disciplined and focused," said Dickson Adeyanju, the chief religion correspondent for the Guardian, the largest newspaper in Lagos. "That sets them apart."

And that is what's wrong in the USA, we're not focused ... we're more interested in the color of the carpet than whether there's blood covering it!

The Vatican's main envoy for Christian unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper, summed up the concerns at a major conference on the faith's future in February. How, he asked, can churches deal with movements that have no unified theology and "very aggressive" strategies?

He had no clear answers. Instead, the nearly 4,000 delegates went home to their congregations with an image provided by the host World Council of Churches: The demographic center of Christianity is located now near Timbuktu, Mali, in northwestern Africa, and drifting south each year.

Let's all pray that one great, last global revival comes out of Africa before the Lord comes again. Who cares from where it comes, but that it comes.

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TAGS: African Church, Anglican, Catholic, Christianity,
Church growth, Evangelism, Personality cults,
Redeemed Christian Church of God, Religion, Theology