Heartlines Review

by Salvador Ung Hayworth

A new project has been undertaken in South Africa. It is an initiative, which will use television, radio and print media to tell stories in order to get the nation of South Africa talking and thinking about values. The campaign is called ‘Heartlines’ and starts on 16 th July 2006. It will run for eight weeks and each week will show a film that highlights one of the eight values that it seeks to deal with. The eight values are ‘second chances, responsibility, forgiveness, perseverance, self-control, accepting difference, compassion and honesty’. This project is seeking to promote a conversation, based on these values, in order to bring out a transformation in South African society. Hence Heartlines is a ‘Values-Driven Transformation’. So what has this got to do with the Christian Church? Well as a matter of fact there are people who are stating that this is a Christian movement to ‘further the kingdom of God’.

Heartlines advertises it’s ‘Values Book; A Discussion Guide for Christian Leaders’, which is downloadable from their website www.heartlines.org.za in PDF format. Hence Heartlines is not just an enterprise to help HIV/AIDS projects or to help fight crime but it is a spiritual banner. Therefore, because it is a spiritual program, it must be investigated before a Christian or a church decides to get involved. This was the practice of the Bereans when Paul shared the Gospel with them (Acts 17: 11). They examined the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. After looking at the information provided on the website, I see some very confusing and worrying things for something that carries a ‘Christian’ vocabulary and seeks to work with Churches.

On the first page of their website, Heartlines explains what it is about.

“HEARTLINES is about:

Using multi media to capture the heart of the nation through stories that emphasise the core values that connect all South Africans.

• Helping the nation move from professed values, to lived values.
• Engaging in robust debate that links HEARTLINES values to issues of the day – getting to the heart of matters.
• Contributing to the transformation of the nation, in line with the call for moral regeneration.”

Now, if Heartlines is supposed to be building up and extending the kingdom of God, then why is there no mention of the Gospel in their explanation of what Heartlines is about? How can a person build up the Kingdom of God without Jesus, and without mention of the redemption of mankind through His propitiatory sacrifice? Nowhere in the commission that Jesus gave to His disciples did He say that we are to transform our societies. He said we are to make disciples. Jesus builds His Church as people come to believe in Him and repent of their sins. The cross and the blood of Christ are essential.

Also there are other worrying claims made by the Heartlines website,

“Since 83% of South Africans align themselves with one of the country’s four major religions, HEARTLINES uses God as the authority base for the values. According to the 2001 census, 79.8% of South Africans described themselves as Christian, 1.5% as Muslim, 1.2% as Hindu and 0.2% as Jewish.”

Therefore, what they are saying is that the reason that Heartlines wants to talk about God (and use God as the authority for their values), is not because He is the authority, but simply because the consensus claims they believe in some form of god. This is not only Christianity which Heartlines is speaking about but also Islam, Hinduism and Judaism. In other words this endeavour is not about truth but about morals. So why produce a booklet for Christian leaders? Why not Hinduism or Buddhism? I believe that what is implied is that it has a booklet for Christian leaders, not because Christianity is true, but simply because the majority of people align themselves to Christianity, approximately 79.8% of South Africans.

“Based on the premise that South Africans - no matter what their race, colour or creed, share many of the same core values, the MMP aims to use multi media to create debate about, and reinforce these core values, through a variety of projects.”

It is not about Jesus, He isn’t the point. The point is addressing the social problems of South Africa by promoting core values that South Africans share ‘no matter what their…creed.’ This situation, a situation where the people of God work with unbelievers to build up the kingdom of God bears resemblance to Ezra 4: 1 – 3. Judah and Benjamin were rebuilding the temple, and their enemies came and said, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” But what was the reaction of the godly leaders, Zerubbabel and Jeshua? They said “You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God”. These other religions do not share the same core values. But how can that be? Don’t Hindus believe that we should forgive and get second chances?

