On the list of richest Nigerian Pastors is Chris Oyakhilome of the Believers' Loveworld Ministries, popularly known as Christ Embassy.

His estimated net worth is between US$30 million – US$50 million.

In 2010, the charismatic preacher was at the centre of a US$35 million money laundering case in which he was accused of siphoning funds from his church to foreign banks.

Pastor Chris pleaded no wrongdoing and the case was eventually dismissed.

His church, Christ Embassy, boasts more than 40,000 members, several of whom are successful business executives and politicians.

Oyakhilome's diversified interests include newspapers, magazines, a local television station, a record label, satellite TV, hotels and extensive real estate. His Loveworld TV Network is the first Christian network to broadcast from Africa to the rest of the world on a 24 hour basis.

Since 1990, Sima Nan has collaborated with the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and is now an investigator at a new branch of CAST, the Committee of Scientific Thinking, which he helped found. The agency will test claims of the paranormal, and has a standing offer of ¥ one million to anyone who can perform one act of "special ability" (i.e. paranormal) without cheating.[3][4] American sceptic James Randi made an agreement with Sima that anyone whoever wins his One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge would automatically win Sima's million yuan.[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sima_Nan

A very deep thought...

So, do you want to be an atheist? Do you really want to be able to call yourself an atheist instead of a theist? If so, then this is the place to come: here you can learn the simple and easy procedure for becoming an atheist. If you read this advice, you'll learn what it takes to be an atheist and thus perhaps if you also have what it takes to be an atheist. Few people seem to understand what being an atheist is all about and thus what becoming an atheist entails. It isn't that hard, though.Here are the steps necessary to become an atheist:Step One: don't believe in any gods.That's it, there are no steps two, three, or four. All you have to do is not believe in the existence of any gods. None of the following are steps in becoming an atheist:You don't have to deny the existence of any godsYou don't have to assert that no gods existYou don't have to be certain that no gods existYou don't have to join the Communist PartyYou don't have to be rebelling against your familyYou don't have to stop celebrating ChristmasYou don't have to burn a picture of JesusYou don't have to eat Christian babies in satanic ritualsYou don't have to care about religion, theism, or godsThere are lots of things which people imagine are part of being an atheist, but definitely aren't. Atheism is nothing more or less than the absence of belief in gods. There are only two options available for everyone: either a belief in the existence of some sort of god is present, or no such belief is present. That exhausts all the logical possibilities. This means that everyone is either a theist or an atheist. There is no "middle ground" where a belief in the existence of some god is a "little bit" there or a "little bit" absent. It's either there or its not.How you arrive at not believing in any gods may be difficult. For many people, religion and theism have played such central roles in their lives and families that abandoning these things may appear impossible. It may require a great deal of study, research, and contemplation. Many people don't have the time or inclination. Others may be afraid of what they could find if they start.What you do after you arrive at not believing in any gods may also be difficult. You don't have to do anything more to be an atheist, but this doesn't mean that there is nothing at all left to do. You will have to decide whether you inform others about this and, if so, how you present it. Many people may start treating you differently simply because you don't believe in their gods anymore. You may have to be concerned about whether knowledge of your atheism will lead to discrimination against you at work, for example.Being an atheist is easy — all that it requires is not believing in any gods. Existing as an atheist, though, isn’t always easy because so many people think so poorly of atheists. In more secular societies where lots of people are atheists, existing as an atheist will be easier because there is less pressure telling them that being an atheist is immoral, unpatriotic, or dangerous. In more religious societies, the increased pressure will make existing as an atheist very difficult for some.

Hey moderators! You deleted my account Seed of Onan for posting challenging questions about reason but still allow the guy who lists the ingredients needed to kill a witch make posts?

Maybe Mumumugu was making off color joke because the instructions did require the person preparing the concoction to drink it as well.

But still, there people in Nigeria that take that stuff seriously, and the moderator are cool with letting those posts slide but atheist posts get shut down.

