Auckland Park Theological Seminary Blog

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A Christian firstly wins in his spirit

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A former pastor read somewhere that I wrote that a person wins in our world today, through his spirit. She made contact and asked where one’s spirit is…, is it located in your heart?

She experienced major traumatic events over a long period of time. When trouble is very serious in nature and persist over a prolonged period of time, the effect is that God becomes very distant and small in your mind. The trouble, on the other hand, grows like insurmountable mountains. It is like the blind man whose walking stick broke and he cried “no more ground anywhere.“

I will briefly try to answer her question.

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’n Christen wen deur sy gees

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’n Gewese pastoor het iewers gelees dat ek geskryf het dat ’n mens deur sy gees in hierdie wêreld wen.  Sy het kontak gemaak en gevra waar is ’n mens se gees, is dit in jou hart geleë?

Sy het oor ’n lang tydperk groot traumatiese gebeure beleef.  As moeilikheid oor ’n lang tyd kom en baie ernstig van aard is, dan word God baie ver en klein in jou gemoed.  Moeilikheid daarenteen word groot soos onoorkomlike berge.  Dit is soos die blinde man wie se kierie gebreek het en gesê het: “Nergens meer grond.” 

Ek probeer kortliks antwoord gee.

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God-stories in the lives of ordinary people

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Dr Möller senior, a previous president of the AFM church of South Africa, said that demon possession is not the church’s biggest problem (although Christians in Africa may experience it differently). His argument was that when a demon manifests in a person, a Christian sees it and then rebukes it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. A greater danger for the church however, is the world’s philosophies (world views) that enter the church unseen and undermine the truth of the Bible and Jesus.

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Revival in the Sinoville congregation in Pretoria

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Revival is God’s work

Revival is an event that God himself creates through the working of the Holy Spirit and it is based on what Jesus has already done and still does. This is a core truth that we must first realise before we can believe and pursue it.

Our early years in Sinoville

This article is about the experiences of Annakie and me in the AFM Sinoville congregation in Pretoria during the years 1972 to 1975. Maybe I should not talk about revival, because we did not pray for a revival at that time and never referred to it as a revival. And yet, when I think back today, I would say that I would not want or expect anything different from a revival or a revival in the making. At that time, we learned a lot from the Lord, that I trust will emerge in this article.

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Herlewing by die Sinoville Gemeente in Pretoria

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Herlewing is God se werk

Herlewing is gebeure wat God deur die werking van die Heilige Gees skep op grond van wat Jesus klaar gedoen het en nog steeds doen. Hierdie is ’n kernwaarheid wat ons eers moet besef voordat ons kan glo aan herlewing en ons daarvoor kan beywer.

Ons beginjare in Sinoville

Hierdie artikel is gebaseer op my en Annakie se ervaring in die AGS Sinoville-gemeente in Pretoria gedurende die jare 1972 tot 1975.

Miskien moet ek nie praat van herlewing nie, omdat ons nie vir ’n herlewing gebid het nie en dit ook nooit eens ’n herlewing genoem het nie.  En tog, as ek vandag terugdink, moet ek sê dat ek niks meer sou wou hê alvorens ek dit ’n herlewing, of ’n herlewing in wording sal noem nie.  Ons het baie by die Here geleer en ek vertrou dat dit in hierdie artikel na vore sal kom.

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Sanctified in Thy truth

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The dictum of Auckland Park Theological Seminary (ATS) is “Sanctified in Thy truth”.  It dates back to around 1949 when Dr FP Möller (senior) created the first hand drawing of the logo.  I have over the years often thanked the Lord for the dictum Dr Möller had chosen so many years ago as it still directs our path today.  I have asked the Lord through his Holy Spirit to help us understand what this dictum means for a theological training institution within our present-day context of relativism (a belief that there is no truth – whatever you want to be true is true), fake news, and mass media.

The development of Auckland Park Theological Seminary’s logo over the years.
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A Christ-centered perspective

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In the article “A picture guide to good preaching”, one of the principles was that a sermon should be Christ-centric (or Christocentric).

Readers have asked us for more information on how to create a sermon that is Christ-centric. We have recorded a reading of the essay “Forgiveness – a Christ-centered perspective” to illustrate this principle in practice. You can read or listen to this essay to get a practical example of how to be Christ-centric.

We also have a second video example: “Aan wie se kant is God?” (apologies to our English readers – it’s only available in Afrikaans).  In this example, a few ways that people try to use the Bible to promote their own agenda (similar to the “kapstok preek”) are mentioned, and then, in conclusion, an excellent Christ-centric position is made.

We trust that these examples will help you to better understand the principle of being Christ-centric.

Lastly, there is also the “Saviour – Sermon” test: a test of whether a sermon is Christ-centric or not, is when the congregation’s response afterwards is “What a Saviour!” rather than “What a sermon”.

How to facilitate a Bible study home group

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What is Facilitation?

Facilitation is a process where people gain new knowledge by participating in the Bible study rather that listening to information being presented by the ‘expert’ (be it the facilitator or pastor).  It is a process where people learn by being actively involved in the process.

Facilitating is an art of providing the right stimulus to a group so that they participate fully in their own spiritual growth.  The focus is therefore not on telling (preaching to) a group what to do, but rather on asking the right questions that will enable the group to “discover” truths and principles.

Facilitation is not teaching, not telling, not lecturing, not preaching, and not directing.

Facilitation is to provide the resources and the structure for group members to explore, learn and develop.

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