Sound doctrine and apostasy

One of the chief concerns of the New Testament is the end times or the “last days”. Between Christ and the apostles, the text spends a lot of words articulating the things that will characterize the period. The expression “last days” itself has been a source of controversy. One cannot number the voices that have claimed knowledge of the exact day on which Christ will return. From heretics like Charles Taze Russell[1] to a reformer like Martin Luther, men have failed to heed the warning of Christ to not meddle in such matters[2].

 “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority”
—Acts 1:7

In the revelations, the apostle John reinforces this all important point that all believers must observe with necessary reverence;

¹⁵ (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”)

Men did not take heed. Failing spectacularly in their predictions, they missed the simple fact that the “last days” is a period that ends only with the return of Christ. No man (regardless of how plausible their analysis may seem) must dare predict a date. While Christ himself had warned against this as we have seen, He however, provided pointers by which believers are to recognize when the end was near. Interestingly, those pointers he provided begun to manifest very early after His departure. It was clear then; even the apostles were living in the “last days” much as we are today. The last days then is a period starting from the departure of Christ to the moment of His return. They are false prophets because in disobedience, they made predictions when Christ had categorically instructed against such pronouncements.

Among the pointers to be expected in the last days is apostasy, a departure from the teachings of Jesus and the proliferation of distorted versions of it. These are to be perpetrated by false teachers who as it will be around in large numbers. By the time Paul’s ministry took off, the attack had begun in earnest. Many will fall for it unless they stayed with the teachings accredited custodians of the Gospel. In keeping with the words of Jesus, Paul writes to his beloved Galatians and shares his concern;

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!” — Galatians 1:8

In laying out the kingdom manifesto during the famous Sermon on the Mount[3], Christ warned very early in his ministry;

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” — Mathew 7:15

In the verses that follow, he provides a treatise on what it all means for those who will in disobedience follow them. It cannot be doubted from then on, that false prophets, false teachers, here referred to by Christ as wolves in sheep clothing will infiltrate the church. In the book of Acts, physician/historian and Gospel writer; Luke captures an important admonishment;

“ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” — Acts 20:28-30

Verse 30 of the above text is of great interest;

“Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them”.

Really? How does this not bother some people? They will rise in the church ad their agenda will be a selfish one. They will draw men to themselves. The indefatigable Peter shares a concern and a piece of advice;

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. — 2 Peter 3:17

Along came the game-changing Paul who had previously subscribed to the unsound doctrines of Pharisee-ism and was consequently persecuting Christ’s followers with never-seen-before zeal. After his rather dramatic transformation by the renewal of his mind[4], his ministry was characterized by the defense of the faith and a concern for the sanctity of the word. He writes to his protégé Timothy;

“ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” — 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Un-sound doctrine undermines God’s word and it’s power. It is the door way to false faith and apostasy. We become Christians because of something we believe. We miss it if what we believe happens to be wrong. False preachers and their false doctrines may not present themselves openly. That’s the whole point of being a wolf in sheep clothing. In between their language rest subterfuges and nuances that will in small doses pollute until they have crystalized into death. The devils main tool is deception and he has mastered his craft over thousands of years. From very early he made great strides. False teachings and half-truths by supposedly credible men of God are his Trojan horses and too many believers are flocking to them with itching ears. This generation may have seen more apostasy than the rest of history combined.  In the African church, the conversation about sound doctrine must begin NOW and SD-21 is the Launchpad. The apostasy of false teaching for personal gain has become the norm—just as Christ predicted. In the second instalment of this series, We will attempt to throw some light on the importance of sound doctrine and how it was handled by Christ and the apostles as well as the prophets of old as we gear up for the sound doctrine conference; SD-21. Go to part 2

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[1] Founder of the Jehovah witnesses)
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events (a comprehensive list of end time predictions)
[3] Matthew 5-7
[4] Romans 12:2

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Costa Chibwe; a step towards sound doctrine

 

