PO Box 23632 Claremont 7735 Cape Town South Africa
2017 Edition 4 T: 021 689 4481
F: 021 685 5884
info@christianaction.org.za
www.christianaction.org.za
Resist Attempts to Hijack Home Education “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” Silence is construed as consent. “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”
Threat to Our Children
The outrageous Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (The BELA Bill) is potentially the most dangerous threat to parental authority and responsibility for educating their children ever devised in South Africa. The Department of Basic Education is proposing an Amendment Bill which would strip School Governing Bodies of many of their most important powers, enabling political appointee bureaucrats to overrule parents and School Governing Bodies on language of instruction, teaching appointments and pupil admissions.
War Against the Children
Home education parents who do not register their children could face prosecution. All education service providers would need to be accredited by a state agency such as SAQA and Umalusi! The fact that most state schools are “dysfunctional” by their own admission, does not seem to concern the drafters of this draconian BELA Bill, who now propose to greatly increase costs for all parents
and even for taxpayers who do not have children of school-going age, with crushing, intrusive interference and onerous requirements. The proposed BELA Bill would require parents to pay for state assessors to evaluate your child, every year, at your own cost!
Time-Wasting Interference
It is outrageous that South Africa’s 2,500 private schools have already Continued on page 4
The Five SOLAS of the REFORMATION The Solas that Shattered the Darkness
Post Tenebras Lux! After darkness… light! The Protestant Reformation launched by Professor Martin Luther 500 years ago in Wittenberg, was encapsulated in the Five Sola battle cries: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand in the ways and see and ask for the old paths, where the good way is and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls…’” Jeremiah 6:16
Sola Scriptura!
Scripture alone is our ultimate authority. All authority is limited authority. All authority is delegated by God and is answerable to Him. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Scripture is the truth that sets us free. God’s Word is sharper than any double-edged sword. It is the Sword of the Spirit. God’s Word is our milk and meat. It is our daily bread. It is spiritual seed. It never Continued on page 2
Continued from page 1 The Five SOLAS of the REFORMATION
returns void. It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It is the solid rock foundation which can enable us to endure the storms and floods of life. It is a hammer that breaks the rocks in pieces. It is a fire that burns within our hearts. “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth.” John 17:17
Treasure
The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of Salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are Holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true and its decisions are immutable. Read the Bible to be wise. Believe it to be saved. Practise it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, spiritual food to sustain you, comfort to encourage you.
Essential
The Bible is the traveller’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword and the Christian’s charter. Here paradise is restored, Heaven opened, the gates of hell defeated.
The Greatest Book
The Bible is the greatest Book ever written. It is the most widely read Book in the world. It is the most translated Book in all of history. It has continued to be the number one bestselling Book in all of history. It is the most valuable Book in the world. The Bible is the most inspiring Book in all of history and it is the most important Book ever written. There is no question that the Bible is the most life changing Book ever written. “…But the Word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Fountain of Blessings
The Bible has inspired the greatest literature, the greatest art, the greatest achievements of architecture (the cathedrals), the age of exploration, world missions, the rule of law, the separation of powers, checks and balances, representative government, the sanctity of life and so much more. “…my heart stands in awe of Your Word.” Psalm 119:161
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Reformation 500 Day Service at the Huguenot Monument, Franschhoek Solid Foundation
It is to the Bible that we owe the legacy of the rule of law, Lex Rex, compassion, charity, liberty and justice. The Bible is the chief moral cause and inspiration of everything that is good in this world and the best corrective of all that is evil in society. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16
Infallible
The Bible is the only infallible Guide for everyday life. It is the source of all wise laws and it is a living power that conquers all who oppose it. “To the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20
Captive to the Word of God
No wonder Professor Martin Luther could declare: “Unless I am convinced by Scripture, or by clear reasoning, that I am in error, for popes and councils have often erred and contradicted themselves. I cannot recant for I am subject to the Scriptures I have quoted. My conscience is captive to the Word of God…”
Back to the Bible
Truth conquers. We need to go back to the Bible. “These were more fairminded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11
“Holding fast the faithful Word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.” Titus 1:9 “The entrance of Your Words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” Psalm 119:130
Sola Gracia!
