Before the second talk on the third day of the 2010 Glory Conference, the congregation was blessed to receive a testimony from Elder Professor G.T. Odamtten, who actually died for sometime last year but was resurrected after about 30min.

Hard pressed with time, he proceeded quickly to talk about two ‘kinds’ of worlds which the youthful, anxious, exuberant and desiring participants who had gathered at the conference, would be exposed to as they graduate from their various tertiary institutions into the world to find some work or function to perform, and also serve as the light of their generation. Naming from two Greek words “aion” and “cosmos”, Eld. Odamtten explained “cosmos” as the corruption of the world systems, the spirit behind this world – the world ruled by satan an his government and the lifestyle of this world. He explained “aion” as the age, and what God has set for every believer to help him shine in his or her world, which aspect is also controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Elder then said that Christians need to be in both worlds, but function in the ‘aion’ and not the cosmos. He explained that living the life of this kingdom requires a life which is ever – filled with the Holy Spirit, admonishing participants to desire to be ever filled with the Holy Spirit both on the campuses and every other place.

Since believers are “in the world” but NOT “of the world”, it is just prudent for Christians to desire the wisdom of God so they would reign in this life as God wants them to, he said. Making reference to Galatians 5:24 “And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts”, Prof. Odamtten said that believers now have been born again with the spirit of God and so should desire to walk in the spirit and reflect the character of Christ wherever they are. “We must treasure this new birth in order to make it shine, because where our treasure it, there our hearts would be also”.

Still on the “cosmos” realm of life, Professor Odamtten, who was once the Presiding Elder of the Church of Pentecost, Achimota Central Assembly, English Service, clearly explained that the present world is governed by information technology whose driving force is a set of rules he called www.worldstandards.com. Because we so relate to the world almost always, our character is mostly not seen by the world, and sometimes, we conform to the systems of the world. Yet in all these, we need to remember that we are not to get conformed to this world, but rather be transformed through a renewed mind.

“Because we are in Christ, we are new creations. But if we live our lives like the people in the world, chasing what they chase, doing what they do and desiring the same, then we fall short of our duty of projecting Christ Jesus”. Although it is legitimate to pursue worldly things, he cautioned that we should not waste our lives on them because if we gain the whole world yet lose our souls, it has no profit for us. He prayed that participants do not exchange their souls for the pleasures and things of this world, chasing after those things which indeed do not matter in the sight of God. “For vanity upon vanity, all is vanity”.

Eld. George Odamtten then proceeded to talk about the divine side of the spiritual realm, the realm of truth which is governed by the Holy Spirit and habited by the truth which Christians live in, ruled by the Holy Spirit and inhabited by believers. He said that believers needed to move from the information technology standards of the world to www.holyspiritstandards.com, so we would shine in our world. He said that when we shift our orientation from the cosmos to www.holyspiritstandards.com , all things would be made available to us. He emphasized Jesus’ statement in Matt. 6:33 that if we seek first God’s Kingdom (Christ Jesus) and His righteousness, all others shall be added unto us, and not the other way round.

Prof. Tawiah reiterated that believers are simply not receiving God’s word – God’s word asks us about 366 times not to fear, yet we are always afraid of what we’d eat, drink, wear and where to sleep. This he said is a sign that we are living our lives according to the systems of the world and not that of God. “We’ve forgotten that our struggles for survival have been taken care of by God himself and that the kingdom of God is not food and drink but that it is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. In a recent encounter with God’s truth, Eld. George Odamtten said that God desires that His children focus on Him and make Him the priority of their lives and not any other thing.

On the 22nd of October 2009, Elder Professor George Tawiah Odamtten, who is also a Snr. Lecturer at the Botany Department of the University of Ghana, died for about 30 minutes and came back to life. And he was here to encourage young people with the story of his experience.

He woke up with a stomach ache early in the morning of the said date, and so decided to visit the washroom. According to him, he was profusely sweating on the closet. The wife, sensing something unusual came to the washroom and found him sweating like water was poured on him. He said that all he remembered telling the wife was that he was feeling dizzy, and he passed on.

According to Prof. Odamtten, the wife was so stirred in her spirit and had the faith that the husband was not going to die at that time. She confessed “you will not die, but you live in the name of Jesus, because we have work to do”, and quickly rushed out to call on some Christians in the neighbourhood.

So the neighbours came and they were praying for his come back to life. Meanwhile, Prof. Odamtten found himself floating like a feather (out of his body) heading towards heaven. He saw a bright shining light (which cannot be like any light on earth) from a certain gate and desired to enter that gate, but then he was asked to come back to the world (by the angel of the Lord at the gate) because it was not yet his time to be in heaven, he had work to do.

While he was returning, he saw them beckoning on him to come, in the name of Jesus, and in the process, he checked back into his body, confessing the same things they were confessing about him. Eld. Odamtten acknowledged how true the scripture in Romans 8:11 is - “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Rom. 8:11).

Drawing lessons from his experience, Prof. Odamtten cautioned believers to be mindful of the kind of confessions they make when they seem to be in hard times. He also said that dead indeed is an enemy, yet believers have been glorifying death with positions and statements like “God gave and He has taken it”. Knowing also that life and death are in the power of the tongue, he further encouraged believers to speak forth life in times of seeming death, and not agree to death who is an enemy!

He again said that believers of today need to go back to God and live in his courts. God has given us all things yet we’ve refused to live as believers who apply God’s provision to their benefit, but rather behave like the people of the world chasing only material things. People are fighting over denominations on earth, yet nobody asked him about such things in heaven, he added.