Christian Alliance Ministries - Christian Truth Ministry version.pdf · magazine of Christian...

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M Christian Alliance Magazine: the magazine of Christian Alliance Ministries

Sneaton Castle Location of the

3rd CAM Conference (18th - 22nd October 2004)

“Every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.”

Matthew 13:52

Report on the

3rd CAM Conference

Sanctification (part 1)

by Roger Winter-Smith

My call to the

Mission Field

by Ralph Brockman

Interview with Bob Cox

on Revival

Willie Burton's Personal

Testimony (part 1)

Issues In this

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Miraculous Healing from Polio

CAM is governed by a Council consisting:

Roger Winter-Smith (Chairman)

Paul Etherington, Alan Nunn

Charles Douglas and

Mark Mullins

Administrator

Chairman’s Letter

Report of the 3rd CAM Conference by Marcia Rich

Features

Contents

Sanctification (part 1) by Roger Winter-Smith

My call to the Mission Field by Ralph Brockman

Interview with Bob Cox on Revival

Willie Burton's Personal Testimony (part 1)

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12-14

15-17

About CAM

Council Members

CAM, P.O. Box 24281, London SE9 4ZT

Email: [email protected]: 02084448746

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Contents

Graphic Design By Richard Mensah

[email protected]

Cheryl Winter-Smith

Christian Alliance Ministries (CAM)

was set up in 2003 with the aim of

providing faithful ministry on the

whole Counsel of God as

contained in the scriptures.

Editorial of the Faith Herald, March 1920

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The Healing of Betty Robsonby Mrs Stephen Powell

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Christian Alliance MinistriesChairman’s Letter

Chairman's LetterBy Roger Winter-Smith

CAM MAGAZINE

"Every scribe which is instructed unto the

kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." Matthew 13:52

May I welcome you to the first issue of "CAM Magazine" which arose out of the last Whitby Conference. Our aim is to keep supporters of CAM informed of forthcoming events and to provide encouragement to the saints by providing articles on doctrine, foreign mission and personal testimony.

We have decided to send three copies of each magazine to each person on our database for you to pass on discerningly to those you think will be encouraged by our vision.

In Matthew 13:52 the Lord Jesus likens the well instructed scribe to an householder "which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old". We are committed to maintaining a balance between the wisdom of past saints coupled with the revelation from God's Word that the Holy Spirit is pleased to give to His servants today.

We have reproduced the editorial from the first edition of the Faith Herald, written by John Nelson Parr in March 1920 which I believe encapsulates so much of what we want to achieve today. It is a remarkable providence of God that this editorial came to light just on the eve of publishing the first issue of the CAM Magazine.

We have decided to run a series on some of the great heroes of the faith and are starting with that great Pentecostal pioneer missionary to the Congo, Willie Burton. Sanctification is vital for the Christian and so we have started a series on this gripping and challenging topic. We have an article by Ralph Brockman who has been engaged in missionary work in Korea and India. Mark Mullins has interviewed Bob Cox who is a veteran evangelist on the subject of Revival. Finally we have included a remarkable testimony of divine healing which we hope will be an encouragement to us all to seek God for healing in this day.

We hope very much that you will be blessed through these contributions. We would welcome any feedback and suggestions for future editions.

May I commend to you the next CAM event which is a weekend conference at Bawtry Hall from Friday 29th April to Sunday 1st May 2005. We hope very much that many of you will be able to join us for a weekend of fellowship, seeking the Lord and learning from God's Word. Please pray for God's blessing for this weekend and particularly that the Council will have Wisdom from above in choosing thespeakers and making all the arrangements for the weekend.

We have also set up a website in order to make messages from God's Word available for order or downloading. The CAM website can be accessed via www.christian-truth-ministry.com We do hope you will take advantage of this facility.

NO. 1

Editorial from The Faith Herald March 1920


The Faith Herald

Vol. 1. No. 1 Manchester, EnglandMarch, 1920

It is with hearts full of gratefulness and thanksgiving to our God that we send forth this first issue of THE FAITH HERALD. There is undoubtedly a great need in this land for a clear, faithful, and fearless “herald of those things which are most assuredly believed” among thousands who have in these last days received the Holy Spirit with the Bible evidence of speaking in tongues, and amongst whom the gifts of the Spirit, the operations of God, and the administrations of the Lord, have in a measure, been manifest.

Organisation.

We are not endeavouring to organise the assemblies which have sprung up, or create another sect; there has been too much organisation in the past, and the disastrous results are everywhere apparent. One of the chief wiles of the devil in every real work of God appears to be the creation of an organisation, officials, councils, unions, sects, etc., and the Holy Spirit of God, the Divine Administrator, is grieved and quenched, and ultimately the outcome is lifelessness, form, meeting attendance, but no “dynamic power.” The wonderful

The Faith Herald

revivals and visitations from God through Whitefield, Luther, Fox, Wesley, Wycliffe, have all gone the same way, and the cold, lifeless, formal religions or organisations in our midst to-day are a standing condemnation and warming to all who are endeavouring to organise this present work. We have, by God's infinite grace, from the very beginning of this work refused to be identified with anything which savoured of human organisation: and although slandered and misrepresented, we continue to this day testifying against everything which is not according to the plan revealed in the Holy Scriptures.

Humility.

Our desire is to be humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and be clothed with that humility which bows to the Scriptures and makes a full and unconditional surrender to the will of God; this will bring us to the place where God can use us to perform His mighty works and miracles. This is where the failure has been. Man wants leadership. Man wants control. Man wants position. Man wants to be seen and heard. Man wants to be something and do something, and unfortunately they have not only wanted these things but have obtained them, and the glorious power of the everlasting Spirit of God has been stultified and the flood-tide of divine blessing stemmed. But, thank God, there is a sound of

Revival.

