FEEDBACK ON PRAYER WEEK 2012

PRAYER WEEK 2012

The Foundation stone of our church reads : " My house shall be a house of Prayer."

Following on from the last blog , I wanted to  tell  you  a little more about our  Prayer Week which  has  now  run its course once more  at Eastside Baptist Church .

For many years now,  we have  been setting aside a week for prayer at the beginning of  a year .  We have seen this as so important and beneficial,   that we  have instituted another prayer week   in June  - half way through the year .

Prayer week  is not meant to substitute   ordinary , private  prayer   or the prayer meetings of the church.  Prayer week is meant   to  stimulate  and teach us afresh  concerning  the importance of  prayer in the life  of the church and of  the individual.  Prayer week is a reminder that  we are  utterly dependent upon the help and the grace of God  in everything that we do as a church .

We  usually   begin with  preaching and  teaching  concerning prayer   so as to ‘ fire the congregation up‘  concerning the work of prayer .  The late  Martin Holdt  was actually invited to be our guest preacher in preparation for Prayer week 2012  , but  it was not to be , since the Lord took Him  on  Old  Years eve (31^st December 2011 ). 

This year I focused    upon   the theme of   “Prayer and the Holy Spirit “ .

In a preparatory sermon   I  preached from Romans 8 :26, 27 , demonstrating that  effective prayer is always enabled  by the Holy Spirit. In ourselves we  are unwilling and unable  to pray ( if I understand the  preceding text in Romans 7 correctly!) . However, the Holy Spirit helps us  in prayer !

Another preparatory  sermon focused on  Luke 11 : 13  :  “  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Here the Lord Jesus  promises  us  the good gift of the Holy Spirit in response to our asking. This ‘gift of the Holy Spirit’  does not refer to a charismatic experience of  a ‘baptism in the Spirit ‘. It refers  to the work of the Holy Spirit  who in response to asking  shows us who Christ is  - which leads to our justification , and  it can refer  also  to  the Holy Spirit  leading us in  a growing  awareness  and need  of Christ in our lives,  in terms of  our sanctification .

Christians  are people  who are born again by the agency of the Holy Spirit  and  they  continue in Christ as they keep in step with the Spirit .  Prayer  is fundamental  in all this . Pray  that the Holy Spirit   may bring about  conversions  and  an increased desire for holiness

Yet another preparatory sermon focused  on  Acts 4 :23 -31  where  we considered  a historical example  of the Holy Spirit’s working in response to  earnest, believing  God centered prayer . The result of this prayer meeting in Acts  4  was  that the  disciples,  who  had been intimidated by the religious Jews , received new power and boldness to speak the Word of God .  Thus the Word of the Lord spread and the Kingdom of God was expanded  in keeping with the Great Commission . How we need to continually pray  for such spiritual boldness  in our  day!

Prayer Week Outline  :

The next six days  we spent  an hour  in  congregational prayer every  evening  from  19h00 – 20h00 .   We usually take the various elements of prayer  and  use them  on different   evenings of the week :

• Monday : Praise . This includes much  singing  and reading  Psalms of praise  interspersed with  prayers of praise . 

• Tuesday : Confession . 
• Wednesday : Petition . Petitionary prayer focuses upon ourselves , whereas intercessory prayer focuses on others  and the world . On this evening   our people were free to share their  physical , emotional and spiritual needs . In response the elders  laid their hands upon some those with  great need .  
• Thursday : Thanksgiving .
•  Friday : Intercession
•  Saturday  : Intercession  for our church  

A word about  seating !

Atmosphere is important !

Since our  building does not have pews,   we are free to move the chairs  into  a circle. Circles provide for intimacy . We are looking at one another , and together we are looking to our  God. The circle must not be too big, otherwise it is difficult  to hear the prayers of  the people. We have a few  rows ,  circling out from the inner circle .

About half of the time will be spent praying in small groups consisting  of 5-6 people per group .  People   assemble in different parts of the church for this purpose . We always find that this makes prayer participation easier, as it gives everyone an opportunity to pray . It also creates a lovely ‘hum’ in the church as people are heard  praying everywhere.

