News
Easter messages from the clergy…
Learn to overcome betrayal — Ps Mensa Otabil
The Founder of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Pastor Mensah Otabil has urged Christians who feel betrayed to learn from Jesus’ example of dealing with betrayal in order to receive healing and restoration.
Pastor Otabil in his ‘Word to go’ series said many people were battling with how to overcome betrayal but could make reference to Jesus’ practical example to get over such situations.
Referencing Luke 22:47-48, he read, “And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
In Jesus’ scenario, he said, the disciples were accustomed to praying with Jesus in Gethsemane when they were in Jerusalem which served as their place of rest and of quiet, and to stay away from the crowd.
He added, Judas knew that, that was the time to get Jesus alone because the Jews did not want to arrest Jesus in the public space.
Pastor Otabil said, they looked for someone in the camp of Jesus to get him in the quiet place and that was how Judas led the team to Gethsemane where they arrested Jesus Christ.
“And for a little prize, Judas betrayed the man he had stayed with, learnt a lot from and shared so much relationship with. And he did it with a kiss,” he said.
“It is amazing how betrayal is camouflaged as affection because it happened with a kiss. So Jesus asked Judas if he was betraying him with a kiss. That was to bring some consciousness to Judas that he knew what he was doing so that after that, he could think about what he had done and repent,” he stressed.
In the midst of that, he said, Peter one of the disciples, cut the ear of one of the people who came to arrest Jesus but the Lord rather healed the ear.
“Amazing that the last recorded healing ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ was at the time when he was betrayed by a close friend and being arrested and in the midst of all that, instead of bitterness, there was healing,” he stated.
“That is the awesomeness of Jesus as he was fully in charge of his emotions and constantly doing the will of the Father which everyone must emulate,” he added.
He explained that, betrayal was painful for anyone to go through especially when someone used what they knew about another to do harm.
However, he said, with the example of Jesus, he said especially going into the Easter festivities where Christians remember the death of Christ and everything prior to that, it was important to look back and let go of betrayal.
That, he said, would provide healing and restoration and not make a person become a bearer of pain and anguish.
By Michael D. Abayateye
Easter is for spiritual, physical, emotional wellbeing of Christians — Rev Addo-Yobo
The General overseer of the International Victory Praise Chapel, Dome, Rev. Humphery Addo-Yobo says it is worth celebrating Easter as it commemorates Jesus Christ’s death for the spiritual, physical, emotional and total wellbeing of Christians.
He said the transformation of Jesus into the human flesh to taste death for the sake of the sins of man was worth celebrating because even with humans, forgiveness among men usually comes with some excitement.
In an interview with The Spectator, he explained that Easter must not be observed with malice and wickedness but with a clean heart and sincerity.
He justified this with a scripture in I Corinthians 5:7.
It reads: “Purge (clean out) the old leaven that you may be fresh (new) dough, still uncontaminated [as you are], for Christ, our Passover [Lamb], has been sacrificed.
He said as Christians, it was important to strive towards having a clean heart, which would be free from sin.
Reverend Addo stated that the celebration of Easter was a necessity because it was the gateway for man’s salvation through the new birth of Christ.
“I Corinthians 5:8 states that Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of evil and malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened [bread] of purity (nobility, honor) and sincerity and [unadulterated] truth.
Reverend Addo Yobo also mentioned that the celebration of Easter signifies Jesus’ victory over death, adding that “Christians must celebrate Easter with the understanding that Satan has been destroyed.”
He urged Christians to celebrate Easter in a way that symbolises that Jesus Christ has defeated death and won victory for us.
By Elizabeth Agyeibea Ackon
Reflect the sacrifice of Jesus on cross – Ps Hammond
The Resident Pastor of Tabernacle Worship Centre, Burma Hills branch, Pastor Daniel David Hammond has called on Christians to reflect on the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for mankind during the Easter season.
“Easter allows us to see clearly what is of eternal value and that which is temporary, but living in a fallen and broken world can often cloud our vision,” Ps Hammond said in an interview with The Spectator.
Sharing his thoughts on the season, Ps Hammond stated that “We sometimes concentrate more on this earth which is temporary and forget that the spiritual is more real and of eternal value.”
“Much like Easter celebrations, we know which is worthier of our focus. However, our sinful nature causes us to focus more on ourselves and immediate pleasures,” he added.
