The Power of Association

John Chow once remarked ‘I never did believe the saying that you are what you eat. However, I do believe that you are who you associate with’. The power of association is extremely powerful in the way it dictates who you are and how much money you make. If you want to change yourself or you lifestyle, then it may be time to change the people you associate with.

As Christians the people we associate with can make or break us. 1 Corinthians 15:33  says do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” This means that we have to carefully choose our friends or associate or they will choose us.

The Story of Abraham and Lot is a typical example of the power of association. The Bible stated that God bless Lot because of his relationship and association with Abraham. We know what happened to him when he decided to stay away from Abraham- the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra!

Jesus never told his disciples to ignore those in the world, in fact you cannot ignore them but cautioned them of association with them.

Be kind to everyone, but choose your close friends carefully to avoid being pulled astray. Associations or Friends who do not help you get closer to God but leads you to danger should be cut off. Such people can damage your future and your personality.

"The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray" (Proverbs 12:26).

Good Association will have a positive influence on you. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIV) says that “two are better than one,” and goes on to tell how life is much better when you have a friend. Within this same verse we are told that a friendship like this can lead to one being able to pick up or support the other when he or she falls and that friends can keep each other warm. It also says that two friends can stand together against threatening events.

Bad Association will have a negative influence on you. 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV) says that bad company will corrupt someone with good character. Many people make the mistake of associating with the wrong crowd, and it is one of the warnings parents try and give their children all through their developing years and even into adulthood.

Jesus Christ demonstrates the ultimate Association. Jesus the great Shepherd promises his ‘sheep’ that He is the only way to Light.  Jesus said ‘You are my friends if you do what I command.” As you can see from this verse, Jesus Christ is the perfect example of a true friend association because He sacrificed Himself for us

 By: Samuel Mantey

Email: Sammyoo3@yahoo.com

Twitter: SamuelMantey

 

 

 

Surprises in Heaven. Will you be there?

Don’t Be surprise to see anybody or no body in Heaven. Our presence on earth is a beginning of our journey to Heaven. Some Christians mistakenly condemn people that we think have NO chance in heaven.  But Heaven is no mans land therefore No man can judge who will make it there. The Bible urges us to Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” Luke 13:24. When we ask God to surprise us, we belittle Him because God is all knowing and is never surprised!

God look in the Heart of Men and NOT in the outward appearance and positions. In fact, the Bible only mentioned Abraham, Isaac, Jacob Lazarus (the beggar), the thief who died on the cross with Jesus and the other prophets as the only few people in the bosom of God. So will you be there?

The people you may have thought that wouldn’t be there will be there.

Yeah, we worship Satan here…and we’re going to hell, what do you think about that?!” Don’t condemn them or judge them for they can be saved on the last day and make to Heaven. What is even sadder is the fact that some people think they are going to heaven because they are “pretty nice people” and are obeying the word of God.  But there’ll be a lot of “nice people” in hell.  Those night club strippers, Hip-Hoppers, Prostitutes, armed robbers and their ‘brothers and sisters in crime’ all have equal opportunities if they believe and repent from their evil ways in the last days. Remember the robber who is in paradise with Jesus because he was saved on the last day on the cross.

The people you thought that would be there won’t be there.

There are a lot of Christians out there today who are pretty certain they already know everything about God and Heaven and salvation and who is in and who is out. Pastors, Gospel Singers, Evangelists are some people we might think they have access to the Keys in Heaven but some might NOT be there! Don’t be Surprise!

Just as Jesus surprised us all by allowing the rich young ruler to walk away without salvation and the thief on the cross to die with his salvation intact, God has watched (and will continue to watch) people who thought they were good enough for heaven stand on the outside and people who knew they were NOT good enough welcomed in. 

When it comes to eternity, it really isn’t about what you know…according to Jesus, it is about Who you know. And if you Know Jesus and follow his word you are bound to be with Him.

So will you be there?........................

By: Samuel Mantey

Email: Sammyoo3@yahoo.com

Twitter: SamuelMantey

Wisdom and Foolishness

The wise and the Foolish are often contrasted in the Bible and especially in the Book of Proverbs. The Characteristics, reputation and results of each are worth knowing if wisdom is our goal.

