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Don’t pay others to pray for you – Mensa Otabil cautions Christians

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The Reverend Dr. Mensah Otabil, Founder and General Overseer, International Central Gospel Church, has urged Christians against paying others to pray and fast on their behalf.

It was wrong for Christians, he said, to seek to buy the power of God – money for power, influence, access and opportunities for greatness.

They should not be like Simon, the sorcerer, according to the New Testament account in Acts of the Apostles 8:9–24, who after becoming a Christian, offered to purchase from the Apostles Peter and John the supernatural power of imparting the Holy Spirit.

He was condemned by the Apostles because his heart was not right for the Ministry of Christ as he sought the power for personal and financial gain.

Dr Otabil was delivering a sermon to open the 2023 Experience Conference of The Maker’s House Chapel International, (TMHCI), at the Destiny Arena, in Accra.

Addressing the topic, ‘How Do You Work the Works of God?’, alongside the theme of the Conference: “Jesus the Miracle Worker”, Dr Otabil emphasised that believing in Jesus, as the son of God, was the only way to godly success and miracles.

“Some of you men, who are very well positioned in life, sometimes you feel you can buy your way to God’s glory and grace,” he explained.

“Some of you have got all kinds of boys and girls who we call prophets and prophetesses, and they are yours.

“You purchase them, you pay them, you feed them, they pray in your house. Once you are working, they pray all day and night for you.”

The General Overseer reminded the faithful that it was not possible for one to outsource his or her spiritual life.

“It does not work that way. So, if you think somebody you pay can pray for you for God to hear, you need to check your whole thinking process,” he advised.

It was imperative that every Christian had his personal encounters with God through Christ.

Many in the bible, he said, received their miracles upon believing in Christ as the Godsent son.

Jesus emphasised this in an answer to some of his followers who wanted to do the works of God, having been impressed with his miracles of feeding the 5,000 and walking on water.

Sharing some of his teething experiences in ministry, Dr Otabil advised Christians to operate in their unique gifts of the Holy Spirit but not be counterfeits of other men of God to become fruitful.

They should also aspire for excellence in Ministry, their professions and every endeavour of life.

He, therefore, lauded Dr Michael Boadi Nyamekye, founder and senior pastor of the TMHCI, for his visionary leadership and also their state-of-the-art worship centre to the glory of God.

He said the world-class edifice should motivate the members to distinguish themselves in every area of their lives.

He prayed for God’s grace to make the eight-day conference an impactful and life transforming programme.

The Conference, which is resuming after the 2019 break over the COVID-19 pandemic, will see the ministrations of leading charismatic ministers of Ghana and beyond.

They will take turns to preach, pray, heal and impact the participants with their diverse giftings.

They include Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams, the Presiding Archbishop and General Overseer, United Denominations of Action Chapel International, Archbishop Charles Agyinasare, the President, Agyinasare World Evangelism, and the Rev. Dr. Ebenezer S. M. Markwei, the Founder and General Overseer, Living Streams International.

Others are the Presiding Archbishop and the Founder and General Overseer of the Charismatic Evangelistic Ministry (CEM), Dr Steve Mensah, General Overseer of the Global Revival Ministries, Rev. Dr Robert Ampiah-Kwofi and the Founder and Senior Pastor of All Nations Church in Atlanta, Georgia and General Overseer of the Living Springs International Churches, Dr Frank Ofosu-Appiah.

Leading gospel artistes will also minister alongside the host choir and artistes.

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Peter Okoye reacts to alleged song ownership by twin brother

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Iconic Nigerian singer Peter Okoye has responded to allegations made by his twin brother Paul over ownership of a new song “Winning.”

Peter Okoye shared a detailed account of the song’s creation, clarifying his role and collaboration with others, including Ghanaian producer Vampire and songwriter Calypso.

He questioned Paul’s claims, citing their agreed-upon creative process and Paul’s removal of his (Peter’s) vocals from joint songs.

Peter also addressed his temporary break from music, stating he took time to recharge before returning with “Winning.”

He wrote on X: “If you have followed my journey as a solo artiste and even before, you will notice that I give people their due credit where necessary as I am a firm believer in teamwork; I know my strengths, where I need assistance or guidance I am not afraid to ask or work with those who are strong in the areas I am not; this includes the process of creating music, executing concepts and ideas etc. I will always credit people for their contributions to my projects.

“Sometime in June 2022, I stumbled upon a producer based in Ghana named Vampire, and my team and I also personally reached out to him via DM, that I liked his work and was interested in working with him. Before getting him to Lagos, I presented the idea of this producer to my twin brother and our team, getting their buy-in before I got him flight tickets and flew him to Lagos.“

It was when he got into Lagos I asked if he would be open to working on P-SQUARE’s next album project, that the 5 songs I had penned down from my end to be presented to our A&R team for the album project were: JAIYE, WINNING, FIND SOMEBODY, LEGENDARY, and ATTENTION, based on tracks he had produced.

