Support Moral Regeneration and REVIVAL

Zondo has cut down the tree of State Capture, but the stump (ethics) and the roots (spirituality) remain to be cleaned up.  That is not the role of the Judiciary, it is up to the churches.

The Zondo Commission has cost the State R1.5 billion.  We ask churches to give generously to Revival.  Add this to every church budget!

Can Revival be induced?

C4L has looked into this by reading about the Welsh revival, the Azuza Stree revival, the first Los Angeles crusade by Billy Graham, the East Africa Revival, and so forth.

It is hard to predict the Holy Spirit, and perhaps not possible to induce revivals per se.

But we can keep praying for revival, and we can certainly work by Activism for moral regeneration.  For example, the Integrity Pledge that C4L has tried to promote.  Including the publishing of Hugh Wetmore’s book: CORRUPTION – the Inside Story.  Churches can use Hugh’s book as a thought-provoking discussion leader for its small group structure of home fellowships.

Hugh Wetmore’s book is also available from MBOKODO PUBLISHERS, as well as the eBook.

Jesus, Justice and Jubilee

C4L is opening its doors to individuals whose churches have identified in them a spiritual gifting of prophetic insight.

To date, C4L training has mostly benefited “deacons” as well as a few “bishops”. That is, those who deliver practical care to the poor, while other church leaders attend seminary to learn how to evangelize, teach and pastor congregations.

Some denominations are more inclined to include Prophets among their church offices (i.e. positions, roles, functions) than others are. C4L sees a need to sharpen skills in another realm – promoting Justice and Jubilee.  C4L has some tools for this pursuit, but will treat these participants as equals, from whom we can learn as well. Remembering the give and take of “koinonia”.

This will be “learning” not training, and therefore it is non-formal.  It will be experiential, not academic. We encourage churches to avail themselves of this unique opportunity.  “If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith...”

Ora et Labora

The Protestant Reformation followed by the Enlightenment moved the church away from contemplative prayer to very rational prayer (written or extemporaneous). Initially, churches tended to support C4L’s practical care and support of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC).  Then C4L added another focus namely unemployment, as HIV and AIDS resources were soaked up by treatment. But another emphasis is arising. The Covid crisis was for us a time to stop doing what we do best, and spend some time thinking about what we are doing. We now see a need to conjoin pietism and activism.

Pietism is important but so is activism.  Great pietists like George Muller in Bristol and and his mentor August Franke in Halle were the first to establish orphanages.

Our patron Desmond Tutu was called “the voice of the voiceless”.  While welfare and emergency aid are very important, at the end of the day – tackling the causes and structures can make more of a difference.

This explains why C4L is doing more and more “public engagement”.  Churches need to raise awareness about this, and to make space for those who “speak truth to power”. But the ground-wire to advocacy is deeper spirituality.

Marching

The following paraphrase, derived from a great black church leader, advocates for the cause of Youth:

We come to our nation’s rulers to cash a check.
When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution,
they were signing a promissory note to which every South African was to fall heir.
This note was a promise that all women and men
Yes, young as well as old
would be guaranteed paying work and sufficiency.
It is obvious today that the nation has defaulted on this promissory note
insofar as so many of her citizens are unemployed.
Instead of honoring this sacred obligation,
South Africa has given its youth a bad check,
a check that has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.
We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults
of resources and opportunity in this nation.
And so we’ve come to cash this check,
a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed indaba to remind South Africa of the fierce urgency
This is no time to engage in the luxury of fat-cat salaries
or to take the tranquilizing drug of patronage
Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.
Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of corruption
to the sunlit path of honesty and transparency
Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of malpractice
to the solid rock of integrity
Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.