The Superintendent of Assemblies of God Ghana, Reverend Stepehen Wengam, has called on Christians to uphold love, pace and joy as they celebrate this year’s Christmas holidays.
He said by divine orchestration, the year had gone full circle, and Christmas is here with us again, let us rejoice in his memory.
“Christmas is a time for pure joy, joy unconfined. In our joyous mood, however, we must inject moderation and circumspection into the celebration so that we don’t impose avoidable financial burden on ourselves thereafter”, he said.
He said Christmas also obliges us to demonstrate love for our families, fellow Christians, non- Christians, friends, colleagues, seniors, juniors, bosses,subordinates, neighbours, political allies and opponents, and countrymen and women in general.
The foremost targets should be the poor and vulnerable in our midst, communities, and deprived parts of the country.
Reverend Wengam said while “we make merry and show love to others, it is imperative to count our blessings, and reflect on our lives as individuals and nation.”
He said despite these economic challenges, He lavished His grace on us and today, our economy is on an upswing.
“Again, the mighty arm of God was profoundly manifest in seeing Ghana through the high- stake, tension packed, and suspicion laden elections. The loss of lives, the pockets of violence, the cases of arson, and the spree of looting are deeply regrettable and totally unacceptable,” he said.
He aded that “they are indeed an indelible stain on our reputation as a beacon of democratic accomplishment in Africa.”
He said the ugly incidents and lingering tensions over election disputes call for swift and firm action against the offenders, irrespective of their political colours or partisan connections.
“Our electoral system also begs for urgent and far reaching reforms, designed to inject more transparency, accountability, confidence, efficiency and security, particularly in the collation and declaration of results”, he said.
Mr Wengam said, “we need to dig deep into, and address holistically, the causal factors for the diminishing democratic dividends and the attendant apathy among voters”.
This, he said, would help make Ghana’s democracy more participatory, and demonstrably responsive to the tangible needs and aspirations of the people.
GNA
