Jerry Bridges 1929–2016
Jerry Bridges, who died on 6 March in Colorado Springs, was a leading light in the work of the Navigators and the author of over 20 popular Christian books on discipleship.
Gerald Dean Bridges was born on 4 December, 1929 in a cotton-farming home in Tyler, Texas to Christian parents, six weeks after the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression.
Nigel Sylvester 1929 –2015
Julia Cameron
Date posted: 1 Feb 2016
Ghana’s First Lady, Ernestina Mills, described Nigel Sylvester as ‘Ghana’s Wesley’. His influence was to spread across English-speaking Africa and then across the world.
Nigel Sylvester professed faith in Christ as a fresher in the Cambridge 1949 Barnhouse mission; shortly afterwards he lost both his parents in an aircrash. As a very young Christian, Nigel followed Mike Griffiths as CICCU President. With a First in Maths, he entered Ridley Hall with Mike Griffiths (later General Director of OMF) and Michael Allison (later PPS to Margaret Thatcher). Breaking with precedent, none was ordained.
The Third Degree
CU Spring missions
Kate Duncan
Date posted: 1 Apr 2015
‘For the first time, I have begun to understand Christianity.’
So said a student at a London university following an evening of Sixties’ style festival fun and a talk on ‘The God who Loves us’. She had joined hundreds of other students for one of the joint London Christian Unions’ (CU) city-wide events during their mission week in January. It was a week of creative and persuasive evangelism with lunchbars, Text-a-Toasties, question boards, free cafés, photo booths, questionnaires, Grill-a-Christian, Meals with a Message, art exhibitions, musical performances, testimonies and dramas.
Uganda: massive mission
AEUK
Date posted: 1 Oct 2014
It was reported in early September that in
Hoima, Uganda, during outreach work,
over 6,000 gave their lives to Christ. 622
received free dental services and treatment,
468 received free medical consultation and
treatment, and a new church was planted in
Kyesiga, a small town two miles outside
Hoima and more than 1000 metres above
sea level.
AEUK Ugandan Team
Leader
Paul
Ssembiro said: ‘The Hoima Mission included radio and TV ministry; evangelistic outreaches in schools, churches and the prison;
gospel rallies; door-to-door evangelism; dinners for the executive, business and security
fraternity; marketplace ministry; free medical
camps; and cleaning the town’s rubbish. The
impact of the mission shall remain in the
hearts of the people of Hoima for a long time to come.’
news in brief
New co-ordinator
The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical
Churches (FIEC) has appointed a Church
Revitalisation Co-ordinator who will be
responsible for spearheading a revitalisation
initiative among the churches of the FIEC.
Phil Walter, currently pastor of Brixworth
Christian Fellowship near Northampton,
will work part-time in the role before joining
the FIEC staff team full-time in July 2016.
He will work alongside
struggling
local
churches to help them recapture and renew
their gospel vision.
Latin America: ‘evangelicals’ and spiritual abuse
Ian Darke
Date posted: 1 Mar 2016
What images come to mind when you hear of Latin America? Exotic places, spicy food, salsa and tango dancing, football or drugs?
The region consists of 20 sovereign states, stretching from the southern border of the United States to the icy seas of Cape Horn. Its geography includes the Amazon jungle, glacier-covered mountains and some of the driest deserts on the planet, as well as huge megacities.
LONDON’S QUESTIONS OF LIFE
Naresh Mistry
Date posted: 1 Mar 2016
With 140,000 people working and 40,000 living in London’s Canary Wharf, how are they going to hear the gospel?
It was this challenge that occupied the thoughts and prayers of working Christians and members of St Peter’s Barge as they met to hear Rico Tice explain the vision for ‘Questions of Life’ (www.questionsoflife.org.uk). This outreach aims to give everyone in the Wharf a chance to engage with the gospel – specifically through a week of talks arranged for 14-20 March.
news in brief
Algeria: vandalised
Unknown ‘thugs’ who wrote a jihadist slogan on a church building in the centre of Tizi-Ouzou, a city on the Algerian coast, on the night of 7 January, looted and damaged the property.
The assailants vandalised or stole furniture, worship items and money worth about £5,500 from the Light (Tafat) Church during the night, pastor Mustapha Krireche said. The church, which has about 100 members, is surrounded by upmarket houses that would be more profitable for thieves interested solely in material goods and money.
Charles Dickens
Rev Ian McNaughton
Date posted: 1 Mar 2016
Dear Editor,
Thank you for the book review by Ann Benton if Charles (February en) asking Dickens can be regarded as a Christian? I notice that Ann did not commit herself to the book’s thesis. But let me add a few things.