The scripture shows that without Christ’s sacrifice we would not be forgiven (Hebrews 9: 22 – 28). In fact without Christ’s resurrection we would still be in our sins (1 Corinthians 15: 17). All Biblical values are contextually bound up in the Gospel and therefore are not in common with other religions. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: 32 “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’. Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”” In other words, we should live to please the Lord because the Resurrection is fact. If it isn’t then what is the point? We might as well spend our lives just trying to enjoy ourselves. Following the ‘Moral Code’ of Christianity is built upon the premise that the Bible is true and Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam are not. Yes, there is a moral code among different people groups. Romans 2: 1 – 16 speaks of unbelieving Gentiles who have a knowledge of right and wrong. This is to do with people’s consciences that God gave them, who originally knew God but then turned to idolatry. It has nothing to do with the religions that people are a part of today.

Paul had no desire to start a moral transformation of society, rather he preached the Gospel. He had much concern though with the moral fabric of the Church. He said, concerning not associating with immoral people, “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” (1 Corinthians 5: 12 – 13) Paul didn’t try to deal with the immorality outside of the Church because those people weren’t even saved. But he made it an imperative to cleanse out the Leaven of wickedness inside the Church. So what unity between these religions can be espoused?

We are dealing with what Francis Schaeffer warned us of, more than 30 years ago when he wrote, “because the phrase ‘Jesus Christ’ has been separated from true history and the content of Scripture, it can be used to trigger religiously motivated sociological actions directly contrasted to the teaching of Christ.₁” In other words what Francis Schaeffer is saying is this. It is possible that someone can use the name of Jesus in a way to cause people to act to the benefit of society and under the banner of religion and yet do so in a way that contradicts the teaching of the Jesus that he claims he is following. Schaeffer called these words, ‘God words’ or ‘connotation words’ and saw this as a basis for a new theology within Christendom. As he wrote in the same book, “It should be obvious by this time that Christianity and the new theology have no relationship except the use of a common terminology with different meanings.₂” Hence we see why different religions may rally round these values because each has a different understanding for the basis and practise of these and yet all use the same vocabulary. He also wrote, “The prevailing dialectical methodology fits itself easily into religious forms.₃”This is how they can have Rabbi Warren Goldstein endorse the project alongside Archbishop Desmond Tutu. This project according to Heartlines is;

“Building on the important, God-based values, that so many South African share, and choose to build their lives on, no matter what their religious beliefs.”

According to their own publicity, it is not even about Jesus but about ‘God-based values’. Heartlines is there for you whether you believe in the God that will only save people that believe in His Son Jesus Christ; or whether you believe in the god who doesn’t have a son, Mohammed being his prophet; or whether you believe in a cosmic life source which manifests itself in a duplicity of gods. If beliefs are irrelevant to having ‘God-based values’ then all these religions must obviously be in touch with the same god and must be serving the same god. And what would this god be that all these religions have in common? It must be a god who has a son and at the same time doesn’t have a son, whose prophet is Mohammed but Mohammed at the same time is a false prophet, who is one god in three persons, but at the same time is obviously not a trinity, and yet is a trinity of three separate gods who are also in a pantheon of millions of gods who all embody god! Obviously this is the god that these values are derived from!

But why include a god in the program if the main point is promoting a moral improvement? There are atheists who would claim that their atheism encourages them to live for the benefit of their fellow man, not because of obedience to some god but because of the worth of mankind and out of genuine love? Making the main issue ‘eradicating social ills’ nullifies the Gospel. When we see ourselves as morally good people then we take away the need of salvation for ourselves. Jesus didn’t come for the righteous but came to bring sinners to repentance.

So if these ‘God given values’ are to be promoted regardless of ones creed in regards to religion then what hope is there when it comes to telling the difference between true and false Christianity. Jesus said in Matthew 7: 21 – 23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” Just because 79.8% of South Africans claim to be Christians doesn’t mean that 79.8% of South Africans actually are Christians. There are “Christians” that reject Jesus’ words and believe what they like about Jesus. I met one girl who believed that Jesus had no problem with her living with her boyfriend and thought that marriage wasn’t a big deal. She had redefined Jesus into the image that she wanted but the Jesus of the Bible held marriage to be absolutely sacred. And we see this mixture of true and false Christianity mirrored in the list of churches that have received presentations of heartlines or are potentially going to receive presentations.