Since our prayer meetings are structured,    everybody generally prays around the same themes, but with the freedom to express their concerns in their own words . This preserves both,  unity in prayer  and freedom in prayer. 

At the end of the prayer meeting which generally lasts an hour ( and is never enough time!)  the prayer leader  leads in closing prayer and dismisses the people  with a benediction .

POSTSCRIPT

Our  prayer week  2012  was blessed with a  good  and consistent attendance of members .  Prayer was spontaneous  and earnest  , and  people  testified that they had been in the presence of  God .

My friend Erroll Hulse  writes in  Reformation Today ( 224 : p.7 )   : “Prayer is the forerunner of mercy . When God  means to bless His people He first stirs them to pray  for the  very blessing that he has foreordained .”

I trust that this Prayer  week   will have  contributed to  an awakened desire  of our people  to seek the Lord corporately , and that our merciful God in turn  would be please to grant an abundant  answer to our prayers  for  His glory  to cover our land as the waters cover the sea . 

A CALL TO PRAYER !

“What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer.

Those are the words  of E.M. Bounds  (1835-1913). He was a pastor   around the time of the American Civil War , and his writings  on prayer remain  a great  challenge to  me . His words  remain relevant in an age where relatively  few  people  can  see their way  clear  to spend more time in prayer , let alone be a part of a corporate  prayer meeting of the Church .  God has commanded  prayer   to be  one of the chief disciplines  of the Christian church . It therefore ought not only to be the  habitual practice of every Christian , but  there should be evidence that the church engages in corporate prayer .  Absence of prayer  means an absence of confidence in  God , since  the simplest definition  of  prayer is  “speaking to God “. How can we not speak to our heavenly Father?

The apostolic method   used to sustain the life ,  health and progress  of the church  was by    prayer  and the ministry  of  the word  (Acts 6:1-7) , and we have  no  reason to change  these priorities in our day.

I write this as our church is  about to  embark  upon   a prayer week which we commonly have at the beginning of  each  year.   Prayer reminds us that  “our help is in the name of the Lord who has made  heaven and earth.” (Psalm 12:8)

Our church   had also  decided  a few years ago  that    we should  have  also   have a week of prayer  in the middle of the year, when our spirits  seem  to  be sagging.

We   are convinced  from  the Scripture that the church is  among other things  a  house of prayer. Our worship services ought to be punctuated with  all kinds  of  prayer , whether they be prayers of praise , confession, thanksgiving  or intercession.To pray is to worship.

In our evening services we pray for different countries of the world.  “Operation World”   helps  us to pray  for the progress of the gospel  in  every country of the world. A useful internet  link to help you  to do  this  is:  http://www.operationworld.org  . Another helpful  resource for world prayer  is  found at   http://www.gracechurchdirectory.com/world/index.htm

In many churches prayer sadly  no longer constitutes an act of worship. Surely,  if there'd   be  a  solid  argument  for what elements    should  constitute   regulative principles of  worship , then prayer must be a part of  that, and regular prayer meetings  of the  whole church  should be a given  fact and not an antiquated  and curious habit  of history  ! 

In Memory of Martin Holdt -who went into the Lord's presence on New Years Eve 31st December 2011.

The news of the death of Martin Holdt  came  unexpectedly. A week earlier  (on Christmas day  2011, to be precise) he had sent me an e-mail wishing me   for my birthday on the 27^th December. The words were written  in German – his mother tongue. 

He was due to be our speaker  at our  annual prayer week of our church  at the end of January 2012. This was however not to be.  The Lord took him  in the midst of his labours.

 

I first met Martin Holdt  in my first  year as a student at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Cape Town (1986). He was  then known  in Baptist circles as   a “Reformed Baptist   pastor “.  His theological  position was held by very few  South African Baptist ministers in those days. We can only marvel  to think how much this  has changed. At a recent Spurgeon fraternal,  Peter Sammons of the Germiston Baptist Church  indicated  that there were  now more than 80  pastors  on the list  who would   identify  with  the  "Reformed  Baptist position".

Martin's influence was mostly felt in  his  brand of preaching  and in the Reformed  books which he freely distributed.

He was keenly interested in  young men who were interested  in  Reformed Theology. I know ! I was one of them.

