2011 Cape Town Women’s Convention

Whether it’s that beautiful house or the happy family or a forbidden chocolate that’s beckoning your name, the constant craving for something better is a desire well recognized by us all. It’s an absurdity when we see how God has already given us the best gift – His forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ.

Yet, despite the fact that God calls us to be satisfied in Him, not many of us can say with the certain confidence of Paul that:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Philippians 4:12

It’s not surprising then that 962 women gathered together at St James Church in Kenilworth on Saturday, 30 July 2011, to listen to what the Bible has to say on the topic of godly contentment.

Sarie King, a gifted speaker and bible teacher from Australia, spoke at this year’s Cape Town Women’s Convention. Sarie has ministered to women for many years – in the past as Dean of Women at Moore Theological College and later as Director of Women’s Training at Christ Church, St Ives. In three insightful sessions, Sarie spoke to the heart of the issue of contentment, leaving us with a challenge to cultivate contentment in the same manner as Paul of the New Testament and Asaph of the Old.

Choosing contentment when life is smooth sailing and the future looks rosy is easy. It’s not so simple when times are tough, dreams are smashed and disappointment reigns. Yet, God continues to be faithful to us, even when we struggle with the tough stuff. Lauren Douglass and Gail Daniels both shared how they have been learning contentment in the face of deep life struggles. How encouraging to hear women speak of their love and trust in Jesus, despite their circumstances and the very real emotional turmoil they experience. It was also very enlightening to be reminded by Sarie that contentment does not mean denying real emotions of hurt and disappointment. It simply means looking to Christ for our satisfaction and cultivating contentment in our lives by actively seeking holiness in Him, no matter our circumstances.

The joy of knowing that we can be content in Christ was well reflected in the surging crescendo of voices, singing God’s praises together. Each session began with the opportunity to worship God in song, ably led by Glenda de Cooker and the song team and inspired by soloists Lisa Smith and Nicole de Cooker. And sing we did! The neighbours were treated to a beautiful range of musical praise in many languages! From the joyful Xhosa Siyaku-Dumisa to the soulful In die Hemel is die Heer, the roof was raised!

Not only were we encouraged by the teaching of God’s Word and the singing of his praises, but we were also encouraged to spend more time reading the Word and other books that help us better understand God’s Word. To this point, Jenny Inglesby highlighted the Equip Book Club in South Africa Each month a book is selected and sold at cost price by  Christian Book Discounters, allowing for groups to read and share about what they are learning. Chantelle Holmgren shared how joining her local church book club and reading books from the Equip list has revolutionised not only her reading habits, but also her understanding of God’s Word. The benefits of great friendships developing between the members of the book club were also highlighted.

Between sessions, the women were treated to a welcomed tea and a delicious lunch. The beautiful winter sunshine allowed us to spread out all over the St James campus. Many great conversations were shared over our yummy packed lunches of sandwiches, fruit, juice and a couple of extra treats.

The session booklet closed with a quote from Josh Harris – one that was echoed in the heart of many attendees heading home that day:

What you see in your spiritual life today is the direct result of what you’ve put into the soil of your life in day’s past. The difference between the person who grows in holiness, and the one who doesn’t is not a matter of personality, upbringing or gifting, the difference is what each has planted into the soil of his or her heart and soul. So, holiness isn’t a mysterious spiritual state that only an elite few can reach.It is more than an emotion, or a resolution, or an event. Holiness is a harvest.

Taryn Hayes

To view the photographs of the convention head over to: Cape Town Women’s Convention 2011

An event of this magnitude requires loads of careful planning. Many thanks must go to Sarie King for such clear biblical teaching. We also thank the organising committee: Jenny Inglesby, Alison Eloff, Velma Bedderson, Berenice Brown and Karrie Botha, and everyone involved in making the 2011 Cape Town Women’s Convention a day of inspirational learning, sharing and enjoying.

