Posts in category: Articles

INTRODUCTION

The church includes all people who have placed their trust in the Lord Jesus. Such people receive forgiveness of their sins and also receive the Holy Spirit to indwell them to impart eternal life – life that is unending – life that is in the presence of God for all eternity. Some members of the church have gone to be with the Lord; they are the triumphant church. The rest of the church still alive on earth is the militant church. God establishes the militant church on earth with the purpose of bringing to bear His Kingdom values and principles on earth among humanity. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God’s Kingdom. The values and principles of God’s Kingdom is the life & teachings of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. This is the same as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God encompasses all the character and power of God, which in one word can be termed “God’s Righteousness”. Jesus is God’s Righteousness (2 Corinthains 5:21). The carrier of the Kingdom of God through the church to all spheres of the earth is the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:28, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you”.

The church is the vessel through whom the Holy Spirit imparts God’s Kingdom values by means of salvation and discipleship of humanity. In concluding His message to the churches, through John on the Island of Patmos, Jesus emphasizes the partnership between the Holy Spirit and the church in the salvation and possessing of the nations (through discipleship, beginning with evangelism). Jesus said, ‘“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life’ (Revelations 22:17). Discipleship is by means of the dual partnership between “The Spirit” and “The Bride” (the church). In this article, I seek to throw light on the sweet partnership between the Holy Spirit and the church in possessing the nation. I posit that, God is sovereign and already at work in bringing enlightenment to individuals and groups of people and the role of the church is to walk in the Spirit so as to discern the move of God in real time and to respond with obedience. The result at all times is maximum impact in possessing the nations for Christ.

MOSAIC LAW COULDN’T FISH FOR MEN!

God draws souls by the inworking of the Holy Spirit through the life of Christians and the church. When the minds of people are possessed for Christ, then we can firmly say we have possessed the nations. When Jesus said, the church should go into the world and make disciples of all nations, He was referring to bringing the gospel to groups of people. The Greek word for “nations” in that passage in Matthew 28:18-20 is “ethnos”; it is from this word that we derive the phrase, “ethnic groups”. Among others, the main imagery used in the bible to represent souls is “fish”. The plural of the word “fish” is “fish” but when there are different varieties of fish within a net, the plural becomes “fishes”. In calling the disciples to Himself, Jesus made them to understand that, the purpose of their call is to become “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). This means, Jesus is the first cause in this whole divine purpose of “fishing for people”. It is Jesus who “makes us” fishers of men. Without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). That is the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God means that God always begins the process of his redemptive work and gives us enlightenment to understand it and then gives us the free will to choose or respond in either accepting it or rejecting it. Remember, it was Jesus who opened the minds of His disciples so that they might understand the scriptures.

Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day (Luke 24:45).

Generally, in this life, if we do not understand the sovereignty of God, we will struggle restlessly without any fruit to show. In Luke 5:1-11, Peter and his colleagues had gone for fishing – literally – and were washing their nets. Jesus goes close to them and tells them to “launch into the deep for a catch of fish”. In their feedback to Jesus as they had their first engagement before Jesus called them, Peter said, they had toiled all night without a catch but “at the Word of Christ”, they will retry. What was the result? They had a huge catch! This is maximum impact! Jesus concluded their interaction by calling them as His disciples and telling them that, henceforth – from that time, they would be made fishers of men. The lesson we see here which the article seeks to discuss is that, we get maximum impact in life when we partner with God; when we get to know the will and voice of God and respond in time, the results is maximum impact and rest. Many of us are restless in life because we, like Peter and his folks, are “trying our best” without the voice, will, direction and leading of the Spirit of God. Without the voice of God, as the divine light, we are only groping in spiritual darkness. The Mosaic Law in the Old Covenant could not give this light.

God gave the Mosaic Law to the people of Israel as an experiment for humanity to know that due to the Fall, humans are filled with lusts or inordinate desires and that makes it impossible for anyone to fully obey God’s law written on tablet – outside the human. Whenever the external written law meets human lusts, the result is sin, instead of righteousness. The Mosaic law was given for us to have this knowledge of the dynamics of sin and its consequence of death. The Mosaic Law lacked the power to deal with the sin nature of humanity; it diagnoses sins and prescribes “what to do” but does not give the power to do what to do. God therefore had to bring another law known as the Law of Spirit of Life in Christ. This law deals with sin – its fully pays the penalty of sin, forgives sins completely, cleanse the conscience of the sinner, crucifies the sin nature and gives divine power to a person to manifest the life of Christ. When the Spirit of Christ comes into the heart of a person, then they have been set free from the struggles with the Mosaic Law and have come under the supervision of a higher, better and empowering law. Living by the voice of the Holy Spirit (the unseen evidence) is what it means to walk by faith. He dwells in our hearts and writes what we have to do on our hearts, not like laws written with ink on external tablets. He also gives us the power to obey Him.

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people (Galatians 3:19)

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin (Romans 3:20)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set youfree from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1-4)

Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So, the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian (Galatians 3:23-25)

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First, He says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then He adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. (Hebrews 10:15-17)

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3)

FISH OF MANY KINDS…WHERE THE RIVER GOES!

In promising this beautiful new era or new covenant, God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel was lying on the banks of the River Cheba in Babylon when the heavens were opened to him to see visions of God. The people of Judah (the Southern Kingdom of Israel after the split following the death of Solomon with their capital as Jerusalem) had been taken into captivity in Babylon by king Nebuchadnezzar. While in captivity, God began to reveal series of events to happen to Ezekiel for him to communicate to the people. Prime in this vision was the coming of the New Covenant which has been explained in earlier paragraphs of this article. God, in Ezekiel chapter 1, pictures the New Covenant (being led by the indwelling Holy Spirit) as four living creatures with wheels on the ground besides them; the four living creatures moved in the direction of the Spirit of God.

When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels (Ezekiel 1:19-21)

In using another imagery to speak of the New Covenant, God spoke of the river from the temple in Ezekiel 47. God said that everywhere the river would go, dead things will be made alive. When the river joins the sea, the water there will become fresh, swarms of living creatures will live, and there will be large number of fish because the water flows there and make the salt water, fresh. God goes in to say that, in such a place, there will be fish of many kinds and fishermen will stand along the shores to catch fish.

He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so, where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea (Ezekiel 47:8-10)

We see from this imagery that it is the river which flows into the sea that causes living creatures there to live and gather fish of many kinds for fishermen. When Jesus came on the scene where Peter and his colleagues were struggling to catch fish, there result was maximum impact. Jesus refers to this river (living waters) flowing from the temple as the Holy Spirit flowing out of the bellies of the new creation – you and I in Christ.

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified (John 7:37-39).

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

It is the outflow of the Holy Spirit from our lives in a particular direction that leads to maximum impact in the life of a person and in the quest by the church to experience maximum impact in possessing the nations. “Out of our bellies” means the Holy Spirit will go ahead of us and then we will follow. I remember an Ivorian fisherman with a French vessel who fellowshipped with us while in Seychelles. At a point, for 20 days, on the Indian ocean, their vessel had caught no fish. His Frenchmen challenged him to speak to “his friend up there” (referring to God) to help them. He called me and I told him to stretch his hands on the Indian ocean as I prayed as asked God to gather fish to their vessel by the wind of the Spirit. That night, to the glory of God, they caught many fish and had to leave some fish behind. Hallelujah! Glory to God!

A life of rest and maximum impact is a life that understands the sovereignty of God – that, God has a plan and desires to lead us and all we need to do is to respond by following His lead. Maximum impact, at the personal level, is to know the will of God for your life and to follow His lead in all aspects of your life. Maximum impact in possessing the nations is to know where and how God is moving and to flow along as local churches; it is to know where the Spirit of God has moved ahead to bring enlightenment to a person and a people. Jesus said, if the Father does not draw a person, he or she cannot come to salvation. God is merciful and gracious in giving opportunities for people to have enlightenment so as to make a decision to come to faith in Christ.

And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” (John 6:65)

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-45)

If we do not pray to know the move of God and we just try by our own strength and experience, we do so much but, like Peter and his colleagues, we achieve very little. In Acts 16:6-10, we see the Spirit of Jesus resisting Paul from preaching in some places and leading Him to preach in another place. It is God who moves ahead to prepare the hearts of people for us to have harvest in soul winning. Our duty is to pray and discern the move of God and flow along. Sometimes, the resistance is the devil and we must discern and contend in prayer against his works and prevail over it; other times, the resistance is from the Lord. Effective prayer in evangelism and church planting is seeking to know where God is moving. If God could lead king Cyrus who did not have the Spirit of God indwelling him, how much more the new creation?

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So, they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them (Acts 16:6-10).

This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut: “I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and the riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name (Isaiah 45:1-3)

I remember in my first ministerial station, Poyentanga in Wa Area, Upper West Region of Ghana, we planted a number of assemblies but how two of them were planted really highlighted the sovereignty of God so clearly. In both cases, a young man will come from a community and tell us that they need a church in the community and people are gathered and waiting for us. Before they came, like in the case of Peter and Cornelius, the Lord will grant peace in our hearts as we waited upon Him in prayer for direction. It was amazing! The sovereignty of God would always bring to mind, the song, “The cloud of glory is moving”. Hallelujah! Singing…

The cloud of glory is moving

Move with the cloud (2x)

The cloud of glory is moving

Move with the cloud (2x)

Let your spirit arise

And your mouth filled with praise

Come, let us worship together

And wherever He will be

New heights will be achieved

Move with the cloud (2x)

FISH OR SCORPION?

At the personal level, the principle is the same. To make maximum impact, one must understand the sovereignty of God in their lives and flow by the leadings of His Spirit. The sovereignty of God in the life of a person is in two folds – God uses situations and circumstances the person has no control over to draw them to the point of enlightenment by the gospel then He gives them the space to take a decision to receive or reject the gospel by their freewill. This phase also includes the role a person plays, as an unbeliever, in the salvation of others. Once a person receives the gospel, he or she receives forgiveness of sin and the Holy Spirit now comes to indwell them and begins the next realm of the flow of the sovereignty of God in their lives. If they reject, God continues to give them periodic visitation so as to expose them to more opportunities to accept Christ. When the allocated period of God’s visitation is over – the person seals their condemnation. This happens especially when the person after so many exposures to the gospel, refuse to repent and turn to Christ, and rather choose to go deeper in a false doctrine, religiosity or be a frontline advocate for any of the agenda of Satan such as the ideology of secular humanism and homosexuality. Such a person is very likely to die in their sins because after so many exposures to the gospel, they feel they know it all; they blaspheme the Holy Spirit and trample the Spirit of grace underfoot. They have crossed the line – to into the realm of unpardonable sin. The devil takes over and lead them into more and more depravity resulting in death without repentance. Every sin is forgiven by the blood of Jesus but what will forgive the unpardonable sin which is the sin of rejecting the testimony of the Holy Spirit about the blood of Jesus as atonement for sin? Nothing! A person in deliberate or willful sin of rejecting the testimony of the Spirit of Christ about Christ becomes a reprobate – damned! Such people are “scorpions”, not “fish”! The Father will not give the church “scorpions”, but “fish”.

