Rev. Oliver DesBordes Acquah on "Revelations"

Rev. Oliver D Acquah in brown suit and white shirt

"As for me, I fear God" This is how he would put it when it comes to "certain issues"
Yeah, I mean certain things, I don't know how to put it without sounding "someway" but that is it.

The man was so careful, he would tell you, "People don't fear God, they easily say, God says..."

He would also add, "these are areas that even angels fear to tread."

This was the man's way of cautioning young ministers who think, they are so powerful they can easily say things and say, "Thus sayest the Lord"

Oliver was too careful. He would rather tell you what has just "dropped into his mind" and then wait for a confirmation. You could say he doesn't see anything, and he would prefer that to try to please the masses by being "prophetic"

Oliver was simply too careful not to put words into the mouth of God.
This is one other trait of him that comes to mind to his memory. 

But you dare not take his caution for granted. Many are the prophetic words that he gave in a rather "unprophetic" way but which came to pass.

Many are the people who would testify to phone calls, warning them of coming incidents.
A gentleman, let us call him, Kwesi, recounted how he got a call from Rev Acquah in the day time asking him not to ride a motorbike, that every evening, he says a friend called for him to accompany him somewhere on a motorbike.

Then he heard his friend had been involved in an accident......
He wondered, "what would have happened to me if I had gone with him?"
"What would have happened if Pastor had not called to warn me?"

Once again, this is part of Eulogizing a man who was father and mentor to many in the Lord.
Rest well, Sir, Your legacy lives on!

Rev Oliver DesBordes Acquah on Othodoxy

"Not everything that people do which works is from God" This is how Rev Acquah put it. He was a man who sort to instill a strict alignment to the scriptures in all that he did.

This is what informed this statement. It was Saturday afternoon, and we were about ending the usual 21 day fasting that preceeded the Christmas. The second major fasting event in the calender of the Full Gospel Assembly International.

In this particular fast, the entire dawn service teachings were focused on Spiritual Warfare, in the evenings, we prayed. He had so taught the church that, there aught to be a shift from prayer that sought to rain fire and brimestone our human enemies.

His reaon was that humans who were evil were like pawns in a chess game, their death will only empower the real personalities behind the scenes.

Debatable as this may seem, his position was that, we aught to stay within the boundaries of the scriptures. He taught about imprecatory prayers and then opened up for questions from the congregation.

So the question came from one of his own leaders about the "akwankyer3" meaning directions that some Prophets give their members in the name of ending certain problems in their live.

A typical one was givnen as an exmple and in answer, he made this statement, "Not everything that people do which works comes from God".

It if wasn't scriptural, he Oliver would not buy it. Othodoxy was such a serious thing to him.

If you came prophesying, it had to align perfectly with the scriptures otherwise, he wasn't going to take it.

In a rather funny way, he once told some leaders in an informal conversation, "people see very scary things in the spirit all the time, but as for me, I don't know why. I don't see anything!"

His policy was thus simple, even if it has to be a direction from God, it must have a good enough scriptural basis, otherwise, it doesn't matter if it worked or not, it should not be allowed into the church of God.

As 2019 rolls on and his fifth anniversary of his departure is remembered by all of this students, this is yet another piece I want to share with you.

If you want to know more about what othodoxy is, reach me.....

Once again, rest well Sir!

Lessons from Rev. Oliver DesBordes Acquah on OUTLOOK

The outlook of a Church was so important to him that he spent a whole chunk of space in his strategic manual writing on OUTLOOK.

An interesting incident happened on a certain Friday somewhere in 2011, two years after the FGAI had been inaugurated.

A group of people was bused to an all-night service and after the service, early Saturday morning he asked me, Sylva, do you think these are our target audience? For a moment, I was confused, because the Vision of the Church is "That all may come to live the only true life - Jesus Christ"

"So if people have come, why ask me such a question?" - I said to myself.

Then he took time to school me, It has to do with the kind of Vision you have and how you want to be seen. If you are like this today, and tomorrow you are like that, people won't know what you stand for.

