Give up to go up!

IN MY interaction with people, I haven’t met a single individual who says, “As for me, I intend to retrogress.” Every university student I've dealt with is desirous of a terrific result at the end of their examination. Every businessperson aims for positive returns on their investments. Parents want their children to end well. I want to progress in my life and I suppose you too. If you are asked, I presume you would say, “I want to be successful.” That’s a good desire to have but the essential question each of us must answer is this: “How can we progress to a higher pedestal of life?”

I believe that to be able to move forward and higher in life, we must cast away all the things that hinder us. There are habits and character traits that impede our progress in life. There are friends whose company and advice are inimical to our ambition to succeed. There are TV programmes that are not good for us. It is not every book that adds value to our lives. So to go up, we must give up.

GIVE UP YOUR LIFE

It is said that anyone who is not ready to die for anything has nothing to live for. Jesus Christ said that “whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life...will find it.” If you surrender yourself to your dreams, you will be willing to pay the price for it. Surrendering yourself indicates a determination to stretch yourself to get what you want. It shows the sacrifices one is prepared to make in exchange for their aspirations. Nelson Mandela is an idol today because of his utmost dedication to his vision. He wanted to see his country liberated and in pursuing that vision, Mandela surrendered his life. He gave up his own freedom to achieve his country’s freedom. Today, Mr Mandela is arguably the world’s most revered personality. Your success depends on how much of your life you are willing to give.

GIVE UP YOUR FRIENDS

Good company enhances great values. Who is your best friend? Why is that person your best friend? My belief is that friends must be people who help us to get closer to our dreams. Anybody whose association with me does not enhance my capacity to achieve my dreams is not a friend. They may be good people but definitely not friends. It is not everybody you know who can accompany you to where you want to go. They may be nice people to hang out with but can’t travel with you. Such people will only keep you at one place – if they don’t draw you backwards. The logical thing to do is to distance yourself from people like that.

The road to your destiny is narrow and only few people can go with you. You don’t necessarily need every smiling person in your life to go with you. Just make up your mind to go and those who can will follow you. If nobody can go with you, then you have to make a choice to either remain down with them or give them up and go up.

GIVE UP YOUR TREASURE

Your dream will cost you something valuable. Any goal that has no price is cheap and is not worth pursuing. Going up is expensive. It may involve using your hard-earned dough to purchase priceless books, attend courses, or change your wardrobe. You may have to learn a new language. Your treasure could be your money, time or possessions. What you give inspires what you receive. What you walk away from determines what you walk into. What you sow is what you reap. If you want to attain an enviable position in life, give something enviable. When it rains it is those who have planted good seed who receive good harvest.

ICGC: Renewing Perspectives

“You don’t come to church to clap your hands and jump around. You come to church to be educated and inspired.” Those words spoken by the pastor of Christ Temple, the flagship cosmopolitan assembly of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) in Accra, Ghana made an indelible imprint on my mind. Every week Pastor Mensa Otabil stands behind his pulpit and speaks what I would describe as words of insight and inspiration. He eloquently uses biblical concepts to propose practical solutions to the perplexing challenges of mankind, especially those in Africa and other third world settings. For me, it is this aspect of the ministry that fascinates me significantly.

At ICGC Christ Temple, emphasis is placed on personal responsibility. I consider the message of personal responsibility so crucial in the African context; a place where we easily blame former slave masters, colonialists, and witches for our national and personal woes. Instead of carving for ourselves initiatives that will lift us out of the doldrums of poverty, diseases and illiteracy, we mostly prefer to look through the window and expect that some people in Europe and America would use their taxpayers’ money to rescue us. Those of us who are religious will spend countless hours praying and believing that things will work out. At ICGC, I’ve learnt that God has given me wisdom, talents and power to manage my life productively. I’ve understood that what happens to me is not as important as how I respond to what happens to me. Instead of looking through the window and pointing fingers at external forces, I must look at the mirror and use my power of imagination to adopt a creative response to situations that I face in life.

Additionally, I have come to appreciate that life is a purposeful existence and that every human being has a contribution to make to the world. We have all been endowed by God to fulfil a mandate on earth. To have a meaningful experience of life, one must come to terms with what their God-given assignment in life is and strive to fulfil it. Through the message of ICGC, I have discovered my purpose in life. In this regard I have been able to get a leadership development organization running. I have also published two books and I am presently working on three others for publication in 2010. Today, I am able to function as a personal development consultant, media columnist and motivational speaker – thanks to the ministry of ICGC.

