Features
Remember Lot’s wife
Monuments are structures erected to commemorate a person, group, or an event whose memory is deemed significant and worthy of preservation. They come in various forms like statues, war memorials, parks, and historical buildings.
Cape Coast,for example, boasts of several monuments such as the Castle used to hold slaves before they were loaded onto ships and sold in the Americas, especially the Caribbean. The “Gate of No Return” at the Castle through which captured slaves, the virile ones, of course, were herded to waiting vessels,was the last stop for these poor souls before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to be sold. The sad history has turned the Cape Coast Castle into a focal point of Pan-African history, and a venue of cultural and spiritual pilgrimage for Africans from the diaspora who troop in periodically to honour the memory of their ancestors.
There is also the Victoria Park which is said to hold the distinguished honour of being the first official grounds to host association football in Ghana, then known as the Gold Coast, and under British colonial rule. It was named after the British monarch at the time, Queen Victoria,said to have acceded, at least, in part, to a request by some Gold Coast patriots, to be granted access to some lands. As a token of appreciation, they established the park and erected the queen’s bust at the entrance.
One monument whose construction I cannot fathom is that of a huge crab at the city centre.The crustacean is the adopted mascot of Cape Coast,and it sits atop a huge platform erected near the London Bridge whose name deceives people until they visit the popular place and realise, to their chagrin, that it is nothing more than a culvert boldly emblazoned with the inscription: London Bridge. Back to the crab. Why that mascot? If you observe crabs in a container displaying their character, you would not recommend that anthropoid as a mascot. They all have PhDs.While one tries to climb to the top, another will pull him down. Under that circumstance, none of them makes it to the top.
In, perhaps, the shortest sermon He ever preached, Jesus points humanity to one monument whose significance transcends time into eternity. “Remember Lot’s Wife,” He said. What is it about Lot’s wife that we need to know? What has it got to do with all that I have been writing aforehand about monuments? What lesson do we have to take to heart about Lot’s wife?
First, God turned her into a monument in a split second for disobedience. A living, walking being was turned into a pillar of salt in a twinkling of an eye to remind succeeding generations of the abomination of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the punishment of those who have the slightest inclination towards those cities and what they represent.
For the sin of homosexuality, God literally rained fire on those cities and destroyed all except Lot, his wife, and three children. As Lot’s family were led out to safety,they were instructed not to look backward towards the doomed metropolis. But Lot’s wife disobeyed that instruction and paid the ultimate price for her action.Remember that she was not even a lesbian. She only showed an inclination towards the doomed cities. Of how much sorer punishment do you think practitioners are worthy?
Did you know that the word “sodomy” originated from the name of that city? From time immemorial, God has been frowning on the practice and has spelt out the penalty for those who brazenly flout His commandment.
When Ghanaians feared the Lord in days past, this shameful practice was alien to our culture. Of course, there was “supi,”a form of lesbianism among some girls in some secondary schools.Men with men doing the abominable was more under wraps in the closet. Now, that has changed. Everything is in the open and surprisingly, people who should know better are claiming that everyone has the right to love whoever they want. In accents louder than words, many respected people in academia, politics, media, and the legal profession among others, have lent their support to the aberration with their overt and subtle consent.
But the scriptures unequivocally declare that homosexuality is sin and punishable by eternal damnation. “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practise homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, ESV.
In another passage, it is stated unambiguously: “For this reason, God gave them up to dishonourable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done …Romans 1:26-28, ESV. What could be clearer than this?
God says because men do not want to acknowledge His authority, He has given up on them to do what they want. But even then, once a person turns from it, God is more than willing to forgive and pardon.
To those who assault the integrity and trustworthiness of the Bible and argue that the story is just a fable, or a myth, may I submit that the authority, inerrancy, and sufficiency of the Bible is without debate. It is God’s literal words given to men by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit over different periods of time to record for humanity. It is for instruction in righteousness, correction, and reproof. In that respect, the Bible speaks with infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches, including homosexuality. Everything we need to know about God, about life – past, present, future – about eternal salvation and damnation, all these and more are contained in the scriptures.
Such people would do well to know that Jesus was a historical figure who alluded to Lot’s wife as well as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by literal fire. Besides, any time He makes a reference to an issue whose origin dates back to the Old Testament prophets before He appeared on the earth, He is authenticating the record. In fact, the Bible says if people refuse to believe its submissions, their unbelief would not invalidate the facts.
But why remember Lot’s wife?The Bible has become the focal point of the devil’s constant and relentless assault. Crass falsehood is spreading like wildfire and causing widespread rejection of the truth of God’s Word, leading to a pervasive deception of the masses by popular culture.