He said Christians must learn to put their trust in the Lord, for the Bible says “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departed from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.”
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. (Jeremiah 17:5-7).
Ps Hammond said trusting in God and obeying Him was the only way to live a fulfilled Christian life.
By Andrew Parker
Celebrate triumph of life over death — Prophet Eric Boahen
The leader and founder of Reign House Chapel, Prophet Eric Boahen Uche, has charged Christians to celebrate the triumph of life over death this Easter.
According to him, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the gift of salvation by God.
He said, In Christian tradition, the Resurrection represents Christ’s victory over death and the promise of eternal life for those who follow him.
He made this call when speaking to The Spectator ahead of Easter.
Prophet Eric Boahen wished everyone a Happy Easter and said “May the joy of Christ’s resurrection fill your hearts with renewed faith and hope.”
According to him, this renewed hope has what it takes to lift people to the next level in their lives.
Prohphet Boahen added that Christians must use the period to reflect on the circumstances surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus.
This, he said, would go a long way to affect how they do things in one’s quest to be Christ-like.
He further charged Christians to spread love during Easter, by putting smiles on the faces of others far and near
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
News
Swallowed by the Sea! …Keta’s coastal lines, landmarks, efforts to preserve heritage
The Atlantic Ocean is no longer a distant blue horizon for the people of Keta.
It now circles around their doorsteps, uninvited, unrelenting, pulling down walls and other structures, erasing memories, and threatening lives.
Hovering precariously between the restless sea and the Keta Lagoon, this once-thriving coastal town is slowly being obliterated.
Salt water has become both a physical and metaphorical threat, dissolving the town’s past as fast as it claims its future.
Madam Aku Atitso, 62, lives in a crumbling former Prisons Service quarters – one of the few structures still standing on the eroded stretch of Queen Street.
She sits quietly at the entrance, preparing a modest breakfast for herself and her granddaughter.
The air is thick with salt and silence. “The sea took everything,” she says softly. “My husband’s nets, our mattress, our memories all gone overnight.” Her voice trembles. “This place too is dying. But it’s the last place with a roof over my head.”
A few metres away, Aunty Esinam, 79, watches the sea from a low stool beside a wooden shelter. Her eyes do not blink. “That spot,” she points, “used to be someone’s living room, a whole family lived there”.
It’s not just homes that are vanishing. Landmarks that anchored Keta’s cultural identity are disappearing one after another. The once-imposing Fort Prinzenstein, a haunting relic of the transatlantic slave trade is now more of a ruin than a monument.
the encroaching waters along Keta’s
coast.
encroaching waters along Keta’s coast
The colonial-era Bremen factory, the old cinema where generations of children once laughed at flickering black-and-white films is also gone.
Queen Street, once the town’s bustling backbone, is now a watery corridor choked with debris.
Standing atop a section of the sea defence wall, 69-year-old retired teacher Efo Kwasi Agbeko surveys what remains.
“The first police station is mostly gone,” he says, gesturing part of the building stuck in the sea sand, only ruins and a few rooms remain.
“This town is fighting, but the sea is winning,” he said.
Even the Cape St. Paul Lighthouse, Keta’s historic sentinel, leans perilously toward the water, and fishermen say holes in the shore are opening more frequently, sometimes every week.
That leaves a thick cloud of uncertainty hanging around the historic town of Keta.
Once upon a time, it was a vibrant town noted for business but currently left with ruins with a few of the residents watching in awe the sea’s devastation.
From: Geoffrey Kwame Buta, Keta, Volta Region
News
Ghanaians climax Easter with fun-filled activities
Christians around the world and other faith based groups last Monday climaxed the Easter celebration with a number of fun-filled outdoor and indoor activities.
With streets empty, fun seekers stormed church premises where picnics were held while others partied in many ways.
Others spent the day at the various beaches and music and film shows occupying the others.
velleyball competition
at the Laboma Beach
Church in Tema Community 8 engaged
in a number of activities including the
popular draught competition
At the churches, participants engaged in bible reading, football, volleyball, playing cards, table tennis, horse racing, bouncing castles, swimming and oware.
one of the picnic venues
Others played ludo, tag of war, lime and spoon, draught, music competitions among others.
The Spectator captured some of the exciting scenes around Accra-Tema for the benefit of readers.
Story & pictures by Victor A. Buxton
