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.
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...
Uncontrollable
Sonia Wardle
Date posted: 1 Nov 2002
Book Review
BEYOND THE CLOUDS:
Coping with pain and disillusionment
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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
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Schaeffer revisited
Julia Cameron
Date posted: 1 Oct 2002
Francis Schaeffer brought a prophetic message to the church over 30 years ago about the sanctity of human life. Dr. Robert W. Evans's forthcoming book 'The Descent of Dignity' revisits the message that Schaeffer implored us to hear.
JC: You describe Francis Schaeffer in your book as your unseen friend. Tell us about his influence on you.
Monthly column on student work
Emma Carswell
Date posted: 1 Oct 2002
One year ago Claire Osborne walked into the Quinta Centre a confident graduate. She was looking forward to a year on the UCCF Relay programme 'meeting students for coffee and loving people'. All her illusions were soon to be shattered. The reality was that she was to be stretched and challenged more than she could ever have imagined.
'Relay' began as a response to UCCF's desire to put more people on the ground to work among students and to invest in and develop student leaders. It is now an established one-year training and discipleship training programme that has placed almost 400 recent graduates with Christian Unions across the country.
Christians under Islam
Trevor Howard
Date posted: 1 Sep 2002
Book Review
A PEOPLE BETRAYED
The Impact of Islamisation on the Christian Community in Pakistan
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Prisoners of Hope
Dayna Curry & Heather Mercer with Stacey Mattingly
Date posted: 1 Sep 2002
When Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer arrived in Afghanistan, they had come to help bring a better life and a little hope to some of the poorest and most oppressed people in the world.
Within a few months, their lives were thrown into chaos as they became pawns in historic international events. They were arrested by the ruling Taliban government for teaching about Christianity to the people with whom they worked. In the middle of their trial, the events of September 11 2001 led to the international war on terrorism, with the Taliban a primary target.
Reasons for a night of prayer
John Benton
Date posted: 1 Sep 2002
Surely we must stand amazed at the comparative lack of prayer in the British churches.
Think about our nation at present. Family breakdown is rife. Street crime is at record levels. Our media is awash with pornography. There is abortion on demand. Drugs are easily available. The churches are dwindling. Islamic extremism is on the rise. I can imagine the Lord Jesus standing at the door of many a church prayer meeting and thinking to himself: 'What has to happen to this country before my people will come and take prayer seriously?'
Back to school with a mission
David Henderson
Date posted: 1 Oct 2001
It was in a small student room late one night at Reading University in 1974 that the Holy Spirit whispered to me: 'You must become like a child' (Matthew 18.3).
As I asked God to be my Father, my searchings for truth and reality were finally over, I was born again, I realised that the Lord had died to save me and my life as a true Christian started. I was 18 and in my first year studying Psychology and Linguistics.
Reaching neighbours
Home Evangelism
Date posted: 1 Jul 2002
The value of churches having regular visiting teams going out with the gospel cannot be over-emphasised.
It is effective and not as difficult as many believe. Through visiting we meet people of all age-groups, and, given time and patience, we can gain their confidence and forge friendships with those who are interested to look into the Christian faith. Contact will be made with hundreds who do not attend church services.
Angel of light?
Don Carson
Date posted: 1 Aug 2002
During one of his lectures on apocalyptic literature this year at Word Alive, Don Carson explained how we can be diverted from the gospel by what may have been good experiences in our lives.
Monthly column on student work
Emma Carswell
Date posted: 1 Jun 2002
For a year of my degree I exchanged Irn Bru, ceilidhs, and a campus of 6,000 students for ice hockey, two feet of snow, and being one of 37,000 students at the University of Alberta. I also left behind a thriving Christian Union that packed in a good 200 each Friday night. In Canada, I didn't meet one Christian student.
This summer, thousands of students will be heading overseas on exchange schemes or as part of their degree. For the Christians who are leaving this can be a make-or-break experience. They often depart as unprepared missionaries, who struggle to find a church or Christian students they can meet with. Too many feel isolated and doubt their faith, or compromise their integrity.
Culloden: the new battle
David Meredith
Date posted: 1 Jun 2002
Culloden Battlefield is where the last battle was fought on British soil, between the armies of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Hanoverian Duke of Cumberland in 1746.
In 2002 the modern housing estates of Smithton and Culloden in Inverness are the scene of another struggle which has nothing to do with flesh and blood!