Equip Book Club South Africa has a monthly newsletter that highlights the Book of the Month, along with the discounted sale price. If you would like to receive the monthly newsletter, please sign up here:  Equip Book Club South Africa

From Ancestors to Jesus

Our Brothers over at sydneyanglicans.net took some time to interview our own Bishop Edwin Ngubane about ancestor worship and Gospel Ministry in Johanesburg. You can see the video below.

A new initiative has been launched in Mandela Park to equip people to have a better understanding of the Bible and to train others for ministry.

HOPE TRAINING COURSE, based at Mandela Park Community Church in Khayelitsha, was launched on 9 Febru­ary.

Hope was born out of a vision to see young Christian leaders raised up for the Western Cape and beyond. In this, we are standing on the shoulders of several ministers in this region who have been and remain committed to training.

Hope is currently aimed at men and women who are in the 18–35 age group (although we currently have a 40-year-old onboard) and are thoroughly in­volved in serving in their local church or in a Christian organisation, often in a training role at some level.

We are very grateful to have 13 stu­dents, most of whom are apprentices, nine of whom are from CESA churches. It has been especially encouraging to see a couple of churches identifying and sending apprentices for the first time. Of the remaining four students, three are from Christian organisations based in Khayelitsha, and one is at­tached to a Cape Town student minis­try. We have intentionally set up Hope as an independent ministry in an at­tempt to train others from outside the denomination. We are praying, there­fore, for more and more students from Khayelitsha and the Cape Flats.

With GWC on our doorstep, the need is not for another Bible college, but for a resource that is ‘light on its feet’ in terms of cost, staffing and time commitment from students. Our aim is to provide accessible, affordable and practical training, which not only es­tablishes convictions about the gospel and Word-based ministry, but tools to train others in ministry. Hope has not been founded to replace training and mentoring in the local church, respon­sibilities which remain with the church or Christian organisation leader, but rather to motivate and resource.

The core of the course is concerned with passing on Bible-handling tools, how to interpret different Bible liter­ary genres, and orientating students in the Scriptural narrative via an OT Over­view. We also deal with applying Bible teaching and doctrines to our diverse context, as well as explicit ministry and leadership skills. Each week includes one very hands-on session where stu­dents lead a Bible study or give a Bible talk and receive feedback.

In all our training and fellowship, our prayer is that students will be equipped and inspired with a love for the Bible in such a way that they become passion­ately committed, in a sustainable way, to living it out in their own lives and to teaching it in their specific contexts.

The course is facilitated by Phumezo Masango (Mandela Park), Vuyani Sindo (Holy Trinity) and Chris de Witt (The Message), and assisted by JP Harper (St Paul’s Stellenbosch), with the invalu­able support of their local churches. We meet once a week on a Wednesday from 8.30–2.30pm.

If you are interested in finding out more please drop Chris an email on chrisdewitt@themessage.org.za or call on 072 086 3627.

If you can make it to Khayelitsha on a Wednesday during term time, we’d love you to come and spend a morning with us to experience Hope first hand.

THE “Go Mission” trip to Na­mibia of 2009 was a week away from departure when a couple who had planned to be a part of the team had to withdraw. They were given a gospel opportunity of a dif­ferent kind.

This caused a dilemma for the team. So we were asked to join the team with only four days left. God proved his faithfulness by providing all our needs – we did not even have a passport at the time and we were faced with many other challenges.

As a result we have seen God’s mighty hand at work not only in our lives but in the lives of many who have been a partnering in the gospel in Namibia.

We are humbled by the privilege and the opportunity and are praying that our Heavenly Father would keep us faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that by the power of the Holy Spirit many lives may be changed as we serve Him.

Please pray for:

• Tish Hanekom (CESA Missionary in Namibia). The floods have caused much damage and she is unable to move about with her current vehicle. She desperately needs a 4×4 vehicle that will enable her to go into areas that a normal vehicle cannot.

• The ongoing gospel work in Ovamboland. Pray for the church leadership and for those who have recently become Christians.