Church leaders who have received presentations on HEARTLINES.

• The Church of the Province of Southern Africa (Archbishop Emeritus Tutu)
• The Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa (Bishop Moyo)
• The Catholic Bishop’s Conference (Wilfrid Cardinal Napier)
• The Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) (Dr Coenie Burger / Dr Kobus Gerber)
• New Covenant Ministries (NCMI) (Mr Ashley Bell)
• Rhema Bible Church (Pastor Ron Steele)
• The Salvation Army (Major Keith Conrad)
• Vineyard Christian Fellowship (Pastor Costa Mitchell)
• The Full Gospel Church (Pastor Christy Perumal)
• The Apostolic Faith Mission (Rev Peter De Witt)
• Assemblies of God (Rev Colin La Foy)
• The Baptist Church (Rev Angelo Scheepers)
• His People (Pastor Errol Naidoo)
• The Methodist Church of Southern Africa (Bishop Ivan Abrahams)
• The Church of the Province of Southern Africa (Bishop David Beetge: Highveld Diocese)
• NCMI regional elders meeting in Gauteng
• NGK regional synods – Pretoria and AlbertonNGK women’s meeting – Pretoria
• Transforming Tshwane church leaders’ fraternal KZN Anglican Diocese – Bishop Dino Gabriel & others
• The Moravian Church (Ms Angeline Swart)
• The Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (Rt Rev Dr Jerry Pillay)

And contact has been made with the following churches in order to schedule a meeting:

• Baptist Convention of SA (Rev Msiza)
• Church of the Nazarene (Dr J Fred Huff)
• Zionist Christian Church (Bishop Lekganyane and Rev Solly Monyai)

Letters have been drafted to the following denominational leaders requesting a meeting:

• Pastor Muso Sono - Grace Bible Church Soweto                                     
• Bishop Paul Veryn - Methodist Church Jabavu/White City                
• Archbishop OJ Mthopa - African Catholic Church Daveyton/Bethesda Apostolic Church, Diepkloof
• Archbishop T Ntongana - Council of African Instituted Church Kwa Xuma
• Rev S Masopha - Evangelical Church in SA Jouberton
• Bishop L Sibiya   - Evangelical Lutheran Church in SA Bonaero Park
• Rev Dr N Tshawane - Evangelica Presbyterian Church in SA Braamfontein
• Rev PM Mosoeu - Hervormde Kerk in Suidelike Afrika Pretoria
• Bishop James Davies - African Methodist Episcopal Church Excom
• Dr J Hlongwane - Mahon Evangelical Church of Southern Africa,Wits
• Rev Richard Makunyane - Christ Alive Church Ga-Rankuwa
• Bishop D Mkize - St Ansgars Light of Life Lutheran Church Meadowlands
• Mr Rabana Modisane -Youth For Christ
• Rev Pshitabia - Baptist Community Church Zola South
• Rev Pudule - National Baptist Church SA Eldoradopark
• Rev Shembe - Free Methodist Church in SA Primrose
• Bishop Tswaedi - Lutheran Church in Southern Africa
• Bishop Dwane - Ethiopian Episcopal Church,
• Rev Holmuka - African Congregational Church
• Rev Sam Owebehari - Southern African Evangelistic Mission

So Heartlines, therefore, is an ecumenical and multifaith enterprise. Within this group there are groups that aren’t even biblical. There is the Catholic Church, which prays to Saints which is Christianized necromancy, (Deut 18: 11 and 12), accepts Mary as co-mediator with Christ (1 Timothy 2: 5) and practices idolatry when it takes the mass and bows down to Images and statues of Mary. Jesus’ work of salvation on the cross was finished and therefore doesn’t need to be repeated as He died once for all. (Jn 19: 30, Heb 10: 10 – 18) How can the true Church work alongside this false one?

What of Rhema churches with their history of money begging and force of faith teaching? They teach that you should be rich and if you give to their ministry then God will give you more money. They say that if you have a need you should plant a faith seed and God will give you back more. 2 Peter 2: 1 – 3 says “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgement from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” Phrase by phrase this fits into the context of the ‘Word of Faith’ churches.

