The New Israel: Who is Behind the Violence and Mayhem in SA? (Part 4)

The New Israel: From the Frying Pan into Strange Fire?

Several churches have experienced major exoduses in these last few decades. One of the more recent ones to have taken place in South Africa was when thousands upon thousands left their mother church, the Dutch Reformed Church, to join other churches, mainly the Emergent Church (mystical contemplative churches), but mostly Pentecostal, Charismatic, Word of Faith, Hebrew Roots, and the New Apostolic Reformation-tinted churches. Official statistics indicate that in 2011 alone the DRC lost about 20000 members, if not more. There are several reasons why so many have abandoned the DRC. God’s judgments seem to have begun to fall on the church communities in South Africa in strange and unexpected ways. Whether we like it or not God’s judgments always begin in church circles where the apostasy has festered the deepest.

For it is the time [destined] for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not respect or believe or obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17).

Whenever God judged Israel for her sins, the first to feel the pangs of his righteous judgments was the religious hierarchy. A case in point is God’s judgment on Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10.

And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. (Leviticus 10:1-2).

Fire and especially strange fire is raging through South African churches like wildfire and emitting a fragrance that sickens God. (Isaiah 1: 11-17). It is worse than the raging fires looters are kindling in South African shopping malls because it is killing people spiritually. Riekert Botha uses the same passage from Isaiah to implicate the Afrikaans Gereformeerde Kerk with the same foul aroma mentioned there, but conveniently forgets that similar odors of apostasy and fragrances of strange fires are incinerating the unsuspecting useful fools in the Hebrew Roots movement, the NAR, Pentecostal, Charismatic and Word of Faith churches, and particularly in the interdenominational sense of the word. As already mentioned, it is much worse than the fires kindled by the looters.

A church in the vanguard to be so crazy enough to believe that they are here for the greatest move of God in human history, according to Andy Byrd of YWAM (Youth with a Mission), was established in Potchefstroom. It is called the FF (Fire and Fragrance), a movement Andy Byrd and his wife, Holly, founded to draw and enroll a huge number of young people worldwide (Potchefstroom has a large student community) and to send them out into their communities to evangelize their cities and the world.

One of the more patent reasons why so many disillusioned catechized members abandoned the Dutch Reformed Church can be attributed to their craving for an experiential religion which, in short, is the enemy of true faith (Hebrews 11:1). People no longer fancy a church where they rigidly sit upright in long tailormade wooden benches facing a high elevated pulpit with a black-caped man preaching from a book they hardly read and study themselves. They’ve had enough of this. Nowadays they want power, wonders, and miracles; they want to hear God’s voice; they want to make Him “Visible, Palpable and Comprehensible,” as Stephan Joubert’s online ekerk says in its logo.

Rituals such as Infant baptism is seen as a Roman Catholic institutionalized rite, and many seek to return to their Christian roots characterized by the so-called believers’ baptism by full immersion in water, accompanied by speaking in tongues, miracles, prophecies and visions and dreams, and even a literal return to the observance of the Jewish Sabbath, dietary laws, and the various festivals (Hebrew Roots). 

LGBTQ and Israel

Wikipedia reports:

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Israel are considered the most developed in the Middle East. Although same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1988, the former law against sodomy had not been enforced since a court decision in 1963. Israel became the first country in Asia to recognize unregistered cohabitation between same-sex couples, making it the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex unions in any capacity. Although same-sex marriages are not performed in the country, Israel recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation was prohibited in 1992. Same-sex couples are allowed to jointly adopt, following a landmark court decision in 2008. Previously, stepchild adoption, as well as limited co-guardianship rights for non-biological parents, were permitted. LGBT people are also allowed to serve openly in the military.

Tel Aviv was referred to by the Calgary Herald as one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world, famous for its annual Pride parade and gay beach, earning it the nickname “the gay capital of the Middle East” by Out magazine. According to users of the website GayCities, it was ranked as the best gay city in 2011, despite reports of some anti-LGBT violence during the 2000s, which were criticized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres. A monument dedicated to the gay victims of the Holocaust was erected in Tel Aviv in 2014. Opinion polls have found that a majority of Israelis support the legalization of same-sex marriage, as well as adoption and surrogacy rights for same-sex couples. During International Pride Month on 21 June 2020, Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality announced that same-sex couples would have exactly the same rights as opposite-sex marriages there, with this being provided by the municipality. Marriages inside the municipality will be legally recognized as others.

No wonder God’s judgments are going to fall on Jerusalem as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.

For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. (Lamentations 4:6).

I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. (Jeremiah 23:14).

