Greetings Dear Friends:
It has taken me a few days since returning from Uganda to clear my thoughts and sit down and write to you. The first day after getting back I was jarred by the weather: When I left Uganda it was warm and sunny 85; the day after my arrival in Minnesota it was 35 with a mix of rain and light snow.
Soon after arriving in Uganda I headed out to Busanna. Pastor James had arranged a two-day conference for 15 local pastors. Of the 15, I knew 9 well. The other 6 I had not previously met.
The week before I left Pastor James asked me if I would teach on spiritual gifts and the Holy Spirit. The gift he emphasized was speaking in tongues and the 2nd baptism of the Holy Spirit. This was not what I had planned for, but I scrubbed my material and prepared myself for the teaching he asked for.
In Busanna I asked Pastor James why the sudden need for this particular teaching. He said some new pastors had moved into the area and started teaching that one needed to speak in tongues and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit to confirm their salvation. He went on to say that they will be joining us for the pastors’ conference.
The first six hours we examined every aspect of tongue speaking found in God’s Word. We read and discussed the things it has to say and looked for the teaching that some claim is there about this gift, but were unable to find it in the text. We broke down chapters 2, 10, and 19 from Acts and the following day we examined 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. And we examined what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is.
In conclusion I left them with the following thoughts:
Nothing in Paul’s epistles suggest that the gift of the Spirit comes in two steps or blessings. He does not teach that the gift of tongues is evidence of having more spiritual power. And if the gift of tongues is used in the church, it must be according to the instructions Paul give to the church.
During the scripture examination at the conference many questions were asked. The most common one: Why is there so much focus on this teaching throughout Uganda and East Africa? I tried my best to share with them my thoughts and more importantly insights from Scripture. We realized that this problem in the church is not a new one. However, unlike the early church we have the complete Bible to help us in all manner of faith and living. We also came to realize that many fall into this deep dark sea of emotional living for God without ever really examining what the Scriptures have to say concerning this and other doctrines. Coupled with that many leaders like having emotional control and seem to prefer a sense of euphoria over solid Bible teaching.
I hope they realized that it takes time and serious effort to train and build up leaders that confirm the truths in the way they live and be able to teach them to other trustworthy leaders.
Something that has never happen to me before in such a tense teaching environment was that two of the pastors who came from a different point of view of the subject made public confessions that they had been in error in their position on this doctrine. In light of what they had learned, they renounced the practice speaking in tongues and the second baptism. The both asked Pastor James for help with their churches and for further instructions on this and other important biblical doctrines.
I spent 3 days with them. The last day we prayed and discussed the building of the new church building and the land purchase of the sister churches of Busanna. We are still waiting for the land papers to be written up, it was set back because the lady selling the land has been unable to make it out to Busanna for the paper signing; I hope she will this week. The new church building in Kusanna will be starting soon. We bought the bricks and laid out the foundation. Soon they will start digging and building the first phase of the project.
Thank you all who have given and prayed getting this project off the ground. By faith we are trusting God to provide the additional funding to complete the building, which is around $1,500.00.
The second thing I did during my trip to Uganda was the English Camp Outreach in Kampala. It was much better than I had anticipated. But I will save that story for the next PipesLine Update.
In closing, I want to thank you all for your prayer support. In every step during this adventure I was able to see God’s hand pointing us in the direction we needed to go and giving us the words to speak.
How does God incorporate our prayers into His will? I guess I will have to wait until this aspect of our relationship with our Father and each other is revealed to us in glory.
Blessings,
John and Alina
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Pastors and other leaders from the Busanna, Uganda area churches.
The structure on the left will be replaced with a new brink and tin roof building this coming year.