The Mandela Industry

​Meeting Mandela
When Nelson Mandela was president, he summoned me to the president’s mansion. This was in response to the massive protest marches I had mobilised to parliament against his policies promoting pornography, perversion and abortion. We spent an hour discussing openly our concerns for the direction he was taking the country. I challenged him directly over the legalisation of vices, such as: gambling, prostitution, pornography and, most seriously of all, abortion. Mr Mandela warmly shook my hand and congratulated me for my honesty and forthrightness in speaking straight. He declared: "I am glad to meet an honest white man!" He declared that he would always be open to my concerns and that his door would always be open to me. I have no animosity for Nelson Mandela. I prayed with him and have regularly prayed for him, sincerely. To see the video regarding my Meeting with Mandela, click here and here.

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​We Have a duty Before Almighty God
As a Christian and Minister of the Gospel, it is my duty before Almighty God to oppose abortion, pornography, prostitution, perversion, homosexual marriages, human trafficking, and idolatry. Nelson Mandela has now been turned into a multi-billion dollar industry and I am sure that all who are aware of it are sickened by the sight of all the media vultures and the legal squabbles over his fortune and brand names. 
 
International Idolatry
With the incredible mass marketing campaign and international idolatry surrounding the Mandela myth and legend, shepherds of the flock must speak out. We are seeing the making of a new religion and it is dangerous to the souls of those who get swept up into Mandelamania.
 
Personality Cults
Like every other personality cult, whether worshipping the pharaohs of Egypt, or the chairman of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union, or worshipping Hollywood idols, sports idols, or music idols, all idolatry is an offense before God and a snare to our souls. (See: The Most Condemned Sin in Scripture.)
 
Intimidation Techniques
However, anyone who says such things is subjected to accusations of "racism!" There is no need for anyone to say anything more about apartheid when it has been dead and gone for over two decades. My opposition to apartheid was vocal and clear when it was the ruling ideology in our country. Our Mission has been a multi-racial Mission from the very beginning. Our very first Frontline Fellowship camp in Somerset West, was broken up and we were evicted for being a multi-racial group! You can read my book: Renaissance or Reformation and other publications that deal with the time when apartheid was relevant. However, it takes no courage to kick a dead dog.
 
Confronting the Cultural War
The issues at this time are secular humanism, attacks on marriage and the family, attacks on historic monuments and, in this case, the Mandela myth and cult. When Elijah was condemning Baal worship on Mount Carmel, he did not list any of the positive aspects of the false prophets of Baal, or of Baal, or Asherah worship. None of the Gospel writers listed any of the positive achievements of Pontius Pilate, or of Caesar of Rome. Is there any need for us to add to the incredible mythology and extravagant claims of the Mandela mythmaking media?
 
Is Freedom of Speech Still Allowed?
Opposing one evil does not suggest that one supports the alternative evil. I have dedicated 38 years to Missions, serving persecuted Black Christians in Restricted Access Areas throughout Africa, at risk of my life, in some of the most dangerous war zones of Sudan, Rwanda, the Congo, Northern Nigeria, Mozambique, Angola and Zimbabwe.
 
The Great Commission is our Supreme Ambition
If you have been receiving our Frontline Fellowship e-mailings you will notice that most of our articles deal with speaking up for the persecuted Church, proclaiming the Gospel, Missionary concerns, Biblical Worldview issues, Reformation, Revival and contemporary issues.
 
A Call for Courage and Relevance
At this particular time, deluged as we are with Marxist propaganda and Mandela  mythology, a Biblical response is essential. To be silent on such a prominent movement would be dereliction of duty to the Lord. 
 
The Mandela Cult
In recent years, we have been inundated, indeed, deluged with the most extreme marketing of the personality cult of Nelson Mandela. Particularly in the lead up to 18 July, which the UN has declared International Nelson Mandela Day, many believers requested a response from our Mission.
 
The Sin of Silence
It would be hard to imagine that the prophets of the Old Testament, such as Elijah, or Daniel, could have been silent in the face of such blatant idolatry that we are seeing in our time. Nor could we imagine that the Church Fathers, or the Reformers, could have remained silent had they been confronted by such manifestations of the making of a new religion.
 
The Curse of Cowardice
A shepherd must feed his sheep and he must protect them from wolves. Those who, for their own purposes, are seeking to make an icon and idol out of Nelson Mandela and other celebrity cults, need to be exposed and opposed.
 
Worship God Alone
God, our Creator and Eternal Judge is the only One who deserves our worship, praise and adoration. No one is good except God alone. No Christian can, in good conscience, participate in idolatry. Yet we are seeing our schools being instructed by the Ministry of Education to indoctrinate the school children in this personality cult and to participate in the singing of hymns of praise to a politician. Like with the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997, there is a real danger in idolising a human being. We may not offer worship to anyone but our Creator. We need to see the seriousness of the situation. Out of sincere concern for God's honour and for the souls of people who are being led astray, we need to speak up graciously, but firmly, that God alone deserves our worship. 
 
Do You Love Mandela?
Some have asked me: Do you love Mandela and do you pray for him? The answer is:Yes! I do love Nelson Mandela Biblically - in action. Of course, I love our Lord Jesus Christ more.
 
Have You Shown Love in Action to Mandela?
I spent an hour with Nelson Mandela when he was president, discussing with him the Scriptures and challenged him concerning his policies and his personal relationship with the Lord. I also prayed with him. I wrote to him on a number of occasions. To oppose idolatry is a Biblical command. It is not loving to fail to warn of the dangers of idolatry.
 
Do You Hate God?
The Second Commandment is the only Commandment where God implies that those who break it hate him. To worship a false God, to make anything, or anyone, more important than God, to present praise, adoration, or worship, to any other than the Creator and Eternal Judge is the greatest sin of all.
 
The Most Condemned Sin in the Bible
Throughout the Bible commandments and warnings against idolatry are the most repeated of all. There are more denunciations of idolatry than any other sin in the Bible.
 
What Have You Done to Win Africa to Christ?
I have devoted my life to Missions. I have spent most of the last 38 years of my life sharing the Gospel, distributing hundreds-of-thousand of Bibles and millions of Gospel booklets and tracts throughout Africa, energetically seeking to win Africa for Christ. “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10
 
Dr. Peter Hammond​
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Email: mission@frontline.org.za

See also:
Idolatry is the Most Condemned Sin in the Bible
Idols for Destruction
Making Idols of Modern Men and Myths
The Mandela Industry
Mandela – Long Walk to Freedom
Invictus Idolatry
My Meeting with Nelson Mandela Part 1
My Meeting with Nelson Mandela Part 2
Black Lives Matter – A Religious Cult
Resistance to Revolution