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ET
ISSN 1358-7285
October 2015
evangelical TIMES
Vol. 49 No. 10
£1.30
Christian news and comment
Europe's refugee crisis
World Mission
Zimbabwe
Partnership Trust
The refugee crisis in the Middle East, and now Europe, has at last caught the
world’s attention. How are Christians in the West to respond?
When, over 70 years ago, an evil
regime came to power in Germany,
up to 38,000 people sought refuge
across Europe. Within a few years,
as German armies swept through
neighbouring lands, the number of
migrants rose, with 36,000 leaving
their homeland one year and
77,000 the next.
At that time, the UK took in
10,000 children in direct response.
Scores of journalists thronged to
see migrants, dirty, hungry and
afraid, land in Britain. Many had
lost their loved ones either to war
or the waves.
These were Jews fleeing Nazi
Germany, first in 1933 and then from
surrounding European countries in
1938 and 1939, as Hitler sought to
exterminate ‘the Jewish threat’. By
September 1939, 282,000 Jews had
left Germany, and 117,000 Austria.
From these, 95,000 Jews
migrated to the US, 60,000 to
Palestine, 40,000 to the UK,
and 75,000 to Central and South
America. About 18,000 found refuge
in Japanese-occupied China.
Training
in Zimbabwe
Also featuring:
Visiting the Australian Outback
Blessing at Christ's Reformed
Church, Port Harcourt
Typhoon Haiyan two years on
pp. 15-18
regular features:
News Events
Reviews
Letters
more inside:
Reuters
Today
Fast forward 70 years, and Europe
is once again facing a migration
crisis unlike any since the dark
days of the Third Reich. Nearly
200,000 refugees have crossed
EU borders one way or another,
mostly from Syria, Iraq and
Afghanistan. The majority are
from Muslim minorities, or are
designated as ‘Christian’. They
are either fleeing civil war or the
Islamic State (IS).
The media’s response has
been to demonise or canonise.
For example, when the Office for
National Statistics revealed that
net annual long-term international
migration to the UK was 330,000 in
March 2015 (up 94,000 from March
2014), two publications ran very
different front-page stories.
The Financial Times showed
a photo of migrants working in
Norfolk’s celery fields helping
economic growth, while The Daily
Mail talked of the ‘shocking scale
of immigration into Britain’.
But, in fact, those statistics
related mainly to economic migrants
from Romania and Bulgaria where
there is no war. By contrast, up to
March 2015, only 11,600 people
were granted asylum in the UK:
the majority from Eritrea (3,568),
followed by Pakistan (2,302) and
Syria (2,204). Yet, according to the
UN, at least 230,000 Syrians have
been killed, while more than 6.5
million have been displaced.
pp. 1-14, 20, 23,
31, 32
p.4
pp. 21-22
p.25
Little girl blowing soap bubbles at Keleti train station, Budapest
Responses
There are various ways to respond
to this crisis. One is to say, ‘We
are full, we cannot take any more’.
But how can Christians pray on
Sundays for the safety of Syrian
or Iraqi Christians in the face of
IS, and then tell them, ‘There is no
room at the inn’?
Furthermore, the number of
these migrants in Europe — several
hundred thousand — comprises less
than 0.05 per cent of Europe’s total
population of 740 million.
While Germany and Austria
have welcomed large batches of
migrants, others have remained
quiet, including France, Spain,
Italy and — until recent political
pressure — the UK.
Viktor Orban, Hungarian prime
minister, defended the kettling of more
than 1000 migrants in Budapest’s
train station and the sending of
hundreds to detention camps, saying,
‘We do not want a large number of
Muslim people in our country. We do
not like the consequences’.
Yet there was a great change of
mood in Europe with the release
of photos of Aylan Kurdi, the little
Syrian boy who, with his brother
and mother, drowned crossing from
Turkey. European governments have
been forced by their own citizens to
talk of kindness rather than ‘quotas’.
When Iceland’s government
said ‘No more’, some 12,000
citizens signed a petition forcing it
to change its mind. Many offered to
house migrants in their own homes.
In Germany, a group set up a special
website so people needing flatmates
could sign up to take in a refugee,
donations helping to meet the cost
of the rent.
Poignantly, citizens in the
tiny north German town of
Oer Erkenschwick welcomed a
coachload of Syrian refugees with
flowers, banners and open arms.
Eighty years ago this would not
have been possible.
Britain
More than 500,000 Britons signed
a petition asking Prime Minister
David Cameron to bring in more
refugees. Eventually he agreed to
accept 20,000.
The Mayor of Bristol has urged
families to consider giving up a
room in their house to enable the
city to shelter refugees. Bishop
Angaelos, general bishop of the
Coptic Orthodox Church in the
UK, said, ‘It is essential that
the plight of these refugees is
not belittled or ignored’. While
he acknowledged the need for
caution against importing ‘radical
elements’, he said, ‘caution should
not mean a blanket rejection of the
vast majority, who are genuinely
seeking safety’.
Pastor Ali McLachlan of Grace
Baptist Church, West Edinburgh,
has pointed to Deuteronomy 10:1718: ‘The Lord … gives justice to
the fatherless and the widow, and
loves the stranger, giving him food
and clothing’.
He said, ‘Our church are all
“refugees”, casting ourselves on the
mercies of God in Christ, turning away
from this sinful world to find salvation
in the perfect country above’.
A statement from Open Doors
said, ‘Last year they ran. This year
Continued on page 2
‘Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed to the day of
redemption’ (Ephesians 4:30)
l ET Comment:
The worst judgement
p.3
l Boasting in the cross (1)
Peter Jeffery
p.5
l When someone we love dies
Timothy Cross
p.10
l
PERSONAL VIEW:
What we wear for public
meetings
Owen Batstone
p.10
l A visit to Israel (2)
Mary Beeke
p.12
l GUEST COLUMN:
Looking forward
Chris Hand
p.13
l Interview with James Ewins:
Tackling modern slavery
Sheila Marshall
p.14
l John Owen (1616–1683)
Crawford Gribben
p.19
l The heart of prayer
Barry Loeber
p.20
l ‘Time is of the essence’
Nigel Faithfull
p.24
l
LETTER FROM AMERICA
Planned Parenthood in
the spotlight
Ben Wilkerson
p.27
l Raising teenagers
Roy Summers
p.29
l Remembering Hiroshima
Simoney Kyriakou
p.31
l YOUTH FEATURE:
EMW summer camps
p.32
Evangelical TIMES
News
2
October 2015
News in Brief
Trafficking drama
Walk of Britain
The Salvation Army (SA) has staged a ‘modern
slavery drama’ to raise awareness of human
trafficking. Keith Turton of the SA held the first
of the series of street dramas in Edinburgh to raise
awareness of human trafficking. The joint initiative
with the Scottish Churches Anti-Human-Trafficking
Group saw a market stall set up on George Street and
Princess Street, ‘selling’ people as commodities. The
‘slaves’ were played by volunteers Jennifer Wood,
24, from Edinburgh; Hicham Alami Hassai, 19, from
France; and Abdulla Al-Dubai, 23, from Abu Dhabi.
(Picture shows them with Keith Turton.)
Walking With the Wounded’s (WWTW)
latest endeavour, The Walk Of Britain, will
see six wounded veterans walk over 1000
miles through mainland UK, finishing
at Buckingham Palace on 1 November.
They started at Glenfiddich Distillery on
Saturday 22 August. Prince Harry has
supported WWTW since the charity was
formed, taking part in the trek to the North
Pole in 2011 and the South Pole in 2013.
He was patron of the WWTW Everest
Expedition in 2012, and is again the
expedition patron for The Walk of Britain
and will be joining the team along the way.
Hard road to peace
A global peace forum in Coventry, called Rising, was
launched in August with a specially filmed message
from Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Speakers at the first
forum, which aims to be a yearly event, included Rt
Hon. Gordon Brown, Terry Waite CBE, and Cardinal
Onaiyekan, Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of
Abuja, Nigeria. The inaugural event aimed to bring
together global statesmen, business leaders, peace
advocates and members of the public to think about
ways to bring about peace in our troubled world.
Chilling stance
Compulsory sex education
The attitude of the abortion industry towards women
and their unborn children is ‘chilling’, the Society
for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has
claimed. Paul Tully, general secretary of SPUC, has
responded to comments by Dr Kate Guthrie of the Hull
and East Riding Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare
Partnership, who told BBC Radio Humberside about
a ‘positive response to the rise in abortion numbers’.
Mr Tully said, ‘The abortion industry’s chilling attitude
has been confirmed by the shocking revelations from
America about how the abortion industry there profits
from the sale of dismembered babies’ (see p. 27).
Labour MP
Yvette Cooper’s proposals for
compulsory sex education from seven years of
age amount to a slap in the face to parents, Safe
at School has said. The national parents’ advocacy
group said it rejected plans for compulsory sex
education, because these removed the rights of
parents to protect their children from unacceptable,
inappropriate sex lessons. Antonia Tully, spokesman
for Safe at School, said, ‘Parents are the primary
educators of their children in matters of sex
and relationships. We would like to see schools
supporting parents in talking to their own children
about sex, not taking over the role of parents’.
3D game
Eastern Europe’s grey-heads
Scripture Union England & Wales has launched a
Bible story game called Guardians of Ancora, which
is available for free on Apple, Android and Kindle Fire
devices. Designed for children aged 8-11, this digital
game, which required significant investment to develop
over four years, is intended to help children engage with
the Bible and explore God’s Word in interactive ways, so
they can reflect on the gospel and respond to it.
Ready for Bake Off
Cost of beauty
A survey from the British Association of Beauty
Therapists and Cosmetology has found that the
average Briton — both male and female — spends
£153 a month on hair and beauty. While haircuts
alone cost an average of £55 a month, 66 per cent
of respondents said they would spend a lot more on
their beauty regime if they could, despite constant
warnings from the government encouraging people
to save more and pay down their debt.
Evangelical Times (Charity)
Editorial Team: Roger Fay (senior Editor),
Simoney Kyriakou (news), Andrew Rowell (online),
John Tredgett (reviews) and Stephen Bignall (letters).
Directors: Roger Fay (Chairman),
Paul Garner, John Lodge,
Philip Metcalfe, Andrew Rowell.
Published by Evangelical Times Limited (Charity),
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Tearfund supporter and former Great British Bake Off
contestant Martha Collison has called for the nation’s
bakers to flour their surfaces, grease their tins, break
their eggs and get Big Baking. Every cake, bun and
biscuit that supporters bake can raise money to help
Tearfund protect children from trafficking. No Child
Taken is Tearfund’s campaign to help protect children
vulnerable to trafficking, disease and disaster. Cooks
can turn up the heat on trafficking further, by holding
their Big Bake event in the week running up to AntiSlavery Day on 18 October.
Islamic climate change
Islamic leaders from 20 countries have launched a bold
Climate Change Declaration to engage the world’s
1.6 billion Muslims to take action. Adopted by the 60
participants at the International Islamic Climate Change
Symposium, the declaration urges governments to
deliver a strong, new international climate agreement in
Paris this December, that signals the end of the road for
polluting fossil fuels. One plan is to create architecture
that will help limit global warming above pre-industrial
levels to 2, or preferably 1.5, degrees Celsius.
According to the specialist insurer Partnership, all
Europe is going grey, but, by 2060, Eastern Europe
will be greyest. According to its fact-pack Europe’s
ageing demography (International Longevity Centre,
UK; www.ilcuk.org.uk/index.php/news/news_posts/
ilc_uk_population_patterns_series), while Northern
and Western European countries have currently the oldest populations, by 2060 Eastern European countries
will have the highest proportions over the age of 65.
A shrinking working age population, combined with a
growing number of retirees, means that, by then, many
Eastern countries will have less than two working age
adults per dependent person. The problem is expected
to be particularly bad in Slovakia and Poland.
Appointments
People on the move
Castletown minister Rev. Howard Stone has been
appointed interim moderator of Thurso and its associated areas in Bettyhill,
Halladale and Melvich.
The Mothers’ Union has
hired Mrs Beverley Jullien as its new chief executive. Lani Charlwood is
the new head of communication for Habitat for Humanity (Great Britain), an
international development
charity to build homes,
Bev Jullien
communities and hope.
Europe's refugee crisis
Continued from page 1
they’re trapped. Displaced Christian families in Iraq
can’t go home, but they can’t go anywhere else. Will
you pray for them, speak out and give basic supplies?’
Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical
Alliance, has said: ‘We want the UK to be a place of
refuge, but we also want our churches to be beacons
of hospitality and our homes full of warmth and
welcome’. He urged congregations to pray and help
organisations such as Open Doors and Tearfund
provide practical assistance.
Opportunities
The need for both compassion and caution is clear, as
the issues surrounding the crisis are complex, not least
the inability of governments to distinguish properly
between real and nominal Christians. But the coming
months and years will see a host of new opportunities
for the evangelical church in Western Europe to minister
to the spiritual needs of countless displaced Muslims
and nominal and real Christians.
Evangelical TIMES
September
2013
October
2015
Comment
New minister for Stornoway
Rev. Hugh Ferrier has become the first ever minister of
the High Free Church in Stornoway, after the 28-yearold accepted a unanimous call to pastor the Isle of
Lewis Free Church of Scotland congregation at a
meeting of the Western Isles Presbytery.
The new Stornoway church was formed after a
meeting in June 2013, when 200 members of a Church of
Scotland congregation voted to leave the denomination
over the way it handled the issue of gay clergy.
The date of his induction was expected to be set at a
meeting of the Presbytery on Wednesday 30 September.
Mr Ferrier was previously minister of Thurso and North
Coast Free Church, to which he was inducted in 2012.
The Caithness congregation has seen much blessing
during Mr Ferrier’s ministry, including seven new
members — two by profession of faith — last year. The High Free Church regularly attracts around 300
people in Stornoway Primary School. A spokesman for it
said the Kirk Session and congregation were ‘truly grateful
to God for his goodness in providing a minister for us’.
He said, ‘As we
continue to look to
the Lord, we look
forward with expectant hearts and
that we will surround Hugh with
love, prayer and
Rev. Hugh Ferrier
support’.
Mr Ferrier grew up in Alness, attending Invergordon Academy, where, during his final year at high
school, Church of Scotland ministers Rob Jones and
Ronald Morrison used to take Mr Ferrier on placement
each Wednesday in their congregations.
He then studied at St Andrews University, where
he graduated with a degree in Biblical Studies, before
a further three years at the Free Church College in
Edinburgh. During his time as a Free Church student,
he had placements at Leith, Barvas, Helmsdale, Thurso
and other north coast congregations.
