The Fifth Chosen Generation Missions Conference 2012

It is that time of the year again, when Joy to the World Ministries organizes missions conference with speakers from all over the world. This year’s conference begins on Wednesday, July 4 and ends on Sunday, July 8, 2012 and under the theme: “Give Us Our Daily Bread”

God has been gracious to me and I will be one of the speakers to this conference. I have been given two sessions. In the first session I have been asked to speak on the topic: “The Sufficiency of God’s Provision Through His Word” taken from Deuteronomy 8:1-20 while “The Sufficiency of God Provision Through His Church” taken from Acts 4:32-37 will be the next topic I will tackle in my second session.

Others speakers to this conference are: Rev. Fletcher Matandika, Founder of Joy to the World Ministries, Dr. Charles Morris, Dr. David Reimer and Rev. Stephen Roberts from USA, Mr. Hussen Latif, Mr. Elliot Khembo and Mr. Joseph Matandika from Malawi.

I pray that you will join and remember me in your prayers and not only me but also all the speakers to this year’s conference. Most of the attendants to the conference are usually students from various colleges and secondary schools in Malawi.

Let’s pray that there will be faithful proclamation of God’s Word and that God in His grace will use the conference to teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteous all the attendees as well as the speakers.

Also join me and pray for those who will come to the conference but have not received the True Bread of Life, Jesus Christ in their lives. Let’s pray that if it pleases Him, God will use the conference through the work of the Holy Spirit to reach out to these friends.

For more details about the conference please visit this link: 2012_Chosen_Generation_Conference_Bulletin-A4

Indeed, All men are like grass and their glory like the flowers of the field. The grass withers, the flowers fall but the Word of God shall stand forever. Amen!

Soli Deo Gloria! To God alone be the glory forever and ever!

The Church Should Embrace Gays?

Recently, some people including some Christians have urged the Church in Malawi to embrace and tolerate gays. Even some church leaders have also added their voice to this call. Of course, in most cases this call has remained hazy to me in the sense that these people have not come out very clear on what they really mean by ‘the Church should embrace and tolerate gays’. Do they mean that the Church should extend the love of Christ to gays or that the Church should condone homosexuality and lesbianism under its roof?

If by ‘embracing gays’ they mean the former, then I don’t have any problem with that. Actually, that’s what the Church is there for namely to love the sinner and lead them to Christ the Savior who alone is able save from sin. Christ already made this clear. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest,” he calls in Matthew 11:28. Christ also says “I have come to seek and save the lost.” So, if by saying that church should embrace gays they mean leading them to Christ the Savior then this is already the core objective of the Church.

However, if by ‘embracing and tolerating gays’ they mean that the Church should welcome gays as they are and let them continue to practice homosexuality and lesbianism in Church, then I have a big problem with that. In fact, it is not really about me having a big problem with it, but Scripture has a big problem with it. Throughout Scripture, we find that the Church ought to be a haven where a sinner can run to for salvation but not a roof under which sin flourishes. Some examples in scripture come to mind right now.

First, in John 8:1-11, we read a story of a woman caught in adultery. Some scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus the woman and asked Christ to affirm the punishment of death by stoning. However, Jesus wisely protected the woman and later told her to go and sin no more. This is what Scripture says: “Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (10, 11).

Jesus did not only tell the woman to go but also ordered her to sin no more. I believe that this is what the Church should do. The Church should not condemn gays just like Christ never condemned the woman caught in adultery; however, the Church should not just stop there. It should go further and help gays, thorough the saving power of Christ, to go and sin no more. The gays should also be willing to forsake their sin by the grace of Christ. If they, deliberately, refuse to go and sin no more, then they should not be in Church.

If one, willfully, refuses to allow Christ help them forsake their sin, then they should not be allowed in Church because to borrow the words of St. Augustine, “If Christ is not the Lord of all, He is not the Lord at all.” You cannot say that Jesus is your Lord yet you, intentionally, refuse to obey him in some areas of your life.

Secondly, the word of God in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 warns the church of tolerating someone who says they are Christian but they openly and willfully live in sexual immorality. The Scripture goes further to tell us not to allow such people to come and fellowship in church. The word of God in this passage is very clear and it needs no further commentary.

“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people – not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of the brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler – not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you.’” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13 – Underlining added)

Thirdly, the word of God does not leave Christians in the dark in regard to how we should treat those who are living in sin like gays. It clearly tells us:

“But you beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh,” (Jude 20-23).

God tells us to continue building ourselves in our faith by his grace and mercy. He then tells us that we should have mercy on those who live in sin, in this case, gays. And while showing them mercy, we should hate their sin and not tolerate it.

Homosexuality or lesbianism just like any other sin breaks the heart of God. God sent his beloved Son, Jesus Christ to the world to keep all the commandments of God on our behalf, pay the penalty of our sin on our behalf and completely defeat and destroy sin so that when we believe in him we should no longer live under the slavery of sin.