The descent of the Gospel into pop culture forced a downgrade of Gospel music with it. In the old days you could tell the difference between church music and worldly music. The prosperity Gospel is erroneously man-focused and so is the supporting music. Indeed it seems the so-called new church with its false message attracts the world with its great bands and great music. Thus it is the music that leads for obvious reasons and whatever message it sold is held as the theological foundation of the new supposed converts. A typical example is the likes of Hill Song and Jesus Culture and the churches behind them. More popular than most rock bands, they have been the main attractions—not Christ. Sadly, these “fast food” churches behind these bands also preach an unhealthy Gospel that is light years away from sound doctrine. When they sing about love and God, you would think it is about a sensual relationship. One song writer actually wrote that God’s love is reckless[1]. No amount of criticism has provoked any form of repentance from this blasphemous line that millions sing around the world on a daily basis in supposed worship. There is indeed an important place for theology in art concerning the faith.

In my country Ghana and indeed all of West Africa, Gospel music is now about what God will do to your enemies and how much money He will put into your pocket. It is also about how God will place you above your enemies. Worship is a show and many Gospel musicians from their own utterances do no differentiate between worship and inspiring people. The lifestyle of these Gospel musicians also leaves very little to be desired but that’s a different story for another day. It is an established principle of homiletics that the messenger is the message—most gospel musicians still have not received that memo.

Gospel Music must necessarily be about the GOSPEL; IE God, His mercy and the salvation it brings about. It is about Christ and His work on the cross; not people. It is on this framework that the love and mercy of God can be interpreted correctly. Repentance access the forgiveness that saves man from the claws of the enemy where eternal damnation is his lot. Repentance addresses the sin that is now in the DNA of man. This is the very essence of the Christian faith and the core of the message that must be reached to both the spiritually living so they can continue to thrive in Christ and the spiritually dead so they can be awakened in Christ. Sadly, it is also the message that has been drowned by the dross that we now call Gospel Music.

In the reform community however, this message is still loud and clear. At Kwabata Baptist Church in Lusaka where Rev. Conrad Mbewe (also known as the African Spurgeon; a champion of sound doctrine on the continent) is the presiding pastor, the Gospel is at its most pristine. It is among the ministering interns at Kwabata Baptist that we found Costa Chibwe who together with the fellow young ministers like Angel Francis has been serving with us for a while now at Hopeman Ministries.

Costa is not only a trained theologian being polished for sound doctrine at Kwabata Baptist under the Rev. Conrad Mbewe, He is also a recording Gospel Musician of the first order. Born and bred in Kabwe the Central Province of Zambia, Costa got saved in 2012 at River of Life Tabernacle Church after hearing the Gospel.  He went on to obtain a Bachelor’s of Art (BA) in Bible and theology from Central Africa Baptist University. He started singing and composing his music in 2006 and started recording in 2013.  He has released two singles to the glory of God; Twakumana and Lesa Mulelela which are currently available on YouTube. Costa is working on an album to be release in 2021.

 As we march towards a restoration of the Gospel in the hope driving out the darkness that has engulfed our continent, music and art of that matter is going to becoming increasingly important. It must spearhead the spreading the true Gospel that saves men and causes a transformation by the renewal of minds[2]. This is the reason that young theologically sound musicians like Costa are valuable to the cause. We asked some experts to share some thoughts on the quality of the music and it came out with an A+. Most importantly however, Costa walks with the champions of sound doctrine and is therefore as biblical as it gets. Our confidence is firmed that God is still building His Church[3] and that false doctrine is here only for a while. We have already seen the gates of hell crumbling with the expose of false prophets in Ghana and Nigeria in recent times. Zambia stands as the beacon of hope for Africa in this Ecclesia Africanus Reformanda agenda.

Costa’s latest release which is currently available on YouTube is complete with English subtitles for those who do not understand Bemba[4]. We encourage you to listen to it and take few minutes to share it on your social media platform in order that many more will be reached with the message of God’s love and the forgiveness that awaits those who come to believe in Him. God bless you abundantly. Please follow this link https://youtu.be/Qb9rSGUL9Ss

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[1] Cory Asbury

[2] Romans 12:2

[3] Mathew 16:18

[4] Bemba is the most widely spoken language in Zambia

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Of dogs and vomit - The reformation at 503. Part 3

The objective was to return to TRUE biblical Christianity ie; restore the Church that Rome had succeeded in colonizing and contaminating with its paganism and its attendant “works doctrine”. It was a restoration of the church described by Justin Martyr and the one revealed in the book of Acts. The ideals of this movement are what became known as the Five Solas. They define the foundation of what has come to be known as Reform Theology. Collectively called Sola scriptura, a summary of it would read;

Salvation is by grace(Sola Gracia-1) through faith(Sola Fide- 2) in Christ alone(Sola Christus-3) , to the glory of God alone (Soli Deo O gloria-4). The Bible(scripture) is the only authoritative source for understanding this and all other aspects of the Christian faith (Sola Scriptura-5).

