Posts in category: Top Stories

The year ending 2023, I began with the “Repositioning Series” to reflect the cause of my spiritual and social endeavours influenced largely by my church’s operational theme, ‘Repositioning the Local Church for Maximum Impact,’ which invariable has great impact on how we live and conduct our affairs as members of The Church of Pentecost.

Heading into 2024, another new dimension has been laid upon us and I seek to refocus in becoming an instrument to be used to transform my space and my writing assignment would therefore be renamed as the Unleashed Series.

My first “Unleashed Series” is the reason for the season – Christmas.  Christmas undoubtedly is the greatest festivity in the human race and its impact would outlive our world.

For my church Christmas convention for this year, I am so blessed that I am one of the speakers. This write-up is basically my message delivered at the convention. The theme for the convention is on “Fear Not, I bring you Good news.” Luke 2:10—11. This scripture is an encounter between an angel whose name was not given and some Shepherds. This encounter was actually to confirm the fulfilment of an earlier encounter between God’s messenger in Angel Gabriel and a young virgin Mary in Luke 1:26.

Luke 1:26 states specifically that it was God who sent the Angel Gabriel to Mary to announce to her that she would give birth to the Saviour of the world.  When Mary doubted the authenticity of the news based on her circumstance at the time, the angel only moved to give her the blessed assurance that what she was about to witness what something that heaven had already taken care of and needed her space (womb) for the manifestation of the grace through the works of the Holy Spirit to carry the seed of the Son of God.

This was the news the world had been waiting for and this encounter was not made known to anyone though a lot had been written and prophesied about the birth and saving works of Jesus Christ in the Bible.

In God’s dealings, when the time for manifestation has come it has to be announced. In the beginning when it was the manifested time for heaven and earth to be created, it was announced by God Himself.  So, when the Saviour of the world, our hope of glory, the captain of our salvation, the builder of the broken walls of humanity, the restorer of the relationship between humanity and God was born, everyone needed to share in the joy of heaven by hearing the good news.

It was not the duty of Mary and Joseph to announce this birth but rather a heavenly messenger to publicize the divine identity of God becoming man. Then the big question follows as to why God will need to become man in the person of Jesus to save the world? 

After many years and centuries, heaven finally reached an execution plan on how to take back the world from the hands of Satan as was delivered to him by man and divert the cause of humanity to its origin plan and state. So, when the Son of God was born, it was the duty of angels to announce as just it will be the duty of angels to pronounce the coming of the rapture.

In Luke 2:9, when the angel said “Fear not” it had two meanings. One could be the natural fear that would come upon the people by seeing the angel in the natural domain of man. According to the law of territorial possession, spirits cannot dwell on this earth unless they come in human form or body, so anytime angels appear to people, the first thing is to assure them not to fear. One striking observation from the encounter between the shepherds and the angel was the glory of the Lord that shone around the place. It is not every time that angels appear and their appearance are characterized by the glory of God especially in the New Testament days. But in this scenario, we are told the glory of God shone so bright. This makes meaning of the saying when the Lord comes down, His glory comes with Him. The news of Jesus’ birth needed to be celebrated with pomp and pageantry. Luke account says other heavenly host joined the angel in singing praises to God. Hallelujah! Joy to our world, our Saviour is born.

The second meaning of the word ‘Fear not’ is the assurance it carries to humanity. After many decades of man’s depravity, finally there was coming to a closure on sin’s power over man and man’s fear of death. In Hebrews 2:9, Bible says “But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” In the same Hebrews 2:14,15, records that “..through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage.”

In the proclamation of the blessed assurance came forth the revelation of the good news; Christ was born. This was the blessed good news humanity had been waiting for. Something is declared as good news when it has the potency to change the cause of affairs of one’s life, to bring ultimate improvement, comes all of a sudden to meet a fading expectation after many years of waiting and one that can be perceived as a miracle pertaining to our state of living.

Christ’s birth was a miracle. It was a miracle because in Matthew 1:21, Bible describes the reason for his birth; “..for he will save his people from their sins.” Not only this, but the nature of His birth also makes it a miracle. Christ Jesus was born because of man’s sin. That was the good news the angel carried. If man had not sinned, there would be no need for Jesus Christ to come on earth

When man sinned in the beginning of creation, man lost three things and the birth of Christ was the only avenue to restore these three things. The devastating effect of man’s disobedience and consequently sin was the loss of the righteousness of God, the dominion mandate and the Spirit of God. Significantly, without his birth, humanity would have been lost and bound for the total destruction and would have made meaningless of God’s original intent of creating the world and His special role for man. From the beginning of the volume of the books to the end, there is no denying the fact about the love of God for man.