A portion of Rev Acquah's notes. Note the neatness of the handwriting

Even though Church is for everyone, God has sent different people to different audiences for different purposes. You can't attract and keep everybody. And if you don't define who you are, people can't associate with you.

A Church must have a USP, he said, and he explained what USP was.
Unique Selling Proposition. (Another talk for another day) 

On that note, we ended the discussion and he ruled that the group that were bused to the meeting were souls, we would welcome them and keep them, however, we were not going to pursue more of their kind from where they came from because the person who brought them did not comprehend what it means for a church to have an outlook.

For Rev Acquah, Church was serious business, God's business and all knowledge and skill of a Marketer should be employed. For him, a church or ministry that does not define its outlook will stand for nothing but definitely stand for something unconsciously. That something, because there is no effort to stay within a certain boundary will be like the wind.

As his departure is remembered, this is one of the major lessons he left with his students of which I am proudly one.

It is said that legends don't die, they live on in VISION they wrote plainly down, and in the hearts of their students! As their students read and run with it, so do their footprints continue to last!

Rest well Papa.

  

Lessons from Oliver DesBordes Acquah

It has been five years since my mentor left the earth. It was as shocking as it could be, considering the fact that we lost Richard Bagna, our other close pal in the "inner circle" a year earlier.

This year has been something else especially considering the happenings in the church the past two years. Well, it has not been easy, but the Vision lives on.

On this day and night, as I sit up to go through my thoughts, read notes and see if I am on course, I just want to share with you (in no particular order) some of the lessons my Papa thought me.

"Plan-Plan and Plan, because if fail to plan, you are actually planning to fail." he would say.

"If you plan and are not able to execute, you can at least look back to your plan and find out why you could not execute."

My Papa was excellent at that, each fifth year, he would come up with a five-year strategic plan for the church and you would find the pivot of the Vision and Mission of the Church well inscribed therein. The last one he did was for 2009  to 2014 (This was to launch the new era of the FGAI)

He thought me not to jump into a situation before planning.

He was a Brain Tracy! His main fight with me was to always think, plan, do and then evaluate.

He would never allow you to just get away with it.

The tendency to assume was something he would never accept.

It is the least form of knowledge for him. And he would insist that you communicate properly what you intend to do to your followers.

Communication was the life wire and blood of any group. Once the leader communicated properly he would succeed to get his followers to buy into the vision.

My papa would say, “If you want to be hawk, you must learn to bring out your claws when about to catch a chicken, your claws should be so out that you won’t miss”

This was his way of saying, “say what you mean and mean what you say”

Don’t speak in such a way that people will think something else and then you have to come back and say, “What I meant was……”

Indeed, as the years go by, these have stuck with me ever since.

As this year marks the fifth anniversary of the man who was my Pastor, Mentor, Teacher, CEO and more, I would share more as the days go bye.

I will continue to say, Rest Well Sir…

Your Legacy will live on.

Paul Ancy on Mary of the Catholic Church

Even though I have a few pieces on the Catholic Church, a friend and former Catholic, more in the shape and form of respected Alberto Rivera has been writing more on Catholicism from personal experience and more.

On his facebook page today, he writes on September 8, a supposed birthday of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Read on............

Ttomorrow September 8 Will be the traditional birthday of Mary the mother of Jesus in the flesh, Roman Catholics have told me that they only pray to Mary to "get closer to Jesus" and that in their devotion to Mary, they are getting closer to Jesus. 

However looking at the Rosary, the 12 noon prayer and 6:00 prayer, they are ALL devoted to Mary. As a former Roman Catholic, I remembered kissing the picture of Mary whenever I passed an exam or was a sincere Marian devotee. 

I prayed three Hail Marys before going to bed, I asked Mary to intercede for me, I prayed the Rosary, I was a keen observer of the Marian miracles to the point people asked me if I wanted to become a Roman Catholic priest. In devotion to Mary, many attributes that are to Jesus alone are given to Mary like "Queen of Heaven", "Help of Christians", "Ark of the Covenant", "Conceived without Sin", "Queen of Nations" and the titles of the Father are given to her like "Holy Mother". 

