THROWBACK: I see self destruction in charismatic churches, lost of public trust, cheapened 'Apostle' titles – Pastor Mensa Otabil
This is a playback of what Pastor Mensa Otabil said about the Pentecostal and charismatic churches and why he thinks it is on the one way highway drive to sell destruction.
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To him, there is so much self destruction, so much dissipation of confidence, such that, the congregation and public is losing confidence in the pentecostal and charismatic churches.
He questioned the use of titles such as 'Apostles', 'Prophets' and 'Bishops' by pentecostal and charismatic pastors when they don't even know church history and are desecrating those titles.
Handling confidential information and prophesies
"When I look into the future of charismaticism, I see self destruction. There is one thing I like about the Catholic and the Anglican church, because the pastors, the clergy they are trained to handle confidential information."
"Because people go for confession and they tell the priest stuff, and the priest has to handle that information confidential.
"If it was charismatic and people did confession, we will have prayer topics, we will have preaching topics, we will have insinuation topics, we will have control and manipulation. You remember the thing you told me, remember the thing you told me if I tell your wife right now come and sow seed.
"Thank God nobody come for confession to Charismatics. You have to learn to handle confidential information and what God shows you is confidential information. But we blast it, sometimes humiliate people in public.
"The Lord showed me this about you and we describe people's health challenges publicly, embarrassing situations that they wish nobody hears. God told you about it and you feel that the best way is to announce it public. The sad thing is even after we are publicly disgraced them, there is no healing," Pastor Otabil said.
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The text below is what Pastor Mensa Otabil said
The Charismatic church, we see so much power and maybe that is what all of you see.
But I see so much danger and so much self destruction, so much dissipation of confidence, more and more, the congregation and public is losing confidence in us.
They are losing confidence in men of God, in clergymen, if you call yourself a prophet, it's almost like a title meaning con man.
How can we take such a sacred title that Isaiah had, that Jeremiah had, that Ezekiel had, that Daniel had, all of these great people, we have so commoditised it and so cheapened it that now, this noble title almost means a 'con man' because there is no regulatory body, everybody picks titles as they want and parade with it.
When I was growing up, if somebody was a Bishop, we believed that they were a noble person in the clergy because the churches which had Bishops in Ghana were two. Mainly, the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, and their Bishops were based on the diocesan system.
The Catholic Church as far as I can remember when I was growing up, had I think about six or so dioceses in Ghana. So six bishops. The Anglican Church had similar, probably less, maybe six bishops.
Later the Catholic Church expanded its diocese, I think now they have probably about 20 something dioceses in Ghana, but 20 something or whatever bishops.
Anglican Church similar, then Charismatics and Pentecostals said we want to spoil there.
We take whatever is noble 'Apostle', we have made 'Apostle' cheap, we've made 'Prophet' cheap, then now we are bishops. Now it is your turn.
And we have desecrated it so that the title bishop has no nobility attached to it again. Can you imagine in Ghana where everybody who has never been to law school is called a lawyer? I get up I say, hey, I'm a lawyer from today.
I'm a lawyer so and so. So I'm a so and so, I'm a doctor, I’m architect so and so. Can you imagine what will happen to the health profession? or the legal profession?
We've taken the noble characters, the noble titles, the noble offices that people toiled for, to build value and integrity, Charismatics attack it and dissipate it.
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You know the Catholics, they don’t marry, their wife is a church, they are married to the church forever.
So the church is always on their heart. You [Pastor], your wife is on your heart. So the thing you are wearing [robes] itself, it's significance is lost on you.
So he is wearing all of this [cassock and robes] and I said, why are you doing this? Have you checked or studied church history?
Do you understand where clergy garments came from? Do you understand why they do so and so? Do you understand why they hold this and all of that and all that, does it work with your own theology as a Pentecostal, is it consistent?
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He said hey! my brother, this thing, it open doors? It will open doors and you know because our society is unregulated. The media too, the media just use titles by heart.
A herbalist is a doctor and all kinds of people, so they don't even discern and help to correct the mistakes of the society. They amplify it. So at this point in time, Pastor Eastwood I don't know.
When I look into the future of charismatism, I see self destruction. There is one thing I like about the Catholic and the Anglican church, because the pastors, the clergy they are trained to handle confidential information.
Because people go for confession and they tell the priest stuff, and the priest has to handle that information confidential.
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If it was charismatic and people did confession, we will have prayer topics, we will have preaching topics, we will have insinuation topics, we will have control and manipulation. You remember the thing you told me, remember the thing you told me if I tell your wife right now come and sow seed.
Thank God nobody come for confession to Charismatics. You have to learn to handle confidential information and what God shows you is confidential information. But we blast it, sometimes humiliate people in public.
The Lord showed me this about you and we describe people's health challenges publicly, embarrassing situations that they wish nobody hears. God told you about it and you feel that the best way is to announce it public. The sad thing is even after we are publicly disgraced them, there is no healing.
The Pentecostal, charismatic church is on the one way highway drive to sell destruction and it is because generations after generations are using the example of the previous generation as theirs.
They are like the man, who prayed with a cat and generations come and think the cat is more important than their prayer. If you are a pastor here go to school. If you sense God has called, you have to go to seminary.
THROWBACK: I see self destruction in charismatic churches, lost of public trust, cheapened 'Apostle' titles – Pastor Mensa Otabil https://t.co/6HZz1JMN60 pic.twitter.com/nCYEErLMt8
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