Apostle Peter Okoe Mankralo, the President of the Apostolic Church of Ghana, has bemoaned the increasing number of false doctrines in the country and entreated Christians to beware.
A statement signed by Apostle Mankralo on Easter Monday, copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said Christians were supposed to exhibit fellow-feeling for their neighbours and wondered if many were living by that noble principle.
"We are disturbed to note that at a time we should be living by these virtues, there has emerged in our society arrays of false doctrines and practices among Christians. Some people, styling themselves as pastors, have become stage cancers or cheats who shamelessly tell lies and twist the word of God," it said.
The statement said the proponents of those false doctrines seemed to have monetary and other material considerations at the centre of their teachings, and claim to have the power to cure all ailments, and have answers to all problems - social and economic, that afflicted the people.
"It is worth noting that these false prophets only succeed in compounding the miseries of their unsuspecting followers by ripping them off their property, and sometimes, their very dignity.
“We, therefore, call on Ghanaians in general and Christians in particular not to just see the Easter as another ritual, but as an occasion to critically question such false teachings and short-comings in their lives, and thus reflect on the relevance of Christ’s death to mankind," it said.
It urged Christians to use the occasion to ponder on how they can live lives that would justify the supreme sacrifice Christ made, adding that Easter must provide another occasion to re-orientate people's lives along the values and principle espoused by Christ.
It advised Christians to be more honest and transparent in their dealings with other people, and work hard and diligently to rebuild the nation by securing a collective prosperity.
The statement said: "We need to reject all false doctrines and their perpetrators as well as practices and ways of life that promote vice and evil in our society, and endeavour to lead righteous lives which Christ, through His sacrifice on earth, bequeathed to us.
"It is only in doing so that this Easter and each subsequent one, for that matter, that we would secure our passage for true salvation," it said.
The statement expressed the hope that the feast of sacrifice and the resurrection of Jesus Christ would strengthen the nation to strive for unity, peace and progress.
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