With these scripture-based principles, the church was freed from the iron claws of Rome. Luther translated the Bible into German and the timely arrival of the printing press would ensure that congregants finally had access to the Bible so they can read for themselves. They could now develop personal relationships with their God without the middleman-role of clergymen and dead saints whose preoccupation it seemed was to exploit them. After all; the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9). Rome did not like this idea and had previously thwarted every attempt to make the Bible accessible to the masses through persecutions, executions, and ex-communications among other things.

 

Contrary to the generally held view that Protestantism or the Reformation is the break-away of a wayward Church that Rome had mothered; the reformation is in fact a return to the original church that Rome had covered. Sadly, the church had descended back into the same obscenity that plagued and still plague the Roman Catholic Church. Churches like the Anglican Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches with their inherited mass, relics, and ceremonies are guilty of Roman Catholic near-pagan practices. The contradiction is made vivid when juxtaposed (as pointed out) against the description found in the Justin Martyr description. Thus; the church that Christ created was not what Rome carried forward.

In the Charismatic movement, the sale of the gospel is at an all-time high as god-like pastors and who are little popes in their own rights, ride on the back of the masses and continue with the most outrageous extortions schemes that scream – Catholic!. There is also an alarming sale of experience over the “Word” and church services have been overloaded with rituals and practices borrowed from the works driven religions. Personal revelations and church tradition have also been elevated above scripture just it was with the Roman Catholic Church and its many sects and orders. It is this later point that gave meaning to Semper reformanda (Latin for always reforming) –an expression that became (albeit at a later time), the slogan of the reform movement. It simply means always reforming. 503 years on, it is more important than it has ever been.

From the Old Testament through the New to the early patristic period down to today, it is clear that God’s people in a matter of time forget who and whose they are and get carried away by “strange winds of doctrines”(Ephesians 4:14 ).

Moses only had to turn his back for barely a minute for the Israelites who had witnessed God’s presence and provisions; to start worshipping a golden calf (Exodus 32). Solomon simply used the wealth and wisdom God had entrusted him with to depart from the ways of his father and break God’s very first commandment(1 kings 11, Exodus 20:3) in rebellion. Such cases as the downgrade of 1887 is a reminder that semper reformanda is imperative.  It is this return to that which was rejected by the reformers that is captured metaphorically in the title of this project. For it is not uncharacteristic of a dog to eat back that which it had vomited.

Unless the church is continuously re-examining itself in the light of scripture, it, in a matter of time, after every overhaul, starts on a downward spiral. It is for this reason that the commemoration of the 503^rd year of the reformation is of extreme importance. It will take us back to the very foundation of the church, helps us understand the ideals of the reformation, and affords us an opportunity for that all-important self-examination. This is how we can be rid of the many bugs that have come to plague her. This is how we can return to worshiping our maker and savior in truth and in spirit.

On the 31^st of October, several ministries that subscribe to the ideals of the Reformation and as such stand for true biblical Christianity are getting together to commemorate the Reformation. The event will also introduce the newly born Ghana Reform Network. You are cordially invited to be part of this historic event to the glory of God. We hope that you come to understand your faith better and be more rooted than ever. Most importantly, you can ask questions and receive edifying answers that help build your relationship with God. Join fellow believers all over the world on Hopeman Ministries’ E.A.R (Ecclesia Africanus Reformanda) Roundtable Discussion via Zoom. 
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God bless and keep you. For a full teaching on Sola Scriptura, please follow the link below. Sola Scriptura (Video lecture from R.C. Sproul)

More on the downgrade here: (https://jasonkallen.com/2015/12/spurgeon-and-the-downgrade-controversy/)