Devizes welcomes pastor
The induction of Rev. Thomas Yates to the pastorate at Maryport Street Baptist Chapel in Devizes was held
at 3.00pm on Saturday 11 April 2015.
The chapel was full, as members and friends gave thanks to the Lord for his provision of a pastor after a sevenyear interregnum.
Church secretary Paul Mackey told those present how, just over a year ago, Mr Yates had been invited to
fill the pulpit occasionally for ministry on the Lord’s Day. During those initial visits, there was a recognition
by the church of the clear and uncompromising way in which Mr Yates preached the gospel and expounded the
Scriptures, in practical and helpful ministry.
Further preaching visits were organised and it quickly became apparent that the Lord was leading future pastor
and church in a similar direction.
In autumn 2014, Mr Yates was asked to come to preach with a view. After a further meeting with the diaconate,
the church became aware that the Lord would have us issue a call to him to take up the pastorate at Maryport Street. This was done and Mr Yates accepted the call. He started his ministry here on the Lord’s Day, 22 March 2015. During his induction, Mr Yates gave an account detailing the Lord’s dealings with him throughout his life,
and in particular over the last year. He had been in full-time ministry as pastor of Hope Baptist Church in
Haslemere, but latterly had to take secular employment to support himself. The Lord answered many prayers
during this time and eventually
led him to Devizes. We were encouraged and
challenged by the ministry
of Pastors Richard Clarke of
Plymouth and Robert Cordle of
Harrold who gave the charge to
the new pastor and church, respectively. The day was a blessed
Pic (from left): Paul Mackey, Robert Cordle, Thomas Yates, occasion for all who gathered.
Richard Clarke, Peter Ridout
Paul Mackey
Conference
The weather isn’t always kind in Aberystwyth in
August, but it has been the time and venue for the
Evangelical Movement of Wales’ English Conference every year for 50 years. There are still some
people — a declining number obviously — who
have been present at every one.
Around 1500 people descend on the town
whatever the weather to participate in this unique
conference. The university’s Great Hall is well filled every
day with a good cross-section of ages and nationalities; the
singing is excellent, the preaching even better.
This year the weather was kind; a little rain now and
then, but nothing like the storms that had been threatened.
The morning Bible readings were taken by Rev. David
Meredith, until recently minister at Smithton Culloden
Church (Free Church of Scotland), in Inverness.
He took us warmly, passionately and fluently through
four chapters of Joshua. His preaching is a fine example
of what Reformed preaching could and should be today.
Mr Meredith opened the text, drew clear lessons
from it (not too many, not too heavy, not remote)
and applied them with candour and freshness. His
ministry was a treat.
Uncluttered programme
A little more difficult, for me, was the ministry of
Paul David Tripp. Unusually, he had been given three
Rhyshuw1
Aber 2015
evenings and, though he preached warmly and said
many helpful things, for me his sermons were a little
‘thin’ and padded with rather a lot of stories.
It’s worth saying though that nobody I spoke to
agreed with me! These messages were topped and tailed
helpfully by fine and moving ministry from Phil Hill and
Paul Gamston. All the messages can be heard online.
As well as these main ministry sessions, there is,
each year, a missions exhibition and various seminars
for folk of different ages and interests.
For us, though, the great thing about Aber,
compared with other conferences we have attended, is
that the programme is not crowded. There is plenty of
opportunity to do little except catch up with old friends;
and it is a conference from which we do not return
exhausted, which is a bonus.
Next year, the main ministry will be from Stuart
Olyott, with Mike Reeves and Bill Bygroves also
preaching. God willing, we will be there.
Gary Benfold
The worst
judgement
The sin that has engulfed our nation, and infiltrated
— sometimes deeply — into the professing church of
Jesus Christ, demonstrates beyond all doubt that God’s
judgements are at work in the UK (see ET Comment,
September 2015).
Far from Britain experiencing a latter day Christian
‘revival’, as some well-meaning yet very naïve people
try to persuade us is taking place, the nation is surely
experiencing earlier instalments of that wrath of God yet
to engulf this fallen world (Romans 1:22-32).
The final visitation of divine anger against sin will be a
storm of fiery indignation, a cataclysm from which nobody
can escape, unless (in this life) they have trusted in Jesus
Christ as Saviour and Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:2-4).
Something worse
But, although the present situation is dire, there is an
evil that still hasn’t overtaken us: God has, so far, in
accountable mercy, spared Britain from one of his severest
judgements — the withdrawal of all gospel influence.
Such a judgement is one the wicked paradoxically
long for — to be rid of all reminders of the Lord and of
his Son, Jesus Christ — yet one which most certainly
they cannot bear. It is, this side of eternity, the worst
judgement of all, and a judgement this nation has tasted
in distant centuries.
Gospel famine removes sinners, even if they do not
realise or admit it, from all hope. It takes from them the
possibility of hearing the good news of a Saviour. It
separates the spiritually lost from the Good Shepherd,
the spiritually sick from the Good Physician, the hellbound from heaven’s light.
And it is a judgement that can impact communities
in several ways. The gospel can, for example, be lost
through its corruption, so that, instead of the message
preached being centred upon justification by faith in
Christ, it becomes a ‘works-based’ religion — that is,
‘another gospel’ which is no gospel at all.
Multitudes of British churches are now unable to do
any lasting good, because of this device of Satan, though,
thankfully, this judgement has not overtaken all churches.
The gospel’s loss can also come through the closure
of gospel churches, perhaps as members grow old and
die, or move away. Many chapels and churches have
long since become warehouses or domestic dwellings.
The loss can be the result of fierce oppression and
persecution of the Lord’s people; or through the demise
of faithful Christian publishers and authors for one
reason or another; or from the effect of censorship of
(offline and online) Christian ministry.
The prophet Amos predicted days of such deprivation
in these words: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the
Lord God, that I will send a famine on the land; not a
famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the
words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking
the word of the Lord, but shall not find it’ (8:11-12).
Something precious
Nothing can be worse than losing the opportunity to hear
the saving gospel of Jesus Christ, to have the remedy
against sin and God’s punishment totally withdrawn.
May God spare our nation such a fate, even though we
deserve it!
May we never take our present gospel-hearing
opportunities for granted! Present gospel ministry is
something to be deeply thankful for. And may we labour
on for Christ ‘while it is day’, for the night may be
coming ‘when no man can work’ (John 9:4).
‘Is the UK under God’s judgement?’ Yes indeed, but
not yet entirely. Moreover, it is still possible that any
gospel light remaining in the UK is a token from the
Lord that we are, in his eyes, more ripe for mercy than
for final judgement.
Let us pray so. And, if it turns out to be the case, it
will indeed be an unaccountable mercy!
News
Inductions
3
Evangelical TIMES
4
Events Diary
THIS SPACE IS FOR YOU — send us details of your forthcoming special meetings,
which we will endeavour to fit in, as space allows.
Alternatively you can submit an event using the web site:
http://www.evangelical-times.org/events/submit.php
ALL ITEMS FOR THE EVENTS DIARY MUST BE RECEIVED BEFORE THE
1ST OF THE MONTH PRECEDING THE MONTH OF PUBLICATION.
THEY WILL BE DISPLAYED IN BOTH THE NEWSPAPER AND ET WEB SITE.
1 October: FLINT. Flint Evangelical Church, Cornist Road, Flint, Flintshire, CH6 5HG.
Christian Institute meeting, 7.30pm. Subject: ‘Protecting gospel freedom’. Speakers:
Christian Institute staff. Contact: Pastor Ali (0777) 632 8347.
2 October: CHIPPENHAM, Wiltshire. Ladyfield Church, Hungerdown Lane. Corsham
& Chippenham Central Bible Study, 7.30pm. Speaker: Robert Oliver (Bradford-onAvon). Contact (01380) 813264.
3 October: LONDON, SW1. Westminster Baptist Church, 100 Horseferry Road, London, SW1. Protestant Alliance Annual General Meetings: business meeting, 1.30pm;
preaching service, 3.00pm. Speaker: Mr David Carson.
3 October: ROWLEY REGIS, nr Birmingham. Christian Heritage Centre, Providence
Chapel, Bell End, B65 9LU. Christian Heritage Centre autumn lectures, 2.00-5.00pm.
Two short lectures and an opportunity to see the extensive exhibition. 2.00pm –
‘Lionel Fletcher’ (Speaker: Bryan Jones); 3.00pm – ‘Richard Baxter’ (Speaker:
Roland Burrows). All most welcome. Further details see website: www.christianheritage
centre.org.uk or phone (01384) 637314.
3 October: WREXHAM, near. Gwersyllt Congregational Church (EFCC & FIEC),
Dodds Lane, nr Wrexham, LL11 4NT. North Wales Men’s Conference, 9.30am for
10.00-15.00pm. Subject: ‘Our freedom in Christ’. Speakers: Andy Paterson (main
theme) and Phil Shepherd (pornography problem). Further information: Church
administrator, tel. (01978) 421291 or [email protected]
6 October: BLACKBURN. Blackburn Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Fecitt Brow,
Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 2AZ. Christian Institute meeting, 7.30pm. Subject: ‘Protecting gospel freedom’. Speakers: Christian Institute staff. Contact: Rev. Green
(01254) 260 388.
6 October: LONDON. Protestant Truth Society Bookshop, 184 Fleet Street. ‘Theology in the City’ meetings. Bite-size School of Theology, every Tuesday at lunchtime
from 1.10 – 1.45pm. You are welcome (we provide tea and coffee).
7 October: KNUTSFORD. St John’s, Church Hill, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 6DH.
Christian Institute staff. Contact: church office (01565) 755 160.
8 October: BEVERLEY. Latimer Memorial Congregational Church, Grovehill Road,
Beverley, Yorkshire, HU17 0JD. Christian Institute meeting, 7.30pm. Subject: ‘Protecting gospel freedom’. Speakers: Christian Institute staff. Contact: Anthony Harrison
(01482) 860 324.
8 October: BRYNMAWR. Zion Baptist Church, Clarence Street, Brynmawr, NP23
4EH. Preaching service, 7.00pm. Speaker: Rev. Bruce Powell (Newport). Tel: (01495)
303503.
8 October: PORT TALBOT. The Round Chapel, 274 Margam Road, Port Talbot, S.
Wales, SA13 2DB. South Wales Reformation Lecture, 7.15pm. Subject: ‘Jan Hus:
his martyrdom and ecclesiology’. Speaker: Rev. Angus Stewart (Covenant Protestant
Reformed Church, N. Ireland). For more information phone Mary Stewart (02825)
891851 or see www.cprc.co.uk
9 October: CHIPPENHAM, Wiltshire. Ladyfield Church, Hungerdown Lane. Corsham
& Chippenham Central Bible Study, 7.30pm. Speaker: Peter Seccombe (Bodenham).
Contact (01380) 813264.
9-10 October: WELWYN. Guessens, 6 Codicote Road, Welwyn, AL6 9NB. European
Missionary Fellowship Autumn Missionary Conference: Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday,
11.30am & 2.30pm at Welwyn Evangelical Church, AL6 9NH. Meet EMF missionaries from Italy, Portugal and Spain. Guest speaker, Saturday 2.30pm, Jose Moreno
(Alcazar de San Juan, Spain). Further information: (01438) 716398 or [email protected]
10 October: DEVIZES. Maryport Street Baptist Church, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10
1AH. Church anniversary service, 3.30pm (DV). Preacher: Pastor Pooyan Mehrshahi. Refreshments to follow. More details: tel. (07752) 258177 or e-mail: pastor@
maryportstreetbaptist.org.uk www.maryportstreetbaptist.org.uk
10 October: FELTHAM. Feltham Evangelical Church, Manor Lane, TW13 4JQ.
Feltham Bible Focus – where the Bible meets life, 7.00pm. Subject: ‘Divorce and
re-marriage’. Speaker: Simon Doyle (Amyand Park Chapel, Twickenham). Contact:
(020) 8844 0352. www.felthamevangelicalchurch.org.uk
10 October: FINCHLEY, London. Kensit Evangelical Church, 104 Hendon Lane,
Finchley, London, N3 3SQ. Half-day conference, 9.30am – 1.00pm. Subject: ‘Understanding and reaching our Muslim friends’. Followed by a ‘bring & share’ lunch.
For more details see church website: www.kensit.org.uk or contact Pastor Spencer
Cunnah on (020) 8632 0336, e-mail: [email protected]
10 October: HAILSHAM. Hailsham Baptist Church, Market Street, Hailsham, E.
Sussex, BN27 2AG. Sussex Conference, 10.30am. Subject: ‘Decisions, Decisions,
Decisions – the Book of Ruth’. Speaker: Mike Swales. Visit www.sussexconference.
org.uk or call Rachel on (01273) 674453.
10-11 October: CRADLEY HEATH, W. Midlands. Spring Meadow Baptist Church,
off Halesowen Road, Old Hill, B64 6LB. Bible ministry and Christian fellowship at the
church anniversary weekend. Saturday, 5.00pm with buffet supper following; Sunday,
10.30am and 6.00pm. Preacher: Pastor John Benton (Chertsey Street, Guildford).
Call (0121) 559 2026 for other details.
13 October: BUXTON. Trinity Church, Hardwick Mount, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17
6PR. Christian Institute meeting, 7.30pm. Subject: ‘Protecting gospel freedom’.
Speakers: Christian Institute staff. Contact: Church office (01298) 26962.
14 October: ANDOVER. Elim Church, South Street, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 2BW.
Christian Institute staff. Contact: Church office (01264) 366 049.
15 October: WOODFORD GREEN. Woodford Evangelical Church, Prospect Hall,
42 Prospect Road, Woodford Green, Essex, IG8 7NA. Christian Institute meeting,
7.30pm. Subject: ‘Protecting gospel freedom’. Speakers: Christian Institute staff.
Contact: Pastor Jon Drane (0208) 270 2536.
October 2015
16 October: CHIPPENHAM, Wiltshire. Ladyfield Church, Hungerdown Lane.
Corsham & Chippenham Central Bible Study, 7.30pm. Speaker: Geoff Thomas (Aberystwyth). Contact (01380) 813264.
16 October: LONDON. AGBC(SE), Mount Zion Hall, 7 Arlington Way, London, EC1R
1XA (nearest Underground station – The Angel). Grace Publications Trust Annual
General Meeting, 11.00am.
16 October: THORNHILL, near Dewsbury. Thornhill Baptist Chapel, Whitley Road,
Thornhill, WF12 0LP. Pennine Bible Witness, 7.45pm. Speaker: Stuart Olyott (Deeside).
17 October: EAST LEAKE. East Leake Evangelical Church, East Leake Village Hall,
LE12 6PF. 30th anniversary thanksgiving service, 3.00pm followed by buffet tea.