There is a general expectation in the various assemblies of a mighty revival, and we would sound a note of warning: “Beware of Organisation.” There is a “sound of a going (marching),” a moving in prayer, intercession, and supplication, great pantings and thirstings after God, inexpressible yearnings, to see His great power and glory against manifest in marvellous fullness with signs, wonders, miracles, glorious time of salvation, and revival. Let us to see to it, beloved saints, that we create nothing which is contrary to the assembly life as revealed in the

New Testament by the Spirit of God; anything else merely exalts men, creates offices, exalts some above their brethren, gives places of prominence where none is necessary, panders to the flesh and puffs up leaders, hinders the work of God and dishonours the Apostle and high Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus our glorified Lord.

Object.

The primary object of THE FAITH HERALD is “exhortation and teaching,” and not to publish accounts of meetings, conferences, etc., unless God permit. Neither does the paper represent one Mission or sect, but is published in the Lord, in the interests of all who have received the Holy Spirit, and to reach the largest number of people possible with real living Scripture truth.

Distribution.

Three copies are being sent to those friends whose addresses we have; if you desire more, please write for them. The paper is free, and we shall be pleased to send you as many as you can profitably distribute.We trust, in the Lord, to publish another issue shortly, and from time to time as the Lord leads.We humbly request your prayers, that God may make THE FAITH HERALD a channel of blessing and enlightenment to thousands. The papers will be supported by the voluntary offerings of the people of God, but if you cannot send an offering do not let this deter you from sending for as many copies as you can profitably distribute.Please address all communications and freewill offerings to JN Parr, 3 Langford Road, Heaton Chapel, Stockport, England.

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CAM Conference Report

CAM Conference RepotCAM Conference at Sneaton Castle

18-22 October 2004 As usual, the Conference this year provided a wonderful time of teaching and fellowship for all who attended. It was so good to meet up again with friends that were made last year at Bawtry, and also to meet new brothers and sisters. For many - perhaps all - it was an oasis in the middle of the wilderness of church life in this country. So much agreement and encouragement is hard to find these days.

The teaching was both challenging and encouraging. Roger Winter-Smith spoke on the first evening. He encouraged us, from the parables of the Kingdom in Matthew 13, to be those who are "instructed unto the kingdom of heaven" and who do the will of the Father. He finished his talk with Amos 5: 4-6, saying "Don't go back to Bethel, even though that was good. Seek the Lord and you will live!"

Over four sessions, Philip Powell spoke about growing in grace, based on 1 and 2 Peter. Grace being the divine enabling that brings about a change. Growing in grace will lead to knowledge, to holiness, to answered prayer and spiritual warfare. Peter had grown in grace tremendously since the time he had denied the Lord and so he knew what he was talking about! Philip pointed out that husbands and wives are "heirs together of the grace of life" and need to be careful how they relate to each other so that prayers are not hindered. If we seek humility, we will receive grace, because God gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).

Brian Day preached twice. The first time was on "What happens when we are sure that God has directed us in a certain way and it all goes wrong?" He likened it to Samuel anointing Saul to be King and then being devastated when Saul went wrong. Samuel mourned until God told him not to. There comes a time when God says "How long will you mourn for Saul?" Come on, get on your feet again! Then Brian encouraged us that God does things that are beyond our dreams (Eph. 3: 14-21). God is the God of the impossible and whatever our problem - finance, family,

We had three sessions with Jacob Prasch, when he spoke on "Where have we come from?", "Where are we now?" and "Where are we going?". He encouraged us that we are not the divisive ones, even though it may look that way because we are in the minority. We are sticking to the path we've always been on and it's those who deviate from it who are divisive. Unity at the expense of truth has become an idol in the church. Jesus prayed that we would be one, but He also prayed that we would be sanctified through the truth of

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Jacob spoke from 2 Kings 9 about Jehu, God's assassin, who almost got it right but then blew it and left things in a worse state than before. We don't want to be like that, so we mustn't stop short and compromise. In his last session, Jacob spoke about shepherding the sheep - feeding them and watching out for wolves. We may think we've only a little to give, but give what you've got and God will multiply it. He also encouraged us never to stop being evangelistic.

The final teaching was from Charlie Douglas. He said "We have His Word, but it's not just for us, we are to communicate it". As the Lord said to Ezekiel and Jeremiah, whether they listen or not, we are to speak. We have not yet "resisted unto blood" so we don't need to feel sorry for ourselves! As Mordecai said to Esther, if we hold our peace, deliverance will come through someone else, but maybe we are in the kingdom for such a time as this.Charles finished with the story in 2 Kings 2: 19-22 and said that we can be the salt to heal the waters. We need to let our speech be seasoned with salt.

On the Thursday afternoon the group of men, who had been elected at Bawtry as a Working Party, called a meeting for questions about the way forward. Everyone was asked whether they wanted CAM to continue and if they were happy for this Working Party to continue to lead CAM and to bring on board others, as necessary, forming a Council. All of this was agreed, pretty much unanimously. All the men involved in this Council testified that the Lord was leading them to serve in this way and we were all very grateful for this.There was so much packed in to these few days and we all were blessed. Some felt that there wasn't quite enough time given to waiting on the Lord together and suggested that perhaps next time one session could be given over to that, or maybe more time could be given for that at the beginning of some of the sessions. However, everyone really appreciated all the hard work put into the Conference and would want to give heartfelt thanks to Alan Nunn, Paul Etherington, Roger Winter-Smith and Charlie Douglas. Thanks, too, go to the gifted musicians. We look forward to the next time we all meet, and until then, will seek to be salt and light in our small corner!

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SANCTIFICATION

This subject is of the utmost importance. The word sanctification has an old fashioned feel to it but it is still a good vehicle to express and summarise a requirement that is essential to the soul's salvation. The New Testament Greek word translated as sanctification is Hagiasmos. Examples are found at 1 Corinthians1:30 and Hebrews 12:14 where the word holiness is offered as an alternative. Young's Concordance defines hagiasmos as "separation, setting apart". This is simple and correct. Holiness involves being set apart from sin and corruption and set apart unto God and His holiness. This is very basic but to understand that holiness is essential to salvation will mark a breakthrough in a Christian's life. Every influence of God's Spirit, every objective reading of scripture and every true Bible teacher will endorse and reinforce this vital truth. The Bible is uncompromising and clear. Hebrews 12:14 shows beyond any doubt that holiness is an absolute requirement for every child of God, without it salvation will not be complete and without it no-one will ever see God.

