Marking 160 years of Christian service in an Arab city
Mireia Prats Llivina
Date posted: 1 Mar 2022
The Nazareth Trust is one of the largest Scottish Christian organisations, the third-largest employer in Nazareth and one of the largest Christian organisations in Israel.
We are a diverse organisation with individuals from different backgrounds working together. Our story traces its roots back to 1861 when Dr Vartan, a freshly graduated Armenian doctor and devoted Christian, opened the first clinic in Ottoman Galilee.
‘I fear Christendom has given much effort to hiding and ignoring iniquities we have known about…’
Diane Langberg
Date posted: 1 Mar 2022
In recent years, we who call ourselves Christians have been speaking and writing about topics like ‘abuse in the church’, ‘cruelty in the sanctuary’ and the dangers that can be found in ‘God’s house’. It seems that the place God designed to be a refuge for His people has instead, at times, become a den of thieves.
These descriptions are what we call an oxymoron – statements that are a combination of contradictory words and incongruous elements. Think about this now common phrase: ‘abuse in Christian organisations’. These words should take our breath away and cause up to weep. Sadly, they often result in scrambling for ways to hide or ignore the abuse so that the ‘Christian’ organisation can proceed undisturbed. We have forgotten God’s word to the young boy Samuel. When called by God, Samuel responded: ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’ God told him that he was about to bring judgment on Eli’s house forever for the iniquity he knew … and did not rebuke’ (1 Sam. 3:13).
history
Evangelical weaknesses?
Michael Haykin
Date posted: 1 Mar 2022
When did Evangelicalism as a movement emerge?
Is it a relative newbie, as some would assert, a creation of the 1940s out of the ruins of Fundamentalism or is it even more recent, a product of the Sixties? Or does it have much older roots?
Meeting Frank Schaeffer – atheist son of Francis
Luke Barrs
Date posted: 1 Mar 2022
Frank Schaeffer (not to be confused with his father Francis) titled his memoir Crazy for God with the helpful subtitle How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back.
His writing is engaging and thought-provoking, especially for myself as a Christian father and pastor. His father, Francis Schaeffer, was a much-beloved Christian thinker who utilised contemporary music, art history, and philosophy to answer the questions of his day. He was truly countercultural in the way he wrote and lived.