The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. (Isaiah 3:9). . . . Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.. (Philippians 3:19).

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:31)

Is the Alleged New Israel, the Church, any Better?

One of the more obvious reasons why so many Afrikaners have abandoned the Dutch Reformed Church and joined other churches, which since has been revisited and overturned, is the LGBTQ issue. Dirkie van der Spuy of the Moreletta Park DRC in Pretoria who had been a staunch defender of the church’s longstanding views on gays, and particularly gay marriages, made a 180-degree about-turn in favour of gay marriages. In this YouTube video, he and Nelis Janse van Rensburg made in October 2015 during a DRC General Synod Meeting, they responded to the LGBTQ communities as follows.

Dirkie van der Spuy says:

Take note that views on same sex relationships had already been discussed at several previous synods. I think, as far as this meeting is concerned, a follow-up step has been taken, in that there is now more room and an openness for gay pastors to be ordained in the ministry and to be involved in the confirmation of a civil union. . ..

In other words, I think there is a wider openness for same sex relationships in the community. I think what reassures me is that there is an openness among different church councils who have different views on the matter, who interpret the Bible differently, and others who feel there is no room for a spiritual leader to live in a same sex relationship.

There is room for church councils to organize their own practices and to make their own rules in the light of Scripture.  . . .

So, I don’t think this is an aberration that separates people. I do however believe an openness is given for a much wider acceptance of persons who want to live in same sex relationships, but no decisions will be forced upon church councils to abandon their principles the way they interpret it from Scripture.

Nelis Janse van Rensburg responds:

The reason why it took so long to [make a Synodic decision] is because it is a struggle of the church to really understand God’s will.

And where does the church go when it wants to discern God’s will? She goes to the Bible. And it is also a difficult process. Literally every scripture reference to homosexual behaviour has been researched for decades.

Every aspect from every conceivable corner was considered. It must be read in the context of those days – the context in which those passages were used at the time.

And now we must ask ourselves: How to we use it now, today? How do we apply it today? There is evidently a diversity of perspectives on them. Also, in this synod there was an in-depth discussion on the different perspectives on Scripture. [DTW comment: It is abundantly clear what Nelis Janse van Rensburg wishes to bring across namely that, while God remains the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13: 8), the context of his unchangeable sameness fluctuates from era to era. QED: The concept of a legitimate marriage in the olden days as that of becoming one flesh between one man and one woman, has now, in our super modern digitally enhanced age, become strange flesh between a man and a man or a woman and a woman. (Jude 1: 7). It simply means that Almighty God has become so pliable and manipulable in puny men’s hands, that they can do with Him whatever they wish. And this, is precisely what the prophet Daniel predicted when he said, “He (the Antichrist) will speak words against the Most High [God] and wear down the saints of the Most High, and he will intend to change the times and the law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, [two] times, and half a time [three and one-half years Van Rensburg continues to say: -].

It is not as if the church is not serious about the Bible. On the contrary, it was indeed the church’s seriousness that caused her to struggle so much with this matter. Of course, there is much concern because there are certain passages in Scripture that seem to point to an opposite opinion – that point directly to the opposite.

And this discussion is an open discussion. And therefore, the synod decided that we ought to continue doing research and to make sure it remains part and parcel of our thinking; that we had not come to the end of the road but that we actually should keep on thinking about it, and that we should still do some research. [DTW comment: Research? What kind of research is needed to understand the simple command, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, . . ?” (Genesis 1:28). Perhaps the DRC should invite a few teenagers to regularly attend their synods to assist them in ascertaining to pinpoint precision that a man having sex with another man or a woman having sex with another woman cannot possibly replenish the earth. Art thou masters of the DRC, and thou knowest not these things? In another YouTube video both these gentlemen have at long last come to the conclusion that their church, the DRC, needs to reach out to others with the Gospel. But . . . but, how on earth can they do that when they do not even know how God intended humankind to repelenish the earth? I, for one, wouldn’t want to hear their version of the Gospel when they don’t even have the slightest inkling of how the basest biological desires of man to produce an offspring works. What shall we call them – synodical oafs?].

What we are trying to do is to listen to one another and keep on listening and I really want to say that the listening process should remain open although decisions have been made. [DTW comment: So, what’s the point in listening to one another’s opinions when a decision has already been made? How can they listen to each other when they are not even listening to and obeying God? Deep inside they know they are wrong but dare not express their views. It reminds me of Paul’s words in Romans 1, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; (Romans 1:18)].

The decision that “There is room for church councils to organize their own practices and to make their own rules in the light of Scripture.  . . .,” reminds one of the terrible apostasies in Israel during the time of the Judges, where it is said, “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17: 6).

