The General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, has charged pastors and officers of the church to jealously guard the Pentecostal fire that the forebearers of the church have bequeathed the church.
“There is something in this church that we must seriously guard, and that is the fire (power) that keeps the church running,” he said, adding, “We really need fresh oil to keep the fire in us burning always.”
Apostle Kumi-Larbi made the call at the maiden orientation for resident pastors of Pentecost International Worship Centres (PIWCs) and their wives, executive committee members and presiding elders at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh, near Kasoa on Friday September 10, 2021 on the topic: “Keeping The Fire On The Altar Burning.”
Quoting his Scriptures from Leviticus 6:8-13; Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-4, among others, the General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost took the participants back to the early days of the church where visible signs and wonders were prevalent whenever people gathered to pray.
He stated that God continues to perform signs and wonders in the church today though many Christians are not experiencing it, simply because the fire that propels the miraculous appears to have been quenched by many believers through their actions and inactions.
He charged both ministers and officers of the church to make every effort to ensure that the fire that they came to meet in the church does not die out.
“The fire that we came to meet in the church must be kept burning. When the baton is given to you, you dare not let it fall. You must run with it until you get to the finishing line and hand it over to the next generation.
“This call upon your life is a noble task; it is a task to ensure that the fire in the church is maintained. When we as ministers and officers are on fire, members will come to church in high expectation and they would love to come to church always,” he stressed.
He added: “God has given us something and we dare not bring unauthorized fires – human experiences, schemes and other mechanical methods to adulterate it and to quench it.”
To keep the fire in the tent of tabernacle burning at all times which represented the presence of God in the midst of the Israelites, Apostle Kumi-Larbi said God commanded the priests to maintain it and never allow it to go out.
“God instructed them to remove the ashes, carry them outside the camp to a clean place, add fresh firewood and also arrange the burnt offerings every morning to keep the fire burning always. To ensure that the fire on the altar is kept burning always requires hard work,” he said.
Stating the reasons why God commanded the priests to maintain the fire on the altar, Apostle Kumi-Larbi revealed that the burning fire on the altar was to remind the people of Israel that God was with them. It also reminded them of the role the fire plays in sin offerings of the people, saying, “The fire shows the mercies of God that takes away our sin and shame and restores us into right standing with God.”
Touching on the possible killers of the fire, the General Secretary identified the failure to remove the ashes and the failure to add more wood to the fire as the main cause.
“The ashes are the byproducts of our offerings and works in God, thus our past experiences. We don’t have to rely on them; we should forget about them and look for fresh ones. We need fresh anointing for each today. We cannot rely on yesterday’s anointing to confront today’s challenges,” he said.
According to him, the wood that ignites the fire are oxygen, heat, fuel and the chemical reaction, saying, “Oxygen represents prayer, fuel represents the word of God, heat represents the Holy Spirit, and the chemical reaction is Christian fellowship since iron sharpens iron.”
Stressing on prayer, he indicated that when oxygen (prayer) is fueled by the word of God, the fire will definitely come.
Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi concluded his presentation by asking pastors and officers to serve the Lord with passion and allow people to see the light in them and feel the heat. “Repairing the broken altar is a prerequisite for igniting the fire of God,” he stated.
PENTECOST NEWS.