“We started with my own 5 songs that needed to be submitted for PSQUARE’s album, which he produced for me: The idea for WINNING came from one of his beats that I discovered. I came up with the idea of changing the chord progression from the original version to what it is today with my own producer Goldswarm who is the co-producer of the song WINNING.

“I had also engaged a songwriter known as CALYPSO who wrote and composed the song WINNING and sent it to me on the beats through a voice note. And we started working on the song. Mind you, he worked on some other songs that were to make the album as well, so my brother was aware of his input to the production as we were all in the studio during this period.

“Then when my twin brother heard the song WINNING, which we had already created the hook/chorus for, he then wanted to start creating a verse. Our agreed-on process for each song presented by us was: arrange the song, leave a verse for the other person, then we both harmonise the chorus and refrain bits together. He wasn’t supposed to until Calypso and I finished it as part of my own song submission to the LEGENDARY ALBUM.

“After that, we finished and shared verses among ourselves. I do not wish to get into details of why the album didn’t see the light of day till date but it takes a different level of psychosis for one to steal what is theirs already; as since the release of this song, I have been labeled and called all sorts online and they have even gone as far as asking for the song to be taken down on various platforms, to what end?

“It was never part of his 5, now 6 (according to him) songs for submission, yet when he felt I was not interested in making music because I chose my sanity over the constant berating and drama that seemed to come up over creative direction in the group.

“If it were his song, why do I have all the music data including initial conversations and picture/video evidence on the above-mentioned titles/songs? Which of his songs do I have its data in my possession in that case? All because he was hoping for me to quit music. Even when I learnt that he had removed my vocals on songs we did together, suggesting that he sing the entire songs including the ones that he planned to present for the album without my input (a very absurd idea as we both make up the duo not just the one), but we both perform them on stage, I begun to have a rethink of the entire situation. Let me leave this here.

“Maybe because I was not posting anything music-related on my social media page for over 4 months. He believes I have lost interest in music. I took a breather to get my mind and head in the right space and when that was done, my epiphany was WINNING!”.

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DNA test more important than naming ceremony- Don Jazzy

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producer and executive, Don Jazzy, has urged men to prioritise the paternity of their children, stating that it is more important than a naming ceremony.

On his Instagram story, Don Jazzy emphasised: “DNA test is more important than naming ceremony.”

His statement comes amid ongoing debates about the necessity of DNA tests, fuelled by recent high-profile cases of paternity fraud.

Don Jazzy known in real life as Michael Collins Ajereh is the founder of Mavin Records – through which he has signed artistes including D’Prince, Rema, and Ayra Starr.

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Pastor Love jailed 48 months in hard labour for stealing

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Pastor Hammond Love, widely known as Pastor Love, has been convicted of theft and sentenced to 48 months in prison with hard labour.

GBC Ghana Online reports that Pastor Love, a former husband of gospel musician Obaapa Christie, was found guilty of the offence after seven years of trial. 

Before he was sentenced, Pastor Love pleaded with the court for mercy, adding that he was willing to pay any fine that would be imposed on him. 

The court presided over by Isaac Addo, took into consideration the fact that the convicted Pastor Love was a first-time offender.

The court held that as a Pastor, he was expected to hold a high level of integrity, especially in matters of trust, and therefore handed him the 48-month jail term as a fair deterrent. 

The facts of the case as presented by ASP Frimpong was that in 2016 one Samuel Amankwah, a resident of the US, shipped a 4×4 vehicle into Ghana and tasked Pastor Love to clear it from the port. 

The convict cleared the said vehicle with his money, after which the complainant told him to sell it for US$50,000 and deduct the amount he paid as duty.

Later, the complainant told Pastor Love to hold on with the sale of the vehicle as he would travel to Ghana and refund his money. 

In April 2017, the complainant arrived in the country and contacted Pastor Love for his vehicle, but he could not produce it despite several demands. 

The complainant complained with the Police and Pastor Love was arrested in May 2017. 

During interrogation, the convicted Pastor Love told the Police that he secured a loan of GH¢40,000 with 20 per cent interest to clear the vehicle and was accruing more interest, so he sold the vehicle at GH¢80,000 without the consent of the owner and paid GH¢70,000 to the loan company.

Meanwhile, Pastor Love was unable to lead the Police to the said loan company to verify the claim and could not also tell who bought the vehicle. 

The Judge said the convict was dishonest to the Court.

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