John Chapman, 1930-2012
John Chapman, Sydney’s leading evangelist for more than 50 years, passed away in hospital on November 16 2012 at the age of 82.
‘Chappo’, as he was affectionately known, was converted in his teens and was active in youth ministry. Following a stint as a manual arts teacher, he spent a year in Moore College and was ordained in the Diocese of Armidale in 1957. After a challenging curacy in Moree, he was appointed Youth Director for the Diocese in 1960 and then Director of Christian Education (1966-68).
Trainers tied for action!
John Benton
Date posted: 1 Feb 2013
Though nominal Christianity is declining in Britain, Bible-believing Christian faith seems to be making real headway.
The increasing suspicion that God has something special in store is epitomised by the transformation that has occurred at the Wales Evangelical School of Theology (WEST) in the last couple of years.
The Third Degree
Pray for 5, give to 5, invite 5
Pod Bhogal
Date posted: 1 Dec 2012
CUs in Great Britain have begun preparations for their February Uncover missions by launching the Uncover ‘pray for five, give to five and invite five’ campaign. UCCF hope that the national initiative, which involves students praying for five friends, giving those friends a Gospel and inviting them to read it one-to-one, will reach 50,000 students in 2012/13.
Tim Rudge, UCCF Field Director, was the main speaker for Royal Holloway Christian Union’s launch event. He commented: ‘The CU did a fine job. They made it simple, so that students could easily understand the strategy. On each chair the CU had put out a copy of the Gospel, a pray for five prayer card and a copy of the Uncover Seeker Bible Study Guide. They bundled their Gospels in to attractive “gift” packages of five.
Letter from America
Caesar salad
Josh Moody
Date posted: 1 Dec 2012
‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s...’ This is the famous pronouncement of the Master in response to a particularly intense period of Pharisaic grilling. But what precisely does it mean as Christians in America negotiate a cultural landscape that appears less friendly to traditional Christian values and the message of the gospel than in the recent past?
The blogosphere is not short of answers, but I suggest that 1 John, in particular, provides a compelling look at the right way to respond. In the context in which John was writing, there was an incipient ‘Gnosticism’ that was advocating a toned down spirituality, denying that Jesus was the Christ in ‘flesh’, and therefore that it was possible to be spiritual without actual practical commitment to the local church or, indeed, without practising righteousness. In other words, in response to pressures from a pagan environment, the church was susceptible to a form of teaching that allowed it to live in a less combative fashion with its neighbours — understandable in its own right — but by means of denying core doctrines (‘Jesus is the Christ’) and core moral behaviour (‘practising righteousness’).
New mission to England
Chris Sugden
Date posted: 1 Aug 2011
‘The Anglican Mission in England [AMIE] stands for the promotion of mission, of biblical church planting and of the selection, training and deployment of ordinands for ministry in the Church of England.’
With these words, the Rev. Paul Perkin, the chair of AMIE’s Steering Committee, welcomed over 140 people to its inaugural event in St. Peter’s-upon-Cornhill, London, on June 22. The next day, Paul and other leaders of AMIE addressed a gathering of leaders on its vision at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly at St. Helen’s Bishopsgate, London.
Churches and charitable status
Ben Bourne
Date posted: 1 Jan 2013
Much ink has been spilled recently over the decision by the Charity Commission to deny the Plymouth Brethren charitable status in respect of one of its gospel halls in Devon (the Preston Down Trust).
The church trust, a member of the Exclusive Brethren, was refused charitable status on the basis that it failed to demonstrate that it provided a genuine public benefit.
Cruel to be kind?
Robert Strivens
Date posted: 1 Jan 2013
Book Review
WHEN HELPING HURTS
How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor ... and yourself
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Careforce: the legacy
Ian Prior
Date posted: 1 Nov 2012
‘A legacy is something you leave behind that will benefit others.’
Have you noticed how in recent years everything and everyone has to have a legacy? Events, people, organisations are now measured by their legacy — by what of worth they leave behind.
Crosslinks: 90 years and counting
Andy Lines
Date posted: 1 Oct 2012
October 27 marks the 90th anniversary of the launch of the Bible Churchmen’s Missionary Society (BCMS), now called Crosslinks.
This is a landmark shared with the FIEC. As we look back with thanks to God, it is also salutary to ponder the continuing need for such a society.