That is utter blasphemy and unfortunately Roman Catholics do a poor job convincing me that they don't worship Mary when their actions prove they do.


From the pages of a Roman Catholic book called "The Children's Bible" the commentary in itself is really trash. I received that book when I was still a young Roman Catholic, getting ready for my Communion and I was about to be promised into the Jesuit seminary. Several times, the books misrepresent the story like the Wedding at Cana or the people praising Jesus' mother IGNORING the rest of Scripture. Or you may want to include Jesus' last statements for Mary and John. Now it's time to take each and every situation in the light of Scripture. If you are a Roman Catholic, sorry I cannot soften my message for you because I love people and I want them to know the Biblical truth not just take one verse and forget the rest but with verse by verse expository of the truth. 


I am writing this for the salvation of your souls. Marian devotees before prepare a shock in this. Marian devotion does not bring a person any closer to Christ. In fact, it is bringing them far away from Christ making them want to pass through Mary before they can through Jesus.

But Jesus invited people to come to Him directly in every place of His public invitation. In John 2:1-11, according to Roman Catholics this was the very first act of intercession that Mary did of people to Jesus. 

But listen if they really consider Mary's statement, please note that Jesus then called Mary as "woman" here and NOT "mother". Obviously this was to protect her. Mary in this story when she said in John 2:5 saying, "Do whatever He tells you." it can be seen that Mary wanted people to understand she could not mediate between them and Jesus. I wonder if Roman Catholics even bother to read the passage carefully noticing Mary's ONLY command of "Do whatever He tells you." Yet they still insist that this was the first intercession. 

Mary gave no other command but to tell people to do only whatever Jesus told them to do. The heart of Christ's ministry was DOING what Christ tells us to do. Christ in the Scripture in the ministry stated no role for Mary in salvation. He invited sinners to Himself. The dogmas of Mary in Catholicism are fictitious, not harmonious with the Bible. Obviously here, no devotion to Mary was ever done except her only command fulfilled, "Do whatever He tells you." After that, Mary gave no more other command nor did she invite people to herself.


In truth, it actually drifts people away from Christ, not bring them closer to Him whenever they have their devotion to Mary. How in the world can a doctrine that says people must pass through Mary bring people to Christ? Christ invited people directly to Him. When He called Matthew, He didn't have His mother with Him. Zaccheus invited Christ ALONE to His house. 

When Saul was converted He only saw the risen Lord Jesus. Everything in the Scripture is clear go to Jesus Christ directly. There are no "ladders to Jesus", they MUST enter the Door (John 10). In truth when I was still a Roman Catholic, I spent much of my time having Marian devotions only to find out how far I was from Jesus and not getting any closer. 

Worse, when I started reading the bible by its context, I was shocked at the truth of Scripture the more I read the Bible cover to cover that people went to Jesus. 

In fact, the only way to get closer to Christ is by devotion to Him and Him alone and not through anyone, people must go to Christ alone as the only Way to the Father. Nowhere in Acts is Mary preached, no after the Day of Pentecost, Mary falls silent and only the Name of Jesus preached. Sad to say, many Roman Catholics still insist I hate Mary because I don't agree with their unscriptural teachings.

 From Paul Ancy on his facebook wall

The Early Church Fathers

The early church fathers fall into three basic categories: apostolic fathers, ante-Nicene church fathers, and post-Nicene church fathers. 

The apostolic church fathers were the ones like Clement of Rome who were contemporaries of the apostles and were probably taught by them, carrying on the tradition and teaching of the apostles themselves. 

Linus, mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21, became the bishop of Rome, and Clement took over from Linus. Both Linus and Clement of Rome, therefore, are considered apostolic fathers. 

However, there appear to be no writings of Linus that have survived, while many of the writings of Clement of Rome survived. 

The apostolic fathers would have largely passed from the scene by the beginning of the second century, except for those few who might have been disciples of John, such as Polycarp. The tradition is that the apostle John died in Ephesus around A.D. 98.

The ante-Nicene fathers were those who came after the apostolic fathers and before the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325. Such individuals as Irenaeus, Ignatius, and Justin Martyr are ante-Nicene fathers.

