Newsletters
August 2010
P O Box 587, Sea Point 8060, RSA; Tel 021-510-6854; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
August 2010
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AFTER THE WORLD CUP
The Soccer World Championships were a great success. Overseas visitors were impressed with the organising ability and charmed by the friendly spirit of the South African people, and they entered into the exuberant mood of Africa. The football fans had come from 32 countries and from every continent of the globe. The eight matches played in Cape Town alone, attracted 1,6 million people who watched at the stadium, the fan fest, fan walk, and fan parties. Christians, too, turned out in great numbers, locals and foreigners, to evangelise the crowds with hundreds of thousands of tracts and Gospel booklets, New Testaments, Bibles, children’s books and DVDs in various languages. They addressed subjects such as “Shattered Hopes” and “Broken Dreams” and asked: “Where will you spend eternity?” pointing readers to “the Greatest Man who ever lived,” who is “Christ risen indeed.” Even the children received special care. Because of the extra-long winter school holidays, a great number of local churches ran holiday clubs, and some sportsmen held football clinics for boys in the townships.Every South African (indeed every African) was pleased and proud to hospitably welcome the football tourists, if only with a smile, kind word, laughter or helpfulness. Countless visitors were enriched by the Christian spirit of many of the locals. Indeed, one of the ‘German’ footballers, the Brazilian Cacau, declared that he, too, read his Bible both in Portuguese and German, and that it gave him strength, joy and confidence. He said: “In the Western world we have a false concept of contentment and happiness. We think a new cell-phone, a beautiful house with a sauna – that is happiness. But life is very much more than that. As a child (living in poverty) it was a joy for me to make do with what we had.”
Renewed Calls for Nationalisation
For 6 weeks all previous tension, caused by the ongoing farm murders, were forgotten. Even Julius Malema, the leader of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), stopped singing his revolutionary songs. But as soon as the games were over, the ANCYL again clamoured for the nationalisation of farms and mines. They want to “encourage the ruling party to copy Zimbabwe’s land reform programme.” They said, “Many people are misreading what happened in Zimbabwe. There was nothing fundamentally wrong with their land reform programme.” 1) This thinking, of course, is in line with the Communist Freedom Charter of 1955, which reads: “The mineral wealth beneath the soil… shall be transferred to the ownership of the people… The land shall be re-divided amongst those who work it…” However, the case of Zimbabwe (and other Communist countries) has shown that what is meant by the “people” is not the African ‘peasants,’ but the leaders of the party. In South Africa, too, the leaders of the party are enriching themselves. Many prominent ANC members have become very wealthy. On 14.5.2010 the Cape Times asked about Julius Malema: “How did a young man of 29 with very little education amass a fortune which is reputed to be around R53 million?” 2)The answer, at least in part, comes from Dr Erich Leistner: “At the expense of the common good, the ANC are exhausting their energies in struggles for influence and positions. There is an unbridled thirst for self-enrichment at all levels – from the top down to the last party functionary - and a lack of ethical values such as a sense of responsibility, of duty, industry, self-examination and modesty…” The party, he says, “deems it more important that officials have black (not even brown) skins, than that they should be able to cope with their tasks. In this spirit, public administration has been totally ruined, except for some bright spots in the money, bank and tax sector… The disastrous conditions at parastatals such as Eskom, SA Airways, Transnet, SABC and Denel and the huge amounts which their mismanagement has cost the tax payer – c. R243 billion in the past four years – are the inevitable results of having allocated jobs according to political and racial considerations.” 2)
“Thou shalt not steal.”
Margaret Thatcher once said: “The trouble with Socialism is, sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.” In other words, one cannot steal for ever. The collapse of Communism and the poverty of Eastern Europe bears witness to that. So does the disastrous situation in Zimbabwe.
The Eighth Commandment, “Thou shalt not steal,” does not only apply to individuals. It also applies to corporations and governments. The commandment forbids all kinds of theft - socialism, communism, inflation, affirmative action, tenderpreneurship, and other stealing, whether of time, money, wages, measures, weights or quality – whether of land, liberty or ideas. For the Lord intends man to exercise dominion in the earth, and men can only do this when they own assets which allow them to work for the extension of His Kingdom. This dominion mandate should be exercised for God’s glory and be fulfilled in the spirit of the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said: “Go and make disciples of all nations…,” teaching them in word and deed “to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
Now that the Soccer World Championships are over, many people are again unemployed. The economist Mike Schüssler says, that there are 12,9 million people (out of a total of c. 50 million) who have jobs and 5 million who pay tax in South Africa. But even more people, namely 13,6 million, receive welfare support, in addition to free water, electricity, rent and medical services. Poverty is a real problem, even among large numbers of Whites. According to Die Afrikaner, an estimated 800.000 Whites are living below the breadline. Many, often displaced by ‘affirmative action,’ are even living in squatter camps. In and around Pretoria there are more than 80 such White camps whose existence is almost unknown to the outside world. 4) Though White South Africans pay most of the country’s taxes, state relief for them is meagre. Even Churches and businesses give their good gifts almost exclusively to non-Whites. 5)
The Eighth Commandment
The Shorter Westminster Catechism asks: “What is required in the eighth commandment?” And the answer is: “The eighth commandment requireth the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others.” - Again it asks: “What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?” And the answer is: “The eighth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doeth or may unjustly hinder our own or our neighbour’s wealth or outward estate.”“If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you,” says Leviticus 25:35, “help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so that he can continue to live among you.” And Jesus, our Lord, adds: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40) -
But does it profit a country to impoverish its most productive class of people? It used to be said that every White man, by his enterprise and labour, was creating jobs for 10 Black men. If that is true, then the 800.000 Whites now living in poverty may well be a reason for the loss of millions of Black jobs.
