Research
Preaching as a Language of Faith: Engaging Economic Preaching in the Context of Poverty and Unemployment of Northern Nigeria
This article argues that preaching may help people in northern Nigeria to acquire vision of a better life through faith in God because the Word of God have the capacity to give people in a situation of poverty and unemployment both vision and inspiration that may empower them to enhance their circumstances and bring about liberation from their situation of poverty. Stated differently, preaching may help people who feel they are hopeless and useless to see themselves as capable and having worth and value because the word of God have the power to inspire, motivate and drive people in the situation of poverty to open up new vistas, a vision, and hope to improve their situation. As such the article consider economic preaching as preaching that stimulates people to trust in God’s ability, preaching that create awareness, preaching that motivate the practice of koinonia, and preaching that stir up hope in God.
Preaching as a Language of Reconciliation in a Context of Divisions, Conflict and Violence in the Middle Belt Region of Nigeria
In the Middle Belt region of Nigeria, people used religion, ethnicity and tribe to segregate, exclude, marginalize and demean one another whereby conflict and violence have become a language. Therefore, this article argues that preaching as a language of reconciliation is a great technique for helping people move from thinking and talking division, conflict and violence to thinking, talking and the practice of social cohesion, harmonious life and sustaining life in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria. Therefore, the article proposes that, preaching as a language of reconciliation should focus on change from proposed evil to thoughts of sustaining life, preaching as a language of reconciliation should focus on change from egocentrism to promoting human well-being, preaching as a language of reconciliation should focus on change from fixation on the past to ultimate forgiveness and Preaching as a language of reconciliation should focus on building a common future.