In view of the emerging liberal and non-literal interpretation of the Bible, and its attendant deception of the world, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ become all the more relevant for these ominous days.
The serpent is back in the garden spreading doubts and lies. The first question in the Bible was posed by the devil. When God specifically and explicitly warned Adam and Eve not to eat a particular fruit, the devil came and deceived the woman with a dubious question enquiring, “Has God really said?”He is at it again telling those who want to hear that God does not restrict the gender of their sexual partners to the opposite sex, and that man to man is just right with the Almighty.
Thank God for real men like Honourable Sam George the MP for Ningo/Prampram and the lead sponsor of the proposed anti-gay bill dubbed: The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021.
Let it be trumpeted loud and clear that no amount of name-calling and threats emanating from a minority and their international partners can ever intimidate the right-thinking people of Ghana and compel them to condone that evil.
The proponents of that evil agenda allude to democracy and all its so-called freedoms, but they leave out the fact that under parliamentary democracy, the minority in a vote count accede to the majority. That is the rule, and it will apply in any vote concerning the issue.
Supporters of the LGBTQI are even arguing about rights. How audacious for mortal man to talk about rights in the kingdom of the great God who declares forcefully that the earth and all its fulness belong to Him! He is an absolute monarch and has set His rules to govern His kingdom.
To think that God would condone same-sex marriage is an illusion and trance. It is the foulest delusion that ever cheated the hopes of men. With submissions impossible to refute, the Bible reduces the argument to an absurdity.It is Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Period!
“For the sin of homosexuality, God literally rained fire on those cities and destroyed all except Lot, his wife, and three children. As Lot’s family were led out to safety,they were instructed not to look backward towards the doomed metropolis. But Lot’s wife disobeyed that instruction and paid the ultimate price for her action. Remember that she was not even a lesbian. She only showed an inclination towards the doomed cities. Of how much sorer punishment do you think practitioners are worthy?”
Contact: teepeejubilee@yahoo. co.uk
By Tony Prempeh
Features
The Cop, press and lost fingers
The job of a policeman, whether he is short or tall, is not a cheap one. He is supposed to keep the peace, protect society and monitor the activities of local magicians and money doublers who are specialists in making civil servants lose their pay within seconds.
By far the most difficult job of the policeman is when he is expected to arrest a murderer who is not only armed but also has a record of appearing and disappearing at will. Even if the tough cop is in the company of other policemen all armed to the teeth, his stomach will turn to water when the criminal suddenly appears.
He is terrified not because the criminal is a better marksman, but because nobody dies twice. The problem also is that a criminal might be prepared to die in a bid to shoot his way to freedom. But is the police-man prepared to risk death in the course of duty when he has a family to rear.
If he had just acquired a new girlfriend with whom he is enjoying life, should he not run away with his tail between his legs and tell his boss that the criminal is uncatchable?
Before some policemen go on patrol duties, they actually pray solemnly. “God send me into the wilderness and bring me back safely with my nose intact because I’m worth more than a common rat. I also do not want to die like a stray dog. If a bullet is targeted at my forehead, Holy Spirit please let it go over the bar, because six children is not a small palaver. If I die, who will look after them? Lord keep me safe day by day. Amen!”
The Sikaman policeman’s job is a risky one because he is not properly equipped with even a trained dog to help track down criminals easily. So he has to use his own nose judiciously in sniffing out suspects while making sure a bullet doesn’t catch him square on the jaw.
My friend Sir Kofi Owuo, a.k.a. Death-By-Poverty was telling me journalists are in an even riskier profession. Apparently, he had been reading about the palaver of journalists in places like Algeria and Columbia. Algeria, even women journalists are not spared assassin’s bullet. You’d see them lying in front of their homes with their heads full of bullet holes.
In Columbia, no journalist is safe. When a journalist is leaving home, he has to tell his wife. “Darling, when I don’t come back by 7 p.m. check the mortuary
The drug trade in Columbia has made journalism a profession not worth practising. If you write on cocaine and the harm it is inflicting on society, you’ll certainly receive a phone call.
“Hello, Mr Journalist, your article yesterday was great. Congratulations! We never knew you were such brilliant writer, championing the cause of society. Again we say congrats! But you know something, by your article, you want to take the bread out of my and that of my family. You don’t want us to beak. We are aggrieved beyond measure”
“Oh, I was just… “You’d try to say something
“You don’t have to explain. The harm has already been done by your award-winning masterpiece. We have an appointment with you. You’ll hear from us.