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Of dogs and vomit – The reformation at 503. Part 2

In part one of this series we saw some of the circumstances that lead to the reformation. Luther and his trouble with the indulgence mongering Tetzel was but the final blow that would lead to the actions that started the reformation. The Jan Hus’s story is important because it shows that the Roman Catholic Church was not free of disagreement with discerning minds.  Much like Jan Hus, John Wycliffe’s was excommunicated and his writings banned. His body was later exhumed and burnt for his translation of the Bible into English. Rome and its clergy then, held the Bible closely to their chest at the expense of the spiritual and intellectual development of the membership. Anyone who even thought about translating it knew that they were risking their lives.

The degree of restlessness in the church because of its corruption, debauch clergy and many crimes and false doctrines had reached a crescendo. And as always has been the case, the Lord acts when the cry of the people reaches Him. But not before He had warned us of what is coming. Luther’s contemporary, Desiderius Erasmus (credited for putting together the Textus Receptus) --  a man regarded as an intellectual colossus of his time had written several books including his highly acclaimed; “the praise of folly” criticizing Rome and the state of the church had made propositions for reforms. Albeit still remaining a prominent member of the clergy and therefore not suffering any persecution. There had been others; like Peter Waldo and his followers who suffered some persecution for similar concerns. It was clear that the church needed to change but your life was in danger if you even thought about it. Luther was walking a path that had been charted by many a martyr and therefore, his life was always on the line.

Luther’ was especially tired of the works doctrine by which Rome continued with its extortion. The idea of paying one’s way to salvation flies in the face of everything Christ represented. In fact, the Church that Rome adopted looked nothing like what they presented to the world. In a description of a typical church service in an apologetic by Justine Martyr (First Apology, 67), one could see a startling difference. There was no mass or anything that even begins to look like it. No statues, idols and shrines and there certainly was no veneration of saints. All prayers were to members of the Trinity alone; not one was said to Mary. It was obvious that Rome had colored Christianity with its pagan past and had literally turned it into the devils den. This is why Luther would later refer to the Papacy as the seat of the Anti-Christ. It seemed that in a context, the devil had succeeded in colonizing God’s kingdom. The father’s house of worship has again become “a den of thieves”. The church was now full of pagan rituals and the worship of other entities. It would take a study of the scriptures to understand what was wrong and no one had access to scripture except clergymen and Luther was one of them. It was a challenging trail dotted with the blood many. What was he to do especially when he himself had been tried and ex-communicated. 

Luther, on his part did not set out to start a new church or what later became known as the protestant movement. He merely wrote down 96 propositions that were to be considered. This would come to be known as the 96 theses. From an intellectual point of view, they were just propositions that were to be considered for possible change. Rome’s response would start a protracted conflict that would lead to the trial and excommunication of Luther and inevitably birth of the protestant movement. Again, Pharaoh’s heart had been hardened as god demanded the release of his people.

End of Part 2  | Go to Part 1 

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Of dogs and vomit – The reformation at 503. Part 1

The reformation is 503 years this October. Again we are reminded of its ideals and what they should mean for the Church today. Sadly the everyday believer knows very little about it and what it means. Most haven’t even heard the name Martin Luther and if they have, they have no idea what it represents. This is a sad state of affairs that must be reversed immediately given the fact that Martin Luther and the reformation is the reason why most of us are not Roman Catholics.

Until 503 years ago, Christianity meant Catholicism. The word “catholic” actually means universal and therefore the Catholic Church stood for all of Christendom. You were either (with a few exceptions of course) a Roman Catholic or you were not a Christian. That was the church Luther broke from; leading to the birth of Protestantism through reformation.

Prior to all of this, Rome with its papacy reigned supreme. After Emperor Constantine’s supposed conversion and adoption of Christianity, Rome expanded Christianity and changed its status from a small movement that started in Judea by a supposedly mysterious miracle-working figure, to the state religion of a mighty power that literally ruled the world. Church and state become one entity as the years rolled by. The Bishop of Rome became its head and eventually gained enough political power to control even politicians. After all, the Pope is the “representative of God” on earth and therefore had the final say on everything. But that is not exactly what upset Luther—at least not yet.

