Posts in category: Top Stories

The Founder and Executive Director of Salt and Light Ministries, Rev. Dr Joyce Rosalind Aryee, has advised Christians to infest others with their purity for a catalysed transformation of the moral fibre of the nation. 

She states that the body of Christ should exert Christlike influence in all aspects of society. 

‘If Ghana is corrupt, then it is directly proportional to our lack of being the salt of the society,” she lamented, stressing, “We have been sitting as salt on the selves of society and not applying our saltiness.” 

Speaking on the topic, “The Church as Salt and Light of the World” at the 2nd All Ministers’ Conference held at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh, from Tuesday to Friday for pastors and church leaders from over 280 denominations across Ghana, she pointed out that in Matthew Chapter 5, Jesus described the essential attitudes of his disciples. 

She said those ‘be-attitudes’ should be regularly displayed wherever Christians are identified. 

Touching on the importance of salt, Rev. Dr Aryee said salt is so essential and critical to life and was used as a salary for soldiers in ancient days. She postulated that salt is an essential commodity that people need, and it is connected with purity because it comes from the purest of things – the sand and the sea; thus, the Church must be seen to exhibit that purity.

“Whether corporate or individual, we are the body of Christ and must radiate His purity,” she stressed. 

She called on the Church to continually acknowledge the headship of Christ and avoid seeking praise and vainglory, saying, “Unless we realise that the Church is the body of Christ and Christ leads us as head, we can never succeed.”

Dr Aryee intimated that Jesus described his Church as light on a city to shine, salt of the earth to provide taste and yeast to give influence. Until these attributes are common with the body of Christ, the Church will remain insignificant in the nations.  

“As a body of Christ, we are called to hinder social decay by being a sweetener of society. People must emulate us rather than drag us into the pit,” she emphasised.

She observed that “the Ghana we want will be the Ghana Jesus makes. But we have a role to play by halting rottenness in the system.”

She cautioned against being aloof when evil persists in the land, stressing, “We must make sure that the food called Ghana is tasty because we serve as the right proportion of salt in it. Our presence should bring excellence, beauty, and perfection.”

She encouraged Christians not to think they are alone since they and the Holy Spirit are the majority. The power of God has transformed us, and we must make sure that we demonstrate the beauty of Christ in us, she added.

‘We are agents of hope. We must show the joy of the Lord to the people. We are the catalyst of transformation and God’s hope. We cannot isolate ourselves from the world but be actively involved in it. The agenda is about transforming the world. It’s about changing from the inside. Let’s tell our people to stop cheating and stealing,” she concluded.

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The President of the Africa Bible Centre for Disciple–making (ABCD), Apostle Jude Hama, has said the existence of the Church is to raise mature Christlike believers to effect moral transformation in the nations. 

The former General Director of the Scripture Union (SU), Ghana, said this in a presentation on the topic: “Discipleship: Raising Christlike Believers” at the 2nd All Ministers Conference (the biggest interdenominational gathering of Ghanaian pastors and church leaders) at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh on Friday. 

The disciple–making and training specialist stressed that disciple-making and discipleship should be geared towards the transformation of the nation.

Apostle Jude Hama indicated that God wants his will to be realised when the nation is populated by Christlike persons who know the biblical majestic Christ better so that they can live a regular, consistent lifestyle of godliness with integrity in every area of human life. 

He submitted that if the growth of the Church is not tempered with Christlike believers, then the growth is a left-over. He stressed that the Church must adequately understand the New Testament biblical pattern for practical disciple-making.

He charged the Church in Ghana to build resilient, mature, Christlike disciples to work on the Ghana God desires. Apostle Jude Hama asked the Church to provide adequate traditional and contextual discipleship and small-group Bible study materials to attain this desire.

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The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana and President of the African Methodist Council, Most Rev. Dr Paul Boafo, has intimated that education in Ghana should inculcate knowledge and piety to provide a holistic formation of the human mind and heart.

According to him, there is a huge disconnect between knowledge and piety, and it is a dangerous crime for that to continue, saying, “Morality in this country is sinking, and in her place, we see greed, murder, selfishness. The Ghanaian society is beset with a lack of accountability, probity and integrity.”