Martin Holdt with Andre Bay ( missionary) in Germany

In  1990  I was called to be the pastor of my home church,   the Eastside Baptist Church in Windhoek,  Namibia, and Martin immediately took an interest in me, knowing that I had  developed a keen  interest in the theology of the Reformers. He asked me to write an article about my conversion and call to the ministry in a magazine  called “Reformation Africa South “  which was published under the auspices of the Reformed Baptist Association  in South Africa. This article was read by Erroll Hulse  of the UK who  is well known for  encouraging   Reformed Baptist work, world wide. Erroll  Hulse came to visit me in Namibia  to encourage  me in the ministry. Both, Martin and Erroll  had  simple advice for young pastors  like me who were eager to get their ministries ‘reformed’: Preach the Word! Preach it expositorially ! Preach with passion ! Prepare  prayerfully ! 

Martin exhorted me in the words of  Baptist pastor  W.A Criswell  “to keep your mornings for God.”  

He  continuously exhorted young men to  read.  He believed  that  the  ministry  depended on  spending  time in the   counsel  of the wise, particularly  the  ministry of  a bygone era. With this in mind,  he exhorted us to read  the writings of the Reformers and the Puritans.

            

Martin  started a number of ministries to encourage pastors. Two stand out in my own mind. The annual  Grace Minister’s conference  and  the Spurgeon fraternal. Both have been tremendous  means of blessing to many, and particularly  to me.

Allow me to tell you how the Spurgeon fraternal  was  started.

1997   was a particularly  challenging year  for me in the ministry. I had experienced many  trials accompanied by  a  loneliness in the ministry for a sustained  period  and  I was longing to have something more than a conference. I needed a forum where I and  ministerial  colleagues could share our  burdens  and where   we could  encourage each other and pray for one another. I shared this burden  with Martin. There may have been others  who had the same  burden, but  it was Martin Holdt who got the  Spurgeon fraternal going. The fraternal is going strong  today and it  is ever increasing in  numbers  and influence. One could argue that SOLA 5  ( An Association of  God centered Evangelicals  in Southern Africa)  was stated as a result of this fraternal. 

Martin visited us at Eastside Baptist Church on a number of occasions between 1990 and 2011.  I well remember the time  when he  spoke at an Easter Conference after  his first wife, Beryl,  had died. 

He spoke at various “Prayer weeks”  which we usually have at  the beginning of a new year . He was  actually due to come  to our prayer week in January 2012, and he was looking very much forward  to it. He loved Namibia  for he had some  happy childhood memories of this  place. His parents had  lived  here for sometime.  

But it was not to be ! The Lord  deemed  his work to be done!  I am happy for him  for I know that he is with Christ, enjoying  his well deserved eternal Sabbath rest.

I  do however   have  a sense of  great loss at  his  departure from us. Roland Eskinazi  commented that  Martin  Holdt  in a sense  brought to an end an era of  great  Baptist pastors, preachers  and spiritual leaders  in South Africa. 

I leave it to you to judge whether this is so.

Abortion : How perverted and how much more twisted can we get ?

This  article  was  found   on today’s BBC news  -  24^th November  2011 .  

This  horrified me , and this should horrify  all  thinking Christians !  

We,  in Namibia struggle with similar issues , and that is why I wish to  comment on this matter . 

Those of my readers  who would like to  hear  some truly miraculous stories of God's intervention in the lives of "sick babies" in the womb may feel free to write to me , or  read  my   other blog post on "abortion"  ( look under 'labels' )

Australia probe after wrong twin foetus terminated 

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15870161

A probe is under way at an Australian hospital after staff treating a woman carrying twin boys accidentally terminated the wrong foetus.

Doctors had told the woman that one of her babies had a congenital heart defect that would require numerous operations, if he survived.

The woman chose to abort the 32-week foetus but staff injected the wrong twin.

The hospital in Melbourne described it as a "terrible tragedy".

"The Royal Women's Hospital can confirm a distressing clinical accident occurred on Tuesday," it said in a statement.

"We are conducting a full investigation and continue to offer the family and affected staff every support."

The woman went on to have an emergency caesarean to end the life of the sick foetus.

'Thorough investigation' 

Victorian Health Minister David Davis said the hospital investigation would be overseen by an independent expert.