Robbie and Michelle Daries have recently committed themselves to serve as coordinators of the Churches for Namibia Mission team.

For any enquiries or if you desire to support gospel work in Namibia, please contact: Robbie 082 772 2644 / Michelle 082 821 8071 or 021 697 2351 (H).

WHEN JESUS celebrated the Passover with His disciples, they would have been shocked to the core when He took the bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat, this is my body given for you”. These words had no place in the Passover feast. He should have said, “This is the bread of affliction, which our ancestors ate when they came from the land of Egypt.” Jesus changes these words in anticipation of His sacrificial death. As the bread was broken, so His body would be broken.

The same can be said of the wine. Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus understands His death to inaugurate and ratify a covenant that would secure the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus reinterprets the Passover, an annual feast celebrating how God de­livered Israel from Egypt, to show that His death would also be an act of deliv­erance – but of far greater proportions. By the ‘breaking’ of His body and the ‘pouring out’ of His blood God would deliver His people from the terrible bondage and consequences of their sin – He would forgive them!

Jesus is the final fulfilment of the Passover – He transcends its original meaning for He Himself is the Passover Lamb. The slaughtered lamb no longer had any part in the meal for its central position had now been taken by the bread and the wine. In the Lord’s Sup­per the bread and wine represent the atoning sacrifice of Christ Jesus as the true Paschal Lamb.

Neither the bread nor the wine con­tain in and of themselves any efficacy. The Lord’s Supper is a proclamation and a remembrance of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and an expecta­tion of the joy of being with Him in His kingdom.

“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” 1 Co 11:26

Further to this, the bread and wine invite us to partake of the great bless­ings of the cross. Jesus said “Take, eat … Take drink”.

The Book of Common Prayer puts it succinctly: Take and eat this in remem­brance that Christ died for you and feed on Him in your heart by faith, with thanksgiving.

Bishop Desmond Inglesby is the Presiding Bishop of the Church of England in South Africa

Blood and Forgiveness

IN A WORLD which is full of violence and bloodshed, it is hardly surprising when people balk at claims such as that made in Hebrews 9:22 that “with­out the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (NIV).

In its immediate context, the verse is, of course, referring to the Old Tes­tament sacrificial system described in particular in the early chapters of Levit­icus, a religious system which to mod­ern ears smacks of barbarism and su­perstition. But the wider context of the chapter as a whole, together with the writer’s use of the present tense ‘…is no forgiveness’, makes it clear that the writer is in fact referring to the death of Jesus Christ who “has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself ” (Hebrews 9:26). Such a claim, even for the Jews who countenanced animal sacrifice as an appropriate part of wor­ship, seems to go much too far. Surely God cannot permit, let alone demand, human sacrifice as the means by which forgiveness is to be obtained?!

Meaning of blood in the Bible

Two things need to be born in mind when one ponders the words of He­brews and seeks to understand the link between bloodshed, forgiveness and Christianity.

First, we must bear in mind the true nature of God and the true condition of humanity. Second, we must come to understand the meaning of blood in the Bible. Let’s look briefly at each of these two points.

The popular understanding of God may be summed up by the idiom: To err is human, to forgive is divine. Whatever the original intention of the saying, its popular application expresses the pre­vailing notion that it is God’s duty to forgive… and to do so easily, and auto­matically. The reason we think like this about God and forgiveness, is because we tend to associate God only with goodness and love and not with holi­ness and justice.

Evil offends                                                   

Such a view is of course quite unten­able if we think about it more deeply. If we as sinful human beings are offended by evil and injustice – especially if we fall victim to it – how can we expect God who is holy, not to be? And yet we talk as if God has no moral standards, no sense of right and wrong. The truth of the matter is that if God is neither holy nor just, then we have no basis for holiness, righteousness and justice in our world.

The Bible as a whole, and Hebrews 9 in particular, makes it clear, however, that God is indeed Holy and separated from sin. God’s eyes are ‘too pure to look on evil’ (Hab 1:13) and He ‘cannot tolerate wrong’ (Is 59:1). Four times in Hebrews 9 we read of the ‘Most Holy Place’ (9:3,8,12,25). This is a reference to a part of the Tabernacle which was the symbol of God’s dwelling among the ancient Israelites.