I am also particularly impressed with the church’s commitment to excellence. As a deliberate policy the church’s affairs are marked with excellence, precision and professionalism. Church services and conferences are organised with finesse, musical groups sing with utmost professionalism while the protocol services are top notch. Lessons gleaned from this aspect of the church have enhanced my expertise as a conference architect and author.

Since inception, the 25-year old church has been active in the social fabric of Ghana. Strategic social intervention programmes pursued by the church especially in the area of education have been quite relevant. The Central Aid Educational scholarship scheme has over the years offered assistance to several needy students to pursue their education in various second cycle institutions. My fascination here stems from the fact that these scholarships are offered to people from or walks of life regardless of religious or ethnic background. Again, the Central University College – another initiative of the church – is gradually emerging as the leading private university in Ghana. The clean water project unveiled by the church in 2009 has also gone a long way to provide potable water to some deprived settings in the Ga West Municipality. As a tithe-paying member of the church, I am satisfied that my financial contributions to the church are being put to good use. Aside that, I feel terrific that I’m part of an organisation that is adding value to people’s lives and augmenting government’s efforts at making lives better for Ghanaians.

Finally, I would like to make mention of the inspiring leadership of Pastor Mensa Otabil. Since inception, Otabil has offered insightful and exemplary leadership to move the church from one level of growth to the next. Beginning in a small classroom in Kanda, a suburb of Accra, International Central Gospel Church has evolved to become a multi-faceted network of over 100 churches and ministries spread across several parts of the world. The story of ICGC is a story of good leadership and purposeful commitment. It’s an inspiring story of what every person can achieve if we set our minds on a definite objective. Whenever I step foot on the premises of Christ Temple, I get encouraged to persistently pursue my aspirations irrespective of the challenges I face.

I consider ICGC an inspiring place to be. It’s a place where life is discovered and I have no regrets being part of this remarkable church.

A STORY THAT CHANGED THE ENTIRE WORLD

THE ANTECEDENT OF EASTER 

According to the Bible, God created the world and everything that constitutes it. He crowned His creation with human beings at the commanding heights. Our role was to partner with God to rule His kingdom. God wanted us to superintend the physical realm on His behalf. He gave us sufficient authority to dominate the earth as well as maintain and harness all the elements and resources of the earth. Somewhere along the line, we lost our guard and ceded our authority to another force. It then became necessary for God to repossess what man had relinquished. He sent His Son Jesus to carry out that mission.

 

THE MISSION OF EASTER

Jesus came to reclaim and repossess what man had given away. His intention was to restore us to our dignified position in life. Jesus’ operation on earth was to give us dominion over demonic forces and all the storms of life. The birth of Jesus was an announcement of a new dawn in human existence. His death symbolised the end of our bondage to elements of darkness. It marked the end of ignorance and insecurity in the mind and heart of man. It does not end there. Three days after His death, Jesus returned from the dead. He vanquished death; having done that He set the stage for our restoration. All the conditions necessary to put us back to our privileged position had been met.

 

THE OCCASION OF EASTER

Every year, when we celebrate Easter, we try to accentuate the mission of Jesus. We remember what Jesus did to restore our dignity. While we may want to go to the beach, play some games or participate in various church activities during Easter, we should not lose consciousness over its real essence. This year, as we celebrate the occasion, it must not just be a holiday; we should determine to make it a holy day. We must realise that the significance of Easter is to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus. We have to be aware of how His death and resurrection influence our destiny.

 

THE PEOPLE OF EASTER

Somehow, Easter has come to be seen as a festival for Christians. Well, my own view is that Easter is a festival for humanity. At the time Jesus died, there was no Christianity. Christianity evolved only after Jesus had resurrected and ascended to heaven. Christianity as a religion is a creation of man. Easter is for every person who desires to have a meaningful existence. It is for people who are seeking to live a dignified life. Anybody who accepts what Jesus did qualifies to be part of Easter. If you acknowledge that the death and resurrection of Jesus was to give you a meaningful and dignified life, then you are the person of Easter; you have cause to celebrate and give thanks to God.

 

EVERYDAY IS EASTER

What Jesus did for us has daily significance. It is not exclusively useful to us during Easter. It benefits us every time; even when we are dead. It stands to reason that each day of our lives we acknowledge what He did for us. We must always walk in the consciousness that we have been redeemed by God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Easter is not just an occasion, it’s a daily celebration.