What then is sanctification? It is not and never can be a means of changing human nature. Everyone who comes to Christ does so with a nature that is inherently evil and incapable of being changed. Man is at root rebellious and disobedient to God. It matters not whether this has led the individual to commit gross and terrible sins (according to human judgement) or whether the candidate for salvation might seemingly be respectable and benign. No unregenerate person can ever conform to God's will and purpose or be acceptable to Him. If you are struggling with yourself and trying hard to reform, give up such an impossible task immediately. Holiness, scriptural holiness, is not about reformation. It is not a change of human nature but the coming in to one's deepest being of a new nature which is nothing less than Christ Himself in His character and disposition. The old nature that we all possess is incapable of reform, the 'old man' is under sentence of death and indeed he must die but this can only be achieved by Divine means. It will never be achieved by mere good intentions and reforming efforts however zealously attempted. This is not a human work, it is a work of God performed by faith in those whose hearts are right. In Christ our cleansing at the first is from sin, its guilt and penalty, through faith in His blood. In one sense this will continually apply throughout our Christian journey. This is a remarkable miracle. To be truly born again and to have this experience is a wonder beyond any merely physical miracle. It is more than the physical raising of a dead body to life - it is the raising of a dead soul to life. I believe the genuine new birth experience is actually quite rare.

It is far more than a conversion to Christianity with an acceptance of doctrinal truth, indeed it is much more than the making of a decision to follow Christ. It is the greatest wonder that there is this side of Heaven (and perhaps in the Heavenly realm also). When the Lord was asked "Lord, are there few that be saved?" His response was to enjoin His hearers to strive to enter in at the strait gate. The original word for strive implies a tremendous effort. We are not to rest until Christ is truly formed in us by faith. As to the number of the redeemed, Jesus stated that few find the straight and narrow way that leads to Life whereas many go down the broad way that leads to destruction. However, comfortingly, in Revelation 7 we see a vast company of human beings so large it cannot be numbered that have come through this troublesome world and have been truly saved and truly sanctified. It is plain to see that it is by faith in Christ's blood and by its application to their entire beings that this myriad throng is redeemed and sanctified. Let us therefore take heart. Our Heavenly Father intends that every child of His should be fully saved, fully sanctified. He has made it more than possible through His Precious Son and He has done so at tremendous personal cost, the extent of which we shall never comprehend, no, not through all eternity.

SANCTIFICATION

Roger Winter-Smith

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No-one can ever be saved or sanctified by external things. That is to say by the effort a person will make to please God in the various circumstances of his life by attempting to apply the means of Grace without the foundation of the new birth. To try to conform to an idea of holiness that is reflected in what one says, does, and believes: attending church groups; associating with certain people; in food and drink and clothes; making a stand over various issues and numerous other things which can all be done without the real man within ever knowing God and His redemption in Christ. It is what is within that matters. Of course every part of a saved and sanctified person will be changed. The external things in the life of a child of God will all reflect that inner work, will all reflect Christ within. If any man is in Christ he is a new creation and this extends to every aspect of his life. Old things have gone, everything is made new. Moreover God is involved in every part of this new life (2 Corinthians 5:17,18) To attempt a life of holiness, to try to reform internal and external things without the new birth, must ultimately lead to either complete hypocrisy or despair and unbelief. To summarise: the work of God is done within and then expressed externally and the sanctified Christian thus becomes an expression of God's will on earth. When a person is born again he is cleansed from sin by faith in the atoning blood of Jesus and his new life is also by Him and His resurrection (Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:4,5).

A new nature is received but there is more to be done. I am not here supporting or rejecting the idea of a second blessing or a specific further experience subsequent to salvation. Much has been said over the centuries about this and there has been much needless controversy. My own views on this subject, as far as they are yet formed, will be set out in this series of articles on sanctification of which this is the first. Please consider this question in the light of all that, by God's Grace, I propose to write. This further work of God upon our souls, whether performed instantaneously or by degrees is received by faith and by the application of God's Word through faith. There are no doubt many scriptural references that could be considered but I refer you specifically to John 15:3, John 8:31,32 and Ephesians 5:25-27. Our cleansing in the church as opposed to our first admission to its ranks is by a washing process through the Word of God. The church is of paramount importance. I believe in the church of Jesus Christ for it is described by the apostle Paul as the “pillar and ground of the truth”. (1Timothy 3:15) The first disciples were steadfast in the “apostles doctrine” (Acts 2:42) This is why Satan attacks God's people relentlessly. He knows that when they rise above lovelessness, pettiness, schisms, self-seeking and all their other wicked (and all too common) failings and take hold of God and His Son, His Spirit and His truth they are invincible.

Salvation at the first comes to us by hearing and believing one single message, Christ and Him crucified and by putting our faith in Him and His atoning blood coupled always with repentance toward God for our sins. Regeneration and the coming into us of Christ's nature will result. This essential primary work is usually (but perhaps not always) instantaneous. Do we need to be sanctified? Is this process essential? Is it not sufficient simply to accept the initial awakening; simply to rely upon that work of Christ effected through faith and rest there? I believe the Bible is very clear and shows beyond doubt that there is no salvation without holiness. (This subject will be considered in more depth, the Lord willing, in further editions of the Christian Alliance Magazine.)Roger Winter-Smith is the Minister of Stroud Green Christian Assembly which is a traditional Pentecostal Church. He is also Chairman of Christian Alliance Ministries.

Jesus Is Lord

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My Call To The Mission

My Call To The MissionThe Testimony of Ralph W. Brockman

Background.

My father was an Anglican pastor. My parents were God fearing people, good people, who encouraged me to pray and read the Bible, but they were not evangelical. I knew that there was a heaven and a hell. I wanted to go to heaven, but I did not understand the way of salvation. My father's theology was like Roman Catholicism, so I believed salvation was by faith and works (good deeds), rather than by faith without works.

