Guard against fame to progress in ministry - Apostle Otoo charges pastors

Young pastors have been admonished to guard against fame if they want to go far in ministry.

In wanting to become popular, they might be tempted to go to places they were not supposed to go to.

The General Overseer of the Lord's Pentecostal Church International (LPCI), Apostle Eric Essandoh Anim Otoo, who gave the admonition to young pastors, said chasing fame and trying to become what they were not could lead them astray from their calling.

"You must guard against fame and wanting to be popular at all costs. If you don’t, you will be seeing things you are not supposed to see and hearing things that you are not supposed to hear.

"That popularity, will not take you far. It will be like the barrel, and it will burst over time.

May the Lord help us so that we will not be tempted by sin, but that we will seek to please him and also have a clear conscience before men," he said.

Apostle Otoo was preaching at the Retirement Service of Apostle Daniel Wright Quarshie and his wife, Christie Quarshie, of the Abundant Life Centre of TLPCI in Accra, last Saturday.

Service

Apostle Quarshie has served the church for the past 40 years.

He and his wife were decorated with the kente cloth and given citations, with the icing on the cake being presented with a salon car.

Responsibility

Apostle Otoo also stressed the need for pastors to uphold a high level of morality in the execution of their work.

That, he said, was because they had a responsibility to both God and man and should not fail.

"This work is very difficult in the sense that you have a responsibility towards God and man.

You cannot fail God and you cannot fail man," he said, further admonishing them to be mindful of the three "fs" - fame, finances and female, in the course of their work as men of God.

"If you want to go far in ministry and end well, you must guard against these things," he emphasised.

Faithful to the end

Apostle Otoo said the two had served well and faithfully and that no scandal had been heard about them in the course of their service.

Speaking on the theme: "Faithful to the end", Apostle Otoo said it was one thing to start and another thing to end.

He said that how one starts a journey matters, the most important thing is how that journey ends.

"If you start very well and you don't end well, it’s an error; if you don't start well and you end well, is good.

Apostle Otoo said from the testimonies shared about Apostle Quarshie, it was very clear that he had paid his dues, saying that he could identify with the Prophet Samuel as captured in 1 Samuel 12:1-5 and that he had served faithfully.

"If you watch the platforms they belong to and you look at the testimonies that people are pouring on them, I say, oh God, may this be my portion one day, when it is my turn to go on retirement," he said.

The celebrant, Apostle Quarshie, who was also the Projects and Development Director of TLPCI, on behalf of his wife, expressed their gratitude to the church for the honour done them.

The immediate-past General Overseer of TLPCI, Apostle Richard Buafor, said Apostle Quarshie's wisdom had grown over the years and so had his preaching and teaching.

"He has remained steadfast in faith in the storms of life that he has faced. I observed his courage amid challenges," he said.