You in Your Small Corner - the elusive dream of evangelical unity
Mark Johnston
Date posted: 1 Sep 1999
There are few more significant challenges facing the church and churches of our day than that of pursuing meaningful unity.
The fact that Jesus prays for a unity which can be witnessed by a watching world in such a way as to endorse the credibility of the gospel (John 17.20-23) and the fact that Paul uses a verb which can be translated 'spare no effort' to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4.3), both point to a Christian responsibility which too many Christians too easily shirk.
The faith in France - any future?
Paul Wells
Date posted: 1 Aug 1999
France is traditionally a Roman Catholic country. At the end of the 20th century, religion has been marginalised. People are turning away from Catholicism by the score, but what are they looking for?
In today's France, materialism is much in evidence. At all levels of society, people want to move up and have more. However, it has fostered frustration and emptiness and also guilt. The poor are left on the outside. So on the French TV news, the plight of the homeless always figures during the winter months. But apart from that, compassion is by proxy.
A brief guide to Christian websites
Chris Walley
Date posted: 1 Jun 1999
Scattered through the articles in The Times were nearly 20 web sites for those with computers and modems to find and download further information.
On television, a campaign is running to push the use of the web, and even my cereal packet boasts its own cryptic address of slashes and letters. The web is spreading so fast that - for once - the word 'explosion' is not hyperbole.
Mission field - Clapham
Mr Ian Brown
Date posted: 1 Apr 1998
Mission field: Clapham
Courland Grove is a Grace Baptist Church in a run-down part of inner London. Our congregation is mainly some of the poorest members of society: single parents, the mentally disadvantaged and unemployed.
Among these needy folk are some with extreme problems: alcoholics, schizophrenics, drug addicts and the psychologically disturbed. Many members lack either a paid job or a normal family background. Many are damaged by broken relationship situations.
What are we waiting for?
What are we waiting for?
Luis Palau, international evangelist from Argentina, was speaking at a series of mission meetings in north-west England in May. EN caught up with him, and heard some scorching comments on the lack of urgency in the British church.
EN: You have been visiting Britain since the 1970s and you are just starting another mission. What do you think of the state of the church?
So you want to be a leader?
Alison Hull
Date posted: 1 Jul 1999
Speaking at this year's Word Alive (Spring Harvest), at Weymouth, Roy Clements challenged the church to rethink its policy on choosing leaders.
In his address Roy said: 'God is looking for people who have learnt the crucial lesson of humility.' And he went on to warn those who seek leadership: 'Beware of selfish ambition.'
Reaching children in 140 countries
Ms Rachel Ball
Date posted: 1 Apr 1999
Mimi, a regular attender at our Good News Club, stood at the front holding the visual for the next song.
She asked if she could say something. 'When I first started coming to the club, I thought that every time I did something wrong, Jesus had to die again. Now I know that's not true.' Mimi, who was eight years old at the time, smiled at the group; she was beginning to understand the teaching that she heard each week. Before this, she had never heard the gospel explained to her and had never been to a Sunday School.
Definitely leadership material!
John Benton
Date posted: 1 May 1999
The first volume of the official biography of John Stott, by Timothy Dudley-Smith, is published by IVP. EN interviewed the subject and the author of the biography...
EN: John Stott, you came to Christ through the work of E.J.H. Nash (Bash) while you were at Rugby School in the 1930s. And the book gives the impression of you as quite an idealistic youth. What was it about the Lord Jesus Christ that led you to surrender your life to him?
The Good Shepherd in Transylvania
Paul Jansen
Date posted: 1 Mar 1999
Transylvania in northern Romania is associated in most people's minds with Count Dracula and evil deeds. But through his church, God is reaching out in love to the socially-marginalised of this area.
Zoli, a recovered alcoholic from Romania, made the following remark: 'Here in my region, there is an ancient tradition of keeping alcohol in every household and forcing visitors to accept it. In daily life, there is hardly any occasion where drinking is not evident.'
Re-establishing a church
Mr Graham Jones and Dr John Benton
Date posted: 1 Apr 1999
Nearly eight years ago Chertsey Street Baptist Church (CSBC) in Guildford set itself to re-establish a church which had closed in another area of Guildford.
This has now happened, and on April 17 a thanksgiving service will celebrate the independence of Guildford Park Church.
She's a winner ! A gift from God - for God
Mary Davis
Date posted: 1 Apr 1999
Hilary Jolly, winner of St.. Paul's Cathedral Millennium Hymn Competition, has been using her gift with words since she could put pen to paper.
'My mother used to recite poetry as she did the housework - in the way that other people sing,' and when Hilary was only four years old, she wrote her first poem. But following her conversion at the age of 35, Hilary recognised that her gift with words was a gift from God and resolved to use it for him. 'I became a Christian and knowing that I have this gift, I decided from that moment: that gift is for God; he gave it to me, he shall have it back.'
Doing the impossible
David Baker
Date posted: 1 Mar 1999
Ask yourself where the toughest mission fields of the 20th century have been, and you might well think of various distant foreign locations.
But while many of your guesses might be correct, you could easily overlook one of the hardest areas of gospel endeavour in Britain over the last 50 years - and you might be surprised by its location: the world of England's top public schoolboys.