Preacher: Owen Jones (Gorseinon). Contact Jim Bottrill (01509) 853966. E-mail: jim.
[email protected] www.eastleake.org.uk
17 October: SALISBURY. The Gallery, First Floor, Salisbury Library, Market Place,
Salisbury, SP1 1BL. Meeting arranged by Christians in Library & Information Services, 2.30pm. Subject: ‘The role of the Christian librarian in a theologically turbulent
age’. Speaker: Kevin Carey (Chair, Royal National Institute for Blind People). All welcome. Details: G. Hedges, 34 Thurlestone Avenue, Ilford, Essex, IG3 9DU. Tel: (020)
8599 1310. E-mail: [email protected]
20 October: COVENTRY. Westwood Church, 45 Westwood Heath Road, Coventry,
CV4 8GN. Christian Institute meeting, 7.30pm. Subject: ‘Protecting gospel freedom’.
Speakers: Christian Institute staff. Contact: Church office (02476) 695 026.
21 October: LETCHWORTH. Letchworth Baptist Church, Westview, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, SG6 3HJ. Christian Institute meeting, 7.30pm. Subject: ‘Protecting gospel freedom’. Speakers: Christian Institute staff. Contact: Derek (01462)
683 320.
23 October: CHIPPENHAM, Wiltshire. Ladyfield Church, Hungerdown Lane. Corsham & Chippenham Central Bible Study, 7.30pm. Speaker: Irving Steggles (South
Africa) – Celebrating 80 years of the Bible Study. Contact (01380) 813264.
23 October: LONDON, NW6. New Life Bible Presbyterian Church, 44 Salusbury
Road, London, NW6 6NN. Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony meetings. Theme for
the year: ‘Studies in the Book of Daniel’, 7.00pm. Subject: ‘The last great vision (chapter 11)’. Preacher: Mr David McMillan.
24-25 October: OLD HILL, nr Dudley. Ebenezer Baptist Chapel, Station Road, Old
Hill, near Dudley, W. Midlands, B64 6PA. Chapel anniversary weekend: Saturday,
6.30pm; Sunday, 10.30am & 6.00pm. Preacher: Mr Jeremy Brooks. All most welcome. Further details, phone (01384) 637314.
30 October: BALLYMENA, N. Ireland. Covenant Protestant Reformed Church, 83 Clarence Street, Ballymena, BT43 5DR. Northern Ireland Reformation Lecture, 7.30pm.
Subject: ‘Jan Hus: his martyrdom & ecclesiology’. Speaker: Rev. Angus Stewart. For
more information phone Mary Stewart (02825) 891851 or see www.cprc.co.uk
30 October: CHIPPENHAM, Wiltshire. Ladyfield Church, Hungerdown Lane. Corsham & Chippenham Central Bible Study, 7.30pm. Speaker: Philip Grist (Abingdon).
Contact (01380) 813264.
30 October: LISKEARD. Public Hall (The Quimperlé Room). East Cornwall Christian
Rendezvous meeting, 7.30pm. Subject: ‘Third person of the Holy Trinity’. Speaker:
Roland Burrows (Birmingham).
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September
2013
October
2015
Evangelical TIMES
Boasting in
the cross (1)
5
Scud missile damage
‘May I never boast except in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world
has been crucified to me, and I to
the world’ (Galatians 6:14).
Peter Jeffery
Mission
Outreach
encouragements
News
The problem with the Judaisers was that they never They sentimentalise or shroud it in superstition, so that it of darkness, ‘having disarmed the powers and authorities, he
made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the
understood the cross. If they had, they would never have becomes nothing more than a lucky charm.
Basically, people do not see sin as a problem; therefore, cross’ (Colossians 2:14-15).
mentioned circumcision in the same breath.
To say that circumcision is as essential to salvation as the there’s no need for an answer. But God warns us over and Paul’s language here is taken from a triumph of the Roman
death of Jesus, is like saying a slight cold is as serious an ailment again in the Bible of sin’s terrible consequences. This army. A victorious general would parade in triumph through
as cancer, or peanut butter sandwiches as good a meal as roast message comes to us with its gracious invitation to salvation, Rome with captured kings and generals chained to his chariot.
In this way Paul depicts Christ’s triumph over Satan: the evil
beef and all the trimmings. It is absurd and reveals a heart that but also with a warning if we reject it.
During the Gulf War, Iraq launched scud missiles against one is defeated and chained to the chariot of our Saviour.
has not grasped the wonder of what took place on Calvary.
The person who has seen the depravity of his own sinful Israel. These terrible weapons gave just one minute’s warning nature and begun to feel his guilt will understand that nothing of approaching destruction and death. When that warning Salvation’s victory
short of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God can possibly meet his came, everyone ran for cover. It would have been stupid to
On the cross Jesus disarmed Satan and took away his power.
need. In contrast, the unbeliever finds it impossible to see this. reject the warning and refuse to take shelter.
The Christian is someone who has seen that he faces a far There he made a public spectacle of his victory. The whole
world was witness to it, and still is every
Scripture’s teaching
time a sinner is saved. The triumph of the
Roman triumphal parade, Arch of Titus
cross was complete.
The Bible’s teaching about
Jesus anticipated this on Palm
the cross started long before
Sunday when he said, ‘Now is the time
Jesus was born. The messianic
for the judgement of this world; now
prophecies in the Psalms, Isaiah
the prince of this world will be driven
and Zechariah, for example, are
out’ (John 12:31).
crucial, if we are to understand
Man, because of his sinful nature, had
the meaning of the cross. They
violated God’s law. So the law instead of
are amazing in their accuracy
being a blessing became a curse to us,
and point clearly to Jesus Christ.
and Satan could quite properly use it to
When we come to the New
accuse and condemn us.
Testament and life of Jesus, we
We are guilty; ‘the power of sin
find him saying time and again
is the law’ (1 Corinthians 15:56).
that he was going to be put to
But, on the cross, Jesus fulfilled the
death. He wasn’t speaking as a
righteousness of the law for us. He paid
pessimistic fatalist, but because
our debt and figuratively nailed the
he knew that this was why he
cancelled statement of our debt to the
came into the world.
cross as proof of payment.
Drawing on the Old Testament,
When we are saved from sin through
Jesus said, ‘Just as Moses lifted
Christ, the triumph of the cross becomes
up the snake in the desert, so the
our triumph. Satan can still tempt us,
Son of Man must be lifted up,
but he can no longer compel us to sin.
that everyone who believes in
His influence is still strong in the
him may have eternal life’ (John
world, but it is limited in the lives of
3:14-15). By ‘lifted up’, Jesus was
greater danger than scud missiles. He has seen his sin and takes God’s people. He is chained like the lions in Pilgrim’s progress.
describing his death on the cross (John 12:32-33).
Throughout the New Testament the message of the cross it seriously. He has heeded God’s warning and fled to Christ for As Christians, we should live in the reality of the triumph of the
cross. We are no longer slaves to sin so, therefore, we are not to
is clear. Peter said, ‘He himself bore our sins in his body shelter, forgiveness and salvation.
on the tree’ (1 Peter 2:24); John said, ‘The blood of Jesus, We boast or glory in the cross when we acknowledge that let sin reign in our lives (Romans 6:6, 12).
To be concluded
[God’s] Son, purifies us from every sin’; Paul stressed, ‘We nothing else can save us. For there Jesus dealt with two things
preach Christ crucified’ and he resolved to preach nothing against us: the law, ‘having cancelled the written code, with
The author is a retired pastor, who has ministered in
else to the Corinthians but ‘Christ and him crucified’ (1 its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to
us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross’; and the powers
Cwmbran, Rugby and Port Talbot
Corinthians 1:23; 2:2).
Why did Paul act this way? Because the message of the
cross is that Jesus took the sin, guilt and punishment of guilty
a disciple of Christ in that country and he received a
sinners. He faced the wrath and judgement of God instead of
NT in Arabic and has asked for a complete Bible. A
his people and died in our place, and so God is now able to
team member prayed with him at the end of a twojustly forgive us all our sin.
hour conversation in a local café’.
No wonder the gospel is good news! Could there ever be
Mr McIntosh said that having literature tables with
better news? That, instead of spending an eternity in hell, we
free literature available greatly enhanced the number
can be accepted in heaven?
of conversations, since in such a natural way people
By any reasonable standard, you would expect that
Outreach with Christian Answer Missions in came up to the table and began a conversation, with
people would be delighted with such a message. If there
Cambridge, Canterbury and Bournemouth over one of the team sitting nearby.
was a particular job about the house that needed doing but
the summer brought ‘outstanding’ opportunities, He added: ‘It was particularly encouraging to
I dreaded it and kept putting it off, I would be overjoyed if I
get an email this week from an Iranian I had met at
Professor Andy McIntosh has said.
got home and found a neighbour had done it for me. I would
In his latest newsletter, he said, ‘Hundreds of Canterbury in 2011, and with whom I had been in
rush and thank my kind friend. So why don’t people receive
gospels have been given out, and many significant contact and had sent him a Farsi Bible.
the message of the cross gladly?
conversations in all the places I was at this summer’. ‘He stated, “Thanks again for introducing me to
According to Prof. McIntosh, ‘Perhaps one of the Jesus and bringing joy and peace to my life.” That
Sin’s consequences
most remarkable conversations that took place was was a wonderful email to receive! No wonder in John
when a young Saudi Arabian, who was dissatisfied with 4:32 the Lord said, “I have food to eat that ye know
The message of the cross speaks of human sin and divine
not of”. It makes it all worthwhile when one receives
Islam, said he wished to become a believer in Jesus.
wrath and judgement. Today, people reject both sin and
such correspondence.’
Andy McIntosh
‘He
was
weighing
the
enormous
cost
to
becoming
judgement, and either reject outright or change the message.
Evangelical TIMES
6
October 2015
Berachah Free Church (Baptist)
(Independent Evangelical Baptist)
COMING TO INNER WEST LONDON?
We warmly invite you to worship with us at
Preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ
Uxbridge Road Tabernacle Reformed Baptist Church
33 Hyde Way, Welwyn Garden City
Hertfordshire, AL7 3UQ
Sundays at 11.00am and 5.30pm.
Wednesdays at 7.45pm.
Pastor: Chris Davies
Information: 01707 331680
Free sermon CDs monthly by post.
Please enquire.
www.campuschurch.org.uk
Bloemfontein Road, Shepherds Bush, W12 7BX
(near Shepherds Bush Market Tube Station)
Sundays:
11.00am - Teaching service
3.30pm - Sunday school
6.30pm - Gospel service
CAMPUS CHURCH
ZION EVANGELICAL
BAPTIST CHURCH
Blossomgate, Ripon,
N. Yorks HG4 2AJ
Lord’s Day: 10.30am & 6.30pm
Prayer/Bible study:
Wednesday 7.30pm.
Pastor: Roger W. Fay
(Tel: 01765 604753)
www.zionripon.org.uk
(sermons on web site)
Nevill Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6QL
Sunday: 11.15am - Gospel Service; 6.30pm - Public worship
Thursday: 7.45pm - Bible study & prayer meeting
Pastor: J. D. Avery Tel: 020 8743 7770 Web site: www.uxbridgeroadtabernacle.co.uk
Reformed, evangelical, Baptist, non-charismatic, non-ecumenical
Coming to
Falmouth Evangelical Church
CHESTER?
Killigrew Street, Falmouth
(by The Moor)
UPTON BAPTIST CHURCH
extends a warm welcome to you
Sunday 10.30am and 6.30pm
Wednesday 7.45pm
Contact: Dave Stott
01244 639644
www.ubc.org.uk
(Priory Road)
Lord’s Day: 11.00am and 6.30pm
Prayer/Bible study: Thursday 7.45pm
COMING TO STUDY IN KENT?
Join us at
Mount Zion Baptist Church
16 Canterbury Road,
Ashford
TN24 8JX
Pastor: David Gayton
Details - 01384 828309
Priory Road, Dudley DY1 4AD
www.dudleybaptist.org.uk
www.sermonsfortoday.org
A warm welcome awaits you at...
BETHESDA FREE
CHURCH
Tatham Street, Sunderland
SUNDAY 10.30am & 6.30pm
TUESDAY at 7.30pm for
Prayer/Bible study
Sunday worship services:
11.00am and 6.30pm
Student age Bible class: 2.30-3.30pm
Pastor: Christopher Buss
All are welcome
Hospitality and transport
home available
www.mountzionashford.org.uk
[email protected]
Reverent worship
Coming to WEST LONDON? A warm welcome to all at
Amyand Park Chapel
Amyand Park Road,
Twickenham, Middlesex TW1 3HY (near St. Margaret’s train station)
Sunday services: 11:00am & 6:30pm
Prayer and Bible study: Wednesday 7:30pm
Pastor: Gerard Hemmings
Tel: 020 8891 0386
web site: www.amyandparkchapel.org
Heath Evangelical Church
Whitchurch Road Cardiff CF14 3LZ
T: 029 2061 7738
E: [email protected]
W: www.heath-church.org
Pastor: Rev. Wyn Hughes
Sunday Services: 10.45am & 6.00pm
Bible Study: Mon 7.30pm
Prayer Meeting: Wed 7.30pm
one2two
Bookshop & Coffee Shop
Adjoining the church, we offer a warm and
welcoming environment to all.
We stock a wide range of Christian books, cards,
gifts, DVDs and CDs including the sermons of
Rev. Wyn Hughes.
Our Coffee Shop serves quality tea & coffee,
savoury food and cakes, which are all homemade.
For more info & opening hours visit:
www.heathchristianbookshop.com
Westhoughton
Evangelical Church
King Street, Westhoughton
(nr Bolton)
Lord’s Day services: 11.00am and 6.30pm
Prayer/Bible study: Tuesday 7.30pm
Sunday school: 10.15am
Minister: Rev. Stephen Holland
Tel: 01254 384154
Listen to sermons at
www.sermonaudio.com/revholland
Church website: www.westhoughtonevangelical.com
Melbourne AUSTRALIA
Hawthorn Presbyterian Church
– Reformed and Evangelical –
Sundays 10.30am & 6.30pm
Prayer meeting
Wednesday 7.30pm
www.fec.org.uk
E-mail: [email protected]
9.30am Sunday school & Bible study
11.00am & 7.00pm Worship Services
Rev. Graham Nicholson 61 3 98195347
Coming to Southampton?
