search

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 Jun 2001

When I came to America I expected to leave behind me the need to understand class distinctions.

In a sense that has been true. In England your accent immediately places you within a fabric of class distinctions (unless you are blessed to have been born with or cultivated that nondescript nowhere-in-particular accent beloved of TV hosts). Here my accent does not 'place' me, other than being from England (or occasionally Australia).

Towards the end of the 1950s, Richard Bowdler left the staff of All Souls, Langham Place, and the ministry of 'Chaplain to the Stores' passed to Michael Harper.

He was a Londoner (the family home had been in Welbeck Street) and he had long been an occasional visitor to All Souls. He was converted to Christ in his first year at Cambridge, and during the vacations had alternated between All Souls and Westminster Chapel.

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 May 2001

Doctrinal controversies are far from uncommon in America. Of course, the ecumenical movement is influential here, with the Evangelical and Catholic attempts to form some kind of statement that can get mutual approval, the broad-based evangelistic campaigns of Luis Palau and the like, and with other, more liberal, ecumenical movements. But, there is still much in the way of doctrinal disagreements and arguments in churches, between churches, in denominations.

One of the most important ongoing battles in this regard is in the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the world, has extraordinarily rich reserves of money and talent, and is very influential throughout the world by way of its vigorous and commendable support of missionaries. Being so large makes it vulnerable to mega-politics.

On February 3 37-year-old Bruce Morrison was about to give an English lesson in a church hall in Wuchang, Hubei province. A madman rushed into the room and stabbed the young American. He was taken urgently to hospital but was found to have died.

His wife Valori was advised of the incident and came with her six daughters to the Outpatients Department. En route she spoke quietly to the children about the attack and the family resolved to forgive whoever had done this. When they reached the hospital Valori Morrison was informed that Bruce was dead. She said to her daughters, 'Your father has gone to be with Jesus. He is asleep in Jesus's arms.' Turning to the medical worker she said, 'Please contact the killer and tell him that the family has forgiven him and will be praying for him.' Some of the students who had witnessed the murder were at the hospital, deeply upset by what they had witnessed. Valori reminded them of Christ's words that if a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies it brings forth fruit.

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 Apr 2001

Writing from the US, Josh Moody aspires to be an evangelical Alistair Cooke as he begins a series ...

Sir Fred Catherwood recently represented Evangelicals at a forum in Kazakhstan to discuss religious liberty (see news item on p. 7). Here is the text of Sir Fred's speech, which passionately argues for tolerance.

I want to talk about the contribution which the Kazakhstan Protestant churches can make to this country.

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 Jan 2001

He was an unusual character. Small, squat and very lively.

A group of bright-eyed, intelligent students were gathered around him, crowding out the large room in which we were meeting. There were books everywhere - wall-to-ceiling bookshelves with line upon line, double-shelved large volumes of theology and philosophy, science, and you name it.

Controversy in the letters page of EN regarding the new Praise! hymn book has set some historical alarm bells ringing. It seems that there is nothing new under the sun . . .

Since the Reformation1 protestant churches have divided, rancorously, over musical matters with depressing regularity. At different times, all manner of issues have caused bitter dispute. Often a conservative old guard opposed 'dangerous innovations'. Usually the dangerous innovation soon became general practice, and the oceans of print spilled over its introduction were completely forgotten. Below are listed some of the arguments that have raged over singing in church down the centuries.

This year has marked the 150th anniversary of modern spiritualism whose official birthday was March 31 1848 at Hydesville, New York State, in the family of the Fox sisters. How do we now assess that movement in the light of Scripture and history?

Although the craze, like so many, began in America, spirit messages were already quite common among mesmerists in France and elsewhere in the 1840s. In fact, mediumship may be as old as the Fall, and there is, of course, one seance in Scripture, King Saul's visit to the woman of En-Dor.

Known to his friends as 'Jack' (he didn't like 'Clive Staples'), C.S. Lewis was born on the outskirts of Belfast on November 29 1898, and died in his Oxford home, The Kilns, almost 65 years later on November 22 1963.

He was equally a scholar and a storyteller, for years an Oxford don, and then Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge.

SETTING OFF FOR A NEW WORLD?

Have you ever dreamed of a new world? It would be a world where there is peace and justice for all. It would be a world without pain or death, where there is joy and dignity for everyone. Many men and women cherish such hopes. People even have a name for that world. We call it 'heaven'. But can such a world be found?

The desire to make a better world has shaped the outlook of many people - teachers, doctors, politicians - of good intent as they have set out on their careers. Yet though there have been great advances through technology and medicine, a new world of joy and justice - heaven on earth - always eludes us.

'When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him and he began to teach them, saying: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.' (Matthew 5.1-3).

I was a student in 1970 at the time when students were revolting! In many university campuses around the world then, students were known for their radical idealism.

An old Russian proverb says: 'He who lives in the past loses one eye; but he who forgets the past loses both eyes'. This is the first of a regular column over the next few months giving short biographies of some great evangelical leaders of the past.

Henry Venn is little-known nowadays. His story is not dramatic, but in his time he was much used by Christ and he has some useful lessons for us in 1997.

In the US recently, I found myself 'channel-hopping' in an effort to locate a serious programme.

Eventually, I came across one that seemed to be what I was looking for: three newsreaders giving an oversweep on the week's world events. However, the longer I watched, the clearer it became that this programme was not quite what I had expected.