Lynas new EA UK director
EA
Date posted: 1 Feb 2020
It was announced in December that the
Evangelical Alliance has appointed Peter
Lynas as its UK director.
He will work
alongside
new CEO
Gavin Calver, as he champions the voice
of evangelicals
to
the media and brings
leadership
to
the core areas of advocacy,
mission and unity within the Alliance.
A Big Gospel in Small Places
Stephen Witmer
Date posted: 1 Feb 2020
An extract from Stephen Witmer’s new book
In one sense, love itself is not very strategic. Anyone who’s ever been a parent understands this.
Lord of Lord’s
Association of Grace Baptist Churches (SE)
Date posted: 1 Feb 2020
St John’s Wood is west of Regent’s Park in London, a neighbourhood made famous by Lords Cricket Ground. The Edgware Road is also a centre for London’s Arab population.
At the heart of this community is St John’s Wood Road Baptist Church, a Grace Baptist church that has served this area for well over a century. In 2005 it had fallen on hard times, but Chris and Helen Hawthorne came to revitalise it, gathering a growing community around God’s word. During their time they sent a member to church-plant in Bordeaux, and another returned to serve in Assam, India. Finally, in 2018 the church sent Chris and Helen through GBM to head up Proclamation Institute Zambia, leaving Scott Little as the new pastor.
CiS: Making waves in European university sport
ChristiansinSport.org.uk
Date posted: 1 Mar 2020
In the summer of 2019, a group of young people representing 14 European nations met in Italy for Ready Set Go Multiply (RSGX). This is an annual summer programme to train future sports ministry leaders and is facilitated by the European Christian Sports Union, a network of churches, charities, and individuals seeking to make disciples in sport across Europe.
The delegates on RSGX spend two weeks in Bible and sports training ahead of a week running sports camps or community projects in another European country. This summer they served at a camp in Eastern Europe.
defending our faith
Platforms for hate speech?
Chris Sinkinson
Date posted: 1 Mar 2020
In a very disturbing recent development, major British conference venues have cancelled bookings for a tour by the son of Billy Graham. The May 2020 mission has been planned to give Franklin Graham an opportunity to follow in his late father’s footsteps and preach the gospel in various UK cities.
It is true that Franklin Graham has been controversial in some church circles. His salary from the Samaritan’s Purse has been under scrutiny. His vocal support for Donald Trump has alienated some evangelicals. His style of evangelism may not always fit well with British churches. But it is important to remember that these issues are not the point.
Suriname and Papua: air-born
Gary Clayton
Date posted: 1 Mar 2020
Every year, in the 26 countries MAF serves, pilots from the Christian aviation charity carry out hundreds of medical emergency flights for ill and injured people and women facing pregnancy complications.
In Suriname, the organisation’s experience of life-saving medevacs proved vital when MAF Country Director and Chief Pilot Andy Bijkerk had to carry out an urgent flight.
Australia: the church responds to the bushfire crisis
Peter Riddell
Date posted: 1 Mar 2020
At the time of writing, the seemingly never-ending summer of bushfires continues to take a devastating toll. Some 33 people have been killed in the fires, and over 2,500 homes across the nation destroyed, with the heaviest loss occurring in the state of New South Wales.
Losses among wildlife and livestock are inestimable in number, with some sources stating that perhaps 1.25 billion animals have been destroyed. The landmass devastated is equal to one and a half times the area of Scotland. Australian home territory has largely escaped the ravages of war over the decades, but is now experiencing something similar to a devastating military attack.
EFAC: Anglican evangelicals set goals for the future
Chris Sugden
Date posted: 1 Jan 2020
The executive committee of the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC) (Global) together with the trustees of the English charity EFAC met for three days in November to confer about the opportunities and challenges facing the gospel witness of the Anglican Church around the world.
They affirmed that EFAC is defined by theology, not by a relationship to a bishop. Through fellowships, fora and resources EFAC builds on the five marks of mission:
Mission field of the workplace
William Taylor
Date posted: 1 Sep 2018
Wes Illingsworth asks William Taylor about the new ‘Questions for Life’ mission
In March 2018, ‘Gospel at Work’ Lunchtime Talks networks made a special effort to take Christ’s answers to life’s biggest questions into their workplaces.
GBM: running with the ball
Dave Rushbrook
Date posted: 1 Dec 2019
Our day started with a 5.30am alarm and a bleary-eyed drive into London. By 8.45 we had our seats within eight feet of a TV in the ‘Signal Box’ at Euston Station to witness one of the greatest displays of English rugby ever! Could this day get any better?
The Grace Baptist Mission Annual Delegates’ Meeting was not an immediately obvious progression! GBM exists to ‘help churches support their missionaries worldwide’ and it is funded by, directed and answerable to the churches that it supports. The church delegates’ meeting, the church business part of GBM’s Annual Mission Day, began with a focus on the Great Commission and Matthew 16:18. We have seen progress through mission – because Jesus is building his church. There have been hard times – because the gates of hell are arrayed against us. But we press on – because we know Jesus is in charge and Satan will not prevail!
history
Loving the lost: following the example of Jonathan Edwards
Michael Haykin
Date posted: 1 Feb 2020
When Jonathan Edwards, who has been rightly described as ‘America’s Augustine’, left his pastoral charge in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1750, he received a number of ‘attractive’ ministry offers, including the presidency of a theological college in Scotland. He chose instead to go with his family to a small out-of-the-way frontier village by the name of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Why this unusual choice?
