Standing Firm In God's Love

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth(2Thessalonians 2:13).

In my Bible, the verse above opens with the heading, "Stand firm". This is an indication this portion of the epistle was written to strengthen and encourage the Thessalonians to stand firm in their faith. In 2Thessalonians, Paul addresses the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, a message we seldom hear in our days. In verse two and three, he tackles a false belief amongst the Thessalonians purporting the second coming has already happened:

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way...(v1-3).

This was a church enduring persecutions and suffering (2Thes 1:4-5) hence a lie of such magnitude will unsettle them. They might be contemplating; "If the second coming has already occurred, what are we then suffering for?" "Is our faith not in vain?". You will notice Paul addresses specifically, the possibility of losing one's faith and uncertainty that such a lie can produce. He wrote, "we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed". Notice also that, some have actually believed the lie of these false teachers. God allowed them to believe a lie because they were unwilling to believe the truth.

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.(v9-12).

Falsehood has the capacity to lead believers astray and we must at all times guard our hearts against deception. In stabilising their hearts, Paul speaks of a truth--the doctrine of election--which is the reality of every believer: "God chose you...to be saved". The believer is chosen of God; handpicked and set aside to be a recipient of God’s love. Salvation is monergestic--strictly a work of God we contributed nothing to. Christ in John 15:16 tells His disciples "You did not choose me, but I chose you”. Peter in 1Pet 2:9 also wrote that “…you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

What qualifies a person to be chosen by God? Nothing! We are not saved by meritorious works. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone(Rom 3:20; 28, Eph 2:8-9, Gal 2:16).

We contributed nothing to our salvation. It is all a work of God’s grace. We were sinners seperated from God(Rom 3:23). We were children of wrath (Eph 2:3). But God extended His love towards us and set us apart–sanctified–to Himself by the regenerating power of The Holy Spirit. “Once [we] were not a people, but now [we] are God’s people; once [we]had not received mercy, but now [we] have received mercy.” (1Pet 2:10). A Christian is a Christian “according to the purpose of [God’s] will” (Eph 1:5). God chose us before the foundation of the earth (Eph. 1:4).

As indicated earlier, the Thessalonian church was a suffering church and this portion of the epistle was written to strengthen and encourage them to stand firm in their faith. Believers suffer and face persecution in various forms. But the reality of God's Sovereignty in electing--choosing sinners--unto eternal life must delight every child of God. God before the foundation of the earth, set His love upon us and He called us "Beloved". When God saves us from the present evil world, He saves us with an everlasting love. He doesn't save with a love that fails. He saves us never to perish. Our hearts must be stepped in God's love towards us. Nothing can separate us from His love (Jeremiah 31:3, John 10:27-28, Romans 8:31-38).

If you are a believer, God has chosen--elected--you to be saved. You did nothing deserving of God's choice. This truth must humble and cause us to lift our voice in adoration, just as Paul did in writing to the Thessalonians, "But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you… (2 Thess 2:13).

Renewed By The Holy Spirit

Titus 3:5-6

The Christian life is a relationship between a Holy God and sinful humanity, who, God in Christ has reconciled unto Himself (2 Cor 5:19). The Bible describes all of us  as sinners separated from God by sin (Rom. 3:23). As Christians, we were once dead in sin, but God through the Holy Spirit quickened us. He gave us life. He changed the disposition of our sinful hearts and brought us to saving faith in Christ Jesus.

Coming to Christ in faith is the first work of renewal the Holy Spirit does in our hearts.
He produces faith in our hearts to believe in Christ for the remission of sins. Salvation is a work of God through the Holy Spirit. Our renewal starts from the day we believed in Christ and were given the right to become children of God.

Now that we are children of God, what is required of us by God?

God requires from us a life of holiness and separation from sin. It not just a requirement. It is what we were created to be: holy (Eph 1:4, 1 Pet 1:15-17). We are called out of the world not to be friends with the world--lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life. This, left on our own is a daunting task because as long as we live on this side of eternity, our struggles with the flesh and with sin will continue:

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.(Gal 5:17).

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak(Matt 26:41).

However, despite the struggle, we are not victims of our flesh. We are not left on our own  to suffer under bondage of sin. God works in us to will and do of His good pleasure, while we, with the help of the Holy Spirit also work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We need not be overcome by sin. The Holy Spirit renews and gives us strength to be victorious.

How can we access this strength to be victorious?

By submission to God through prayer and feeding on His word:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.(Rom 12:1-4).