"I am very much determined to get to the bottom of what went wrong," he said.

State Premier Ted Baillieu echoed his sentiments, saying: "I don't think it's appropriate for anybody to draw any conclusions other than this is a horrible tragedy."

"We'll make sure that the investigation is as thorough as it can be."

In a brief statement, the family asked for privacy "at what has been a very difficult time for us".

MY  COMMENT :

The    twin with the  congenital  heart defect  was  sentenced to death by abortion  on account of  the fact that  it would need numerous operations ! So ,  money talks louder  than  life  after all  !

And then the  hospital staff  does it !  They  accidentally  inject  the healthy twin with  the  lethal dose ,  and now  it is said  that this  was a "terrible tragedy" ... " a distressing clinical accident"  .  

What makes the  death of the 'healthy' twin more terrible   than  the planned death of  the sibling ?

And then, to  add injury to insult,  "the woman went on to have an emergency caesarean to end the life of the sick foetus" . So then ,  there was a foetus  that was healthy and desirable , and a foetus that was  unhealthy and therefore  disposable .  What   a warped  logic  !  It is all because we see  the foetus as a thing and not a little living human being in the womb. 

And now  the  family  is  asking for privacy because  they are having a very difficult time  !  My pastor's heart  longs  to be with them now !

What shall we say to this  ? 

Well,  I so wished that this couple  could have had somebody  with a loving heart and a  biblical worldview to talk  this through  beforehand . Children have been born with congenital heart defects ( I know  some !) . This  can be dealt with . 

Yes , it may cost something , but  that  cost is insignificant  when compared  to the terrible  cost of  living  with  the life long guilt and pain that women go through after they have had an abortion . 

Ask me ! I am a pastor. 

I meet  women  who have had abortions , and  I have never yet met a woman  that hasn't struggled with severe guilt  after an abortion  .  

Only the matchless grace of our Lord Jesus  Christ can be sufficient to heal  such a broken woman from her  sinful choice.  I have seen  God's grace and forgiveness  in such   a situation, and it is wonderful . 

What awful hypocrisy  and nobody seems to be blushing !

This case has  created  a wide  public awareness  . The state premier  of Victoria, Australia,   Ted Baillieu  has  commented on this .   

What on earth are people  thinking  for heaven's sake ? 

Lord , in your wrath , remember mercy ! ( Habakkuk 3:2)

Pastoring a Church with a High People Turnover

Our  church  has always had a  high “people turnover “  in   its 26 years of existence . The  church  is situated  in  a more affluent suburb of  the city Windhoek. The face of the church changes  substantially roughly every 5  years. There is a stable  core group of people  in the church   for which  we are  very thankful , but the yearly  losses  always gnaw away at the yearly gains   that are made  . Thankfully , we are ‘edging forward’, but  we are not a  fast growing church.    There is one  other church  in Namibia  with the same  tendency   -  the Swakopmund Baptist Church , where Francois Koch  has  been the pastor for the last  4 years .

Why  this high people   turnover? As  I have recently  reflected on this phenomenon , I wanted to share this with you  the causes  and the  positive and negative  experiences  one has in pastoring such a church .

Causes 

Firstly , in the  early 90’s   we  had suffered heavy  membership losses  as  mainly  ‘white ‘ South African   citizens  were being repatriated   back to South Africa  after Namibia became an independent nation  in 1990  .  I remember that in the first two years of my ministry we may have  lost  as many as  50   percent of our membership .

The second reason  for membership attrition  was initially   a lack of doctrinal  clarity  among ourselves  , and then  ironically,   it was  doctrinal clarity  !  There were those who were not happy   when we   became  a  Confessional  Baptist Church in 2001 . We  chose the  historic  1689 Baptist Confession of Faith  for this purpose .  The reason was simple . It is good to stand upon  sound historical precepts  , and we did not want to reinvent the wheel .

This is something that Charles Haddon Spurgeon  also did  in 1855 after he had  been the minister  of New Park Street Chapel , London for a few months. He  was determined to strengthen the doctrinal  foundations of the church, and he was instrumental in  getting “  the 1689”   re-published for this purpose.