“For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 One of the first questions Dr. James Kennedy asked me: “What comes first: Repentance or Regeneration?” My answer was: “Regeneration!” “Ah!” he said, “You must be a Calvinist!” God saves sinners. God alone. His mercy, His undeserved favour, is what saves sinners. Faith is the gift of God – lest any man boast. There is no room for pride. I did not chose God. He chose me. I did not find God. God was never lost! He found me. I was lost, dead in my trespasses and sins. By God’s grace and mercy, He regenerated me by His sovereign will. From this work of grace, repentance and faith came into my life. Regeneration precedes repentance and faith. Salvation is all of God.
Amazing Grace
“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.” GRACE can be seen to stand for: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
“Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever.” 1 Peter 1:23
Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6
Sola Fide!
“On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
We contribute nothing to our Salvation – except the sin that made it necessary. “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling.” Our righteousness is as filthy rags. We have a great debt owing to our God which we can never repay. Justification is received by faith alone. FAITH can be seen to stand for: Forsaking All I Trust Him. “Upon a life I did not live, Upon a death I did not die, Another’s life, another’s death, I trust my whole eternity.”
Solus Christus!
The Solid Rock
In Christ Alone
“In Christ alone, no guilt in life, no fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me. Till on that Cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on Him was laid, Here in the death of Christ I live.”
Soli Deo Gloria!
Everything must be done to the glory of God alone. “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your Name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth.” Psalm 115:1
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’.” John 14:6
Our greatest priority is to love God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind and with all of our strength. True love is measured by sacrifice. We are to fear God alone. We are to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. His Great Commission must be our supreme ambition. We fear God alone. Our motivation is the glory and honour of God alone. For this reason we do not applaud sermons or worship songs during church services. The chief end of man is to worship God and to glorify Him forever.
“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ
Every one Rand coin in South Africa is inscribed with these words: Soli
Christ alone is the Head of the Church. Christ is the only Mediator between God and man. We are lost. Jesus is the Way. We are deceived. Jesus is the Truth. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. Jesus is the Life. He does not just know the way, He is the Way. He does not just teach the truth, He is the Truth. He does not just have life, Jesus is the Life.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
Deo Gloria. Every Rand we spend should be to the Glory of God alone. “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 “To God be the glory, great things He hath done, so loved He the world that He gave us His Son.” Bible-Based and Christ-Centered These Five Solas which emerged from the Reformation, encapsulate the Theological convictions of the Reformers about the essentials of Christianity. These battle cries sought to call Christians back to the original Message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the early Church. They challenge our motivations and call us to be Bible-based, Christ-centered, faithful and grateful, as we boldly stand for Christ, fight the good fight of Faith and seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Is your conscience captive to the Word of God? Are you building your life on the solid rock foundation of the Word of God? “…blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:28 Dr. Peter Hammond www.LivingstoneFellowship.co.za To listen to this message as presented at the Reformation 500 Celebration service, 31 October 2017, at the Huguenot Monument in Franschhoek, South Africa, find our Sermon.Audio link on www.FrontlineMissionSA.org website.
Sola Scriptura!
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Continued from page 1 – Resist Attempts to Hijack Home Education
been increasingly harassed with timewasting and expensive accreditation, teaching and facilities assessments from the Department of Education and that Bible Colleges that neither wanted, nor needed, accreditation with SAQA have had to pay tens-ofthousands of Rands to SAQA to have their certificates and diplomas not approved! Many Bible Colleges and Mission Colleges have been ordered to shut down for not complying with state instructions and ever-changing requirements.
Violations of Constitution
The Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and freedom of association. These freedoms are violated by the intrusive, time-consuming and money-wasting demands of SAQA, Umalusi and now by the proposed BELA Bill. These proposed laws are unnecessary, unworkable and unconstitutional.