My Journey from Charismatism to Calvinism*

IT IS A GREAT THING to begin the Christian life by believing good solid doctrine. Some people have received twenty different “gospels” in as many years; how many more they will accept before they get to their journey’s end, it would be difficult to predict. 1

About three years ago, I met Michael Appiah-Duku in a group on facebook. I had just self-published a book, Biblical Truths: Knowing What God Has Prepared For You and during one of my publicity campaigns in the group, I received a message in my inbox from Michael asking, “Are you a theologian?” Michael is aCalvinist and I was a Charismatic. After our first meeting in the group, a bond of friendship developed between us; a bond that is still ablaze today to the glory of God.

As will be expected, our beliefs began to clash. Our clashes, however, were friendly fires predominantly centred on theological and biblical subjects. We disagreed vehemently over many doctrines and the doctrine I resisted fiercely was the doctrine of grace as expounded by Reformed Theology. Top on my list of disagreement was Predestination: God electing some (The Elect) to eternal life, and others (Reprobates) He passed by to eternal damnation.

By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels (1) are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.(2) (1) 1Ti 5:21; Mt 25:41 (2) Ro 9:22,23; Eph 1:5,6; Pr 16:4 2

Predestination was obscene to me. I hated it. It made me angry. How can a Holy and loving God discriminate amongst His creation? Hasn’t He given all of His creation the opportunity to choose life? We all have the free will to choose or reject God. Don’t we? I often argued with Michael. Calvinist and Charismatic friendship is a weird combination. These are two opposing doctrinal beliefs and there was no way we were going to be friends without influencing each other.

Unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, I was the one who was influenced. Michael will shout ‘Soli Deo Gloria’ to that.

One day, I was gripped with the reality that, sitting on the fence without taking a stance between the Calvinist and Arminian divide was only intellectual and spiritual dishonesty. I had been presented with, through further reading, enough biblical evidence to embrace Calvinism and Reform Theology. It will equally be a lack of faith in God’s word, to reject that which is explicit in the Bible. If I didn’t bow, I would only be guilty of “always learning and not able to come to the truth“(2 Tim. 3:7). Gradually, I began to loosen my grip on charismatic doctrine and lean more towards Reform theology, which I found to be biblically sound and God glorifying.

Writing on Reformed Theology, in His book [ebook], What Is Reformed Theology?, R.C Sproul asserted that “Reformed theology is first and foremost theocentric rather than anthropocentric. That is, it is God-centered rather than man-centered.”3

Reform theology indeed is theocentric opposed to much of today’s evangelical church’s ‘anthropocentricism’. The final blow to my intransigent  posture towards Calvinism came when I listened to a message preached by Dr. James Montegomery Boice+ on The doctrine of Election. He spoke from Romans 9. I listened to the message on numerous occasions and never got tired of listening over and over. To date, it remains one of my favourite audio messages.

After a year or two of abhorring Reformed Theology, I am now fully persuaded Calvinism/Reform theology is biblical Christianity. We–Michael and I– wish by this blog to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”(Jude 1:3).

I will want to conclude by leaving you with one who has more authority in defending Calvinism than we have. Hear Charles H. Spurgeon:

I have my own opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel if we do not preach justification by faith without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing unchangeable eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross. 4

Soli Deo Gloria

Notes

* Article first was posted on http://semperreformandagh.com/

1:http://www.spurgeon.org/calvinis.htm
2: The  Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter Three, Of God’s Eternal Decrees, III
3: What Is Reformed Theology [ebook], R.C. Sproul, (Grand Rapids,Baker Publishing, 1997).
4:http://www.reformedreader.org/spurgeon/squotes.htm

+Deceased

Does Truth Matter?

"Truth is wonderful but in itself it is dead. It is like a coal shed. We need more than orthodox Bible-teaching. Coal only releases its energy in combination with fire, and the fire of the Holy Spirit is needed to set truth ablaze!" (Luke 24:32).

The aforementioned quote appeared in a whatsapp chat in a group I am a member. I was startled and I wasn't the only one. Another member of the group commented: " Such comments from renowned pastors with so much influence gives much cause for worry. It's most unfortunate". A back and forth ensued. I presented these thoughts below in response to the quote:

"Truth is wonderful but in itself is dead": Truth...in itself is dead?....What is that really supposed to mean? What happened to "you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free"? How about "sanctify them by your word, your word is truth"...The danger is our always trying to create a dichotomy between Truth and The Holy Spirit. Truth and The Holy Spirit, these two are inseparable. He, the Holy Spirit, is the one who inspires and reveals truth. We can't even talk about Truth without the Holy Spirit. He in fact is referred to as the Spirit of Truth. The moment Truth is revealed, you can be assured the Holy Spirit has done His work: “ But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you."(John 15:26, John16:13-14).