This usually happens when the immutable authority of God and his Word is mutilated to fit into every Tom, Dick, and Harry’s own contextualized interpretation of God’s truth. It is an abomination and God will not allow it to go unpunished. Nelis Janse van Rensbsurg’s abominable statement, “Every aspect from every conceivable corner was considered. It must be read in the context of those days – the context in which those passages were used at the time.”

Their God’s name is Context – the one “old” and the other “new,” a god whom they can manipulate at will according to the itching ears of their congregations. The immutable God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of whom it is said that he is the same yesterday, today and forevermore, including his commands, is no longer their God.

Some in the LGBTQ community even claim that they have some sort of connection with Israel. A staff journalist of the Mail and Guardian reported on “The slow and steady death of the Dutch Reformed Church” (April 5^th, 2012) as follows:

Opening my eyes again, the contrast with my old church could not be bigger. It is 2012 in Pretoria and a gentle breeze is blowing through the church. The congregation is in full voice led by four young, casually dressed guys on microphones, looking and sounding like a boy band, but one that can really sing.

When they sit down in the front pew for the sermon, two of the singers sit close, like lovers. They hold hands and sometimes steal glances. But nobody gives them a second look. Because tonight it is a different congregation in this suburban church. The Reformerende Kerk (Reforming Church) is a small church for Afrikaans-speaking gay people who use this gay-friendly Dutch Reformed dominee’s church building every Sunday evening.

Dominee Andre Muller, who was born and bred in conservative Pretoria, formed the church 20 years ago after he was expelled from the Dutch Reformed Church when they found out he was gay. His thriving church now has 300 members.

Tonight’s sermon is centred on Luke 13: 34. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.”

The allusion is rather obvious. The LGBTQ community is the prophets whom the religious hierarchy is relentlessly persecuting, stoning, and excommunicating from the temple (church), just like the Pharisees of old. He continues to say,

The white, brown and black chicks are a wonderful metaphor for the church, Muller says.

“It is a surprising metaphor for Jesus to use, comparing himself with a hen. He crosses the barrier of gender that was unthinkable in the patriarchal society of Israel 2000 years ago. Jesus is clearly not prejudiced when it comes to sexuality. He is not some narrow-minded male character — he finds it natural to refer to himself in female terms.”

Who in their wildest dreams could have imagined that the natural instincts of a hen to protect her chicks against impending danger can be used to justify a marriage between a male (cock) and a hen (metaphorical male)? But, then again, nowadays, according to the DRC’s hierarchy, anyone can interpret God’s Word to his/her own liking and make it say what God never intended it to say.

The very next best thing to do would be to find a preacher who takes his sermon from John 10: 9, “I am the door: by me, if any man enters in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture,” and then interpret it as follows, “It is a surprising metaphor for Jesus to use, comparing himself with a door. He crosses the barrier of impersonal matter that was unthinkable in the patriarchal society of Israel 2000 years ago.”

The New Israel: The Shofar (The Blast that opens the Heavens)

Some churches, like the Shofar Church of Pastor Gielie Jordaan in Potchefstroom, stridently deny having any affiliation with or for the Hebrew Roots movement. However, they are amazingly comfortable with the name of their church – the Shofar Church. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says this of the Shofar.

Shofar, also spelled shophar, plural shofroth, shophroth, or shofrot, ritual musical instrument, made from the horn of a ram or other animal, used on important Jewish public and religious occasions. In biblical times the shofar sounded the Sabbath, announced the New Moon, and proclaimed the anointing of a new king. This latter custom has been preserved in modern Israel at the swearing-in of the president of the state.

In NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) circles, of which SLSW (Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare) is pre-eminently part and parcel of the Dominionist, Seven Mountain, and Five-Fold Ministries’ agenda, the door to shamanism (witch-doctoring) was fulsomely opened. In his June 1^st, 1997 article, “The New Spiritual Warfare Strategies, Part 11” Tom MacMahon of The Berean Call wrote,

Many concerned observers of the strategic-level spiritual warfare movement recognize its characteristics as being akin to shamanism (i.e., witch doctoring). … The shaman’s world is one of direct daily contact with the spirit realm. The shaman leads his people in spiritually efficacious rituals or public dances/marches to the glory of his spirits. He develops methods and techniques to overcome evil spirits, techniques he receives from good spirits, so he believes. Communication with invisible entities is totally subjective, often experimental, and always pragmatic: if it works it’s good medicine. The “good” spirits give the shaman spiritual discernment, enabling him to recognize curse-laden objects and even to “see” evil entities which could be destructive to his village. All such methods, techniques and rituals encompass sorcery and are diametrically opposed to God’s way.

