Welcome one another
William Philip
Date posted: 1 Jul 2004
A disturbing centrifugal force, seen in the enduring propensity for division among evangelical churches, has been powerfully at work among us for many generations, with devastating effects for the gospel of Christ.
Post-Reformation church history, particularly in the UK and the USA, is littered with evidence of disagreements, splits and rupture among congregations and church groupings, and it is quite staggering how often this has been over truly minor and secondary matters.
defending our faith
Evangelicals and the Incarnation
Chris Sinkinson
Date posted: 1 May 2004
THE WORD BECAME FLESH
Evangelicals and the Incarnation
Edited by David Peterson. Paternoster. 208 pages. ?14.99
ISBN 1 84227 209 8
The background to the book lies over a century ago in an 1889 conference called Lux Mundi. This was a watershed in the Church of England that crystallised what we now call liberal Anglicanism.
Where are you taking your holiday?
Andrew Bradley
Date posted: 1 Apr 2004
The evenings begin to draw out and, for many, thoughts turn to the warm and sunny days of summer and holidays.
Such thoughts help to speed the grey winter days, helped by the TV travel programmes which offer us tempting vistas of what next summer could have in store if we book early for that bargain villa holiday in Spain, that self-catering gem in Greece or that idyllic week flotilla-sailing in the Caribbean! Add the weekend supplements and those visits to the travel agent resulting in a pile of brochures that help whet our appetites for that perfect week away next summer.
The Third Degree
UCCF
Date posted: 1 May 2004
Evangelism was obviously top of the agenda of Christian Unions last term: over 50 mission weeks took place across the country, tens of thousands of copies of John's Gospel were given out, many students put their trust in Christ, and enquirer courses were well attended.
A month or so later, has evangelism slowed down? Have students done their bit, storing up their evangelistic zeal for next year's drive?
Monthly arts column
David Porter
Date posted: 1 Jun 2004
'Presence: Images of Christ for the Third Millennium'
Linked exhibitions in six cathedrals to celebrate 150 years of BibleLand's ministry. Remaining exhibitions: Lincoln, April 27 to June 4; Durham, July 31 to September 5. There is no separate entrance charge for the exhibitions. Further details from: www.biblelands.org.uk
Church family?
Adam Sparks
Date posted: 1 Apr 2004
Last month I began by introducing the problem of intergenerational tension in the church.
Getting the message out
Vaughan Roberts
Date posted: 1 Mar 2004
A young student was in despair. Her life was in turmoil and she felt a deep emptiness within.
Somehow she knew she needed God, but she had no idea where to find him. One Sunday, on the way to the supermarket, she saw crowds of young people going into a church and she began to wonder if she might find what she was looking for inside. But she did not go in. It was a frightening, unfamiliar place - she wouldn't know where to sit, when to stand or what to say; so she walked away.
Church family?
Adam Sparks
Date posted: 1 Mar 2004
Much progress is being made in inter-church and interdenominational co-operation and unity.
However, the trend is often not mirrored within individual fellowships. Sadly, much of this disunity is split along generational lines and many churches are finding it difficult to 'keep everyone happy'.
A Diary of Revival - The outbreak of the 1904 Welsh Awakening
Kevin Adams
Date posted: 1 May 2004
This year is the centenary of the 1904/05 Welsh Revival. Here we read of its beginnings . . .
On Sunday evening 18 December 1903, Evan Roberts preached his first sermon at his home church of Moriah, Loughor. He preached on Luke 9.23: 'Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."'
To Affinity and beyond
John Benton
Date posted: 1 May 2004
The British Evangelical Council (BEC) has a new name - 'Affinity', with a subtitle, 'Church-centred Partnership for Bible-centred Christianity'.
The British Evangelical Council (BEC) has re-invented itself. Its re-launch took place on March 25 at a smart London hotel, with a swish DVD presentation and reporters from national daily newspapers present.
The Third Degree
UCCF
Date posted: 1 Feb 2004
Paul, a student a Reading University, stood up at the CU house party to deliver a simple message: 'Talk to your friends about Jesus like Sam and Rosie did for me, and support this mission week. If it wasn't for last year's mission I wouldn't be a Christian.'
At UCCF we are so thankful to readers of EN for your prayers during the CU mission weeks last year. Paul and numerous others around the country put their trust in Christ last spring and we praise God for that. We thank God too for the students who have been converted throughout the year.
The Third Degree
UCCF
Date posted: 1 Mar 2004
Students are not lacking in imagination. Take a recent CU house party. What would you do with the leftover food from your church weekend away? Distribute it throughout the church? Donate it to a local hostel? Freeze it for the next weekend away? Not these students. Following the example of Aberdeen CU, Durham decided to auction off everything that was unused, with proceeds going to their forthcoming 'life' mission.
Ranging from bread to pasta, a signed copy of The Blurb (signed by the CU's vendor) to A Call to Spiritual Reformation by Don Carson, the items were put up for auction. With the treasurer looking on eagerly, the bidding got underway.
From 1966 to 2002?
Jim Packer
Date posted: 1 Apr 2004
Recent tensions in the Anglican Communion over homosexual practice have caused Professor Packer great heartache. Here he takes the opportunity to explain his actions.
In 1966 in Britain, when evangelical leader Martyn Lloyd-Jones called on Anglican evangelicals to leave the Church of England, I, with John Stott and others, stayed put and maintained that this was not the way to go.
'Atheists are fools and agnostics are cowards'
Jonathan Carswell
Date posted: 1 Apr 2004
During a recent trip to the UK, Phillip Jensen, Dean of Sydney, was involved in various student evangelistic outreaches.
Prior to speaking on 'Atheists are fools and agnostics are cowards' at Durham University Christian Union, Jonathan Carswell caught up with him in a Durham coffee shop.
UCCF's contribution to the Worldwide Church: part 2
Lindsay Brown
Date posted: 1 Jan 2004
Last month, Lindsay Brown focussed on UCCF's influence in Britain; in this second article, he looks at UCCF's contribution to the church worldwide.
Under God, UCCF has been one of the greatest influences in the history of mission in the 20th century - a fact of which few British evangelicals are aware. In this article, I have space only to trace its impact on the growth of evangelical student ministry around the world. It was one of the ten founding members of the IFES, which now brings together over 300,000 students in 150 countries. UCCF continues to play a significant part in developing student ministry in many nations. The link between a strong student ministry and faithful church teaching hardly needs to be spelled out.
The Third Degree
UCCF
Date posted: 1 Jan 2004
How's your personal evangelism going? - I'm not just asking if you've been leading on Christianity Explored course or even speaking at guest events. I'm wondering how we're all doing in making opportunities to explain the gospel to people, talking about Jesus with our work colleagues, or unbelieving family members, and finding ways of being a witness in the community in which we live?
I'm asking, not because I'm in a position to make such a challenge, but because I have been deeply challenged. And by a surprising group of people: students in Christian Unions.
Look back with thanks - anniversaries in 2004
Joy Horn
Date posted: 1 Jan 2004
General
Robert Bruce, Scottish minister, was born in 1554. Having opposed King James VI's design to introduce bishops into the Church of Scotland, he was banished from Edinburgh and for several years confined to Inverness, but great crowds attended whenever he was able to preach.
James Buchanan, Scottish Free Church theologian, was born in 1804. Like most Scottish evangelicals, he left the established church in 1843, and became minister of St. Stephen's Free Church, Edinburgh, and later professor in New College.