Therefore, if the Church allows sin to flourish under its roof yet the head of the Church, Jesus Christ came to destroy sin then the work of Christ is rendered useless. In the process, the Church loses its saltines and light. In the end, the Church is no longer a beacon of hope for those in darkness and are heavy laden with sin but just any other club where one can go and come back week after week while remaining enslaved to sin. That’s a pathetic ‘church’ which I pray that I should never belong to.

Africa the Hope of Christianity???

I remember while in Bible college, my Church History and Systematic Theology professors (both of them from the West) used to reiterate that Africa is the hope of Christianity. The Church History professor could go further and foretell that a time is coming when missionaries from Africa will go and evangelize the West reversing the trend of having Western missionaries coming to evangelize Africa.

Their observation was mainly based on what is happening in Africa where more people are being converted to Christianity unlike in the West where Christianity is not growing very much and in some parts it is slowly dwindling into oblivion.

All along I have believed my professors’ observation but now I have started having second thoughts because the main issue is not just having many Africans becoming Christians but what type of “Christians” are these people becoming. Indeed, Christianity is growing in Africa but what type of ‘Christianity’ (if I may use that word) is growing roots among us Africans.

I stand to be corrected, Christianity in Africa stands at the crossroads today because despite that we have some people who are preaching the Gospel as given to us in Scripture, there are also others who are advancing Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy. It is sad that many Africans, knowingly or unknowingly, are buying into Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy as pure Gospel.

But what do I mean by Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy. Allow me to use the word ‘Biblical Christianity’ to define better Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy. Biblical Christianity recognizes and teaches that the Bible is God’s Word. But Liberalism teaches that the Bible is man’s word about God. In other words, the Bible is not God’s word. Neo-Orthodoxy, on the other hand, teaches that the Bible is God’s Word only in the passages that speaks to you the rest is man’s word.

Now, on first glance, many of us would dismiss the fact that liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy are growing roots among some Christians in Africa but when you take a closer look, you will be greatly surprised.

Is it not in our churches today where people can stand up and say something like: “Well, the Bible says … but that was then, things have changed let’s do it this way.”

Again I ask: Is it not in our churches where statements like: “I know the Bible says… but I have received a new and special revelation, God wants us to do….” are made?

Don’t we have some people within our churches who stand in authority over God’s Word and we tend to believe what they say and teach more than Scripture?

I can go on and on; however, the truth I am endeavoring to put across is that if we keep on compromising on Biblical Christianity and let Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy rule in our churches then we should forget of Africa being the hope of Christianity. If Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy have killed and continue to kill Christianity in the West, should we believe that they will revive and grow Christianity in Africa?

The number of conversions to Christianity should not deceive us and cause us to take our eyes off the ball. We need to be sure of what type of Christianity these people are being converted to. If it is not Biblical Christianity then Africa cannot be the hope of Christianity and we will never see African missionaries going to evangelize the West. What message will they take there?

I always pray that God in His greatness and grace will open the eyes of Christian leaders in Africa to see and realize how evil and destructive Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy are. It is my prayer that God in His mercy and grace will raise Christian leaders who do not shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God. I pray for leaders who pay careful attention to themselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers, to care for the church of God (Acts 20:27, 28). If this can happen, then, for sure, Africa is the hope of Christianity.

Please Lord, help and bless Africa to contended for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). In that way, we will become the beacon of hope. All this to your glory alone. Amen!

It’s by Grace throughout but…

Last week, I posted on this blog an article entitled, “It’s by Grace Throughout” in which we discussed that we do not only need God’s grace for us to be saved (justified) but also for us to be transformed and become more like Christ (sanctification).

However, although it is true that sanctification also is by grace, there is a need to highlight that we need to cooperate with God for him to make us more and more like Christ. In other words, in justification God, single handedly, declares us righteous basing on the righteousness of Christ while in sanctification, God through the Holy Spirit works hand in hand with us so that we become like Christ.

For instance, one of the things we need to do to be more like Christ is to study God’s Word frequently and live it. So, God will give us the desire to study the Bible but it will take us to really study the Word. God will never open the Bible and force us to read it. We have to play our role of reading.

Now, one might ask that if we are to cooperate with God in sanctification, where is grace then? Philippians 2:12 has the answer: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

For us to obey God, it is God, himself, who enables to do so. God knows that on our own, we can’t obey him hence he works in us that we should obey him. This is grace, is it not?

That statement scared me (Biblical Eldership)

This other evening I was sitting in a forum which I shall leave unnamed. The main discussion of the round-table was the ordination of women to be elders of a church and the main question posed to the meeting was: “Is ordaining women to be elders of a church biblical?

