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Christians are called on to be drivers of change in the metro
Church in the Community - Media Release in the Herald: 8th January 2024
Source: TCN / Richard Crompton
Date Added: 2024-01-08
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Politics, Issues - Church Unity,
Date Added: 2024-01-08
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Politics, Issues - Church Unity,
It has been a very long time since many – if not most – of us have felt that our city and country were going in the right direction.
I was trying to remember when I thought that our nation was experiencing abundance.
Was it in 2010 during the World Cup?
Maybe we have to go back even further to before the great recession in 2008.
Since then, we have had to fight for everything.
It has been a battle.
Doing business has been tough.
The political environment has been even worse, and the poor have borne the brunt of the suffering.
Over the last 10 years, the Church has had to return to the political sphere to try to correct the course our country and city are on.
The Church stood against the presidency of Jacob Zuma, with other civil society organisations when it became clear that the direction that he was taking our country in could no longer be allowed.
The Church in our metro has had to intervene in the affairs of the city council again and again, to try and mitigate the political disaster that our city has become.
Why do we continue to fight for our city and country?
The answer is that there is something to fight for.
God has a redemptive purpose for us.
We have served as a gateway to South Africa and Africa, sometimes for good, but too often for evil.
God’s purpose for our country is that it be a driver of economic development and growth for our continent.
Increasingly, God has started to give this purpose to other countries on our continent – like Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria – because we have wasted so much time fighting with one another and not fulfilling God’s purpose.
The new year offers the Church and Christians in our city an opportunity to reassess whether our strategies have worked or not.
It’s clear that we are in a battle, but what sort of battle?
Scripture states, “for we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Maybe we have been fighting the wrong enemy.
It is the evil one who wants to strangle our city and country, and to be honest, he has been doing a very effective job.
The solution to our problem must be to fight and win the battle in the supernatural first, and then to turn our attention to the political and economic spheres.
The Lord gave our church a word in 2023 that it would be a real fight, that there would be losers and winners in 2023.
Those who stood in faith and believed God despite the circumstances would eventually succeed in 2023, but sadly many wouldn’t.
A good illustration of this was the Springboks’ passage through the knock-out stages of the Rugby World Cup.
Three 1-point wins in a row was outlandish, the games torrid, even for the spectators, but we won in the end.
It wasn’t easy.
The Lord has given us a word for 2024, that the tide of the battle we have been in for more than a decade is going to start to turn.
The Lord gave us this scripture from Psalm 56:9 for 2024: “The very day I call for help, the tide of battle turns. My enemies flee! This one thing I know: God is for me!”
The spiritual battle in 2024 can and will turn if we call on God for help.
We have seen this happen before.
In the lead-up to our first democratic elections, the Church across South Africa called on God for change and peace.
God answered our prayers in the most miraculous way in 1994. The Church needs to do the same in 2024.
There are many important prayer networks and groups in our city and country, but we need to intensify our prayers.
2024 will be the most important year in our country in decades, and the Church must not ignore this.
According to all the opinion polls, the 2024 elections will end with a coalition government.
The question is who will form the government?
We have decided to cry out to God for a Godly, righteous and capable government, and most importantly a move of the Holy Spirit across our country.
If we call on God, He will answer our prayers.
God is on the move in 2024!
We can see change in our country.
We can see our purpose restored.
We can see true transformation in our nation!
The tide of the battle can turn.
It is time for the Church to fast and pray, because change is coming.
We cannot allow that change to be for evil rather than good.
Richard Crompton
is a pastor at Word of Faith Christian Centre
I was trying to remember when I thought that our nation was experiencing abundance.
Was it in 2010 during the World Cup?
Maybe we have to go back even further to before the great recession in 2008.
Since then, we have had to fight for everything.
It has been a battle.
Doing business has been tough.
The political environment has been even worse, and the poor have borne the brunt of the suffering.
Over the last 10 years, the Church has had to return to the political sphere to try to correct the course our country and city are on.
The Church stood against the presidency of Jacob Zuma, with other civil society organisations when it became clear that the direction that he was taking our country in could no longer be allowed.
The Church in our metro has had to intervene in the affairs of the city council again and again, to try and mitigate the political disaster that our city has become.
Why do we continue to fight for our city and country?
The answer is that there is something to fight for.
God has a redemptive purpose for us.
We have served as a gateway to South Africa and Africa, sometimes for good, but too often for evil.
God’s purpose for our country is that it be a driver of economic development and growth for our continent.
Increasingly, God has started to give this purpose to other countries on our continent – like Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria – because we have wasted so much time fighting with one another and not fulfilling God’s purpose.
The new year offers the Church and Christians in our city an opportunity to reassess whether our strategies have worked or not.
It’s clear that we are in a battle, but what sort of battle?
Scripture states, “for we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Maybe we have been fighting the wrong enemy.
It is the evil one who wants to strangle our city and country, and to be honest, he has been doing a very effective job.
The solution to our problem must be to fight and win the battle in the supernatural first, and then to turn our attention to the political and economic spheres.
The Lord gave our church a word in 2023 that it would be a real fight, that there would be losers and winners in 2023.
Those who stood in faith and believed God despite the circumstances would eventually succeed in 2023, but sadly many wouldn’t.
A good illustration of this was the Springboks’ passage through the knock-out stages of the Rugby World Cup.
Three 1-point wins in a row was outlandish, the games torrid, even for the spectators, but we won in the end.
It wasn’t easy.
The Lord has given us a word for 2024, that the tide of the battle we have been in for more than a decade is going to start to turn.
The Lord gave us this scripture from Psalm 56:9 for 2024: “The very day I call for help, the tide of battle turns. My enemies flee! This one thing I know: God is for me!”
The spiritual battle in 2024 can and will turn if we call on God for help.
We have seen this happen before.
In the lead-up to our first democratic elections, the Church across South Africa called on God for change and peace.
God answered our prayers in the most miraculous way in 1994. The Church needs to do the same in 2024.
There are many important prayer networks and groups in our city and country, but we need to intensify our prayers.
2024 will be the most important year in our country in decades, and the Church must not ignore this.
According to all the opinion polls, the 2024 elections will end with a coalition government.
The question is who will form the government?
We have decided to cry out to God for a Godly, righteous and capable government, and most importantly a move of the Holy Spirit across our country.
If we call on God, He will answer our prayers.
God is on the move in 2024!
We can see change in our country.
We can see our purpose restored.
We can see true transformation in our nation!
The tide of the battle can turn.
It is time for the Church to fast and pray, because change is coming.
We cannot allow that change to be for evil rather than good.
Richard Crompton
is a pastor at Word of Faith Christian Centre
Source: TCN / Richard Crompton
Date Added: 2024-01-08
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Politics, Issues - Church Unity,
Back to News IndexDate Added: 2024-01-08
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Politics, Issues - Church Unity,
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