Some have surmised that Edwards settled in Stockbridge because the rigours of ministry among a smaller congregation, which consisted mostly of Mahican Indians, would prove minimal, and he could then devote himself largely to his study and the major treatises that he wanted to write books on such issues as free will and original sin.
Authentic Anglicanism and false fears
Charles Raven
Date posted: 1 Feb 2020
Nearly four years ago, Chancellor George Osborne claimed that the UK’s exit from the European Union would be ‘a shock to the world economy’. Thus began what became known as ‘Project Fear’, but with Brexit imminent there is no sign of financial panic nor of the other dire consequences foretold.
This is not to say that Remain had a monopoly of misleading claims, but it is a reminder of how politically-driven communication can stretch facts and evidence. Sadly, the Anglican Communion is not exempt. It has its own ‘Project Fear’.
2020 birmingham: Happy New Year... what’s next?
John James
Date posted: 1 Feb 2020
‘20 new churches in Birmingham by 2020.’ That was the stretch goal that we set for ourselves, under God in 2010.
It was beyond any single church, network or denomination to achieve it, and humanly speaking, it seemed impossible. The last ten years have been a lesson in how God delights to do the impossible, and it has been a privilege to have front-row seats.
Churches uniting in prayer for London
London Gospel Partnership
Date posted: 1 Dec 2019
Wednesday 6 November saw the inaugur-al ‘Pray for London’ event hosted by the London Gospel Partnership.
Over 100 church leaders and church workers, along with many other believers, gathered together at East London Tabernacle for a time of dedicated prayer for God’s saving grace to be seen powerfully throughout London.
Chile: hospital mission
OM International
Date posted: 1 Mar 2019
Logos Hope volunteers connected with
people in front of Antofagasta’s hospital, to
tell them the gospel and pray with those who
are unwell and their visitors.
The crew members approached people and
relatives waiting for treatment outside the
hospital. After introducing themselves, they
asked if there was anything they could pray for. When people accepted prayer, they spoke
with them more personally, prayed for their
requests and told them about their faith.
news in brief
New pastor in the Cwm
5 October saw
the
induction of Pastor
Steve Dyer to the pastorate of the Mission
Cwmtwrch, a village 15 miles north of
Swansea in the South Wales valleys.
Pastor Dyer’s
relationship with
the
Mission has grown steadily for several years.
In Spring 2019, he felt led to accept a call
from the Mission – a church that has its
origins in the 1904 Welsh Revival. Pastor
Dyer continues to work with Oasis Church,
now based in Gorseinon, which he planted
in early 2008.
London Church Planting Academy
Co-Mission
Date posted: 1 Nov 2019
Co-Mission churches have long used the metaphor of a lifeboat to remind ourselves that we need to be rescuing the perishing.
Richard Coekin (Co-Mission) has drawn on lessons from the Titanic disaster and Neil Powell (City to City) has written of the need for ‘a Dunkirk spirit, where a huge number of lifeboats were mobilised to realise a vision far too big for any group to achieve alone’.
A new home
Graham Miller
Date posted: 1 Dec 2019
The Christmas holidays tend to be a great time for kids. The average family in the UK will spend an additional £2,000 over the Christmas period on gifts, food and trips.
It is not the same picture for everyone, though. 700,000 kids in London are living below the poverty line, after you’ve taken housing costs into account. For these homes the additional financial stress of Christmas can often be the cause of family arguments, stress, and domestic abuse. It is not surprising that, despite the cold weather, winter is a time when many kids run away for the first time.
Bahamas: dealing with Dorian
Gary Clayton
Date posted: 1 Dec 2019
On 1 September 2019, Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas. The Category 5 storm, with 185mph winds and storm surges of up to 23 feet, is one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall.
Regarded as the worst natural disaster in the country’s history, the storm caused widespread flooding and destruction. It killed at least 50 people and left more than 70,000 people homeless.
The modern war on truth
Chris Wright
Date posted: 1 Jan 2020
Chris Wright discusses the ramifications of living in a society where lying is the norm
‘What is truth?’ asked Pontius Pilate. Jesus had just said: ‘Everyone who is on the side of truth listens to me’ (John 18:37-38).
The surprising problem of freedom
Most of us claim to want freedom. We don’t like being constrained. We want to do things our way, according to our pref-erences, how things suit us. We can get behind the concept of personal autonomy.
What we’re less happy about is when the autonomy granted to us is extended to others. Though we perhaps acknowledge the world would be a very boring place if we were all the same, there’s that little part of us that thinks – despite that – we’re basically right, the way we do things is best and so if everyone was a bit more like us the world would be a happier place. We are the arbiters of normal, moderate credible living and others are different shades of weird based on how closely they ape the way we do things.