news in brief
Algeria: turning to Christ
Due to their disillusionment with the Arab Spring and the rise of violent Islam, thousands of Muslims in Algeria are requesting Bibles and becoming Christians, it was reported in May.
Ali Khidri, executive secretary for the Bible Society in Algeria, said that ‘hundreds’ of people every month were turning up at his office in Algiers requesting a Bible, and that many more were going to churches to enquire about the Christian faith. According to Bible Society in Algeria, there are between 100,000 and 200,000 Christians in Algeria – an increase from just 2,000 30 years ago.
Keswick is growing
Keswick Ministries
Date posted: 1 Jul 2015
2015 sees the 140th anniversary of the Keswick Convention and the possibility of an addition to the current site.
The possibility of securing the land adjacent to the Rawnsley site in Keswick, through purchasing the former Derwent Pencil Factory site, has arisen. In looking at how best to manage a growing event and being keen to integrate many things at one main site, this new step forward will secure the future for a growing summer convention, as well as allowing for an extension of activities at other times of the year.
WHAT GOD CAN DO IN TEN YEARS
Jenny Thomas
Date posted: 1 Jul 2015
An independent church in Chippenham, Wiltshire, celebrated the launch of its new building with a community open day on its ten year anniversary weekend.
Emmanuel Church Chippenham (ECC), which has met in a local school since its formation, bought a former Exclusive Brethren building last October. After several months of extensive renovation work, which included levelling the floor, installing windows and repairing the roof, the building was officially opened on Saturday 2 May.
Bedside table
Ruth Williams
Date posted: 1 Jul 2015
What’s the last thing you do at night? Ruth Williams sets us a challenge
What does your bedside table look like?
Capital Gains
Courageous perseverance
Graham Miller
Date posted: 1 May 2015
One of the greatest joys of gospel ministry is to hear stories of lives transformed by the good news of Jesus Christ.
However, the Bible warns us that for every seed planted in good soil, there will be others that land on stony ground or among thorns. For LCM missionaries working among the Muslims of Newham or the council estates of New Addington it is necessary to be patient. It can take several years to see a contact come to church, so we cannot give up on a ministry for lack of fruit after 18 months. Instead, we teach evangelists the biblical value of courageous perseverance; courage to reach the difficult, unreached people groups, and perseverance to keep going through the disappointments and daily sacrifices of gospel ministry.
DRC: mission possible
African Enterprise
Date posted: 1 Jan 2014
Despite logistical and financial difficulties,
the organisers of a mission in Kinshasa in
October were full of praise for God.
The mission had three phases: a forum of
evangelists; a church
leaders’
training on
evangelism; and stratified evangelism in nine
venues. The size of the city and the mission
being organised with very little finance made
it a challenge, especially mobilising the local
church congregations. But still 22% of the
mission budget was raised locally.
Clifford Pond 1924 –2015
Malcolm MacGregor
Date posted: 1 May 2015
Clifford Pond grew up in Welwyn Garden
City, his father was an itinerant preacher and
Clifford came to faith at quite an early age
and had a strong impression that one day he
too would be a minister of the gospel.
He left school at 14 and worked as a messenger boy for the GPO. At the start of the
Second World War he
joined St
John
Ambulance Brigade and then transferred to
the RAF Medical Service.
Missionaries and NHS
Global Connections
Date posted: 1 May 2015
The April edition of en covered the 6 April
changes to access to NHS healthcare for
missionaries based overseas.
The clarification of ‘ordinary resident’ has
now been more clearly defined (!) by the government. This is the key criteria for receiving
free NHS treatment, beyond emergency /
GP treatment for returning missionaries, for
whom until recently, an exemption existed.
‘Unstoppable’ at this year’s Bible By The Beach
Emily Lucas
Date posted: 1 May 2015
What is every Christian’s prayer?
Surely it is for the message of Christ to spread to every corner of the world and transform lives.
Manchester: Presbyterian plant
Ben Franks
Date posted: 1 Jun 2015
Since its formation in 1991, the Evangelical
Presbyterian Church in England and Wales
(EPCEW) has been passionate
about
church planting.
Over the past two decades God has grown
this little denomination from five congregations to 18, with churches in England, Wales
and
even Sweden
and Germany. There
remain, however, many places without a distinctively Presbyterian and Reformed
influence and they see much work to be done. It is
their prayer that God will continue to raise up
churches upholding the inerrancy of Scripture,
adhering to the Westminster Standards, and
fulfilling the Great Commission.