In 1965 a friend Stephen lent me the book “Peace with God”, by Dr. Billy Graham, American evangelist. Then in 1966 I went to hear Billy Graham preach in London. He preached the gospel so clearly, explaining the reason for Jesus' death on the cross and also the fact that we are justified by faith before a holy God. This is clearly explained in the book of Romans, and also in Eph. 2:8-9, which says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” I struggled for several years about this.

My dear father died in 1968; my mother had already died of cancer in 1952. So I was on my own. It was a difficult time.

After my father died I started studying again and eventually trained to be an architect. While working in an architect's office in 1973-74 1 finally came to assurance of salvation.

What helped me particularly was reading the life of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodists. He with Charles his brother were ordained Anglican ministers, yet they lacked assurance of salvation. Because they were Anglicans, like me, I found this book very interesting.

The Wesleys were helped by a group of German missionaries, the Moravian Brethren, and they came through to assurance of salvation. John Wesley explained so clearly that if we accept salvation through faith in Jesus Christ we can have assurance immediately. I then saw this as right. I had a clearer sense of my own sinfulness and came through to assurance of salvation. A number of changes then took place.My friend Stephen - now a missionary in France - started writing to me, explaining more clearly to me the way of salvation.

Friends from my village introduced me to a very special church in Richmond in Southwest London. This was the Christian Fellowship meeting at Halford House. It was led by Lance Lambert - a converted Jew - and several elders. At a time when most churches were declining, this church was growing with people regularly being converted. I soon learned the reasons for this church's success:1. The members spent much time praying together. Sometimes a week of prayer was held.2. An evangelistic message was preached every Sunday evening.3. The morning service included an open worship time, teaching and also the Lord's Supper.4. There was a weekly evening prayer meeting and separate weekly Bible teaching meeting.5. It was a very loving and caring Fellowship or church, like Acts 2:44.6. The Fellowship sought to do everything Biblically. It seemed like the meetings the early Methodists had.

In June 1974 I was baptised there as a believer by immersion.

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In 1975 Lance Lambert held a School of Prayer. It consisted of about 12 hours of teaching onprayer. He taught us how to pray together in groups rather than alone and how to pray through for an area or a church. Among the books Lance Lambert recommended was “Rees Howells Intercessor”. Rees Howells was the founder of the Bible College of Wales (BCW). After I had read this book I felt the Lord wanted me to attend BCW.

My call came gradually.1. In the summer of 1974 I believe the Lord gave me a vision (picture) of a house to be used as a place of Christian fellowship: a place where missionaries, pastors and Bible college students could stay when passing through London and a place that could also be used for prayer, Bible study and counselling. By that time I had already bought one house (46 Sarsfeld Road), Balham. Houses were then very cheap in Balham, 2. Soon after the School of Prayer in 1975 my motor cycle was stolen, so I had to look for a church nearer to my home. The Lord led me to an evangelical charismatic Anglican church. When I joined this church the police recovered my motorcycle, which had been abandoned for 5 months; it was an amazing miracle of God. This church also had regular prayer meetings. One day in 1976 a lady said to me, “I like the way you use the scriptures in prayer'.

My call to full time Christian ministry

The Lord then said to me, “I want you to teach others to pray corporately.' This was the main reason I went to BCW.

3. After losing my architectural job in 1977 I applied to BCW, which is not only a place of prayer, but also a good missionary training college, with sound Bible teaching. I learned much while at BCW from 1977 to 1979 . I remember our doctrine lecturer, Dr. Paterson, saying, ''Never say to the Lord, 'I will not go to such and such a country', or the Lord may send you there..'' At the end of the day it is God's Will and not mine that is important. Words from a hymn that have become very real to me recently are, “What He says we will do, where He sends we will go never fear, only trust and obey.''

The Lord then provided the second house in 1980, next to the first. Then in 1981 I was able to buy a third house. Houses were still very cheap. The third house was 63 Tunley Road and it already had Christian lady tenants in it. This house has always been used for ladies, or sometimes a married couple. By charging low rents in these houses I was able to help poorer Christians. The managing and repairing of these three houses has occupied much of my time. The second house, 44 Sarsfeld Road, also became a place for prayer meetings and Bible study. In fact the Lord had spoken again to me in 1980 to say that He wanted me to be teaching others what He had been teaching me.

In 1979 I joined Intercessors for Britain (IFB), which has a group of several thousand people who undertake to pray for at least an hour a week for Britain. In 1981 I was asked to lead one of their prayer groups.

Later I became involved also in Prayer for Israel. In 1982 to 1984 I was involved as a prayer leader in the Luis Palau Mission to London. At the end of his time in London Luis Palau was concerned about the lack of Bible knowledge among the Christians he met. Many others were concerned about this. I developed a survey of the Bible and a doctrine course, based on the teaching I had received at BCW and felt an increasing call to pastoral ministry.

In 1989 I was introduced to a Korean girl Ki-Ja Song and we married in August. I thank God for Ki-Ja, who is very kind and supportive. The Lord chose a Korean wife for me as part of His plan for me to go to the mission field, but only years later did I see that.

Although I had had a number of short visits to Israel in the l980s with a friend from BCW I assumed my main work would be in U.K., where the spiritual need continues and is growing. In 1998 I had the opportunity of doing further training. This was the Prepared for Service course run by theFellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, which our church belongs to. This is a part time two year course which is pastorally orientated. The teaching on this PFS course was also very good. The Lord miraculously provided the money for the second year's fees.

Further training

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Trip to Korea and two invitations

In March 2002 we went as a family to visit Ki-Ja's family in Korea. We worshipped at the Shin Seng Methodist church, whose pastor once stayed with us in London. Pastor Chun asked me to come to his church to do English Bible teaching. At the same time I received a second invitation from an ex BCW student who is based at the Chonbosan prayer mountain, north east of Seoul, the capital.

