Conviction and Consistency: Pastor Otabil’s Greater Works 2025

Social media was set ablaze with sound bites and clips. It was a ray of hope in a nation inundated with false teachings. A doyen in the charismatic world in Ghana is addressing the ills of the movement. The first video I saw was a call for the African Church to return to the five Solas—five Latin phrases summarising the Christian faith—Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria.

The Five Solas are translated in English as Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Christ Alone, and The Glory Of God Alone. In summary, the five solas teach that Christians are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone, all to the glory of God alone. This means there is no other way by which sinners can be made right with God unless by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone as revealed in the Scriptures alone, all to the glory of God alone (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 11:33ff). You can read more about the five solas here¹ and here.²

Now for a Charismatic preacher to call for a return to the Five Solas by the African Church, he needed a hearing. And he got it. It was a buzz on social media and joy among some Christians of the Reformed Persuasion in Ghana because the Five Solas is commonly, but not exclusively, affiliated with Reformed Theology. It was a joy because God is using a man of influence to propagate the truth of Reformed Theology though he isn’t Reformed.

This man is Pastor Mensa Otabil, the General Overseer of International Central Gospel Church (ICGC). He has been trending for addressing the ills of the Christian faith in our part of the world. In a recent message preached at a conference, Pastor Otabil accurately diagnosed the problems of the church in Africa. Here is a transcript of his words:

The most susceptible form of Christianity to deception is that which is being practiced in Africa…And that is why I believe that African Christians must go back to the foundation of especially the Protestant Reformation. And get back to Christ Alone, to Scripture Alone, to Faith Alone, to doing everything to the glory of God, to Grace Alone. Because if we don’t go back to that we would add with Christ-handkerchief, to the Scripture, we will add our books which we have written. And before you realise Pastors are going to read from books as if it is Scripture. And if we are not careful every Pastor wants his members to read his books and treat it as Bible. So now people are not reading the Bible, they are reading men of God’s books. Most of which have no validity, Scripturally and theologically porous. We have to go back… I feel burdened about these things because I see the danger ahead… We need Christians to say we love the Scripture, we want to sit and hear the Scripture explained… And anything that deviates from Scripture, we must sanction it and determine that we will not perpetuate this kind of fluid Christianity where every moment somebody is coming up with something else… Don’t ever get bamboozled with God said. Because God has already spoken and what he said has been documented so that when we want to know what God said, we go back to the document which contains what he said³

These words, rightly, received the applause of the audience because he dealt with the root cause of the ills of Christianity in Africa and Ghana in particular. The Bible in our part of the world has lost its place among believers and in its stead “the doctrines of men” have taken over (Matthew 15:9). But as refreshing as Otabil’s words were, there were sceptics — myself included — with difficulty in accepting his words because of his associations—the friends he keeps. His annual Christian conference, Greater Works, has over the years hosted speakers whose theology fits the ills he is addressing. The speakers for Greater Works 2025 therefore became a Litmus test for the sceptics to test the conviction and consistency of Otabil’s words. On 12th May 2025, 7:58 am, Pastor Otabil officially announced the speakers for Greater Works 2025 on his Facebook page

Greater Works 2025!
Five days of power, purpose, and Jesus encounters.⁴

The speakers: are Paul Adefarasin, Tudor Bismark, Mike Okonkwo, and Matthew Ashimolowo. These men are not men Pastor Otabil should share his pulpit with if he truly upholds the truths of the ills he has been addressing. The consistency of his conviction is truly on the test. Matthew Ashimolowow, for instance, is a regular speaker at the conference. He has incessantly collected offerings –for one breakthrough or the other– for what he calls a 24-hour miracle. In 2017, at the Greater Works conference, Matthew Ashimolowow took an offering for various categories of breakthroughs.

Millionaire status…………………….$5,000.00
Seed of a thousand times more ………$1000.00
Seed of completion……………………$520
24hour miracle…………………………$240
100% life improvement………………..$100
Seed of perfection$…………………….70⁵

Then in August 2022, Ashimolowow was at it again. He preached a sermon from Ruth 3:3 titled “Stepping Into Your Significance.” And typical of him, after the sermon, he called for “seed sowing”: $100.00 for “exponential increase” and $240.00 for a “24-hour turnaround”. Encouraging the congregation to give, he noted the cedi equivalent of $240.00 —Ghs1824.00— “may look big in somebody’s eye but is not comparable to what God will do for you.” He also gave the option of sowing $340.00 for both blessings: “because you want your blessing to straddle within the two.”

If Pastor Otabil, is issuing a call for a return to biblical Christianity, he must be consistent in his convictions and not host a preacher who merchandises the gospel. Matthew Ashimolowo believes he carries a grace that pushes people into a dimension of uncommon wealth creation. And here is where it gets interesting. In a sermon preached in August 2022, Pastor Otabil bemoaned the common charismatic practice of tapping into the grace of a preacher. He lamented:

I have no grace that is your sufficiency. If you want to tap into my grace, you are a miserable person living a miserable life. People go around Pastor I tap into your grace… how did we get to this level where Christ has been marginalised and the man of God is at the center. And there are preachers who love to have it so.⁶

If we juxtapose Pastor Otabil’s words with Pastor Ashimolowow’s, then there is inconsistency in Otabil’s words. He is compromising on his convictions. He is putting on his pulpit a preacher whose theology cannot be put to the test of Scripture. I don’t know much about the other speakers, because I have not followed their ministry. However, looking at other sentiments expressed on social media about the speakers for the conference, it can be concluded Pastor Otabil’s convictions conflicts with the speakers and he is been inconsistent in recent pronouncements. Here are thoughts on the matter from others on social media.

For the sake of consistency in his convictions and not confusing his congregation and Christian community, Pastor Otabil must reconsider those he shares his pulpit with. He must display his convictions by changing the speakers for Greater Works. If not possible now, in the future.

Notes

1. James Montgomery Boice, “The Five Solas Of The Reformation”, Monergism, https://www.monergism.com/five-solas-reformation
2. Ryan McGraw, “What Are The Five Solas?”, Ligonier, October 27, 2021, https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/what-are-the-five-solas
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uEwz4jdl-o&t=229s
4. Pastor Otabil’s Facebook Page , https://www.facebook.com/mensaotabil
5. Enoch Anti, “Belief Doesn’t Defy Logis: A Response To Pst Otabil” Grace and Truth, July 28, 2017, https://graceandtruthgh.wordpress.com/2017/07/28/no-belief-doesnt-defy-logic-a-response-to-pst-otabil/
6. “Do not tap into my Grace” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=053sdGPmrRQ