When the Apostle Paul referred to Jannes and Jambres in his second letter to Timothy, the reference seems to be to their involvement in counterfeit signs and wonders in Pharaoh’s court. Is Paul telling us that the perilous times in the last days will see pervasive counterfeit spirituality or sorcery? Are we seeing “… a form of godliness” (2 Timothy 3: 5) being dispensed to the sheep by witting or unwitting shepherds of shamanism who, like Pharaoh’s magicians, “also resist the truth” (v 8)?

Major elements of the strategic-level spiritual warfare movement’s teachings and practices are either foundational to, or heavily incorporated in, many of today’s popular programs/ministries. Of the latter, some of the most influential are the Pensacola revival, Richard Foster’s Renovaré, the John Jacobs Power Team, YWAM’s Impact World Tour, Neil Anderson’s Freedom in Christ seminars, Cindy Jacobs’ Generals of Intercession, Dick Eastman’s Every Home for Christ, and George Otis, Jr.’s The Sentinel Group. Pray that the Lord will bring true spiritual discernment to both the leaders and followers of these programs, and to the many others caught up in the same biblical errors. Pray that God will turn them from the way of the shaman and back to His “good way” (Jer 6:16).

It is alarming how Satan’s strange fire is rapidly spreading throughout South Africa, and to which extent outwardly conservative preachers of the Gospel, like Riekert Botha, are helping to stoke these strange fires in his alignment with the NAR orchestrated church of Gielie Jordaan, the Shofar Church in Potchefstroom.

Commission Night: Andy Byrd (YWAM)

End-time ministries have a wonderful knack to present their audiences with a kind of spectacular Hollywoodian display of power, wonders, and miracles. These elements are indispensable, especially among our youth, if they are to be reached with the Gospel to launch an Endtime revival, so they believe. Sadly, it is nothing else than a Simon the sorcerer’s apprentice trying to force millions of young people through the strait gate onto the narrow way. Sad to say, it won’t and cannot work because they are presenting the youth with a watered-down false gospel. (Matthew 7:13-14).

Andy Byrd and some of his followers presented a “Night of Prayer, Worship, and Contending for The Move of God in our City Potchefstroom” on Tuesday, 6^th April 2021 where he, the founder of Fragrance and Fire and co-worker of YWAM, was the guest speaker.

Andy Byrd’s strange fire has come a long way. In Fact, it goes as far back as Kathryn Kuhlman who, together with Aimee Semple McPherson, had a huge influence on the false teacher, Benny Hinn, who claims to have received a great anointing that lingered over McPherson’s body when he visited her grave. (source). A Comment by Steven Henry on Andy Byrd’s Facebook page reveals that Andy’s great grandmother was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit in Aimee Semple McPherson’s Angelus Temple. Andy Byrd’s grandmother and his mom sang in Kathryn Kuhlman’s choir on many occasions, and she has a photo to prove it.

Compromise by Proxy

Whenever you feel obliged to take a stand for biblical truth but don’t really want to disturb the unity and loving relationships within the Christian church at large, there is a way to circumvent your apparent radical biblical conservatism, and that is to compromise your stance by proxy. Here’s an example. Andy Byrd and YWAM have very strong anti-LGBTQ views. In a statement released by YWAM they reaffirm their commitment to the historically Christian view of marriage and sexual ethics: “We uphold and celebrate the Biblical view that God’s intent for holy matrimony is between one man and one woman.” (Source)

We hold unswervingly to God’s original design for holy matrimony between one man and one woman as described in Genesis 2:23-24. All sexual activity (heterosexual or homosexual) outside of this God-ordained arrangement is sin.

Well said! But why then are they prepared to climb into bed with MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH? (Revelation 17: 5). Should we be surprised? Not at all, because ecumenism is at best founded on deceit and double-talk (a forked tongue, as some would say). Pope Francis is well-known for his radical transformational schemes in the Roman Catholic Church, not least of all his views on homosexuality. Since his ascendancy to “Papa” he has said some rather un-Catholic things about homosexuals.

“If they [gay priests] accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalized. The tendency [same-sex attraction] is not the problem… they’re our brothers.”

Source 1; Source 2

Lou Engle, one of the prophetic pillars in YWAM, predicted more than eight years ago that Youth With A Mission would be at the forefront to evangelize the world through fasting, prayer, and diehard missionary work. Now, before we continue, we need to clarify their view of revival which we may safely call a “Billy Graham Revival Movement.” In short, it amounts to an ecumenical gathering of Protestants and Catholics together in love, unity, and solidarity around the so-called “sinners prayer.” Billy Graham made many altar calls urging people (Protestants and Catholics) to come forward and to repeat the sinner’s prayer after him. Yet he always encouraged Catholics to return to their Roman Catholic cult of worship.