I am not one who likes to be away from home and holidays abroad do not interest me. It is also hard leaving Ki-Ja and the children here but as I sought the Lord, He gave several signs confirming this. On returing to the airport we found the plane was overbooked. An official told us that if we were willing to delay our flight by one day he would return half our fare to us. This was quite considerable for a family of four. In the following few months two other sums of money were unexpectedly provided. Then the Lord showed an English friend of mine that I was to have a ministry in Korea.

The first three months from March 2003 were encouraging times which involved preaching, Bible studies and children's ministry. Also I was invited to do Bible studies at Incheon university. After returning home for three months I then went again to Korea, to Chonbosan. I did more Bible teaching and preaching and continued with the meetings at Incheon University. Before I returned to

London in December 2003 I had a further invitation to assist in another church in Seoul. We then had one more short visit as a family in April 2004.

When I return from Korea or India, my burden and concern for Britain is still with me. Clearly the Lord is blessing the Korean churches, so what are some of the reasons and can we learn from them? South Korea is just a little smaller in land area and population than the UK yet South Korea is the second largest missionary sending country in the world. Church attendance is about 25 percent of the population and the largest churches in the world are found here. It could be likened to the UK one hundred years ago. These are some of the reasons for God's blessing on these churches.

1. Whereas in the UK most theological colleges are liberal or partially liberal, most Korean colleges are evangelical. A pastor has to have seven years academic training and three years practical experience in a church before he can be ordained. But three years of the academic training can be in another field.2. Prayer. Inspite of the fact that Koreans work the longest hours in the world, they find time to pray so much, with many attending dawn prayer meetings before they go to work. Many also attend a half night of prayer on Fridays after their return from work.3. An openness and hunger for God's Word.4. Believing that the gifts of the Spirit are for today.5. Fellowship - caring for one another, spending time with one another.6. Reverent worship. This applies to some but not all

Ralph W. Brockman

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BOB COX on REVIVAL

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Question: Why do you think revival is so important?

Revival is a return to first things and first principles and we have departed a very long way from our grass roots and it is essential that we return to a condition of “present obedience” because revival involves obeying God in details and particulars.

Question: Is this done first individually?

Revival always begins in individuals. God seldom does things en masse. That might be the outcome but the initial move is personally.

Obviously God makes the first move but He does not do so compulsively. It is not a forced move but rather persuasively by bringing a divine awareness upon one. The very word revival implies a departure which in turn implies a condition of disobedience or rebellion. We can never expect a blessing from God as long as we are in a rebellious state of mind.

Bob Cox is a veteran evangelist who has been in ministry for

over 60 years. He talks to Mark Mullins about Revival.

God draws attention in the scriptures to the principle of returning to beginnings. Two salient examples are Abraham and Jacob. Abraham departed from the Lord when he had hardly been in the Land any time and continued his pilgrimage to Egypt which was out of bounds. In Egypt things became complicated and he virtually compromised the chastity of his wife. Very wisely he returned to Bethel where he began his pilgrimage and to the altar he had set up there. Jacob was in a similar predicament. His settling down outside Shechem resulted in a violation of Dinah and the slaughter of the Shechemites which caused Jacob to fear for his life and his family. He received peremptory orders from God to return to Bethel where God had appeared to him at the first. In other words he had come back to a revived condition.

Question: What causes Christians to depart from their first love?

It is oversimplified but the cause is the seduction of Satan. Attending revival is that of the favour and blessing of God. One is in greater danger in a time of favour and

blessing from God of departing

from the Lord than when we are

in a time of testing. Spurgeon

once said, referring to the danger

of losing the blessing of God, that

it requires a steady hand to hold

a full cup without spilling some of

its contents. One needs to

watch and pray as much in

revival as not.

Habbakuk said that the Lord had

caused him to stand up on his

high places (Hab 3:19). Revival

is standing on the high/heavenly

places. In David's famous

lament or eulogy he deplores

the fact that Saul and Jonathan

had fallen from their high places

and asked the question: “how art

the mighty fallen?” (2 Sam 1:19).

They had discarded their

weapons. They had cast away

their shields and their spears.

When we lose faith and lose

touch with the Word of God then

we are in a parlous position.

That is why there are so many

admonitions to us to watch and

pray (Matt 26:19). The reason

given is lest we enter into

temptation and the greatest

temptation is that of pride.

The scriptures give us a wonderful

example of sure-footedness in

lofty places and there is no loftier

place than revival. To refer back

to Habbakuk the prophet, he said

of His God: He maketh my feet

like hinds' feet. The hind is cloven

footed and bespeaks the

separated walk and the life of

holiness.

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BOB COX on REVIVAL

Peter, enjoining us to be diligent, draws up a catalogue of Christian virtues and makes the observation “if you do these things you shall never fall” (2 Peter 1:5-10).

Question: In your long ministry can you point to revivals of God's work.?

No I have not seen revivals of God's work but I have seen ministries of evangelistic fervour resulting in souls being saved atan abnormal rate. Evangelism as such is not revival but rather the product of revival for there is always a renewal of evangelistic fervour as a result of revival or in the middle of it. Understandably revival always has to do with the people of God. The word “revive” means to cause to live again. They had lived once but had need of a new quickening. In Psalm 85:6 the Psalmist prays: “wilt thou not revive us again?” The Psalm began with the psalmist harking back to a revival but it has petered out and so he prays “wilt thou not revive us again?” Literally wilt thou not cause us to live again, again. The repercussions of revival always affect society in general.

In a revival the individual is stirred up to witness personally for the Lord outside the churches and in their ordinary relationships for a new love is born in their hearts for God and their desire is to express Him. We read of the early church that the disciples went everywhere preaching Christ spontaneously with

impromptu witnessing.

I will just give you a personal experience. As a member of a Pentecostal church which had a good representation of young men I was approached by the Pastor and asked if I could harness the energy of the young men (which is something I had prayed for before being asked) so we formed a young men's evangelistic Christian band. Among other things we engaged in door to door evangelism and in public houses, had regular all-night prayer meetings, days of fasting which the majority had never been involved with. Out of that came the foundation of a new assembly. Several of the young men became effective preachers. This was the result of renewed evangelistic fervour. It was especially noticed that the all night prayer meetings were productive of good in the number of souls saved.

