history
Reformers and missions
Michael Haykin
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
The 16th-century Reformers had a poorly-developed missiology and overseas mission was an area to which they gave little thought.
That is what is said. ‘Yes’, this argument runs, ‘they rediscovered the apostolic gospel, but they had no vision to spread it to the uttermost parts of the earth.’ Possibly the first author to raise the question about this failure of early Protestantism was the Roman Catholic theologian and controversialist, Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621). He argued that one of the marks of a true church was its continuity with the missionary passion of the apostles. In his mind, Roman Catholicism’s missionary activity was indisputable and this supplied a strong support for its claim to stand in solidarity with the apostles.
Lighthouse International Church
Clive Thorne
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
In the 2001 census Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims represented 4.6% of the population of England and Wales.
This rose to about 7% in 2011 and is expected to be over 10% in the 2021 census. A conservative estimate is that people of these faiths will constitute over a quarter of the population of England and Wales by 2050 in only about 30 years time. Many inner city areas have seen church after church closed down, with some being converted into mosques or temples. What is the church doing to reach this burgeoning mission field on our doorstep?
DELAYED BLOSSOM
Dr Martin Seccombe
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
The eyes of the world were on Japan in 2011.
This was when it was left reeling from the triple disaster of a powerful earthquake, a devastating tsunami and a catastrophic nuclear accident. Seven years later, Japan is gearing itself up for a happier return to global attention – the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and the Olympics in 2020. Sporting occasions can be a fantastic opportunity to bring a nation together in unity and celebration.
Training and sending
Dave Ramsey
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
During the week beginning 13 May, the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland held its annual assembly meetings in Lisburn.
The 118 churches across the island work together in evangelism, church planting, mission, training, women’s and youth work. The assembly kicked off with ‘Association Sunday’, when churches are encouraged to engage in pulpit swaps and joint services.
Evangelism that really works
Jeremy Marshall
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
Imagine 12 people sitting in a pub chatting about John’s Gospel.
Nobody checks their phone, nobody needs to leave. This is despite the fact none of them has been in church for years (some never).
India: hostel closed
World Watch Monitor
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
Seventy-four children had to
leave their
Christian-run hostel in Rajasthan in early
May, after
the High Court dismissed a
petition challenging the child welfare committee’s seizure of
the central office of
Emmanuel Mission India.
Emmanuel Mission International (EMI),
founded in 1960 by Archbishop M.A. Thomas,
is well-known for providing quality education to students from under-resourced backgrounds, regardless of caste or religion. EMI
now runs five societies. One, Emmanuel
Education Society, runs over 40 schools in
Rajasthan state.
news in brief
Algeria: appeal denied
A case that began with police in Algeria stopping a Christian suspected of carrying Bibles in his car ended on 16 May with a large fine for the church leader.
A judge denied Pastor Nouredine Belabed’s appeal against a sentence of a 100,000-dinar (£643) fine and payment of court fees under a controversial law that forbids ‘undermining the faith of a Muslim’. Belabed had received the sentence on 8 March, including a three-month suspended prison term.
Myanmar: plight of Christians ignored by world media
World Watch Monitor
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
Almost 7,000 people belonging to the largely Christian minority group in Kachin, northern Myanmar, have fled their houses since fighting between the army and a rebel group flared up in early April, according to recent figures from the Red Cross.
‘It’s a war where civilians are being systematically targeted by members of Burma Army … [yet] the international community chooses to overlook it,’ political analyst and writer Stella Naw told the Guardian newspaper, with international attention on Myanmar focused on the humanitarian crisis facing the country’s Rohingya Muslims.
Gaines Manor – ten years on
Ben Putt
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
Ben Putt tells the recent story of the well-known Christian youth centre
I had never planned to go into full-time gospel ministry.
Reaching the military
Jamie Campbell
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
Between 8 August and 11 November, The
Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Scripture Readers
is asking churches,
Association (SASRA)
join a
to
individuals
small groups and
Prayer Event called 100days.
SASRA shares the gospel with serving personnel in the Army and the RAF. It is able
to go ‘behind the wire’ where local churches
can’t, with 16 uniformed Scripture Readers, all of whom have served in the Military.
Evangelical crisis
Kenneth J. Stewart
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
Dear Editor,
I am largely in agreement with Ranald Macaulay’s concern over the prevalent evangelical tendency to shun engagement with society and its worrisome tendencies (en June ‘Evangelicalism in Crisis’). Yet I believe that his readiness to point the finger at European Pietism as providing an explanation of the origin of this tendency does not bear careful scrutiny.
The Third Degree
Student life & mental health
Ellie Cook
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
A YouGov survey in 2016 found that one in four university students in the UK struggle with their mental health.
This ranges from those who have been diagnosed with a mental illness through to vast numbers who are battling with stress and worry: 63% of students say that they feel levels of stress that interfere with their day-to-day lives. Among those who identify as struggling with mental health problems, anxiety and depression are the most common, and often affect the same students (around 70% of sufferers).
PTI: a joy
The Pastor Training International (PTI)
and Christian Books Worldwide (CBW)
supporter’s day on 12 May was inspiring.
With reports from across the globe showing how the work of PTI and CBW has
grown, a highlight was Pastor Andrew, from
Myanmar, sharing how PTI’s training benefits local pastors. Many new churches have
been planted in the rural Buddhist country.
Congregations have grown, with many new
converts, but pastors need training in how
to disciple and feed them. PTI encourages
pastors to read the text carefully, to interpret
its true meaning, then preach and apply it.
Returning to North Korea
Andrew Dudgeon
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
The strangest thing happened the other day: I got stuck in a traffic-jam in Pyongyang!
After eight years, it was time to return to North Korea along with a team of wonderful Christian medics from around the world.
Ministry training with a difference
Paul Brennan
Date posted: 1 Jul 2018
Paul Brennan tells us about the Cornhill Scotland approach
In the May edition of en the editorial raised some of weaknesses in traditional methods of ministry training.
Ireland’s abortion vote
Crowds celebrated the ‘Yes’ vote on 25 May for abortion to become legal in Ireland.
I, like many others, was overcome with huge sadness at the prospective killing of new lives. I’m not sure that these days, as a man, I am even allowed to have an opinion on the issue, but I know that God is a God of life, not death. In England, we have had legal abortion for over 50 years, yet the fact that, statistically, the most unsafe place for a baby is its mother’s womb, I find horrific.