3 April 1977, I was converted to Christ. It happened at the Ster Kinekor cinema in Pinelands... My family had moved from Rhodesia to Cape Town. We were living in Pinelands, just a few kilometres from where I had been born. It was Sunday evening, 3rd April 1977, when I walked over to the local cinema, with little realisation of how dramatically that would change my life forever.
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“If My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 When There is Pestilence At the time of the consecration of the Temple, God declared: “When I shut up Heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people…” 2 Chronicles 7:13. This was the context for that monumentally important Scripture verse. During any time of disaster, humility, prayer and repentance should be our response. To Heal Our Land If we want God to heal our land, then we need Him to forgive our sin. God declares that He will not even listen to our prayers unless we do four things: humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways (2 Chronicles 7:14). In Time of Disaster In Luke 13, we read that when the people reported to the Lord Jesus of the man-made disaster of Pontius Pilate massacring Galileans at the Temple in Jerusalem, “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish’.” Luke 13:2-3 A Disastrous Series of Events 25 Years ago, four Frontline vehicles were sent into the field. Only one vehicle came back. In the early morning mist of 14 December 1994, Frontline Fellowship Field Worker, Anthony Duncan, was killed in a head-on collision. A Complex Series of Missions to Five Countries Anthony was returning back from a long, difficult and dangerous mission to five countries. Anthony had been part of a Frontline Fellowship mission team that had successfully delivered desperately needed medicines and Bibles into war-torn Angola. Despite a shoot-on sight policy, which was maintained to enforce the United Nations blockade on UNITA-controlled Free Angola, the Frontline Mission team had succeeded in delivering a tonne of desperately needed medicines and Bibles to suffering Christians in Angola. The Mission team was on the way back from this eventful trip, which had also included one of our vehicles rolling down an embankment and crushing the canopy on the way up to Zambia on the so-called “Golden Highway” dirt road running the length of the Caprivi Strip. A cloud of dust hung over the dirt road severely restricting visibility. Our vehicle had to swerve to avoid a head on collision with an oncoming truck. To view the Great Siege of Malta, as a PowerPoint, with pictures, click here. "Why should I care about dates and dead people?" Frequently we hear expressions of exasperation against the teaching of history. "What possible relevance could all those events of long ago have for me today?" Real History Has Great Relevance Well, take 9/11. Did those responsible just choose an arbitrary date for the aircraft hijackings and terror attacks on 11 September 2001? The Strategic Significance of September 11 Those who know the history of Islamic Jihad can point out that September 11 is a most significant date for Jihadists. It was on 11 September 1565 that the Ottoman Turkish siege of Malta was decisively defeated. To view the Great Siege of Malta, as a PowerPoint, with pictures, click here. "Why should I care about dates and dead people?" Frequently we hear expressions of exasperation against the teaching of history. "What possible relevance could all those events of long ago have for me today?" Real History Has Great Relevance Well, take 9/11. Did those responsible just choose an arbitrary date for the aircraft hijackings and terror attacks on 11 September 2001? The Strategic Significance of September 11 Those who know the history of Islamic Jihad can point out that September 11 is a most significant date for Jihadists. It was on 11 September 1565 that the Ottoman Turkish siege of Malta was decisively defeated. The Father of Modern Missions, William Carey, launched the Greatest Century of Missions with his electrifying sermon: Expect Great Things from God! Attempt Great Things for God! The Desperate Need for Accessible Leadership Training There is a tremendous need and hunger for literature and leadership training throughout Africa. However, one of the ongoing problems is that most of those who leave rural areas for urban training institutions tend to stay in the urban centres and are lost to the rural communities who sent them for further training. Urbanisation and Diaspora are Depleting Church Leadership Similarly, most of those who go to first world nations for further training tend not to return to their third world countries of origin. In this way, the church is haemorrhaging in Africa. Some of our most promising leadership candidates are failing to return to their communities. The rapid urbanisation and mass movement to first world countries is devastating to local congregations. Most of the pastors in the rural areas where we work have no tertiary education at all. To Listen to a Message that Includes this Testimony click here Report to the Castle It was pitch dark and three hours before sunrise when I began my National Service in the South African Defence Force (SADF). My call-up papers had instructed me to report to the Castle in Cape Town 5am on 2 July 1979. Although from a very young age, I had been looking forward to my service in the military, now that I was involved in full time Missions at Hospital Christian Fellowship, it seemed like “a waste of time” to be “sidetracked from Missions” for two years military training and service. Anticipating the Last Days At the time, I was also so convinced of the imminent return of Christ that I found it hard to believe that I would ever be able to get back to Missions, as the Lord would have surely returned long before my two years in the military were completed! Bible Study and Prayer Group in the Military Frontline Fellowship was born in prayer. The vision for our mission, to assist persecuted churches, evangelising in war zones, serving