Unnecessary, Unworkable and Unconstitutional
It is essential that parents and tax payers remind government that their primary responsibilities are to curb crime, deal with pollution, clean up litter, stop deforestation and eradicate arson, all of which is leading to catastrophic drought and critical water shortages, affecting us all.
Civil Servants Should Serve
Politicians should be reminded that they are meant to be civil servants, protecting citizens and taxpayers, not harassing and complicating our lives with evermore intrusive, expensive and unworkable red tape!
Wide Gates to Hell
“I am much afraid that schools will prove to be wide gates to hell, unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youths. I would advise no
one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution which men are not constantly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.” - Martin Luther “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1 www.ChristianAction.org.za
Outrage over BELA Bill The battle lines are drawn and a fight all the way to the Constitutional Court is expected if the proposed amendment to the Basic Education Act is enacted. More than 100,000 South Africans have objected to new proposals which will affect school governing bodies in the country. Trade union Solidarity handed in over almost 100,000 objections to the bill, while over 76,000 people objected through the website Go Petition. “We are totally bowled over by the reaction,” said Paul Colditz of the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas).
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“There has never been so much resistance to any proposed education legislative amendment since the Schools Act was promulgated in 1996,” he said.
The Homeschooling Defence League, the Pestallozi Trust, who asked homeschooling parents to copy them on all submissions, received over 1 000 submissions.
Keep Going!
Even though the official deadline has passed: you can still send in your submission to Adv Rudman: rudman.d@dbe.gov.za. Bcc a copy to: homeschoolfreedom1996@gmail.com, this will allow the Pestalozzi Trust to keep track of the submissions. Before the Bill is discussed in Parliament, the education Parliamentary Portfolio Committee should also give opportunities for oral submissions. 85% of state schools are dysfunctional
REFORMING BIBLE SCHOOLS and SEMINARIES
The need for thoroughly Biblical and practical training for ministers and missionaries is essential. The Seven Tombstones of Theological Seminaries have been identified as:
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Academic intellectual knowledge is given a higher priority than character transformation skills.
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The highest priority of lecturers is to impress academic colleagues and not to form, mould and shape students to be men of God and effective pastors.
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Excellence is assessed merely on academic terms and learning through field experience is not integrated.
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Lecturers have no vision of the Church as God’s primary instrument for transformation of society by fulfilling the Great Commission.
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where false doctrines produce envy, strife, suspicion, arrogance, pride, ignorance, an unhealthy interest in controversies and a greed for gain. The consumer minded generation and mad rush for secular accreditation has led to an obsession with accreditation criteria and slavery to government policies.
Man-Centered Theology
While we have phenomenal numerical church growth, there has been a superficial impact of Christianity on our societies in Africa. Most Theological students are not mature believers and most will never be effective pastors. We should not call the trained. We should train the called. Too many enter college not because of any call, or commitment to ministry, but to climb the academic ladder with cheap subsidized education for a Diploma and better career prospects. We must ensure that students are called before accepting them.
The Geneva Academy Model
Following the Reformation, Geneva Academy and the Scottish models
of Theological Education were effective partnerships between local sending congregations and Theological Seminaries. The lecturers were full-time pastors who lectured part-time at the Academy. The local churches supported the students who were assigned congregational responsibilities and fully integrated into the practical and spiritual work needing to be done in local congregations and outreaches. This well-rounded in-service training and practical hands-on Theological education produced experienced and dynamic pastors and missionaries, obviously far more effective than our present emphasis on academics alone. The Geneva Academy mentored students, sent them out and assigned them congregational responsibilities and work in hospitals, schools and prisons. Local church support and apprenticeships went together with covenantal accountability. Ministry context was the heartbeat of Theological Training with many reading, writing and preaching assignments.
Curriculum is determined by secular accreditation agencies. Forming of character and skills are marginalised in training.
Theological education is being priced out of the market and made unaffordable.
