Paul commands Timothy the pastor, and the Spirit commands pastors and believers, “Keep a close watch on yourself and the teaching” (1 Tim 4:16 ESV). The words ‘the teaching’ refers to a definitive ‘body of doctrine’ that is to be believed and taught and passed on. And Paul and the Holy Spirit believe that…
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In my life and having a Grade 1 school teacher for a wife, if ‘A’ is for ‘Associate with others’ then ‘B’ is for ‘Balance.’ There are two dangers (and many others beside) for pastors to avoid in the ministry – either ‘kickback’ and ‘go easy’ or ‘kill yourself’ and ‘die hard’ in ministry. …
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The Baptist Northern Association exists for one reason only – to serve the local church! Naturally the needs of one church are different to the needs of another so we’ve picked up a few skills and built a few partnerships to help. Firstly we do training. This last weekend was our annual “One Life” Conference…
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“A great blessing!” “So good to go over the basics again!” “Great hanging out with a group of pastors like this!” These were some of the comments about the recent “One Life” Conference. Besides an outstanding venue with an out-of-town feel and great food (thank you Smith family), we had a great time of fellowship…
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Times are hard in South Africa. The shrinking economy has had a far reaching effect on people and organisations. The cost of living in South Africa has risen. This week the unemployment figure reached a ten year high at 27,7 percent with a youth unemployment rate at 55,9 percent. We’ve started to hate hearing stats…
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With the recent debate stemming from Andy Stanley’s recent contentious sermon, and the counterpoint questions regarding why do we need a new Baptist Union Statement of Faith, I’m asking the question “Are we seeing the rise of a new anti-theology theology?” This new theology seems to sing out that classic song, “All we need is…
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There are a number of big changes this year in the Baptist Northern Association; A reworked BNA AGM into what we’re calling the “One Life” Conference hosting J.D. Greear as our key speaker (register here). The new Constitution comes into play this year, which, driven by a desire to have equal regional representation from all four of…
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“80% of young people that do Jump Team go into some form of ‘full-time ministry.’” That’s what got me; the history of doing something well. And if that’s the case, how can we get more young people trained and passionate for evangelism, church planting, cross-cultural mission and whatever door God would put before them in…
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In conjunction with Multi Ministries, some preachers and pastors from the BNA participated in a number of outreaches held in various towns in the North West Province from Friday 18th – Tuesday 22nd September. Praise God for a number of first time commitments to Christ and numerous stories reflecting a pursuit of Christ in obedience and…
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I cannot be struck by the significance of D.A. Carson’s “Recent Developments in the Doctrine of Scripture” (1986) to both our present evangelical and our Baptist climate. Listen, as only D.A. can verbalise it; “The resurgence of interest in the doctrine of Scripture can be traced to many factors; but four deserve brief mention. The…
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