Wonderful Conference
We had an amazing conference with Pastor Austin Gardner, Jeff Bush (Director of Vision Baptist Missions), and Chris Fies (Voices in the village). There were over 20 independent Baptist African pastors present. It is amazing what God has done in Burkina Faso since we arrived.
Pastor Gardner taught on spiritual gifts, tongues, and the charismatic movement. He used tons and tons of the Word of God to prove every point.
Since coming to Africa, we have been pressured by people to change doctrinally and practically. We are asked on a regular basis why aren’t we like this church and that church. We are asked why don’t we practice this and that. I always say that our model isn’t another church but the Word of God. Israel wanted to be like all the other nations and asked for an earthly king. They already had a heavenly king which should have sufficed. They paid dearly for it when they got what they wanted.
The charismatic movement is very strong here in Africa. It seems that people seek the blessings but don’t really want the God of the blessings. The prosperity Gospel is rampant. Speaking in tongues is a huge phenomenon. They claim that Baptists don’t even believe in the Holy Spirit.
We have fought and battled it over the years but we have never truly had an internal battle within our church as we are starting to see now. I praise the Lord that all of the pastors that we have are doctrinally sound in this area but it seems that many of the members are confused and caught between our doctrine and the charismatic doctrine. I would ask you to pray for us as we have tried to let God work through the last few months but it is time to confront this false and dangerous doctrine.