The ‘Most Holy Place’ was separated from the rest of the Tabernacle by a screen, indicating God’s own holiness of person and of character and his sep­aration from all that is evil or imperfect.

Holy reaction to evil

In his book The Cross of Christ, John Stott writes: “Closely related to God’s holiness is his wrath, which is in fact his holy reaction to evil. God’s anger is ab­solutely pure and uncontaminated by those elements which render human anger sinful. Our anger tends to be a spasmodic outburst, aroused by pique and seeking revenge; God’s is a contin­uous, settled antagonism, aroused only by evil, and expressed in its condemna­tion.”

Failure to recognise the reality of God’s holiness will inevitably mean fail­ure to see the necessity that something drastic needs to happen if we as sinful human beings are to be acceptable to God, and enabled to be in a relation­ship with Him.

We minimize our sin

The second mistake which we humans make, is aptly summed up in the first part of the idiom. If we err at all, it is in viewing our misdemeanors with re­spect to each other and with respect to God merely as error, rather than as sin. In addition to having a low view of God’s holiness, we have a low view of our own sinfulness as human beings. We are, of course, quick to condemn serious acts such as murder or rape or child abuse, but we fail to take seriously Jesus’ own references to the evil which resides in all our hearts (Mark 7:14-23). And we fail to recognise that even good deeds done for the wrong motives are themselves unacceptable to the Holy God who searches our hearts.

Radical act of salvation

And thus we fail once more to see why God can’t just accept us as we are or with a gentle slap on the wrist or even a stern warning. Hebrews 9, however, shows us that sin is a real problem for every human being and that our sins, even those committed in ignorance (9:7) separate us from the God who is holy. Both our sins and our sinfulness make us liable to death and judgment (9:27) and thus we are faced with the necessity for a radical act of salvation if we are to be saved.

It is precisely this radical act of salva­tion that Hebrews 9 has in mind when it says that “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people” (9:28) or that “…he has died as a ran­som to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant” (9:15). What is being spoken about here in language reminiscent of Isaiah 53, is the death of Jesus in the place of sinful human beings.

Rev Dr Mervyn Eloff is rector of St James Church, Kenilworth

Celebrating the Christ of Christmas

For many of us, we have grown up celebrating Christmas without giving much thought to why we celebrate Christmas. We have a variety of celebrations and traditions but we don’t really know why we started doing them other than ‘because it’s the way we’ve always done it.’ Furthermore we are heavily influenced by our emotions – so Christmas has become a great family time and the focus has been placed on ‘just being together’. The other major factor that has shaped our traditions around Christmas is our society. We go into shopping malls and chat with friends and we buy into into the lights, the kids picking a tree and decorating it, making the most of the specials at the shops, cooking great food and attempting to do all the ‘Christmasy’ things on offer.

The question that doesn’t seem to occupy our thoughts is: ‘What is the real meaning behind Christmas? Why do we celebrate this holiday? Of course straight away you will say ‘Jesus’ and that you would never miss church on Christmas day and that you make sure that your children know it’s all about Jesus. But if I were to ask your child about Christmas, what would it be that excites them? What is it that will come to mind and bubble out of them?

The Purpose of Christmas

It’s not that the kids that have a wrong perception of Christmas, it’s us as parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles that have set up certain expectations and certain traditions that our children will grow up to love, cherish and pass on. We need to think very carefully about this observe and celebrate Christmas and the traditions we pass on to the next generation. What is it that we are teaching our children, through our actions, words, the way we set up our homes, the way we spend our money and time over this season. What message are we teaching our children and is it the message that we really want them to be left with come December 26th? Or have we too been caught up in the festivities and have lost out on the true joy of this season.

The question we need to ask first is what is the purpose of Christmas?