The Presiding Bishop was speaking at the second interdenominational conference for Ghanaian pastors, dubbed ‘All Ministers Conference,’ hosted by The Church of Pentecost at the Pentecost Convention Centre at Gomoa Fetteh near Kasoa. The three-day conference, which ended on Friday, aimed at arriving at the unique role the Church can play in casting a moral vision and national development agenda for Ghana.

Most Rev. Dr Boafo opined that though Ghana has a moral compass, “we have just lost it.” 

He reckoned that the Church is the nation’s moral compass and cannot afford to be silent on national issues that mitigate against progress, development and social transformation. 

He noted that education is one of the tools in the hand of the Church to turn the tide. He advanced that mutual respect, equity and justice, honesty, humility, transparency, courage and conviction are human virtues that must play a major role in Ghanaian schools.

“Knowledge is power, but knowledge that does not set itself in the context of God and takes morality into account is a horrible knowledge that can lead to doom and disaster,” he said, adding, “Perfect students who are heartless is a crime. We have a role to play in our governance, schools and institutions.”

He charged Church leadership to rise and find a way out of the quagmire of deficient leadership and immoral citizenry. 

“Leadership without morality is dangerous. If we are looking for people to lead and direct us, and they have no morals, we are heading for doom,” he forewarned, adding, “If we back out and look on, we will forever be doomed. We must take our place wherever it matters, and education is one such place.”

He advised that in providing quality education by the Church, the aim should be to set the wills of the people right and not to go in there and add to the rot. 

He disclosed that the Wesleyan focus was to see education as the act of recovering to man his rational perfection, and religion was seen as central to achieving that. He was proud that the Church in Ghana had not abandoned this essential role of providing quality education. 

“No institution has given direction and guidance to Ghana than the Church, and this is evident from the educational institutions we find providing holistic formation in hearts and minds.”

He emphasised the need to strengthen all aspects of morality in educational institutions, particularly those established by churches. 

Most Rev. Dr Boafo said any education that is not fashioned to groom students after the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ has no essence. 

He proposed that the Church strengthen its relationship with the government, bring on board its philosophy and aim of providing education, and design a curriculum emphasising that God is supreme. 

“We cannot have people who are first class students who are corrupt, thieves and do not have sympathy for people, and don’t love people and God,” he lamented, pleading that “morality should not be decoupled from education because it is the part that touches the heart.”

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The Senior Pastor of The City of God Church and Apostle to the Newfrontiers Churches in West Africa, Apostle Dr John Kpikpi, has charged Christians to rediscover the icon of faith to enable them to take dominion and rule nations to truncate the corrupt and immoral practices flooding the Ghanaian society. 

Addressing participants of the 2nd All Ministers Conference on Thursday at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh, Apostle Dr Kpikpi expressed concern about how people perceive politics as a dirty arena that men and women of God ought not to partake in. 

The Apostle to the Newfrontiers churches in West Africa was speaking on the topic, “The Church; God’s Hope for the Transformation of the Nation.” 

Apostle Dr Kpikpi believes that God intentionally calculated a time for Joseph to go and serve in the palace of Portifer, which was a very close position to governance, so he could take charge and avert problems in times of difficulties to save a nation. 

He urged Christians not to vacate the seat of governance for unbelievers. He pointed out that when Jesus Christ was born, the prophecy attributed to him was that his throne would be upon his shoulder, and he would be called the wonderful counsellor and ruler. 

“Therefore, as believers who carry the DNA of Christ, we must step up our effort to control and rule the nations,” he stressed.

The City of God Church Senior Pastor said thrones and rulership were created and made sacred and pure by God. Therefore, Christians must take up the mantle of rulership to fulfil the promises of God for the nation. According to him, governments should jiggle when they hear of believers staging up for transformation. 

Apostle Dr John Kpikpi maintained that politics originated from the Bible. He noted that Jesus Christ had to defend himself before political leaders; therefore, believers should not consider politics a dirty game and quit. 

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Professor Stephen Adei, a former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), has posited that the home is the best avenue for the intergenerational transfer of the Christian faith.

He said the home remains the potent force for instruction in solid Christian values, ethics and morals.