There were about seventy of us discussing and only two of us including myself argued basing on Scripture that it is unbiblical for women to be ordained elders or even pastors. But I should confess, it was not easy to courageously stand for the biblical truth in an environment where many were against this view. For first time, I understood better how Jesus felt with the great opposition he faced, especially from the Pharisees and other teachers of the law, when he taught the truth. By this I don’t mean to compare myself to my beautiful Savior; rather, what I want to put across is that: Friends, it is more challenging to stand up for the truth when the majority opposes it, but thank God he grants the grace.

Any way, back to the story. As I stood to present the biblical view on the issue, I began quoting Scripture, then, one church leader cut me and said, “Don’t quote Scripture. Everyone understands Scripture in their own way and if you do that we won’t reach any agreement.”

Men! That statement scared me. I could feel the hair on my head rising in fear. I could not believe it, especially, coming from a leader of a church. I responded, “If, we don’t use the Scripture to discuss this issue what authority are we going to ascribe to. The authority of man? Our views and ideas? Lord, have mercy!

“As Christians, don’t we have the Bible as our final rule of faith and life?” I thought to myself. Doesn’t God’s Word tell us: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Any way, I have already highlighted that I am convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that Scripture teaches that only Christian men should be elders of a church. You, definitely, are asking me to back up my stand with Scripture and I will definitely do that. So, here we go.

First, let’s look at the qualification of an elder as given by God himself in his Word in 1Timothy 3:1-4 and Titus 1:5-9. In these two passages an elder is being referred to using the pronoun “He.” Is this by accident? I don’t believe so. In the same passages, an elder is supposed to be “A husband of one wife.” Again, is this phrase accidental? Why is God not telling us “A husband of one wife or a wife of one husband?” Have you ever though about it?

So, an elder is being referred to with a pronoun “He” and is supposed to be a “A husband of one wife.” Now, if I say that basing on this pronoun and phrase, God is telling us that an elder must be a man will I be reading too much into the passage? Certainly not!

Secondly, if I open my Bible which is God’s inerrant and holy Word, I don’t find a single woman who held the position of an elder. Is this just by chance? I choose to not to believe it that way.

Thirdly, when we talk about an elder, we are talking about the leadership of the church. Now, I would love us to learn from the early Church and see if women were given leadership roles like being an elder in the church. Let’s begin with the Founder of the New Testament Church, Jesus Christ who is also the Head of the Church (all believers come together).

When Christ assembled the first ever leadership of His Church, he chose the twelve apostles (all men) and he ( a man as well) was the main leader. Did Jesus communicate any message by this? I believe so. He was establishing the norm for the Church to follow when it comes to the leadership of the church. And you can see this throughout the New Testament. The Apostles got the message of Christ right.

But someone may object and say: “Jesus being a Jew and also because of his Jewish culture, he was forced to choose only men because his culture valued men more than women.” You must be kidding. That’s not the Jesus I know and read in Scripture. Do you really believe that Jesus (fully man and fully God) could be forced to do ‘a wrong’ thing because of desiring to please his culture? Sincerely, is that the picture of Jesus you get when you read your Bible?

Jesus challenged his culture in so many ways and he was not afraid to look different when it came to truth. For instance, Rabbis (teachers of law) could not speak to women in public but Jesus could speak to women in public (John 4:1-45) and he even had Mary Magdalene as on of his followers. Jesus could also boldly rebuke the Pharisees and teachers of the law for misleading people and he once called them “blind guides” (Matthew 23:16) and “children of the devil” (John 8:44).

With this clear manifestation of boldness, do you really believe that Jesus chose only men to be leaders of the Church because he wanted to please his culture? Allow me to borrow the words of Alexander Strauch to emphasize my point.

“Some…say that Jesus’ maleness and choice of male apostles doesn’t mean anything theologically. They say that such choices were necessary because the first-century Jewish culture didn’t allow women to preach and lead. So Jesus had to concede to the standards of society.

What an insult to Jesus! The Jesus of the Gospels was absolutely courageous. He was unafraid to give new, radical teaching to His tradition-bound culture. Jesus didn’t give in to sinful culture or let women down at this critical moment in history…Jesus gave His Church male leadership. His male gender and his deliberate choice of twelve male apostles was based on Genesis 2, God’s original creation design for the sexes” (Men and Women Equal Yet Different, Lewis and Roth Publishers ©1999, page 29).

I can go on and on to present the backing for my stand; however, let me stop here for now. I am open and ready for further discussion on the topic if you, my dear reader, would love so.

But before I wrap up let me highlight this important truth. The fact that God’s will for his Church is that it should be led by Christian men does not mean that women are unequal to men. Neither does it mean that women are of second class. Anyone who advocates this teaching is not biblical in their view.

According to Scripture, men and women are equal (Genesis 1:27; Galatians 3:28); nevertheless, men and women have different roles. God in his sovereignty and wisdom has chosen to give the leadership role of the home and Church to Christian men. Again, this does not imply that men are better than women. God forbid!