I am  sorry that  we took so long to see this. Don’t get me wrong.  Having a confessional  basis in the church will not  usher in the Kingdom of God  on earth!  But  the  Confession  does  provide   a stable doctrinal platform  and a common basis  of theological understanding  from which we may operate. The Confession of Faith together with our membership classes   serve  to provide as a solid   foundation  upon which new members enter into the church fellowship.  Christ  the Saviour  is  proclaimed throughout; the authority of the Scriptures is upheld in our preaching; Grace alone  is the basis  upon which we  enter the Kingdom of God, by Faith alone.  The Confession  and the membership classes  exist  to bring glory to God.

Since we had instituted this rule  we have seen very little  doctrinal disagreement among ourselves. Those who do not agree will not join  the church.

The  third  reason for  membership attrition is church discipline . We have not had many instances  of this  over the years  , but there  were cases  where  people were removed  on the basis of Matthew 18 : 15-20 .  We believe in church discipline , for that is what the Bible teaches . The church receives and if necessary  dis-fellowships  members  who sin defiantly .  In some cases members have chosen to leave before church discipline could be applied .

The fourth reason  for membership attrition  constitutes by by far the  major factor in our community. People  leave the church  because their work contracts end.   A number of  our members  come from other countries  and therefore  they inevitably will move back to their home countries.  Namibia  has very stringent immigration  rules   and it is virtually impossible for anyone  from the outside to receive  permanent residence , let alone obtain citizenship in Namibia.

Over the   years we have learned  not to hold on to people. We are glad if we could have encouraged them on their pilgrimage to our heavenly city. We  are  encouraged  if they  have grown in the  knowledge of the Lord  Jesus Christ whilst sojourning with us for a little while  .  So , in the course of the years  our  standard question   to  those coming and going  has been:  “Are you leaving in a better shape than  when you have arrived ?“

Reflections

Our present elders and deacons have enjoyed a  stable tenure

Positively then it has been  a good experience to  meet so many interesting  people over  the years. Our church has always had an international flavour  and I  personally have learned  so much from this “confluence of the cultures”.

I believe that  the ideal of Pentecost (the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2)  is  often being seen in our congregation  when many nations are  present, and  living together  in harmony  and unity.  This is a true privilege to behold  and  is indeed  a little foretaste of heaven.

New people also sometimes bring  a  certain  ‘freshness’  with them. It is very hard  for our  church to become stale. At times it is a challenge  to help newcomers  not to be too enthusiastic  in terms of  wanting to bring  their previous church experience  into our situation .

Negatively , we have found it difficult to say goodbye  to so many people over  the years. It is difficult to make close friends when you  have to part  yet again.  I   generally  struggle to get close  to people  that I know will leave again  in a short while. It takes a lot of energy to invest in friendships.

Continuous turnover also means that  you have to  constantly re-teach  foundational principles , sometimes to the annoyance of the older members.

Moreover , people  who  come on short term assignments , tend to be  reluctant to get involved.  Happily,  they  begin to think  otherwise  when the logic of Scripture is pressed upon them. Many ‘short termers’ have thus had a  good  and fruitful ministry among us.

We have also found it difficult to  build a leadership in a constantly changing environment. When people  come and go in such a rapid fashion   you are barely able to train leaders before they must leave again. The same is true for gifted people in various areas of the church. They normally leave a big gap in the ministry.

Lastly …

Having said all this  we are grateful that the Lord  continually adds people to the church. In the last few years I have been pleased to observe that we have  had a good number of conversions from among   our  local  people. We are currently praying for  the suburb in which we  have been planted as a church, and  are eagerly looking out  for those who are willing to hear  the gospel message.

In the  meantime Eastside  Baptist Church shall continue  to reach the nations on our doorstep whilst also  praying that many of our nation will come to  the knowledge of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

China is reversing the decline and fall of Christianity

I quoted  this article  written by Chief Rabbi  Jonathan  Sacks , in the Times of London   , at  our  recent  SOLA 5 (2011)Conference in Livingstone , ZAMBIA,  in my paper presented  at the  conference  . A number of people have asked me  since then  to  send it to them . Well here it is  for  wider consumption !

