Let's appreciate our men of God - Prez. Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has called on Ghanaians to appreciate men of God because their preaching is way tougher than any form of public speaking, including political talk.

"We need to appreciate our men of God because from experience I can tell you that what they do is not easy at all and you need divine inspiration to do it," he said. The President was speaking during the delivery of his Easter message at the Good Friday Miracle Service of the Lighthouse Chapel at the Independence Square in Accra.

Bishop Dag Heward Mills preached for over one hour from a few verses of biblical scripture, and the President confessed to being wowed by the bishop's dexterity in handling the scriptures. Before he delivered his Easter message, President Mahama told the story of how he once had to preach at the Assemblies of God Church men's week service and he had no message to preach a night before.

"I called my pastor and asked for help but he told me to open any page of the bible at random and read a few verses there and I will get an idea of what God wants me to preach," he said.

The President said he did so and opened to the story of how Moses led the children of Israel out of captivity through the Red Sea.

"So the following day in church I preached my message from that passage but when I finished I wondered if the people understood anything I said and whether they left with any message at all," he confessed amidst thunderous laughter.

President Mahama said the way Bishop Dag poured out the message from the bible with ease was admirable and a clear sign that he has inspiration from God and that is something that needs to be appreciated.

The President's open confession and acknowledgement for men of God come in the wake of some of his own party men throwing salvos at men of God for speaking strongly and passionately about national life and the need for citizens to demand excellence from leadership.

Party functionaries and even government officials have called men of God like Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, Dr. Mensa Otabil, Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey and others because they spoke out either about mediocre leadership or corruption in government.

The President said even though he has read several books and spoken on various issues like politics, economics, agriculture and others at political rallies where thousands gathered, he still found reading the bible and preaching God's word much tougher.

"You would expect that someone like me would find preaching an easy task but I must confess it is not as easy as speaking at a political rally - you need inspiration from God himself to do a good job at preaching," he said.

President Mahama also appreciated the clergy for their continuous prayers for the country. Bishop Dag Heward Mills assured the president of the continuous support of the church for the government no matter which political party is in power.

Also present at the service was Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-William who described the gathering of Lighthouse congregants as a movement that promises to impact Ghana in a positive way. Duncan-Williams led the congregation to pray for a peaceful election this year come November.

The Archbishop said every agenda of the evil one targeted at using this election to cause a nationwide confusion in Ghana has been overturned by God through the intercession of the church.