The Downward Spiral of Bad Leadership
1 Timothy 6:3-11 lays out the downward spiral of bad leadership
“Praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18 www.WilliamCareyBI.com
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Back to the Bible Christian Civilisation is Under Attack
As we celebrate 500 years of the Reformation and consider laying solid foundations for the next 500 years, it is painfully evident that Christian civilisation is under attack from all sides: Socialism and social engineering, gender politics and race politics, abortion and euthanasia, Islamic Jihad and the Pink Inquisition, liberalism, Judaizers, feminism, antinomianism, egalitarianism and a host of other isms, deception in the media, degeneracy in arts and entertainment, unBiblical practices and beliefs in the churches and so much more confront us and demand a bold and Biblical response.
A World War of Worldviews
There is a battle for the family, a battle for the mind and a war against the children. There clearly is a concerted war against free speech, a battle over history and ultimately a war against God Himself. Far more than the survival of our nations is at stake. We are witnessing concerted attempts to erode and destroy the very foundations of Christian civilisation itself. This is a fight for life and for Faith, for freedom and for our future.
Ignore History at Your Peril
Yet, all too many Christians are responding with a yawn. “My people are not interested in history!” commented one pastor. My response was: “Well that is exactly why your churches are in such catastrophic decline, your youth are being paganised and your society is being invaded and swamped by radical Islam and flooded with blasphemous pagan filth from Hollywood.”
Edinburgh 1910 When Christians Ruled the World The curse of compromise and cowardice is a major cause for the catastrophic decline of Christian influence in society today. The first world Missions Conference in Edinburgh, in 1910, anticipated the imminent fulfilment of the Great Commission. In 1910 Christian nations ruled virtually the whole world. With the exception of China, Japan and the Ottoman Empire, the globe was dominated by Christian powers. Either Protestant, as in the case of Great Britain, Germany and the United States, Roman Catholic, as in the case of the AustrianHungarian, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Empires, or Orthodox, as in the case of the Russian Empire.
Anticipating the Fulfilment of the Great Commission
Evaluating the Greatest Century of Missions, the 19th Century, the first world Missions Conference in 1910 anticipated the extinction of all false religions by 1960. They predicted that every tribe and nation would have been thoroughly evangelised and discipled by 1960. They were anticipaing the fulfilment of the Great Commission and the beginning of the Biblical Millenium on earth – before the end of the 20th Century.
The Curse of Compromise and Cowardice
To Build a Better Future
Considering the spectacular advances that had been made in world Missions througout the 19th Century, that was not an unreasonable projection. No one in 1910 could have anticipated the wholesale abandonment of entire nations to communism, to false religions and to heathenism.
Worth Less Than a Barkless Dog
Nor would any have predicted that the church would retreat from victory to such an extent that many would be questioning the existance of the devil, or hell, or reinterpreting marriage to include that which God, in the Bible, condemns as perversion and an abomination.
Most of the Bible is history. Those who have not learned the lessons of history will be doomed to repeating its mistakes. Anyone who is interested in making a better future needs to study the lessons of history. Reformer John Calvin said that even a dog will bark when he recognises danger for his owner. John Calvin then pointed out that a pastor who fails to preach against sin and warn against evil is worth less than a barkless dog.
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T H E W OR L D I N 1 9 1 4
Derailed into the Worst Century of Persecution
How was the Greatest Century of Missions derailed into the worst century of persecution? More Christians were martyred for the Faith in the 20th Century than in all previous 19 centuries combined. The missionary leaders who gathered in Edinburgh in 1910, would never have believed that, in less than a century, Europe would have become mostly secular and that the countries that at that time were being evangelised, civilised and discipled, would, in so many cases, have returned to such pagan savagery and Islamic Jihad.
Manipulated into Self-Destruction
What no-one at the 1910 Missions Conference in Edinburgh could have envisaged was the devastating impact of two world wars on the heartland of the church and on the missionary sending bases of Europe. Instead of continuing to disciple the world, Christians in Europe allowed themselves to be manipulated into devastating one anothers countries by sinister freemasons and banksters who bank rolled the rise of the Soviet Union.