Spend it, save it, give it
Graham Beynon
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
Graham Beynon on how to review our finances at the start of the new year
How is your bank balance?
Dateline Christianity
As we start 2016, Joy Horn has been discovering some significant anniversaries in Christian history for en
Events
In AD 66, after years of frustration under Roman rule, the Jewish Revolt broke out in Jerusalem against the occupiers. The desperate and bloody strife culminated in the sack of Jerusalem four years later by Titus, son of the Emperor Vespasian.
OMF: ‘staying aligned’
Julia Cameron
Date posted: 1 Dec 2015
Julia Cameron on the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship
A spoof of the Bee Gees song ‘Staying Alive’, was sung by senior leaders at OMF’s 150th anniversary, as a gathering in July celebrated its beliefs, vision, mission and values.
GBM: a light in every city
JEB
Date posted: 1 Dec 2015
These days, the annual get-together of supporters of Grace Baptist Mission alternates between venues in London and the Midlands. On Saturday 24 October it was the turn of the Renewal Centre in Solihull.
Around 650 people gathered and the theme highlighted the needs of Europe under the banner ‘A Light in Every City.’ Graham Field, chairman of the Mission’s Council, began the day emphasising that our mission is determined by our master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Daryl Jones, mission coordinator, used a cricket analogy to emphasise the need for partnership in mission, especially between the churches and GBM.
Terrorism from abroad
Dr Mahilan Hoole
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
Dear Editor,
Let me give a Third World perspective on
the recent actions of Islamic extremists.
A new church planned for Ilford
Simon Arscott
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
Ilford is in the London Borough of Redbridge, in north-east Greater London and, like most of London, it is booming.
The effects of the 2012 Olympic Games can be still felt, with improved transport links; trains get you from Ilford to Liverpool Street station in 18 minutes. In the next five years Crossrail will arrive, promising even more regeneration. Ilford town centre has a shopping centre which acts as a hub for the wider area and the schools are strong academically. For many people, it is a popular place to live. Being east London, property prices are cheaper than other parts of London.
South Africa: a vision for new freedoms
Chris Sugden
Date posted: 1 Jan 2016
South Africa witnessed
two major campaigns in October and November. Tens of
thousands of students protested against a
rise in student fees, ‘Fees must fall’, and the
Anglican Archbishop, Thabo Makoba, and
the Director of the Evangelical Alliance of
South Africa, the Revd Moss Ntlha, led an
anti-corruption march of 6000 people.
These protests against the government by
churches which had
supported
the anti-apartheid struggle marks an important step
in the development of South Africa since
freedom from apartheid came in 1994.
A day trip to Calais
Ruth Bullock
Date posted: 1 Feb 2016
Ruth Bullock tells us about a recent mission trip to the ‘Jungle’
In early December, seven Christians from Guildford set off for their first visit to the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais.
Family worship
Ruth Williams
Date posted: 1 Feb 2016
Book Review
GOD’S ALPHABET FOR TRAINING IN TRUTH
An Alphabet from God’s Word for Transforming
Young Lives
Read review
Hemel Hempstead: fragile, yet confident
Sam Buckley
Date posted: 1 Feb 2016
Despite sadness in its first year, Christ Church Hemel (CCH), launched in December 2014, has seen the Lord’s guiding and sustaining hand throughout.
Spicer Street Church in St Albans were keen to plant another church and, three years ago, the door opened with an opportunity to plant into the neighbouring town of Hemel Hempstead. A core group was quickly identified, money was raised and Sam Buckley was given the opportunity to lead the plant. Lots of time was spent planning and praying in the lead up to the intended start date – early October in 2014.
The culture war in South Africa
Philip Rosenthal reflects on how the church needs to up its game
Sometimes it is helpful to step back.
Philippines: pastor shot
Morning Star News
Date posted: 1 Feb 2016
Christians on the island of Mindanao believe insurgents with the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, were responsible for shooting Pastor Feliciano ‘Cris’ Lasawang (50) and his 24-year-old son Darwin as they bathed in the Culaman River north of Jose Abad Santos, Davao del Sur Province, early one morning in November.
Pastor Lasawang was shot three times in the body and his son once in the face. The two men died at the site. They had conducted baptisms in the same river where they died, according to US-based Christian Aid Mission, which assists native ministries around the world. NPA rebels are suspected because the guerrillas believe church growth dampens insurgent recruitment efforts, and the pastor had received reports that the Communist militants were monitoring his movements.
