Letter from America
9/11 anniversary lessons
Josh Moody
Date posted: 1 Oct 2011
To even attempt to broach this demanding topic in a few hundred words is to rush in where angels fear to tread.
So first a preliminary word: this will not be exhaustive. It will not be ‘exhausting’ either, for which you may breathe a sigh of relief, because of its appropriate brevity.
Notes to Growing Christians
God bless our holidays!
David Jackman
Date posted: 1 Aug 2011
School’s out and holidays are here!
For many of us August is still the month in which we can get away from it all and enjoy a well-deserved break — a bit of rest and relaxation. The month to switch off; put the tent up, put your feet up and hope that there won’t be too much rain to make the sandwiches soggy.
But should Christians have holidays? If we take time off, shouldn’t that become ‘time on’ for Christian activities, like Bible clubs and beach missions, camps, conventions and mission trips? In a world which so much needs the gospel, can we ever really justify taking time out? Well, yes and no!
In July 1937, the Japanese invaded China.
Book Review
The Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek was forced to move westward and set up its capital in Chungking (Chongqing) behind the safety of the Yangze rapids and gorges. Over 80 million, including Christians, evacuated to the comparative safety of west China.
Read review
Scotland: a hellish perspective
David Robertson
Date posted: 1 Sep 2011
David Robertson, with apologies to C.S. Lewis, gives a different perspective on the current church scene in Scotland.
My Dear Diabolos,
Superb job! It really gives me great pleasure to see how well your mission in Scotland is going. It is so deliciously ironic that this land that was once so feared by us, inhabited by the ‘people of the book’, is now almost completely turned around and leading the way to what our enemies, the humans, so stupidly call ‘secularisation’. Ever since the Russian prophets of the 19th century, we have been looking for a way to undermine the basic foundations of marriage and freedom. Now our goal is within sight. How absolutely wonderful that you managed to get the British Prime Minister to declare his intention of ‘redefining marriage’ — while, of course, at the same time talking about defending the family.
Challenges of a growing church, part 2
Ray Evans
Date posted: 1 Jul 2011
Previously we have thought about the way a larger church is a more complicated animal which tends to have more pastoral problems and different expectations of those in leadership.
But these are not the only pressures which go with growth.
'Taxi!'
Christopher Idle
Date posted: 1 Aug 2011
The curious thing was to meet all three of them in the last 12 hours of my short midweek break, within half a mile of one another.
They were all quite different; I did not raise the subject, since we met for other reasons, yet they shared this common bond. Was I witnessing the birth of a new movement, or non-movement, for our times?
Shaha Gurung, 1960-2011
International Nepal Fellowship
Date posted: 1 Aug 2011
An outstanding Nepali Christian leader, Shaha Gurung died suddenly on May 16.
Born on January 23 1960, in the village of Ghachok near Machhapuchhre (‘Fishtail’) mountain, Shaha began a 25-year career with International Nepal Fellowship (INF) in 1978 as a paramedic in leprosy rehabilitation in Pokhara.
Heroes for children
Barbara Sherwood
Date posted: 1 Aug 2011
Book Review
POLYCARP OF SMYRNA
The man whose faith lasted
IRENAEUS OF LYONS
The man who wrote books
Read review
Not listening to God?
Roger Carswell
Date posted: 1 Jun 2011
We are not living in harvest days in the UK.
There are times of spiritual ploughing, sowing, watering, weeding as well as harvesting. We look to the Lord of the harvest, and to the Lord for harvest, but meanwhile we are called to faithfully prepare the ground, plant gospel seed.
Postcode lottery?
Jesus told us to pray for workers into the harvest fields. Yet, we can hardly blame him if they are not there. Labourers are needed for evangelistic work, and they need to be spread across the ‘field’; if some areas are harder to work than others, then more work is needed there.
The Third Degree
Seeker Bible studies
Pod Bhogal
Date posted: 1 Jun 2011
‘What I've discovered is that what works best with non-Christians is opening up the Bible with them.’
So said Doug, a student at Glasgow University, who was surprised at the effectiveness of discussing God’s Word with non-Christian students, in a forum often called seeker or evangelistic Bible studies.
The third degree
Angus Moyes
Date posted: 1 May 2011
When the average church is told, ‘now we’re going to do some theology’, the odd keen bean will be on the edge of his pew, but the majority give their brains a rest in the sure knowledge that ‘this bit isn’t that important’.
Such is the place of ‘theology’ in the lives of many Christians in today’s church. Either that, or it’s seen as a danger to steer any would-be students well clear of. Certainly, if it’s a mission-focused church, theology is the last thing they want to spend their time on! Of course, it’s the experience of God and the simple gospel that a church with missional aspirations requires. Not theology. That’s for people who want to ‘go a bit deeper’, but far from essential for every would-be witnessing believer. Or is it?
Tell all the world
Matt Gamston
Date posted: 1 Jun 2011
Heathrow airport on a Wednesday afternoon. You buy a tray full of overpriced coffees and carry them carefully over to a group of people sitting round a small table. A teary-eyed missionary saying goodbye to sad family and friends!
It’s a strange mix of excitement and sadness. After handshakes and hugs all round you watch as your missionary joins the queue through security and into the departure lounge. A final wave and he is gone! The thought suddenly comes into your mind, ‘Now what?!’
Notes to Growing Christians
God's grand plan
David Jackman
Date posted: 1 Jun 2011
Among the many distinctive traits of 21st-century global culture is our confidence in technology.
To every problem there must be a solution which technology can supply, if only the science is advanced enough and there is money enough to apply it. And in many areas of our human experience that has been proved to be true, so that we can all be profoundly thankful for the benefits of scientific research in making us healthier, more comfortable and (perhaps) happier than our forebears.
The Third Degree
Link-up for new students
Pod Bhogal
Date posted: 1 Jul 2011
Over the past five years, more than 3,000 students have taken advantage of UCCF’s student Link-Up scheme.
Through this they are able to register their details with their campus CU before they head off to university or college.
When every day is extra time
This is an edited version of Hugh Palmer's interview with the Archbishop at New Word Alive in 2011.
This is an edited version of Hugh Palmer’s interview with Archbishop Ben Kwashi of Nigeria at New World Alive in 2011.