We would all be quick to answer that it’s about Jesus and when he was born. However that’s about the full extent of Jesus in our Christmas thinking and planning. We try to make sure that at this time of year we are kind and generous and we remember people in need. Although these things are good and do have their place they are not what Christmas is all about.

The Most Special Birth

So our starting point is that Christmas is all about the birth of Jesus. Our minds should straight away be thinking why was this birth so special, why has the birth of this baby caused such a stir throughout history. The bible says “But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21) The bible tells us that the reason Jesus was born in a stable, in Bethlehem, on earth was so that He may, in years to come, die on the cross. To save people from the punishment that their sins deserved. The great celebration that took place on that first Christmas is what ought to characterize our celebrations. But what was the excitement all about? The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” The great truth of Christmas is that God entered our world in the person of Jesus so that we could have our sins forgiven and by trusting in Jesus Christ alone, have the hope of heaven one day. Is this what our children are getting excited about. Is this what we are celebrating each year?

Keeping Christ the Centre of our Celebrations

It is so easy to get sucked into the celebrations that our society have made us think are important at this season: family, gifts, food, and decorations, fun, Santa, Christmas trees, Christmas carols. As much fun as all these things are, they are not the meaning behind this celebration.

For those of us that are wanting to raise our children to know and love the Lord Jesus, this is a time of year that we can’t afford to get wrong. We need to be careful that we don’t make it hard for our children to grow up knowing the real meaning of this occasion. The danger of this season is to think we can incorporate both, but the line is very fine and too often Jesus is not the centre of our celebrations, he barely even features.

“But at the deeper level that young children can’t comprehend yet, he is not like God at all. For example, does Santa really care if we’re bad or good? Think of the most awful kid you can remember. Did he or she ever not get gifts from Santa? What about Santa’s spying and then rewarding you if you’re good enough? That’s not the way God operates. He gave us his gift—his Son—even though we weren’t good at all. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He gave his gift to us to make us  good, not because we had proved ourselves good enough. Helping our children understand God as much as they’re able at whatever age they are is our primary goal.”  Noel Piper

So what are we supposed to do? Just sit around reading the Bible? Squash all the fun that comes with the holidays, and not be involved in any of the festivities? Absolutely not. The challenge for us is to find ways, creative and fun ways, of making Christmas a great tradition in each of our homes. We need to think of and put into practice visible activities and reminders that will fill our houses as we celebrate the amazing gift that God has given us in Jesus Christ.

Jeanine Palacio

Southern Cross Church

An Evening with Noel Piper in Cape Town

A couple of times a year suppers or “dessert and coffee evenings” are arranged for the Cape CESA Ministers’ wives and the full time employed women in ministry. It is usually a great time to “catch up with one another” and to be encouraged by the teaching from God’s Word.

We were treated to a very special supper on Tuesday 19th October when our guest speaker was Noel Piper. Her 15 year old daughter, Talitha and Cindi Walsh, the wife of one of the Directors of the Desiring God Ministries, accompanied her.

Noel shared candidly about her family and ministry, and after a delicious supper she spoke to us on “Treasuring God in our everyday traditions”. We had the opportunity to ask some questions after her talk, and we all went away greatly encouraged and challenged as Christian women to be creative in finding ways to intentionally incorporate what we believe about God and His Word into our everyday routines.

These evenings provide much needed fellowship and teaching and unite us as CESA Women in Ministry in the Cape.

Synod 2010 Elects New Presiding Bishop

At the Annual Synod of the Church of England in South Africa, held at St. James’ Church, Kenilworth in Cape Town, the Rt. Rev. Desmond Inglesby was on Friday 10 September 2010 elected Presiding Bishop. He takes over from Bishop Frank Retief who is retiring.

Bishop Inglesby was born and raised in Cape Town and matriculated from Westerford High School

After studying at the Bible Institute of South Africa in Kalk Bay he entered the ministry of the Church of England in South Africa. After serving his curacy he was asked to plant a new Church in Tokai and served there for twenty five years. He was consecrated a bishop on 2 December 2004 and has served as Cape Area Bishop since then.