According to the founder of the Ghana Christian International High School, the people expected to transform the nation are in the Christian home. However, he observed that only a few people are working at winning and discipling them.

Presenting a paper on the ‘Christian Home and National Development’ at the 2nd All Ministers Conference ongoing at the Pentecost Convention Centre, Prof. Adei mentioned the home as a place of worship of God and a demonstration of unconditional love and affection. 

“If we train our home to be salt and light, our children can’t help but preserve the moral fibre of society,” he said.

Prof. Adei opined that every Christian has three callings: to abide with Christ, tell their families what the Lord has done, and go into the world and preach the good news. 

“Your home is the first place to testify if you’ve really met the Lord. They know you inside-out, but when they see the change, then you have won them for Christ.” 

He advised parents to make Jesus the Saviour of the home and its Lord, stressing that Jesus must be the head of the family and his word must rule.

He said since the Church continues to serve its purpose of disciplining Christians, the church in the Christian home can meet seven days a week. “The family must meet to share the word of God regularly and pray for themselves, the Church and the nation,” he stated, adding that the home is a den of protection, a means of God’s provision and above all the house of God.

He said if the home is well-discipled, it becomes an instrument for social cohesion, economic and political development and spiritual transformation. He disclosed that discipling the home takes time and requires intentional efforts. 

“Parents must give the needed attention to the home, and be intentional about it,” he said.

He said time management becomes crucial in this enterprise of discipling the home and admonished parents to use their precious time for discipling the home. He tasked the gathering to learn to balance their time at work and make time for discipling the home. 

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The Metropolitan Archbishop of the Cape Coast Dioceses of the Catholic Church, Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, has challenged managers of the educational institutions in Ghana to integrate faith formation and formal education into the educational system in the bid to produce citizens who are morally sound for national development.

“In fulfilling the Great Commission, faith formation is crucial and inseparable from each other in order to form a proper person, a holistic human being who would mature into a full stature of Christ,” he said.

He added: “An integration of faith formation and formal education in the nation for humanity, as well as service to people, would leave a lasting legacy for the next generation notwithstanding the challenges today.”

He stated this on Thursday when speaking on the theme, “Moral Vision and National Development – The Catholic Church Perspective,” at the 2023 All Ministers Conference (the biggest non-denominational gathering of Ghanaian church leaders) at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh near Kasoa.

Archbishop Palmer-Buckle stated: “Education of the head, the heart and the hands ought to be inseparable and indispensable. It must rather be aligned to ensure that the holistic development and formation of citizens is in line with the kingdom of God and its principles.”

Sharing lessons and best practices from the Catholic church’s perspective on building a morally sound nation, Archbishop Palmer-Buckle said that the Catholic church undertakes the grooming of a lot of people for Christ-like leadership in all the various aspects of human endeavours, be it politics or traditional, civil service, industry and enterprise, academia and legal, among others. 

Archbishop Palmer-Buckle further called for a denunciation of all that is unrighteous, evil and contrary to the values of the kingdom of God. Challenging the ministers, he reiterated the need for Christians to bring to bear their qualities of salt, light and yeast in fulfilling the Great Commission.

“Our salt should purify us as leadership of Christianity of our rot and unrighteousness. The light of Christ that we bear should enlighten the darkness in our lives as leaders of the Christian population in Ghana. Our yeast should proactively be empowering of all circumstances of those entrusted to us,” he said.

He stressed: “There is only one moral vision, and it is Christ Jesus Our Lord. The 1992 constitution is the blueprint of moral vision and should not be taken for granted.”

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The Founder of the Royalhouse Chapel International, Apostle General Sam Korankye Ankrah, has urged Christians to recover their glory and power to have a solid influence in controlling the institutions of the country.

Speaking on the topic, “The Church Living in the Fear of God,” at the second edition of the All Ministers Conference on Thursday at the Pentecost Convention Centre, Gomoa Fetteh, the Apostle General lamented the presence of churches in every corner of the country, yet moral bankruptcy reigns among the people in Ghana. 

According to him, the Church is a defining, dominant, directional and developing force that needs to take dominium of the nation and determine its direction to eradicate corruption and attain moral discipline. 