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:26-29)

“Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons and daughters of men, and whatever blasphemies they commit; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (Matthew 3:28-29)

Paul talks about such reprobates but gives thanks to God on behalf of the redeemed for their obedience to the gospel – Paul speaks about two sets of people – the redeemed and the reprobates:

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruitsto be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:9-13)

In the book of Jude, Jude creates awareness to the church about these reprobates. He encourages the church to be aware of them and to stay aware from them while they focused on getting grounded in their faith in Christ. In creating the contrast between the church and these reprobates, Jude describes the reprobates but when it comes to the church, Jude would start by saying, “But you, dear friends…”. This is what Jude says in verse 3 & 4:

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written aboutlong ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord (Jude 3-4)

It is difficult for a person who has had many chances of enlightenment to come to be renewed again to repentance when they have consistently rejected the offer! This was the state of many Hebrews after Jesus had ascended into heaven and the gospel was being preached to them; they struggled to receive the gospel after many opportunities. The writer of Hebrews talks about these people to the believers among the Hebrews and assures them that, their case is different because they have taken advantage of their time of visitation and received the gospel. Hallelujah! We do not need to waste time on people whose time of visitation is not yet up or whose time of visitation has passed – awaiting another merciful time of visitation. We must go where the Spirit is visiting; we move when the cloud moves!

Therefore, let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so. It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallenaway, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised (Hebrews 6:1-12).

NO COMPETITION FLOW ALONG “THY RIVER”

As has already been discussed, God’s sovereignty is in two folds for a person. The first part is the events and people God uses in the attempts to draw us to salvation in Christ as well as the part we play in our state of unbelievers in the salvation of others. The second part is God’s plans for us after we have come into Christ. When some of the roles a person, as an unbeliever, plays in the salvation of others are ordained by God and prophesied ahead of time, like in the case of Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Cyrus etc., God gives increasing mercy and often long life for this “vessel of wrath”, as Paul’s calls them it in Romans 9, to have opportunities to make a decision for the gospel.

It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory (Romans 9:16-23).

So, he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2:14-15)

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing (Ezra 1:1)

The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it whichever way He wishes (Proverbs 21:1)

God has sovereign plans for each person before salvation and after salvation. Before salvation, there are things that will happen to us which He has ordained to happen to us without our control so as to contribute to His redemptive plans and there are other things that happens to us because we used our freewill to decide leading to disastrous consequences. We cannot blame God for such decisions within the realm of our freewill. It is indeed true that, sometimes, “The foolishness of man undermines his way [ruining whatever he undertakes]; Then his heart is resentful and rages against the LORD [for, being a fool, he blames the LORD instead of himself] (Psalm 19:3). Satan often operates on the freewill domain to ensure that a person dies before their time so that God’s sovereign move in their lives towards their salvation and those of others will not happen.

As discussed earlier, some, like Pharoah, are ordained as vessels of wrath to try to stand against God’s salvation and for such people, God gives mercy for them to have more chances to be saved. When they are ripe for salvation and we are discerning, God will always lead us to them like He led Peter to Cornelius (Acts chapters 9 & 10). Others who are vessels of honor such as Moses, Samuel, Jesus, Timothy etc., born as exceptional children with redemptive purposes, receives godly direction right from infancy, guiding them right into their salvation when they become adults. They may have their struggles with the flesh, but God disciplines them and guides them into salvation so as to use them for their divinely-ordained redemptive purpose.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:14-17).

In his book, “The Making of a Leader”, Dr. J. R. Clinton posits that, right from birth, God ordains six (6) phases in the life of a person with different sets of process items (events and people) – all with the aim to drawing the person to salvation in Christ and thereafter into ministry (receiving God’s goodness and sharing with others under the power and leading of the Holy Spirit). These six phases are: Sovereign Foundations; Inner Life Growth; Ministry Maturing; Life Maturing: Convergence; and Afterglow (or Celebration). The events ordained by God to lead a person to salvation in Christ and their role, as unbelievers, towards the salvation of others is what Dr. Clinton refers to as “Sovereign Foundation”. Details of each of these six phases will be focus for another article.

CONCLUSION

Let me conclude by saying that, God has brought together lots of past experiences and people (some of whom were very evil) to draw us to salvation in Christ. He has now given us the Holy Spirit to flow out of our bellies as rivers of living waters to direct us into His plans for our lives. There is no room for comparing ourselves to others; God has unique plans for each of us. There is no need to restlessly compere for positions at all cost – even leading to the death of other humans. We are called to help one another to practice a life of hearing the voice of the Lord and walking in them. This understanding helps us to avoid restlessness and manipulation because we know that our lives are in the hands of the Lord. When we flow with the leading of the Spirit as our response to the sovereign moves of God, the result is maximum impact of our personal lives and maximum impact of our lives as local churches in possessing the nations for Christ. There is no room for worry, fear, anxiety etc. The song that will describe the true state of our hearts at all times will be:

You don’t have to worry and don’t you be afraid
Joy comes in the morning, troubles days don’t last always
For there’s a friend in Jesus, who will wipe your tears away
And if your heart is broken, just lift your hands and say:
“I know that I can make it

I know that I can stand
No matter what may come my way
My life is in your hands”

So, when the tests and trials, may seem to get you down
And all your friends and loved ones are nowhere to be found
Remember there’s friend in Jesus, who will wipe your tears away
And if your heart is broken, just lift your hands and say
“I know that I can make it

I know that I can stand
No matter what may come my way
My life is in your hands

With Jesus, I can take it
With him I know I can stand
No matter what may come my way
My life is in your hands”
“I know that I can make it

I know that I can stand
No matter what may come my way
My life is in your hands.

Written by Apostle S. K. Fianko-Larbi (CoP-Kenya National Head & CoP East African Bloc Coordinator)

Ten years after the birth of Pastor James McKeown, the founder of The Church of Pentecost (CoP), the World Missionary Conference (WMC) sat down in Edinburgh and, as it were, saw no hope for the progress of Christianity on the African continent. Africa, including Ghana, where the CoP is headquartered, has been regarded as a backward people group whose spirituality has no preparatory ground for the Gospel. It was predicted that Africa would rather be Islamised. God to whom mission belongs proved them wrong to teach a lesson that the Gospel is powerful and able to save all manner of persons, and turn all cultures to Christ.

Not too long after that conference, Christianity began to rise, rather exponentially, in Africa. Sixteen years later, at another missionary conference in Le Zoute, Belgium, the importance of Africa was recognised. Some Africans began to own the Gospel and express it in forms that respond to their religious aspirations. Their presentation of Christ in the African context was nothing but welcomed by their African brothers and sisters, significantly. Eleven years after Le Zoute, Pastor James McKeown, an Irish middle school leaver, started a journey toward the Gold Coast (now Ghana). His mission was to make known, in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. So impressive was his missionary work in Africa, that the curiosity appetite of many was wetted to start exploring the causative elements of his missionary prowess. Undoubtedly, McKeown but for his skin color, was an African at heart. He was so identical to the African context that no one should classify him with other European missionaries who could not relate adequately to the African religious identity. Integral to his adaptation to Africa was his Celtic background. I posit that elements within the Celtic cultural milieu, that is primal spirituality, which was in confluence with the African worldview, significantly prepared James McKeown to find a home in Africa to extract and make use of the pervading religious gold, making him a connoisseur of missions in Africa.

THE WAY OF THE CELTS

The Celts live in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. Ireland in particular developed a distinctive expression of Christianity in the time during which the heartland of Christianity shifted from the Greco-Roman world to Northern and Western Europe where the “Barbarians” dwell. As has been the case throughout history, when the Christian faith shifts, it carries along features identical to its old context even as the gospel interacts with the culture of its new haven. The Europeans assimilated Greco-Roman culture that heavily impacted Christianity, and also expressed the Christian faith per their own spirituality. The Celts exemplified this most excellently.

During the time that the Roman Empire was in prominence, much of Europe, Britain inclusive, was a Roman colony but not Ireland. They were isolated geographically at the time of the transmission of the Christian faith in Europe. Meanwhile, the Celtic society was primal. Therefore, the Celts developed a Christianity that is distinctive from the influence of Roman civilization and power. A unique Christianity emerging as a result of the interaction between the Christian faith and primal spirituality is an important phenomenon seen in the pilgrimage of the Christian Gospel into primal societies in Christian history.

Like the Celts, the worldview of the Africans is also primal. That is, the people believed in the wholeness of life as spiritual. This sense of the spiritual is intertwined with their everyday life and nature, and it informs their religion. The Christianity that emerged from there was influenced much by this primal understanding of life. It was a vibrant Christianity.

The Celtic society upholds the ethos of community as is seen in the African appropriation of the concept of Ubuntu. With respect to its politics, there are a number of kingdoms that are ruled by kings. There were kinship groups, clans, and family units. Meanwhile, these kingdoms meet together annually. The Celts were economically self-reliant. The inhabitants are tall, fierce warriors who show courage but are hospitable. Per their religion, there is a belief in the afterlife, and ancestors hold a special place as is also seen in Africa. Furthermore, kings are held to have a mediation role between humans and the Divine. There are a number of divinities that are believed to exist in the community. Concerning the foregoing discussion, it is apparent that a conversation between the Celtic and African societies would reveal integral similarities per primal spirituality. Significantly, one who has been shaped by the Celtic way of life would not find himself lost in Africa since the person would have developed adaptive qualities from the former for the latter.