Seek First the Kingdom of God
It is absolutely essential that Christians learn the lessons of history and return to the Bible, rediscover our purpose as God’s
people, to really focus on the fulfilment of the Great Commission, to make disciples of all nations, teaching obedience to all things that the Lord has commanded. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Our purpose on earth is to fulfil the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith.� Hebrews 12:1-2 Dr. Peter Hammond
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FAITH IN ACTION
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L IF E C HAIN
2017
“Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.” Proverbs 24:11
“To sing a God-honouring Hymn once, is to pray twice.”
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Battlefield
Belgium
Waterloo, Ypres & Passchendaele
Lionel Roosemont of Frontline Tours, has, for over a decade, been giving personalised tours of battle sites throughout Belgium and sometimes France.
Remembering Great Battles
Lionel’s Frontline Tours have been so much in demand during the 100 year anniversaries of various battles throughout Belgium that he has been unable to accept many of the requests from relatives wanting to have personalised tours of the battle sites where their grandfather, or great grandfather, fought.
Ypres
Lionel points out that Ypres is one of the bloodiest battle fields in the world. Almost as many soldiers died in an area not bigger than 70m square, than in the whole US war between the States spread over half of North America. In four pitched battles surrounding Ypres, more than a half a million soldiers perished in WWI. The battle fields around Ypres saw the launch of modern trench warfare, the first use of poison gas, flame throwers, tanks and the battle of the mines, where Welsh miners sought to tunnel deep underneath German trenches and concrete pill boxes to set off some of the largest explosions to that date.
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The Fight for Life
When Lionel is not giving guided tours through these battle fields, he is involved in another war: The fight for life. Belgium has some of the worst abortion and euthanasia laws in the world. For over 20 years, Lionel and his wife, Renate, have been in the forefront of the Pro-life campaign to expose and oppose threats to life and liberty. Since their daughter, Tikvoh was born, severely deformed, great pressure has been brought to bear on them by the authorities to hand her over for euthanasia. Every year, thousands of patients are euthanised, often without even the request of the patient, or relatives.
someone and a one-month waiting period for patients with depression, it has become the law of the land to even ignore those so-called safeguards. Researchers have found that in the majority of cases in Belgium, euthanasia takes place without even a written patient’s directive.
A Culture of Death
Marc Cosyns, a physician who teaches Ethics at Ghent University, reported in a Belgium Medical Journal that he has put to death a woman suffering from dementia, with only her verbal consent. He has not been charged. As the Roosemont’s observe: “Since the law was voted a dark blanket has descended upon Belgium and it is suffocating Euthanasia in Belgium its people. The whole atmosphere is For many decades Belgium has completely changed.” In this culture of legalised abortion. In 2002, euthanasia death it is not unusual for passers-by to was also legalised in Belgium. Yet, ask the Roosemont’s why they have not even the so-called “safeguards” euthanised their daughter! stating that a patient must have “constant and unbearable physical or “Keep yourself far from a false psychological pain” and “must give matter; do not kill the innocent and written consent before” being put to righteous. For I will not justify the death, the requirement for a third wicked.” Exodus 23:7 doctors’ opinion before euthanising
Reformation 500 — Back to the Bible
Back to the Bible Conference
On Monday, 30 October, we hosted the Reformation 500 Back to the Bible Conference at the historic Dutch Reformed Church in scenic Franschhoek. Participants travelled from far and wide, including Rev. Joel Saint of the Mid-Atlantic Reformation Society in the USA. Tourists from Europe and Asia spontaneously joined different presentations. Francis conducted a parallel Children’s Programme in the church hall, including screening the new animated Torchlighters film on Martin Luther. Our Reformation 500 Conference concluded with the screening of the classic 1953 Martin Luther film. The Reformation 500 Franschhoek Declaration was
discussed, adapted and endorsed by the participants of the Back to the Bible Conference.