Rest In Peace!” After such a phone call, you just have to pray to your soul, sing a hymn or two and get prepared fort appointment with death. For, death will surely come
I think pressmen in Sikaman would also have start informing their families appropriately before leaving for work now. “If I don’t come back early, I’m probably at the Ear, Nose and Throat Department of Korle- Bu checking a leakage in my left ear due to a gendarme slap from an AMA official. If you don’t see me there, track me down to the emergency ward. If you see a newly-made cripple, I’m the one”
What about referees? These days they are guarded during football matches so that the risk they bear in terms of lost teeth is minimal. Formerly, it used to be a job full of woes and tribulations.
You were expected to oversee a match in such way that would favour a particular team. If that is not done, you’ll get back home and your wife will not recognise you. She’ll mistake you for Frank Bruno who had just lost a bout. When she finally recognises you, she’ll fix some hot water to massage your poor face.
I hear that these days, apart from the protection referees receive, some are well-armed with Damfo Dzai, a kind of jack-knife that can carve a rowdy supporters face in several designs.
My Press Secretary and part-time bodyguard Devine Ankamah, was telling me if he happens to be a referee, he’d surely carry a Kalashnikov AK 47 rifle with him, complete with loaded magazine, before officiating matches. According to him, that is the only way to do the job without fear or favour. Anyone dares will lose his jaw.
Anyway, risky jobs require good remuneration. As Kwame Korkorti once said, risky jobs require risky salary. A policeman would require a good pay so that when a criminal targets his left ear it would be worth the ‘amputation’. Same for journalists and cameramen.
But go round private workplaces and factories and you’d see really risky occupations where workers are receiving salaries they can’t see with the naked eye.
In fact, in some private workplaces, environmental safety is completely absent. Workers breathe in fumes, poisonous gases and risk lung and respiratory problems. Their employers do nothing about protecting them against these hazards. Check out their payer.
In other places, workers have their fingers chopped off on the job, some losing as many as four fingers in stretch. The compensation they get can best be described as “wicked”. Their employers live big, chop big, ride big but are not willing to pay more than ¢120,000 for lost fingers.
Actually the more fingers you lose, the more money you get. So if you intend losing your fingers on the job, it is advisable to lose as many as possible so that you can get more cash. Those who have lost one finger have not benefited much and are encouraged to lose more next time around.
Sikaman Palava is undertaking to investigate some of these cases of very risky jobs in private setups and companies where workers are being exploited to unnecessarily but not offered protection against health hazards, and not properly compensated when they sustain injuries.
This article was first published on Saturday, September 28, 1996
Features
Position yourself for God’s blessings
Motivated by the impending 40-day fasting and needless to add prayer programme, preceding the Greater Works Conference scheduled for August in Accra, I would like to draw attention to how believers can receive blessings from God.
There is a scripture in Hebrews 11:5 that “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: and before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God”.
This clearly shows that in order to receive blessings from God, you must please God. How can one please God? You can only please God by obeying him and walking in line with God’s word. Just like how children who obey their parents, enjoy special treatment, so does God deal with his children who obey his word.
There are ways by which people receive blessings from God and holiness is an important criteria in the whole equation. Holiness is a process and not a one day event.
It is a mindset borne out of walking in obedience to God’s instructions i.e. his word. In order to have a mindset of living to please God, requires studying God’s word coupled with praying and fasting.
This helps us to develop trust in God by knowing his nature, what he likes and dislikes. This is what will enable us to live to please him and for our faith in him also to increase.
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 that “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”
Fasting is one of the required criteria for blessings to be released and it goes with prayer because fasting without prayer is just a physical exercise. Fasting enables a person’s inner man to be in tune with the spirit of God and also becomes spiritually empowered to hear from God and also obey God.
Fasting enables a person’s spirit to feed on God’s word in a much more focused manner as compared to studying God’s word in normal times. As a result our spirit gains the upper hand to dominate the body and the soul, so that we are more conscious of the presence of God in our lives which causes us willingly the desire to live to obey God.
Holiness which is a prerequisite for pleasing God, can only manifest in our lives if we are able to overcome the desires of the flesh and this only happens when the flesh is subject to the spirit.
Apostle Paul said that “But l keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should not be castaway”, according to 1 Corinthians 9:27.
In order to bring the body or flesh into subjection so that believers will be able to live to please God, we have to study, God’s word in a certain state of mind which fasting and prayer appropriately provides.
Our minds are the battle grounds for decisions that either please God or the Devil. In order to please God so his blessings can be released upon our lives, we must continuously engage our minds with thoughts that is in line with God’s word.
Philippians 4:8 says that “Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things”. May God help us to live to please him by meditating on things that please the Lord, so we shall be blessed in all aspects of our lives. God bless.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