Essential to the Celtic culture is the love for poetry. There is an oral culture that is seen in their love for the artistic use of words. This was to prepare Pastor McKeown who, unusually, permitted Afua Kuma of Obo-Kwahu in Ghana, the mother-in-law of Apostle A. T. Nartey (1930-1990) of the CoP, to use stylish appellations based on the African context in her prayers and praise of Jesus. This testimony of Afua Kuma concerning Jesus Christ whom she encountered in her own context, has become a source of African theological reflections as evidence that Christianity has become a religion of Africa. Pastor McKeown has thus become a missionary who does not clothe the Gospel in western thought forms and pushes it down the throat of Africans.

Another integral aspect of the culture of the Celts is a religion that gives place to religious experts called Druids, a term that comes from the Celtic word for oak. In the Indo-European language, the term means knowledge. It is used to connote knowledge of oak or great deep knowledge. These experts and the role they play originated with the Celts. The oak tree especially is considered as sacred as it serves as the home to spirits in the Celtic context. In Ireland, where the Celts dwell, dwarfs, fairies, and other spirit beings are considered to live in oak trees. Pastor McKeown would not be oblivious to this. This is reflected in his famous allusion to an oak tree. He intimated that he does not want to ‘plant a British oak in African soil.’ I consider this disposition to be central to missionary work in the African context where he skillfully contextualizes the Christian Gospel. No theological seminary taught him that. It was his reception to the leading of the Holy Spirit, first, within the Celtic background he came from, then, in Africa.

A GIGANTIC OAK TREE IN GHANA

Since in Africa, important people are considered gigantic trees within societies and families, considering the importance of Pastor James McKeown in Ghanaian Christianity, it is not far-fetched to see him in this light. He was an impressive figure. He has defined a paradigm for the work of missions which takes into account primal worldview, respect for the culture of the receiving end of missions, full reliance on the Holy Spirit, disapproval of western imperialism (or dominion disposition of the benefactors of missions considering the ‘reverse mission’ of today), self-reliance, mentorship, and the pure message of the cross of Christ. What he has bequeathed to Christianity in Africa and the work of missions continues to amaze Christian thinkers.

He has been nurtured in a Celtic indigenous worldview. The disposition of the Celts to life has enabled them to appreciate primal spirituality. Through oral tradition, the knowledge of his background would be reinforced as he lived in 20^th century Ireland. With both parents being Irish, the Celtic understanding of life would be at his disposal. Though he grew up in a Christian home, the marks of the Celtic society would significantly define him. His contact with Pentecostalism would consolidate his primal disposition. Pentecostalism itself has been infused with African spirituality, which is also primal, at the Azusa Street Revival led by William Joseph Seymour, an African-American.

James McKeown would have appreciated the fact that God does not live himself without witness in the cultures of people. His embrace of primal spirituality found great application in Africa. The Celtic attitude of self-reliance that may have been nurtured by how they survived on their own economic activities devoid of Roman dictates in the earlier years, and its passage to succeeding generations, has arguably influenced the mission mindset of Pastor James McKeown. Other factors may have contributed to this as well; like Rufus Anderson and Henry Venn’s ‘Three-Self’ principle which has influenced the work of missions around the world. Consequently, Pastor McKeown encouraged his African brothers and sisters not to depend on foreign aid. The Celt’s sense of community would have shaped his idea of living together. He thus regards the Africans as his brothers and sisters and lived cordially with them. The oral culture, and concept of Druids, among other elements of the Celtic society, have had a significant impact on Pastor McKeown and consequently informed his missionary work in Africa.

CONCLUSION

Pastor McKeown’s contact with Celtic culture through diverse means available to him, has had a significant impact on his missionary work in the African context. I suggest that this is the doing of the Lord, the owner of mission. James McKeown is to be celebrated also because he allowed himself to be prepared by the Lord who by his foreknowledge knew that he (the Lord) has an assignment for James McKeown in Africa. The shadow of missions that McKeown has cast must continue to provide soothing direction to today’s work of missions in and out of Africa. As churches in Africa grow their missions to foreign places, James McKeown’s paradigm must be very much considered. May the fire of missions continue to burn its way into the various nations of the world to bring Christ home to the cultures.

Written by Elder Dr. Stephen Ofotsu Ofoe

Introduction

Within the local church are found persons with diverse health concerns. This may be physical, psychological, and even emotional and social. Such people long for wholeness and acceptance. It is not difficult to sight such persons in a local church that is on the cutting edge. The local church must speak to their healing situation and bring them to reconciliation. The wave of the charismatic renewal which blew over the Christian landscape in the 1960s brought with it a novel understanding of the sense of the spiritual. The powerful presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian is an understanding that accompanied the movement. Many Christians today have it that the active presence of the Holy Spirit offers them the ability to find the solution to every form of ailment and frailty that bother humankind. The Christian who struggles with the challenges is regarded as a person who does not have a good understanding of the Christian faith. It seems that a point on which this disposition and practice hang is the teaching that it was never recorded in the Bible that Jesus, the founder of the Christian faith, became indisposed hence Jesus’ followers must follow suit in demonstrating this holistic divine health in their life. The fate of Christians who battle various health concerns hangs in a balance. By careful examination of some examples from Jesus’ life and utterances, this essay departs from this philosophy and presents that, excepting his sinless nature, Jesus Christ was fully man and bore all the weaknesses of man, including the possibility of becoming unwell. It suggests a rethinking of this concept of divine health and points to the local church as the instrument that can enable the shaping of the concept of healing and reconciliation. Health has been used in the sense that World Health Organization defines it.

THE DISTORTED VIEW OF DIVINE HEALTH

Some are often of the view that once a person comes to accept Christ, divine health is imputed unto the person. This will make the person not liable for ailment. They usually proudly say that “I have never been to the hospital,” “I am problem-free,” and statements as such. Medical science, though it is pursued, is looked down upon.

Perhaps this issue of whether health is provided by the divine or medical science has been in existence for many years. It is on record that ancient Egyptian publications define scientific ways of approaching healthcare. Before this time of medical science, people pray to gods to provide health to their subjects. Then, came a time when medical science was combined with an appeal to the divine to provide a life without ailments. Due to the teachings of some church fathers such as Augustine that demons are responsible for all diseases of the Christian, medical science was looked down upon again until the enlightenment.

The Christian movement, which puts emphasis on divine healing among other spiritual experiences, revived the old practice of appealing to solely the divine to provide health. Essentially, this belief is no news to world history. This belief hangs to a large extent on the life of Jesus—albeit it is a mistake of his life—that he lived a life free of ailment. This problem calls for a reflection on the life of Jesus as one who is fully man.

CHALCEDON AND THE BIBLE: THE HUMANNESS OF JESUS

Before the Chalcedonian ecumenical council of the Church, teachings about the nature of Christ to a large extent presents Christ as divine and human though the Jews in the days of his earthly life saw him as just man, the son of Joseph and Mary. These contrasting views about Jesus eventually birth numerous arguments concerning the true nature of Jesus in the days when the West was the haven of Christianity. Popular among the controversies is that of the Arians. The Arians scratched away the divinity of Jesus and made him inferior to the Father with the argument that Jesus was the first being created by God, the Father. Consequently, the first Council of Nicaea was convened to discuss the Arianian argument. This was followed by the fourth ecumenical council which was conveyed in AD 451 after the Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus. The Chalcedonian Council defined Jesus with respect to the trinity thus:

Following, then, the holy Fathers, we all unanimously teach that our Lord Jesus Christ is to us One and the same Son, the Self-same Perfect in Godhead, the Self-same Perfect in Manhood; truly God and truly Man; the Self-same of a rational soul and body; co-essential with us according to the Manhood; like us in all things, sin apart; before the ages begotten of the Father as to the Godhead, but in the last days the Self-same, for us and for our salvation born of Mary the Theotokos as to the Manhood.

It is clear from this statement of Chalcedon that Jesus is fully human. He carried the complete nature of humankind except that he is without sin. This underpins the fact that Jesus Christ bears any other weakness of humankind. To reject this is to reject the full humanness of Jesus. The Charismatics of Accra in their look upon Jesus with respect to health, place emphasis on his divinity and ignore his humanness. This remains an unsolved problem.

RETHINKING DIVINE HEALTH: THE BIBLE AND THE FRAILTY OF JESUS

Drawing on the Chalcedonian confession, the man Jesus would bear the physiology of humankind. He would need air to breathe and respire to gain energy for physical activities. He would need to eat. He would need to grow. He would be sensitive to his environment. Jesus would also need to move from one place to the other as part of the life processes of humankind. He would have to bear emotions. The list continues. The Bible bears witness to this life’s activities of Jesus.

A reading of Heb. 5: 7 reveals that Jesus is aware of his own weakness. It was recorded that, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and pleadings with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.” The “flesh” mentioned connotes Jesus’ humanness. His crying shows that Jesus had fears thus he was emotional as humankind. The part of the human brain called the amygdala located in the temporal lobe that is responsible for human emotions was in full function. This calls to attention his human anatomy. He will bear all the body parts of a male human being.

So human was his body physiology that when he became hungry whilst, on his way from Bethany to Jerusalem, he looked for food on a fig tree. His unsuccessful harvest led him to command the tree not to beat fruit again (Matthew 21:18-19). With respect to his nutrition, he was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard because he “came eating and drinking” (Matthew 11:19). Being human and exposed to frailty would mean that he gets tired from his work. John 4:6 records that, “Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.” The fact that he gets tired would mean that he would have to take rest to become revived. Consequently, after a long and hard day of preaching and teaching, he undoubtedly became tired and while he was en route to a place on a boat with his disciples, he fell asleep. So deep was the sleep that when a storm broke out and placed the boat and their lives in danger, Jesus was per his human nature oblivious of what was going on (Mark 4:36-38). With respect to physical growth, the Bible bears witness to the fact that “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature” (Luke 2:52).

It is too obvious that Jesus was indeed human. Being subject to human weakness would mean he may have fallen ill before. It is too weak an argument to put forward that it is recorded nowhere in the Bible that Jesus was taken ill. We can extrapolate from his other weaknesses. There are other physiological needs of any humankind and hence the physiological needs of Jesus, that were not stated directly in the Bible but can we conclude that he did not mean those needs? For instance, it was not accounted anywhere in the Bible that Jesus passed urine. But can we deny that he did not go to the gents? He takes food and water. These undergo digestion. Excess water would have to be excreted. Jesus would have had headaches or stomachaches and other ailments humankind is exposed to.

