You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. – Jacques Abbadie (1684) (Attributed to Abraham Lincoln)
We were baptised into a “Ashanti Church without cheating” in our holy village by the late ex-Serviceman? Should that not be 1961? We learnt later that the Church was so named, because the founder’s friend had once “cheated” him. We had lofty expectations when the Pastor said he was going to restore the sight of a blind Nana Anto: it did not happen, but we did not complain… when we “saw the light” we were re-baptised into the Church which was brought by the Portuguese to the Gold Coast (Elmina Castle – Castelo de Sao Jorge da Mina) in 1482.
Then we compared the two baptisms: the first – taken to River Samang and our bodies fully submerged, after repenting, with the Pastor saying (Acts 2:38) “Repent and be baptised … in the name of Jesus Christ and the second, “… I baptise you in the name of the Father (pours water on head-first), and of the Son (pours water on the head-second) and the Holy Spirit (pours water on the head-third). Compare this with John the Baptist baptising Jesus by full-body immersion in the River Jordan but the Catechism says: “Ye nteaseɛnsoyɛgye di….
As teachers, we taught “Bible Knowledge” … took “O’ level” Bible Knowledge … dropped Bible Knowledge for Government at “A” level, then to University of Ghana … and met our old friend, Boakye Ansah, reading ‘Religion’: he would bully us with words like Eschatology, Hermeneutics, Soteriology, Christology, Pneumatology, Theodicy, Cosmology, Ecclesiology.
But they were “helpful” words for winning the battles under Dr. Kofi Frimpong’s “What Do You Know”, including the fact that we had read the whole Bible of 66 books (Old and New Testament) from Genesis to Revelation and could quote some of the passages by heart. Reading is our hobby, and we have read about the Catholic monk, Martin Luther hanging his 95 Theses (Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences) on October 31, 1517 on the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany, the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation: exploiting the fears of poor believers
News every morning after BBC, VOA, Ghana TV, TV3 we turn our TV to Royal Television to enjoy “religious” discussions, someone saying “North, South, East or West, Royal Television is the best” no award for him, compared with the award we won from Mike Eghan’s Club Show in 1972.
What is happening in our churches — the one-man churches, charismatic churches: Pure Fire Miracles Ministries, Run for Your Life Chapel, Beelzebub on the Run Chapel, Helicopters of Christ Ministry, Guided Missile Church, Satan in Trouble Ministries, The Devil’s Hunter Ministry, David Killer Celestial Ministry, God’s Spiritual Path, International God’s Way Church, Victory for the Anointed Church.
The preachers give accolades to themselves: Prophet, Seer, Evangelist, Apostle, Pastor, Divine, Forecaster, Soothsayer, Visionary, Foreseer … they will tell their members not to wear footwear, not only in the Church, but right from their homes. Horrible stories eg. Kenya, Paul Mackenzie of Good News International Church on 2023 ordered his followers to fast to death to meet Jesus… over 400 bodies recovered; Mackenzie jailed in 2026 for 200 years … South Africa, in 2014, Pastor Lesego Daniel of the Rabboni Centre Ministries instructed his congregation to go outside and eat grass like cows and drink petrol and “admit the petrol had been turned into pineapple juice… US in 1997 Marshall Apple white convinced 38 members to take their own lives in California … Guyana, in 1978, Jim Jones ordered 900 members of his People’s Temple in Jonestown to drink eyanide-laced punch in a “revolutionary suicide … in Uganda leaders of the Movement for the Restoration of the Commandments of God locked hundreds of their members in the church and set it on fire in Kankagu resulting in 700 deaths in 2000 what! We will never go to church with canes beat the “devil” or bathe in “holy” water to wash away bad luck…
Religious teacher, Dr. Mensa Otabil, founder and leader of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC): about 90% of self-proclaimed prophets in Africa (Ghana included) are “fake”. Many of the self-proclaimed prophets are not truly born-again, and their lifestyles that are marked by deceit and infidelity are inconsistent with genuine faith.
Otabil called on genuine “men of God” to expose the imposters crooks and quacks in order to protect the reputation of Christianity, typically those involved in necromancy, occultism, spiritism… he did not say “all”, at least all persons can “safely hide” under the 10% or so who are not among the “fake” pastors, as per Otabil’s analysis,
Stunned? Prophet Owusu-Bempah’s criticism of Otabil’s statement. Some people are asking Owusu-Bempah: “You think we will be fools to be deceived by fake prophets?” Questions: “How can we trust a prophet who says he has seen God?”
“Spoken to by God”; “to prophecy”… and tell Ghanaians “… Mahama will never come back to power in 2017” 2016/2017, then 2020/2021. At Adom-Ochere’s “Good Evening Ghana”, Owusu-Bempah recalled biblical Saul’s failure as the first King of Israel, and said: “I want to tell him (Mahama) to understand that all his campaigns across the country will yield no result.
This is not because I hate the NDC. In fact, they should trust what I say because I prophesied about the sudden demise of Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur. If they bring him again in 2024, he will still lose… read my lips… Akufo-Addo was chosen by God, so we need to protect him very well… I had a vision… I would not be surprised if COP Kofi Boakye becomes the next “IGP” and what happened? Mahama is now in power; COP Kofi Boakye never became IGP till he died. “Prophet” Opambour has responded to Owusu Bempah:
I agree with Mensah Otabil. If you know you are a genuine prophet, you shouldn’t be bothered. But if you are not, take the man of God’s words seriously and repent. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to be offended. And “Prophet” Oduro, in appreciation of what Mensa Otabil has said, states: “Wo nye bayifoo, korɔmfoɔanaadwamanfoonasɛyɛrekaabayifoo, akosɔmfoɔ, anaaadwamanfoɔhoasɛm a, wonka bi.”
The Ghanaian pastors, preachers, prophets have adapted a “know-it-all” attitude, and they are always right. It is healthy that Mensa Otabil has alerted [especially] the credulous, naive, and gullible Ghanaians, including those who will believe that a “prophet” can command a passport from his footwear. For some of us, however, we rely on the Biblical message in Matthew 7:15–20. Thus: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but invariably are ravenous wolves… Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down…” And Badu-Kobi said Ghanaians (perhaps 90%) believe in what Otabil had said.
This 21st century? Read the poems in Deep Down The Blackman’s Mind (1954) by the Ghanaian scientist, Raphael Ernest Grail Armattoe – why would a pastor like Ogyaba curse Baaba Cann using Schnapps, eggs or water (river) after being accused of adultery,… Christian or idol worship? Does Obinim’s God’s way Church have a “marriage” Counsel Department and who are the counsellors there? Is Obinim a counsellor? Florence due.
When the U.S. space scientists left the earth for space in Artemis II (April, 2026), they did not come to tell us they had seen Heaven; they saw our earth as a round ball, just as how we see the Moon… so, where is heaven? Does heaven even exist?
Nostradamus in his book Les Prophéties (1555) made the following research findings (call them prophecies): The Seven Months Great War – Rouen and Evreux, the present-day global conflicts? The swarm of bees – Is it the present drone warfare? Violence in Switzerland (Ticino) – “Ticino will overflow with blood.” the various wars on earth? The Great Man Struck Down – an assassination of a great man, like John Fitzgerald Kennedy? The Seven Ships – territorial disputes retrofitted – Was that the Hormuz Strait? U.S. (Israel) v Iran war?
Do we believe in prophecy? Recall a 20-year-old man who had “seen God’s” prophesying to a 14-year-old lad; “w’abusuafoɔ de prayɛ apra wo yam…” The “prophet” died in 1964 at 22… We Septuagenarians are still going strong after seeking a medical solution…
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