You are welcome to join us in Sholing at:
Maryport Street Baptist Chapel, Devizes,
Wilts, SN10 1AH
Spring Road Evangelical Church
DUDLEY BAPTIST CHURCH
Pastor Keith Chambers
Mob: 07508 276646
Website: www.Berachah.org.uk
• Reformed
• Evangelistic
• Non-ecumenical
• Non-charismatic
• Expository Ministry
Sunday services: 11.00am and 6.30pm
Pastor: Mark Stocker (023) 80432850
www.springroad.org.uk
[only 6kms from the city centre]
Church anniversary 2015
Saturday 10 October 2015 at 3.30pm
Preacher: Pastor Pooyan Mehrshahi
(Cheltenham)
Refreshments to follow.
Lord’s Day services: 11.00am & 6.30pm
More details:
www.maryportstreetbaptist.org.uk
Tel: 01380 699967
PLEASE NOTE
All advertisements must reach us by the 1st of the month preceding the
issue for which they are submitted.
Adverts should be sent to:
Evangelical Times, 3 Trinity Court, Faverdale North, Darlington, DL3 0PH
Evangelical TIMES
September
2013
October
2015
International
Christian minority
Murders in India
Advocacy organisation Release International, which supports persecuted Christians
worldwide, has launched a petition calling on the Egyptian government to ensure security
for the Christian minority.
Release’s petition, part of its #EveryRight campaign, calls on Egyptian politicians to
make good their guarantee of freedom of religion for Christians, who are increasingly
under attack in the country.
The petition comes as an Egyptian Christian has been jailed in the country for sharing
his faith with Muslims. According to reports, 35-year-old Medhat Isha faces an indefinite
jail sentence over a false charge of blasphemy.
He was arrested on 7 August for allegedly evangelising Muslims in a Cairo suburb.
The day after his arrest, a judge amended the charge against Medhat to ‘defamation of a
revealed religion’ and ordered him to be detained for a fortnight.
The detention order was extended for a further 15 days and, as at the time of writing,
Medhat’s lawyer Rafik Rafaat feared the sentence could be extended indefinitely.
In a report from Release, Rafik said he believed that Muslim extremists have been
pressuring judges to crack down on Christian evangelists.
Muslims in Egypt are allowed free rein to hand out religious literature in public,
including Korans. Christians should be allowed this right under law, but are finding their
activities curtailed.
Discrimination
A fact-finding team of human rights groups has confirmed that a Christian couple were
murdered and accused of being Maoists.
According to a report from Barnabas Fund, Dhubaleswar and his wife, Bhubudi
Nayak, had gone up to the top of a hill in Pangalpadar village, in the Kandhamal
district of Odisha (formerly Orissa) state, on Sunday 26 July.
This was to make their weekly phone call to their children, who worked in
Kerala state. However the call was interrupted and their son could hear shrieking and
gunshots.
The couple had been accompanied by three other Christians, who had finished
making their calls and were returning.
They met officers of the Central Reserve Police Force, India’s largest
paramilitary, who were looking for Maoists. According to reports, the officers
pointed guns at them and questioned them, but let them go. Not long after, the
three returning to the village heard gunshots.
The villagers went to the police station demanding that they register a murder
case and return the bodies, but police refused to co-operate. Hundreds of villagers
returned to the police station in protest and eventually police handed over the bodies
on the evening of 28 July.
Bhubudi’s hair had been cut to make her look like a Maoist, said Sushant Nayak,
president of the Kandhamal Baptist Union. The bodies were also covered in mud.
‘This is a coldblooded murder’, said Narendra Mohanty, who was involved in the
fact-finding report. ‘When the couple resisted [a] rape attempt by the security forces,
they shot them dead’.
Andrew Boyd, Release
Paul Robinson, chief executive of Release International, said, ‘Two years ago, scores
of churches were burning across Egypt and Christian homes and businesses were being
targeted by Islamists. Today, despite the changes in the constitution, Christians still face
discrimination. They are still being jailed for blasphemy, and that has to end’.
According to Release, there are other similar cases in Egypt. On 11 July, three Christians
were arrested in Alexandria for handing out bags of dried dates containing a statement
about God’s love.
Christian convert Bishoy Boulos is another. When he tried to change the religious status
on his identity card, he was jailed, received death threats and had his home set on fire. He was
jailed for reporting the persecution of Christians. Other journalists were also imprisoned, but
have since been released. But Bishoy has now been accused of blasphemy.
Since the church burnings in 2013, thousands of Christians have left Egypt, adding to
the growing exodus of Christians from the Middle East. Egyptian congregation
Politics
Free speech concerns
Four out of five evangelicals think government policies to tackle extremism may make it
harder for them to share their faith.
According to a survey from the Evangelical Alliance (EA), two-thirds of respondents
out of 1700 responding to the survey felt that the current attempt to define ‘British values’
was a reflection of the country’s identity crisis.
Although 71 per cent were ‘broadly supportive’ of the government’s plans to define
and promote British values, some three quarters agreed that freedom of speech needed
greater protection.
While 57 per cent believed that people needed to respond to extremism, evangelicals
felt concerned about the ‘unintended consequences’ of such measures.
Dr Dave Landrum, director of advocacy for the EA, said, ‘Our fundamental freedoms
are being threatened by the government over-reacting to security threats to those very
freedoms. We may be in danger of destroying the foundations while trying to protect the
house we have built on them’.
According to the survey, the Christian faith has played a key role in providing values to
British society throughout its history, but many believed this legacy was being swiftly eroded.
The survey showed that only 31 per cent felt they still shaped values today, while fewer
than one in five agreed that Britain is a Christian country.
Dr Landrum added: ‘Many people value the legacy that our country is built on, yet it seems
that today we are trying to build our social values on nothing but fresh air and good intentions.
We value Christianity when it suits us, and we dispense with it when it is inconvenient, yet the
central truths of Christianity led to the very freedoms on which we now rely’.
Defiant Kentucky
County Clerk
A Kentucky County Clerk was jailed for
five days after defying a federal court
order to issue licences to gay couples.
According to reports in the New
York Times, the woman, Kim Davis,
was ordered to be detained for contempt
of court, and later rejected a proposal
to allow her deputies to process samesex marriage licences that could have
prompted her release.
Ms Davis, of Rowan County,
Kim Davis
Kentucky, said she would not retreat from
or modify her stand, despite the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year legalising
same-sex marriage.
Meanwhile, Judge David L. Bunning of United States District Court secured
commitments from five of Ms Davis’s deputies to begin providing the licences. He
said, ‘The court cannot condone the wilful disobedience of its lawfully issued order.
If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that’s what
potentially causes problems’.
According to reports, 49-year-old Ms Davis is one of three of Kentucky’s 120
county clerks who contended that their religious beliefs mean they cannot recognise
same-sex marriage.
Although she is a Democrat, some Republican presidential candidates declared
their support for her, with one, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, stating that ‘judicial
lawlessness crossed into judicial tyranny’.
At the time of writing, Ms Davis has been released from detention, to massive
applause. ‘I just want to give God the glory,’ Davis said. ‘We serve a living God, who
knows exactly where each and every one stands’ (MSBNC Live).
Her attorney said that she would abide by her conscience and that all licences
issued since her incarceration were not valid. The case marks a contest between
freedom of belief and conscience, and the state rules. Ms Davis was prepared to go
to jail rather than change her conscience.
Palestinian initiative
The Palestinian Bible Society (PBS) has been encouraging and equipping churches
to reach out with love to their communities.
Throughout Ramadan earlier this year, PBS urged Christians to engage with
two new initiatives to help them serve their neighbours in this 99 per cent Muslim
territory, in a practical way.
Every evening during Ramadan, PBS staff, members of the Palestinian national
force, and volunteers from churches, went out onto the streets of Zababdeh, a town
in Jenin Province in the northern West Bank. They offered packs of dates and bottled
water to people unable to get home on time to break their fast.
Nashat Filmon, executive secretary of PBS, said, ‘It was a simple gesture of care
that was so appreciated by our Muslim brothers and sisters. Thousands of people
were talking about it on social media, and Christians in other towns who heard about
this also began similar initiatives’.
It also hosted a special iftar or ‘breaking fast’ Ramadan dinner for prominent
people in Jenin Province, which was attended by more than 500 people, including the
deputy governor.
Mr Filmon added: ‘If you spread love, people will receive it. If you spread hatred
and animosity, they will receive it. So we decided to send out a message of love. In
the light of what Islamic State is doing, killing and displacing hundreds of thousands
of Christians, this gesture of love and compassion by Christians is very poignant’.
News
Persecution: Egypt
7
Evangelical TIMES
8
Sovereign Grace Union
Annual London Meeting
Friday 2 October, 6.30pm and tea from 5.00pm
Brixton Tabernacle, 216 Stockwell Road, SW9 9SU
Speaker: Dafydd Morris
October 2015
Faith under fire
Christian Institute meetings
The Sovereign Grace Union seeks to proclaim
and defend the biblical doctrines of free and
sovereign grace.
This meeting is arranged by an assembly of Christians
meeting in Westminster and so we will not be holding our
usual meeting at Nottingham Court on this date.
Scotland Autumn Tour
30 Oct Stornoway
2 Nov Portree
7.30pm | Stornoway Town Hall
7.30pm | Portree Community Centre
31 Oct Inverness
3 Nov Glasgow
7.30pm | Kingsmills Hotel
7.30pm | Venue TBC
General Manager of Ashers Baking Co., Daniel
McArthur, will be speaking at the meetings
alongside B&B owner Hazelmary Bull.
Ashers face a fine for declining to decorate a
campaign cake in support of same-sex marriage.
They are appealing the court case against them.
B&B owners Mr & Mrs Bull were ordered to pay
£3,600 to two men in a civil partnership for refusing
to provide them with a double bed. The case was
appealed to the UK Supreme Court.
Come and find out more about these cases and
how God has sustained them through their trials.
For more information visit:
christian.org.uk/scotlandtour
Follow us:
 facebook.com/christianinstitute  @christianorguk
Manchester Church Planting
Bible Study
Are you looking for a solid, reformed and warm hearted
Presbyterian Church in Manchester?
Then please join us in this initial work as we meet together to study God’s word.
Upcoming dates: 23 November; 4 January
If you are interested in joining us or simply finding out more, then please contact
Rev. Dr Kevin Bidwell, the minister of Sheffield Presbyterian Church, for more details.
E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 07954 546487
For more information visit our website: https://manchesterpc.wordpress.com/
You are warmly invited to
hear a talk on
Crisis Pregnancy Advice Centre
Fundraising Dinner
The place of Israel
in God’s plan of
redemption
The Crisis Pregnancy Advice Centre (CPAC) is a work beginning in
Sheffield, in order to establish a Pregnancy Advice centre with a
Christian world view. We aim to professionally and sensitively give
women the opportunity to hear sound Christian counsel
regarding a crisis pregnancy.
Speaker: Mike Moore
(Christian Witness to Israel)
We will be hosting a fundraising dinner on
Saturday 17 October 2015 at 6.30pm in Sheffield;
in order to raise awareness and funds for this vital work.
If you are interested in CPAC and you would like to find out
more about this fundraising dinner, then please contact
Rev. Dr Kevin Bidwell.
E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 07954 546487
Saturday 10 October at 3.30pm
Meeting followed by buffet tea
Sunday 11 October:
Worship, 10.30am & 6.30pm
Mike Moore preaching
Kingston Evangelical Church
Park Grove, Hull, HU2 5UR
Tel: 01482 845237
[email protected]
October 2015
Evangelical TIMES
9
News
Ministry
Torture fears
Pastoral well-being
Advocacy group Release International is calling for a Chinese Christian lawyer to be
set free, having expressed fears that he may be tortured into a false confession.
Release has warned that Beijing lawyer Zhang Kai, who was defending churches
against moves to tear down their crosses, was seized by officials and, according to
partners in Wenzhou, may be charged with spying.
Release partner China Aid claimed that Zhang has been accused of ‘gathering a
mob to disturb public order and stealing, collecting, purchasing and illegally providing
state secrets and intelligence to overseas organisations’. China Aid fears Zhang may be
tortured into producing a false confession.
He is not the only one. Since July, China has rounded up and detained some 230
human rights lawyers and activists. The communist media has mounted a high-profile
campaign against them, branding them as corrupt and criminal.
Paul Robinson, chief executive of Release International, said, ‘It is deeply worrying
to see a nation such as China rounding up its lawyers, and claiming it is doing so to
uphold the rule of law.
‘Release is adding its voice to
the growing numbers calling for the
immediate release of Zhang Kai.
As a growing world power, China
should embrace, rather than oppose,
those who stand up for justice and
righteousness under the law’.
Although there is a strong
Christian presence in Zhejiang
province, the communist authorities
there have been demolishing
churches and have pulled down
some 1200 crosses. International
observers believe the clampdown
against visible signs of Christianity
is intended to slow the rapid growth
of the faith in China.
Mr Robinson added: ‘The
authorities appear afraid that Chinese
Christians could have divided loyalties
and that human rights campaigners
who mount legal challenges in the
courts are undermining the authority
of the Communist Party. Neither is
the case’.
Nearly one-third of pastors find their personal prayer life a disappointment, while half
claim to have no close friend to whom they can be accountable, research has found.
Last summer, the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) surveyed
pastors and wives across the family of FIEC churches.
The survey aimed to help pastors to reflect on their life and current ministry situation.
It focused on several areas, such as spiritual formation, self-care, self-awareness, home
life and church leadership.
There were also questions about financial concerns. Some 92 completed forms
were returned, representing 35 per cent of the FIEC pastoral community; separately, 38
forms were returned from pastors’ wives.
According to a statement from the FIEC, at least five pastors reported that the
survey was too painful to complete. Some 46 per cent described themselves in negative
terms, such as depressed, struggling, disillusioned and lonely; but 62 per cent said they
took the opportunity to reflect on their ministries regularly.
Meanwhile, 52 per cent of ministry wives questioned the demands placed on their
husbands, with 59 per cent saying they were ‘actively involved’ in their husbands’ ministry.
Financial concerns
Persecution: Pakistan
Disabled victim
In August a team from Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS)
visited a Christian couple in Pakistan, charged with blasphemy and imprisoned in two
different jails.
Shafqat Masih is at Faisalabad’s district jail and has been sentenced to death on
grounds of blasphemy, under 295 C PPC, while Shagufta his wife is in Multan jail.
According to CLAAS, this is a rare case, where both husband and wife are charged
with blasphemy and imprisoned in two different jails. Shafqat is receiving treatment for
having bedsores on his body, as he is disabled and needs a wheelchair, but is recovering
after being hospitalised for the past few months.
CLAAS also visited Shagufta in 13 August. She is imprisoned where another
blasphemy-law victim, Aasia Bibi, is also incarcerated. Shagufta is in good health, but
sad and depressed, as she is concerned about her young children, who are being looked
after by their grandfather.
