Issue 1 August 2013 Page 4
A Publication of Gospel Commission
A Publication of Gospel Commission
Issue 1 August 2013 Page 5
- Mkululi Balani
“Heaven came down our souls to meet” during that never-to-be-forgotten weekend (May 6th – 8th 2011) when the Southern Suburbs District One - Adventist men held their inaugural camp. The guest speakers were Dr Papu (Ministerial Director, Southern Africa - Indian Ocean Division) and Elder Madida. The two servants of God preached their hearts out throughout the weekend - dealing very intelligently, knowledgeably and deeply spiritually with important issues affecting men. Probably the standout element of the presentations and sermons had to do with the Gospel Commission and the chronic question of meeting the need for more labourers in the LORD’s vineyard. The men, without distinction of age or colour left the camp feeling they had indeed been fed on heavenly manna and rose with a deeper love and stronger determination to do and dare all for the Master. The look-back exercise of the camp revealed that a lot more need to be done for the cause of Christ in Mission. To that end, a diverse and gifted team of sold out followers of Christ men and women of God from various Seventhday Adventist Churches was formed; charged with the responsibility of organizing high quality training programs for members of local churches - which aims to equip them to preach, to teach, to serve and to be actively involved in the Gospel Commission. The team became known as Gospel Commission and developed into a supporting ministry of the Seventh-day Church with structures in Cape Town and Johannesburg. The main object of Gospel Commission is to support the Seventh-Day Adventist Mission, which is to make disciples of all people, communicating the everlasting gospel in the context of the three angels' messages of Revelation 14:6-12, leading them to accept Jesus as personal Saviour and unite with His remnant Church, discipling them to serve Him as Lord and preparing them for His soon return?
The Birth of Gospel Commission
Pastor Thula Nkosi on Contagious Adventism
- Sithembile Moyo On the 15th of March in what was a preamble to Gospel Commission's Contagious Adventism Seminar, Pastor Thula Nkosi presented a sermon entitled 'The Contemporary Imperative of Contagious Adventism’. I have always enjoyed listening to Pastor Nkosi's messages. They are not only informative and factual but they always hit home. What I took home with me this particular evening was a reminder of my true purpose and a renewed sense of urgency for the spread of the gospel message. I have freedom of worship and can lead a victorious Christian life today because of God's demonstration of sacrificial love through His son Jesus and also because of those who heeded Jesus' call to Contagious Christianity and courageously shared the gospel in the face of skepticism, unbelief and hostility, to heathen nations far and wide. Indeed Jesus' disciples’ efforts to bring light to people whose lives were overcast by sin's dark shadow, hopelessness and paganism did not go unrivaled. As they went about their evangelical work, challenging deeplyengrained customs and traditions, the threat of death was very real…. Peter was ultimately crucified upside down by Roman executors, Thomas was speared to death in India, Paul was beheaded under Nero in Rome, Mark was stoned, tied to horses and dragged through the streets of Egypt. Images too gruesome to imagine, but as Pastor said, "Men do not die for stories they contrive". Jesus’ life was no fable. Coming back to present reality in a seemingly placid world of 'relative truth', political and religious correctness , we are ever so careful not to step on each other's toes, to the extent where someone else’s genuine need for attention or guidance goes unnoticed; “ to each his own” we say. Quoting Richard Nixon in his 1969 inaugural address, Pastor added, “ we find ourselves rich in goods, but ragged in spirit, reaching with magnificent precision to the moon, but falling into the raucous discord on earth…to a crisis of the spirit we need an answer of the spirit." The devil is still at his game of blurring the truth into greyness. His strategy of deceiving mankind is the exact same one he used on Eve on that fateful day in the Garden of Eden. He leads whoever will listen to him, into questioning and doubting the word of God. Contagious Adventism is therefore as imperative today as it was in earlier centuries. We cannot just relax and let the devil have his way with the children of God.
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“We find ourselves rich in goods, but ragged in spirit, reaching with magnificent precision to the moon but falling into the raucous discord on earth…to a crisis of the spirit we need and answer of the spirit”