Question: How have you kept your own spiritual fervour?

There is no secret about it and there is no secret about revival. It is simply conforming to the principles laid down in the Bible. The bulk of my time has been devoted to prayer, to reading and searching the scriptures. When we are constant in those things we enjoy a stabilised experience which will inevitably have a benefit for the Lord's cause. Another important principle is a willingness to confess our faults. There came a time in my life that I realised it to be imperative that we be in the clear with God and that unconfessed sin is the greatest hindrance to revival. First we confess to God and, where appropriate, to one another.

another principle is that of refraining from speaking adversely about anyone. For the Christian back-biting is anathema and gives us confidence when we come to God in prayer.

I have consistently and regularly fasted for many years. I would advise fasting one day at least per week and true fasting of course is abstaining from pleasurable drinks and food. I would devote most of the time to prayer and of course with prayer, always your Bible. It is wise to use the Bible when you weary a little in prayer without necessarily referring to any passage. Sometimes I would just open the Bible. I would certainly advise reading passages from the Psalms during periods of waiting since God speaks more directly through the Psalms to us than any other portion of the Bible. We appreciate that fellowship with God is two-way. We talk to God through prayer and He speaks to us through the Word.

How might a small group see God move?

There is a danger in disassociating from authority. John Wesley was loathe to form another society and he never did of his own accord. It was a society that involuntarily came into being which only disassociated not long after his death.

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The reluctance of those early Methodists to associate with the Established Church was because of the decadence of the clergy of that day. But he still insisted that they should go and receive communion. If in the small periphery groups there is a desire to seek God let them seek the Lord earnestly. He can then guide and direct them as to the format of their meetings. No group can be precluded from the enjoyment of revival and as revival starts with individuals by the same token small groups can enjoy that visitation.

What would justify a person not associating?

A person would be justified in not joining a church if it is in doctrinal error, fatal error, where there was blatant immorality that is allowed to go unjudged (overt wrong relationships) or where people are placed into office where their character is well below that which is required.

By all means go to a fellowship which does not practice Pentecostalism unless they preach against Pentecostal testimony. It may be that that church could become Pentecostal through your presence there. Some years ago I was speaking at a church in Yorkshire and while I was there I spoke to members of a Methodist Reformed Church. I was approached on a Sunday morning as I was speaking at

another church by two people who were waiting for me in the hall and were quite convinced that the Pentecostal Testimony but were uncertain whether to join a Pentecostal Church or remain where they were. I know that the Pastor wanted to have them as members of his flock. They were an admirable couple and very keen for God. I was led of the Lord to tell them to remain in the church where they were and they had enough confidence in me to do what I asked them to do. The Pentecostal Pastor wouldn't have been very pleased with the Counsel I gave them. The outcome was their church became a Pentecostal Church and a sister Assembly.

There were 12 tribes that made up the Children of Israel which of course made up the household of faith. They all had their distinctive characteristics. Because it wasn't possible to have fellowship with one's own tribe then surely you would cast around to throw your lot with one of the other tribes. I believe that God's purpose is that the Church should be a unison but not a uniformity. All the tribes had the common life of the patriarchs but were distinctive hence the founding of the denominations. God will have a witness and when those who have been made repository of truth depart from it then God will turn to another section because God is not sentimental.

Question: What was your most thrilling experience of speaking of the Lord?

During one of my visits to India I went to speak to a church in deep South India on a Sunday morning. The group of Christians had no public building. It was common practice to meet in private homes. When I got to this house it was bursting to the seams with would-be worshippers. The congregation spilled over to the outside. Amongst the poorer churches the Indians sit on the floor but there were some benches provided for the elderly folk who were outside. Having preached on the text: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:5) a number indicated that they wanted to follow the Lord and they were duly prayed for. Suddenly there was a commotion among the congregation that proceeded from the outside. A venerable Indian was making his way through the group. He salaamed before me and then expressed himself in these words: “You have been as an angel of God to me. You have spoken to my heart. Pray for me.” He was a Brahmin. The proud boast of the Brahmin is that they never get converted but that Sunday morning that boast was overturned. It amazed the Indians: they held up their hands in surprise: the people couldn't believe their eyes or their ears.

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PERSONAL TESTIMONY

“He being dead yet speaketh” Heb 11:4“My Personal Testimony”

by Willie Burton (1886-1971), Pioneer Missionary to the Congo

A transcript in two parts of a talk given in 1967 at Crosskeys Church, South Wales.

Willie Burton left Britain bound for South Africa in May 1914 and arrived in Mwanza, Congo with James Salter and one other in September 1915. He later returned to South Africa to recruit new workers including his future wife Hettie Trollip who he married in May 1918. He was a gifted artist, builder, engineer and teacher, writing 28 books. Although honoured by the authorities he preferred to be known as “the tramp preacher”. The local people nick-named him “Kapamu”, the “rusher-forth”. He became field director of the Congo Evangelistic Mission (later the Zaire Evangelistic Mission and now the Central Africa Mission) on its foundation in 1919 and served until 1954. When he left the Congo in 1960 there were 65 European missionaries out of a staff of 80 in 13 stations. He died in South Africa in June 1971.

Called to Africa.It was on the 18th August 1905 that I kneeled down by my bedside and cried “O God I am nothing but a guilty sinner, but I here and now take Christ to be my Saviour.

Please take me to be thy servant for Jesus’ sake.” It was extraordinary how God changed my outlook and my desire. I had known from a young boy that God had called me to Central Africa. A dear old black man had been welcomed into our home when he was sick and my granny had put him up. Being a Christian he tried to woo us young to Christ. Before he went away he put his hand upon my head and prayed “Oh God, save this boy's soul and send him to my people in Africa.” Before that I had wanted to be a postman or an engine driver. But after that I knew somehow that I had to be a missionary.