Jonathan Sacks
http://www.chiefrabbi.org/ReadArtical.aspx?id=1764

The Christian foundation of cultural life in Europe made possible the emergence first of capitalism, then of democratic politics
Towards the end of his recent book, Civilization, the historian Niall Ferguson drops into his analysis an explosive depth charge. He quotes a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, part of a team tasked with the challenge of discovering why it was that Europe, having lagged behind China until the 17th century, overtook it, rising to prominence and dominance.
At first, he said, we thought it was your guns. You had better weapons than we did. Then we delved deeper and thought it was your political system. Then we searched deeper still, and concluded that it was your economic system. But for the past 20 years we have realised that it was in fact your religion, Christianity. It was the Christian foundation of social and cultural life in Europe that made possible the emergence first of capitalism, then of democratic politics.
Equally arrestingly, Ferguson repeats the point made by the editor and Washington correspondent of The Economist, John Micklethwait, and Adrian Wooldridge two years ago in their book God is Back. While Christianity is in decline in Britain and most of Europe, it is growing and thriving in China, where the number of people in church on Sunday is greater than the total membership of the Communist Party — and this in the land that in 1958 Chairman Mao had declared “religion-free”.
The churchgoers are not, as Karl Marx would have predicted, the poor and oppressed searching for the opium of the people. They are the young, hard-working, upwardly mobile entrepreneurs for whom Christianity offers an ethical framework, a structured view of life and its disciplines, in a society experiencing rapid transition.
As a non-Christian, I find this fascinating. Europe is losing the very thing that once made it great, while China, the world’s fastest-growing economy, is discovering it. China: the home of Confucianism, Taoism and its own brand of communism. That is something no one could have foreseen.
What has China realised that the West is rapidly forgetting? That a civilisation is as strong as its faith. As a culture grows old and tired, as people borrow more and save less, as they value present pleasures over future growth, so they begin to lose the beliefs and practices that made their society successful in the first place.
It begins to resemble the Roman Empire at the start of its decline. The Roman historian Livy wrote, with great poignancy, about how “with the gradual relaxation of discipline, morals first subsided, as it were, then sank lower and lower, and finally began the downward plunge which has brought us to our present time, when we can endure neither our vices nor their cure”.
A half-century ago, Will Durant in The Story of Civilization argued that the decline of a civilisation was the culmination of strife between religion and secular intellectualism, which ended by weakening the institutions of convention and morality. “In the end a society and its religion tend to fall together, like body and soul, in a harmonious death.”
The decline and fall of civilisations has been charted by the wise for many centuries. They include the sages of Ancient Egypt, the prophets of Ancient Israel, the great 14th-century Islamic thinker Ibn Khaldun, and the far-seeing 18th-century Italian philosopher and historian Giambattista Vico.
They all offer essentially the same analysis. Civilisations begin by valuing austerity, courage and self-sacrifice. These set them on a path to growth. As they become successful, they grow more self-indulgent and self-centred. People are no longer willing to make sacrifices for the group. Trust declines. Social capital wanes. There are no heroes any more. Renown gives way to fame and then to mere celebrity. That, Ferguson implies, is the precipice that we are approaching in the West.
Societies start growing old when they lose faith in the transcendent. They then lose faith in an objective moral order and end by losing faith in themselves. But there is an alternative. The West can rediscover what Jeremiah called “the devotion of your youth”.
Judaism and Christianity share an astonishing capacity for self-renewal. That is what happened in Judaism after every tragedy from the Babylonian exile to the Holocaust. That is what is happening now to Christianity in many parts of the world, and it can happen here too.
We are as strong as our faith. That truth, once the West’s unique selling proposition, now comes with a label saying, “Made in China”. But it’s still worth buying.
Lord Sacks is Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth

SOLA 5 CONFERENCE 2011 - Livingstone , Zambia

The ' Vic Falls'  seen  from the Zambian side

This annual  conference  of God centered Evangelicals in Southern Africa  was held at  the Livingstone Institute of Business and Engineering Studies . It    was well organized  in terms  of everything. Zambian hospitality , as always    was excellent . This   conference  was  held under the auspices of the Trinity  Reformed Baptist Church  in Livingstone . 