in restricted access areas, grew out of the daily Bible study and prayer meeting which I led during my time of military service. For two years we met, almost every night, around the Word of God, spending extended times in prayer. Sometimes we prayed through the night, in prayer chains. Often our Bible study and prayer meetings lasted for three, four or five hours at a time. Operation World It was while praying through the Operation World Intercessory Handbook, on an all-night prayer chain, that the Lord impressed upon my heart what Patrick Johnstone had written about Mozambique: that Mozambique was the least evangelised country in the Southern Hemisphere and that there was less than one Bible for every thousand people in that Marxist nation. To see the video of this article click here To listen to the audio of this article click here The disastrous Monday, 15 April, burning of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris leads to many questions and serious implications. Notre Dame de Paris (French for Our Lady of Paris), was built between 1163 and 1260. The cathedral was officially consecrated in 1345. Most Famous Gothic Building in the World No other building represents France quite like Notre Dame. It has been the most visited monument in France. Notre Dame is without a doubt the most famous Gothic building worldwide. The church of Notre Dame received almost 13 million visitors every year. Notre Dame has dominated the Paris skyline since the 1200s. The wood used for the framing of the cathedral consisted of 1,200 Oak trees, representing 21 hectares of forest. On Friday, 29 March 2019, Christian Liberty Books ran a Creation vs Evolution Seminar and Children’s Programme. We were very excited to welcome 80 guests. Dr Philip Stott was our guest speaker for the whole of the Seminar. The Seminar programme included the following riveting lectures: The Creation According to God’s Word vs The Creation According to the Wisdom of Man; What Went Wrong with Science?; The Rise and Fall of Millions of Years and The Rise and Fall of Evolution. “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself… And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’” Luke 24: 27, 32 On Saturday, 23 March, we held our second FIRE preaching workshop for this year. We hosted 40 people, including some of our Missionary interns. I was particularly blessed to see how many of the participants had come to previous workshops and were returning to continue growing in their knowledge of the Scriptures. It was also encouraging to hear that some are already implementing what they have learned from previous workshops that we have run. To Mozambique by Motorbike “Go into Mozambique by motorbike!” The idea came as a shock to me during a quiet time one morning. But that is a Communist state! Into my memory came all the things I had read about the Frelimo terrorists and Russian troops who controlled the land. I recalled how I had prayed for the believers there, when I had heard of the severe persecutions, that followed the communist revolution in 1975. Cyclone Idai originated from a tropical depression that formed off the East Coast of Mozambique, intensifying to an intense tropical cyclone with winds of up to 170km per hour (110 miles per hour) in the Mozambique Channel. On 15 March, Cyclone Idai made landfall near Beira in central Mozambique and re-emerged into the Mozambique Channel, 19 March. Idai dissipated by 21 March. And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself… And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’” Luke 24: 27, 32 500 years ago, 1 January 1519, Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer, began expository preaching through the New Testament. In memory of this bold initiative to place the preaching of God’s Word at the centre of church services, we are motivating and equipping preachers with the resources necessary to effectively proclaim, teach and apply God’s Word to their congregations. The first in the series of FIRE (Fellowship for International Reformation and Evangelism) Preaching Workshops was held on Saturday 16 February. The theme was Preaching From the Book of Genesis. Presentations were given on Genesis Bible Survey Overview; Genesis in Redemptive History; Exegeting the Book of Genesis; Exegetical Practical; Practical Sermon Preparation; Open Discussion and Q&A. Watch and share Frontline's Great Commission Course Video on Vimeo. "Expect great things from God! Attempt great things for God!" – William Carey, 1792 Do you want to change your world? If so, then join us for the inspiring and life-changing Great Commission Course (4-23 January 2019). The first part of the GCC will be held on the slopes of a mountain, near the ocean. The Biblical Worldview Summit (4-9 January 2019), will provide an ideal introduction to the Great Commission Course with the theme of Applying the Lordship of Christ to all Areas of Life. Participants of the GCC have come from as far afield as Australia and America, Britain and Botswana, Canada and Congo, Ghana and Germany, Sudan and South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Namibia and New Zealand, Malawi and Mozambique. Through the years, I have often had people talking about what they were going to do, could have done, should have done, but did not do! Early on I determined that I would not want to arrive at the end of my life regretting missed opportunities and wasted potential. The first time I heard the Gospel, I was 17-years-old, in a cinema in Cape Town. Rev. Rex Matthie spoke of the sufferings and sacrifices of Christ. "This is what Christ has done for you! What have you ever done for Him?" This challenge pierced my heart. I had done absolutely nothing for Christ. I had not even thanked God for His Creation, for my life or health. That day, I realised that I was a self-centred, ungrateful lost soul, truly deserving of the condemnation of Almighty God on the Day of Judgement. At the end of the service I went forward and publically committed my life to Christ. |
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