In the gloom of a hilltop cave in Nigeria where she was held captive, Hajja had a knife pressed to her throat by a man who gave her a choice - convert to Islam or die.Two gunmen from Boko Haram had seized the Christian teenager in July as she picked corn near her village in the Gwoza hills, a remote part of northeastern Nigeria where a six-month-old government offensive is struggling to contain an insurgency by the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group.In a new development, Boko Haram is abducting Christian women whom it converts to Islam on pain of death and then forces into "marriage" with fighters — a tactic that recalls Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army in the jungles of Uganda.The three months Hajja spent as the slave of a 14-strong guerrilla unit, cooking and cleaning for them before she escaped, give a rare glimpse into how the Islamists have changed tack in the face of Nigerian military pressure."I can't sleep when I think of being there," the 19-year-old told Reuters, recounting forced mountain marches, rebel intelligence gathering - and watching her captors slit the throats of prisoners Hajja had helped lure into a trap.Nigerian security officials say the Islamists have pulled back after army assaults since May on their bases on the semi-desert plain and are now sheltering in the Mandara mountains, along the Cameroon border around the city of Gwoza. From the hills they have been launching increasingly deadly attacks.

Islamist fighters' base in mountain terrain

The rugged mountain terrain - as fellow al Qaeda allies found in Afghanistan — has proven an advantageous base for a movement that once styled itself the "Nigerian Taliban" and sees all non-Muslims as infidels who must convert or be killed.The United States designated Boko Haram a terrorist group on Wednesday. Western governments are increasingly concerned about the wider threat posed by the group, which wants to create an Islamic state in a religiously mixed country of 170 million and which has ties with al Qaeda's north African wing.Hajja's account of how Boko Haram has adapted and survived in recent months underlines the difficulties governments in the region face. The spread of the threat was underscored by the kidnap on Thursday of a French priest in Cameroon, an attack France believes may have involved Boko Haram.The following day, Nigerian troops raided a base for the group in the Gwoza hills. The army said it killed 29 Boko Haram fighters and was "closing in" on the rebels.

School children among the victims

The group, whose name broadly translates as "Western education is sinful," has killed thousands during a four-year insurgency against the Nigerian state, targeting the police and armed forces as well as politicians and then turning on Christians in the predominantly Muslim north of the country.The military offensive launched in mid-May, and the fact that large numbers of civilian vigilantes have supported it, has triggered a fierce backlash against local people by Boko Haram. The militants have killed hundreds in the past few weeks, including in massacres of school children.The Islamists dragged Hajja along rocky mountain paths and slept in caves in the hills, a landscape unfamiliar to most Nigerian soldiers, recruited from the plains.She ceremonially converted to Islam, cooked for the men, carried ammunition during an attack on a police outpost and was about to be married to one of the insurgents before she managed to engineer a dramatic escape. She says she was not raped.

Converted after threat of having throat slit

"If I cried, they beat me. If I spoke, they beat me. They told me I must become a Muslim but I refused again and again," Hajja told Reuters in an interview. Her family name is withheld to protect relatives still living in the Gwoza area."They were about to slaughter me and one of them begged me not to resist and just before I had my throat slit I relented. They put a veil on me and made me read from the Koran," she said in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, where she is now living.At least a dozen teenagers like her remain in captivity, Michael Yohanna, a councillor in Gwoza's local government told Reuters. Some have married commanders, recalling Kony's LRA, which abducted thousands of "wives" in a 20-year war in Uganda before a truce in 1986. Kony remains a fugitive.A man called Ibrahim Tada Nglayike led the group Hajja was with. On one mission, Hajja was sent to stand in a field near a village to attract the attention of civilians working with the army. When five men approached her, they were ambushed."They took them back to a cave and tied them up. They cut their throats, one at a time," Hajja said. "I thought my heart would burst out of my chest, because I was the bait."Among those who did the killing was the Muslim wife of the leader Nglayike, the only other woman in the band of fighters.Reuters verified Hajja's account of having been abducted with independent figures in the region. Boko Haram shuns the media and none of its members could be contacted for comment.Hajja says the long-bearded insurgents lived a basic lifestyle, eating corn, millet and occasionally meat from animals they stole and which she slaughtered.The group, armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols stolen from police they killed, moved every day around the hills to avoid being tracked by the army and slept in the caves to shelter from the cold and for protection against air assaults."They didn't use phones but they had a radio," Hajja said."They would listen to BBC Hausa or Voice of America and jump and shout if they heard about Boko Haram attacks."

