Beware of charlatans parading as men of God - Methodist Bishop

The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, Ghana, Most Reverend Dr Paul Kwabena Boafo, has called on Ghanaians to be careful about activities of pastors who have dominated the airwaves with enticing messages which are not based on the teachings of the Bible.

He said through such enticing messages, some of them had succeeded in duping some Christians who visited them in search of spiritual directions instead of searching through the scriptures to find the truth and pray to God for solution to their problems.

Most Rev. Dr Boafo denounced the demand for items, for the performance of rites, from people who visited them for prayers and called on Christians to be watchful in order not to be led astray by such “wolves in sheep skin”.

Be watchful

He was delivering a sermon during the induction service for the new Bishop of the Wenchi Diocese of the Methodist Church Ghana, Right Reverend Alfred Appiah Andam, at the Calvary Congregation of the church at Wenchi last Sunday.

Most Rev. Boafo asked Christians to be watchful since rites and practices by some “men of God were unreasonable and can just not be explained.”

“I can’t tell my members to go and chew grass because the Lord is coming and so if you chew grass, you will go to heaven, No! I can’t tell my members to meet me at midnight at the seashore naked. Women - married women to come and meet me? What kind of anointing is that? He asked.

Most Rev. Boafo charged Christians to study the Bible thoroughly since that would equip them to question such weird practices, demands and actions by such charlatans.

“As we exercise our faith, it is important for us to be bold to question our leaders and not make it look as if we will be doomed if we question the men of God,” he stated.

Bishop for all

Most Rev. Boafo stated that in the field of education, the Methodist Church had made its presence felt right from kindergarten through second cycle to the tertiary level, while the Wenchi Methodist Hospital served as the Municipal Hospital.

He, therefore, told Rt Rev. Andam: “You are therefore to make your presence felt by being a bishop for the community and not the Methodist Church alone.

Endeavour to continue on the path that your predecessors have walked in this municipality and beyond.”

Touching on the impending district level elections and national referendum, Most Rev. Boafo said the church would continue to educate its members to take part in such national exercises to elect the leaders of the country.

For his part, Rt Rev. Andam expressed his gratitude to the Wenchi Diocese of the church for the confidence reposed in him and gave an assurance that he would work hard to justify his elevation.

He appealed to the various societies and circuits to embark on evangelism to convert more people to Christianity.