The Heavenly Man
Brother Yun
Date posted: 1 Jan 2003
Your churches are sleeping!
Brother Yun escaped to the West a couple of years ago, and is now based in Germany. Here, in a further extract from his book, he gives an opinion of the church in the West.
I've seen people in Western churches worshipping as if they're already in heaven. Then someone invariably brings a comforting message like, 'My children, I love you. Don't be afraid, I'm with you'. I'm not opposed to such words, but why is it that nobody seems to hear a Word from the Lord like, 'My child, I want to send you to the slums of Asia or the darkness of Africa to be my messenger to people dying in their sin'?
The gospel in student hands
EN
Date posted: 1 Jan 2003
The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) is a global fellowship with ministry in over 140 countries - UCCF is the UK national movement.
EN: You have your World Assembly in 2003. Tell us first about that.
At the heart of the controversy
John Benton
Date posted: 1 Dec 2002
William Taylor is the Minister of St. Helen's Bishopsgate in the City of London, where Dick Lucas preached before his retirement. William has been outspoken in his opposition to the appointment of Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury. In this frank interview with EN, he explains why...
EN: What are the problems with Rowan Williams becoming the next Archbishop of Canterbury?
Monthly column on student work
Emma Carswell
Date posted: 1 Dec 2002
Literally millions of students in this country are being neglected in gospel work. Further Education (FE) Colleges have for too long been the forgotten frontier of student ministry. Many Christians hardly know these students exist, or are oblivious to the spiritual needs of the colleges on their doorsteps.
The facts speak for themselves: in the last academic year 2.35 million students were enrolled at FE colleges in England alone. Yet there are only 139 Christian Unions that UCCF know of, most of which have 2-5 members. Admittedly, many areas of Christian ministry are desperately lacking in resources, but at present there are only a handful of workers dedicated to FE colleges. As Steph Bushell, a student at Merton College, south London said recently: 'FE colleges are full of lost people as well'.
Nothing to fear from Islam?
Religion Today
Date posted: 1 Dec 2002
Jay Smith is an American missionary who holds weekly discussions at the historical Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, London, which provides an open forum for the confrontation between the gospel and Islam.
He serves in Britain under the auspices of Brethren in Christ World Missions, and in October had a weekend conference in Dublin where he debated with Sunni and Shiite Muslims, 'encouraged by the realisation that, as Christians, we have little to fear when faced by the edifice of Islam in its many guises'. Smith and Dr. Elsie Maxwell were flown over by 'Dialogue Ireland', an ecumenical (Catholic/Protestant) group interested in 'dialoguing' with peoples of other faiths.
A Mission for the 21st Century
John Benton
Date posted: 1 Jun 2001
'How should old mission agencies adapt to the challenges of reaching the world in the 21st century?'
That is a question with which Andy Lines is having to wrestle. Last year Andy became the new General Secretary of Crosslinks, formerly known as the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society, and EN interviewed him recently to see, among other things, what his thoughts were.
Why I like small churches
Michael Lockwood
Date posted: 1 Oct 2002
Getting on for two and a half years ago, Michael Lockwood moved from Thornhill Baptist Church with his wife and two daughters to join with four believers in fellowship at Hall Green in Haworth, West Yorkshire. He tells us what happened...
We went with an awareness of some of the inherent difficulties of life in a small church and prepared as well as we could for the hardships ahead. What we were not prepared for, however, was the enormous blessings we would experience, not despite the church being small but because it was small.
Uncontrollable
Sonia Wardle
Date posted: 1 Nov 2002
Book Review
BEYOND THE CLOUDS:
Coping with pain and disillusionment
Read review
Slip slidin' away
Paul Wells
Date posted: 1 Nov 2002
The American poet/songwriter Paul Simon wrote about the way human life goes. He described it like this:
Slip sliding away...
Operation China
Paul Hattaway
Date posted: 1 Sep 2002
Something like a fifth of the world's people are Chinese. Woven into the fabric of the largest population on earth is the rich thread of China's ethnic minorities, numbering more than 100 million people. They are vastly outnumbered by the majority 1.2 billion Han Chinese.
'Operation World' has proved a great help in stimulating prayer for world-wide mission. But there is another book, 'Operation China', by New Zealander Paul Hattaway, published by Piquant, which introduces the reader to these hidden minority peoples within China. They account for only 6.7% of China's population, but they inhabit 62.5% of the territory.
Samuel Marinus Zwemer
Andrew Marsay
Date posted: 1 Aug 2002
2002 is the 50th anniversary of the death, in April 1952, of Samuel Marinus Zwemer. Though unknown outside specialist missionary circles, he was widely acknowledged in his lifetime as the world's foremost authority on all matters relating to Christian witness to Islam.
This reputation emerged from a 50-year career involving pioneer missionary work, literature propagation and advocacy work on behalf of mission to Muslims and finally a career in teaching and writing on missionary theology and practice.
Revive the valleys
Over the summer months many missions and gospel events are going on all over the country. One such outreach by students from Cardiff University went on into July and took place in the Rhondda Valley.
Wales has seen great days for the gospel in years gone by, but now things are different. For some time students from Cardiff Christian Union have had a burden to evangelise the valleys of South Wales and have set up a group called Revive to reach out. During term time a number of them go up to the valleys each week to work in youth clubs based in local churches in the area.
A man and his God
Sue Halliday
Date posted: 1 Sep 2002
Book Review
MAN OF COMPASSION, MAN OF PRAYER:
The guiding hand of God in the life of John Harris of the Leprosy Mission
Read review
