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Opinions of Monday, 27 May 2013

Columnist: Baka, Benedicta

Prophets and pastors are not God

It is mind boggling and worrying the way people tend to invest all their time and faith in a fellow human!

In as much as I do not see myself in any position to criticize the powers that Pastors and Prophets use to perform miracles, I think many of them contribute largely to the obsessions their followers often have with them.

I have personally heard and seen self acclaimed men of God who sell portraits of themselves at exorbitant prices to their followers to hang in their rooms. The Question is, for what?

I have also heard a story on Peace FM where a Pastor packed a car full of boxes containing Bic Pens for sale at GHC50.00 for parents to buy for their wards who are going to sit for the BECE in order to pass!

About two years ago, my sister went for the watch night service on December 31st at the Trade Fair centre where a very renowned Man of God was holding a service. According to her, in the middle of the service, an announcement was made that there were white handkerchiefs for sale therefore anyone who wanted success and prosperity to be his/her portion in the New Year has to buy one. She said they gave the prize from GHC500.00 and she was shocked seeing people getting up in their numbers to buy. They later brought the prize down to GHC200.00 for everyone to be able to buy. People were practically pushing one another to be able to buy. She said at that point, she just took her bag and left because having the white handkerchief was the condition for success.

In order to see many Pastors of our time, one needs to pay CONSULTATION FEES! What is more baffling about all these is the obsession people have with these so called Men of God. They believe and do whatever they tell them. From selling all their properties and bringing the proceeds as offering to God to asking women to sleep with them in order to drive away demons that are hindering their chances of marrying! Some people barber their hair to look like certain pastors and prophets, others also want to walk, dress and speak like some. Unbelievable! There are prayer camps and zones in every corner of this country. The names of some of them are sentences. Many people have run away from the orthodox churches to the charismatic churches because in the orthodox churches, they usually preach against adultery, fornication, idolatry, drunkenness, chasing after peoples’ husbands and wives etc which are the common vices of our time whereas, in many charismatic churches, they prophesy success, marriage, visa, wealth etc. One would often hear their followers shout “I RECEIVE IT”! I reckon that there some charismatic churches that also do well.

Many so called men of God have become home wreckers. They either say the mother-in-law is the cause of problems in the marriage of couples or it is an aunt that has tied a woman’s womb to a tree that is why she is unable to conceive. They create confusion everywhere with their prophesies yet they are unable to offer solutions to them.

People visit these prayer warriors and camps which operate from Monday to Sunday. One wonders if these people work at all. They spend their time moving from one prayer camp to the other. We always complain about hardships in the country but always have monies to give to prophets in order for them to prophesize in to their lives.

People must begin to realize that God Almighty is the only solution to their problems and not prophets. I do not mean to say we do not have genuine Pastors and Prophets. We certainly do but they must always remind their followers that whatever miracle they perform come from God and therefore they must give credit to Him. Some of them give themselves big titles and add countless adjectives to their names to the effect that they are the solution to all problems.

I know there are people living in villages in this country who do not know anything about Christianity. Instead of these so called men of God looking for them in order to win them for Christ, they sit on TVs in the big cities wearing mirror suits and shoes prophesying into peoples’ lives. No wonder they sometimes clash with one another since they are all looking for attention.

People do not build churches for the right reasons anymore. Churches have become businesses that people invest into. The earlier people start realizing this, the better for all of us. We must make efforts to solve problems on our own while praying to God instead of spending all our time and monies on these prophets and Pastors. I hope someone is listening.

GOD BLESS OUR HOMELAND GHANA.

Benedicta Baka

Email:benedictabaka@yahoo.co.uk