Letter from America
Doctrinal controversies are good for you!
Josh Moody
Date posted: 1 May 2001
Doctrinal controversies are far from uncommon in America. Of course, the ecumenical movement is influential here, with the Evangelical and Catholic attempts to form some kind of statement that can get mutual approval, the broad-based evangelistic campaigns of Luis Palau and the like, and with other, more liberal, ecumenical movements. But, there is still much in the way of doctrinal disagreements and arguments in churches, between churches, in denominations.
One of the most important ongoing battles in this regard is in the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the world, has extraordinarily rich reserves of money and talent, and is very influential throughout the world by way of its vigorous and commendable support of missionaries. Being so large makes it vulnerable to mega-politics.
Monthly column on hymns and songs
Christopher Idle
Date posted: 1 Feb 2001
Once upon a time an international mission (they used to be Missionary Societies) asked me for a list of 'missionary hymns' to use at its meetings and services. I drew up a core selection of 120 drawn from over 30 books
We wondered whether to classify them or simply list them A-Z. I offered two basic sections; God's initiative (Jesus shall reign; Thou whose almighty word) and our response (Facing a task unfinished; O Master, when thou callest)- and so on. But many classics (Ye servants of God; We have a Gospel to proclaim) include both, matching the perspective of the Great Commission in Matthew 28.
Monthly column on the arts
David Porter
Date posted: 1 Apr 2001
Publishing Christian art books today is a hazardous business; most of it is in the hands of small enthusiastic publishers committed to publishing art rather than building a business empire.
So it's been quite a surprise in the last year or two to see one of the most exciting developments in this field coming, originally, from Britain's largest publishing-and-bookshop giant, STL. The first mention in this column came with an enthusiastic review of Hilary Brand and Adrienne Chaplin, Art and Soul (1999), published under STL's Solway imprint and one of the most substantial books on Christian art to have been published in the evangelical market since Hans Rookmaaker's decades ago.
Hyper-separatism - no way forward
Jonathan Stephen
Date posted: 1 Jan 2001
In his now almost legendary address at the opening of a 'National Assembly of Evangelicals' held in October 1966, Martyn Lloyd-Jones urged that evangelicals must stand apart from false ecumenism and 'stand together as churches, constantly together, working together'.1 It has been all too easy for commentators of every doctrinal hue to draw simplistic and unjustifiable conclusions from what was said that night. The fact is that the preacher had no clear blue-print for the future in his mind.
China: theological turmoil - justification by love
Norman Cliff
Date posted: 1 Mar 2001
This past autumn I had a seven-week journey through eight provinces of China and was made aware of a serious theological threat to the unity of this country's fast-growing Church.
Since 1996 Bishop K. H. Ting (Ding Guang-xun) has been advocating with a sense of urgency a Faith Reform Movement, the teaching of which strikes at the very heart of Protestant theology. This concept was enunciated when the Three Self Patriotic Movement was formed in the early 1950s.
2001 - a Grace odyssey
Joy Horn
Date posted: 1 Jan 2001
General
The Council of Chalcedon in 451 affirmed that the divine and human natures are united in the person of Christ.
The Officers' Christian Union was founded in 1851.
Monthly column for youth leaders
Jo Horn
Date posted: 1 Feb 2001
Know anyone with a camping stove stashed away somewhere?
It could be a valuable evangelistic tool this month. Oh no! Just when you thought it was safe to read a youth column, someone's mentioned the 'e' word.
Understanding Roman Catholicism - an evangelical approach from Italy
IFED
Date posted: 1 Dec 2000
As the first year of the new millennium draws to a close, the calls for Christian unity regardless of truth, seem to be ever louder. The following article came to EN from The Institute for Evangelical Formation and Documentation (IFED) and Italian Evangelical Alliance.
In the years following Vatican II (1962-65) evangelicals have shown renewed interest in Roman Catholicism.
Letter from America
The Bible versus books on the Bible!
Josh Moody
Date posted: 1 Jan 2001
He was an unusual character. Small, squat and very lively.
A group of bright-eyed, intelligent students were gathered around him, crowding out the large room in which we were meeting. There were books everywhere - wall-to-ceiling bookshelves with line upon line, double-shelved large volumes of theology and philosophy, science, and you name it.
My hiding place
Khalda
Date posted: 1 Jan 2001
My story is of how God became 'my hiding place', my hope in a place where there was no hope.
My parents came over to England in the early 1960s. I grew up in the city of Coventry in a Pakistani Muslim home. Family life was very strict and traditional; we were not allowed to mix socially with the English children at school.
A passion for Piper?
Simon Vibert
Date posted: 1 Nov 2000
John Piper is the senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church (BBC) in Minneapolis.
He is author of more than a dozen books and has been in the UK speaking at conferences organised by such diverse groups as FIEC, Banner of Truth and the Clarendon Centre.
Making us accountable
Trevor James
Date posted: 1 Oct 2000
Radical changes are in prospect for all churches in England and Wales . . .
Proposals put forward by the Home Office and the Charity Commission will require places of worship to register with the Charity Commission from April 2001. The Charity Commission estimate that in total 100,000 groups will be affected.