His trouble started when a certain Johannes Tetzel showed up in the parish where Luther was leading an assembly, to sell a piece of paper that would save one or their relatives from the blazing hot fires of hell. It was called indulgences. Luther rebelled against the idea. Rome had sold these indulgencies all over the place. It was one of the ways in which it raised money and the famous St. Paul's Cathedral is known to be one of the projects accomplished with the sale of indulgences. Prior to this indulgence saga, Luther had visited Rome in high hopes only to walk into an unfathomable degree of corruption at the papacy. Clergymen had descended to the lowest of all debauchery as the pope committed simony among other immoral behaviors in the midst of the elitism that had become its very essence. Luther was disillusioned and disturbed at what he saw and begun to detect discrepancies between what he read in the Bible and what he saw in the Church. Salvation is by grace alone and cannot be purchased with money.

 

Luther however, was not the first to be concerned with the state of the affairs.

Before him Jan Hus had been burnt to death for challenging the theological base of Roman Catholic church and its doctrines.  End of part 1

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The Golgotha Trialogue

The above quote was Jesus’ response to a plea from a criminal who was crucified next to him. There were two in fact– one on His left and the other on His right. In Roman times, criminals were crucified for committing the most heinous crimes so it can be understood that the personalities involved criminals.

The conversation between the three at Golgotha is a very interesting one that resulted in a Christ promise to admit one of the two to his bosom in paradise after all was over. But why? The idea itself is consistent with the very reason why Christ died on the cross in the first place. So that anyone who believes in Him and His word, qualifies for the safety of His bosom. This begins with the preaching of the Gospel(the message of salvation) which is why Christ sanctioned the great commission just before His final departure. This in fact what happened on the cross. Just before He was put on the cross He makes a statement to some women who were waiting for Him:

“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ 31For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Effectively delivering a sermon on the end times even in the midst of the worst affliction that can be bestowed on a man. Shortly after they finally nailed him to the cross and probably hurled him up for doing nothing wrong. Instead of being angry over injustice and cursing the assailants;

34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Demonstrating the forgiveness and praying for your enemies he had previously taught. The loudest sermons are those lived and the Christ was the kind that lived what He preached. Then comes the dichotomy of jeer and cheer and the rebuke of the believer;

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”40But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 Jesus answered him,

“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

There in that small scenario lies a snapshot of the whole salvation enterprise in its totality. Two criminals on the cross with Christ were real criminals and therefore in the words of one of them, deserved the crucifixion they were getting.

“All men have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God” – Romans 3:23

The foundation of the Christian faith is simply that all have sinned and essentially fallen out of favor with God. We have estranged ourselves from His holy safety We are therefore all condemned to death– no different from the two thieves on the cross;

“ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” – Romans 6:23

Christ had previously said in his ministry;

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. – John 3:16

He had taught and established as Paul will later explain in his epistles that faith and salvation is through faith in Christ alone. It is those who believe in Him that will have eternal life. So that when the two criminals found themselves in His presence, they both were granted an equal opportunity for salvation. This is important because we see that there are two kinds of people who hear the Gospel as in the case of the parable of the sower(Mathew 13). There are those who no matter what happens will never believe. It is a choice because faith in God challenges those who enjoy their sin and prefer to persist in it. In the apologetics ministry, one of the most useful methods used to understand who we are sharing the gospel with is to ask them whether they would believe if they found out that Christianity is true. Surprisingly, most of the answers are NO. It is clear that the many arguments some put up against Christianity are simply excuses to make themselves comfortable in their sin. Romans 1 explains this in startling detail and the reader is encouraged to read the entire chapter along with all the scriptures embedded in this article. Indeed Christ had also taught previously that those who come to Him had been hand-picked by the Father(John 15:16, John 6:37, Ephesians 1:4-5, Ephesians 1:11 John 6:44, Romans 8:29 -30). Whiles t

