-Bishop Kortu Brown Says
Brewerville, Montserrado County – Liberia has been described as a country with a “seed without [a] soil” based on the attitude of the leaders and people of the country. The description was given by Bishop Kortu K. Brown during the morning devotional prayer service at the Baptismal Pool Offices of the Apostolic Pentecostal Church International (APCI) on today, Tuesday, June 10, 2025 on the campus of New Water in the Desert Assembly in Brewerville, Montserrado County.
He likened a “seed without soil” country to a people described in the Book of St. Matthew Chapter 13 verses 14 and 15 which states: “And in them is fulfilled the Prophecy of Isaiah, which says, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive…” This, he said, is considered as a “a willful deafness, a willful blindness and a willful dullness”
Bishop Brown mentioned that God has blessed Liberia but its “people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” says the Lord in verse 15. The clergyman believes that Liberia is rejecting spiritual advice and instruction because the hearts are waxed gross.
“Without a change of heart, there can be no transformation of the country”, he added, inquiring where is soil where God can place His seed to germinate for a better country when all the hearts are full of the spirit of rejection, pride and hatred? Why are Liberians continuously rejecting one another? he quipped. The Pentecostal cleric lamented the state of the proverbial soil of the country, which is the “heart” which he considers to be approximately about seventy-five percent of soil where the seed has fallen on “hard ground” which has no roots, no soil and the seed can’t germinate, to include the wayside and stony ground soils for a better country.
“It appears in Liberia that the whole soil is a ‘hard ground’ soil where the seed of peace, reconciliation, forgiveness, humility, nationalism, patriotism, etc., is absent. Every day, all we see and hear is threats of revenge, division, hatred, chaos, tricks, evil planning, etc., in every sphere of our national life including politics, religion, business, civil society, etc” Why? And, we ask, Why so much confusion and noise?” Bishop Brown said that even with our going to church and mosques every week, our hearts are still hard grounds to achieve reconciliation and promote oneness in the country.
The parable of the sower as recorded in the Bible book of St. Matthew Chapter 13 verses 18 through 23 is a powerful metaphor about God’s kingdom and people’s response to His message, adding that the sower represents God’s messengers, the seed represents the word of God and the different individuals and their hearts represent the various types of soils spoken of in the parable to include the wayside, stony (hard), thorny and good soils. He prayed that the people of Liberia will be amongst those who will understand what’s going on in the country and end up as “good soils” and not stony (hard) or thorny grounds where good initiatives and results for our country can be supported and sustained.
The former president of the Liberia Council of Churches called for a “good harvest of the Word of God we are hearing every week so our country can move forward. There has to be love and harmony and we have to temper justice with mercy. We have to stop threatening our peace and ensure that the rule of law is applied in an unquestionable way. We must also celebrate our country together when it does well and chastise it when it goes wrong. Liberia, he concluded, must be a “seed with a soil”. He prayed for hearts or soils wherein God can plant His ‘seed’ of love, forgiveness, oneness and conciliation in Liberia? A seed without soil will only rot and be no good to anybody or people.