The first thing Jesus’ birth signifies was the restoration of the dominion mandate man handed over to the devil that had given him the legal right to control the affairs of the world (2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 John 5:19) and access to manipulate man’s life to the point of destruction and death. In God’s own idea of creating the world was to give a very special place to man. In Genesis 1:26-28 tells us that God made man in His image, after His likeliness and blessed man with dominion. These are precious things God did for man.

Because of this dominion charge, God permitted man to name all the things He God had created and whatever name man called the creation of God, so its name became (Genesis 2:19). What a blessed privilege man had. Not only this but God went further to entrust all the creation into man’s care and charged him to exercise control over everything on this earth. This is the dominion God trusted to man in the beginning of creation. This was what man considered so lightly and exchanged the gifted possession of the sovereign power over the entirety of God’s creation for the passion of the flesh and thus lost hold of his controlling power and mandate on earth.  This mandate was what the devil was after all this while and confirmed to Jesus in the first encounter between light and darkness in Luke 4:6; “To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.”

Christ birth was to renew the hope of man living the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God which man was created with is the very nature of God. God’s nature rests with His communicable and His incommunicable attributes. Righteous is one of his communicable attributes. Communicable attributes are the attributes God shares with man while His incommunicable attributes He does not share with any.

After disobeying God’s command not to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, both Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened and they knew they were no longer perfect before God. 

Righteousness is the ability of the believer to stand before God without a sense of guilt or condemnation. Bible gives testimony of what God expects of His children on earth.

“… that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” Job 1:1. “And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil.” Job 1:8

“And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” Luke 1:6

 The third aspect of the glory of His birth was the restoration of the Spirit of God in man.

In the Garden of Eden in the beginning, God told Adam that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good & evil that he would surely die. (Genesis 2:17). When this happened, Adam did not die instantly, even though this action of Adam brought about physical death. What God was referring to was Spiritual death and it was immediate. The Spirit that Adam & Eve once had, that allowed them communion with God, was cut off and they were driven from the Garden, from the presence of God and from fellowship with Him. So, the first Adam lost the Spirit, and all others after him have been born without it as well. We are there lost and unregenerate. We are cut off from God.

Thus faith in Jesus Christ brings about regeneration. According to Matthew Barret, Regeneration is “work of the Holy Spirit to unite the elect sinner to Christ by breathing new life into that dead and depraved sinner so as to raise him from spiritual death to spiritual life, removing his heart of stone and giving him a heart of flesh, so that he is washed, born from above and now able to repent and trust in Christ as a new creation.”

Jesus’ birth is a big deal for humanity. It is an act of God’s love to restore the world to its origin state and God handing over His creation subject to man.

It is to renew our hope of walking in our dominion mandate, exhibiting the very nature or the communicable attributes of God in our daily life and living constantly in His presence and enjoying the sweet fellowship we once shared in the Garden.

Written by Elder Keith Eubulus

As the holiday season approaches, it’s easy to get caught up in festivities and indulge in delicious treats and lavish meals. However, it’s important to prioritize our health and well-being during this time.

One key aspect of staying healthy during Christmas is practicing mindful eating. Amidst the celebrations, be conscious of everything you consume, including food, drinks, and beverages.

A careful study indicates that, particularly after celebrations like Christmas where people engage in eating, drinking, and merrymaking, many return to the hospital with diseases attributed to an unhealthy lifestyle during the festive season.

During Christmas and festive seasons, especially Christmas, there’s a lot of food, gifts, and merrymaking. After Christmas, many patients relax, and their conditions worsen. Those managing diabetes may experience poor sugar control due to the festive season, and those working on weight management often gain instead of losing.

It is, therefore, imperative to maintain a fitness schedule durimg the season in order to curb disease nuances. As we celebrate Christmas, let’s remember to be health-conscious and take care of ourselves.

Written by David Sablah (Freedom)

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem.” (Matthew 2:1)

The religion of the East was heavily characterized by sorcery, magic and divination. Astrology was very popular in the East. It was the norm for kings to have a team of sorcerers and magicians who advise and provide spiritual direction.

The Greek word translated as “Magi” or “wise men” (as translated by King James) actually means magicians or sorcerers.

God, in His manifold wisdom and boundless mercies, not wanting anyone to perish in their sins, revealed to sorcerers in their own practice that the Savior has been born.

In fact, God has left a sign in all cultural and religious practices of men that point to Christ. Anyone who can recognize the sign that the Savior of the world has been born, and submit to Him in reverent worship is wise indeed!

The gifts presented to the newborn Jesus by the Magi are also instructive and symbolic.