In South Africa the great question after the Soccer World Cup is: “What will be the lasting benefits of the Championships?” Let us hope that it may be a new respect and a real concern for one another. God has graciously answered the prayers which were offered up to Him before and during the world cup. Let us then commit ourselves anew to Him, continue to pray and do good to our fellow man.
May God bless you richly,
D. Scarborough
Gospel Defence League
P. O. Box 587 Sea Point 8060
Cape Town South Africa
Tel/Fax: 021-510-6854
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Footnotes:
- Sunday Times, 18.7.2010, Nationalisation: on ANC’s Agenda.
- Cape Times, 14.5.2010, Behind Julius Malema’s façade of buffoonery lies a clever, calculating mind.
- Dr Erich Leistner, former head of the Africa Institute, Südafrikas heutige politische Situation, Lecture to the South African-German Cultural Association (SADK), Pretoria, 25.2.2010.
- Die Afrikaner, 9-15 July, Meer mense op welsyn as wat werk.
- White sqatters are mostly helped by the Doulos Armoedebedienung, the labour union Solidarity, and Noodhulp 2000. (cf. Die Afrikaner, Posbus 1888, Pretoria 0001, Tel 012-335-8523, Fax 012-335-8518. See also die Afrikaner, 7-13 August, 2009, Ekonomiese Volkskongres?
A Contemporary Testimony of the Christian Reformed Church, USA, 1986
Drafted in view of the secularisation of modern life and culture.THE FALL
- Early in human history our first parents listened to the intruder’s voice. 1 Rather than living by the Creator’s word of life, they fell for Satan’s lie and sinned! They forgot their place; they tried to be like God. But as sinners they feared the nearness of God and hid from him.
- Genesis 3 - “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden? … You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil...’ She took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband… Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised they were naked… and they hid from the LORD God among the trees… So the LORDGod banished them from the Garden of Eden… and placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”
- Apart from grace 1 we prove each day that we are guilty sinners. Fallen in that first sin, we fail to thank God, we break his laws, we ignore our tasks. Looking for life without God, we find only death; grasping for freedom outside his law, 2 we trap ourselves in Satan’s snares; pursuing pleasure, we lose the gift of joy.
- Romans 1:18-3:23; 5:12 - “In the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” But men did “not give thanks to God.” “Since they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity… There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus… Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”
- 1 John 1:8-10 - “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
- When humans no longer show God’s image, 1 all creation suffers. We abuse the creation or idolize it. 2 We are estranged from our Creator, from our neighbour, and from all that God has made.
- Romans 1 - “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened… Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like moral man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity and the degrading of their bodies with one another. ”
- Ephesians 4:17-19 - “You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.”
- All spheres of life 1 – marriage and family, work and worship, school and state, our play and art – bear the wounds of our rebellion. 2 Sin is present everywhere 3 – in pride of race, in arrogance of nations, in abuse of the weak and helpless, in disregard for water, air, and soil, in destruction of living creatures, in slavery, deceit, terror, and war, 4 in worship of false gods, and frantic escape from reality. 5 We have become victims of our own sin.
- Romans 1 - “Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without any excuse… Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts… Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion…. - They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, reckless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practise them.”
- Psalm 14 - “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there isno-one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no-one who does good, not even one.”
- Amos 1-2 - “The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa – what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake… He said: ‘The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem, the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers! This is what the LORD says: For three sins of Damascus… three sins of Gaza… three sins of Tyre… three sins of Edom… of Ammon… Moab… Judah… Israel… I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain. The swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, and the warrior will not save his life…”
- Jeremiah 17:9 - “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
- Isaiah 28:7-8 - “And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions. All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth.”
- In all our strivings 1 to excuse or save ourselves, we stand condemned 2 before the God of Truth. But our world, broken and scarred, 3 still belongs to God. He holds it together 4 and gives us hope.
- Psalm 89 - “How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself for ever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? Remember how fleeting is my life… What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave?”
- Romans 1:18 - “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”
- Jeremiah 14 - “Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed? We hoped for peace but no good has come for a time of healing but there is only terror. O LORD, we acknowledge our wickedness and the guilt of our fathers; we have indeed sinned against you. For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonour your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it. Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O LORD our God. Therefore our hope isin you, for you are the one who does all this.”
- Romans 5:2-5 - “… our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” - Romans 15:13 - “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
John 3:16 - “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
Gospel Defence League
P. O. Box 587 Sea Point 8060
Cape Town South Africa
Tel/Fax: 021-510-6854
Website: www.christianaction.org.za/GDL