In an utterance, Jesus appealed to an axiom about a physician. He quoted, “Physician, heal yourself.” Jesus was aware of the existence of medical practice even before he was born nevertheless, he did not in any of his teachings disprove seeking healthcare from medical practitioners meanwhile issues of healing come up every now and then during his ministry. Before Christ, Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine who lived between 460-377 B.C., gave a rational explanation for disease and adopts a scientific approach to healing. Jesus rather appealed to the saying about a healthcare provider. In a parable, he told a story of a Jewish man who was attacked by bandits and left injured while on his way to Jericho from Jerusalem. A Samaritan came by and took the dying man and provided him with medical care (Luke 10:30-35). He used this story to teach about hospitality.

We must not teach that after someone is born again, the person will not be liable for ailment. Divine health essentially does not mean a Christian life is without ailments but a health that is kept by God’s strength even in weakness. Rethinking divine healing will enable Christians to bear with those who suffer and not regard such people as people who are faithless. This must be pursued in the local church.

A HEALING COMMUNITY

The local church must be positioned as a healing community. Here the wholeness that many people desire must be attained. This special niche that the local church occupies in the larger society must be pursued by all means. It is a place in which those who are heavily laden are supposed to find. The rest they find in Christ is nurtured in the local church. This does not merely make the local church a help group where people join to find acceptance, but rather, a place where the divine encounter with Christ is made tangible. It is a place where the divinity and the humanity of Christ are supposed to come home to people and be applied in everyday life.

The local church is supposed to be an organism that should facilitate easy access to people who are infirm. How the local church conceptualizes wholeness would enable this. The idea of healing must conform to the doctrine of Christ. Just as Christ did not hide his humanity, we must not pretend that we are a super breed with no frailties. The result of this would be a local church that is made of people who are smiling behind tears, which tears can be dealt with by the local church machinery standing on the power of the Gospel. The local church must create space for the infirm within the congregation. All must be welcomed and they must feel accepted indeed.

In addition to prayer for healing, the local church must intentionally employ the services of professionals such as psychologists, medical doctors, and counselors, among others, to provide therapy of various kinds to persons who will need them. This would also contribute greatly to healing. The liturgy of the local church must be designed in such a way that people are allowed to share their advice, concerns, and testimonies toward the edification of all.

CONCLUSION

This essay has shown that Christians are still exposed to frailties thus while the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement came with it a lot of good things, the movement’s divine healing perspective is found to be faulty. The view of the life of Jesus has been redirected to show that the man Jesus has human qualities indeed. The concept of divine healing is seen to be an awakening of an old idea of total reliance on the divine for healing without paying attention to medical science. The local church has a special role in tipping the balance. The local church must rise to the task of being the hub of healing and reconciliation.

Written by Dr. Stephen Ofotsu Ofoe

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as a servant of God (1 Peter 2:16).

Just as our names have greater impact on our lives, our relationship with God and our fellows also impacts our spirituality. This year’s theme: “Repositioning the Local Church for Maximum Impact in the Nations,” places a responsibility on youth members of The Church of Pentecost to “reposition” themselves to possess every sphere of their life and society. 

This is very important in this generation, where principles and values of the Kingdom of God are deemed to be outmoded, and most youth subscribe to living in a way that pleases them.

We must, however, be reminded that as Christian youth, we are to lead holy lives in order to please our Maker. God desires to have an intimate relationship with us, but this ought to be done in a holy and acceptable way.

God expressed His love by showing humankind how He cherished them and wants good things for them. We are, therefore, to do same and cherish our fellows through our love. The fate of every good relationship, especially, those between the opposite sex, is not determined by sex but love. 

Unfortunately, in a season of love like this, some youth, particularly young females, would look to express their love for their male partners by offering their bodies to them. But the question is, does sex in boy-girl relationships really prove love?

No, it does not. It is rather a sign of infatuation, which could also be described as a misdirected affection that breeds lust, fondness and admiration for the other. Knowing the difference between love and infatuation is very important because they are not the same. For instance, while love is lasting, infatuation is temporary; while love grows, infatuation ends after a period; while love is selfless and thinks of the next generation, infatuation is selfish and is only interested in the next “erection.” More importantly, while love says “NO SEX” till marriage, infatuation says pre-marital sex is a field to explore.

The writer of the letter to the Corinthians admonishes Christians that love does not insist on its own way, love is patience, kind, not jealous (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). A relationship that is characteristised by sex is dangerous since one party or both parties are only focused on satisfying their lustful desires. 

ADVICE TO THE YOUTH

To my fellow youth, I appeal to you to be wise and use your body as a living sacrifice to God Almighty in every relationship you find yourselves. This season of valentine is not for sex but a period to remember the love God gave to us and show how precious it is to show love to others. In our relationships with the opposite sex, let us exercise the spirit of patience and not defile ourselves. This is because premarital sex grieves God’s spirit in us, brings disgrace, causes hatred and destroys the future of the unmarried youth. Your choice of a marital partner in life is so precious to God and future generations.

CONCLUSION

Beloved, I urge you, as a sojourner on earth, to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul (1 Peter 2:11). Having distinguished between love and infatuation and a good relationship from a bad one, I urge the Christian youth to be zealous and let the will of God reign in your relationship. This is because it would be better to find a lifetime partner who can connect to God with you in the spirit than one who would “just eat and run.” Sex does not prove how one loves or cherishes you rather abstinence until marriage shows how one loves and values you.

Written by Dennis Quaicoe (CoP-Axim Area / Pentecost University)

Sexual purity encompasses abstinence from all sexual perversions, intimacy outside marriage, deliberate sensual arousals, impure thoughts and gratification of the desire for intimacy with the opposite sex.  The Bible is very explicit and unequivocal about the need for single people to stay sexually pure at all times. However, in contemporary times, many deny the sanctity of sex and rebel against God’s established order of marriage as the only institution within which such intimacy must occur.

This deviation is often driven by worldviews that influence the thought processes of a particular generation or dispensation.  Currently, postmodern theories such as hedonism encourage the pursuit of pleasure as the ultimate in life without reference to God’s standards, societal rules and culture. It is sad to note that, some youth have been carried away by this ungodly wave of sexual misconduct. However, this is not a new phenomenon.  In the New Testament, Apostle Paul had to address similar issues of sexual perversion and permissive culture in some of the cities he had planted churches.

In the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul had to orient them towards proper sexual conduct due to the syncretic outlook of some of the members on issues regarding proper sexual conduct.  The city of Corinth was notorious for sexual immorality. Pornea translated as sexual immorality was not frowned upon in Corinth. Issues of consensual sexual relations, prostitution and homosexuality were common and therefore, did not constitute a big deal for the people of Corinth. There were temples for false gods which housed prostitutes where all kinds of idolatry and sexual misconduct occurred. Thus, to Corinthianise had become the proverbial expression of a sexually immoral life.

Having been born again, some within the Corinthian church wanted to still persist in this act without qualms. They considered freedom in Christ as a leeway to unbridled sexual expression with their bodies once they were not under the obligation of the law. In dealing with this deception, Paul quoted popular sayings within their society that expressed their worldview about sexual purity. One of them was everything is permissible. To correct this worldview, Paul emphasized that though everything was permissible, all things were not expedient for the new creation and therefore, the need to ensure that their freedom in Christ would not make them slaves to sin.

Another saying among the Corinthians which reinforced their sexually immoral culture, was food for the stomach and stomach for food. This saying projected the idea that, desire for sex is part of nature’s instincts and thus, no different from appetite for food. In other words, shouldn’t we treat sexual desire the same way and seek to be satisfied, just as we eat when we are hungry? Paul in his defense of sexual purity rejected and condemned these comparisons.

Everything is permissible for me”–but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”–but I will not be mastered by anything. “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”–but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body – 1 Corinthians 12-13

Furthermore, Paul indicated that though the stomach was meant for food, the body was much more than the stomach. He exhorted them not to reduce the body to a tool for sensual gratification because the body was not created for the purpose of sexual immorality. Rather, they were to see their bodies as instruments of glory and the temple of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Being a temple of the Holy Spirit meant, that, the body was to be kept holy without any form of uncleanliness. Finally, Paul intimated that sexual sin was no ordinary transgression to toy with. He pointed to them that he who sins sexually does not only commit a transgression but sins against their own body.

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body – 1 Corinthians 6:18

Much of what is going on today is akin to what pertained in Corinth.  The environment and popular culture of today seem to be accepting of sexual immorality and all forms of perversions. When a man cheats on his wife, people say it is the nature of men to have extra marital affairs. Also, some people in premarital relationships rationalize sex as essential for young adults committed to each other. Some go ahead to advocate that premarital sex is necessary to ascertain sexual compatibility of both parties before marriage. When young people are disciplined for engaging in premarital sex, the decision is considered draconian by some people because to them they just had sex as adults. Also, the virtue of chastity is widely ignored while those who choose to remain chaste are mocked.  All these constitute subtle pressure to force the Christian youth to bow to the image of sexual perversity. The question is, SHALL WE BOW TO THIS PRESSURE?

God’s word about fornication and sexual perversion has not changed. His standards are still same irrespective of one’s culture, age or generation. In view of this, sexual purity must be upheld by all Christians. Refusing to bow may come with threats of punishment, feelings of being odd, mockery and sometimes moments of physical distress.  However, like, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the Christian youth must be bold and refrain from bowing to any form of pressure to be sexually immoral irrespective of the consequences.  There is no shame in staying pure. You are not alone. There are thousands of youth who have not bowed to Baal. If you choose to remain chaste, you are in good company and the power of God is available to help you. WE SHALL NOT BOW.

Written by Pastor Joseph Owusu-Boateng (PENSA Traveling Secretary – Sunyani Sector)

Introduction

Inherent in the history that animated the life and doctrine of the Church is a strong stance against teachings and practices that were deemed inimical to the progress of the Church. A rigorous step was taken, as it were, to safeguard the Church’s vitality. This occupation was to those who were actively involved, a defense of their own life─apologia pro vita sua (Latin: “defense of one’s life”). Indeed, there is a truth that is ever intrinsic to this stance of the early Christians who have gone ahead of us: the Church is integral in the process of laying hold onto the life that flows through Christ to people within and without the Church. It is ever true that extra Christum nulla salus (outside Christ there is no salvation). The nourishment for this salvation towards its fulfillment in Christ has the Church as its storehouse. The Church is the hub, if not the fountainhead, of the vitality which flows from Christ onto his people.