There is a second lesson encoded in the scenario and it is about last-minute salvation. Many have inquired if one would be saved if they finally decide to accept Christ on their death bed IE the last moments of their lives. The answer is yes and it is based on the salvation of the thief on the cross. Both men had death staring at them in the face. There is no better time for one to make a turn around because there is nothing else to reach out to. Typically; a dying man cares very little about who saves him. This is why many have come to Christ when they were in prison and others when they were at their wits' end. But Christ had previously taught this in his ministry with the parable of the vineyard workers in Mathew 20:1-16;

a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Having agreed to pay a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard to work. At nine in the morning, he hired another group of workers to work in the same vineyard. He hired another group at noon, another set at 3PM, and yet another group of workers at 5PM. When the day ended which is usually at 6PM, he paid all the different groups the same wage. Naturally, those who worked from the early morning were not happy and they grumbled(Compare the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32). The vineyard owner had only one thing to say;

“ I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

Christ enforces the lesson

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” – vs 16

The vineyard owner demonstrated sovereignty (an important attribute of God and an important – Colossians 1:16–17 )over his wealth and property. He could do what he liked with it and he knew it. In his sovereignty, he decided that it did not matter when one comes to the vineyard. As long as they are connected to the vine or are working in the vineyard, they will be rewarded any way he sees fit. If we considered the likes of Judas who was with Christ all through His ministry and finally missed it because in his heart he never really believed, we can see how he became the last even though he was the first and the criminal who deserved eternal death became first even though he came late and barely did any work at all. It is not how much work one does or how long one does it that guarantees eternal life. There on the cross lies the Christian doctrine of salvation by grace alone guarded by the sovereignty of God.

The key lessons in this portrait of Christ’s salvation on the cross have roots all over His ministry. This is in fact the power of the Gospel; its core theme cannot be lost on anyone unless they deliberately choose to distort and misdirect it. The salvation of God is available to all; it takes only belief. It does not matter when one believes but it does matter that one believes now. James 4:14 teaches no one knows if they will live to see another day. Besides, God in his wisdom had ensured that no one knows exactly when Christ will return (Matthew 24:36-44 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 3:3). All will hear the Gospel but much like the parable of the sower(Matthew 13), some will reject and it and in fact mock and the preacher just as they mocked Christ Himself. It is in fact possible to walk with Christ and even eat His miraculous bread and fish and be satisfied. It is possible to follow Him only also for His bread and nothing else. For as we have seen, many love the gifts in place of the giver. It is how they may miss it and as we approach the end of days, believers must ensure that they have truly believed and also ensure that no matter how difficult their lives get, they will get the Gospel to others even though they reject and mock. The Lord who knows the end from the beginning is aware of who His followers are and had predestined them IE handpicked for his own purposes. The two criminals on the cross epitomized the two groups and paint a vivid picture of Christ’s whole salvation enterprise.

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Church in wrong hands: From Sylvester Ofori to Avram Moshe

 

Sylvester Ofori is what happens when church is in the wrong hands. His recent apostasy has become a common thing in the church. The now prominence of the new age and the very large gnostic door it opens while not a new thing, has now reached its crescendo. Those who understand the church know that from its very inception, it has been battling strange ideas and distorted views. A large chunk of the Apostle Paul’s work was around contending for the faith and clarifying its truth and he indeed admonished us in Jude 1:3. There is a two thousand year history behind the church and it has to be understood by its leaders in order for them to help believers navigate the treacherous waters of religion and heresy. This is the reason why inadequate training is extremely dangerous when it comes to leading a church.

I know nothing about Sylvester Ofori and his Church. What appears to be true however is that he murdered his wife in cold blood. It seems also that it was premeditated and followed a recent altercation that came out of a pending divorce. It seems also true that while wearing the title of prophet, he had founded and pastored a church for some 5 years which he has now led into apostasy. While I have no knowledge of his background, level of training, and theological position, his use of the title “prophet” and the nature of the church he pastored gives a good enough indication. He belongs to the Charismatic fraternity where there is a distorted Christology and a very low view of Scripture. The movement is also anthropo-centric in nature if one examines the nature of the message preached, the promises made, and even the prayers.

On the lower end of The charismatic spectrum rests the prophetic churches whose regard for Scripture is nothing short of disheartening from the biblical Christianity perspective. The core teaching primarily revolves around the subjective experiences of the god-like prophet who often sits on a huge throne, dresses outrageously glamorous, and is consulted for everything by the sheep he literally owns. It seems that Prophet Sylvester Ofori operated within that space. This observation is based on videos from the church’s YouTube channel where services have been broadcasted live and archived as well as social media comments by people who claim to know him and his church.