She is also worried about her husband who is disabled. She asked CLAAS to help
her to be transferred to District Jail Faisalabad with her husband.
CLAAS is supporting the family. Their children Zain, 14; Danish, 12; Joshua, 10;
and Saira, 9, are being cared for by their grandfather Emmanuel.
Mission
Huge Bible database
One of the largest online scripture databases has been updated with its 300th full Bible
— the Nepali New Revised Version.
According to United Bible Societies (UBS), its Digital Bible Library (DBL) has the
largest Scripture database, with nearly 1100 total Bible translation items available.
It supplies Bible texts to ministries around the world. Users can access these
translations on the basis of licence agreements from copyright owners, through the
‘library card’, which allows applications to connect to collected resources.
Thanks to DBL access, technology developers can create apps that can switch
between Scripture items in 878 languages, with 4.6 billion speakers. A statement from UBS said hundreds of millions of people have been using the
library’s services, such as BibleSearch.com, the Bible App and other applications, to
read the Bible, using the translations, languages and devices of their choice. Michael Perreau, director general of UBS, said, ‘We invite Christian ministries in
web development to apply for their own access to this amazing resource. Adding a
Bible reading or study functionality to Christian apps and sites creates a new level of
loyalty, as visitors increasingly will return to do their daily Bible reading online’.
Financial worries were also a concern for many pastors. Although some 60 per cent
said they felt adequately supported by their church, 45 per cent of these do not have any
pension contributions from their church.
As an aside, it is a legal requirement on all employers, large and small, to provide
auto-enrolled pensions for their employees. Failure to do so will see fines imposed by
the Department for Work and Pensions.
There has been encouragement, however, with 63 per cent of pastors who have
been in their post for three or more years citing growth in their churches despite feeling
overworked on occasion.
Richard Underwood, FIEC pastoral ministries director, said, ‘A number of recurring
themes emerge from the survey, notably relating to physical health, spiritual health, and
how to clarify the relationship between pastors and congregations’
He also said it was important to ‘address the lack of training and preparation for wives
for ministry’, as well as reaching leaders and their families ‘at their point of need’.
Mr Underwood pointed to the FIEC’s Pastors’ Network, which he said was ‘an ideal
platform to address many of these issues’. The issues raised by the survey are to be
worked out in greater detail in a separate document called The pastors’ network: The
way forward.
Media
Bede exhibition
A cast of the skull of Bede — the socalled ‘father of English history’ — has
been put on display at Jarrow, the home
of the English monk and historian.
The exhibition, called ‘The skull
of Bede’, will showcase the cast
of the skull, which was recently
Bede's tomb
rediscovered by Professor Jo Story,
from the University of Leicester’s School of History.
It tells the story behind the excavation of the Venerable Bede’s tomb in Durham
Cathedral back in 1831, and the preservation of the skull in the anatomical collections of
the University of Cambridge.
Bede lived from 672–735, and his work, the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum,
[The ecclesiastical history of the English people], was completed in AD 731.
It charted the establishment of Christianity in England, and was the first work of
history to use the AD system of dating.
Church
Alpha director cosies
with Catholicism
Rev. Nicky Gumbel, vicar of Holy Trinity, Brompton,
and director of the Alpha Course since 1990, sang
the praises of the Catholic Church at ‘Proclaim 15’,
a major Catholic ‘evangelisation event’, held in
Birmingham on Saturday 11 July.
One of four keynote speakers, including Cardinal
Vincent Nichols, he told his audience of 900 Catholic
bishops, priests and laity, ‘I love the Catholic Church
— she is leading the way in evangelisation’.
As reported by Ruth Gledhill in Christian Today (12
July), Gumbel emphasised the importance of the Alpha
Course and said the key to his current thinking was the
2013 encyclical of Pope Francis on evangelisation and
Rev. Nicky Gumbel
the joy of the gospel, Evangelii gaudium.
Many British evangelicals will be saddened by this naïve rapprochement with
Rome from an influential Anglican evangelical. The Catholic Church is firmly
wedded to a ‘gospel’ of salvation by works, even while deceptively proclaiming its
commitment to grace.
David Castor
Andrew Boyd, Release
Persecution: China
Evangelical TIMES
10
October 2015
When someone
we love dies
My dear dad died on 12 December 2014. He was 84 years and
6 days old. He had been suffering from dementia for a few
years, so wasn’t quite the father I had known.
Timothy Cross
We enjoyed a warm friendship right up to
his last day. I would be lying if I said that I
don’t miss him and am not subject to bouts of
sadness. Over the years I have experienced
some deep losses, but until my father’s death
I had never experienced bereavement of a
close relative.
But does the Bible have any comfort to
those in my condition (and we will all suffer
such a loss at some time)? Yes it does!
When we struggle with bereavement, we
can take comfort from three things.
God’s sovereignty
First, according to the Bible, the day of our
death is not accidental, but providential. It
has been pre-determined by almighty God.
It is like ‘a date written in his diary’. ‘In thy
book were written, every one of them, the
days that were formed for me, when as yet
there were none of them’ (Psalm 139:16).
The absolute sovereignty of God is,
truth be told, the only ultimate comfort
for the soul. His eternal decree is fixed
and unalterable; he ‘accomplishes all
things according to the counsel of his will’
(Ephesians 1:11). ‘The decrees of God are
his eternal purpose, according to the counsel
of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he
hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass’
(Shorter Catechism).
This being so, we will not die a moment
too soon; just as we will neither breathe
a moment longer than God has ordained.
There is ‘a time to be born and a time to
die’ (Ecclesiastes 3:2). A death in the family
never takes God by surprise. He knows best;
we may safely trust his providence.
God’s salvation
Second, we are comforted by God’s
salvation. For the Christian, death is nothing
less than the door through which we enter
into a richer, fuller life. It is the porter which
ushers us into the nearer presence of Christ
our Saviour.
We belong to Jesus. He procured our eternal
salvation when he died on Calvary’s cross to
atone for our sins. Hence Paul could write: ‘For
me to live is Christ and to die is gain’ and ‘my
desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is
far better’ (Philippians 1:21, 23).
You can be sure that once a Christian has
tasted the bliss of God’s nearer presence in
heaven, he or she will have no desire at all to
return to this world with its sorrow and pain.
For the Christian, death is a matter of
being ‘away from the body and at home with
the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 5:8); awaiting the
resurrection of the body on the last day when
Jesus returns to bring in the new heavens and
new earth.
But what if a loved one made no
profession of Christ during their lifetime, as
far as we know? It would, of course, be very
preferable to have the assurance that such
were Christ’s, and so now in heaven. Yet none
of us knows what happens in any person’s
heart as death draws near — whether or not
they have closed with Jesus Christ. So, when
we are unsure of a loved one’s eternal state,
we can leave the issue with God.
He knows what he is doing. His will, will
be done. ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth
do right?’ (Genesis 18:25). No one who has
ever lived and died will be able to accuse the
Lord God of injustice or wrong. ‘The Lord is
just in all his ways and kind in all his doings’
(Psalm 145:17).
God’s solace
It is the universal experience of Christians
that the Lord God, in his mercy, draws
especially near to us during times of sadness
and trouble. ‘The Lord is near to the broken
hearted and saves the crushed in spirit’
(Psalm 34:18).
The God of the Bible is a God of saving
and sustaining grace. He gives us strength for
each day and the ability to cope with the losses,
crosses and difficulties that he sees fit to send
us in his providence. He is far too wise to make
mistakes and far too loving to be unkind. We
know this, because our gospel affirms: ‘God
shows his love for us in that while we were yet
sinners Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8).
Grieving is a natural process which
accompanies a loss. Yet, in our grief, we may
know the solace of God as the ‘Father of
mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts
us in all our affliction’ (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
Jesus is a Saviour of the utmost sympathy
who once wept at the death of a friend. The
shortest verse of the Bible states, ‘Jesus wept’
(John 11:35). And the Holy Spirit is known
in the Bible as ‘the Comforter’ (Parakletos).
He is ‘one called alongside us to help’, to
strengthen and undertake for us.
The death of a loved one knocks away all
our human props. ‘All other helpers fail and
comforts flee’, but the Christian has a God to
turn to. Through our tears, he will give us his
solace and prove all-sufficient for our need,
until the day comes when ‘he will wipe away
every tear from their eyes’ (Revelation 21:3).
I thank God for the life and love of my
father, John Cross. And with Job, I say, ‘The
Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord’ (Job 1:21).
The author has written many
Christian books and articles and has an
honorary doctorate from Christian
Bible College, Rocky Mount, NC
(www.TimothyJCross.org)
Personal view:
What we wear for public meetings
The clothes people wear when worshipping at church are very important to some Christians. Dress code is often equated with
holiness and consequently causes some Christians to be very concerned for others.
ARENA Creative. Shutterstock
I’m a leader of a church. Last
Sunday I wore a suit and tie. The
Sunday before that I wore cords
and cardigan. I often change what
I wear, because I think the Bible
teaches that Christians should dress
a bit for God, but mainly out of
concern for people. And having a
range of people in meetings calls for
a range of clothing from the leaders.
Here’s how I reach that
conclusion. First, when it comes to
worship, the condition of a person’s
heart before God is of greatest
importance. Christians worship
God in the Spirit of God, through
Jesus (Ephesians 2:18), and can do
so in a suit in church or (at any time
of the week) in shorts in the garden.
God’s glory
Second, God does care about what
people wear in public and in church,
and people should dress for his
glory. At no time should clothing be
immodest or attention-seeking (1
Timothy 2:9-10), so it’s sinful to be
sexually (or otherwise) provocative
in clothing, or eccentric to the point
of being distracting.
It’s a sin to deliberately make
people think more about your clothes
than about God (Matthew 6:31-33),
and God wants both spirit and body to
be acceptable to him (Romans 12:1-2).
Third, if every Sunday I have
a choice of clothes to wear, none
of which are, as far as I know,
immodest or attention-seeking,
which should I choose? Here’s why
I think Christians should dress for
people — I can only justify this
point using biblical principles,
rather than specific Bible verses.
It’s said by some that Christians
should wear their very best for God
(which is probably a suit if you’re
male in the UK today) because,
after all, we’d wear our best to
meet HM The Queen, and God is
very much higher than the Queen.
Also, it’s said that, if even nonChristians respect God with their
best clothes when they come to
church at weddings and funerals,
then Christian leaders certainly
should. So shirt and tie honours
God the most.
I think there are two errors in
this line of reasoning. The first is to
forget that what a person wears for
the Queen will partly depend on the
environment in which she is met. A
suit might be correct dress at her
dinner parties, but presumably not
for a game of croquet in her garden.
The second is to think that nonChristians are dressing to respect
God. They’re not! They hate God;
they dress their best because it’s
what’s expected for the occasion.
For them, it’s about environment
not holiness.
Back to my Sunday choice. I
choose whatever suits the people
and the environment. Where I’m
ministering officially as pastor,
there’s a range of ages, traditions
and expectations of what a churchgoer should look like and I want
to show everyone that they are
welcome in our church.
Our church’s usual Sunday
environment is a different one from
when it is used for funerals. On
Sundays we accommodate old and
new traditions and, at this present
time and place, it would be unwise
for this leader to always wear one
type of clothing for risk of making
one group feel they need to wear
certain clothes to ‘join the club’.
However, I hear of other places
where wearing anything but a suit
to church would be considered
cultish by surrounding villagers,
who then wouldn’t go inside. So we
can’t make a rule about this, due to
differing cultural norms in the UK.
Gospel adornment
What matters is that people are
biblical. Clothing should never be
sinful or so different from the norm
that it’s distracting. Everyone should
‘wear the gospel’ (Colossians 3:1213), be willing to correct sweetly
those who dress sinfully, and bear in
mind that the tie-wearer might not
be a legalist, nor the t-shirt wearer
lacking in the fear of God!
And when we gather at
conferences, let’s welcome the
collision of church cultures.
Owen Batstone
The author is pastor of Calvary
Baptist Church, Ogmore Vale, Wales
Evangelical TIMES
October 2015
Long to reign over us!
Much has changed since 1953, when HM The
Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne. The
average house price was £2500, Edmund Hillary
and Sherpa Tensing became the first people to scale
the summit of Mount Everest, and there were just
2.6 billion people living on the earth.
Fast-forward to 2015, and there are now multiple
expeditions of ordinary people to ascend Mount
Everest, the world’s population is at 7 billion, and
the average UK house price is, according to the
Land Registry, £183,861.
However, HM The Queen is still on the throne,
making her the longest-serving monarch in the
history of the UK, clocking up 63 years and outpacing
her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.
What both women have in common, apart from a bloodline and the fact they both ruled
over vast Commonwealths, is a known profession of the Christian faith and a strong moral
code to which they adhere.
While Queen Elizabeth does not reign over the 400 million people in the empire of her
ancestor Victoria, she is still the head of 183 million people, and ostensibly the head of the
Church of England.
As protector of ‘the faith’, her Christmas messages always speak of the birth of Christ,
while it was reported that, pre-ascension in 1953, she was outspoken against sexual
promiscuity and divorce.
HM The Queen, who is 89 years old and has been married to Prince Philip since November
1947, was reported by the BBC to have thanked well-wishers in the Scottish Borders.
However, she appeared not to want anything significant to mark the occasion, but treated
the milestone as if it were a normal day in her life.
She said, ‘Inevitably, a long life can pass by many milestones — my own is no exception
— but I thank you all and the many others at home and overseas for your touching messages
of great kindness’.
Marriage gap
There is an ‘alarming widening’ of the marriage
gap between rich and poor, the Marriage
Foundation (MF) has found, with the poorer in
society more likely to be single parents.
The data has found that mothers with young
children are four times more likely to be married
if they are wealthy than if they are poor.
Among mothers with children aged
five and under, 87 per cent of those with
household incomes over £45,000 are
married, compared to 24 per cent of those
with incomes of less than £14,000.
Other social indicators, such as education
and housing status, have also indicated a
stark gap between uptake of marriage for the
most and least privileged.
According to the MF, only 25 per cent of
mothers in social housing were married in
2006, the latest available year of data from
the General Household Survey, compared to
72 per cent of mothers with a mortgage.
This gap has opened up almost entirely
since the 1970s, when marriage uptake for
both groups — regardless of housing status
— was around 90 per cent.
Harry Benson, research director of the
MF, the think-tank dedicated to promoting
stable families, compiled the report in
collaboration with Professor Stephen McKay
of Lincoln University.
Mr Benson said, ‘What our research
shows is an almost universal take-up of
marriage among the rich, while for the poor
it is on course for total extinction’. Previous
research from the MF has shown that those
who marry have a far greater chance of
survival as a couple than those who cohabit.
