Fruitful Living
New Catholic Dean for Madina Deanery
Very Rev Fr Bernard Kyei
The Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Rev John Bonaventure Kwofie has appointed Very Rev Fr Bernard Kyei as the new Dean for the Madina Deanary.
Very Rev Bernard Kyei who is the Priest-in-charge of St John of God Catholic Church, Amrahia, on the Adentan -Dodowa highway, takes over from Very Rev Fr Nimorius Kwabena Adomanzing.
The appointment which will last for five years, makes him an ex-oficio member of the Diocesan Council of Priests.
Preaching the homily last Sunday to mark the feast day of the church, Fr Bernard Kyei called on Christians to take advantage of God’s unlimited mercy and forgiveness to be cleansed of their inequities.
He said Christians ought to rejoice because Jesus the son of God had nailed their sins on the cross and won for them salvation.
He said lent should serve an ideal opportune time for all to amend their lives, forgive the wrongs of others in order that God would forgive them their sins.
He advised them not to condemn anybody, even prostitutes, because God the merciful judge would pardon all manner of sins, provided one returned to God with a contrite heart.
Very Rev Fr Kyei said God the arbiter of our lives was constantly calling us to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.
He asked them to imitate Jesus in all aspects of their lives, eschew sin because so long as they sinned, they crucified Jesus daily on the cross.
By Raymond Kyekye
Fruitful Living
Honeycomb Ministries founder ordained as Priest
Rev. Dansu (third from left) with other officiating ministers at the event
The Dominion College of Bishops, last Saturday commissioned and ordained as Reverend Minister, Ms Cecilia Dansu, the Founder and Lead Facilitator of the Honeycomb Ministries, a non-denominational end-time revival movement, in Accra.
Minister Dansu who undergone an intensive theological training and gazetted by the government was ordained in recognition of her humanitarian outreach and dedication to spreading the word of God to schools and communities.
The colourful service which was officiated by the Deputy Prelate of the Dominion College of Bishops, Bishop Dr Albert Ken Dapatem and Director of Programmes, Bishop Peter Koomson was attended by family and loved ones.
In a short exhortation on the theme: ‘You were chosen for a purpose (John 15,16),’ the Associate Pastor of Change Life Baptist Church, Rev. Samuel Ohemeng Damptey, admonished Christians to avail themselves for the gift of God to operate in them.
According to him, it was not only the clergy that the Lord had called but each and every one for a specific purpose.
“If you cannot preach like Paul, or all the other Bishops, at least there’s something you can do. You can share the word of God with children for the bible says, He has chosen us for a purpose to bear fruit-a fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you,” he added.
Rev. Damptey charged the newly ordained minister to be committed to the cause of God, and use her mantle to save people and expand the ministry, whiles keeping in mind that she was called by God to spread His message.
She was presented with a Holy Bible, pastoral collar and awarded a certificate of recognition.
As part of the consecration, the officers used the opportunity to officially inaugurate her ministry, the Honeycomb Ministries to ascertain the feasibility of the ministry’s vision and action plans.
In addition, two Christian publications authored by her was also launched to shape the Christian youth in their everyday lives with God.
By Vivian Arthur
Fruitful Living
WHAT IS THE LOVE OF GOD? (PART 1)
God is love
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in His love – John 15:9-10
INTRODUCTION
Remain in my love – Jesus calls us to a life of holy intimacy and personal devotion to Him. This is possible because of God’s love for us, which he has poured into our hearts by the holy spirit (Romans 5:5). God demonstrated His great love through Christ’s dying for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). We remain in Jesus’ love by pursuing spiritual intimacy and communication with Him, and by obeying His commands, just as He did with the Father.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. – 1 John 3:1
CHILDREN OF GOD
The truth that God is our Heavenly Father and we are His children is one of the greatest revelations in the New Testament.
1. Being a child of God, adopted in Christ as His very own (Ephesians 1:5), is a high honour on privilege of our salvation. (Galatians 4:7).
2. Being a child of God is the basis for our faith and trust in God (Matthew 6:25-34) and our hope of glory for the future. As God’s children, we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17; Galatians 4:7).
3. God wants us to be increasingly made aware through the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of Sonship” (Romans 8:15) that we are His children. The Spirit produces the cry “Abba, Father” in our hearts (Galatians 4:6) and gives us the desire to be “led by the Spirit” (Romans 8:14).
4. Being a child of God is the basis for our discipline by the Father (Hebrews 12:6-7-11) and the reason we live to please God.
God’s ultimate goal in making us His children is to save us forever (John 3:16) and to conform us to the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:29).
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is an activity and behaviour and not just as an inner teaching or motivation. Other aspects of love are characteristics of God Himself who has been revealed by our Lord Jesus Christ.
The love of God is His passion to sustain and uphold and exalt His holiness and His Son for your everlasting enjoyment. If you put yourself at the centre, you’re suicidal because it robs you of the very glory of God and his enjoyment.
1 John 4:8 describes one of God’s primary attributes as love. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” This verse does not define God as love; it describes God’s love as permeating His essence in all He is and all He does. As for today’s headlines tout stories of scandal, tragedy, and war; believers can be confident knowing all they need is God’s love.
I agree with the Theologian A.W. Tozer once stated, “Nothing God ever does, or ever did, or ever will do, is separate from the love of God.” Everything He has ever done has been out of love.
THINGS WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LOVE OF GOD
1. God’s Love Is Incomprehensible. – “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” – Ephesians 3:17-18.
2. God’s Love Is known and Proven – “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”. – John 3:16.
3. We Can Trust In God’s Love.
4. God’s Love is Pure.
5. God’s Love is Perfect.
6. Our Salvation Is An Expression Of God’s Love.
7. Our Ability To Love Is Enabled Through God’s Love.
8. We Can Rest In God’s Love.
9. We Can Have Confidence In God’s Love.