Reformation Celebration
On Reformation 500 Day, 31 October, a large crowd, including some foreign tourists, gathered at the Huguenot Museum for a guided tour. This has become a regular feature of our Reformation Days over the last 10 years, with increasingly larger support from home educators. This was followed with the Reformation 500 Celebration service at the Huguenot Monument at 12 noon. Rozanne Visagie led the congregation in singing Amazing Grace and Dr. Peter Hammond presented The Five Solas of the Reformation. The service concluded
with enthusiastic singing of A Mighty Fortress is Our God, the battle hymn of the Reformation. After a picnic lunch at the Monument, awards were handed out to winners of the Reformation 500 Art and Essay Competition. Lectures of the conference and the sermon on Reformation 500 Day have been uploaded onto our Sermon Audio and Soundcloud pages linked on www.FrontlineMissionSA.org. You will be able to see some of the photographs and Art contributions on our Reformation500 Facebook page. The Reformation 500 Franschhoek Declaration can be read on www.ChristianAction.org.za
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The Reformation 500 Franschhoek Declaration
The participants and representatives gathered at the Reformation 500 Conference held in the historic Dutch Reformed Church in Franschhoek, on the 30th Day of October in the year of our Lord, 2017, reaffirm our faith, trust, loyalty, love and commitment to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
The Five Solas
At this historic time, we reaffirm the great principles of the Protestant Reformation: Christ alone is the Head of the Church. Scripture alone is our ultimate authority. Salvation is by the grace of God alone. Justification is received by faith alone. Everything is to be done to the glory of God alone.
Firm Foundations
We reaffirm our commitment to the historic, traditional Christian Faith as expressed in the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed and the Great Confessions of the Church: The Heidelberg Confession, The Synod of Dort, The Westminster Confession of Faith and The London Confession of Faith of 1689.
The Authority, Sufficiency and Inerrancy of Scripture
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” 2 Timothy 3:16. Scripture possesses authority because it is the Word of God and God Himself has bestowed authority to His revealed Word. The sufficiency of Scripture is the
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adequate Biblical Revelation of God to His people at every stage of redemptive history. Right now, believers have the complete Revelation which is sufficient for salvation, trust, obedience, and righteousness (2 Tim. 3:15-17; Ps. 119:1). In affirming the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, we affirm that the Bible is the plenary, verbal infallible and inerrant Word of God. We are persuaded that to deny the inerrancy of Scripture is to set aside the witness of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit and to refuse that submission to the claims of God’s own Word which marks true Christian Faith.
Facing the Threats
As a conference, we have discussed the serious threats to religious freedom, the attacks on the family, the basic building block of society, the undermining of traditional, Biblical marriage and undermining of freedom of conscience. There is no doubt that we are involved in a world war of worldviews, a cultural war, a clash of civilisations. In this battle for the mind, battle for the heart and battle for the family, it is vital that Christians stand firm on the rock of God’s Word and turn the tide against immorality, injustice, corruption, pornography, perversion, idolatry and abortion. Much of Christian civilisation has been hijacked and many millions of Christians are suffering oppression and violent persecution, especially in Muslim and communist states in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
True Freedom
Freedom must include the liberty to obey God, the freedom to know God’s Will
and to do it. Freedom is much more than a right, it is a duty and responsibility. We are warned in Scripture to be aware of those who promise freedom, but are themselves slaves of corruption (2 Peter 2:19). We recognise that The Ten Commandments are God’s perfect Law of Liberty. Adherence to God’s Law protects freedom of worship, freedom of speech, the sanctity of life, the sanctity of the family, private ownership of property, truth, reputation and freedom of conscience. “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statues of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” Psalm 19:7
Recognising the Challenges
We recognise that we are facing a resurgent paganism, a pervasive humanism and an aggressive secular agenda, which threatens freedom of conscience, freedom of worship, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of expression.
