Dear Friends Greetings in the precious Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. "Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is also to be feared above all…" 1 Chronicles 16:24-25 The Great Commission is our Supreme Ambition Rev. Allen Baker was our special guest speaker at this year's Great Commission Camp and Course. He made a tremendous impact amongst all of our participants and we thoroughly enjoyed undertaking open-air preaching with him at the Waterfront and outreaches throughout Cape Town. Rev. Allen Baker is a Teaching Evangelist of the Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship. All of our staff agreed that we should invite him to be part of every Great Commission Camp and Course in the future. It is always a joy to meet with such like-minded, dedicated missionaries, zealous for Evangelism, with a comprehensive understanding of fulfilling the Great Commission. When an invitation arrived for me to be a speaker at the upcoming Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship Family Conference at Covenant College, on Lookout Mountain, Georgia, it was clear to me that this was God's timing and July was set for my Mission to America. BA Computer Failure at Heathrow The extraordinary long lines at the British Airways check-in counters in Cape Town alerted me to a serious problem. Soon it was announced that British Airways was suffering a complete computer failure shut-down as they had rolled out their new improved software! My experience at check-in at Cape Town was minor compared to the chaos at London's Heathrow Airport. There I was informed that my flight to the States had been cancelled and there was now an extremely tight connection that gave me barely twenty minutes, after clearing customs and immigration in the US, to run for the next flight, at another terminal. I was not surprised when my luggage failed to arrive at the final destination. Church Planting However, it was good to meet up with Al Baker and begin the tremendous times of worship and ministry which he had lined up for me in Alabama and Georgia. The next morning my first meeting was with the Alabama Church Planting Network, a dedicated group of Evangelists who regularly meet together to strategise and pray for their various church planting initiatives. I was asked to deal with World Missions and successful examples of church planning in Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Sudan and Eastern Europe. That time of discussion and prayer went for over four hours. The Power of Prayer to Change History We were then off to Huntsville, Montgomery to meet with a dedicated pastor and then conduct a home meeting. There I was able to deal with Bringing Down of the Iron Curtain in the 1980'sthrough the Seven Year Jericho Prayer Focus, Revival Prayer and Changing World History Through Prayer. At another home fellowship meeting I dealt with Jesus Christ is Building His Church and the Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail Against It. Radio Interviews and Services During the days I had a number of radio interviews focusing on the persecution of Christians in North Africa and the Middle East by Islamic Jihad and how Christians can intelligently pray and practically help our beleaguered brethren under fire. Al Baker arranged for a number of interviews with other missionary-minded pastors and Evangelists who share our vision. On Sunday I was ministering at two separate congregations in Birmingham and Huntsville, dealing with The Church under Fire and The Greatness of the Great Commission. To Covenant College Then on Monday 25 July (the 23rd Anniversary of the Saint James Massacre in Cape Town) we drove across scenic Alabama into Georgia to Covenant College on Lookout Mountain. There the Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship (PEF) Family Conference was welcoming their guests from as far afield as Great Britain, India, Brazil and Mexico. Paintball Battles Some of the youth were wanting to know if I would be willing to join them for their paintball battles. I immediately told them that they could count me in and accumulated an impressive array of bruises during these war games in the forest. I was more than double the age of the other participants, but perhaps had the unfair advantage of having combat experience in the field. It is quite nice when the worst that can happen to you, as a result of one's recklessness, is a few cuts and bruises! Mobilising Missionaries Each day of the conference began at 6:30am with Revival prayer. I gave presentations on Making Disciples of All Nations, The St. James Massacre, The Challenge of Dr. David Livingstone Todayand Spiritual Stamina. To the youth, I gave presentations on Biblical Principles, Scenarios and Drills for Self-Defense and Evangelism Explosion. Plans Can Change Tuesday afternoon was an interesting example of how one needs to be ready for anything. The PEF Conference delegates were informed that each afternoon was set aside for open-air preaching and Evangelism in downtown Chattanooga. I