The post-Nicene church fathers are those who came after the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325. These are such noted men as Augustine, bishop of Hippo, who is often called the father of the [Roman Catholic] Church because of his great work in Church doctrine; Chrysostom, called the “golden-mouthed” for his excellent oratorical skills; and Eusebius, who wrote a history of the church from the birth of Jesus to A.D. 324, one year before the Council of Nicea. 

He is included in the post-Nicene era since he did not write his history until after the Council of Nicea was held. Other post-Nicene fathers were Jerome, who translated the Greek New Testament into the Latin Vulgate, and Ambrose, who was largely responsible for Augustine’s conversion to Christianity.

So, what did the early church fathers believe? The apostolic fathers were very concerned about the proclamation of the gospel being just as the apostles themselves proclaimed it. 

They were not interested in formulating theological doctrine, for the gospel they had learned from the apostles was quite sufficient for them. 

The apostolic fathers were as zealous as the apostles themselves in rooting out and exposing any false doctrine that cropped up in the early church. The orthodoxy of the message was preserved by the apostolic fathers' desire to stay true to the gospel taught to them by the apostles.

The ante-Nicene fathers also tried to stay true to the gospel, but they had an additional worry. Now there were several spurious writings claiming to have the same weight as the established writings of Paul, Peter, and Luke. The reason for these spurious documents was evident. 

If the body of Christ could be persuaded to receive a false document, then error would creep into the church. So the ante-Nicene fathers spent a lot of their time defending the Christian faith from false doctrine, and this led to the beginnings of the formation of accepted church doctrine.

The post-Nicene fathers carried out the mission of defending the gospel against all kinds of heresies, so more and more the post-Nicene fathers grew interested in methods of defending the gospel and less interested in transmitting the gospel in a true and pure form. Thus, they began to slowly fall away from the orthodoxy that was the hallmark of the apostolic fathers. This was the age of the theologian and endless discussions on secondary topics.

The early church fathers are an example to us of what it means to follow Christ and defend the truth. None of the early church fathers were perfect, just as none of us are perfect. 

Some of the early church fathers held beliefs that most Christians today consider to be incorrect. What eventually developed into Roman Catholic theology had its roots in the writings of the post-Nicene fathers. 

While we can gain knowledge and insight by studying the early church fathers, ultimately our faith must be in the Word of God, not in the writings of early Christian leaders. Only God’s Word is the infallible guide for faith and practice.

Recommended Resource: Christianity Through the Centuries by Earle Cairns

The Flesh As a Weapon of Spiritual Warfare

The flesh has been the cause of tragic happenings of many celebrated personalities in the world since the Old Testament days. From Eve, to Abraham to David and many more. 

What was good for food, pleasant to the eyes was the undoing of Eve, daughters of men who were fair were a slippery peel of banana for the sons of God. 

A naked woman in the bathroom was the downfall of David, a man after God’s heart. “Many strange women”, would be the folly of the worlds most celebrated wise man; Solomon!

Lust for sex, would be the cause of rape and incest of Absalom, a respected prince.

In our days, the 21^st century, those who have fallen in the ratings of their integrity because of the deeds, lusts, pleasures and sweetness derived from the flesh are countless. 

In Ghana, it is so glaring that names easily pop out of everyone’s head without verbally mentioning them.

Mighty men of God have not been spared this lethal Satanic weapon of “capitalizing on the flesh”

Many times, the question is whether the flesh of man itself is evil, whether there is a demon of lust and more.

This little piece, inspired by tutelage from my late father in the Spirit, Rev. Oliver DesBordes Acquah and my role models in Spiritual Warfare and Apologetics, Hall Lindsey and Ravi Zacharias respectively.

It is uncommon to see men attributing the cause of their actions to “The Devil”. This is to the extent of using it as a defense in the law courts! This is the issue I intend to settle next at the Central Defense. Read on and be informed!

DEFINITION OF FLESH

Flesh (Sarx in original Greek) is used many times and in many ways in the New Testament.

