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The insanity is creeping into the church
Strange doctrine bordering on insanity is gradually creeping into the church. If the Spirit of God and therefore Jesus, who lives within you cannot give you protection, what can a plant do for you?
Some years back, I was on a bus travelling out of Accra and there was this woman preacher who was given permission by the driver to preach to the passengers.
This woman started well by admonishing people about the need to fear God so one can escape hell and all that. Then she veered into how the world is evil and demonic forces abound so people have to protect themselves.
She went on to talk about how some plants have spiritual powers to give protection against witches etc. Then I said to myself, this is insane. It is definitely a false doctrine.
The problem is that our cultural norms and beliefs have wired us up to ascribe to certain spiritual practices. We have been made to believe that trees and rivers possess certain spiritual powers and so if we reverence them, they can assist us.
Some beliefs are so ridiculous that you begin to wonder how they came about. Some people believe that when crossing a bridge in the night, you have to blow your car’s horn because the river god may be crossing the road on the bridge with her children. I wonder where their husbands are during the crossing, such that it is only the wives who always cross with the children.
If they are so powerful, why can’t they vanish with the children but rather have to be alerted to enable them take their children to safety.
The sad thing is that you have highly educated, intelligent people who are also Christians, believing these ridiculous myths. I am a Christian so I believe created things can be possessed by demonic entities but the level to which some people take these things, makes it appear like the devil, is now powerful than God.
If you call yourself a Christian and you fear the plots of the devil against your life to such an extent that you believe in some anointing oil as a protective power, instead of the Jesus who lives in you, then this is not a law court but I put it to you that you are backslidden.
This idea of spiritual father and loyalty to your pastor has to be seriously addressed otherwise a lot of Christians will be led astray and will die before their time.
You hear of Christians making statements like I tap into the grace of Bishop so and so. Where is it written in the Bible that the grace of that Bishop does anything to save any human being? Even he the Bishop is saved by the grace of God through his son Jesus Christ.
The Bible says in Colossians 1:14 that “In him we have redemption through his blood…” and the same Colossians 2:14 adds that “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way nailing it to his cross. The verse 15 talks about how Christ triumphed over the devil and his demonic entourage.
Despite all these some believers and it is not just a few, still believe that some sins their great-grandparents committed is having a negative impact on them and that some special deliverance is required before some curse on their family can be nullified.
No plant, no special olive oil or whatever oil, no potion or any thing created, can give you spiritual protection except God through the power of his Holy Spirit, available in Jesus Christ.
Any person projecting himself to be anything equal to these hallowed spiritual entities are fake and should be rejected by the people. Those so called men of God who claim to be the chosen vessels of our time are proclaiming falsehood and they should be treated with the contempt they deserve to stop the insanity.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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