"We need more than Orthodox Bible-teaching"...Orthodox Bible-teaching doesn't necessarily point to truth. There is Orthodox Biblical teaching that twists the truth, but any Orthodox Bible-teaching that focuses on Truth, surely gets the blessing of the Holy Spirit. People can teach without teaching the truth. But where truth is taught, we are confident of the Holy Spirit doing a work amongst His people. Luke 24:32 used as a proof text says nothing about "the fire of the Holy Spirit setting truth ablaze" "They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?" If the Holy Spirit set anything ablaze in that text, it was the hearts of the travellers on the road to Emmaus. There was a systematic presentation of Truth from Scriptures that caused their hearts to burn within them: "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself."(Luke 24:27). The Holy Spirit is inherent in the truth of Holy Scripture. He inspired it. Jesus said the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Truth opens eyes: "And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him."(vs 31).

This man of God(I mentioned his name in the response) could have just said "we need more than Orthodox Bible -teaching"and that will be fine. But "truth in itself dead" is a dangerous statement. Truth in itself is not dead. It is we who are dead to truth and it is our dead hearts that needs to be set ablaze not Truth. Truth matters and is not dead of itself. Truth is alive and kicking. Let us not in anyway think truth is dead. We are dead and need truth to revive us

Sowing Seed Of Faith: Greed or Generosity?

2 Corinthians 8, 9.

Have you noticed it? Money -- prosperity, a comfortable and good life -- has become a major motivation for becoming a Christian amongst many in our days. Wealth, abundance, guaranteed protection from danger is promised on many pulpits--great and small-- week after week, day after day in the name of faith, sowing seeds and positive confessions.

Many throng into churches, not because they are regenerated souls seeking God. They come at the back of "what's in it for me?" and they hear what they want to hear: "Give your life to Christ and all your problems will be solved". "Are you struggling in life?Try Jesus, He will change your life". "Do you want to marry, be successful in business? Try Jesus". Of course, Jesus changes lives. But there is a more glorious agenda of God in our state of redemption: "conforming us to the image of Christ" (Romans 8:29). Personally, I believe if we keep insisting or are made to believe faith in Christ positions us for a good life and immunizes us from danger, we are spiting those brethren enduring persecution in other parts of the world. Has their faith been rendered ineffective? Or they not being faithful in sowing seeds? Also, believers of earlier centuries in church history died martyrs deaths, refusing to denounce their faith to save their lives. Hebrews 11, which can be described as the hallmark of faith in Scriptures, doesn't only narrate stories of victory. Unfortunately, we stop too soon on the accounts of victory, ignoring the other gory accounts. Talk about Hebrews and probably vs 1 and vs 6 are the most quoted: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."..."And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." True, God rewards those who seek Him. But who said reward in anyway means material prosperity, health and wealth? God does reward with material blessings, I don't doubt that. But it is not a guaranteed promise to every believer. While on God rewarding those who seek Him, can we also appeal to the suffering that comes to those who will enter the kingdom of God? "...through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

In Hebrews 11, while some "through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight."(vs 33-34), others were also "tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy— wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised"(vs 35-39). Did you read the last verse? "And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised". Faith, in no way guarantees us a smooth passage here on earth and no amount of "seed sowing" can change situations that God won't change.

How pathetic! The gospel--God's good news of reconciling sinners unto Himself through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ at calvary-- has become what Scriptures explicitly warns against: If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.(2Timothy 3:3-5).

"...imagining that godliness is a means of gain". This is a perfect description of the Christianity many are professing today--equating faith in God with material prosperity. But we need a stern reminder that "...godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."(2 Timothy 6:6-10).

"Sow a seed of faith into the anointing" "The environment is charged, God is here to bless you. Take your wallet, your purse, wherever your money is, sow a seed of faith into this atmosphere" "Sow a seed for open doors" Sow a seed of faith for your breakthrough....These are words common on charismatic pulpits. And recently, another new act has emerged. Walking to the pulpit and dropping money while a preacher is preaching? Are we now buying God's blessings?...And if you are observant, you must not miss this current craze of fund raising in Church. How predictable this has become. Every guest preacher must raise funds after his message: Ghc1000, Ghc500, Ghc200, Ghc100, Ghc50, Ghc20, Ghc10....whatever you have in your wallet/purse, don't go without sowing a seed. What's going on? Don't misunderstand me. I believe in the principle of sowing and reaping: giving. It is a biblical principle. The point of this post however is to address the abuse of a biblical principle thereby promoting greed and preying on of innocent and gullible souls.

