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Churches and Christian charities are now subject to closer scrutiny by the Charity Commission. Although this gives rise to some concerns, the new obligations also give opportunities for the gospel.

The legal landscape within which churches and Christian charities operate has changed radically in recent years. The Charities Act 2006 contained two particularly important provisions. The first is that all churches with an annual income of more than £100,000 must now register with the Charity Commission. The second is that all charities are required to demonstrate and report on the way in which their activities benefit the public.

The past 20 years have been like no other in history. Everything about the way we think and live has changed.

The under-25s entered education when the concept of Truth had already become historical, even quaint. And the last quarter century has, as a result, proved fertile ground for amoral pragmatism, which, not surprisingly, gained easy acceptance in many areas of life. The church needs leaders who can discern the times, leaders like the men of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12.32).

Oliver Barclay has always been a wise and insightful contributor to important issues in evangelical thinking and so I read with interest his article ‘Where is Academic Theology heading?’ (EN, December 2006).

He queries how helpful academic theology is for preparing men and women for any kind of ministry, even if it does provide the churches with excellent resources. However, the academic theology he talks about in his article is not the only type of theology studied in Bible colleges and universities. Increasingly, in recent years, there has been a growing interest in the discipline of Applied Theology. Dr. Barclay ends his article with a question: ‘What sort of theological study is most useful to the ordinary student, who has no aspirations to become an academic or to do serious research, but wants useful knowledge and skills?’ To me, the answer is Applied Theology. This article attempts to set out the case for it.

One of the memorable features and purposes of the annual Keswick Convention in days gone by were the early morning prayer meetings.

Queues formed at the crack of dawn at the two venues — the church in Southey Street had an overflow outside in the street — as earnest believers of many nationalities shared spontaneous, audible intercession for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ worldwide.

September 24 2009 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Charles Simeon, a great man of God whose 54-year ministry at Holy Trinity, Cambridge (1782-1836) had such a remarkable impact on the work of the gospel in this country and much further afield.

At the time of his conversion as a first-year undergraduate, there was only a handful of evangelical ministers in the Church of England, but, by the time of his death, it is estimated that a third of Anglican pulpits were occupied by evangelicals, as many as 1,100 of whom had been profoundly influenced by Simeon at Cambridge. What can we learn today from his teaching and example?

We regularly receive appeals in the West to help feed the poor and hungry of the world. But we understand by faith that there is a greater famine going on, a famine of hearing the life-giving, soul-nourishing Word of God.

Even in countries where there are packed and thriving churches, very often the pastors have little training and a poor grasp of how to teach the Bible properly. This makes many Christians, in Africa and elsewhere, extremely vulnerable to false teachers and prosperity gospels.

Every parent, grandparent and youth worker knows the gnawing sense of anxiety they feel when someone they know first goes up to university or college. Especially if they’ve had the experience themselves, they know the full-on impact of those first few days and weeks as a fresher.

The bewildering numbers of new faces and names and choices; deciding what clubs to join and sports to pursue; managing the laundry and working out how to survive on a student loan; and, of course, learning to negotiate the campus and the timetable! The freedom and the options that university or college life inevitably offer can be a heady mixture. So many parties and so little time! Life back home, especially life in the church youth group, can seem so tame and restrained and, oh, so far away. For a Christian young person there is the challenge of finding a good church, making new Christian friends, and not abusing their newfound freedoms.

James Cary

Date posted: 1 Aug 2009

When poets talk of the birds twittering in the trees, a different picture is now evoked.

Imagine sparrows and starlings pecking away at laptops, telling the other birds who are ‘following them’ what they’re doing. Twittering or, more correctly, tweeting, reached critical mass a few months ago when Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross both decided to use Twitter. But what is it?

I wonder how David felt as he stood in Goliath’s shadow, slingshot in hand with just five smooth pebbles? Pure fear?

The full realisation that he was puny and the one he was about to fight was a literal giant? No doubt he should have been petrified of what was in front of him but he knew the saving power of God behind him.

Ray Porter

Date posted: 1 May 2009

James Hudson Taylor III died on March 20 at his home in Hong Kong. Like his great-grandfather he loved Christ and the Chinese and served them to the end. Some of his last words were, ‘God is good’. He was a great example of a godly man and a warm friend and colleague.

James was born in China to missionary parents who resolved to stay in the country to serve the Christian believers as the war with Japan developed. He was interned with other children and staff of the CIM Chefoo school. His grandfather, Herbert, was in the same camp and he got to know him well and thus had a direct personal link with Hudson Taylor himself!

At Forum last September, UCCF’s fifth Gospel Project, FREE, was officially launched. Around 1,000 students, staff, and Relay workers saw the unveiling of 400,000 copies of impressive new FREE gospels, and more than 20 additional resources.

Andrea Minichiello Williams works for Christian Concern for Our Nation (CCFON) and the Christian Legal Centre. These organisations are heavily involved in the crucial task of defending our liberties and helping Christians facing discrimination of various kinds in the UK. At the beginning of March she gave a short interview to EN...

EN: Tell us briefly how you became a Christian.

AMW: When I was four, the local Methodist church sent a minibus around the neighbourhood where I was living inviting the children to Sunday School. I was put on the minibus. When I arrived at Sunday School, Mrs. Hicks, told me all about Jesus and I fell in love with him there and then.

These days many people seek answers to life’s questions on the internet. Looking for God is a ministry for Christ which taps into this modern phenomenon.

Looking for God is a website accessed through a Google search when buzz words like ‘God’, ‘peace,’ ‘faith’, etc. are typed in. The aim of the website is to draw people to consider Christianity.