culture watch
Anti-Semitism among us today
Joseph Steinberg
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
As a Jewish believer in Jesus, and CEO of International Mission to Jewish People (www.imjp.org), I was interested to see what comedian David Baddiel had to say about the marginalisation of Jewish voices and the massively growing problem of anti-Semitism in the world today.
Do we have a theology of disability?
Kay Morgan-Gurr
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
We love theology in the evangelical church. We want to know what God says about all sorts of things in the Bible. We soak in what those who have studied theology say, and sometimes we study it ourselves with the books that we read and the podcasts we listen to.
But do we, as evangelicals, have a theology of disability?
the ENd word
How God guides us
Jeremy McQuoid
Date posted: 1 Feb 2023
‘… the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.’ (Acts 16:6)
How do you get guidance from the Lord? As I write this article, I’ve been putting together messages based on Christmas nativity passages where divine guidance seems to come by way of angelic visitations, dreams and reading astrological charts. They are fascinating passages, but I’m not sure they are a ‘how to’ guide for discovering God’s will. It is important to remember that these dramatic moments of guidance came before God had poured out His Spirit at Pentecost.
‘We cut up clothing, bedding and harnesses to feed the dogs...’
Polly Standring
Date posted: 1 Nov 2022
Polly Standring shares the remarkable story of global evangelical mission agency Crosslinks, which is now celebrating its centenary.
Crosslinks exists to help people get involved in God’s mission. 27 October 2022 marks our 100th birthday – that’s a century of taking God’s word to God’s world! What God has done through the 1,420 men and women sent out by Crosslinks over the last century is remarkable.
defending our faith
Evangelicals and women
Chris Sinkinson
Date posted: 1 Dec 2022
At present the role of women in ministry
is one of the most pressing topics among
evangelical Christians.
Recent books reassessing complementarian
and egalitarian perspectives on
the Bible
have provided some helpful reconsideration
of the topic and reflection on the nature
of leadership in the contemporary church.
However,
for onlookers
from outside the
evangelical church,
the debate can
seem
antiquated and out of touch.
From a kibbutz and New Age to the New Covenant and Christ
Charles Gardner
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
A Messianic Jewish pastor is greatly indebted to Christians with a special love for the people of Israel. For without them his family would not have discovered Jesus as their Messiah.
Now helping to lead a congregation in Haifa, Jonathan Arnold describes his faith journey as being ‘from New Age to the New Covenant’.
Have we lost sight of the central message of salvation?
Jon Barrett
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
Converted aged 20, I’ve been a Christian for 34 years and an ordained minister for 24. Add to that the fact that I was brought up in an evangelical family and you’ve got over half a century of life lived in and around the evangelical world.
Recently, I’ve found myself spending quite a bit of time ruminating on how evangelistic preaching has changed over that time period and how- much to my concern- it now tends to focus almost entirely on the benefits of the gospel at the expense of the substance of the gospel.
politics & policy
Winter woe: strikes & Strep A
James Mildred
Date posted: 1 Jan 2023
You’d think as we prepare to celebrate Christmas this year, free from the overhanging threat of Covid-19 restrictions, that there’d be a bit more festive joy and cheer in the air.
Except there’s a lot of angst, depression, and exhaustion. Nowhere is this more obviously illustrated than amongst our political class. What with MPs like Sajid Javid announcing they’re not standing next year (although one Boris Johnson is standing…) and the melodrama (should that be psychodrama?) of three prime ministers in three months, it’s been especially fraught.
Evangelical Futures: Deconstruction, an ‘oppressive’ Bible – and what to do
Karen Soole
Date posted: 1 Nov 2022
Vast swathes of our country do not know the gospel – we know that. The Bible Society report ‘Pass It On’ in 2014 showed that 54% of parents thought the Hunger Games plot could be in the Bible , and there is no reason to think things have improved.
Many share the atheism of public figures such as Ricky Gervais, who proclaims loudly – there is no God. His message is clear – you can be religious, live as you like, but none of it is real – there are no spiritual realities. These situations are not new. Ignorance and unbelief have existed from generation to generation. However, we are facing new expressions of unbelief as the culture wars impact the church.
East Ender Millionaire Becomes Evangelist
John Todd
Date posted: 1 Nov 2022
The ‘East End’ of London – West Ham, Stepney, Millwall, Brixton, the Docklands, Whitechapel… just a few of the many well-known places there.
It is the home of EastEnders – a popular TV series since 1985 with over six-thousand daily episodes. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall featured on the Albert Square set in the 2nd of June 2022 episode of the Queen’s Diamond jubilee weekend. Call the Midwife, another popular BBC period-drama series from January 2012, is based on the lives of nurse-midwives in the East End from the late 1950s.
Jesus’ return and green issues today
Dave Gobbett
Date posted: 1 Dec 2022
The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, widely known as COP27, has just been running in Egypt. In a timely new book* Dave Gobbett of Highfields Church Cardiff helps us think through a Biblical perspective on the environment. This extract explains how Jesus’ return might impact our thinking on this issue.
‘We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him … The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever’ (1 Thess. 4:14, 16).
'Adoption is the highest privilege the gospel affords'
Rebecca Chapman speaks to Krish Kandiah.
Dr Kandiah (see photo) is a social entrepreneur with a vision to help solve some of society’s seemingly intractable problems through building partnerships across civil society, faith communities, government, and philanthropy.
politics & policy
CARE enters fifth decade
James Mildred
Date posted: 1 Dec 2022
Why does CARE engage with politicians and bring a Biblical perspective to laws and legislation?