Religious Freedom
Religious liberty must include the freedom to proclaim the God of the Bible to be the only true and living God and to objectively point out errors in other religions. “Jesus answered: ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6
Freedom Under Fire
Freedom needs respect for life and property and respect for divergent opinions and convictions. The South African government’s Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights
of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) Report on the “Commercialisation” of Religion which proposes the licencing of all Religions practitioners and regulation of churches through state - prescribed umbrella bodies is unnecessary, unworkable and unconstitutional. Similarly, the so-called Hate Speech Bill threatens to undermine freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of conscience and freedom of expression. Religious freedom is a fruit of the Reformation. We will, by prayer and action, resist all attempts to limit religious freedom and freedom of conscience.
Mobilising Christians in Evangelism It is shameful that so few Christians regularly share the Gospel with unbelievers and are thereby disobeying Christ’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:1820). Every church should be mobilising their members in daily witnessing and involvement in regular outreaches.
The Biblical Duty of Parents to Train their Children to Love God and His Creatures The recent ruling (19 October) in the Gauteng High Court that it is illegal for parents to spank their children is a direct violation of a parent’s Biblical duty to lovingly discipline their children.
Educational Freedom
Religious freedom must include freedom for parents to educate and discipline their children according to the Bible, whether in public schools, independent or church schools, or home schooling (Ephesians 6:4; Deuteronomy 6:1-7; Matthew 28:18-20; Colossians 2:8). No state may lawfully interfere with how parents raise their children, or how churches and independent schools educate their children. Children are not made in the image of the state, but in the image of God and are entrusted to parents to bring up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
by this judgement into removing the public reading and teaching of the Bible or the sharing of their Christian convictions during school assemblies, classes or any other school events.
Government Interference and Financial Burden on Private Schools and Bible Colleges
The Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill – requiring that all homeschoolers register with government, and that their curriculum must conform to the government CAPS curriculum, is state interference in the religious and educational freedom of parents and is an unnecessary, financial burden and timewasting requirement. The Constitution of South Africa already recognises the rights of parents to home educate their children. Therefore, this Amendment Bill is in violation of the Constitution. We praise God that Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) won their recent court case (October 2017) against the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) who had declared the ACE matric qualification invalid. All Christians should reject and resist government interference with religious and educational freedom and the unnecessary financial burden placed upon private schools, home education curriculum providers and Bible Colleges to be accredited by government authorities.
Biblical Worldview of Education We affirm that the Bible provides the only adequate and coherent worldview and foundation for all philosophy, ethics, law, government, science, the arts and education and that Christian parents are obligated by God to guide and educate
their children to think, decide, feel and act in all areas of life according to the worldview presented in the Bible. We may not righteously allow our children to be indoctrinated in worldviews which oppose the Biblical worldview. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. We have the right to disagree with the spirit of the age. We affirm that God has given parents custody, jurisdiction and authority over their children, as stewards to raise them as servants of Christ, to seek to discern their calling and to train, discipline and educate them in the Biblical worldview. Parents may not rightfully yield their jurisdiction or authority to the civil government. We deny that, Biblically, the civil government has ownership, jurisdiction or authority over children, or that the civil government has authority to usurp the stewardship to raise and educate children entrusted by God to the parents. We further deny that the civil government or the church may interfere with a parent’s education of their children except in some matters of abandonment, or criminal justice, or may impose requirements, standards or methods for training, educating or disciplining their children. Therefore, we note that it is only right and in the best interests of the child, that parents must be allocated educational vouchers to finance the educational option of the parents.
Sanctity of Life
We affirm that the infinite, personal, Triune God of the Bible created man in His image; and because all humans bear the image of God, God forbids murder.
The recent OGOD vs 6 schools case (28 August) that ruled that no government school may brand themselves as a Christian school is a violation of the freedom of the governing bodies of those schools to determine the religious ethos of that school. Parents should be able to decide the religious ethos of the school through the School Governing Body, which has mostly been the case up until now. Christians should not be intimidated
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Since man is the image of God, each life is of inestimable value from conception to death. The killing of over 1.4 million pre-born babies by abortion, often with taxpayer’s money, is an abomination in the sight of our Creator and Eternal Judge. We urge every Christian to educate and enlist, and to motivate and mobilise others in the Fight for Life. Recent attempts to legalise euthanasia through the courts are also a violation of the sanctity of life and should be resisted.