Faster, more resilient than military

Forced out of cities and semi-desert bases since Jonathan declared a state of emergency in May, the militants have mostly retreated to hills and forests on the Cameroon border."It's the toothpaste effect: squeeze one end and it comes out the other. They have proven resilient and are adapting faster than the military," a Nigerian security source said.Army commanders denied Boko Haram had any control over the Gwoza mountains: "We are curtailing their activities and I can assure you that ... the insurgency will soon be a thing of the past," Lieutenant Colonel Adamu Garba Laka said.But a Nigerian general asked Cameroon this month for help in fighting Boko Haram, and the backlash against civilians has made the conflict deadlier than ever.According to one security source, in the five months after Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the northeast there were 1,708 deaths in 83 violent clashes, compared with 667 deaths from 117 incidents in the previous five months.Pushing the conflict into poor rural regions, like Gwoza, where Hajja was seized, runs the risk of radicalising more disenchanted youths and drawing more people into the violence."Gwoza has disintegrated. We have no schools, no hospitals, no government offices functioning," said councillor Yohanna."I worry that youths will take the law into their own hands. It will become a war between Christians and Muslims."Insurgents moved freely through the hills and even into the town of Gwoza, Hajja said. Fighters made trips to collect cash, ammunition and weapons from the Sambisa Game Reserve, a forested region where Boko Haram has established camps.Informants, mostly farmers, would warn them of approaching army patrols, Hajja said, adding that the rebels also appeared to have sympathetic contacts among the troops - something Nigerian military commanders deny."They know the area very well and many people help them because they are afraid or support their cause," Hajja said.On once occasion, Boko Haram commanders were able travel from Maiduguri, the state capital on the plain north of Gwoza, to meet the guerrilla group in the hills.Hajja said her unit carried out dozens of attacks, killing police and anyone suspected of aiding authorities.The longer the insurgency goes on, President Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian, will come under increasing criticism from his northern opponents as elections in early 2015 draw closer.He risks growing resentment from a northern population who believe he is out of touch with their troubles.It is also becoming a drain on Africa's second largest economy - Nigeria allocates a fifth of its budget for security.Hajja eventually escaped by feigning severe stomach pains. Thinking her too ill to flee, the insurgents sent her to hospital escorted only by an older woman. Once she was among other people, Hajja threatened to denounce the group to police, prompting the woman to abandon her and flee."I finally tore off the veil and I cried," Hajja said."So many times I thought I'd die."

http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/world/story/1.2429660

Billion dollar Catholic church only sending copies of the Bible, rosaries to ‘Yolanda’ survivors

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/531263/cbcp-sending-copies-of-the-bible-rosaries-to-yolanda-survivors#ixzz2lGUObTL5 Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook


MANILA, Philippines — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is sending several copies of the Bible and rosaries to Tacloban and nearby provinces to fill the spiritual necessities of those affected by supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name Haiyan).According to the CBCP, the Episcopal Commission for the Biblical Apostolate (ECBA) will be sending 1,000 copies of the Bible to help strengthen the faith of the typhoon victims.On the other hand, the prayer support network of the pro-life movement Rosary for Life donated to the CBCP an initial 3,000 rosaries for Tacloban to help uplift the spiritual morale of the devastated people in the city.“We know that through prayers somehow we will survive as a people and persevere in life. The primacy of the spiritual dimension in our lives must be emphasized to our people. We, of course know that the physical necessities of life are important but also important is the spiritual side of the people in this recent calamity. We are making these rosaries available to people to help them pray in this time of trial and tragedy,” said William Lorenzo, the communication officer of Rosaries for Life, in a statement.Lorenzo said they would visit the affected areas to help rehabilitate the Catholic spirituality of the people of Tacloban.He added that rosaries would also be sent to Samar, another province badly affected by the supertyphoon.Meanwhile, Dr. Natividad Pagadut, ECBA’s executive secretary, believes that the distribution of the Bible should be coupled with formation and counseling of the people in order to guide them on how to use it.“We hope that the Bible would help the victims recover from the tragedy, strengthen their faith, and improve as persons,” she said.“It is best to couple it with formation, counseling and to guide them on what to read in the Bible during this time. With this, they will be consoled, challenged, they will gain hope to move on, and get up from this terrible experience,” Pagadut said.The biblical apostolate also gave 100 copies of children’s Bible for kids to read to help them get up from the devastating experience.Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/531263/cbcp-sending-copies-of-the-bible-rosaries-to-yolanda-survivors#ixzz2lGUBVxjw Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/531263/cbcp-sending-copies-of-the-bible-rosaries-to-yolanda-survivors

A group of Nigerian and International Human Rights groups have called for support from people across the world to  help put a stop to renewed witch-hunting in Cross River State, Nigeria. The call has come in response to the launch of  a new crusade by renowned pastor – Lady Apostle Helen Ukpabio – entitled “Witches on the Run”. 