The wise                                                                                   The Foolish

Give Encouragement                                                            Lack common sense

Enjoy living wisely                                                                 Enjoy foolishness

Consider their steps                                                              Gullible (Avoid the wise)

Hungry for Knowledge                                                         Feed on the trash of foolishness

Valve wisdom above riches                                                Valve riches above wisdom

Respond to correction                                                         Don’t respond to punishment

Pursue wisdom                                                                      Pursue illusive dreams

Trust in wisdom                                                                     Trust in themselves

Control their anger                                                                Unleash their anger

The Results;

Stay on right path                                                                 Enjoy the wrong path

Their wisdom conquers others strength                         Endangered by their words

Grow stronger                                                                       Will never be chosen as leaders

By: Samuel Mantey

Email: Sammyoo3@yahoo.com

Twitter: SamuelMantey

Stay away from every kind of evil.

A young, newly married bank examiner was required to spend a lot of time traveling, often with other employees who were women. These work associates would often travel together, work together all day, eat dinner together, and then stay in the same hotel--all in a town where neither of them knew anyone else. This man knew this situation was a risk that could be detrimental to his marriage. He asked not to travel alone with other women. His boss was able to accommodate him for a while, but soon it became impossible. The man, recognizing the potential danger and the possible consequences of flirting with danger, pursued another job. Those who place themselves in alluring situations are playing with fire--and people who scoop fire into their laps can expect to get burned. Many affairs occur because a spouse flirts with temptation, thinking he or she will not succumb. Yet they do, resulting in shame and disgrace, broken promises and failed relationships. Reduce the odds of temptation by controlling the circumstances that threaten to cause you to fall. Remember Paul's warning: "Stay away from every kind of evil." Many affairs happen among couples who are close friends in the neighborhood, at church, or at work. A simple flirtation leads to an innocent meeting that leads to a dangerous rendezvous. A momentary indiscretion yields a lifetime of regret. Make note of the following suggestions and act on them to abstain from all appearances of evil: Do not visit someone of the opposite sex alone at home. Do not go to lunch alone with a member of the opposite sex. Do not kiss any person of the opposite sex or show affection that could be questioned. One of the greatest threats to the marriages of many businesspersons is travel. Practice the following to abstain from the appearance of evil: If at all possible, do not travel alone. Take family photos with you, and place them where you can view them. Unplug the pay channels on the television set. Call your family every night. Does this seem extreme? Marriage is too precious a gift to take lightly, and in a society that values marriage less and less, we must sometimes take extreme measures to guard it ourselves.

The Man Jesus

There was a man walking on the road of life, and he fell into a deep pit full of mud and slime. He tried to get out, but he couldn’t. So along came a religionist, who saw the man in the pit and said, “What on earth are you doing in the pit? You should be ashamed of yourself for being down there. 

If you’d have played by the rules, you wouldn’t have fallen in!” And the religionist walked by and left him there.

And along came the humanist, who saw the man in the pit and said, “Be strong! You have a spark of divinity in you. So believe in yourself, get up, and come on up out of the pit.” So he believed in himself, strained and struggled, but still couldn’t get out of the pit.

Then came Jesus, who saw that man in the pit, took off His royal robes, and got down in the pit with all the filth and dirt. He reached out to that man and pulled him out of the pit Himself. And that man, broken and wounded by his fall, was healed, stood up, and walked with Jesus.

That’s what Christianity is all about. That’s the message of the Gospel. Christ pulls you out of the pit of sin and into life with Him. Trust in Him today, and live your live to share that message with others!

2.7 million people occupy single rooms in Ghana

The UN-Habitat Housing profile on Ghana has indicted that about 2.7 million
in urban Ghana occupy single rooms. It says Many households are likely to be caretakers of semi-completed buildings.

 The report suggested that ′it is important that compound or similar means of living cheaply are not simply removed from the palette of acceptable housing because the middle class think they are outmoded.

The relationship between housing cost and income is a contentious issue in Ghanaian urban studies. Many authors quote the typical labourer’s wage, or the minimum wage, or that of a junior civil servant, or a new graduate, and compare it with the cost of a small dwelling built by State Housing Company.

Through this, some really high house cost to income ratios can be detected.
The UN-Habitat housing profile reports that a well-researched work on Accra has examined the cost of housing against incomes and found them so expensive that it declares Accra to be a “superstar city” one in which a high demand for housing is not met by supply and housing remains in short supply and expensive.

They find that housing market constraints imposed by policies drive prices up. Such policies as minimum plot size that most people cannot afford, or the insistence on self-contained housing by the formal sector, carry welfare costs that are high and regressive.