Homosexuality
We affirm that Scripture describes homosexuality, in thought, desire or behaviour, as sin. We deny that a practicing homosexual may be a pastor, a teacher, or hold any other office of service in Christ’s Church, or be a communicate member.
Biblical Marriage
We affirm that marriage is a loving partnership between one man and one woman, for life. We deny that same-sex couples may enter into holy matrimony in the eyes of God. No one has the right to re-define an ordinance of the Church and to require churches to accept the re-defining of marriage to include what the Bible condemns as perversion and an abomination.
Freedom From Exploitation
Those who condemn human trafficking should also condemn pornography which is propaganda for a rape culture. Indeed, pornography markets and creates the demand for prostitution and human trafficking. Pornography is the theory, rape is the practise. No civilised country can tolerate the exploitation of women’s bodies for profit through pornography and prostitution. “For you, brethren, have
been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’” Galatians 5:13-14
Long-Term Solutions to Crime, Chaos & Corruption All civil law should be based on God’s Law (the Ten Commandments) and Biblical principles for civil government. Churches need to disciple their congregations in a comprehensive Biblical Worldview that includes these principles. Practical longterm solutions to South Africa’s political chaos and constant conflict should include the decentralisation of municipalities – restoring the civil governance of municipalities into the hands of ratepayers and homeowners who built up those communities. Referendums on important issues, term limitations and a system of recall for those in political office, could go a long way to reducing corruption and energising the involvement and voice of ordinary citizens in political issues that affect them. Municipal police should be trained from among and accountable to the communities that they serve.
Preventing and Fighting Crime
The reformation of the family would go a long way to preventing crime. We affirm that the state is God’s minister of justice. (Romans 13: 1-7) Restitution is to be paid by the criminal to the victim of the crime. The death penalty should be reinstated for murderers and rapists.
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Rejecting Evil
It is not acceptable to justify evil in the name of freedom. There should be no freedom for blasphemy, perversion, sodomy, cruelty to animals, rape, child abuse, human trafficking, pornography, prostitution, euthanasia, or abortion. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1
Foundational Truths
As a conference, we endorse and recommend for further study, the Coalition on Revival Reformation FIRE documents, including, The Authority of Scripture, The 42 Essential Articles of a Christian Worldview; A Manifesto for the Christian Church; 25 Articles on the Kingdom of God and 95 Theses for Reformation Today.
For Reformation and Revival
We must give our highest priority to loving, worshiping, serving, obeying and honouring God. We must seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) and His righteousness, fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) and the Cultural Mandate (Genesis 1:20-31). We call on all who love the Lord Jesus Christ to, by God’s grace, resolutely work for Biblical Reformation and to earnestly pray for a Holy Spirit-empowered Revival. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus, for all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21
*Free Booklet Coalition on Revival Reformation 500 Manual with every Subscription to Christian Action, or renewal. *Subscribers pay R60 per year (only R5 per month!) and this will cover the printing and postage costs of 4 issues a year. Overseas subscribers $20. USA subscribers please send to Frontline Fellowship USA PO Box 728, Manitou Springs, CO 80829 (E-mail: info@frontlinefellowship.net) Other overseas subscribers send to Christian Action in South Africa. Supporters pay R120 (only R10 per month!) and not only cover direct costs, but very importantly contribute to the research, writing and action expenses. Each supporter will receive a free copy of Agenda 2 DVD and regular updates by email. Partners pay R1200 or more (only R100 per month!) and enable us to expand the action we take, address more issues, make more resources available, become better equipped and staffed and make a greater difference. Each Partner will receive a free Audio MP3 and DVD Boxset of Reformation 500 plus a complimentary copy of The Greatest Century of Reformation (288 pages, 200 pictures).
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