First of all, they presented gold. It’s known in biblical times that kings were often paid in gold.

“The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents.” (1 Kings 10:14).

When someone ascends a throne, he is often adorned in gold as a royal status symbol.

“Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.” (Genesis 41:42)

Therefore, knowing very well that the baby is a king, the wise men presented him with gold as a recognition of his royalty.

Secondly, they presented frankincense. The root word for frankincense means “high quality incense.” The burning of incense is a widespread practice in the temples of deities. In biblical times, frankincense was burned in the temple as an offering to God.

He was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. (Luke 1:9)

The presentation of frankincense was an indication of their recognition of the deity of Jesus. The wise men didn’t stop here. Their actions backed the symbol of their gift, in that they actually bowed down to worship the baby Jesus.

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him…” (Luke 2:11)

At this point, their submission to the lordship of Jesus is final and conclusive.

Furthermore, the wise men presented myrrh as a gift. This was the weirdest item in their treasury. Myrrh was commonly used to embalm dead bodies in ancient times. It was also a Jewish custom to embalm the dead with myrrh. When Jesus died, Nicodemus brought myrrh.

“Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus…He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.

Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.” (John 19:38-40)

The offering of the myrrh by the wise men was therefore prophetically symbolic of the death of Jesus. We are blessed by the birth of Jesus, but it is His death that brings us redemption.

Today, Jesus’ star is still glaring in the sky, and no honest spiritual seeker will struggle to see it. The star leads us precisely to the place of the acknowledgement of the royalty, deity and sacrificial death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

Written by Overseer Joel Kwesi Baidoo (Kpandai New Town District)

The celebration of Christmas is indeed a special and joyous occasion for people, especially Christians, worldwide. Christmas, observed on December 25, is an annual celebration that holds great significance in the Christian calendar. It commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of the Christian faith, and reflects on the event’s deep spiritual meaning. While the holiday is widely celebrated around the world, the true meaning and deeper aspects of Christmas often remain a mystery to many. This article aims to unravel the mysteries behind Christmas and draw valuable lessons for the contemporary Church. By exploring this celebration’s historical and spiritual dimensions, we can gain a deeper understanding of the profound impact Christmas holds for believers today.

THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS

Charles H. Spurgeon said, “the birth of Jesus Christ is the grandest light of history, the sun in the heavens of all time. It is the pole-star of human destiny, the hinge of chronology, the meeting place of the waters of the past and future. It conveys the idea that Jesus’ birth is a transformative event that shapes the course of time and serves as a guiding light for humanity. The association of Christmas celebrations with pagan festivals can be traced back to ancient times. Notably amongst these festivals were Saturnalia and Natalis Invicti by the Romans. According to Joseph F. Kelly in his book “The Origins of Christmas”, Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival that took place from December 17th to December 23rd, during the time of the winter solstice. It was dedicated to the god Saturn, who was associated with agriculture and abundance. Saturnalia was a time of great revelry and merriment, where social norms were temporarily suspended, and people engaged in feasting, drinking, and gambling. Slaves were allowed certain privileges during Saturnalia, such as being able to wear the clothing of their masters and being served by them. Gift-giving was an important part of Saturnalia, as small tokens of friendship and appreciation were exchanged among friends and family. The festival featured a public banquet, where people gathered to indulge in elaborate meals and delicacies. Romans also decorated their homes with greenery, such as holly and ivy, and lit candles to symbolise light amid darkness. Saturnalia was believed to bring good luck and fertility for the coming year, and it served as a way to honour Saturn and ensure the continuation of prosperous agriculture.

Also, the festival of Natalis Invicti, meaning the birth of the unconquered Sun, was a Roman festival celebrated on December 25th. It was dedicated to the sun god Sol Invictus, whom the Roman Emperor Aurelian popularised in the 3rd century CE. The festival was influenced by various solar deity cults and had similarities to other winter solstice celebrations in the ancient Mediterranean world. Although there is a debate regarding the exact origins of the festival, it is often associated with the winter solstice and the rebirth of the sun after its shortest day. The festival marked the turning point of winter, when days began to lengthen, symbolising the triumph of light over darkness. Celebrations also included feasting, gift-giving, and lighting candles and bonfires to honour the sun god. The birth of Sol Invictus was viewed as a divine event, and it served as a reminder of the emperor’s divine authority and power.

