Grace Baptist joy
JEB
An Association AGM is usually a duty that
must be done and no more. But that of the
Association of Grace Baptists in the South
East on 6 October, at St Giles’ Mission,
North London, turned into a real joy.
Four new churches
joined
the group,
from Chelmsford, Hythe, Streatham and
Ebbsfleet. The new book Pure Church, show-ing the biblical basis for the Association’s
ecclesiology,
was
launched.
Graham
Nicholls, the director of Affinity, to which
the Association belongs, articulated the aims
of his work for wider fellowship.
CBMW: heart and identity
JEB
The LGBT issue is beginning to cause difficulties among conservative evangelicals. All say they stand on the Bible and agree that homosexual acts are forbidden by Scripture. Yet two camps are sadly emerging – especially on the back of a US conference called ‘ReVoice’ which took place recently.
There are those who feel that same-sex attraction is something unsought by many. It is not their fault and therefore, while not expressing their attractions outwardly, they must live with it, as it were making a truce with their condition. Others feel that this position involves a compromise. All that does not conform to God’s righteous ways is to be repented of and fought, whether or not we feel it was a deliberate choice on our part. This issue was addressed directly and helpfully at the UK conference of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, by ex-football star Gavin Peacock, who is now a pastor in Canada.