For some years the way was closed. Eventually I was able to give in my resignation as an engineer and prepare to go to the Congo. I remember going home one morning, feeling awfully sad after an interview with a missionary society. They thought that I wasn't what they wanted. I opened my Bible, I said; “give me a little bit of comfort Lord,” and I read about that colt, that foal of an ass that was tied to a door at the place where two ways met. When the owners asked the disciples, “what are you doing with that donkey?” they said, “The Lord hath need of him.” Oh that sweet word. I may be nothing but an ass but that doesn't matter! Others may not have need of me, but you have need of me. And so eventually, not having a society under which

to go, I went without a society.

I took a boat to South Africa and knocked around S Africa for a year, preaching here and there among natives and whites. Here I was joined by my life colleague, Jimmy Salter. We also met two gentlemen who were starting off for Central Africa and we decided to go with them. I might say that in 1914 two people from South Africa had crossed the continent looking out the most advantageous places in which to start missionary work. They came to the conclusion, and I believe a right conclusion, that Bonza in the heart of the Beluja country was the very best spot in which to start missionary work. From Bonza to three hundred miles to the south and the north and the west there was not a village that had either a gospel testimony or a missionary or knew the name of the Lord Jesus. The Open Brethren had done a wonderful work over to the east. You know the names of Fan Crawford, John Alexander, Clark and others. They had produced the language to write in, put the Scriptures into print, established mission stations and so on. But to the west of the Congo River, there was nothing. For 300 miles to the south or north or west there was nothing. It was an ample field for two unsophisticated white lads to make a start in.

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Especially as we did not have any help from either an organisation or a person. However, we went with two other brethren (Armstrong and Blakeney) who were going to Central Africa one of whom, Armstrong, died on the way up on the Congo River. We buried him under a great palm tree beside the Congo. And Blakeney? Well we found evidence of cannibalism soon after we got to Mwanza. We found some of their sordid, horrible customs and Blakeney had had enough. Within a month of our arrival he turned around and went back to South Africa.

The first converts.Now we didn't know the language. We didn't know the customs. We didn't know the resources. We didn't know where to get food, what to ask for, or how to pay for it. We had to start at the very beginning. But our fumbling and mistakes helped to keep other people from mistakes. We soon began to pick up the language. When we found a name for God we pointed up and said “God”

Enjoying the hospitality of the American Methodist Missionaries

at Kanbove. Left to right: Mr Burton, Mr Blakeney, Mr Guptill, Mrs Guptill,

Mrs Anton, and Mr Anton.

When we found out how to say God loves you we said “God loves you.” God had a Son. God sent His Son. God's Son died for you. God's Son rose again. Bit by bit we got there, adding one sentence and phrase to another sentence and phrase. It wasn't very long until the first of those native lads came to us saying he wanted the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no doubt about it, they were thoroughly changed. Some of them who had been a perfect nuisance to us were amazingly changed. There was one little hunchback who did everything he could to spread dissatisfaction among the others. He was insulting; he was surly. If we tried to get natives to work for us he would persuade them not to. He would misplace our things and sowed discord on every hand.

However, after we had been there about three months, the first house that we had put up was struck by lightning, and burned to the ground. We put it up in three months: it burned in three hours. A lot of our stuff went up with it - and we hadn't very much. But while it was burning, and while we looked on helplessly, watching the rafters crashing in, to our amazement little “Mo” the hunchback, came running up among the smoke and the flames and dashed in and dragged out one thing after another. Extraordinary, that while we were just ordinary men with nothing much about us, Mo had taken it out on us. But as soon as he saw we were in distress, helpless and needy, Mo was the first to risk his life to fetch our stuff from that burning house. From then on Mo was one of our most loyal, faithful

companions. We travelled thousands of miles in company with Mo. He was only a little hunchback. Sometimes when we forded rivers he had to go on tiptoes to get across. Sometimes we had to help the little fellow across. But he wouldn't be dissuaded and he had a lovely falsetto voice with which he loved to sing the gospel with us. I think the singing of the gospel in those early days did more than the preaching of the gospel. We managed to put together some hymns, which were very simple in their way. But with variations the people would sing our hymns until they went all over the land. I say it wasn't very long until some of them professed faith in Christ. And now we started straight away to tell them that it was their duty to go out and tell others. We would send them out in little groups of two and three, here and there.

Signs followingAt the end of the mission hill there was a great rock. Four o'clock was the time when they prepared their evening meal and standing on that hill we could look over the sea of forest tree tops and here and there in the distance we would see the smoke drifting up. We could see the smoke from about 14 villages from there and the youngsters who constantly accompanied us would point out the villages by name. We used to pray there, “God save souls in those villages. God grant that the Lord Jesus may be known and loved in those villages.

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God grant that it may not be long before the churches are established there and little groups gather there to worship thee.” And God heard our prayer. Before long the news of our ministry began to drift out to those villages. We tramped to some of those, preaching and taking the natives with us. So we began to spread the message of salvation further and further afield.

Here I would say that the Lord Jesus, when He first commissioned His disciples, told them that He would send them miraculous credentials by which their testimony might be known. Let me read you the last chapter of Mark's gospel, starting at the 15th verse:

“And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. (We didn't go to the wrong place because we were to go to them all) He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Now Christ didn't say that these signs were to follow some particular elite or chosen group. But He said, “these signs shall follow them that believe.”

And so everyone who believes has the right to expect that as he goes out with God's message of salvation, these signs shall follow. For our part, we continually laid hands on those we found that were sick and again and again, God confirmed His Word by healing them.

I remember the very first day that we reached Mwanza Hill. Great crowds surged around us, looking at us, talking about us, staring at our things and coming to welcome us. There was an old fellow, a big, old giant of a man, who was all bent over walking with the help of two sticks. Immediately the thought came to me, “…..these signs shall follow them that believe..” I didn't know his language and he didn't know mine. But I went up to old Tentami and I put my hands on his head in the name of the Lord Jesus and prayed for him. By the time I had got to Amen, he went straight like that. That old fellow was a personal friend of mine for 32 years and until the time of his death he was as straight as could be. When our natives are surprised, they hiccup. Well, when they saw Tentami go straight you should have heard the surprise and the hiccupping. They had seen. I feel that this was permitted of God in order to inaugurate our testimony in the Congo. From then on, not every one has been healed by a long way, but many have been healed. Today we have churches established in over a thousand villages. I am confident that there isn't one of those villages that have been without miraculous evidences that we were God's messengers. God healed the sick and delivered people from demon possession or some other horrible thing. Again and again we have seen God's hand at work and the natives have recognized it and welcomed us as messengers of God.