was looking forward to that when I received a request to give a presentation to the Youth at the same time. No problem, I could re-orientate. Next thing Al Baker informed me that I had a meeting at 2pm. I confirmed that I knew about it. When later he told me who my driver would be, I realised that there was some misunderstanding and asked why I would need a driver to reach another part of the Covenant College campus? He told me that I was meeting with a pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Chattanooga. Alright, I just needed to re-schedule the Youth meeting. When I walked into the Presbyterian Church in downtown Chattanooga and saw a whole group of people assembled before a lectern, with advertisements of the Missionary speaker from Africa in front of them, I realised that I was expected to give a presentation! Ready for Anything As Francis Grim of Hospital Christian Fellowship, under whom I was mentored, often told me: a missionary must be BA and RFA: Born Again and Ready For Anything. Evidently, Al Baker liked to keep me on my toes. I gave a presentation on how I was converted and called and some of what I had witnessed of the persecuted Church in the field, what we can learn from them and how we can best serve the suffering. The question time was dynamic and fast-moving. Before I knew it two hours had passed of productive ministry at this unexpected event. Mobilise to Evangelise Covenant College was an inspiring venue for this tremendous conference. The times of fellowship with colourful characters from all over the world and learning of their intriguing testimonies and vibrant ministries was most uplifting. The Commissioning Service on the final night was very moving and one could only praise God for the Theological depth and wide Missionary vision of the PEF. We concluded with the Hymn: So Send I You. Battle Site in Tennessee No sooner had the PEF Conference concluded then Trey and Lindsay Schultz, who I had last seen at our Great Commission Course in Cape Town, arrived and informed me that they were my transport to Christ the King Church, in Tennessee. As we sought to catch up on some of what had happened in the preceding six months, they thoughtfully stopped off at the battle site and museum overlooking Chattanooga. My father-in-law, the Chairman of the Board of Frontline Fellowship, Rev. Bill Bathman, was brought up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Evidently this was once a strategic battleground during the War Between the States. Summit In Tennessee, Geoffrey Botkin organised and hosted a Summit throughout Friday and Saturday, with participants driving in and flying in from far and wide. At the Summit I was asked to give presentations on Revival in the Bible and in History, How Civilisations Commit Suicide, Steps to Reformation Today, God and Government, The Threat of Global Islam and To Change the World. For the Sunday sermon I expounded on Jeremiah 3: Just How Did we get into this Situation? Each day was full, with discussion times lasting from 8 in the morning until midnight and frequently to 1am or 2am. Burning Questions Some of the burning issues which we discussed were: Common sins of our congregations and priorities for congregational repentance. Where does our country stand in Covenantal Judgement? Threat assessments of what is facing our communities and civilisation globally. Where and how is God working today? Where is the Gospel bearing fruit today? Where and how is evil being manifested without being adequately addressed by the Church? Where is persecution currently the heaviest? Where are our local communities making the most progress in local governments, for de-centralisation, for freedom and justice? How are they doing it? How can we be more effective at discipling the nations? During these open times of discussion we received special live briefings via Skype from Dr. Dallas in Washington, from the Institute for Disaster Management and updates from other guests, including from Great Britain. Sins to Confront and Repent of
From my rough notes taken during this Summit in Tennessee, some of the common sins which we need to address include: Worldliness, materialism, pragmatism, apathy, compromise, cowardice and idolatry. Priorities to Concentrate on Some of the greatest needs in our churches today include: Bible teaching, discernment, examples of excellence from history to inspire faithfulness, perseverance and Biblical boldness. Threats from Within Within the Church there are Christian traitors, character assassins and Judases, backstabbing and undermining the fulfilment of the Great Commission. Threats to Faith and Freedom Some of the greatest threats outside the Church include: communism, secular humanism, Islam and the New World Order. The globalist agenda is one world government, one world economic system and one world interfaith religion. The rise of the GayGB and the Pink Inquisition threaten religious freedom and could be used as a tool to bring about widespread persecution of those Christians who will stand