Should we doubt these prophesies?

I love listening to sermons,  great teachings and prophetic messages from men of God; whether in church, on television or on the radio.

Among the Christian programmes I enjoy watching or listening to on television and radio are the Emmanuel TV, where the man in the Synagogue, Prophet T.B. Joshua presides and performs healings; Pastor Mensa Otabil, General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church, whose teachings I follow both on radio and television, as well as His Eminence Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams.

There were times I watched and listened to some prophetic revelations by some other pastors.

With my background as a sociology graduate, I must say that it is not everything that I hear from pastors or see them doing that I accept or believe without subjecting such issues to some kind of analysis.

I have done that several times and always concluded that there are some who claim to be men of God that I will never listen to. Some of them are real charlatans. They play on the psychology of the people, lure them to their churches or worship centres and extort money from them.

Majority of Ghanaians are very superstitious and, therefore, some of these pastors capitalise on this weakness and prey on them in order to sustain their (pastors) lavish and extravagant lifestyles.

Just last week, I was watching a programme on one of the networks when my eldest daughter came to me and ‘demanded’ that I listen to Bishop Owusu-Bempah’s prophecies on Adom TV on the Multi TV channel.

Initially, I did not want to abandon the programme I was watching but since she persisted, I asked her to tune in to Adom TV.  In fact what the Man of God said was very frightening and unpleasant.

Bishop Owusu-Bempah is known for his controversial prophecies but this time, he went international and prophesied the deaths that would be recorded in Ghana and the sub-region if Ghanaians and, indeed, Nigerians did not pray incessantly and intercede on behalf of the high-profile personalities he said might die very soon.

In Ghana, Bishop Owusu-Bempah was emphatic that death was hovering around the heads of our distinguished political leaders including the President John Dramani Mahama, who once sent emissaries to him after he made a similar revelation. 

According to the bishop, even though some members of the National Democratic Congress Communication Team went verile with his prophecy, he interceded on behalf of the President and prayed on his behalf and that explained why the President was still alive.

Apart from the fresh prophesy that the President would die, Bishop Owusu-Bempah again revealed that Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, the Vice-President; a leading figure of the New Patriotic Party; a celebrated Ghanaian who had brought honour to the country; one of Ghana’s former Presidents (Kufuor or Rawlings); the Nigerian leader, Goodluck Jonathan; and a former Nigerian Head of State, among others, would die if intensive prayers were not said on their behalf.

Additionally, he predicted a heavy rainfall that would result in serious flooding, which would claims the lives of some Ghanaians. 

Even though the Bishop maintained that he had made similar revelations before and those he cited took them for granted, the prophecies finally came to pass.

He, therefore, said that those he had mentioned should take him serious because it was a revelation from God.

I was taken aback and asked myself whether this was a joke. Since I listened to the Bishop, I have been wondering whether God only reveals the deaths of prominent personalities to him and why that happens.

Well, I don’t want to doubt the ability of the Man of God and the things that he had prophesied, but I believe with all sincerity that whatever it takes to avert these deaths should be done even if it means the whole country should fast and pray to prevent these catastrophes.