The General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, (COP) Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, embarked on a 4-day working visit to the Bolgatanga Area of the Church from July 10 to 13, 2018 to dedicate some Community Based Church Building (CBCB) funded projects in the Area.
Apostle Kumi-Larbi was ably assisted by the Bolga Area Head, Apostle Wilberforce Kwame Nkrumah Agyeman, the Osu District Minister, Pastor Simon Antwi and a cross-section of ministers in the Bolga Area.
As part of the visit to the Bolgatanga Area, Apostle Alexander Kumi-Larbi commissioned 4 mechanized boreholes in the Chiana, Chuchuliga, Zebilla and Bongo Districts funded by the COP Headquarters. At Bongo District, the General Secretary also commissioned a bread bakery and laid the foundation stones for the Bolga Area Office Complex and Bolga Central church building projects.
At the Bazua Central Assembly church dedication ceremony, Pastor Simon Antwi, exhorted church members on the topic, “Dedicate Your House to the Lord”. He likened the Christian life to a warfare and maintained that the Christian’s lot is a fight from victory unto victory.
“Fear is one of the greatest weapons of the devil. What you fear will always overcome you. However, God has already won the battle for the Christian (1 Corinthians 15:57; 1 John 4:4). Therefore, the Christian does not struggle for victory but he or she moves from victory to victory,” he said.
Pastor Antwi, however, cautioned that when one relies on their own knowledge and wealth, they cannot be victorious.
Expounding on the principles governing warfare in the Old Testament era (Deuteronomy 20:3-8), Pastor Antwi revealed that soldiers who fell short of expectations were asked to return home lest they cause the defeat of the entire army. These, he said, included the fearful soldiers (as they could infest the rest with their fear); those who had pledged marriage to others (they would not be focused in battle); the vineyard planters (due to divided attention); as well as those who had not dedicated their newly-built house to the Lord.
He explained that anyone who has believed in Jesus Christ becomes the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16). Therefore, in order for the Christian to be victorious in the warfare of this life, he or she ought to dedicate their house (body) to the Lord (Romans 12:1). It is only then that the Christian would bear God’s name (his life brings glory to God), bear God’s mark as a slave (Exodus 21:1-6), become holy to the Lord; encapsulated by God’s glory (2 Chronicles 7:1-2), and exempted from mass destruction (2 Corinthians 5:1).
Report by: Pastor Emmanuel Yirebi