Sex-selective abortion
The Department of Health (DoH) has claimed there is no need
for the government to enshrine protections against sex-selective
abortions, as there is little evidence to prove it is taking place.
The 43-page review, called Assessment of termination
of pregnancy on grounds of the sex of the foetus: response to
Serious Crime Act 2015, explored claims and revelations from
across the UK, from charities and medical professionals, that
sex-selective abortions were taking place illicitly.
Fiona Bruce MP had called for an amendment in the Serious
Crime Act to make this explicitly illegal, but MPs voted instead
for the DoH to conduct a review.
The review claims there are no concerns, despite case
Fiona Bruce MP
studies of women’s experiences being submitted to the DoH
for consideration. For example, one of many responses from women’s support charity Jeena
International, said, ‘G visited India to find out what the sex of her baby was. When finding out
it was a girl, she had an abortion.
‘On G’s second pregnancy, she visited a private clinic to determine the sex of the baby
she was carrying; on discovering that it was a girl, she informed her GP that she wanted an
abortion, as she could not afford to have a baby, and an abortion was offered and carried out.
‘On finding out for the third time G ordered a blood test to determine the sex of the baby;
again it was a girl and she visited her GP. An abortion was offered and carried out’.
In her response to the DoH’s findings, Fiona Bruce said, ‘This response by the DoH to the
harrowing experiences of women who suffer the pressure to abort their unborn baby girls is
disingenuous and unacceptable.
‘All that was necessary was to investigate the stories of those women who have gone through
sex-selective abortions — and the groups which support them — and prescribe solutions to the
shortcomings in healthcare, culture and law, which lead to this misogynistic practice occurring.
‘We need to listen much more carefully to these women and fix the system and wider
culture which is so cruelly failing them and their unborn children’.
One of the highest courts in the UK has turned down an appeal against the
imposition of the Named Persons regime in Scotland.
The Inner House Court of Session in Edinburgh has refused to allow the ‘No
to Named Persons’ (NO2NP) campaign to appeal against a ruling last year by
Lord Pentland.
In January 2014, the Scottish peer overruled a petition by the campaign group,
which asked for a judicial review of the controversial Named Persons scheme.
NO2NP and its many supporters — of all faiths and none — claimed the plans were
in breach of human rights, undermined parents and contravened data protection laws.
However, Lord Pentland claimed the plans did not breach human rights or data
protection. Campaigners, such as charity CARE for Scotland, appealed against the
judgement, but earlier this year the Inner House Court of Session in Edinburgh
refused the appeal.
The judges did find that the four charities involved in the appeal — of which
CARE for Scotland was one — did have standing to challenge the legislation, but
upheld Lord Pentland’s findings.
Dr Gordon Macdonald, parliamentary officer for CARE for Scotland, said, ‘We
are extremely disappointed by the court’s ruling. In recent months, the Scottish
government’s misguided state guardian plans have been strongly criticised by the
police, teachers, academics and prominent lawyers.
‘Once you emerge from the murky depths of the Scottish government’s guide to
how the guardian scheme will work, it is clear these plans are overly complicated
and completely unworkable’.
He said that the campaigners were convinced that, under the proposals, data
protection laws and human rights laws will be breached, which he said was completely unacceptable.
Dr Gordon Macdonald said, ‘These
draconian
measures
may come from a place
of good intentions, but
their consequences for
the social fabric of our
nation will be disastrous. The notion that
a teacher, healthcare
professional or some
other agent of the state
might be better placed
than mums and dads to
look after young people is absurd’.
Scottish parliament
Assisted suicide
Christian and charity campaign
groups have given thanks for the
resounding defeat of Rob Marris’
Assisted Suicide Bill.
The Bill, which was hotly debated
through Parliament and looked
dangerously close to becoming an Act,
has been quashed by a vote of 330
against, with just 118 in favour of it.
It was the first time in nearly 20
years that a vote on whether to allow
assisted suicide had reached the House
of Commons, and nearly 450 MPs
turned out to vote.
In May this year, there was a closer
call in Scotland, with 82 MSPs voting
against the Assisted Suicide Scotland
Bill, and 36 in favour.
According to a statement from
Christian Concern, which together with
other campaigners had arranged prayer
vigils during the final debate and vote
in the House of Commons on Friday
11 September, this defeat may make it
harder for pro-euthanasia campaigners
to push for further legislature soon.
In a statement, Christian Concern
said, ‘All of us are made in God’s image
and precious in his sight. Life is for him to
give and take, not for us. Assisted suicide
is not the compassionate provision that
campaigners for it often suggest it is.
‘It would put us on a dangerous
path and immediately place those
who are already vulnerable at greater
risk. People need care, not killing. As
Christians, we need to speak up clearly
to protect the gift of life’.
Vulnerable
During the debate, the Christian
Institute reported Labour MP Lyn
Brown saying she would vote
against the Bill, because it would
‘fundamentally change the way our
society thinks’ about the vulnerable.
The Christian Institute had warned
that legalising assisted suicide would
pressurise the sick, elderly and
vulnerable into ending their lives for
fear of being a burden.
Paul Tully, spokesman for
the Society for the Protection
of Unborn Children, said, ‘This
was an important victory for true
compassion. It is a vote of affirmation
for all those healthcare staff looking
after terminally ill people. It will be a
great relief to those with disabilities,
chronic conditions and degenerative
illnesses. The threat to them has been
averted for now’.
Many campaigners against the
Bill had warned of the incremental
extension of the practice in Europe and
the absence of genuine safeguards.
Nola Leach, chief executive of
pro-life charity CARE, said, ‘The
legalisation of assisted suicide would
have been a fundamental departure from
our nation’s compassionate heritage and
a dangerous mistake to make.
‘Far from being broken, the current
law protects both doctors and patients,
and assisted suicide would only
undermine that protection. Parliament
today has overwhelmingly rejected the
arguments calling for a radical change
to that law’.
She called the vote a ‘positive’ for
many vulnerable people who had been
understandably concerned by the Bill,
adding: ‘It would have enabled servants
of the state, such as doctors, to prescribe
lethal medication, contradicting the
vital “do not harm” principle which
underpins the medical profession’.
News
Named Persons appeal
Politics
Ethics
11
12
View from Sermon on Mount location
Evangelical TIMES
October 2015
A visit to
Israel (11–23
May 2015) (2)
Next (see ET, September 2015),
we visited Capernaum, the strategic centre of
Jesus’ ministry in Galilee (Matthew 4:13), and
home town of James, John and Matthew.
Mary Beeke
Here Jesus healed a man of an unclean devil, Peter’s motherin-law of a fever, the Roman centurion’s servant, and the
lame man let down through the roof.
We visited the excavations, including what may have been
Peter’s house. It is an amazing experience to look around and
imagine Jesus mixing with the multitudes, healing the sick,
preaching, and saving sinners.
Although Jesus centred his preaching in Galilee, he
later pronounced woe on it for its lack of response to him.
Capernaum should sober us. Great gospel privileges bring
great gospel responsibilities. Every sermon we hear heats hell’s
fires hotter for those who are not true believers. How hard is
the heart of mankind, that the very presence of the living Jesus
was not enough to turn the Galileans back to God!
Near Tabgha, most of us ordered for our noon meal the
‘St Peter’s fish’ — head and eyeball included! Some didn’t
care for it much, but Joel and I thought it was delicious.
Mount of Beatitudes
Israel crossed the river on dry ground, for the Lord cut off its
waters, even at flood stage (Joshua 3).
Six centuries later, the prophet Elisha told a Syrian leper
that he must wash in the Jordan seven times, and the Lord
would heal him (2 Kings 5:10). This offended Naaman at
first, for, though a leper, he was a rich and powerful military
commander. Didn’t Syria have better rivers?
Yet, by God’s grace, he humbled himself, and in the
waters of the Jordan his flesh became like that of a little child
again, which was like being born again.
After eight more centuries passed, John baptised in the
Jordan River large number of Jews who confessed their
sins and professed repentance towards God (Mark 1). John
preached a new beginning to them too: the forgiveness of sins
We hiked on trails and stepping stones at the shallow
edges of the Dan Stream, as the water rushed by a few
feet away. Lush greenery grew all around. Archaeologists
have uncovered ruins from the time of Abraham, from the
Canaanites in the eighteenth century BC, from the First
Temple period and from the time of King Jeroboam.
The excavations at Dan were amazing. Large pieces of
the city remained, replete with the elders’ seats in the city
gates, as well as the sacrificial area that Jeroboam established
against God’s will — so that the Israelites did not have to
travel all the way to Jerusalem to worship.
Nearby we visited Hermon Stream, Caesarea Philippi,
where Jesus asked, ‘Whom do men say that I am?’ and
‘Whom say ye that I am?’
When Peter answered, ‘Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God’,
Jesus replied, ‘Thou art Peter, and
upon this rock will I build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it’ (Matthew 16:13-20).
We had lunch in view of Mt
Hermon. Then we drove through the
Golan Heights, with Syria visible
only a mile or two away. The border
has many lookout stations and army
camps. We heard gunshots in the
distance. Soldiers with machine guns
are a common sight.
The Mount of Beatitudes overlooks the Sea of Galilee.
Here we meditated on the Sermon on the Mount, focusing
on the Beatitudes. In Joel’s meditation, we learned that
Christ’s preaching of ‘Repent: for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand’ (Matthew 4:17) is fleshed out in the Beatitudes.
People who have truly repented are a broken and humbled
people in their relationships with God and man. They are not rich
in their own estimation but poor; not boasters
but mourners over their sins; not graspers
and controllers but meek and gentle.
16 May
They long to be holy and to do the
Father’s will. They do not simply clean
Our first stop was Bet Shean where
up their external morality, but by faith in
much archaeological work is currently
Excavations at Dan
Christ their hearts are cleansed, so that they
being done. We visited an ancient
sincerely love God and people. This love
and hope in the coming coliseum on the outskirts of Bet Shean, which was discovered
shows itself in mercy when they encounter
Messiah.
only a few decades ago. Here was where Jews and Christians
people in misery and trouble. They have
Yet when Jesus were fed to the lions.
been reconciled to God, and so they seek to
Christ appeared on At one end of this huge coliseum, you can still see the
make peace among men.
the shores of the river, lions’ cages and where they came out to devour their prey.
Mount Arbel stands high above Tiberias
he shocked John by The stands for the fans were about 15ft off the ground, so that
and offers a grand view of the area where
asking to be baptised. the lions could not jump into them.
Jesus exercised much of his ministry. We
That was because We prayed here for the persecuted church today, then
hiked to the top with Makhoul, as he added
our new beginning sang ‘Amazing grace’. Many of us shed tears for our brothers
Enjoying St Peter’s fish
details to our day. John’s closing words in
depends upon Christ and sisters who have died for their faith.
his Gospel came to mind: ‘And there are also many other taking the place of sinners in order to fulfil all righteousness.
The excavated remains of Bet Shean are stunning. Toppled
things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written As Jesus came up out of the water, God publicly declared pillars show the poignant results of an old earthquake. We
every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not him to be his beloved Son, and visibly anointed him with walked up a hill to visit the supposed place where some
contain the books that should be written’ (21:25).
the Holy Spirit, so that Christ would baptise his people in retrieved Saul’s head and gave him a decent burial.
the same Spirit (Mark 1:8-11). Have you experienced the Outside Jericho is the traditional site of Jesus’ baptism
15 May
new beginning Christ can give by his Spirit? Have you been by John in the Jordan River, which is nearly the lowest place
washed of your spiritual leprosy and been born again as a on earth. That is an apt symbol of our Saviour, descending
We visited Bethsaida, the hometown of Peter, Andrew and child of God?
so low to save lowly sinners. Hal said Christ came this low
Philip, where Jesus and the disciples stopped to rest. From to assure us that no sinner can ever say, ‘He didn’t come low
there we went to the Jordan River, which is much smaller Dan excavations
enough for me’.
than most people expect, though much water is diverted for
To be continued
irrigation today. Yet, in terms of biblical significance, the The rain and snow from Mt Hermon is purified as it flows river is huge.
through the limestone into springs, creating the Hermon, Senir
Mary Beeke
So much of Jesus’ ministry of teaching and healing was and Dan Streams, which feed into the Jordan, then into the Sea
done in this area. Here he proved he was not just the son of Galilee. One stream has been diverted around the Sea of
Mary is the wife of Dr Joel Beeke who
of Joseph, but the Son of God. With words he preached Galilee, to preserve its fresh water for recreation and irrigation.
is minister of the Heritage Netherlands
repentance and wisdom; and with miracles he brought the The lower part of the Jordan exits the southern end of
Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids,
message home to their hearts and ours that we might believe, the Sea of Galilee and ends in the Dead Sea, and eventually
Michigan, and president of Puritan Reformed
and that believing we might have life.
evaporates. Hal compared certain people to the Sea of
Theological Seminary, where he is also
The Jordan River in Scripture often represents a new Galilee, which flows in its outlet and lives, and others to the
professor of systematic theology
beginning in the life of a nation or individual. The people of Dead Sea which has no outlet and is dead.
and homiletics.
Evangelical TIMES
October 2015
Guest Column
13
Chris Hand
Looking forward
The world has changed a lot in 20 years. No. It has changed a lot in five years. Courtesy of
‘the father of lies’, it will keep on changing too.
Social media will continue to be a big part
of this. And be sure that the law in the UK
that brought ‘gay marriage’ on to our statute
books has changed everything. Young people
who have their hearts set on serving the Lord
are bearing the brunt of it.
In our schools, there is some pretty
straightforward maths being done in what
used to be the Religious Education lesson,
now prosaically named PRS (Philosophical
and Religious Studies). It is also being done
in the locker room and over lunch. It is this:
Evangelical Christianity equals Westboro
Baptist Church!
Caricature
Footage of ‘Christians’ holding placards
at the funerals of ‘gay people’, informing
mourners that ‘God hates faggots’, stand as
short-hand for the kinds of people we are
seen to be, dear gentle reader.
Lots of the teenagers have the images
of these funerals on their I-phones. Another
video that has gone viral is Take me to
church, where a homosexual man is set
upon by some thugs and killed. The gang
represent the church.
Not surprisingly, young people bristle
with indignation. Some teenage girls rant
in website chatrooms about this and hold
the view that many male heterosexuals are
predators and rapists. For them, the only safe
male friendship is with someone gay. That is
just a small bite-sized slice of Britain 2015.
I fear that, in the face of this, many of
us are wilting. Or perhaps rushing to appear
cool to the teenagers round them. Cool music,
cool clothes, cool talk! Some in our circles,
incredibly, even try using bad language.