Furthermore, the policies prevent such measures as easier finance or remittances from increasing the growth in housing supply as much as they should if they were not driving prices up.

In addition, although the research found that mean and median incomes are much higher in Accra than  Dar es Salaam and Addis Ababa, housing conditions are considerably worse. In other words, policies impede the improvements in housing conditions that would be expected from higher incomes.

In addition, policies on plot sizes and plot coverage create land parcels that are too expensive for most people to afford, impose a tax on renters and redistribute the money to home owners, and so set an artificially high threshold price on self-contained dwellings.

The GLSS (Ghana Statistical Service, 2008) shows that, out of a total mean urban household expenditure of GHC3,620, urban households spend a mean of only 9 per cent or GHC325 per annum on housing, water, electricity and gas. In per capita terms, the mean is only 8 per cent or GHC115 spent on housing, water, electricity and gas.
GLSS 528 shows that households in Accra spend only 4.5 per cent of their household expenditure on housing and urban households elsewhere spend only 2.2 per cent on housing, giving an urban total of 3.2 per cent.

The housing sector profile’s survey in 2010 shows very different house costs between Accra and the rest and between the highest cost sectors in each city and the lowest.

The highest cost sector in Accra has a mean rent of GHC326 per month plus GHC200 for maintenance, giving a total of about 19 per cent of expenditure on housing.

In the lowest cost areas of Accra, however, the monthly payment has a mean of only GHC42 with GHC5 on maintenance, a total of only 10 per cent of expenditure. In the other cities, highest mean rents range from GHC97 in Kumasi to only GHC25.5 in Sekondi-Takoradi. In the lowest rent areas, means are only GHC16 in Sekondi- Takoradi to GHC13 in Tamale.

By: Samuel Mantey
Property Express
Email: Sammyoo3@yahoo.com

State owes only 20 percent of all land in Ghana

Most land in Ghana is communally owned by the indigenous tribal groups which operate through their traditional social structures, which can be matrilineal or patrilineal, and their customary hierarchies of governance.

These systems affect who can own land and how customary land transactions are conducted. By extension, they affect who is building and where housing will be located. Although the land is communally owned by entire indigenous groups, the management of the land is customarily vested in the traditional chiefs and elders of the principal families of these indigenous groups.

The state currently owns about 20 per cent of all land in the country; its activities are handled by the Lands Commission as the sole agency for administering public land, including expropriation and assignment on behalf of the state.

However, the 1992 constitution Chapter 20 Clause 257 indicate that public lands are vestment of in the President. All public land in Ghana is vested in the President on behalf of, and in trust for, the people of Ghana. Public land includes any land which has been vested in the Government of Ghana for the public service of Ghana, and any other land acquired in the public interest. All vested lands in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions revert to the original owners.

Exclusion of foreigners from freehold leases
Constitution of Ghana Chapter 20 Clause 266 – Non-Ghanaians are excluded from freehold interest in land in Ghana and any existing freehold held by non-Ghanaians is deemed to be leasehold for fifty years from 1969 reverting to the state upon the expiry of the lease. Non-Ghanaians cannot hold leases of and beyond fifty years.

Stool and Skin Lands and Property
Constitution of Ghana Chapter 20 Clause 267 indicates that all land belongs to the indigenous settlers and is vested in the appropriate stool or skin on behalf of, and in trust for the subjects of the stool in accordance with customary law and usage. No stool or skin land can be disposed off unless the intended development is in compliance with the development plan of the area.
No person(s) shall hold a freehold interest in, or right over, any stool land in Ghana. The Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands shall be responsible for safe administration of rents, dues, and royalties. revenues or other payments and their disbursement as follows; 10 per cent to the office of the Administrator of Stool Lands to cover administrative expenses, and of the remaining amount, 25 per cent to the stool, 20 per cent to the traditional authority; and 55 per cent to the District Assembly.

 Compulsory acquisition of land by the state
State Lands Act, 1962 (Act 125) The President (acting on behalf of the state) has the power to acquire the absolute interest in any land for use in the “public interest”. However, the Act did not define the definition of “public interest”. Provision is made for payment of compensation, estimated at the open market value, or land of equivalent value may be offered as compensation.


By: Samuel Mantey
Property Express
Email: Sammyoo3@yahoo.com