Ukpabio has received severe criticism in recent years for promoting the belief that children can be witches with evidence linking her church to horrific cases of child abuse in this region. In 2009 and 2010 she unsuccessfully sued  child rights groups working to protect such children and sent her supporters to beat up human rights activist– Leo Igwe – when he organised a conference to raise awareness of these abuses.

Aside from preaching about the  existence of child witches in her churches, Ukpabio has also produced a number of books and nollywood films on this issue. In one of her books, ‘Unveiling The Mysteries of Witchcraft’, she states that: “If a child under the age oftwo screams in the night, cries and is always feverish with deteriorating health he or she is a servant of Satan”.According to Gary Foxcroft, Executive Director of the Witchcraft and Human Rights Information Network (WHRIN):“What Ukpabio fails to mention in her teachings is that such health symptoms are common in Southern Nigeria,which has high rates of malaria and other health challenges. Her latest crusade on this issue highlights her desire tocontinue to exploit the weak and vulnerable. We call upon people around the world to contact the Cross River StateGovernment and urge them to take action to stop this latest witch-hunt.”

Speaking from Cross River State, Nigeria, Human Rights Lawyer – Barrister James Ibor – from the Basic Rights Counselfurther appealed for support to stop the flood of victims of this abuse that his organisation has to deal with. Casesdocumented by Basic Rights Counsel include ones where children have had a hot iron placed on them, oil pouredover them or have been forced to drink dangerous concoctions in order to drive the “witchcraft” out. Some caseshave led to the death of innocent children. Ibor said: “Ultimately, her acts are illegal under section 216 of theNigerian Criminal code. Yet so far there have been no interventions by the State or Police. We therefore need all thesupport we can gather to put a stop to this campaign of terror”.The use of social media such as facebook and twitter is growing in Nigeria and the Governor of Cross River State,Liyel Imoke, can be contacted directly at @LiyelImoke or https://www.facebook.com/LiyelImoke. Cross River Statepaints itself as the hub of tourism in Nigeria and the State Government can be contacted at @crossriverstate.Supporters are being urged to contact them directly and demand that this witch-hunt be stopped. The groupssuggest the following tweets: “Please take action to #stopthewitchhunt by Helen Ukpabio. Cross River State’s goodname is being tarnished and children abused.” Or “Enough is enough. Child witch hunting in Cross River must bestopped. Please hold Helen Ukpabio to account. #stopthewitchhunt”.

http://www.spyghana.com/nigeria-human-rights-groups-waged-war-renewed-witch-hunting/

I understood that the Bible viewed homosexuality as sin, but concluded that a real god would have understood the causes of homosexuality and would not have condemned what came natural to these people. He would have known that it wasn’t a choice, but rather an integral part of their essence. Such a god would not have condemned these people or their activity. The Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality reveals its man-made origins.

DON'T WRITE COMMENTS! ONLY POST MEME'S!

WHY Are Africans Christians Please! The only reason your a Christian is because somewhere in your ancestry someone was tortured into submission. Then the following generations followed suit. Because either they were looking for a piece of the oppressors wealth or just to traumatized to fight anymore after watching their parents suffer. Let's embrace each other as brother & sister & take the fight to the wealthy trying to control us with this indidious tool called religion

HumbledbYGrace: Touch down....

Touch Down? Why is it so difficult for you all to understand that we dont believe in "satan". We can't be satanists if we don't believe in Satan or any supernatural deity for that matter.

Not Touch Down. Please try to understand what atheism is before you criticize it

No it's not. No Atheists are going to any churches. Relax everyone


http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/11/11/the-sunday-assembly-isnt-an-atheist-megachurch-no-matter-what-the-media-says/

Eze Promoe:
Because I have the ultimate power in me, I dare any satanist to bring it on.

But on a different note, how come you believe in the power of satan than of God? Do you see why I say you guys are the "antichrists" that was fortold to emanate from the earth on the last days?