faithfully for the Scriptures. Deceptions and Distractions Lies enslave, but the truth sets free. There are a plethora of false gospels being tolerated, and even promoted, in many churches. The idolatry of statism, accepting the official Hollywood version of WW2 as the good war and justifying the alliance with Stalin's USSR when the Soviet Union was the worst dictatorship and the most severe persecutor of the Church in all of history. The betrayal of 100 million Christians in 15 nations behind the Iron Curtain, through the Yalta Agreement by the Western Allies, has never been honestly addressed and acknowledged by Christians in America and Britain. The idolatry and acceptance of idols of the New World Order, such as Lincoln, Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Martin Luther King and Mandela, needs to be confronted. Idolatry is the most condemned sin in Scripture. Transforming Culture Culture always trumps politics. Although many Evangelicals think that working for the election of a conservative Christian candidate will solve our problems (salvation through politics), the communists invest most of their attention in capturing the culture. The five culture carrying institutions of civilisation are: education, entertainment, news media, religious institutions and political institutions. Of these education is by far the most influential. The philosophy of education in this generation will be the philosophy of government in the next generation. The Greatest Threat The single greatest threat to Christian civilisation has proved to be secular humanist, state-controlled, education. What is often called education today is more accurately indoctrination. Instead of teaching children how to think - critically - all too many schools today are teaching children what to think. Politically correct brain-washing in state schools is at the root of much of the wickedness prevalent throughout our societies today. People vote as they do because of how they have been educated, entertained and informed (or misinformed) by the news media. Our Priority Therefore, our greatest focus needs to be on making disciples of all nations, teaching obedience to all things that the Lord has commanded, comprehensively fulfilling the Great Commission in education, the entertainment industry and through the news media. Strategic Focus Home Education is the single most strategic step any family can take. Just protecting our family from the vile Hollywood poison by throwing out the TV and keeping our children from being indoctrinated by secular humanist state schools is already a tremendous step forward. Providing Bible-based, Christ-centred school textbooks for home educators is most strategic. Supporting and producing alternative God-honouring films, music, books and magazines is vital. Providing alternative sources of information through Desk Top Publishing, the Internet, social media and community Christian radio stations is critical. Recognise the Tactics of the Enemy The enemy is using the tactics of: Confuse, Divide and Conquer and Corrupt and Conquer. We are at war! The Frankfurt School of Communism advocated destroying "all ties to blood, soil, mother, father and religion." They determined that the best way to destroy Christianity was through state education and by promoting sexual deviancy. The promotion of foul language, pornography and perversion are vital tools to invert every practice and tradition of Christianity. To adulterate marriage, break up families, encourage primitivism and encourage the animalistic urges of human depravity. The Enlightenment philosophers Jean Jacque Rossouw and Voltaire prepared the way for the French Revolution through attacking Christian civilisation and promoting the myth of the noble savage. Cultural Poison Jazz, rock, hip-hop, rave and death metal are musical expressions of this war against Christian civilisation. The communist agenda is to bring division between rich and poor, male and female, young and old, black and white, employer and employee, promoting an anti-white, anti-western, anti-male, culture war of racial politics, breaking down every relationship essential for the maintenance of Christian civilisation. Distortion of Art into celebrating ugliness, cruelty and rebellion and the hijacking of schools, universities and the entertainment industry has advanced this destructive agenda to where civilisation itself is at risk. Islamic Invasion The Islamic invasion is one of the tools being used to undermine the demographic integrity of nations, as has already been seen in the once Christian nations of Egypt, Byzantine (now Turkey) and Sudan. Demographics is Destiny To breed the Europeans into extinction is a primary goal of the New World Order. Promoting abortion, sterilisation, heavy taxation, forcing mothers into the workplace in the West, and importing millions of Muslims and other welfare addicts who will swamp the demographically declined West, is a publically stated goal of those advocating the extinction of Christianity in Europe and North