There is one reason among many that stands out to me. As the mission agency to UK politics, we believe that Biblical principles for human flourishing are good for all in society. Respecting the building blocks of society that God has created is the first step towards a fairer and more just society. And if we don’t bring these values into the corridors of power, how will politicians ever hear them?
Attempting to break… the ‘Circle of Silence’
David Easton
Date posted: 1 Sep 2022
The Circle of Silence is made up of nine states in Mexico. It is an area where only 1% of people – or fewer – have heard the gospel, even though there are major universities and cities.
David and Maribel Easton and their two children, from Thornton Heath Evangelical Church, are planning to travel to the area as mission partners with SIM – an international, interdenominational evangelical Christian mission organisation. They prayerfully plan to plant churches that are faithful to God’s word. Here, they share their story with en.
Missionaries – should we pay them more?
Gustav Pritchard
Date posted: 1 Sep 2022
In Johannesburg, where I used to live, electricity supply was not always that predictable. Sadly, it was far worse in the poorer rural areas, where many (even today) have no access to the national power grid.
When I ministered in South Africa, I knew of a missionary who moved to work amongst such people. When he arrived, he immediately decided to live like the locals. He moved into a very poorly constructed house and lived without any electricity and water. At first, I thought this all sounded very noble. It certainly fitted with some of my stereotypes about ‘mission work’. But all the locals he worked amongst thought it was an extremely odd decision.
After 17 years away, the UK looks like this...
Josh Hooker
Date posted: 1 Aug 2022
It’s been 17 years since I last lived in the UK.
My wife and I have been serving as mission partners in Southern Africa, first in Lesotho and then in Namibia. Cathy and I left the UK in January 2005 with an eight-month-old son. We arrived back at the end of 2021 with three teenage children. I was in my 30s when we left – I’m now in my 50s. I left local church ministry here for theological education in Africa. When we set off, Tony Blair was the Prime Minister, our mobile phone (we only had one) looked like a small black brick and dial-up internet connection was all the rage. It was a pre-Brexit, pre-Covid-19 world. The UK has changed a lot whilst we’ve been away and so have we.
Ten Questions: A Biblical ‘boulderer’
Jason Roach
1. How did you become a Christian?
Across the British Isles: Christians gear up for mission in 2022
Across England, Scotland, Wales and in Northern Ireland, thousands of Christians from hundreds of churches are gathering and preparing for a focused month of mission called ‘Life’ in March 2022. Operations leader Le Fras Strydom writes:
Under the banner of A Passion for Life, over 650 churches are now involved – and more are joining each week. From Brighton to Belfast and Edinburgh to Eastbourne, hundreds of churches up and down the UK and Ireland are already using A Passion For Life’s personal evangelism training resources to get equipped, enthused and excited in preparation for the month of mission and a lifetime of evangelism beyond.
Seven ways to spot a ‘BWW’ and why it matters
Nay Dawson
Date posted: 1 Aug 2022
I’ll never be one of the ‘Blokes Worth Watching’ (BWW) nor will many of my friends that don’t fit.
I love leadership and evangelism. I want to invest precious years into mission and the future of the church, so I’m wondering how do I become one of the BWWs [as described in this article in last month's EN] ? How do I get mentored? How do I get invested in so that I can make a significant difference? The problem is, I can’t. I’m a woman. I’ll never be a ‘Bloke Worth Watching’ and neither will half of those made in the image of God.
Evangelical crisis? I don’t think so
Andy Mason
Date posted: 1 Aug 2022
What is the state of conservative evangelicalism? Glen Scrivener has given us a challenging answer in his article in the July 2022 issue of en, ‘BWWs: the “Blokes Worth Watching” conveyor belt…’
His article is a strong critique, essentially arguing that we evangelicals are in something of a spiritual crisis. The strength of its criticisms invites a rejoinder. As a fellow pastor, I know Glen and have worked with him. He is a wonderful evangelist, a man of integrity and a very gifted preacher. Most importantly, he loves Jesus and cares for the abused. I think, though, there are some real problems with Glen’s take on our churches.
ten questions: dismantling our tribalism
Jonathan Lamb
1. How did you become a Christian?
Evangelical Futures: BWWs – the ‘Blokes Worth Watching’ conveyor belt...
Glen Scrivener
Date posted: 1 Jul 2022
In their 2009 book, The Trellis and the Vine, Colin Marshall and Tony Payne gave us the evocative image of supporting structures (the trellis) surrounding the organic growth of God’s people (the vine).
Their argument was: both are needed. Here my brief is to write about evangelical churches in Britain. And as I consider this movement of churches that I love, I can’t help thinking we have a wonderful vine and, at points, a wonky trellis. That trellis – our systems and the assumptions behind them – needs urgent scrutiny.
everyday evangelism
Reasons not to plan mission events (and reasons to do so)
Glen Scrivener
Date posted: 1 Oct 2021
In the last decade I’ve been involved with scores of week-long or weekend missions put on by churches and Christian Unions.
Such outreaches – like those planned for the Passion for Life initiative next year – are big investments. We need some solid reasons to give of our time, money, talents and energy. Often though our reasons are poor.
Keswick’s James Robson: ‘What we try and stand for is respect for everybody’
Rebecca Chapman
Date posted: 1 Aug 2022
As final preparations for this summer’s Keswick Convention were being made, en spoke to its Ministry Director, the Revd Dr James Robson.
With the much-awaited Keswick Convention of 2022 almost upon us, James joined us on Zoom, from a light-filled room full of books. With all that is happening at Keswick, including the Derwent Project, there was certainly no shortage of things to be grateful to God for…