And the winner is… nationalism
George Moody
Date posted: 1 Jun 2015
George Moody reflects on the outcome of May’s General Election
The voters have spoken. Yes, the Conservatives are back, but it is in no small part due to the rise of nationalism.
Complementarian bishop
Susie Leafe
Date posted: 1 Jun 2015
On Tuesday 5 May there was a very subdued press conference, in a back room at Lambeth Palace, at which it was announced that Rod Thomas, vicar of Elburton Parish Church in Plymouth, chairman of Reform and a member of General Synod, had been appointed to be the new Bishop of Maidstone. No frills. No fanfares. In fact, you may have missed it altogether.
The appointment of a conservative evangelical bishop in the Church of England was long overdue. The last complementarian evangelical, Wallace Benn, was appointed 17 years ago and it is nearly three years since he retired. The gap was not unexpected. A report by the Church of England in 2007, called Talent and Calling, highlighted the lack of conservative evangelicals in senior leadership positions. The opportunities to deal with it existed – there have been 75 opportunities for a diocesan bishop to appoint a complementarian to assist them since that report was accepted by General Synod and every single time the opportunity has been missed, or rejected.
Planting in Marlborough
Reuben Mann
Date posted: 1 Jun 2015
The first service of Emmanuel Church Marlborough (ECM) was held on 19 April.
Behind Marlborough’s lovely exterior is a needy area in many ways, especially the need to hear about Jesus. Emmanuel Church Marlborough is a group of Christians who live in and around the town but until now have travelled to evangelical churches in other towns. The new church is not planned to be a cosy clique, nor one that competes with others, but to reach out to the community with the Bible’s message of God’s love in Christ.
HARVEST FIELD IN YORKSHIRE
Lewis Allen
Date posted: 1 Jun 2015
Yorkshire is a county which needs no introduction.
Famous for its landscapes, agriculture, industrial past and present, and modern commercial clout, its sporting success and the warmth (and pride) of its people, Yorkshire is a well-known brand.
Growing doing nothing new
Nathan Weston
Date posted: 1 Jun 2015
Lancaster, 6 March 2005, 10am
In a tiny ‘gospel hall’ in a back street in Lancaster around 20 people begin to gather for the weekly meeting of Moorlands Church. The church is a mainly elderly congregation, who want to see their city reached for Jesus, but have found their numbers and energy dwindling. This morning, however, there is the excitement of a new beginning.
Christian aid / Islamic Relief
Jehinger Malik
Date posted: 1 Jun 2015
Dear Sir
Chris Sugden, writing in Evangelicals Now, wrongly identifies Islamic Relief, the UK’s largest Muslim charity, as an organisation that does not assist Christians (‘Christian Aid?’, April en). Nothing could be further from the truth.
From pulpit to pavement
John Hawley
Date posted: 1 Mar 2015
John Hawley of the Open Air Mission provides us with 20 quotations to challenge us to get out with the gospel
1: John Wesley
‘It is no marvel that the devil does not love field preaching! Neither do I. I love a commodious room, a soft cushion, a handsome pulpit. But where is my zeal if I do not trample all these underfoot in order to save one more soul?
Evangelist at the docks
Steven Loader seeks to provide a safe harbour for seafarers
Bristol docks were once the powerhouse of the British Empire.
Worship God UK
Dave Gobbett
Date posted: 1 May 2015
We interview Dave Gobbett about why he is backing the Sovereign Grace conference in Bath this month
en: How did you get to know and what do you like about the Sovereign Grace work?
DG: I’ve known and loved the work of Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) since 2000, when I spent a year in the US. I was on staff at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC with Mark Dever, and in the previous year Mark had become friends with C.J. Mahaney, a local charismatic church pastor 40 minutes from DC as well as the then head of SGM. In Dever’s typically contagious style, that friendship spilled over into our respective church staff teams, and I especially enjoyed getting to know Bob Kauflin (director of Sovereign Grace Music) and Jeff Purswell (head of Sovereign Grace’s Pastor’s College, and former teaching assistant to Wayne Grudem).
How to massage a survey
David Robertson
Date posted: 1 May 2015
An interesting article recently appeared on the Christian Today website apparently indicating a big shift in Christian attitudes towards same sex relationships.
Seemingly one in four churchgoers now thinks that same sex relationships are okay but 37% of those are too frightened to speak out.
Good to give / great to receive
Toni Coulton
Date posted: 1 May 2015
Toni Coulton tells us about an innovative new outreach to those just off to be students
Someone had a brainwave!