In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul has been collecting money for the Jerusalem church which was in need. The church in Macedonia, which was far less materially prosperous, compared to the Corinthian church has been very generous in this gift of giving:  "We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. "For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints"(2 Corinthians 8:1). Note the phrase "of their own accord". Paul didn't coerce them, he didn't manipulate them. They gave willingly. Unlike today, when much of our giving to the work of God is precipitated by manipulation and in extreme cases pronouncing of curses on people who don't have to give. In writing to the Corinthian church about this exercise of collecting money for the Jerusalem Church, Paul used the example of the Macedonian church to  appeal for a show of  generosity and genuine christian love in parting with their money: "But as you excel in everything— in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you — see that you excel in this act of grace also. I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine." (2 Corinthians 8:7-8). "I say this not as a command..." Note that also. Clearly, Paul was appealing to their generosity rather than manipulating and exacting from them.

Let's look at Chapter 9 now. "...I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. ". (vs 5). Paul sent people ahead to collect what has already been promised by the Corinthian church, "willing[ly], not as an exaction(excessive or unjust demand for money, extortion).  "The point is this:" Paul continues, "whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."(vs6-7). I believe Paul in vs 6 is making a contrast between being generous and stingy when he used the words bountifully and sparingly.

The whole idea of giving, is to engender generosity, not greed as we see it today. We are not engaged in a business transaction with God. Our blessing is not grounded in how much we give and don't give. Generosity is never about how much a person gives, it is always about the heart behind the act of giving: "God loves a cheerful giver". Remember the widow's mite? Remember Simon The Sorcerer? "Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!" (Acts 8:18-20). We can't bribe God, we can't court His blessings and gifts with money. No matter how much seed-faith we sow, our relationship with God is not driven by what we give. It is driven by what He has already given: “ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16).

Sound Doctrine or Sentiments?

It was 1st January, 2015 . 1:30am. We had just returned from 31st December watch night service(night vigil).  Before retiring to bed, we deliberated and shared  our expectations for 2015 . Theodora--my wife -- asked a question that startled me."Are you grateful for 2015? "  Before I will answer her, she added a follow up question "what does your new doctrine say against gratitude?".  She is my wife, so of course, I knew why she was asking those questions.

Throughout the service, I was seated soberly :no shouting, no screaming, no jumping--a big contrast of my old self. So to her, that quiet demeanour, in the midst of the "joyful noise" meant something was wrong with her husband who previously will be screaming and jumping all over the place. Let me give you a little background of what has happened to me which I believe can further inform you of the reasons behind my wife's questions. I am of Charismatic persuasion but recently I have been looking intently into Reformed Theology and have questioned many of the beliefs  I hold as a Charismatic. That's a brief history.

Now, naturally, Theodora is the first person I must get to understand the changes taking place in my Christian beliefs. This, has, by default, made her the first person I express my disagreements over practices I deem unbiblical. I once disregarded an instruction  to apply anointing oil on my forehead to "seal" my  Iife. It is unbiblical, I argued to myself.  Ephesians 1:13-14 informed my decision.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Is the seal of the Holy Spirit over my life as a believer not formidable enough for protection? Do I need something else to compliment what God has already done in His word?  This and many other unbiblical practices have become a part of our everyday worship.

Unfortunately, many believers today don't question what they believe. We swallow everything in: hook, line and sinker. Sentiments, emotions and feelings have taken over sound doctrines and biblical instructions. The order of the day is what a respected man of God said. Rev. ABC  said it so it is true and people, whether it makes sound, biblical, logical and rational sense care less. Unlike the Bereans, we do not search scriptures to find out if what a man of God said conforms to the word of God. Some of the acts we associate with Christianity in our part of the world will easily pass for magic and superstition. Sound doctrine(teaching) or sentiments? What will we build our lives on?

Scriptures admonish us to build our lives on truth-the truth of the word of God. Sadly, many believers don't take personal responsibility for their Christian walk, hence, they are tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). Paul in his epistle to Pastor Timothy also admonished sound teachings (1 Timothy 3:16, 4:1-4). Jesus said the truth--not emotions and sentiments--will set us free. John 17:17 also points us to truth. So does John 4:24. To live a victorious christian life, our foundations must be built on sound and solid doctrines. The word must take root in our lives. We must mature to be able to also instruct others in the word of God. We must rightly divide the word and we must be doers of the word and not hearers only.