• Peter says that they secretly introduce destructive heresies. How do they do this? They use worldly philosophy and they twist the word of God. The parable of the sower is to do with the Word of God being planted in the hearts of different people, but suddenly it is reinterpreted to speaking about making money.
• Peter says that they deny the Master that bought them. What else are you doing when you follow the advice of ‘Don’t pray ‘Thy will be done’ but pray My will.’

Frederick K.C. Price : "When I first got saved they didn't tell me I could do anything. What they told me to do was that whenever I prayed I should always say, 'The will of the Lord be done.' Now, doesn't that sound humble? It does. Sounds like humility, it's really stupidity. I mean, you know, really, we insult God. I mean, we really do insult our Heavenly Father. We do; we really insult Him without even realizing it. If you have to say, 'If it be thy will' or 'Thy will be done'--if you have to say that, then you're calling God a fool because He's the One that told us to ask. . . . If God's gonna give me what He wants me to have, then it doesn't matter what I ask. I'm only gonna get what God wants me to have. So that's an insult to God's intelligence." ("Ever Increasing Faith" program on TBN [16 November 1990].)

Kenneth Copeland : "As a believer, you have a right to make commands in the name of Jesus. Each time you stand on the Word, you are commanding God to a certain extent because it is His Word." (Our Covenant with God [Fort Worth, TX: KCP Publications, 1987], 32.)

When we order God about we are acting as the Master and treating God as the Servant!

• Peter says that many will follow their sensuality. The word sensuality means to please the senses. Whatever makes you feel good. This is the mindset of the worship services of a number of their churches; when they work towards having the nice warm and fuzzy feelings.
• Peter says that in their greed they will exploit you and we see that in the constant messages about blessing the man of God in order to get blessing; about constant giving in order to get, according to the law of faith.
• Peter says that because of them, the way of Truth will be maligned, and that is what happens after the unbeliever sees through the charlatanism and is duped into believing that that is what Christianity is about.

The Zionist Christian Church is also on the Heartlines list. The African Zionist movement in South Africa has two main branches. The Zionist Christian Church and the Zionist Apostolic Church. Both have slight differences but much in common. The Zionists, on mass, believe that you can speak to God through the ancestral spirits as much as you can through Jesus. In fact many of them view Jesus as either as an ancestral spirit or an ancestral spirit to the Jewish people. They make sacrifices for the ancestral spirits in order to appease them when there is trouble in the home. As Kurt Koch said in his book ‘God among the Zulus’, “To clear up any misunderstanding it must be pointed out that the Zionists in South Africa have nothing to do with the Zionist movement in Israel. The Zionists of South Africa belong to a sect that mix Biblical and occult things. For example, Zionists practice fortune-telling and call it prophecy. They believe that this fortune-telling is a gift of the Holy Spirit. A grotesque confusion of the truth!”

From personal experience I can testify that this is still the case with the Zionist movement today. The pastors are not even saved with very little knowledge of what the bible teaches. But Heartlines’ list of churches puts them in the same category as any other denomination. This is spiritual harlotry and as Paul urged the Christian believers in Corinth concerning the false teachers around, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers… Therefore come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean;” (2 Corinthians 6: 14 – 18)

This is the picture of Heartlines that is painted by their own website. I urge you to view the website for yourself and test what I am saying. We are dealing with a bridge between ecumenism and multifaith and there are quite a number of churches that are falling into the trap as you can see from the list.

In the next article I intend to examine the ‘Values Book for Christian leaders’ which contradicts the picture given by the website. We will see how Biblical it is and if there is an answer to how something that claims to be “b uilding on the important, God-based values, that so many South African share, and choose to build their lives on, no matter what their religious beliefs.” in one document, can then claim that it seeks to “ tackle these social issues from a Christian world view, with God as the reference point for the values.”

Notes

1. Schaeffer F, The God Who Is There (Hodder & Stoughton 1968) P83

2. Ibid page 98

3. Ibid page 82

4. Koch K, God Among The Zulus (KwaSizabantu Mission 1981) page 57