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I was born blind, without eyes. This came as a great shock to my parents, but, despite this, and their questions as to why God had allowed this to happen, they were determined to treat me as normally as possible. I was included in all family activities, and I went through mainstream education all the way from playschool to sixth form. It was a challenge, but, with help from God and friends, family and staff, I got through it.

I was raised in a Christian family and attended church and Sunday school regularly at Potton Baptist Church. I can’t say what date I became a Christian, but I remember always asking God to help and forgive me, right from a very young age. He is my best friend. I was 12 when I knew for sure I was a Christian and wanted to make my faith public by being baptised.

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 Aug 2010

Let me talk about an important book bearing on the American scene.

Sebastian Junger’s War (New York, 2010) is a specifically non-religious book, but with great relevance to assessments of the effects and experience of war in Afghanistan for American troops. Junger ‘embedded’ himself with the ultimate front line troops in a far flung outpost of Afghanistan to experience daily life in combat.

Principle: Eternal glory offers more than this life.

Consider this

Sitting in the dentist’s waiting room, Lucy flicks through House & Garden magazine. She loves the photo shoots of beautifully restored homes. She dreams of a country cottage. But she and her husband have decided to serve God in the city. Looking at the antique furniture and cottage garden of some rural idyll in the country, she begins to wonder whether it’s worth it.

‘Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet’ (Acts 4.36-37).

In May 2008 there was a Number 1 song: ‘They call me Stacey, they call me her, they call me Jane, that’s not my name’. Barnabas could also have said, ‘That’s not my name’. His real name was Joseph, but the apostles called him Barnabas, and that is how he was always known.

Sometimes spiritual triumph arises out of natural disaster. Few had ever heard of the volcanic tongue-twister that is Eyjajallajokull before April 14; now we know that its ash crippled European airlines for a week, costing the aviation industry over £2bn, stranding 300,000 passengers and its effects have been ongoing.

One of its more remarkable spiritual consequences, however, was that the eruption deprived Medias, Romania, of a team of American evangelists who were to run a major outreach under the auspices of the Luis Palau Association's (LPA’s) Next Generation Alliance programme. In so doing, it propelled local churches into taking full responsibility for the mission and forced local pastors to bring the gospel themselves to their friends and neighbours. The result of being made to step out in faith, in these apparently unpromising circumstances, was a rich harvest of souls for Christ.

‘This is the story of how a powerful and extraordinary God uses ordinary people to accomplish his purposes.’ This is how Sam Doherty summarised the work of Child Evangelism Fellowship in Ireland during the past 60 years. He should know for he was there at the beginning!

In November 1949, Sam Doherty was a recently qualified teacher and a brand new convert to Christ, with no gospel background whatsoever. He took the words of his spiritual father, Fred Orr, seriously: ‘God always saves people for them to do something; you’d better ask God what he wants you to do’. Sam and his wife Sadie began to pray for God’s direction.

A Passion for Life, the UK-wide mission which culminated at Easter, has been hailed a resounding success with another possible mission planned for 2014.

Hundreds of events saw unchurched people hearing the gospel for the first time, with many churches reporting professions of faiths. Churches of differing denominations came together and, working in groups, helped reach their local communities with the message of Easter.

On a precarious slope, Etienne digs into the dusty soil with a small hoe, planting beans in hope of the rains. In recent years these rains have become unpredictable. Miles away, his wife is returning from the forest, a bundle of firewood on her head. She was up before dawn carrying water from the spring, her only source of water, nearly an hour’s walk away. The young baby on her back is sick with intestinal parasites from drinking this water she has worked so hard to provide.

The global context may be lost on this family, but they live out its consequences on a daily basis. In the United States, frequent headlines warn of what is happening to the earth and its ecosystems, but because the impact on Western life is minimal, the predictions are largely ignored.

Ray Porter’s recent article on Missionary Funding (EN, November 2009) raises important issues.