Sometimes it is used to mean simply the matter or material that covers our bones, as is used in Luke 24:39. “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; touch me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have”

Flesh is also used to represent the whole body, as you will see in Acts 2:26 “Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will abide in hope”

Flesh is further used to mean the sense of our physical earthly limitations, as you will see in II Cor 10:3 – 4. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do no war after the flesh….”

As it applies to Spiritual Warfare, the Apostle Paul is probably the one who has most fully developed the issue.  Drs. Arndt and Gingrich comment as following: “In Paul’s thought especially, the flesh is the willing instrument of sin and is subject to sin to such a degree that whatever flesh is, all forms of sin are likewise present, and no good thing can live in the flesh itself” (William Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959)

A careful study of the many passages on the “flesh” when used in this sense reveals the following facts according to Hal Lindsey.

1. It is a basic nature or principle which operates within us from the time we are born physically. This nature is in rebellion against God. (Rom 7:14 – 24; 8:5 – 9)

2. It is an inseparable part of our material own body and cannot be eradicated until we receive our transformed and glorified resurrected bodies (Rom 7:25; I Jn 1:8, 10)

3. Though it cannot be eradicated, its power to operate in the life of the Christian has been neutralized by our being united with Christ in His death to sin.

(Satan is alive and well on planet earth by Hal Lindsey with C.C. Carlson, Page 68)

The flesh has no right to reign in any Christian’s life any longer, its power is broken once we yield to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Master of our lives and when we in recognizing this, count this as being true. (Rom 6:1 – 14)

It is the attitude of believing that God has already broken sin and the flesh’s power over us that sets the Spirit of God free to make victory a reality in our experience. (Rom 8:1 – 4). Anything short of this attitude more or less handcuffs the Spirit of God from making this sweet victory a reality.

The sad resultant effect is that, the Christian will question his or her own salvation and will most likely doubt his own place in Heaven.

Here is just a partial list of what flesh does in our lives when we don’t consider its power broken and depend on the Holy Spirit for success: “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envyings, drunkenness, carousings, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” Gal 5:19 – 21)

Most of these words which are used for the deeds of the flesh need amplification. Briefly, here are some of the specifics:

Immorality: From the word “porneria” It means all sexual intercourse outside of marriage.

Impurity: Impure thoughts and actions, especially in the area of sex.

Sensuality: Living primarily to please the senses (out-of-control appetite for foods, music, sex, creature comforts, etc)

Idolatry: Anything that we place ahead of Christ as an object of our attention and devotion; This could be a girlfriend or a boyfriend, our children, a job, an education, a beautiful home, clothes, a sleek body, or a car.

Sorcery: From the word “pharmakia”; the practice of witchcraft and occultism sometimes in association with drugs.

Enmities: To be at odds with people; carrying grudges

Disputes: Modern man calls these “personality conflicts” but “selfishness” is more accurate.

Dissensions: Literally meaning division; causing conflicts and taking of sides between people.

Factions: Literally meaning heresies; leading astray with false doctrine and forming sects.

Envyings: Attitudes of dissatisfaction which cause you to desire what others have.

Drunkenness: Any loss of normal judgment and awareness through the use of alcohol or drugs. The idea of better living through chemicals instead of the Spirit of God

 Carousings: Seeking to escape reality through excessive pursuit of entertainment.

These are only some of the deeds of the flesh, not all of them! When the apostle says that those who practice such things “shall not inherit the kingdom of God” he means that those who habitually indulge in them are evidencing the fact that they have never received the new nature which hates sin.

It is impossible for a Christian to regularly practice the deeds of the flesh without a change of heart before God. It is also impossible for a Christian to continually practice the deeds of the flesh and not be conscious of the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Because of the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us, we can’t continually be happy in sin. It is impossible! Sooner or later the Christian will acknowledge his sin and turn back to trusting Christ to deliver him from its power; and from the standpoint of his happiness, the sooner the better.

Continuous, unbroken toleration of the deeds of the flesh should cause a person to question whether he has really been born spiritually. A true Christian can and does experience these deeds of the flesh, but he will have a desire to be delivered from them for Christ’s sake, and this desire is born out of the uncomfortable stance the Holy Spirit will put him whenever he seems helpless over sin. He will want to be delivered from the consequences of this sin and the sin itself. A non-Christian just wants to be delivered from the consequences of sin and not out of the sin itself.

