Church of Pentecost urged to review how it selects officers

Aps. Emmanuel Achim Gyimah[/caption] The former Kaneshie Area Head of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle (retd) Emmanuel Achim Gyimah has urged the Church to reconsider how members are selected to become officers of the Church. He noted that the early church did not rely solely on baptism in the holy spirit in the selection of church leaders – elders, deacons and deaconesses – as it is done predominantly now. Aps Achim Gyimah made the above comments in reference to the 2018 theme of The Church of Pentecost, ‘Remain in Christ and His Basic Message’ at the Church’s Officers Apostolization Retreat at Techiman Area in the Brong Ahafo Region recently. “In Acts 6:3-7, the early Church could spot and choose seven men who had reputation for being Full of the Holy Spirit and Wisdom to serve as the first Deacons,” he remarked. “I will humbly suggest The Church of Pentecost reconsider and review the qualification to Officership in line with the Bible as seen in Acts 6:3-7, so that the many challenges we are facing today will be addressed. “The Deacons of the early Church were appointed to solve and address problems facing the Church. Are our Officers today helping to address the challenges the Church is facing or adding to the challenges?” Find his full presentation below OFFICERS APOSTOLIZATION RETREAT AT TECHIMAN AREA FROM 12- 18 FEBRUARY, 2018 TOPIC:HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM, GIFTS, FRUITS AND FULLNESS. TEXT(S): John 14:15-18, 26; 16:12-16; Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-4; Ro. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:7-11; Gal. 3:26-27; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:11-14; Acts 6:3-7; a complimentary text to 1 John 2:24-25 is Hebrew 2:2-4. INTRODUCTION Beloved men of God, The Church of Pentecost has come far from obscurity in the first-half of the 20th Century to become a world- class Pentecostal Church today. This feat is largely attributed to our founding fathers resolve to Remain in Christ and His Basic message which culminated in formulating the Tenets (Foundational Doctrines of the Church). One major and outstanding Doctrine that identifies Pentecostal Churches including The Church of Pentecost, and which has generated a lot of controversies and misunderstanding among the various brands of Christian Churches is ‘The Holy Spirit Baptism, Gifts, Fruits, and Fullness. This lack of knowledge and the superficial treatment of the subject in many Pentecostal Churches spells the weakness and its consequent spiritual decline of the Pentecostal fraternity. We thank God that the reviewers of the Tenets of our great Church has brought to the fore a holistic approach to the subject before us. The Church of Pentecost has grown to where we are now through our founding fathers reliance on the Holy Spirit Baptism, Gifts, Fruit and Fullness which destroyed the powers and works of the devil, Fetish powers; and establishing the Church in Holiness, power, and administrative directives and policies/ Church Practices/ Constitution/ Tenets/ Core- Values, and Callings. 1.0 THE HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM (Baptism ‘of’/ Baptism ‘in’). One of the greatest, but powerful, Doctrines of the Bible that has contributed to the classification of the Christian Church into the various brands like ‘Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Catholic Orthodox, and Charismatic Renewals etc. is ‘The Holy Spirit Baptism’. While a section of the various brands do not believe in the Doctrine but consider the experience as exclusive to the early Church at ‘Pentecost’ of Acts chapter 2, others believe it is a one-time experience at regeneration for all believers in Christ. But we classical Pentecostals believe that there is the first time work of Grace done by the Holy Spirit that produces regeneration, indwelling, and Baptism of the Holy Spirit when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. By this experience, the Holy Spirit acts as a ‘mid-wife’ delivering the believer from the Satanic womb of sin and death, and consequently ushers or translates the newly born again believer into the body of Christ (Gal.3:26-27; 1 Cor.12:13; Eph.4:4-5). This is what the writers of the Bible describe as ‘Baptism of the Holy Spirit’ meaning a Baptism done by the Holy Spirit to usher believers into the Body of Christ as quoted in 1 Cor.12:13. The essence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit: 1.1 The believer is primarily established in Christ Jesus and His Church. He is thereby described as clothed with Christ with the new name ‘a Christian’ (Acts 13: ). 1.2 The believer identifies with Christ and His Church more than the world. 1.3 The believer is empowered to separate himself from the filthy things and ways of the world (2 Cor. 5:17). This is evidence of the power of the new birth (John 1:12; 1 Jn.3:9) 1.4 The believer at this stage desires to draw near to God in prayer, Bible Studies, and fellowship with the Church and Matured leaders. 1.5 The believer receives the Grace gift (s) and Anointing from God the Father (Romans 12: 6-8; 1 John 2:20,27) 1.6 The believer is empowered to live the Christ-life (2 Cor.5:17), shun sinful life and attitude (1 John 3:9) participate in the Church life and ministry by sharing his faith, Grace gifts and testimony in his daily experiences in Christ and the Bible Message. LESSON: Born-again and immature believers are like crude oil dug from under the sea bed that must go through refining processes to bring out every precious commodity like diesel oil, gas oil, petrol, kerosene, gas, and many other components. So also the believer after the new birth must submit himself to the sanctifying power and work of the Holy Spirit to bring out all the gifts, Fruit, and fullness to represent Christ in Character, Power, and Ministry of Good works (Eph. 2:10). 