Rev. Gabriel Ansah, the Senior Pastor of "Nasem University" has said Pastors of Ghanaian Orthodox Churches are well trained than most of the other Christian denomination Pastors.
He said Orthodox Pastors are mostly self-disciplined and urged other pastors to emulate such golden reputations.
He however, advised Orthodox Pastors to stop the over dependence of catechism and the use of outmoded principles. The orator and affable man of God has also asked all Orthodox Pastors to use dynamic methods whenever they're on pulpit.
Rev. Gabriel Ansah who was answering questions on Volta Power FM from Isaac Amissah, the host of "Alpha and Omega Gospel", stated that although Orthodox Pastors are well trained and educated, their preaching methods are at times, too principled and traditional.
He pointed out that preaching does not follow only one approach and asked pastors to prepare fervently and listen to the voice of God when preaching. He said preaching entails a lot of spiritual things which include singing, praying, clapping, shouting, jumping, and using the parts of the body to glorify the Lord. The multilingual pastor said it's wrong for any pastor to preach as if his words are rehearsed, which most often lack the spirit of God.
"Preaching is the main center of the church and if congregants don't hear preachings that would bring encouragement, rebuke and repentance to them, then why do we go to church?", he asked.
He added that preaching has spiritual connotations and must be devoid of any human dictatorship, unwanted worldly tradition and principles. "Preaching ought to be free spirited with no restriction", he stated.
"As Peter did emphasize in Acts chapter 2, the use of the Holy Spirit is important. And I'm appealing to all churches to work towards accomplishing that goal. If these churches don't accept the day of Pentecost and use the spirit of healing, praying in tongues, prophecy, mention just a few, how can members of the church see repentance and development?", he asked.
Touching on Pentecostal and Charismatic Pastors, he said even though they preach with fire and dynamism, he said they should put an end to unnecessary and fake prophesies. He asked them to emulate the good moral conducts of the Presbyterians, Methodists, Catholic, etc.
"We need only good and God fearing pastors to help Ghana develop because quantity alone cannot help us. Accra alone has over 65,000 pastors with countless unknown one man churches whose objectives are profit maximization and inciting family members and parents", he stressed.
"People go to church because they see God' s home as a clean place for hope, repentance, love, peace, unity and transformation. If there' s no hope, love, faith, peace and unity to lift Christians from poverty, then why do we go to Church?", he asked.
"Most people say Pentecostal and Charismatic Pastors are rich than their Orthodox pals. Do you think there's disparity between these two bodies of Christ when it comes to riches or wealth possession?", I asked.
"The truth is that Orthodox Pastors are well catered for than the Pentecostal and Charismatic Pastors. Look, Presbyterians, Methodist, Anglican/Catholic and all the Pastors of the Orthodox dynasty are offered Mission Houses, cars, insurance, hefty retirement benefits, good remunerations and allowances which most of the other denomination Christian Pastors don't have. Only the one-man church owners are rich because they' re not accountable to anybody and keep whichever money come their way to themselves", he said.
Rev. Gabriel Ansah however made it clear that Orthodox Churches would continue to struggling to compete with Charismatic and Pentecostal Churches in terms of membership if the former churches don't stop their dependence of history. "I often hear most members of the Orthodox Churches bragging that their grandmothers/fathers were Presbyterians, Methodists or Catholics and that's why they' re also members of Orthodox Churches. But what such people have forgotten is the fact that God has no grandchildren. No part of the Bible does it say grandchildren of God, instead we have the children of God mostly written in the Bible. To wit, we' re all children of God", he said.
As a pastor, if my children don't worship God with the teachings of God, they can't use my life on earth to go to heaven. We 'll all be held accountable to whatever we' re doing on earth and that's why I' m urging all Orthodox Pastors to move away from such archaic lamentations.
"Interestingly, I admire the innovative and proactive ideas of the young Orthodox Pastors who are using the true Holy Spirits of God to preach well and healing the sick", he stated.
The man of God advised his colleague pastors who' re bathing women, giving fake prophesies, having sex with church members and defrauding their church members to refrain fro such sinful practices. He asked Ghanaian women to open their eyes and stop meeting pastors in secret places.
Written by: Isaac Amissah
E-mail: isaac4honesty@gmail.com
This writer is a host of Volta Power FM(www.voltapowerfm.com.Click on "ON AIR" at top right) He comes on air live every Monday. The program commences from 5-9 p.m E/Time of U.S(Ghana time 9p.m-1a.m).