Shall we follow the herd? Come out in
support of ‘gay marriage’? After all, that is where
some from within the evangelical stable have
finished up. Not for us though, brethren. Have
courage! The old paths will not fail us. God is
with his people and Christ is on the throne.
We are a small church. I expect many of you
are in small churches too. What is more, some
of us are getting no younger. An atmosphere
of resigned defeat can hang in the air. A settled
state of depression can become the accepted
norm; just going through the motions, as the
enterprise moves on to its own funeral.
Please, no! We are part of something far
too wonderful to surrender the ground with
barely a whimper.
Courage
Paul’s ministry in Corinth was nothing if not
controversial among the Jews. The Lord spoke
to him at night in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid,
but speak and do not keep silent; for I am with
you and no one will attack you to hurt you; for
I have many people in this city’ (Acts 18:9-10).
The Lord may still have many people in
our cities and districts. Gallio, the proconsul,
tacitly found in Paul’s favour when the
incensed Jews sought to have Paul outlawed.
Gallio would have none of it, ‘but drove
them from the judgment seat’ (Acts 18:16).
There might be many more Gallios out there
who might not share our Christian faith, but
who know foul play when they see it and
will be prepared to send those who cause the
church mischief packing. What a stimulus to
prayer ‘for kings and all who are in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in
all godliness and reverence’ (1 Timothy 2:2)!
The young people who contribute to our
‘Youth Feature’ are still there to represent the
Lord’s cause among other young people. The
December ET with its testimonies prove that
some ‘out there’ do listen to our witness.
It is true that we may have to accommodate
Tribute
Ethics
Peter Hulland (1935–2015)
Geoff Thomas pays this tribute to Peter: ‘England will be
a colder place without him. He had a real magnetic gift
of drawing people to the gospel of his Saviour. How we
all loved coming to Stanton Lees. The meetings spoke of
better days for the kingdom of God.
‘Through Peter’s example you believed it was important
to worship God with reverence and godly fear, to pray for
God’s presence and help, to love one another with pure hearts
fervently, to raise children in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord, to cleave to
the truths revealed to us in Scripture and
not budge from what the Lord had said; to
take the gospel out and not wait for people
to come in, to live in newness of life if you
professed faith in the Redeemer.
‘In all of this he led by example. Peter
saw these things with crystal clarity, and
these were the themes of his ministry, which
he also exemplified in his life. They are not
original ideas of Peter; they are the stuff of
the New Testament, but the Holy Spirit had
persuaded him that this is mere Christianity
and, if Christ were Lord, we servants were
constrained to live like this. He sought to do
so by grace and to support all who lived and
preached these truths.
‘He was also a real Derbyshire man, a farmer, gardener,
fisherman and capable user of his shotgun. He was invited
everywhere to preach the gospel and is known from
Scotland to Cornwall and across Northern Ireland.
‘He never sought this recognition. The thought never
entered his mind. He sought to serve God and take any
opportunities the Lord in providence gave him to make his
Saviour known.’
Policing
attitudes
Peter Hulland was preacher and pastor at Stanton Lees
Chapel in the Derbyshire Dales for about 40 years. His
church, greatly blessed by the Lord over these years, has
long been a centre of good preaching, with special preaching
services several times a year, attended by many people.
From his RAF days, Peter
worked at Rolls Royce and
then as a technical clerk. In
1953, he was a student at
Cliff College, Calver, where
he valued the ministry of such
Methodists as Edward Eagles,
Baines Atkinson, Dr Farndale
and Tom Butler.
Cliff College
Peter wrote of that time:
‘Through Cliff I got something
from God that has never left
me, and I pray it never will.
Cliff has sent men out on fire
for God to all parts of the
world. One of the highlights at Cliff was the Whitsuntide
anniversary when 10,000-15,000 people came to hear
preaching at its best.
‘I was a student in 1954 when Dr Billy Graham was the
guest preacher. The crowds were unbelievable! Cars were
queuing from Bamford in the north and from Matlock in
the south. It was one big, massive open-air meeting in the
field north of the college building.
‘Very few people knew that right in the middle of
this vast crowd was a skylark, which sat on her nest right
throughout the day. We students found the nest and erected
a fence around it to protect her’.
In 1956, Peter was married to Vivien, who became his
godly, much loved and deeply supportive wife. It was also
at this time that he read The sovereignty of God, by Arthur
Pink, which greatly influenced his thinking.
Peter and Vivien moved to the tiny village of Stanton
Lees in 1962 and Peter became a sales representative for
Tarmac in the Midlands, selling lime to farmers. This led
to many friendships and occasions of Christian witness. In
1993, he became full-time pastor at Stanton Lees.
Funeral
The thanksgiving service for Peter Hulland, at Stanton
Lees Chapel on 24 August, was attended by about 200
people. It was marked by joyful solemnity, mixed with
deep sorrow at his passing, and also a strong sense of the
Lord’s presence.
Roger Fay chaired the meeting and afterwards led at
the interment. Chris Hand (Crich) preached movingly
from Psalm 23 on Jesus as our good shepherd, and Brian
Gadsby gave a heartwarming, gospel-centred testimony,
with particular reference to Peter’s influence on his life.
I do not like to think that I changed theological
direction, parted company with some good
friends and got ‘blackballed’ by others in
vain. Let us be a fighting unit and not merely
a convocation of academics, centred on good
books and good sermons!
Remember, there are letters we can write,
interventions we can make, comments we
can make, prayers we can address to God.
Assure people, ‘We are not Westboro Baptist
Church’. It may even give us an opening to
tell them the truth about God’s law, however
unpalatable it may be to them.
The stray copy of Evangelical Times that
reached me in the Charismatic ‘wilderness’,
over 20 years ago, spoke to me of an illustrious
past I needed to pay attention to. Let us still
pay attention to it and not lose hope.
The author is pastor of
Crich Baptist Church, Derbyshire
Allowing
same-sex
marriages is a way for
the state to expand its
power over the lives
of citizens, Brendan
O’Neill has warned.
In a guest blog on
website ‘The Catallaxy
Brendan O’Neill
Files’, an Australian
libertarian and centre-right blog, the journalist and
editor of web newspaper Spiked online, said his beef
with gay marriage was that the state was exerting too
much power over individuals.
He said, ‘The first way it does this is through
allowing the state to redefine the moral meaning of
marriage. The moral idea and value of marriage is
something that developed organically over centuries,
through the interplay of communities and traditions’.
He claimed the gay marriage campaign had granted
the state a new, unprecedented authority over how we
defined our personal relationships and family lives.
Mr O’Neill added: ‘This is clear from the relish with
which the ruling elites of Canada, the UK and elsewhere
have rewritten public documents to excise mentions of
“mothers”, “fathers”, “husbands” and “wives”, in favour
of a more neutral language to suit their homogenisation
of all relationships as “marriage”.’
While Australia debates bringing in same-sex
marriage, he warned that the ‘policing of language is
often a policing of attitudes, a reengineering of societal
values, so they better accord with the elite’s view’.
According to Mr O’Neill, the second way the gay
marriage campaign is boosting the power of the state is in
the realm of moral conscience and freedom of thought.
He said, ‘New equality laws have been used to
punish those who refuse to acknowledge gay marriage.
Bakers who won’t make gay cakes have been taken
to court. Through gay marriage, the state — in the
shape of the courts, the policing of “hate speech” and
the restructuring of moral education in schools — is
exercising greater control over what can be thought and
said about human relationships’.
News
Obituary
ourselves some more to the harsher spiritual
climate in the West. It is also needs little
imagination to see that things may get a lot
worse. But we should not subside into a
depressed heap with a mournful sigh.
Convictions
Evangelical TIMES
October 2015
Interview
Stephen Craven
News
14
Tackling modern slavery
Barrister James Ewins is described by his Twitter feed as
a: ‘Faith-filled lover of God, justice, the poor, my wife,
my children, the church, the voiceless, friends, anti-slavery
and sailing’. A specialist in family law, James’ passion for
justice has led him to work with bonded labourers in India
for the International Justice Mission (IJM) and become
specialist advisor to the Joint Select
Committee (JSC) on the Modern Slavery
Bill. James spoke to Sheila Marshall on
his journey with justice so far.
Anti-slavery rally in Kennington Park, London, 2007
SM: What prompted
the review of slavery at
this time?
SM: Who’s your favourite lawyer, real or
fictional, historical or living?
JE: It might be Nicodemus. He used his
legal brain, his mind and heart, to ask the
right questions.
SM: Why did you become a lawyer?
JE: I was in a car crash when I was ten
and had to go and see a lawyer as part of
the legal case that followed. I went to see
a barrister and thought, ‘That’s a great job.
I’d like to do that’.
SM: Has your career ever conflicted your
faith?
JE: I have consistently felt that the English legal system
is fair and just. I’m not saying everyone gets a perfectly
fair and just outcome. It’s not a perfect system, but it does
justice and it helps people.
SM: How do you bring God into your work?
JE: I pray for justice in every case I do, well aware that
might not mean my client gets everything that he or she
wants. I fight their corner, and I believe in justice.
SM: How did you become specialist advisor to the Joint
Select Committee for the Modern Slavery Act (MSA)?
JE: I’m a family lawyer, but in 2007 I became convicted
about issues of slavery during the 200th anniversary of
the abolition of the Transatlantic slave trade. I began to
look into a way to apply my legal training to help the
cause of anti-slavery.
I campaigned for Cadburys to go Fair Trade, advocated
for child sponsorship in our church, and then worked with
IJM in India for two years. On my return, I was invited to
join the working group of the Centre for Social Justice,
which was investigating 20th century slavery.
The result, in March 2013, was the report, It happens
here. That report was the catalyst for Home Secretary
Theresa May to look at bringing the Modern Slavery Bill.
It was quite a long journey.
JE:
There
are
people who have
worked
diligently
and faithfully in the
anti-slavery,
human
trafficking arena for
many more years
than I have. I just
happened to be feeling
particularly convicted
at what transpired to
be a crucial time.
A few years before,
James Ewins
a group of Christians
at HTB heard a talk by Gary Haugen, the CEO of
IJM. They asked, ‘What can we do about this?’ Their
response was, ‘We don’t really understand what the
problem is in the UK; we need to do some research’.
So, they put a proposal to the Centre for Social Justice
(CSJ), raised funding for the research and the report
followed. So it was very much initiated by a group of
Christians who wanted to do something in an informed
and planned way.
SM: What happened next?
JE: The investigation for the report took nearly two years.
After the report was published, between March and August
2013, we lobbied various politicians and government
and went to Number 10. We spoke to the Cabinet Social
Justice Committee to ask them to implement the report.
And to a large extent, they did.
SM: You took a stand to right a wrong?
JE: I began to think of this area of interest as my ‘holy
discontent’, and I pursued it. I thought, either it will peter out,
or, the more I research the area, the more I get involved, the
more passionate I will become. And that is what happened.
The point about this particular battle is that it’s not
mine — it’s God’s battle. He’s the one who wants to rescue
slaves, set the oppressed free and rescue captives. To be
caught up in a work of God is an amazing experience.
Education
Religious studies trends
More pupils in England and Wales have taken a full course of GCSE Religious Studies (RS) this year than in 2013–
2014, latest government figures have revealed.
According to the Department for Education (DfE), the numbers were up 5.3 per cent against 2014, to 283,756. This
echoed the increase in A Level entries, which were up 6.5 per cent this year compared with 2014.
However, the removal of short courses from Department for Education (DfE) performance tables has been having
a negative effect on the number of pupils choosing to take RS at GCSE level.
According to Daniel Hugill, chairman of the National Association of Teachers of RE, an increasing number of
schools have no pupils at all taking the subject.
This is because DfE performance tables do not take account of results in short courses. The short course is delivered
at GCSE standard, but covers half the content of a full course and is only worth half a GCSE.
The damage to take-up of the RS GCSE short course has come at a time when the government is emphasising the
importance for young people to have knowledge and understanding of religious and non-religious beliefs. Overall, this means that, compared with 2012, over 85,000 fewer pupils in England will complete key stage 4 this
year having not gaining a qualification in RS — a drop of 20.3 per cent.
Mr Hugill said, ‘GCSE in RS makes a key contribution to preparing young people for adult life in our pluralistic
society and global community. It is clear though that not all students were offered the opportunity to study this
important subject. The increasing number of schools that have not entered a single student for an accredited Religious
Studies qualification is a grave concern’.
Joyce Miller, chairman of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, said, ‘I am heartened to see the
rising number of entries for the GCSE full course in RS. However, it is frustrating that this enthusiasm among pupils
for RS is not being translated into entries for the RS short course, due to it not being appropriately recognised in
performance tables’.
SM: The Abolition of Slavery Act was passed in 1833,
but it wasn’t until 1838 that the fruits of that were seen.
What needs to be done to see the MSA do its job?
JE: One of the most important sections in the bill is the
appointment of former policeman Kevin Hyland as AntiSlavery Commissioner.
He is the advocate of victims of slavery. It’s his job to
make sure that all obligations of public and private bodies
are focused and are actually delivering rescue, relief,
rehabilitation and support for victims.
I believe part of the way you do that is to change the
balance of power between a perpetrator and victim. First
of all, by building up the victim and supporting them,
but also bringing the perpetrator down — to use the Old
Testament phrase, ‘breaking the arm’ of the perpetrator
(Psalm 10:15). He cannot be allowed to continue what he
is doing unrestrained and with impunity.
We need a holistic, joined-up, integrated approach.
The need is for the numerous NGOs, public bodies,
police, doctors, social workers and teachers to have
a coherent approach to identify and rescue victims,
prosecute perpetrators and change the system, so that
victims are first and foremost considered as victims and
not, for example, criminals or illegal immigrants.
SM: How should Christians engage with the law (apart
from when they actually need to use it)?
JE: Find your ‘holy discontent’. Is there a particular issue
that you feel it’s your role to stand up for — victims of
domestic violence, children, slaves, low paid workers?
There are all kinds of groups, like London Citizens, who
pick up on certain key areas.
Merely to try and learn the law in a vacuum is a
wasted enterprise, even for a lawyer. So I would look to
discern a particular issue or group that needs more justice,
compassion, love, and the gospel, and start by meeting
the people involved. Relationships come first; learning
the law about that issue will come later.
SM: Define ‘justice’.
JE: Justice is all about the regulation of human relationships
to achieve fairness, according to God’s perfect standards.
Justice is not something that you can bring about on your
own. It’s concerned with human relationships.
SM: What should be abolished today?
JE: Anything I say is likely to be highly controversial!
Injustice and poverty!
SM: What’s your greatest source of joy outside of work?