America. An Evil Empire Under the Obama administration, the USA has become a threat to freedom, holiness, family and life itself. Bombing countries, invading countries, promoting homosexuality, perversion and transgenderism, internationally. Diplomatic Bullying. Culture Imperialism. Hollywood degeneracy, acid rock, rap, hip hop and death metal, are polluting and perverting the world. In many ways the United States government has now become the focal point of an evil empire, destabilising the Middle East, unleashing radical Islamic movements such as Al-Qaida, ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood to overthrow previously stable nations such as Egypt and Syria, Iraq and Libya, creating tidal waves of human tsunamis, refugees pouring across borders and threatening the very existence of Europe itself. The Failure of Most Churches All of this has happened as a result of the failure of the Church to be salt and light, failing to fulfil the Great Commission, failure to teach obedience to all things that the Lord has commanded, and make disciples of all nations. Defeat and Retreat We need to be aware of the pre-millennial, pre-tribulation, dispensational, Arminian, antinomian, escapism and defeatism, which has enabled leftists to highjack great nations by neutralising, side-lining and making irrelevant and ineffective most men and women in mainline churches. Countries Experiencing Extraordinary Moves of God It is interesting to note that some of the countries where the Gospel is bearing tremendous fruit today include: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. At the Association of Military Christian Fellowship's Global Interaction in 2014, Brazil had, by far, the largest and most dynamic delegation. Church growth in Brazil is exponential. The failure of atheism and triumph of Faith in Russia has been spectacular and today the largest number of born-again, Evangelical Christians in Europe is in Russia. Church growth in India is spectacular as in China. One of the most enduring Revivals in the world today is the Revival amongst the Zulus, centred at KwaSizabantu Mission in South Africa. Biblical Unity We need to enlarge our vision, build Biblical unity amongst those who hold to the Deity of Christ and the inerrancy of Scripture. Resist the Globalists New World Order The BREXIT vote of Great Britain is a tremendous victory for those who love freedom and oppose the New World Order. Steps to Reformation There is a tremendous need for repentance, conviction, contrition, confession and conversion. We need to bring holiness back into the home. A World War of Worldviews Education is the most strategic battlefield in this world war of worldviews. Home Education is the single most important and strategic priority for every family. We need to be aware of division and divisiveness amongst fellow Bible-believing Christians. We also need to beware of paralysis by analysis. Faith needs to lead to action. We have all been indoctrinated and deceived, to a great extent, by the news media, entertainment industry and secular humanist state-controlled schools. Re-evaluate Everything We all need to re-think everything that we have assumed, in the light of Scripture and clear facts. Where our views have been influenced by God-hating, blaspheming Hollywood, we need to go back to primary source documents, eye witnesses and Scripture to ascertain what is real and what is not. Satan is deceiving the nations. Most Christians are distracted and deceived. Counter Attack We need to have a plan, network, get back to door-to-door, personal one-on-one Evangelism. Praise God for Evangelism Explosion of Dr. James Kennedy, Way of the Master of Ray Comfort, Answers in Genesis, The Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter of Ken Ham, Home Education textbook providers, Missions that are on the ground, in the front line, serving the persecuted Church, working for Reformation and praying for Revival worldwide. War on the Womb Some participants pointed out that as far back as 1963 prayer was outlawed from American state schools. In 1973 abortion was legalised in America, every day more babies are killed through abortion in America than Americans died at the hands of Islamic terrorism on the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and Washington fifteen years ago. We need to remind people of the 9/11 that occurs every single day through the abortion holocaust. A Vision of Victory Those who say that there is no hope have given in to an un-Biblical pessimism. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Greater is He Who is in us than he who is in the world. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus Who loved us. Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. The day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We need to seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness. God Judges Nations It is possible that we are living in an age of judgement, when God will bring down the wicked nations that are at this time rejecting God's Law, promoting perversion and murdering babies. We need to take note of what Augustine wrote in The City of God. When the Roman Empire began to fall, many were horrified and saw this as the end of their world. Augustine put things into perspective, pointing out that there are cities that men build and there is a Kingdom which God is building. Men build men's cities and men destroy men's cities. But God is building a Kingdom which can never be destroyed. We must seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and all these things will be added unto us. First things first. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Scenarios That Could Change the World The possibility was also brought up that God could allow an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) nuclear device to knock out the technology on which our modern society so heavily depends. Even a sun spot surge could trigger EMP-like destruction of existing technology. This may not be a bad thing. Technology is not necessarily evil. Technology is neutral. Martin Luther used the printing press to advance the Gospel. We should use technology to advance the Gospel. However, much of technology today is being used for evil. PreparednessThe Swiss Military has a plan of surviving an EMP knocking all telecommunications in Europe. If some rouge state would do that, the Swiss have a plan of de-centralisation, local initiative and preparedness, utilising pre-digital technology to maintain order and protection of their communities. We must do all that we can and we must trust God to do all that we cannot. God will not do our duties. We cannot do God's job! Nehemiah provides a Biblical model of involving all the men to be vigilant, organised, armed and trained. It is essential to plan and prepare for church, community and family protection. Iron Sharpens Iron During the Summit, we were engaged in ongoing, in-depth discussions from breakfast through supper, late into the night and into the early hours of each morning. Some days lasted sixteen hours of intense discussion on these vital matters. Late on Sunday night, the few of us who were still conscious, enjoyed a series of inspiring Hymn renditions played skilfully on harps by Elizabeth and Anna-Sofia Botkin. Return to South Africa All in all I gave over thirty presentations at twelve venues and three radio programmes in two weeks during this Mission to America. I flew back to Cape Town just in time to vote in our local elections. Despite all my travels, I have never missed voting in any South Africa elections since 1978. A mountain of correspondence, dictations and proof reading awaited me at the Mission. Missions in the Mall Shortly after arriving back in Cape Town we were involved with Missions in shopping malls throughout the Cape Peninsula. 83 Volunteers helped us distribute over 6500 tracts, leaflets and Gospel booklets and over 1300 balloons with Scripture messages on them in five shopping malls, for National Women's Day outreaches in South Africa. Every year, since 1995, Africa Christian Action has been organising these Women's Day outreaches. By God's grace we were able lead 59 people through the Way of the Master and Evangelism Explosion questions to confront them with the Law of God and the reality of eternity through our Spiritual Wellbeing Questionnaire. To each of these people we gave a free copy of the New Testament and/or The Biggest Question DVD. Upcoming Events for Prayer We have also had a series of outreaches in schools, on university campuses, and at different communities. One of our missionaries, John, successfully completed a Mission to Egypt. I am heading off on a Mission to Kenya next week. Early this week we sent off another Mission team. We have a series of Home School Expos coming up in three different provinces. Next week we will be conducting another activity in a local shopping mall: Cavendish Square has invited us to conduct a Charity Book Sale for four days in this upmarket shopping mall. "Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights, along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances she cries aloud." Proverbs 1:20-21 To view a PDF of this article as published in the Frontline Newsletter CLICK HERE Thank you for all your prayers, encouragement and support. May God continue to be your joy and strength. Yours for the fulfilment of the Great Commission Dr. Peter Hammond Frontline Fellowship P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725 Cape Town South Africa Tel: 021-689-4480 Email: [email protected] Your support is needed and much appreciated. Our banking details are: (For South African supporters) Acc. Name: Frontline Fellowship First National Bank – Rondebosch Branch code: 201509 Acc. No: 5017 0589 260 Ref: initial and surname and what it is designated for. (For overseas supporters) Acc. Name: Frontline Fellowship First National Bank – Rondebosch Acc. No: 5017 0589 260 Swift No: FIRNZAJJ Ref: initial and surname and what it is designated for.
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