In this peculiar position of the Universal Church, the local church’s role need not be belabored. The local church is the focal point of the abundance of life ebbing from the Lord Jesus Christ to the partakers in “the faith which once delivered unto the saints.”  It is within the local church that the grace of Christ is concentrated. A decision to reposition the local church is indeed a move to draw attention to this great place of the local church in the workings of God. It is to make a decision to defend lives. Repositioning the local church is a defense of our lives─apologia pro vita sua.

The Local Church is Our Mother

To put things in perspective, it is relevant to give a definition of what the local church is. In simple terms, the local church connotes the immediate meeting or gathering of believers in the finished work of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, after their translation into full fellowship, for worship, sharing in the word of God, partaking in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper among other Christian liturgies. A new believer in Christ is encouraged to join the local church in view of his or her nurturing in Christ. This suggests that discipling believers in Christ towards consolidation of their faith in Christ is done in the local church. The exhortation to “desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2, NJKV) establishes the local church as the place of Christian growth, vitality and maturity.

In his discourse with Nicodemus, Jesus pointed out that his (Jesus’) concept of new birth is strikingly distinct from childbirth in the natural sense (John 3:3-7). In effect, one does not need to enter into his or her mother’s womb again to be born again. From natural knowledge, after birth, the newborn would have to be nurtured. The essence of motherhood is further appreciated here; providing warmth for the baby, food, healthcare, and teaching the young child basic life skills. Albeit, others apart from the primary mothers may contribute to this nurturing. The whole of the activities of nurturing is an act of motherhood. The nurturing role of a mother finds a resemblance with the role of the local church post-new birth. When one is born again in Christ, his or her upbringing lies strongly with the local church. When one imagines the nurturing of a newborn person in Christ, the motherhood role of the local church strikes.

Blessed are those who find themselves in a local church whose motherhood is impeccable. Such people, undoubtedly, grow most excellently and mature pleasantly in Christ. Their Christian vitality is admirable. Indeed, the local church is our mother. It is a training ground for people on whom the salvation of this world rest, significantly. I plea thus, “Dear local church, we have come to you our mother, nurture us that we may grow. Our vitality in Christ, even our very life, depends on you. Deny us your motherhood and we shall not be anything better than orphans.”

Repositioned in Defense of Our very Life

The tragedy of a local church comes to light when it is diagnosed that there is a shift in its position. Such a church loses its God-mandated stance in the world. It disturbs the flow of the life of Christ onto people and nations of the world. The principles of the Kingdom of God it is strategically positioned to reveal to the world are not seen. This church suffers loss. It is in the presence of this kind of church that societal decadence gets a field day. Such a church stands aloof in the face of social evil. The church forgets that it is a hub of hope for a dying world.

To bring back the local church to its locus of influence is an attempt to protect the life we have received from Christ. This life is supposed to ever flow onto eternal life. It is this life that gives us a dear position before God. It is a life that must necessarily be protected. The position must be defended; the life must be defended. This repositioning then becomes an issue of life and death. The search for the fountain of life that is flowing through Christ is appreciated primarily when one encounters a local church in its divinely appointed position. It is this position that enables the revival of people who are dead in sin back to life. This rightful place of the local church consequently nurtures these infant lives till they blossom, becoming a people of power and their impact felt within the larger society.

Concerning a repositioned local church, its members have genuine faith in God. This faith is nurtured by the sincere word of God. Their knowledge of God is deep-seated; their experience of God is authentic. In all, its spirituality is fervent. True worship and fellowship are witnessed. This church is a healing community. It promotes the wholeness of the life of the people therein. This church understands what it means to be saved in Christ and the peculiar responsibility that places on the redeemed people of God. The ministry of reconciliation which God has committed to his people is on point in this church since with joy it bears the burden of reaching out to the lost. This work of reconciliation finds expression in every facet of society, planting the principles of the Kingdom of God everywhere. The structures it puts in place to ensure its impact on the larger society are in a revived state. Such a church is to be desired.

Conclusion

The question remains, “what unit of a gathering of people has God strategically positioned to manifest his glory the world over?” Is it not the local church? It is within the local church that there is a first encounter with the revelation of who the Almighty is; his nature, and his work in the world in reconciling the world to himself. The local church is the embassy in which God dwells among men. The local church in the mind of God is a people that bear the mark of the Kingdom of God. Repositioning the local church is a survival mechanism for the Universal Church. To this end, to identify the reason for the decline of the Church in nations, regional blocs, and even continents, the compromise of the vital position of the local church would always be implicated. The local church in its rightful position is a life-giving gathering of people on whom the Spirit of God is resting. Repositioning the local church is a defense of the very life of nations.

Written by Dr. Stephen Ofotsu Ofoe

Keeping A Bird’s-Eye View On The Prophetism Scene At 31st December Watch-Night Services And Beyond From A Certain Balcony

Introduction

The prophetic is not alien to Ghanaian philosophy and practice of religion. Even before the coming of Christianity in Ghana, the Ghanaian primal religion imagined spiritual encounters with the Transcendent. This has the prophetic as a core element. In typical situations, deities so-possess people and use them as channels of divine utterances or directives in various forms. In prophetism, ecstatic utterances, displays and practices are normative and reckoned as sine qua non results or sometimes premises to an encounter with divinity. When Christianity took root in Ghana, this aspect of the religious ran alongside the Christian faith. Some Christians still run away to seek oracles from their erstwhile religion, notably because they think the new faith did not provide meaning to how they perceive the spirit world. African Initiated Churches (hereafter AICs) emerged as a response to this tension. The later emergence of the classical Pentecostals, Charismatics and the new charismatic churches has impacted Ghana’s prophetism in various ways and to different degrees. Regrettably, numerous unethical issues have characterised the prophetic in Ghana. I propose some underpinnings of unethical practice in contemporary prophetic ministry, including mainly: the liberation philosophy of the leading prophets of the ministry, the influence of the Ghanaian primal religio-cultural practice of spirit possession, and the mistaking of the prophetic phenomena in the Bible. I argue that streamlining the charisma of the ‘prophetic’ bestowed graciously on the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ is to be desired. This must involve a complex approach taking into consideration the maxim of the prophetic in the New Testament Christianity, ministerial and pastoral formation, and the rule of law. The crux of the matter is an invitation of those who claim to have received a word from the Lord to apply decorum in their communications of whatever dreams, visions and prophetic message they claim to have had. A departure from the foundations of the dishonourable manner in which prophetic messages are handled in Ghana’s Christianity would safeguard the prophetic ministry and discourage chaos within the Republic. For the sake of brevity, the essay shall neither discuss the history of the overarching concept of prophetism and its impact on Christianity in Ghana at various times, nor explore fully, if even briefly, prophetism in Ghana today. 

Underpinnings of Unhygienic Prophetic Ministry in Ghana

Prophetic utterances are common in the practice of Christianity in Ghana. This skyrockets during 31st December watch night church meetings due to ear-itching expectations for the coming year. The widespread of the prophetic today presents us with a case of continuity of an aspect of the traditional religious belief and practice with Christianity. The belief in the wholeness of life connects the spirit world very much to the physical even in today’s Africa especially. Interactions between the two are believed and usually experienced. In these religious experiences, it is thought that the spirits possess the agent to deliver a message to the physical world. The spirits take total control of the agent of the message. This is often seen in frenzied movements and ecstatic utterances. Speaking on behalf of the spirits makes the directives of the agent final and irrevocable. Such ones are very much revered in the Ghanaian religio-cultural setting.

The wake of classical Pentecostalism at the turn of the 20^th century brought with it a renewal of the sense of the spiritual. Especially, at the Azusa street revival in 1906, spiritual experiences similar to African spirituality were seen. People were so-possessed by the Holy Spirit, fall and shake, shout, run about and prophesy under the power of the Holy Spirit. These frenzied spiritual experiences resonate with African spirituality in general and Ghanaian spirituality in particular.

The coming of classical Pentecostalism in Ghana and the subsequent charismatic renewals blended well with the primal spirituality already in existence. Also, due to the staunch adherence to a key teaching of the Protestant Reformation, the “priesthood of all believers,” many Christian spiritual leaders are emerging every day. Consequently, under the guise of spiritual encounters many “men of God” and “prophets” do the unthinkable. Like the traditional religious practice of giving spiritual potions to adherents for many reasons including prosperity, healing, childbirth, protection from witches, freedom from ancestral curses among others, some Christian “men of God” also prescribe spiritual special concoction, oils, handkerchiefs, stickers, creams, powders, for Christians for similar reasons. These often come at various prices and people are convinced to buy. Some of these items are even customised with the photos of the leaders of the prophetic churches on their containers.

Furthermore, in the name of deliverance some are subjected to maltreatment. Some are slapped, others are knocked and even some are stepped on the ground. “Prophecies” are uttered in the public domain without caring for their repercussions. Today, tension is built in Ghana’s politics, among family members and among different religions due to these “prophetic” utterances. In the culture of the traditional religion, shrines are set aside where clients go for divinatory consultation. A replica of this is seen where special Christian prayer camps are set apart for consultation on spiritual matters. In some cases, where there are no such special centres, specific time within a church service is set aside where members go and see the “prophet” for consultation. Thus the primal religious imagination of Ghana contributes to the disturbing prophetism being witnessed in Ghana.

The rise of AICs as against the churches established by western missionaries in Ghana has been regarded, in part, as a response to the freedom the Africans did not get to express their full religiousness. The wake of these churches has become more or less a liberation movement. The belief and practice of the AICs is largely a combination of the Bible and traditional African religion. Taking the Bible out of context has not been uncommon. The result is that the Bible has been wrongly used to strengthen some regrettable aspects of Ghana’s prophetic ministry. An essential part of African religious practices is the spontaneous and disorganize way in which the spirits are presumed to deal with people. People are usually not able to gather restraint when the spirits are believed to come upon them. People cannot hold in the dealings of spirits with them. Inherit in this liberation thinking of the AICs is crave for power and glory. This has remained a part of the prophetic ministry in Ghana’s Christianity.

In Ghana’s prophetic scene today, many people claiming to be speaking on behalf of God do not offer restraint concerning what to say and what not to say in public. As it were, wisdom has been denied its place in prophetic utterances. The consequences of this have been nothing but chaos and disintegration of social cohesion. Fear and panic have inundated individual and public life due to some of these prophecies. Power and glory are sadly a persisted part of the prophetic ministry. Many of these utterances have been made to earn respect of the masses. This is so deep-seated such that, some prophets and pastors, so-called, do not feel ashamed to desist from prophetic utterances even after their prophecies have backfired. The name of God and the Bible have been misused widely in this regard. The prophetic ministry has been significantly unhygienic, considering the points raised above.