Grace: A Total Transformation

And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him” (Acts 22:20).

This is Paul; recounting his former deeds. You admire Paul right? Before he became Paul, he was Saul: a murderer and hated believers with all zeal. He has blood on his hand. Today, if you are looking for the equivalent of Saul(Paul), look at the most gruesome terrorist group around: Saul(Paul) could could be a leader of any one of them.

Image courtesy gracelandchurch.com

You will understand it better when you consider the believers response when they heard of Saul's conversion. They didn't believe it. They took it to be a scam, another strategy to get believers. Ananias even had guts to question Jesus' instructions: "Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name." (Acts 9:13-14). Hear more: "But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? (vs21). This guy Paul doesn't belong in the fold of God's people humanly speaking. He unleashed terror on God's people  yet he was a chosen vessel of the Lord. In response to Ananias who had questioned the Lord earlier, Jesus said "... he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:" (Acts 9:15).

If you still don't get the terror of the guy I am writing about, this would be helpful. I believe Saul's terror rose up to heaven and broke the very heart of Jesus. I am speculating on this one: I believe Jesus stood up and said "I must stop this guys, enough is enough"...so on his way to Damascus to unleash more terror, the Lord brought him low on his feet: "And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."(Acts 9:3-6).

Saul the terrorist "trembling and astonished"...the rest of his life he became a disciple of the Lord and what a gift he was to the body of Christ. If you are a believer and you don't admire Paul then you have no good role models. But, before your admiration goes overboard, note that Paul was a work of grace: Total Grace. No wonder he wrote so much about grace than any other. He was a Scholar, he has rights to boasting, but knowing who he was, he said "by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."(1 Corinthians 15:20).

What have you done that you think you are beyond the reach of God's grace? Grace gives a Total Transformation

Church Reforms In Ghana: My Thoughts

4: All Hands On Deck

After the first in this series, I experienced a little of what I will describe as a panic reaction. “What have I gotten myself into?” I asked myself. Considering what I had started writing, all kinds of questions started flashing my mind: “Who are you to address such issues?” “What authority do you have to address this?” However, if this was the first time I was questioning myself about a write up or series, I would have given up the whole idea one time! But I always plunge into what I sense God has placed on my heart to write about. 
 
Oops! The phrase “…what God has placed on my heart…” incidentally happens to be another dangerous phrase that is easily abused. In fact, many of the abusers of God’s name walk around with some kind of “a God inspired activity”. I love the way the critics put it: “Self-acclaimed man of God”. I always wonder what they mean. Who really determines who is God acclaimed?

Okay, so as this series progressed, my nerves also progressed. One of my anxieties is the possibility of someone reading through the lines and thinking I am talking about a particular church, denomination or minister of God. If you’re ever tempted to do that while reading this series or you have actually done that already, please shove that idea out of your mind quickly.



 My agenda is only one: To address some of the ills in the Christian environment in Ghana. I am not addressing your church or your particular denomination (on second thought, why not, if I am addressing yours and it’s the truth, please repent). I am addressing the Body of Christ in general: Christians —Christianity —in Ghana in particular.

On the back of that disclaimer, let me address you now my reader; especially you, who identifies with Christ. You have a part to play in this reform. Note that when Jesus said we are the light of the world, He was addressing individuals. The Body of Christ is a living organisation made up of people. As part of this Body, we all, as individuals have a part to play in ensuring we are living out the assignment of being lights in a world of darkness. The church as an organisation exists to provide a platform for every member of the Body of Christ to identify their gift(s) and callings in fulfilling the grand agenda of God. The church is an equipping centre. It‘s God’s training ground for recruiting His players:

“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord” (Romans 12:4-11). (Compare also 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4)

When you identify with Christ, He places you in His church with your particular gifts to be used in reaching out to the world. Hear me loud and clear: you and I are a part of the reforms needed in the Body of Christ. You don’t need to be a preacher. You don’t need to be any extra ordinary. You don’t have to possess any special abilities. Whatever God has gifted you with, wherever you are, wherever you find yourself use those gifts. Be yourself. Be a living testimony of Christ wherever you find yourself. Radiate His grace and love. Be a sweet aroma of Christ to the world. (2 Corinthians 2:15). Be a part of this Reforms