“My Personal Testimony” will be continued in the next edition of the newsletter.

This year the Mission is celebrating its 90th Anniversary. Their website address is www.central-african-missions.org.uk and the UK administration telephone no. is 01772 717830.

An open air class in Mwanza Bible School

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The Healing of Betty Robson

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became a Christian in 1928 when I was 6 years old and I really gave my heart to the Lord at a Sunbeam meeting at the Pentecostal Church in Grimsby where Mr East was Pastor. After the meeting I had to walk a mile for the bus home and I was skipping along and singing “In my heart there is a melody”. I really knew it was real. At the age of 12 I went through water baptism when David Powell was now pastor. I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the age of 14. It was at a house meeting. No one laid hands on me; it was marvelous! We were having a prayer time and a receiving meeting. The Holy Spirit came and I received a new language as I was waiting on the Lord.

I was about to start work at that age and I had always been taught to pray for employment. Mother came and said “we are going into Grimsby”. We went into a shop and asked whether there were any vacancies for shop assistants. The shopkeeper replied “yes, when can you start?” I replied I could start the next week. The only problem was that I required a black dress. My mother took me to see my aunt who had a draper's shop and my aunt told me she had just the dress for me which she then produced!

I enjoyed tennis very much and the girls in the shop used to play as well. However tennis was on the Thursday which coincided with the Bible Study. I am afraid I played tennis. On the Sunday morning Pastor David Powell wagged his finger and asked me where I had been and when I told him, he replied, with a twinkle in his eye, “it is either heaven or hell, my lady!” That was the last time I went for tennis on a Thursday night!

At the age of 18 I was smitten with polio mellitus. The first sign was on the Monday when I woke up to have my breakfast. Mother spoke to me but I had no voice because the roof of my mouth had become paralysed. She got me back to bed as I was also unable to walk on my own. I couldn't move my arms either. My mother then rang Pastor Powell and the doctor. As the doctor came in the front door Pastor Powell came in through the back door of our bungalow. After the doctor went Pastor Powell could see from the expression on mother's face that something was seriously wrong. The doctor wanted to send an ambulance the following morning to take me into hospital. Pastor Powell said “if she goes into hospital she will never come out alive so don't let her go”. This was a great test for my parents. I was the only child but they had a strong faith. Pastor Powell prayed for me after the doctor had gone. The same evening the doctor came again and this time my left eye had dropped down which was a symptom of sleepy sickness as well. That same evening at church they had a special prayer time and after the service the Pastor and the elders

The Healing of

Betty Robson

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By Mrs Stephen Powell (Née Betty Robson)

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The Healing of Betty Robson

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Stephen and Betty Powell on their wedding day on 30th September 1944

Stephen and Betty Powell (centre bottom) celebrating their Diamond Wedding with

their family in September 2004

came to our home, anointed me with oil and prayed for me. While they were praying in the bedroom all I could hear was some beautiful singing and I felt I had entered into heaven. However the Lord said to me “I am not ready for you yet; there is work to be done”.

Pastor Powell and the elders then left me and went into the sitting room next door where they were reading and praying with my father. My mother remained with me and I indicated to her that I wanted to get up. I could use my legs again by then and I was able to walk into the sitting room. They continued to pray until midnight and then looked up and my left eye had gone back to normal. However I still had no voice. The next morning the doctor came in to see me and he was absolutely amazed. The pastor went round to the doctor's surgery to tell him not to take me to hospital. This was a Monday morning, mother's washday. In those days the washhouse was outside. She was at the clothes line hanging the washing out when she heard, what she thought was me singing. She rushed in and there I was sitting up in bed singing. My voice had come back! The war was on at this time. I didn't want to go into the ammunition factories or the forces. Being a country girl I decided to join the land army. I had to go for an examination with a private doctor. I was asked the usual questions about what illnesses I had. When I told him I had just recovered from polio melitus he couldn't believe I had been so ill. He left me in the room while he went outside and when he came back he said he had rung my doctor who confirmed that what I had told him was so. I duly joined the land army.

Pastor Powell left Grimsby to go to Grays in Essex. Before he left he conducted a wedding in Grimsby where his brother Stephen was best man and I was a bridesmaid. He said to Stephen: “Now there you are, Betty Robson will make you a very good wife. If you don't wake up you are going to lose Betty!” Both Stephen and I were invited to Grays for Christmas. That was where our courtship started and we were married 9 months later on 30th September 1944 by Pastor Powell and Pastor Frank Taylor who had taken over at Grimsby. We have just celebrated our Diamond Wedding!

We are exceedingly grateful to the Lord for His goodness to us. To the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. (Jude 25).

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Hosea 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

What about: accommodation, travel and children?Bawtry Hall is a former Yorkshire country house which is today run as a residential Christian centre.

Accommodation: All rooms are in the main house.Travel:

Children: If there is sufficient demand we will organise children's events during the main sessions.Timing: You are welcome to arrive from 4 p.m. on Friday, and the conference will end after lunch on Sunday.

Questions? Please contact Cheryl Winter-Smith at CAM, P. O. Box 24281, London SE9 4ZT; email: [email protected] or Tel: 02084448746

How to book: Please complete the booking form in this magazine and return it to Cheryl Winter-Smith at the earliest opportunity. We look forward to seeing you at Bawtry in April!

Come to take time to seek the LordCome to hear God's Word taught to us.

Come to be encouraged by having fellowship with other one another

CAM WEEKEND CONFERENCEFriday 29th April 2005 - Sunday 1st May 2005

atBawtry Hall, near Doncaster, Yorkshire.

Speakers:Roger Winter-Smith, Charles Douglas and others

Bawtry Hall Conference Hall Bawtry Room

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