Andy Byrd said of Billy Graham in an interview with Steven Strang (Charisma Magazine).

“[The Send] really came about from a seven-year journey, a seven-year word to Lou Engle and The Call that there was soon going to be coming a transition in America and to The Call from calling people to prayer and fasting to sending people in a spirit of prayer and in a spirit of fasting into evangelism and missions with power,” Byrd tells me. “And the mantle, the responsibility, the sense of passion that Billy Graham had to reach his generation, that that same passion was going to fall on an entire generation. So we’ve been on a seven-year journey to kind of walk that word out, and we’ve always felt and had words that it would begin in Orlando.”

I witnessed Billy Graham’s anointing during one of his crusades in Orlando in 1984. At that crusade, I saw far fewer than half the number of people I saw at The Send. But even more fascinating is that the stadium Billy Graham preached in was torn down and a new one was built—the very stadium The Send used for their first conference.

One thing that marked Billy Graham’s huge crusades was that scores of people often responded to the Gospel message. The Send was no different.

Andy, without blushing, actually said, “Call me the Second Billy Graham.” In fact, it is very true in the sense that YWAM is continuing the ecumenical wave Billy Graham set in motion in 1947. Not only has YWAM founders Loren and Darlene Cunningham talked about Bible distribution with Pope Francis under the banner of “Work and Pray for Christian Unity,” Lou Engle has taken it a step further by his endorsement of Catholic evangelists, Keith and Iwona Major, who have been working non-stop with The Send founder, Lou Engle, and IHOPKC’s (International House of Prayer Kansas City) Mike Bickle to unify Catholics and Protestants. Lou Engle stated:

“Keith and Iwona Major are a bridge to helping the Evangelical and Catholic worlds become one. I bless this couple for all they are doing.” 

Source

Here is more evidence that the likes of Riekert Botha and his clan are headed for an ecumenical dream of “revival” through Gielie Jordaan’s Shofar Church and their affiliation with Andy Byrd (YWAM)? Watch out Ferdi Mulder. Riekert Botha is by flattery trying to get you on their side – not on God’s side, but their Shofaristic-Hebraic Roots side.

Have you noticed the word “openness” and its association with “peace” in Pope Francis’ poster? Where else did the word openness (“openheid” in Afrikaans) frequently pop up? Yes, you’re right. Dirkie van der Spuy and Nelis Janse van Rensburg uses it frequently in their YouTube video “Same-Sex Relationships.” I wonder who inspired them to use it so copiously in all of their synodical discussions on homosexuality. Papa? At least one of the French Revolution’s words “fraternity” appears in Papa’s slogan. I wonder how long it is going to take to add all the others – ” Liberté, égalité, fraternité, ou la mort!” (“Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death!”). The prophet Daniel summed it up well when he wrote “and by peace [he, the Antichrist] shall destroy many” (Daniel 8:25).

Conclusion

God’s righteous judgments in the form of fire and brimstone rained on Sodom and Gomorrah after Abraham’s fervent prayer for God to spare the two cities if there were ten righteous in them. Sadly there were only four, Lot, his wife, and his two daughters who, with the exception of his wife, barely escaped God’s judgment (Genesis 18:16-33). In these end-time days there is no need for God to pour out fire on those who go after strange flesh and those who compromise their “faith” on behalf of strange fire which they themselves are pouring out on themselves.

Although they know God’s righteous decree and His judgment (on Sodom and Gomorrah), that those who do such things deserve death, yet they not only do them, but they even [enthusiastically] approve and tolerate others who practice them. (Romans 1:32; AMP).

The following video is for our Afrikaans viewers. It features Ferdie Mulder who was a theological student at the University of Pretoria from 2001 to 2006. He was expelled when he accused Julian Müller, Jurie le Roux, and Dirk Human of heresy because they rejected (and still do) the literal and physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Listen carefully to the testimony of the woman toward the end of his video. It reflects what needs to be done if we want God, Jesus Christ, to save South Africa from disaster. The title of his video is “Same-Sex Marriages: A New Religion?”

A Final Remark

History, and especially that of the nation of Israel, proves that erroneous and false doctrines, apostasy, and idolatry eventually lead to all kinds of sexual sins (porneia). In fact, apostasy of whatever flavour is called spiritual fornication throughout the Bible.

Pleas see articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5 and Part 6