You don't understand the concept of A-Theism whic means no Theism in other words no unverifiable belief. Which includes "Satan" Atheists are different from blind believers because if we see evidence of Jesus, Satan or anything supernatural we will gladly stand corrected. But until then we just choose to side with reason over superstion. There is nothing Satanic about not believing in supernatural superstition. It's called thinking critically

Joshthefirst: lies. I am not for religion btw. I am for Jesus Christ.
Denying your sins is denying part of your life. Denying lying and stealing and lusts and greed and taking what does not belong to you and blasphemy.

What can I say to someone who thinks evil doing does not exist?

A criminal trying to deny the rules written even in his heart does not exist.

I behave without the reward. You behave only with the expectation of a heavenly reward. Now tell me who's the criminal. Second thought, you keep believing in whatever it is that scares you into being good. You sound like you need it

You can read further if you care to educate yourself on the matter. Your free will is an illusion. If you are a good person thank those who raised you & count yourself fortunate for being born with a healthy brain.


http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_spectator/2011/09/does_evil_exist_neuroscientists_say_no_.html


http://m.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-decision-tree/201110/is-neuroscience-incompatible-the-idea-evil

http://m.technologyreview.com/news/407738/what-can-neuroscience-tell-us-about-evil/

http://bigthink.com/the-moral-sciences-club/what-can-neuroscience-teach-us-about-evil

Too many God's to debate! So I just live my life to the fullest & try to contribute something beneficial to this world.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 1v.1:2
Vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun

http://www.m.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-paralysis

It's sleep paralysis, please don't let anyone confuse you. This link is a good resource to help you with your issue

Joshthefirst: generate fear? Modern era?
I laugh. Modern era ko, post-mortem era ni.

Yes. Try to downgrade the scriptures and Gods law and judgement. Let's do it. We can enjoy sin wella if we convince ourselves there's no judgement of sin and try to find faults in the scriptures.
Maybe if we say there's no judge, hew'll disappear and we can get away with wrong doing.

In this modern era let's commit abortion and teach children they should enjoy life and have sex and fun. Let exploit their mistakes and suffering and grief and cause them to lose accountability.

Let's tell them there is no wages of sin and God is a wicked joke that doesn't exist.

Yes, modern era, age of information. Unfortunately many Nigerians want to live in the Dark Ages were witches exist, prophets predict the future & feudal lords exploit the serf population who are to busy being preoccupied with Demons, witch Hunting & killing each other in stampedes to get miracle spring water (AKA Juju Charm).

YES! Sex is a good thing when it's done between consenting adults who love each other. And if it weren't for you churches repression of birth control, we could avoid unnecessary abortions.

There is no such thing as Sin. I behave according to the rules & norms of society because I was fortunate enough to be raised in a healthy family along with being born with a sound neurological mind.

People who misbehave & carry out acts of evil are either predisposed to commiting these acts through the biology in their mind or trauma in their upbringing. Religion does little to nothing to change this. If anything religion only make people worse giving an evil person biblical justification to rape, kill, commit genocide. Enough is enough. Why aren't Africans tired of this? Religion is the feul that incites the fire, & it's the Zealous beleiver who's the one whose immoral. Seriously, go back & read some of the absurd posts of your fellow believers justifying 10,000 deaths as a consequence of your imaginary God's judgement

For the same reason he created Rick James. He's a Super Freak he's Super Freakey! After all, if we're all made in God's image he must get down like that once in a while? I don't know, what yall think?

Luke 13: 2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilæans were sinners above all the Galilæans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

The number one rule of Politics is Generate Fear! You can't galvanize a group of people to rally behind your cause unless you give them something to fear. Human beings overwhelmingly respond to negativity. Thats why we are in this forum enjoying the fact that we are here scolding one another. You give a group of people something to fear and they will rally to your cause, be it true or false. Its just the unfortunate nature of man. Jesus was most likely a religious Zealot trying to organize an armed insurrection in an attempt to over throw his Roman oppressors who were diluting his Jewish Faith with their pagan beliefs and bribing the pharisees to be corrupt an tow the Roman line.

This is a wonderful quote for us Atheist to remember when we get that argument about God of the Old Testament vs. God of the New. They are both cruel and vindictive. Religion is the only thing that makes good people do and say bad things. This quote is truly disturbing and I'm glad you brought it to my attention. Jesus was not the God of Love and Peace. He definitely was out for war

Matthew 10:34
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword

These are the scriptures that are so dangerous and worthy of condemnation in our modern era

In the age of information Ignorance is a choice. Only a fool would believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible.

Church In the center of the ELMINA SLAVE CASTLE in GHANA