Repercussions of Unethical Prophecies on the Socio-Political Space

Prophecies have spread wide to become an essential part of Ghana’s socio-political life. Politicians, business men and women, footballers, people who are faced with misfortunes, students, the young and old from diverse walks of life have patronised prophets for some kind of divinatory consultation. A cursory look at Ghana’s political scene would quickly reveal the central role that prophecies have been playing. There is the general notion that prophecies concerning who wins and loses an election have telling impact on the electorate, informing them who to vote for. It is alleged, and some of these prophets sometimes come out to confess, that some political figures go to bribe them to prophesy in their favour. Prophecies have heighten tension in Ghana’s elections today and even threaten social cohesion. Instead of being a blessing to the socio-political fortunes of Ghana, the unethical approach to the prophetic ministry is causing more harm in Ghana’s socio-political space than good.

There are reported cases of families falling apart because of some prophecies, where some family members are revealed by prophecy of being the cause of the suffering of other family members. Witchcraft accusation among others have broken down family care systems and promoted individualism. Many have become poorer because they spent a lot of money paying “consultation fees” to some of these prophets for divine intervention. Thus the socio-economic problems of the unhygienic prophetic ministry are there. Safety within the society has also been challenged. For instance, one who has received a prophetic word of being killed by some assailants would not feel safe but live in fear.

Considering how the prophetic ministry is intertwine with Ghana’s everyday socio-political life, the ministry, as it is being practised now by many self-acclaimed prophets and bishops, has earned the status of a national threat, arguably. This raises the question of whether prophetic utterances should become cases that must be taken on by the rule of law. At what point is this really applicable? The complexities involved in this regard cannot be ignored. When you have politicians and civil servants patronising the ministry of these prophets, many of whom are charlatans, how can the law be effectively applied in shaping the prophetic ministry? In any case, the rule of law has an important role to play in sanitising this ministry. The rule of law can check these utterances and bring some civility into Ghana’s prophetism.

On Protecting the Integrity of the Name of our Christ and of the Church

In fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel (Joel 2:28-29), there has been an unlimited outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the people of God in Christ. This makes the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ a charismatic community where spiritual gifts are in operation. It is quite clear that the desire of the giver of the spiritual gifts is for them to be used to enhance the mission of God through the Church, and to prepare the people of God for work in the Kingdom of God. Any other use of the gifts of the Spirit that undermines the reason for which Christ gave his Church these charismatic gifts, is inimical to the growth and progress of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the nations in which the Church is supposed to thrive. The name of the Lord God and the Church are ridiculed as a result. Those who operate in spiritual gifts of various forms including prophecy, must hold the integrity of the name of the Lord God in high esteem no matter the circumstances. The Bible teaches us in this regard.

Prophecy, whether directive or not, is indeed a true phenomenon that is relevant in our walk with God. Scripture even exhorts the Christian to crave for spiritual gift especially prophecy (referring to prophecy that exhorts people) as seen in 1 Corinthians 14:1. Albeit, it is one of the gifts that has been mostly abused, especially in our African context today. A highly unethical or unhygienic approach has been heavily adopted in the operation of the prophetic. Indeed, this is a major setback in African Christianity. Prophecy is a delicate phenomenon, in that it is the coming together of the Spirit of God and human. If one is not careful, his or her prophecies would emanate from the human mind or even from evil spirits and not from God.

In 1 Corinthians 14 again , the Bible takes issue with a very charismatic Christian community, the church in Corinth then, whose operation in spiritual gifts has caused a lot of confusion within the community (especially in their public worship). The Bible exhorts the Christian community thus: “be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 14:39-40, NIV). The Bible points out that, “And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophet. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of saints” (1 Corinthians 14:32-33, NKJV). It is how one responds to the dealings of the Spirit with him or her that determines the consequences of prophetic utterances. Anyone who operates in the prophetic gift must be able to bring the gift under his control. It is never true that the Spirit communicates a word of prophecy to someone, and the person cannot control him or herself as a result. Prophecies have been unfortunately used to cause fear and panic. This is particularly so because of the desire for fame, power, glory, money and respect. He or she who prophesies must be focused on glorifying God by it and not for self-glorification. Those who are guilty of this have put the name of the Lord Jesus Christ into disrepute. This is sinful.Those who think they have the gift of prophecy or the call of a prophet must be willing to learn and apply wisdom to their dealings. Ministerial formation is essential in shaping the prophetic ministry people do receive. This must be pursued.

What can we Learn from The Church of Pentecost?

The role of The Church of Pentecost (hereafter CoP) in ensuring the hygiene of prophetism in Ghana has been important. Considering the impact of the CoP in the Pentecostal and charismatic movement in Ghana, how it is perceived in the Ghanaian Christian community, and the larger society, its role must be considered. There is consensus among scholars concerning the important place of the CoP in Ghana. For instance, this assertion by Rev. Prof. J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, a theologian and minister of the Methodist Church of Ghana in his “Foreword” to the book, Transmitting the Spirit in Missions: The History and Growth of The Church of Pentecost, very well summarises how the CoP is perceived in the Ghanaian society: “In Ghana their [CoP’s] community-based church planting approach, prayer-driven services, liturgical vernacularization, simplicity of ministry, and the enforcement of biblical moral standards among members and clergy mean The Church of Pentecost has become one of the most important and highly regarded Christian denominations in the country. . . The Church of Pentecost, in terms of church attendance, is arguably the largest single Christian denomination in Ghana today, and they have not stopped spreading.” This is not the first time this Professor of African Christianity and Pentecostal theology made such an assertion. Ten years earlier, he made similar note of the CoP in a paper he presented at the West Africa Consultation of Edinburgh 2010. The role of the CoP including its role in sanitizing the prophetic ministry thus far in Ghana must not be ignored. Individual church leaders and corporate churches can draw some lessons from the CoP.

The CoP has brought some order to the practice. As indicated earlier, the continuity of aspects of African traditional spirituality in Christianity started with the AICs. These churches sort to bring about a certain renewal into what they deemed a spiritual snooze within the mainline churches. It is important to insert here that the proliferation of new charismatic churches in Ghana has greatly aggravated the extremities of the prophetic ministry. These churches significantly build on the premise of the AICs and the African traditional religious spirituality in retrospective sense. The CoP came into existence some years after prophetism became an ipso facto feature of the “spiritual churches,” as the AICs were called.

Right from the outset, the founder of the CoP, Pastor James McKeown, set out the ethos of the CoP as a church that will irrevocably adhered to the New Testament teachings of the Bible. Being a missionary, he endorsed aspect of African religious spirituality but not the extremities of the prophetic. For instance, he did not approve the no-medication doctrine of the classical Pentecostal group he worked with on his arrival to Ghana. Today, we see some prophets advising their followers not to take certain medication prescribed by qualified medical practitioners. This is unfortunate.

The CoP has refined the means by which directive prophecies are communicated in public. Such prophecies are expected to be written down and communicated on personal basis. It has realised that when people are allowed to utter directive prophecies in public, contrasting views uttered in public would encourage chaos. Furthermore, the CoP has been holding training sessions for the leaders of the various prayer centres. These “grassroot prophets” have had their spiritual gifts shaped by such training. Alarming prophecies from these centres have been curtailed. The CoP has ensured that the prayer centres do not become breeding ground for false doctrines. People who are found perpetrating any falsehood are brought to attention. Also, people who claim to have receive spiritual gifts cannot just establish prayer centres. They are encouraged to use their gift in the communal church. This has helped to check the proliferation of prayer centres. The CoP has been providing learning avenues for its clergy and lay leaders in its institution of higher learning. This informs rightly the ministry of these church workers. Accordingly, they would not go about making prophetic utterances in public and instigating fear and panic.

In Lieu of Conclusion

The hullabaloo that Ghana has been witnessing concerning the prophetic especially during 31st December watch-night church services is an evidence of the unethical manner used in approaching the prophetic ministry which consequently leads to public chaos. Bearing in mind the widespread practice of prophetic utterances in Ghana, the need for maturity in this ministry cannot be overemphasised. When God speaks through his people, it is meant to engender order, promote stability and encourage development. It is of immense importance to safeguard the good name of Christ, the Christian Church and the peace of the nation. This must be the utmost desire of anyone who utters a prophetic word. The prophetic ministry in Ghana must be carried out with a great ethical sense to the glory of God. A great view  must continually be kept on the prophetic scene through the spectacle of the Bible which is so often taken out of context by the perpetrators of unethical prophetism. The Bible is the balcony from which we get the right look at the prophetic ministry. They who plant discord and disorder by their irresponsible prophetic utterances have unquestionably fallen short of what God desired of his people, insofar as the prophetic ministry is concerned.

Written by Dr. Stephen Ofotsu Ofoe

The dictionary defines a gift as a thing given willingly to someone without payment in return. Bribe, on the other hand, is dishonestly persuading someone to act in one’s favour by a gift of money or other inducements. Therefore, bribery uses gifts as its medium of operation, but not all gifts are bribes. Unfortunately, the two have almost been made to look like siamese twins even though they are supposed to be distinct in form, appearance, and nature. Indeed, bribery does not always take the form of monetary gifts. Entertaining amorous sexual relationships with influential people to make unmerited gains and favours at the expense of others are all forms of bribery.

In organisations, gifts, meals, entertainment, and travel to clients or prospective clients are all implements of bribery that need careful and special scrutiny. The article, however, restricts itself to bribery in the context of monetary gifts or material inducements. Bribery, apart from falling short of Christian and ethical standards, negatively impacts the general socio-economic well-being of every society. The ever-increasing huge deficit in healthcare and other infrastructural projects in many developing countries can almost always be traced back to the incidences of bribery and corruption.

In October 2011, Kerry Khan and Michael Alexander, two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees, were arrested and charged with fraud for taking bribes estimated at over 20 million dollars. They were accused of taking bribes from contractors to be awarded lucrative government contracts, amongst others.