THE MYSTERY OF CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE CELEBRATIONS

As Christianity spread across the Roman Empire, many pagan practices and traditions assimilated into Christmas celebrations, allowing for an easier transition and acceptance of the new Christian holiday.In an effort to Christianize the existing pagan festivals and appease the Roman population, the early Christian church decided to adopt and transform these celebrations into Christian ones.Pope Julius I officially declared December 25th as the birthdate of Jesus Christ in the 4th century, likely in an attempt to replace the Festival of Natalis Invicti (sun god) with a Christian holiday, that is, the celebration of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Many traditions associated with Saturnalia and the Festival of Natalis Invicti were incorporated into Christian Christmas festivities. For example, the gift-giving tradition was reinterpreted to symbolise the gifts brought by the Wise Men to the baby Jesus. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and candles also became part of Christmas symbolism, representing eternal life and the light of Christ. Additionally, the focus shifted from pagan gods like Saturn and Sol Invictus to the birth of Jesus, marking the shift from a celebration of nature and worldly abundance to the birth of the Christian Savior. The Christian Church aimed to provide a familiar and acceptable framework for the celebration while infusing it with new religious meaning. The Christianization of the Roman Saturnalia and the Festival of Natalis Invicti helped the early Christian Church in its mission to spread Christianity and gain acceptance among the pagan population by repurposing and transforming existing celebrations into a Christian context.

LESSONS FOR THE CONTEMPORARY CHURCH

The Christmas season holds a significant place in the hearts and minds of Christians worldwide. Beyond the festivities and traditions, the celebration of Jesus’ birth offers valuable lessons applicable to the contemporary Church and believers. By embracing the lessons that emanate from Christmas celebrations, the Church can renew its commitment to its mission and inspire transformative change in its members and the world.

Firstly, Christmas reminds all believers of the ultimate expression of God’s love for humanity. According to Martin Luther King Jnr, ‘God doesn’t love us because of our worth, we are of worth because God loves us’. The birth of Jesus represents the divine plan to reconcile humanity to God through sacrificial love. The contemporary Church should recognise and reflect this profound example in its ministry. John 3:16 states, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son…’ By embodying the love of Christ, the Church can bring healing, hope, and reconciliation to a broken world.

Secondly, the Christmas story reminds the Church of the humble circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth. In a lowly manger, surrounded by animals, the Savior of the world entered the scene. This lesson of humility calls the contemporary Church to reject pride and worldly power. The Church ought to serve humbly, seeking to lift the marginalised, proclaiming the good news of Christ without arrogance.

Furthermore, Christmas is a season marked by joy and celebration. The birth of Christ represents the fulfilment of God’s promises, and the arrival of the long-awaited promised Messiah. The contemporary Church can learn from this lesson of joy – to rejoice in the good news of salvation and to radiate hope to the world. In the face of challenges and hardships, the Church can be a beacon of joy, reminding humanity of the transformative power of Christ’s message.

Moreover, the Christmas narrative emphasises unity and reconciliation. The birth of Jesus Christ brought together people from different backgrounds. That is, the shepherds, the wise men, and the angels were all drawn together to worship the newborn King. This lesson of unity calls the contemporary Church to cultivate a spirit of inclusivity. Embracing diversity, the Church can witness the transformative power of Christ’s message by fostering unity and love among its members.

Also, the magi, who presented gifts to the infant Jesus, taught the Church the importance of generosity. Their act of giving reflects the heart of worship and devotion. In a consumer-driven world, the contemporary Church can learn from this lesson and prioritise generosity in its mission. An American writer, Washinton Irving, said, ‘Christmas is the season for rekindling the fire of hospitality’. By generously serving others, supporting the needy, and sharing resources, the Church can tangibly demonstrate Christ’s love to the world.

In addition, the Christmas story exhibits the faithfulness of individuals like Mary and Joseph, who obediently fulfilled God’s plan despite facing challenging circumstances. The contemporary Church can draw from its example and commit to its mission to preach the gospel and make disciples. In the face of an ever-changing world, the Church should remain steadfast, trusting in God’s promises and acting obediently.

Lastly, the Christmas season offers the Church an opportunity for reflection and renewal. During this time, the Church can reflect on the significance of Christ’s birth and its profound implications for humanity. It can renew its commitment to the core teachings of Christ, evaluating its practices and aligning them with the message of love, compassion, and justice.

CONCLUSION

The mystery behind the celebration of Christmas offers relevant lessons for the contemporary Church. By reflecting and applying these lessons, the Church can navigate the challenges of the holiday season, convey the valid message of Christmas, and impact the lives of believers and non-believers alike.Christians must not just be carried away by the fan and excitement that come with it but must seize the occasion to develop an intimate relationship with the indescribable gift of God to mankind. We must always bear in mind that Christ is the reason for the Season.

Written by Pastor Prince Augustine Ababio (Jema Nkwanta District, Kintampo)