Reformation in Holland

At the Beginning of May   I had the privilege of visiting Holland  where   previous members of our church ,  Aad and Janny  van Onselen  are now  living in the  village of Ameide . On that occasion I was able to link up with Kees van Kralingen whom I had met 15 years  ago at  the Carey  Family Conference in the UK .  At that stage there was no Reformed Baptist Church in Holland .  Kees  is   clearly a man who loves the Lord Jesus Christ . He loves the Scriptures and longs to see a renewal  of God centered  theology and preaching  in Holland .  It was  so good to have fellowship with him  and to hear of the  existence of a  Reformed Baptist group called "SOLA 5 BAPTISTEN".  Apparently the name of the " SOLA 5"  Association of God centered Churches in Southern Africa  ,of which our church is a member , has  provided  this new  association  in Holland  with a suitable  Name .

Below is a report  from Kees van Kralingen  ( pictured above)  concerning  this new association . 

Please join them  in praying for gospel success !

 

Sola 5 Baptists Conference in The Netherlands

Under the name ‘Sola 5 Baptisten’ a Dutch group of Baptist pastors and leaders is setting up a conference and a website to call Baptist churches back to their theological roots in the Reformation. They believe the Dutch churches more than ever need the doctrines of grace, as taught and applied by Reformed Baptists worldwide, to counter current man-centred approaches. About 75 people from The Netherlands and Belgium gathered in Doorn for the first conference on 26+27^th March with Erroll Hulse as one of the speakers. The aim of this conference was to show the value of a biblical confession of faith such as the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689.

Michael Gorsira emphasised the importance of a confession to help us to maintain a biblical form of church and worship with God at the centre instead of man/centred approaches.

We are very grateful to Erroll Hulse who came over from the UK to encourage and instruct us from his long time experience. He presented the teaching of the confession on sanctification and gave practical guidelines on how to preach this doctrine making use of the confession. His second address gave us practical advice on how to use the confession in the local church.

Kees van Kralingen discussed some key characteristics of the 1689 confession which are of particular relevance today: chapter 1 of the 1689 confession on the authority of Scripture, the particular position of the confession on the liberty of the conscience together with the role of the civil magistrate (chapters 21 and 24), and the doctrine of the church (chapter 26).

The conference also included lively Q&A and Prayer & Share sessions. Oscar Lohuis preached the conference sermon from Acts 7: through the death of the first martyr Stephan, the Lord achieved his purposes for the church. We all left most encouraged by the Word we received and the experience of true Christian fellowship and unity.

For details about this work, visit the website: www.sola5baptisten.nl