He is married to Jenny and they have three daughters and 3 grandchildren.

A Word from the Presiding Bishop

I have been thinking much about what we call “evangelistic” preaching in our churches. I think most of us use this terminology to refer to a sermon that is specifically aimed at people who are not Christians with the vague hope they may be converted. It seems to me that for many people the aim of an evange­listic service has been blunted by sever­al factors, which sometimes discourag­es them. Here are some of the factors that may influence our thinking.

Firstly, the same people often re­spond in such a service, which usually doesn’t attract too many people in the first place. This makes us question its value. The people who respond may be weak or problem people – or occasion­ally someone we know is a bright and committed Christian.

Secondly, in the normal course of our Gospel work, we see conversions take place anyway so what is the point of an evangelistic service? Isn’t it better to keep us consistently doing what we are doing and reaping the results?

Thirdly, some people have been so discouraged with evangelistic endea­vours that they do not even attempt them anymore. They expect nothing to happen and so nothing does. Some­times a defeatist attitude is prevalent because nothing organised ever seems to go well.

There are also other problems asso­ciated with evangelistic events. It seems to me, as someone who travels around doing evangelistic preaching, that often church leaders do not really expect any­thing to happen and are therefore of­ten unprepared for any consequences to evangelistic sermons. For instance, I personally expect people to respond to the Gospel presentation, but often have to contend with the fact that the church to which I have been invited has no cards or papers available for names to be taken, nor are there pencils – or even any give-away booklets. I have al­ways maintained that names collected after an evangelistic event are a great pastoral treasure for the minister who has eyes to see.

God’s Greater Purposes

When an evangelistic sermon is faith­fully preached in the power of the Holy Spirit a number of things may happen and they are not always connected to conversion. Of course, one hopes that true conversions will indeed take place, and thank God they often do, which is the point of evangelistic events in the first place. But as the Good News is pro­claimed other things happen as well. Who are these people who sometimes hand in their names to indicate they have responded to the sermon?

1. Some may be true and faithful Christians who simply feel stirred by what they have heard. They may have given in their names not be­cause they are in any special need, but rather as a way of saying, “Yes, I agree with all that. I support it, I be­lieve it with all my heart – here is my name.” It may be nothing more than an affirmation of what has been heard.

2. Others may have been reminded of long forgotten sins and be sud­denly troubled and unsure of them­selves.

3. Some may feel they have not re­ally made the great commitment after all.

4. Others may be stirred out of a personal or cultural or habitual “Christianity”. They may have been in church for years without being saved, but now suddenly the penny has dropped.

5. Yet others may become over­whelmed by the huge personal problems they face. They may have been struggling for a long time, but now the proclamation of a Saviour brings to the surface all the ugliness of their lives.

The point is not to lose confidence in the simple proclamation of the basic fundamentals of the Good News on a regular basis. The Holy Spirit is pres­ent when the Word is preached. Who knows what His purposes and plans are for an evangelistic meeting and the people who attend? While we are look­ing for new converts He may be using the occasion to revive cold and dead hearts or long forgotten Gospel memo­ries or preparing some of God’s people to finally bring to resolution old and long-standing problems.

Continue to Preach the Gospel

All our churches should, without fail, continue in evangelistic activities, which should always be contextually relevant. They should expect things to happen. But if the expectations are only going to be one-dimensional, there may be disappointment and frus­tration. Rather see each response as a new pastoral opportunity either to af­firm or clarify the Gospel for some pur­pose. Never despise a single name that comes in. Contact them, pray for them and speak to them. Not only may some weak brother or sister be helped, but some hardened sinner hiding behind his religious mask may suddenly come into a brand new saving faith.

God will not give up His divine pa­tience until the last of His elect are saved and we should not give up our evangelistic enthusiasm so long as we remain either in ministry or as a wit­nessing member of a local church.

Bp Frank Retief