Hein Strauss & Christo Beetge  chairing  a session

After  the   steering committee under the leadership of Christo  Beetge ( Brackenhurst Baptist Church)  and our ever efficient  administrator , Hein Strauss ( Antipas Baptist Church – Pretoria) had   met on Thursday afternoon , 1st September  to ensure that  everything was  in place to commence with the  conference ,  the conference began with an evening fellowship supper followed by the first address .

The theme for this  year’s  conference  was , “  Living God’s Way  in God’s World : Christians impacting culture” .  

Six topics were assigned for the conference , all centering around  the cultural mandate  given to us in  Genesis  1:28  . I shall  make mention of the  topics and the speakers  only. (The messages  may be downloaded, I believe,   from the SOLA 5  Website   in MP3 or DVD format )

1 . Bruce Button ( Sovereign Grace Theological Seminary)  : The biblical basis for the cultural mandate

2. Jeff Gage (Free Grace  Baptist Church – Boksburg)  :  The theological  basis for the cultural mandate

3. Joachim Rieck  ( Eastside Baptist Church ) :  The historical  outworking of the cultural  mandate in western civilization

4. Conrad Mbewe ( Kabwata Baptist Church) : The place of Christian education in the fulfillment of the cultural mandate

5.  Ronald Kalifungwa( Lusaka Baptist Church) :  The place of  a biblical work ethic in the fulfillment of the cultural mandate

6. Choolwe Mwetwa  : ( Chingola Baptist Church)  :  The application of the cultural mandate in Africa . This  message  was preached in the context of a worship service held at  Trinity Reformed Baptist Church .

Three of our speakers  (l-r) Conrad Mbewe , Ronald Kalifungwa , Choolwe Mwetwa

The messages were  all thought provoking  and  challenging. The subject  at hand is  one that  needs to be  mulled over and discussed in our churches . The nature of  this conference was intensely practical  since it   dealt with  the application of the gospel  which frees us   to do good works  ( Eph 2:10)  in every sphere of our existence .

The preaching sessions  were interspersed with mission reports  and reports on  new church planting initiatives  ( e.g. Richard Raven in  Bloemfontein)   from  all the regions . It is wonderful to see how missionary minded our movement is !  

On Saturday  afternoon there  was  an elective  on youth ministry  offered by  Nick and Sheila Court of Stepwise Youth ministry .

On Friday afternoon , 2^nd September  we held  our Annual Business Session .   Since SOLA 5 is not a denomination , but an association of churches , this session   was uncomplicated  and quickly accomplished .  A new steering committee was elected.  Peter Sammons  ( Germiston Baptist Church/ RSA)  was elected  as the chairman . The  Steering  Committee  consist of Hein Strauss ( Administrator) ,  Ronald Kalifungwa (alt.  Isaac Makashinyi)  Conrad Mbewe ( alt. Grave Singogo) , Christo Beetge , Pieter Slabber ( Eastside / Namibia) , Jeff Gage , Roland  Eskinazi; OB Macwele ( Swaziland) , Kobus van der Walt .

New  churches were received into membership : Kafue Reformed Baptist Church (Zambia ); Midrand Chapel (RSA) and  Birchleigh Baptist Church ( RSA)  .  

Pastor  Kennedy Sunkutu and wife  from Kafue Reformed Baptist Church

An encouraging  report  was given by Dr Ken Turnbull on  the development  of the African Christian University  in Zambia  and  Bruce  Button of the  Sovereign Grace Theological Seminary  ( Zambia ) . SGTS will hopefully  become the theological faculty  of this new Christian University.  

On Saturday afternoon, 3^rd of  September   we had a bit of free time  and visited the majestic Victoria falls . The ever  efficient  Col. Phiri  had organized a Zambian Airforce bus for us and had negotiated a reduced entrance  fare  for us. Instead of paying U$ 20.00  we only had to pay U$ 10.00 .

This is now the 7^th  SOLA 5 Conference  ,  since  this  Association of God Centered Evangelicals in Southern Africa was formed  in 2004 .

Looking Ahead  

Next year’s conference ( 2012)  will be hosted   by the Manzini Fellowship Church in  Swaziland , before the conference hopes to return once more to Namibia in 2013 .