2.0 THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT This baptism is done by Jesus Christ Himself for faithful believers who Remain in Him and His word, and constantly seek by prayer and fasting to be filled with more of His power, Spirit , and Anointing for His service and work (Matt. 3:11; John 1:33; Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-4). This Baptism is the second work of grace that comes with the speaking with or in new tongues and power for service and good works in the body of Christ. The Baptism of/ Baptism in the Holy Spirit is like placing an empty bottle in a bucket of water: The bottle is in the water as the water fills the bottle with bubbles coming out. This is exactly what the Holy Spirit and Christ do during the Holy Spirit Baptism (of/in) to the believer. Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11; John 1:33) gives a distinctive identity to who and what a person is and does in Christ in a more powerful way like preaching the gospel, winning souls (Acts 1:8); and operation of Spiritual gifts at Church meetings (1 Cor. 12:7-11). Unlike the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not automatic for all believers but for those who remain in Christ and His Basic Message by diligently desiring and seeking to be filled with more of the power and the anointing of the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4)through prayer, fasting, Bible teaching and studies on the subject. This Baptism marks the Church and a believer as a true Pentecostal or Apostolic. This second work of grace called the baptism in the Holy Spirit is accompanied by the following understated gifts as the Spirit wills for the believer: (1 Cor.12:7-11) Revelational gifts: Word of Wisdom; Word of Knowledge; Discernment of various spirits Power gifts: Faith; Healing of diverse kinds of diseases; Working of miracles. Speech gifts: Prophesy; Speaking in diverse kinds of tongues; and interpretation of tongues. The difference between the grace gifts and the Spiritual gifts is the fact that Grace gifts are primary and more permanent while Spiritual gifts are complementary and may be temporal as they manifest mostly at Church services and special times of need. 3.0 The Third work of Grace and Gifts is the Ascension Gifts from Jesus Christ to the Church (Eph. 4:7-13). Unlike the grace and spiritual gifts discussed earlier, these are gifts of men: 3.1 Apostles 3.2 Prophets 3.3 Evangelists 3.4 Pastors 3.5 Teachers These are men who have remained in Christ and His Basic message for quite a longer period to attain to the Fullness and manifestation of Christ-like character, attitude, power, Anointing, combination of Grace, Spiritual and the Ascension gifts. They form the Leadership in administering, equipping, Teaching , shepherding and disciplining the Church with signs and wonders following their ministry. Examples and Testimonies of my personal calling from my hometown Akim-Swedru, Kibi, Malawi, Mozambique, Bolga etc 3.0 The Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22) This is the manifestation of Christ-like character in the believer as he remains in Christ and His Basic Message through personal devotion, Bible Studies and meditation or by obeying the teachings of the Bible from Ministers and Church Leaders (2 Tim. 3:15-17; Acts 2:42). The Spirit fights against sin not merely by defense but also in attack by producing in Christians the positive attributes of godly character, all of which are evident in Jesus Christ in the Gospels: 3.1 LOVE appears first because it is the greatest godly virtue which clearly reflects the character of God (1 Co. 13; 2 Pe. 1:5-7). 3.2 JOY comes in a close second, for in rejoicing in God’s Salvation Christians show that their affections are rightly placed in the will and purpose of God (Jn. 15:24;16:24; 1 Pe. 1:8; Jude 24). 3.3 PEACE is the product for God’s reconciliation brought by our salvation to Himself, and our justification from our sins (Rom. 5:1-2; Heb. 4:16; Rom. 12:..) 3.4 PATIENCE shows that Christians are following God’s plan and time-table rather than their own ideas about how things in the world should work. 3.5 KINDNESS means showing goodness, generosity, and sympathy towards others which likewise is an attribute of God (Rom. 2:4). 3.6 GOODNESS means working for the benefit of others not oneself (Gal.6:10) 3.7 FAITHFULNESS is a divine attribute which means consistently doing what one says one will do. 3.8 GENTLENESS is a quality Jesus Christ attributes to Himself (Matt. 11:29). It enables Christians to find rest in Him and to encourage and strengthen others. 3.9 SELF-CONTROL is the discipline given by the Holy Spirit that enables Christians to resist the power of the flesh (Gal. 5:17) 4.0 FULLNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT As the Church continues to Remain in Christ and His Basic message taught by the Apostles (Acts 2:42-47), The Church grew spiritually to maturity, in numbers, in financial and material aspects. In Acts 6:3-7, the early Church could spot and choose seven men who had reputation for being Full of the Holy Spirit and Wisdom to serve as the first Deacons. They did not rely on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit to select Church Officers since that could not only be the criteria for maturity in Christ (Eph. 4:11-14). I will humbly suggest The Church of Pentecost reconsider and review the qualification to Officership in line with the Bible as seen in Acts 6:3-7, so that the many challenges we are facing today will be addressed. The Deacons of the early Church were appointed to solve and address problems facing the Church. Are our Officers today helping to address the challenges the Church is facing or adding to the challenges? For more information and in-depth knowledge on the fullness of the Holy Spirit or of Christ read Revelation 5:6 and Isaiah 11:1-2. It is at this level and work of Grace that all the other callings to the Ascension gifts are properly based. By Isaac Essel |3news.com | Ghana]]>