“In Turkey and Russia, Alexion Pharmaceuticals paid government officials and doctors at state-connected hospitals to promote the use of its blood-disease drug, Soliris. The bribery resulted in Alexion being ‘unjustly enriched’ by about $6.6 million in Turkey and $7.5 million in Russia, the SEC said.” (FCPA Blog, 2020)

And in Ghana, my homeland, a survey by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicated that a total of ¢5 billion had been paid in bribes in a given year to access basic services in both the private and public sectors. Dubbed “2021 Ghana Integrity of Public Services Survey”, the survey indicates that 26.7% of public sector officials were engaged in bribery acts, whilst 9.1% were officials from the private sector. “The report also showed that the prevalence of bribery in Ghana is 26.7%, meaning one out of four people who had contact with a public official in the 12 months before the survey had been asked to pay a bribe by a public official or asked to pay bribe but refused to do so. You will understand why Prof Emmanuel Kwesi Aning is reported to have said, “without corruption, the edifice called Ghana will collapse.” (MyJoyOnline). Even though some may not entirely agree with him, his context must not be misconstrued. The Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre’s (KAIPTC) comment comes after the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) unearthed the extent of corruption in the country in its latest survey”.

The above-listed bribery scandals across the globe confirm that bribery or the phenomena of “kickback” isn’t an African debacle. Making it a Ghanaian or African rendezvous is just a way of restricting the scope of the discussion to suit a certain narrative. We must also not sacrifice certain state institutions even though the research findings pointed to some as theirs being prevalent. We all know what we have done to ourselves as a society to get to where we are now. Name callings wouldn’t be the way to go, therefore.

Also known as graft, bribery has its roots and nutrients from the seed of sin, passed on through natural birth. Therefore, certain conditions and environmental factors suppress or expose such inherent practices in all who depend on their self-espoused virtues and values. The article’s objective is to show clarity on the difference between gift and bribe and proffer practical ways of eschewing all forms of the latter, no matter how tempting.

The offering of gifts in whichever form to others is not only godly, it is also Biblical and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says in Proverbs 11:24-25, “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” And Apostle Paul re-echoed Jesus’ phrase about the blessings associated with giving in Acts 20:35. It states, “…It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Many people give freely from the depth of their hearts without any strings or attached expectations.

Similarly, others also genuinely appreciate past deeds that might have gone unnoticed and without the prospects of reciprocal favours either presently or in the future. The Old Testaments practice where Kings, Seers, or Prophets were visited with gifts by those who accessed their services shows that the recipients and givers of gifts are an aged old thing which scriptures do not frown upon (1 Samuel 9:9). In 1 Samuel 25, Abigail hurriedly approached David. She apologised for her husband’s wicked dealings against him and his men. With some supplies for his men as initially requested, she bowed and said to him, ” And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.” The kindness Abigail showed to David and his men averted the bloody revenge the latter and his men vowed to take on Nabal and all the males in the household.

The Lord Jesus Christ was equally full of praises for Mary after she broke her alabaster jar of costly perfume and poured it on His head. The trans-generational blessing associated with that gift or gesture is why we even cite her in this write-up. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” (Matthew 26:13). Were Abigail and Mary bribing their way out for some favours by those gifts to King David and Jesus respectively? Certainly No! Interestingly, in the case of Mary, the real bribe taker was Judas Iscariot, who championed and spearheaded her vehement condemnation as having wasted hard-earned resources.

The excessive appetite and love of gifts must be checked in a person’s life to prevent them from getting trapped by them. Gifts are not things to deliberately work for or expect from others; they should neither be a budget line item when drawing your periodic budgets. Else, any shortfall is what entraps people to map out carefully and design strategies to induce and extort from others. A budgeted gift, therefore, qualifies to be a bribe. People do so by abusing the privileges associated with their high offices and lines of engagement to their benefit but turn around to argue what they received were freewill gifts and not bribes.

In Genesis 14, Abraham fought and recovered back the goods and people captured by the King of Elam and his allied forces for the King of Sodom. All the goods were offered to him as a freewill gift, but  Abraham respectfully rejected them.

“But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With the raised hand, I have sworn an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal so that you will never be able to say, I made Abram rich.” (Genesis 14:22-23). Similarly, in 2 Kings 5:15-27, Prophet Elisha turned down a generous gift from exhilarated Naaman after his directives miraculously healed the latter to go and wash in the Jordan River. Like in the case of Abraham, there are good and wise reasons why children of God are sometimes directed to turn down even genuine gifts from people. When Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, thought Naaman had been left off the hook by his master and schemed to retrieve those items, he suddenly turned into a leper until his death. Little did Gehazi know that by chasing Naaman’s gifts, he was negotiating for his sickness. Elisha intimated to his boy that it was not the time for taking gifts, and Abraham did not want the King of Sodom to take or share any of God’s glory for the blessings God had bestowed upon him. So even with free will or “unattached” gifts, not all of them are to be countenanced and entertained. The timing for receiving certain gifts is, therefore, crucial as well. All those who covet material possessions and love gifts in whichever shape and form almost always don’t live even to enjoy them.

Like all others, I have wholeheartedly accepted gifts, respectfully turned down a few, and rejected some of them. Those I rejected earned me some uncomplimentary titles as being controversial or a proud person. I was tagged as a “novice yet to understand the system” by those I also respectfully turned down. And for the ones I accepted, I guess I would appear natural, a loving person if not a grabber in their eyes. Industry best practices to curb the menace of gifts metamorphosing into bribe has been mainly by code of ethics and the capping of the value of supposed allowable or permissible gifts. Despite the sophisticated systems and installations put in place by multi-billion dollar organisations to prevent the abuse of the giving and receiving of gifts, there are still mind-boggling scandals upon scandals concerning gifts. FIFA, the world soccer governing body, was hit with a monumental scandal in the processes leading to the selection of the venues for the 2018 and 2022 World cup. The enactment of rules and code of ethics alone cannot face the aggression of a soul determined to survive or live on gifts from individuals or corporate organisations. It must, however, be stated categorically that despite the tendency of gifts to turn into bribes, there are genuine gift-givers and their respective recipients.

Unlike gifts, a bribe does not bother itself with appreciating people’s past deeds if it wouldn’t put them in any advantageous position for present or future gains or favours. Therefore, the motivation for offering a bribe lies in the prospect of influencing individuals and systems to obtain unmerited favours or benefits. Business moguls know what the offer of gifts with the motive of bribery has done for their organisations and enterprises. Some have touted the practice of bribery as a form of a “key of David” which opens doors no one dares close and closes doors no one attempts opening again. Inundated with Proverbs 17:8, which reads, “Bribe is a charm to the one who gives it, wherever he turns he succeeds,” they always see a possibility of having their way if they wish with gifts.

Until the real intentions are revealed, what constitutes a gift or a bribe depends mainly on the giver. A good amount of examination and discernment by the power of the Holy Spirit can help recipients of gifts decode the encrypted characters accompanying them. So, one may call it a genuine gift from the heart, but it behoves the recipients to interpret the gesture well and respond accordingly. The complexity, however, is when both pretend to see it as a gift, even when the obvious stares at them. At times, the quantum of monies offered as gifts must raise some obvious questions and put the recipients into a quick-thinking mode for a well-deserving reaction. How do you judge the genuineness of someone who wants a favour from you but offers you a gift they have borrowed from others? Can you not see the signs written so clearly that it isn’t about the love and concern about your plight but all to do with what they want? Therefore, bribe givers are one of the most selfish people you can ever encounter. Besides the irreparable damage to the integrity of their facilitators, what they offer as a bribe is always a tiny fraction of their intended gains. Can a needy person part with a colossal amount of money to a relatively more affluent person in a position of authority and still be interpreted as a gift by the recipients?

In Numbers 22-24, Balak, who was the King of Moab, tried to induce Prophet Balaam to put a curse on the approaching Israelites before his people engaged them in a battle. When Balaam refused to go with the messengers sent from God upon a tip-off not to go, the King sent a more powerful delegation, this time with the promise of rewarding him handsomely and giving him whatever he wanted. The story is a clear case of an inducement for Balaam to do something he had signaled Balak wouldn’t do because God had objected to that (Numbers 22:13). God intercepted Balaam’s journey spectacularly when his donkey spoke out to his hearing concerning his engagement with Balak. At Moab, Balak made about four unsuccessful attempts to coerce the Prophet to put a curse on the Israelites. Balak asked him, “Am I not able to reward you?” (Numbers 22:37). Even though Balaam stood his ground by not putting a curse on the Israelites in that particular incident, he ended up teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel, so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and engage in sexual immorality. (Revelations 2:14)

2 Peter 2:15, therefore, refers to Balaam as someone who loved the wages of doing wrong. According to Numbers 22:32, God described that trip he embarked upon as reckless. Entertaining those bent on inducing you to do things against God’s word and organisational ethics is a walk on the path of recklessness. Israel finally took revenge on Balaam by killing him in Numbers 31:6 for patronising Balak at their expense and for his gain.

In Matthew 28:12-15, the Chief Priest gave large sums of monies as a bribe to the soldiers guarding Jesus’ tomb to spread false information about His resurrection. They took it and did exactly that. Bribing officialdom is, therefore, an age-old practice. Instead of pointing accusing fingers at some of the most vulnerable institutions of state who are always at the receiving end, soberly reflect and do the following self-examination;

1. After receiving those gifts and favours from the politician, how has that influenced your reportage about their wrongs in society, Mr or Madam Journalist?
2. Honourable Medical Doctor, hasn’t those constant gifts from the Pharmaceutical company influenced your trend of prescription these days?
3. Project Manager/Engineer, Architect/Quantity Surveyor, Why have you suddenly developed a special like for that particular contractor after receiving that gift from him?
4. Tender Board/ Procurement Directo, why have you become allergic to all other suppliers and their bids except that particular supplier? And will do everything possible to get them to bid even when they are reluctant to submit proposals?
5. Headteacher, why are you so fond of that particular child and everything that has to do with him at the expense of the others after his parents started showering you with gifts?
6. Professor, why have the “brown envelopes” from that particular student aroused your interest and elevated your motivation to help her complete the thesis?
7. Madam nurse or Midwife, how do gifts from patients or their relatives affect and impact your mood? Are gifts able to turn you on, beaming with smiles, and being extra nice to the givers when they visit your facility? Are you not showing partiality or bias towards the well-to-do who visit your ward? How do you treat the needy and the destitute who hardly have anything to offer as a gift after attending to them?
8. Commercial or Taxi driver, why have you become used to approaching law enforcement agents with money instead of your driving documents when you are stopped on the highway?
9. Restaurant waiter, why are you always lingering around the guest you serve after they finish eating at your facility? And why do you serve some customers who visit your outfit with so much excitement and energy?
10. Dear lawmaker, why has your line of argument and reasoning changed since the exchange of those pleasantries meant to be a gift towards the facilitation of the bill under consideration?
11. Reverend Minister, haven’t you been influenced by the constant gifts from those individuals? Did it not affect your decision to elevate them in the church’s administrative structure? Will you be able to handle their issues without fear of favour like all others? Are you sure?
12. Dear Voter, are you easily influenced by a gift to vote in a particular manner against your convictions?
13. Prospective Father or Mother-in-Law, you suddenly changed your stands regarding your future in-law after the gift started flowing. Today, you appeared to be glued to him even more than your daughter, who introduced him to you. What has changed?
14. Lawyer or Judge, why the sleepless nights looking for all legal technicalities to set free the culprits whose case you know is bad? Is it what you suspect to gain when you get him off the hook? Is that the same energy you put in when the downtrodden’s rights are trampled upon with impunity and come to you for assistance?
15. Kingmaker, are you sure your insistence and entrenched position to nominate that person as the successor isn’t because of those gifts he gave you and what you stand to gain should he finally get the nod?