In a video that showed him in fisticuffs with his brother-in-law over his separation and the impending divorce, his brothers-in-law was heard calling him an occult pastor.  In another video, a fellow who claimed he was good friends with him and had in fact preached several messages at his church suggested that Sylvester had veered off the path of Christ and have started reading strange books that were bound to shake the foundation of his faith as a Christian. The friend also mentioned that Pastor Sylvester had been seen in an event with the chief progenitor of the all-inclusive gospel movement, bishop Carlton Pearson—a man who has over the years come to epitomize the very word apostasy within the evangelical community of the USA. It was clear from the videos and comments that Osofo Sylvester Ofori had departed from the true teachings of the bible and was following a new spiritual path. He was in fact heard proclaiming that there are errors in the Bible.

The final video that triggered this article and confirmed everything that had been said came from a fellow who claimed to be the champion of what he called “expanded consciousness”. He had apparently been brought by Sylvester Ofori to articulate the transitioning of the church into an expanded consciousness Church (so to speak). His comments suggested that he had become some sort of a spiritual mentor to Sylvester Ofori except the prophet had not told him all the truth about what had been going on in his life. While this article does not capture everything said in the videos, the points above paint a good enough picture of the scenario within which the crime was committed. Friends of Barbara (Sylvester's wife) have also said that her reason for wanting a divorce had everything to do with the new spiritual path that Sylvester had taken.

Sylvester Ofori is the perfect example of the young pastor that seems to dominate the church today especially in the Charismatic community. Having been involved in church for a few years or perhaps all his life, he sees through the charade and buys into the pyramid scheme. He makes outrageous claims about revelations from God just as his senior pastors have done. He has no fear of God because his Christology is unclear and his view of scripture is abysmally low. He does not understand what he really believes and has not the slightest clue what fundamental Christian doctrine is. He sees the Bible as a book one can cherry-pick from to validate some nice ideas. Consequently, he is always on the hunt for interesting ideas with which he hopes to dazzle his vulnerable congregation. Every time he hears or reads something interesting, he goes to the bible, finds some text to validate , and preach it. He succeeds in gathering miracle seeking and prophecy devouring pseudo-Christians who care very little about what the Bible actually says as long as they can be fed with drama and gimmicks. The two are a perfect match and have come to represent to most what church or Christianity really is.

Such pastors even if they mean well are easy prey for the enemy. Any encounter with other spiritual ideas that appear advance leaves them breathless and confused.  Very quickly they buy into new ideas especially if it explains Christ differently and promises more drama and experience. The most common is the new age movement that has now succeeded in creating its own version of Christianity. The likes of Sylvester Ofori are guaranteed to swallow its ideas hook-line-and-sinker. He does not know better as he has not understood true biblical Christianity, its simplicity and power, and its historic relationship with unbiblical Christianity. He has no idea of the danger that follows these supposed new ideas and their sources. He has no understanding of the history of the church and its relationship with other religions from the early days. In fact, he does not see any difference between the two and now perceives that Christianity is just another of the many spiritual paths out there. This latter point is the new thinking being peddled all over the world and is consequently rapidly shrinking the size of biblical Christianity. It is not new and its old name is gnosism.

Sylvester Ofori’s story is a natural outworking of this situation. And while it is among the worst cases, there are many more going on even as you read this. Miracle staging, the abuse of congregants, and the many scandals we see on our TV screens and hear about on our radios are slowly becoming a part of the church. Such pastors epitomize the idea of church in the wrong hands. But perhaps that statement itself is an understatement. 