But it leaves the reader with more questions than answers. How then should long-term, international cross-cultural gospel work be funded? What is the responsibility of those who set their hearts on doing this kind of work? What is the proper role and function of a mission society, and how ought such organisations to be funded today? What is the biblical model for the relationship between churches and would-be mission partners? Ray’s concerns arise out of his long and distinguished personal experience of global mission and his undoubted passion to see proper provision made. However, a statement like ‘there is no biblical justification for burdening missionaries with fundraising’ frames the argument in a way that does not help any of the parties to grasp the biblical model of gospel partnership, which is an essential piece of the biblical picture.

In 50 years as missionaries, my wife and I have become familiar with immigration laws and offices in the countries where we served: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the United States and now Spain. As recently as 2007, in Valencia, we were standing in line for hours, filling forms and asking God for patience to cope with bureaucratic slowness. In those queues you hear amazing stories of joys, tragedies, dramatic expectations and disappointments for migrant people.

Churches in Spain have had to face the challenge of a massive wave of migrants from Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. It is a missionary challenge, forcing churches to go to the roots of their faith.

The Psalmist writes, ‘How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land?’ (Psalm 137.4).

This is a beautiful question springing from the heart of a poet struggling to live out in a strange land (Babylon) what he knows to be true in a more familiar context (Jerusalem). This question has stimulated missional communities of grassroots leaders in Latin America under the banner of the Center for Transforming Mission (CTM).

March will see an explosion of missional activity carried out by Christians around England.

Under the banner of A Passion for Life, hundreds of churches are conducting evangelistic programmes until Easter. Well known speakers and evangelists, such as New York’s Dr. Tim Keller, Australia’s Bishop Al Stewart, Rico Tice and Roger Carswell, will join in with church missions in major cities and regions. A Passion for Life could be the biggest evangelistic push in the UK since Billy Graham visited in 1984.

Throughout church history, from the New Testament onwards, there have always been churches in trouble.

From my observations, churches heading for trouble invariably suffer from poor leadership. This does not mean poor Christians, but we need to remember that doctrinal soundness is no guarantee against trouble. Nor is it a character fault in those leading troubled churches, for it is self-evident that many churches heading into difficulty are led by really nice folk who love the Lord Jesus.

Stephen found himself in prison after becoming addicted to and dealing in heroin.

He faced a long sentence inside and felt as if life had lost all hope. Then a prison visitor introduced him to Jesus Christ. Stephen looked at the gospel for himself, realised his need of a Saviour and became a Christian in prison. He saw his life transformed by the Lord Jesus as he began to live for him. Stephen served the remainder of his sentence, overcame his addiction and after release decided he wanted to share the good news of his Saviour with other offenders.

Last year marked the 25th anniversary of the death of David Watson, one-time vicar of St. Michael le Belfrey, York, pioneer behind the Renewal movement within Anglicanism during the 1960s-80s, and much-loved international evangelist.

In Matthew 22, the Lord Jesus rounds on the Sadducees, telling them: ‘You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God’. In these words, Jesus encapsulates the basic, two-fold requirement of Christian discipleship: to know and love the Word of God; and to live in the power of God’s Holy Spirit. It could be argued that evangelical leaders through the years have usually stood on one or the other side: they are either remembered for their ability to expound the Scriptures eloquently, or for their advocacy of a Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered Christian life. David Watson is remembered for both. As such, his memory and work should be treasured by so-called ‘conservative’ and ‘charismatic’ evangelicals alike.

The Letters page of the January issue of Evangelicals Now (p.23) included a call for help from a pastor in India.

Over the years in my work of running India Link Ministries (a UK registered charity), I have received dozens of letters pleading for help.

Christian Unions are made up of students, led by students and exist to reach students. Who is in a better position to reach students with the gospel of Jesus than those they live with, go to lectures with, spend time with and share lives with. Students are best placed to reach students and that is why Christian Unions exist and why they are led by students.

Student leadership is not only beneficial for the mission of CUs, but it can have a lasting effect on the student leaders themselves. CU leadership is more than standing at the front during the weekly main meeting; it involves service, servant-heartedness, time, planning, organisation, co-ordinating and working with others, sharing responsibility, knowing the goal and being passionate about working for it.