Michael Cole, 1935-2012
Nick Cole
Date posted: 1 Nov 2012
Squadron Leader Michael Cole, OBE, explorer and practical missionary, was born on April 10 1935. He died of cancer on September 25 2012, aged 77, at his home in Ross-on-Wye.
Michael Cole adopted the words of the Victorian missionary explorer David Livingstone, ‘Sympathy is no substitute for action’, as his own personal motto.
Evangelicals <i>maintenant</i>
John Benton
Date posted: 1 Dec 2012
On the other side of the Channel, the gospel is making progress. 20 years ago, there were probably some 1,800 Bible-believing churches in France. Today it is more like 2,500. That is quite rapid growth.
This was the estimate of Reynald Kozycki, who works among evangelicals at a national level. He says that over 100 new churches have been started in Paris mainly through migrants from other countries. But throughout the country a positive work of church planting is being pursued (through agencies like France Mission) and producing fruit.
Heart change
Sally Orwin Lee
Date posted: 1 Dec 2012
The lyrical opening to Dire Straits’ ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and the melodic refrain of Brothers in Arms resonated in my sound track while coming of age in the early 80s.
Knopfler’s song, ‘Sailing to Philadelphia’, featured in June this year. I didn’t sail to Philadelphia, ‘a world away from the coaly Tyne’ where family roots lie. I flew there to complete the two modules of Biblical Counselling training provided by CCEF, which require on-site attendance: Counselling Observation and Essential Qualities of a Biblical Counsellor.
The Third Degree
Missions' flying start
Pod Bhogal
Date posted: 1 Jan 2012
We’re thrilled by what the Lord has been doing through Christian Unions last term. Here are some highlights.
The CU at Reading, in partnership with local churches, hosted a meal for a remarkable 280 international students. Susie, a member of the CU, met a Chinese girl who said she would like to find out more about the Bible. ‘She was very enthusiastic’, commented Gareth Leaney (Staff Worker, Reading). He continues, ‘[she] even asked if she could use a Bible app on her phone so she could understand the translation’.
Scotland: Tron turfed out
On October 9, the Glasgow Presbytery of the Church of Scotland took the decision to evict the congregation of St. George’s Tron from the church building and the minister, Willie Philip, from the manse, without undue delay.
This follows the church’s stand against the denomination’s decision at the General Assembly in May 2011 to pursue a path which would allow gay ministers to take on parishes and for those in same-sex relationships to be trained for the ministry.
Loopers
Jason Gardner
Date posted: 1 Nov 2012
None Review
The cost of intervention LOOPERS
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Frontline ministry
Gary Clayton
Date posted: 1 Nov 2012
Before the African sun has crept over the hills to the north, the 63 Sudanese men planning to enter the army as chaplains begin running in formation.They chant prayers and sing about Jesus. The soldier at the front carries a green flag with a red cross bearing the words ‘Mountain Chaplaincy Corps’.
The chaplains run for 60 minutes, passing through the town of Nimule, then climb to the top of a hill before running back down again and returning to the camp led by Wes and Vicky Bentley. As the soldiers stream into the compound, it begins to get light — a soft pink glow appearing on the eastern horizon.
Emancipating the world
Richard Pearcey
Date posted: 1 Nov 2012
The post-9/11 international order finds itself in the grip of a global struggle ‘for the hearts and minds of people and the souls of nations’.
So writes author, speaker, teacher, and activist for the poor and hungry, Darrow Miller, in the vitally important new book, Emancipating the world: a Christian response to radical Islam and fundamentalist atheism.
Below me, the clouds
One dark, blacked-out evening early in 1945, when returning from an evening service, I overheard my brother Harold quietly speaking to mother.
She was distressed at seeing her eldest son, Fred, go to Malaya as a soldier. Harold himself would soon be joining the army. She was naturally afraid that she might lose both sons in the war. He spoke to her gently of death as a gateway into ‘the Lord’s presence’ and not the end of life.
'Historical barriers'?
A reader wrote into EN. He was worried.
He wondered what I thought of a talk on YouTube given at this year’s Spring Harvest. If you want to see for yourself what is being said, you can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAZ4FKHE9cQ.
The talk is given by Les Isaac, who is involved with Street Pastors ministry, and is about Christian unity. He refers to Revelation 7, which speaks of John’s vision of heaven in which people from every nation, tribe and language worship together before God’s throne. The speaker’s thrust is that a lot of Christians are waiting for such unity in heaven, but God ‘wants us to be one now’.