If the answers to the above self-testing kits strike a chord, then you have probably welcomed a stranger called “bribery” into your abode. Kindly let him know he has overstayed his welcome and drive him out before it is too late. Ecclesiastes 7:7 reads, “Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.” Deuteronomy 16:19-20 continues, “Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. Bribery has, therefore, taken captive of otherwise resourceful persons, which has, by extension, denied the masses in the society of the equitable distribution of resources.

“The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he were not born. Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi? Jesus answered, You have said so.” (Matthew 26:24-25). You will realise how Judas could not still repent even after learning of the betrayer’s fate. Meanwhile, when he asked Jesus whether he was the one to betray him, he had already collected the bribe for that task. Bribe indeed blinds people and corrupts their sense of reasoning and judgment. Judas Iscariot used the money to buy a parcel of Land. Unfortunately for him, it was in that same field he committed suicide and died. The field was then left desolate for only strangers to be buried there. We always use the proceeds from bribery to purchase trouble for our lives (Amos 5:10-12). So, even though the world is suggesting the direct opposite, the Bible is clear in Proverbs 15:27-28 that “A greedy Man brings trouble to his family, but he who hates bribes will live.”

“Affectionately called Iron Mike, Mike Tyson enjoyed a sensational career in boxing, becoming one of the biggest stars and the biggest legends following his retirement”. (From the New York Post Sport), “In a recent episode on his podcast, Tyson had therapist Sean McFarland on as a guest. About death, Tyson said: “We’re all gonna die one day, of course. That means my expiration date is coming close, really soon.” Tyson continued, “I always tell people — they think money’s gonna make them happy, they’ve never had money before — when you have a lot of money, you can’t expect nobody to love you. The false sense of security. You believe nothing can happen. You don’t believe the banks could collapse. You believe you’re invincible when you have a lot of money, which isn’t true. That’s why I always say money is a false sense of security.” So, Jesus said in Luke 12:15-21, “Man’s life doesn’t depend on the abundance of the things he possesses”.

In Acts 24:26-27, Felix expected a bribe from Apostle Paul at one point of his interrogation, so he set him free, but Paul refused to comply. He was, therefore, kept in prison for over 2yrs. Is that not challenging for believers of today? How many of us wouldn’t have bribed our way out of that uncomfortable confinement? If you don’t expect people to bribe you, why do the same to them? Let’s stop inducing people with gifts for them to act in a particular manner. Those who are pretending, feigning ignorance, and classifying the bribes they are collecting as gifts must also cease doing so. John the Baptist unearthed the roots of bribery amongst law enforcement agencies as discontentment and greed. He told them in the face to be content with their salaries (Luke 3:14). According to 1 Timothy 6:6-10, we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it.

The litmus test for a bribe is whether the giver of any gift expects it to influence you in a particular manner for their gain. Is the gift still coming from that same source even when you have persistently refused to do what they expect you to do? Or have they stopped after realising you weren’t influenced the least in your judgment? Can you confidently say whether the last gift you received at home, the office, or the marketplace is a gift or bribe? If it is a gift, praise the Lord and be kind to others as well, but if it is a bribe or appears so, try returning it if practicable. If not, take all the necessary steps to avoid the patronage of future bribes and all of their forms because it has dire consequences on our lives according to Jeremiah 17:11. Gift is divine, but presenting it for inducement is a bribe and, therefore, unholy and sinful. Let’s do everything within our capacity to ensure gifts stays as a gift and do not metamorphose into a bribe. Stay blessed.

Written by Pastor James Agyin

Introduction:  Christmas Laughter

There is a certain excitement that swathes the world when Christmas approaches. Interestingly, this is despite the religious extractions of people. It seems it is a season that almost everyone identifies with. Merry-making of diverse forms become a common sight to behold. It is a season that is marked by the home-coming of family and friends. Somehow, cities and towns become more populous. An increase in vehicular traffic is no news. Trade in materials for food, fashion, and beautifications skyrockets. In our part of the world, the cacophony of the bleating of goats, mooing of cows, quacking of ducks, and clucking of hens identifies the season. Churches become full. It is right, then, to talk about the laughter of Christmas. It is a season of great mirth, love, and pleasure. It is with great expectation that Christmas is welcomed. The joy of its first day may be said to be deep-seated. Can we say the same for its second day? A certain melancholy characterises the second day of Christmas; the laughter fades, the noise of enjoyment dwindles and the ringing of Christmas bells gives way to the tolling of the same. The kind of joy that enters the soul of people in connection with the understanding one has of the purpose of the season impinges much on the resilience of the joy one experiences during the season.

The Pursuit of Joy

Humanity has a great desire to experience joy in this life. On the first consideration, it would seem, strikingly, that our life is in pursuit of joy. Though one’s life begins with a first cry, well, attended by smiley faces, and ends with a cry from loved ones amidst our silence, in between, we are optimistic about joy and go running after it. This joy we believe even transcends this life to the otherworldly. People seek this joy through diverse means.

Pleasure becomes the goal of some who hunt for joy. Hedonistic tendencies have become widespread. Living to please the desires of the flesh; gluttony, heavy drinking and all kinds of activities that are done to bring peace and tranquility do not suffice. People continually do these to attain joy but the end result is frustration. The result of this is not the joy that is well grounded, rather, it is a superficial feeling of joy that fades away rather swiftly.

The chase after the joy is witnessed further in the great effort people put in becoming successful. Acquiring wealth in various forms so one becomes comfortable in life has been a popular means used to achieving joy. The reality is that hardly does satisfaction comes with materialism. It is not surprising to see people deciding to get a particular material to become fulfilled. Upon landing such materials, fulfillment fails them, then, their attention is turned to something else. This approach does not guarantee joy.

Some seek this joy from divine sources. The gods have been regarded as the source of true joy. In primal religious thoughts and practices, various religious acts are employed towards getting joy. The gods dictate the way by which humans must live to enter into joy. Religious men strive hard to live a life that would assure them of joy. This living may be an ascetic lifestyle, a life of ritual offering to please the gods or a life that promises full allegiance to the object of worship.

The manner in which Christmas is received resonates with the various means by which people tend to pursue joy in life. Meanwhile, the joy the season is meant to give the world is a joy that must well up in souls, springing up into eternal life. Such joy does not fade away on the second day of Christmas. It matures based on the concrete understanding of what Christmas gives the world indeed.

Joy that springs

There is a joy that persists through diverse life experiences. This joy is not superficial. It has a special touch to it during Christmas as the world is reminded of the birth of the Saviour of the world. It stands the test of time. It is not the joy that comes with vivacity in the morning and lands us in tattered sorrow at night. When Christmas elapses, this joy stands tall, not to even talk of it dwindling on the second day of Christmas. This state of the heart of humanity is able to navigate through discomforting points in life as it always has in view a greater good.

Some who live in this state of mind may be accused of not facing the realities of life. Their resilience through the storms may be adjudicated as abnormal. The hope they live by strikes others with the most wonder. This joy is far from being replaced with melancholy; it wells up evermore. This joy comes into the human heart per our discovery of its ultimate source and coming into a genuine faith in this source. Indeed, there is a joy that comes from outside into the human. It is a divine gift that makes mere men share in the joy of God.

The Joy of God

Considering the level of joy that automatically engulfs the life of people at Christmas, it is an appropriate time to engage the issue of where lies our source of joy indeed. As it is, it is not farfetched to connect Christmas with joy. The announcement of the birth of Jesus was in fact connected to joy. An Angel of God broke the news to some shepherds keeping watching at night thus: “. . . Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people” (Luke 2:10, NKJV). What follows was praise and merrymaking (Luke 2:13-14). The joy of the angelic host, undoubtedly, would not be a joy that would fade away on the second day. They have an understanding of what it means for the Saviour of the world to be born. Consequently, this joy would persists insofar as it repercussions remain.

This is a story of humanity’s search for joy and to a reach a place of utopia in life. Many approaches have been enacted in our bid to discover the fountain of joy and to swim in it eternally. Our journey in search of joy, sadly, has been punctuated with grave disappointments. We always swim in our tears back home to our old self of sorrow. Then an eventful occurrence ensued wherein it is announced to the world that the Saviour of the world is born. The birth announcement provokes us unto joy.

The joy that comes to the world at Christmas must not be detached from its substance. The Saviour who is born is the real cause of joy. Such an apprehension of the joy and laughter of Christmas would launch humanity under a fountain of joy that lingers on even on the second day of Christmas literally and metaphorically; all year round after Christmas stands as the second day of Christmas. This is the joy of God. This joy comes by our understanding of the indescribable fatherly love of God towards us, the momentous birth and heroic work of Christ in earning our salvation and walking in the Spirit.

Conclusion

We could say that our search of joy has been rewarding if the end of our journey finds us at the point where joy lasts evermore. Experimentation of the joy of God with the joy at Christmas is tenable. The joy at Christmas is almost spontaneous. It comes to the whole world. Howbeit, there is a certain melancholy of the second day of Christmas. Why should this be? This comes about when the joy that is experienced is just a superficial feeling. To discover the fountain of joy that wells up eternally, there must a genuine apprehension of the real source of joy and the substance of the Christmas season. The joy of God springs up evermore. This must be our utmost desire.

Writtten by By Dr. Stephen Ofotsu Ofoe