Unsung Heroes
Dorothea Clapp 1901–1990
Brian Maiden
Date posted: 1 Mar 2020
Have you ever heard of Dorothea Clapp or her son, Daniel? Probably not.
Before I tell you about them, let me tell you about George Verwer, who you probably have heard of. George, now 81 years of age and still preaching around the world, is the founder of Operation Mobilisation (OM).
Saving valley chapels
Alan R. Taylor
Date posted: 1 Mar 2020
Dear Sir,
It was heartwarming to read of Robert
Stivey’s attempt
to
re-open
some of
the
chapels in the valleys of South Wales (en January, front page).
LCM: the vulnerable need Jesus
London City Mission
Date posted: 1 Mar 2020
I’ve had people worry that the work of the
London City Mission might be exploitative.
Elderly people can be ripped off by someone
pretending to be a friend; a homeless person
could be exploited by heavy shepherding
whilst they are weak.
That risk has been used by some to suggest
that we should avoid evangelism amongst
children and vulnerable adults lest we are
accused of spiritual abuse. And yet I can
think of no greater abuse than to know the
good news of Jesus and to willingly hold it
back from someone in desperate need. The
vulnerable need Jesus!
The lonely aftertaste of Secret Cinema
Johnny Lawes
Date posted: 1 Apr 2020
First Madagascar, then Venice. We stopped by MI5, picked up some drinks and headed to the casino. But suddenly a fight broke out, gunmen appeared, and we all dropped to the floor. Not my average Friday evening.
I recently became one of 120,000 to experience Secret Cinema’s Casino Royale. It was a thrilling evening: a secret location, black tie and special missions, culminating in an immersive showing of the film, complete with live actors and pyrotechnics. It’s a format that has soared in recent years, perhaps because it consciously offers something not digital. Phones are sealed away and people have to interact. Instead of immediate and constant information, it offers secrets. And instead of a ‘purely digital experience’ it offers ‘touch’.
politics & policy
Let’s talk about robots...
James Mildred
Date posted: 1 Apr 2020
A few weeks ago, I attended a round table with a panel of experts, exploring a Christian response to artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.
My primary mission there was to observe and to learn. It was fascinating listening to attendees discuss their fears and hopes for the future. Robotics and AI is a massive subject and it is complicated, too. I suspect the daunting nature of the issue puts many people off. But what is clear is that robots and AI are set to play an increasingly prominent role in our lives. In turn, this will prompt huge questions about the value of work and what it means to be human.
news in brief
Australia: fostering bias
A Christian couple launched a legal action after they were banned from becoming foster carers due to their biblical views on LGBT issues, it was reported in February.
Byron and Keira Hordyk said they would love a child who identifies as LGBT as their own, but would help them to overcome their sin. Despite an initially favourable report, their application was refused on the grounds that their views would not ensure ‘a safe living environment’. The Equality Opportunity Commission refused to hear their case, and it has been referred to the State Administrative Tribunal.
Surrender of the faith
The Revd Dr Peter Mullen
Date posted: 1 Apr 2020
Dear Sir,
Every January something pops through my letterbox to bring a shaft of light into these dark days. The CofE authorities send me a little advertising puff about the annual Lent Course provided by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. For years this has given me a laugh, although, to use a phrase of my mother’s, it’s too daft to laugh at. All the usual politically-correct nostrums cast in the Noddy language with which the church patronises and torments us to death. But suddenly this booklet isn’t funny anymore.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
You get what you pay for
‘Drink silver particles in water.’ ‘Make your body more alkaline.’ ‘Drink water every 15 minutes.’ These were just three online cures which circulated at the start of the Covid-19 (C-19) pandemic.
All such claims were plainly ridiculous, but there were others that sounded more plausible, due to being wrapped up in nice ‘science-y’-sounding language.