He expressed worry about the rate at which energetic youth queue up in various embassies each day, seeking visas to travel outside the country to seek greener pastures. 

He charged politicians to stop defrauding the people, all in the name of politics and democracy.

He called on pastors and church leaders to educate their followers on voting for God-fearing people rather than encouraging them to step out and exercise their voting. He believed this would enable the citizenry and believers to elect leaders with moral vision.   

The Apostle General Korankye Ankrah concluded that the Church depicts Christ himself and must recover its glory and power to determine how the country’s affairs should be steered. 

“Politicians alone cannot manage the nation in attaining its expected vision; the Church must intervene to put the country on the right track,” he stressed.   

This year’s All Ministers Conference (the biggest inter-denominational gathering for ministers in Ghana) is under the theme: “Moral Vision and National Development – the Role of the Church.”    

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The President of The Apostolic Church- Ghana, Apostle Dr. Aaron Ami-Narh, has called for a review of the approach to the fight against moral corruption and decadence in the country.

He explained that moral corruption is a universal problem from which all manner of corruption emanates and underscored the need for the Church, in general, to be responsive in addressing the menace of moral corruption, which has ultimately led to the woes of the world today.

Apostle Dr Ami-Narh, therefore, emphasised the need for the Church to adopt a holistic approach based on the teachings of love and faith, which have proven to be victorious over moral corruption.

“Moral corruption must be fought from the inside because it is a heart issue. Only God’s word gets deep enough to separate the soul from the spirit,” he revealed.

He added: “Religiosity is not a cure for moral corruption. Faith alone cannot also fight corruption. It takes a combination of drugs to cure moral corruption, faith, and love.”

He said this in a presentation on Thursday on the topic, “The Church and the Battle against Moral Corruption,” at the 2023 All Ministers Conference (the biggest non-denominational gathering of Ghanaian pastors) currently ongoing at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh near Kasoa on the theme: “Moral Vision and National Development: The Role of Church.” 

Apostle Dr Narh-Ami asked Christians to express their faith through love, quoting 1 Corinthians 13:1-5 to support his argument. He added that victory over moral corruption is assured once faith graduates into love. 

He observed that although some efforts have been put in place by the Church in Ghana in the fight against moral corruption, a lot needed to be done to make good the gains achieved so far. 

“The average Christian does not know what he must become and therefore lacks the focus of what he must become,” he said, adding, “You may have speed as a young person, but don’t throw away the older ones. They have something to teach you.”

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The President of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International (FGBFI), Mr Emmanuel Baba Mahama, has challenged believers to proclaim the word of God and evangelise wherever they find themselves to make Christ known.

“The task of evangelising the world has been given to all Christians, and it is not exclusive of the priests and clergy. The gospel must be proclaimed by all believers in the marketplace,” he said.

He voiced his frustration regarding the passive stance adopted by certain Christians towards evangelism, as outlined in Mark 16:20. He pointed out that in today’s Christianity, the majority of the work is carried out by only approximately 1-5% of the body of Christ, while a significant portion of believers, around 95-99%, remain dormant like a slumbering giant, waiting to be roused to participate in God’s end-time harvest plan.

Speaking on the theme, “The Christian as a Minister in the Marketplace” at the ongoing 2023 All Ministers Conference (Non-denominational conference for church leaders) at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh near Kasoa, the former Chief Executive Officer of Vanguard Assurance Limited indicated that the task of evangelism in the marketplace (government, business and education) should not be the exclusive vocation of the clergy.

He lamented about the existence of ‘pew warmers’ in the church and the concentration of various associations and ministries in the church, like the Men’s Fellowship and Women’s Ministry, among others, functioning as ceremonial groupings to observe funerals, weddings and birthday celebrations rather than their core mandate of reaching out to the lost in the marketplace.

Mr Mahama called on believers to make conscious efforts to become the propagators of the gospel. 

“The task of evangelism is not limited to the clergy alone. A roll call of the men of faith in the Old Testament indicates that almost all of them were people in the marketplace, merely making a difference,” he said, stressing, “The general marching order of the Great Commission that binds the believers is to go out.”

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