For example, a Christian who seems helpless over the sin of immorality will want to be delivered from the consequences of this sin and the sin itself, an unbeliever will want to continue to enjoy sex outside marriage and not want a pregnancy to result out of it, he will not want to get “caught”

DEEDS OF THE FLESH AND DEMONS

Some well-meaning Christians today have a tendency to go overboard about demons. I want to be sure no one falls into the trap of attributing to demons what is actually the work of the flesh.

You may have heard people speak about the “lying demon”, the “lust demon”, the “envy demon”, “spirit of stoke” “spirit of cancer” and others. I do not believe that there are specific demons such as these who can only do one thing.

Consider a fellow who is constantly thinking about sex. He is consumed by lascivious thoughts every day. If he has heard of such things, he many begin to think, “maybe, I have a lust demon or a spirit of lust”.

He shares his thoughts with some of his Christian friends, and they have a lead him to some prophet for deliverance. They will “cast the demon out” and after the prayer meeting, they will sanctimoniously say, “We’ve cast out the lust demon. Praise the Lord”.

Our Christian friend, thus assured by his own feelings and the pronouncements of this man of God, takes his wife to a restaurant, conceited and arrogant about his victory. Sees a curvaceous waitress in a mini-skirt who comes to the table, and in a flash the old demon is back.

The danger in this concept is that a deed which is actually a part of the flesh or the old sin nature is attributed to a demon. It is vital that we assign thing to their proper cause. There is no “lust demon” per se. Lust is a sin which comes from the flesh. But there are demons who will use the lust of flesh to guide us into moral disaster. Satan can take a natural drive and use it, but he is not the originator of it. He capitalizes on something which is already going on in our hearts.

Along with many other doctrines which become distorted in popular usage, the theme of Satan probably has more false clichés attributed to it than any other.

“The Devil made me do it” is a cop-out.”

When Satan takes the desire which you have and uses it for his purposes, he doesn’t force you. If you really express the truth when overtaken by a sin of the flesh, you would say, “I did it because I chose to follow the desire of my old nature”. Now that is not as easy to say as “The Devil made me to it”, but it is more honest.

THE PUZZLED APOSTLES

Mark Chapter 7 gives a good description of the flesh. Jesus had told the disciples a parable, and they questioned Him about it. We can almost see Him shaking His head when He said, “Are you so uncomprehending?” Then He explained: “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts and fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” Mark 7:20 – 23

Jesus is talking about the flesh, the source of this sinful nature. He shows that our major problem is not our environment but our inner nature of the flesh.

It’s not a sin to have an evil thought flash into the mind; it is only a sin when we fail to say “no” to it and do not rely upon Christ to put it down. Temptation and sin are different. The old saying applies, “You can’t stop a bird from landing on your head, but you can stop it from building a nest in your hair”

When the Bible speaks of the temptations of the flesh, it is always in terms of a continued need to overcome them. It is a matter of moment-by-moment reliance upon the Holy Spirit by deliberate choice to overcome the lusts of the flesh. Victory is never achieved by freedom from temptation, but by overcoming temptation through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:16 says: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh”

To walk in the Spirit means to have a continuing attitude of reliance upon the Holy Spirit and not on your own human resources. Note: it does not say that if you walk in the Spirit you will not have temptations; it does say that you will not fulfill them. The Spirit-controlled believer will be tempted, but it is not sin until you stop trusting the Spirit to fight it.

The Bible talks about overcoming the flesh, or going to battle with it in dependence upon the Holy Spirit who lives in every believer. However, as the Bible speaks of “the world” it talks of claiming victory which has already been won.

Christ has won a victory over the world and Christians are to claim that victory. This is amplified in the weapons of our warfare scripture in Ephesians chapter 6.

The world and its system is one thing Satan has mastered and is one deadly weapon achieving great strides for him. I will touch on this in my next piece.        

sgatorwu@yahoo.com