But why would church be in the wrong hands? To answer that I must remind you about a certain young man who calls himself Avram Moshe. He is Ghana’s loudest anti-church evangelist who calls himself a thinker. He claims to have served for years in the SDA church and planted many churches. He believes he was as Christian as could be before seeing some kind of light. He now preaches what he calls errors of the bible and challenges pastors and church leaders in debates he supposedly wins. In one of his many escapades, his attempt at articulating what the Christian faith is really about exposed him quite badly. By the end of his presentation, he has articulated a works view of Christianity. Not surprising given he was a member of the SDA church. Per Christian standards, Avram was not a saved individual and had no clear relationship with God. Yet he planted and led churches. One only has to look at the zeal with which he has amassed a following he calls common-sense movement, the energy, and confidence with which he speaks falsity and the low quality of his arguments. The latter is at its lowest for a man who claims to be a thinker. He appears to have a warped unclear worldview and really should not be speaking in public on such matters. This is why planting churches around a faith he does not understand well is easy to understand. So when a man like that decides that the Bible is full of errors and therefore does not believe anymore, there really is no surprise. He didn’t know what he was doing in the first place. He still doesn’t.

The Sylvester Ofori case has many parallels with that of the self-proclaimed don of common sense.   Both men were running false churches; preached false gospels, misled people, and did not by any stretch of the imagination promote salvation Christianity. The chasm between that and false religion is a narrow one straddled by a rather wide bridge tilted enough to force an exaggerated slippery slope. Prophet Ofori had been on that slope even before he ran into the pope of inclusivism. It was the natural progression towards the occult. No wonder then that, when he threatened during the altercation with his brother-in-law that he was going to kill his wife, he carried it through even after a 24-hour space that afforded him an opportunity for repentance. Saved men are not necessarily perfect people but anyone indwelled by the holy spirit, fears God enough, understands the work of Christ on the cross and the fact that he had been formed to serve as a vessel through which God is to do His will, would not make such a pronouncement. Even if they do, they would have repented by morning and gone to the Lord for forgiveness. Only certain people have the will to carry it through. Only a special breed would go as far as shooting another bearer of God’s image they claimed they loved at their place of work; throwing all caution to the wind. Was it really a throw-caution-to-the-wind or is there something else at play? Have the two of them been sacrificed in broad daylight? Time will tell.

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Failure of the northern fathers

For believers the statement; God works in mysterious ways is used sometimes rather flippantly. Yet anyone who walks with Him long enough in truth and in spirit soon discovers how true this really is. While God’s providence is a regular feature of the true believers life, the amazement that accompanies it never seems to wear out. I have had one of those moments recently.

In my quest to ascertain the means by which man can obtain a maximization of his existence, I have come to the conclusion after over 10 years of research, that the Christian worldview is the only way. My experiment with new age ideas, philosophy and psychology has failed quite woefully. But the Christian worldview had some challenges I was struggling to resolve. Chief among them: its “European face”.

My sojourn through theology and its history brought me face to face with the master theologians of the African continent. The likes of Alexandria’s titan; Origen, Hippo’s maestro; Augustine, Tertullian, Athanasius and their acolytes have made such startlingly profound contributions to the faith; it is shocking some would refer to Christianity as a European religion. Lurking behind the complex veil of African ingenuity, I detected a failure that grieved my heart deeply. As an African, I felt that these theologians had failed us by not undertaking south-bound missions that would have brought the much needed light to the rest of the continent. The Christianity that flourished in the north would have reached the west and south at least a thousand years before the first European ever set foot on the shores of the Atlantic. It is a real tragedy when one considers that, it is about the only commandment Christ handed down before His departure.

 

“And he said unto them, Go ye into the entire world, and preach the gospel to every creature.¹⁶ 

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned”.

- Mark 16:15-16 

It is that command that brought the faith to North Africa and Syria and Persia and later India and China. Men did their duty, why not our African fathers who by their writing alone have showed such dexterity with the word. Have we not failed the Lord? Is the arrival of the Whiteman not a punishment then?

Only yesterday I had resorted to writing an article expressing my thought on this seeming failure. There are too many people claiming that the Christian faith is the white man’s religion and it’s God, the Whiteman’s God. My planned article was going to show them how the faith reached us first before Europe. But then I would have to explain why it did not spread to the rest of the continent. These thoughts had populated my mind when I chanced upon a video on Facebook. It was an Afrocentric complaining about African American Christian Apologists calling them liars. He mentioned names and I went goog-ling. The surprise that waited would solve a problem I have been living with for years. That surprised will change the direction of this article. 

Read part two here >>

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