Our vision as a fellowship is closely related to our view of Scriptures as described elsewhere. Our vision is also reflected and intertwined within the pages and posts of this website. The following may serve as a few pointers in this regard:
We realize that through the centuries the church has to a large extend lost many of the essential truths that once were the secrets of the vitality and vibrancy of the body of the early believers.
- We realize that the entity called “Christian church” today is not necessarily the same as what is described in Scriptures as the bride, “set-apart and without blemish”, that will meet the Bridegroom in the near future.
- We realize that the human desire for comfort, security, significant numbers, emotional expression and even ecstasy have become far more important today than the desires of Yahweh as they are clearly and straightforwardly revealed in Scriptures.
- Our vision is to seek Yahweh’s guidance in making a contribution that may help to restore these lost values and prepare the bride (or any part of the bride) for the coming of the Bridegroom. Our aim is not to engage in any action or ministry that deviates in any way from the counsel of the Spirit of Yahweh, in accordance with the core teachings of Scriptures.
- We realize, on the other hand, the danger of not being watchful and prayerful enough and thus not sensing the urging of the Spirit to move in a certain direction. Knowing that the Spirit is none other than the Spirit of Yahweh, and that our Father would never lead his children in a direction that is contrary to the direction already shown in Scriptures, we have been able to formulate four overall goals which represent both the guidance of the Spirit and the direction of the Word as we understand it at this point in time.
We are constantly in the process of finding appropriate practical ways to put these goals into practice. In this regard, too, we need to be very sensitive to the guidance of Yahweh’s Spirit. The following are just a few of the ways in which we hope to accomplish the goals mentioned above:
1. Teaching and exploring the undiluted truth of Scriptures in our weekly Sabbath meetings and other meetings, including the Scriptural Feast Days, not only in Fish Hoek, but elsewhere too, as new believers come together in homes and small groups, and also as new fellowships come into existence.
2. Presenting seminars and teaching sessions to interest groups elsewhere.
3. Establishing a network of like-minded teachers and believers with the aim of mutual encouragement, discussion, interaction, intercession and cooperation.
4. Making available resource material (Scriptures, Books, DVD’s, CD’s, Music, etc) and providing advice and spiritual direction with regards to various categories of Scriptural interpretation. All of this is aimed at the following groups of people:
a. Those who see themselves as part of Elim Ministries but are currently living elsewhere
b. Those who identify with our vision but are unable to attend our meetings
c. Those who do not have access to these kind of resources and want to know more
d. Those who are unfulfilled and disillusioned with the life and teaching of their church
e. Those outside the church who are hungry for truth and meaning in life
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Good evening
Could you please assist me with information about where the Word say that marriage is compulsory.
Is it man made or not?
I understand that the Word say that a man will leave his parents and cling to his wife.
Did Adam marry Eve? Is it not that Moses give the law to Israelis (the chosen) to gade them not to sin?
Is it sin to have one partner (not yet married to you) and have premarital intimacy? If one are to get married by law of the world before one can be intimate with her?
I am engaged to be married by the standards of the world but have these questions about intimacy with the woman I love before we sin in the eyes of Yahuah the most high.
Could you please assist me in this?
Yours sincerely
Daniël Kieser
Hi Daniël
Of course you are right in assuming that marriage, as we know it today, is a much later development. No doubt, this is not how Adam and Eve or Avraham and Sarah got into an intimate relationship.
It is also clear that the Torah makes provision for some kind of contract with regards to marriage and divorce. It is my understanding that if the people of Israel needed Torah to protect them against potential dangerous situations, we need it, too. In our situation, today, we need to get married (by law) in order to acquire a legal contract that is both binding and protective with regards to two people living together as man and wife.
Does this mean that a man and a woman must wait until the signing of the formal marriage contract, before they “belong” to each other? Not necessarily. This specific issue is not addressed in Scriptures and we know of cases in Scriptures where men and women were intimate with each other, before such a contract was drawn up.
Having said this, I believe it is a very sound practice to wait until the “day of marriage”, before engaging into an intimate relationship. Intimacy between a man and wife is Yahweh’s design, only for those who have sworn loyalty towards each other and, thereby, engaged into a covenant with each other. It is not something to be taken lightly and any measure that enforces a period of waiting, preparing and getting to know one another, should be welcomed and embraced.
We should also remember that intimacy is only one small part of the covenant relationship between a man and a woman. Any covenant comes with mutual privileges and responsibilities and if one or both parties are not yet in a position to take the full load of responsibilities of this covenant relationship upon him- or herself, then the time is not yet ripe to engage into the covenant of marriage, or any part thereof.