JE: I love sailing. I sail dinghy boats. Sailing without
a motor, but with just the sails and wind, is incredibly
restorative and enjoyable.
SM: How have you overcome your greatest challenge?
JE: I’ve had cancer three times and I’ve been in remission
for nearly five years. Apart from being very ill, which is
an acute problem, there is the ongoing issue of fear. The
answer to that is not, ‘Don’t worry. You’re not going to
die. It’ll all be alright’, because it might be awful. But the
most profound truth I know is that God will never leave
me, ever — that’s the fundamental bottom line. Take
everything else away, and God is still with me.
SM: Is God a ‘lawyer’?
JE: Well, God makes laws in creation and for people, so he’s
a legislator. But he’s also the advocate and judge, and the one
who paid the penalty for breaking the law. So he’s not just a
lawyer; he’s the whole legal system in perfect unity!
Evangelical TIMES
October 2015
15
The Zimbabwe Partnership Trust was formed in July 2011 as a result of visits to the country by Derek French, Maciek and Mary
Stolarski, Chris Boyes, and Roger and Gill Prime.
While in Zimbabwe, we saw the desperate
needs among many of the Lord’s people
caused by the economic crisis the country
has faced for a number of years. This has
left 90 per cent of the population without
regular employment.
The Lord laid on our hearts the burden
to set up the Trust to partner with churches
and individual believers in Zimbabwe, to
achieve the objectives of supporting the
churches in their ministry and mission, and
relieving poverty among the churches and
their communities.
As a Trust, we seek to raise awareness
of the needs of our brothers and sisters
in Zimbabwe among UK churches and
provide a channel whereby gifts can be
sent to meet these needs. The funds we
receive are apportioned equally to meet
spiritual and humanitarian needs.
We have also been able to respond to
specific needs among the pastors’ families,
giving support in bereavement and
covering hospital bills.
Relieving poverty
The churches in Zimbabwe are surrounded
by huge humanitarian needs which they
are ill-equipped to meet. Our desire
is to identify situations where we can
in some cases the oldest child caring for
younger siblings.
Two goats were given to each
household, so that young children could
benefit from nutritious goat’s milk. They
could also breed them and sell the kids to
provide income for basic needs, and even
use dung for fertilising crops.
When Chris Boyes, one of our trustees,
was over in Zimbabwe in May last year
he took the opportunity to visit James
Believers with donated Bibles
Supporting churches
The main area in which support is given
to churches is through training pastors in
their understanding of Scripture and the
principles of its exposition.
The background to this training, and a
report on a visit by Derek and Maciek to
lead the ‘Training of Trainers’ course this
year, is covered in the article on page 16.
Many believers in Zimbabwe are too
poor to own a Bible and we have been able
to purchase and distribute a considerable
number of Bibles to individual believers,
in either the Shona or Ndebele languages.
We are also grateful to the Trinitarian
Bible Society who have made available
to us, free of charge, Ndebele Bibles and
New Testaments to distribute among the
churches. One pastor wrote: ‘Thank you
very much for your love and generosity.
The gift of the Bibles came at the time when
we really needed them most’. It is difficult
for us in the UK to imagine how valuable
such a gift is to believers in Zimbabwe.
High unemployment means that the
majority of pastors have no financial
support from their churches and are unable
to find regular employment to support
themselves and their families.
We have been able to give financial
support to a limited number of pastors and,
while the amounts we are able to give are
small, this has often been invaluable in
providing for basic needs in life. We can
purchase seed for growing maize for the
family, assist with school fees for children,
and pay rent and medical bills.
partner with local churches and
Christian organisations seeking
to engage with their communities
in showing Christ’s compassion
to the needy. In particular, there
are many widows and orphans
because of the HIV/AIDS crisis
in the country.
Support has been given to
churches that run regular feeding
programmes for widows and
orphans, and provide school fees
and uniforms for orphans they
care for within their communities.
We have also supplied funds to Thanksgiving
purchase seed and fertiliser for for borehole
believers in rural communities so
provision
they can grow their own crops.
We are concerned to help local Kambudzi, a pastor who heads up this Hope
churches set up livelihood projects that for Life project, to see for himself the impact
will assist needy families and make them this project is having. We have since given
less dependent on overseas support. One more funds for the purchase of goats for
such project that we have been supporting needy families and will continue this support.
in the Mt Darwin area is known as Tariro As a result of the visits Roger and
Yeupenyu (Hope for Life).
Gill Prime made to Bulawayo, we have
Initially, 50 goats were purchased, established contact with two children’s
which were then distributed among orphan homes in that area, who are caring, not
households — either grandparents or other only for orphan children, but also for those
relatives looking after orphan children, or who have been abused.
We also facilitated arrangements for
Anna Stolarski, the daughter of one of our
trustees, to spend three months last year
working in one of these homes — the Sandra
Jones Children’s Centre. We would like to
see other young people taking opportunity
to serve the Lord in a similar way.
Partnership
As trustees, our vision is to see churches in
the UK becoming involved as partners with
a church or specific need in Zimbabwe.
We were thrilled to see this happen
last year when Meadow Way Chapel
in Norwich offered to provide funding
for a borehole to be drilled for a rural
community, to give a supply of clean, safe
water where there was none.
That borehole was drilled last autumn and
arrangements are now under way for a second
borehole for another needy community. In
addition, the church has sent two members
over to hold teaching workshops for
believers in these communities.
We are grateful to the Lord for all that
has been achieved over
the past four years in
giving support to our
needy brothers and
sisters in Zimbabwe.
We are thankful for the
generous and sacrificial
support of churches
and individual believers here in the UK that
has enabled us to carry
out this ministry.
Please pray for the
Lord’s people and his
work in Zimbabwe,
that the Lord will
strengthen and prosper the witness of his
church, and comfort
and encourage believers in their daily
struggle to provide for
themselves and their loved ones.
Roger Prime
Further information about the work of the
Trust can be found on the website www.
zpt.org.uk or by contacting the secretary,
who can also arrange a deputation visit
to your church by one of the trustees.
Secretary: Roger Prime, 3 Guildhall
Road, Worlingham, Beccles, NR34 7SE
([email protected]).
A meal for orphans
Anna Stolarski at Sandra Jones Children's Centre
World Mission
Zimbabwe Partnership Trust
Evangelical TIMES
World Mission
16
October 2015
Training in Zimbabwe
In June 2015, Maciek and Mary Stolarski, along with Derek French, left the UK bound for Zimbabwe.
For Maciek and Derek, this was their
eighth visit to the country since 2008 for
the primary purpose of training pastors.
This year they were participating in the
fifth Training of Trainers course (TOT).
Mary’s presence in more recent years has
given her the opportunity to lead a ladies’
conference as well. And, this year, all three
were involved in a conference for married
couples.
Over the past eight years, Chris Boyes,
chairman of the Zimbabwe Partnership
Trust (ZPT), Roger and Gill Prime (Roger
is ZPT’s secretary) and John Rogers have
shared in these visits.
Introduction
In 2008 there was the specific request from
Zimbabwe that pastors there may be helped
in their study of Scripture, so as to be able
to preach God’s Word more effectively.
The invitation came from Operation Grace
Mission, a Zimbabwean group of pastors
and churches.
Old and New Testaments; preaching on
a Bible character; as well as systematic
expositions of various books of the Bible
have taken place.
Some of this teaching was shared
with William Danyere from Harare, who
arranged our visits each year.
Training of Trainers (TOT)
It has been our long-term aim to do
ourselves out of a job and hand the
training of Zimbabwean pastors over to
Zimbabwean pastors.
It was clear that the Lord was raising
up a small group among the Zimbabwean
pastors, who were showing increased
ability in their understanding of Scripture.
So, since 2011, we have been concentrating
with these men, training them in more
depth to be trainers themselves (TOT).
Subjects such as the doctrine of Scripture, the doctrines of grace, the doctrine of
the church, union with Christ, the doctrine
of salvation, and eldership have been taught.
Bible books such as
Deuteronomy, Daniel,
Habakkuk, Malachi,
Zechariah, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1
and 2 Timothy, Titus
and Revelation have
been worked through.
Repeatedly, we
have underlined the
need to ‘stick to the
text’ (STTT) and
also make careful
application of the
Scriptures. This year,
in June, ten men
Mutsa leading devotions
These visits were initially conducted
under the auspices of Grace Baptist
Mission. In later years, this responsibility
has been shared with ZPT. 2 Timothy 2:2
has been the basis for these visits: ‘And
the things you have heard me say in the
presence of many witnesses entrust to
reliable men who will also be qualified to
teach others’.
During the first visit, the small group
of men we met with explained that many
pastors have had little or no theological
training at all, and that sermon preparation
was where they needed urgent help.
We were told that the way many pastors
went about sermon preparation was like this:
during the week they would think of a theme
they wanted to preach on; and then late on a
Saturday evening would try and find a verse
or passage of Scripture on which to hang
their ideas. Inevitably, such sermons were
often not related to the Scripture chosen and
the context and meaning of a passage was
completely ignored.
It was not that these men did not value
Scripture. They knew it was God’s Word,
but simply did not know how to ‘rightly
handle the word of truth’. They longed to
be better servants of the Lord.
Initially, the annual visits gathered
groups of pastors and elders together, first
in Harare and then Hwange and Bulawayo.
Practical subjects, such as preaching,
hermeneutics and homiletics, have been
taught alongside doctrinal subjects, such
as the attributes of God.
Sessions helping them to interpret and
expound the parables; preaching from the
Discussing the
teaching
Training of
came to our TOT course in Harare. The
teaching given covered the offerings
in Leviticus 1-7, by Maciek Stolarski,
and Hebrews 1-6, by Derek French, and
some illuminating sessions on African
traditional religion, taught by Wilson
Ganyiwa from Zimbabwe.
This group has been teaching numbers
of pastors in centres such as Victoria Falls,
Hwange, Mount Darwin, Chimanimani,
Bulawayo and Harare, and will continue to
make visits in the coming year.
ZPT covers the costs of these indigenous
workshops, because the economic situation
continues to be extremely challenging.
Please pray for these men, as they prepare
and teach others. Each year we leave them
with a number of commentaries and Bibles
for them to distribute.
Benefit
Making relatively short annual visits
makes us ask how effective such times
really are. The Lord, in his grace, has
greatly encouraged us in this respect.
Last year one of the pastors shared how,
when we first visited Zimbabwe, most of
them did not look forward to a Sunday,
because they did not know how to preach
from the Scriptures.
However, he assured us that now they
could not wait for a
Sunday to come, because they longed to
preach God’s Word.
This year we had further evidence of the
Lord at work, when
we had opportunity to
listen to some of these
pastors teaching other
pastors.
It was evident that
the
brother leading
Trainers group
the day’s devotions,
Mutsa Mufukwa, had grown considerably
in his understanding of the Scriptures, as he
spoke on Galatians 1:13-18 on the theme
‘Salvation is a work of God’.
This was followed by the two main
speakers. Upwards Machingura expounded
the doctrines of grace and was followed by
Mathew Malikebu, who gave a survey of
the church in the Bible.
Wiltshire High School children and staff
To see these men handling Scripture
with understanding and conviction was
remarkable. The Lord has clearly been
at work and the glory belongs entirely to
him. The progress these pastors have made
is very encouraging and, although there is
still more work to be done, what has taken
place bodes well for the work of the gospel
in Zimbabwe.
An amusing aside was that the constant
point of ‘sticking to the text’ (STTT) that we
have been making in all our workshops was
added to by these men. They had put SSTTT
on the board: ‘Strictly stick to the text’!
Other opportunities
As already mentioned, Mary Stolarski led a
two-day ladies’ conference, going through
1 Peter with them. We were all involved in
the married couples’ conference, and also
visited the Wiltshire Christian School, which
the ZPT has supported since its inception.
This school is in a rural area and the
journey there was not without incident,
as the vehicle we were travelling in broke
two of its rear shock absorbers!
The
school
principal,
Torevei
Munhangu, studied engineering in London
and attended West Hill Baptist Church in
Wandsworth. He has a farm and, with the
help of ZPT and others, has been able to
establish a school on his land. It now has
over 100 pupils.
It is miles from the nearest main road.
Previously, its children had long walks
to their schools and were left unattended
overnight, leaving them very vulnerable.
Torevei and his wife Elizabeth are doing
a splendid work, and these children now
have a safe and secure environment in
which to study and receive good biblical
instruction.
Derek French
The author served for many years with
Grace Baptist Mission.
October 2015
Evangelical TIMES
17
It took a few attempts before I could get the hang of pronouncing ‘Gulargambone’ correctly. The name means
‘place of Galahs’ or ‘watering place of many birds’, in the language of the local indigenous people.
Gulargambone is a small community of about 400 people
located more than 500km north-west of Sydney, in New
South Wales, Australia. Galahs are grey- and rose-coloured
cockatoos found in large numbers in the area.
Our journey to Gulargambone began in Sydney with
a train ride of nearly seven hours, winding our way up
through the Blue Mountains to the west of the city and
heading off towards the western plains.
The scenery was beautiful, with green hills, red crags,
deep gorges and traditional small towns. At times, the train
seemed to barely be moving at more than walking pace, such
was the steepness of the incline and tightness of the bends.
Once we were over the mountains, the landscape
changed, as gradually the hills flattened out, and it became
more rolling and open bush, with scattered farms and
small communities and occasional glimpses of kangaroos
hopping through the fields.
End of the line
Plains outside Gulargambone
The end of the line was Dubbo, a town of
about 40,000 residents, from where we
travelled about 100km north, by 4wd vehicle,
to Gulargambone.
Many in the UK will have heard of Moore
College in Sydney and of the strength of
evangelical Anglicanism in that city and its
influences further afield; or perhaps have
friends or family in Australia, who are members
of congregations belonging to Presbyterian or
other churches with solid biblical ministries.
But there is a world within Australian
Christian life that is, I suspect, largely unknown
to most of us in our corner of the globe. The
reason for making the journey to Gulargambone was to see
at first hand something of this other world.
We were there to visit the Field Director of Australian
Indigenous Ministries (AIM), Stephen Bignall, whose
home is in this small community, in the open countryside
towards the edge of the outback.
AIM is a mission which seeks to evangelise Aboriginal
people and supports workers and church planters in
many, often remote, places in this vast country. The Gaius
Trust is a charity that aims to raise awareness, encourage
prayerfulness, and facilitate financial support for gospel
mission among indigenous peoples. At present, the focus is
on supporting Stephen and his wife, Fiona, in their ministry.
Social problems
Sadly, there are tremendous social problems within
Aboriginal communities. Alcoholism, drug abuse and
other addictions have blighted many lives. Broken and
abusive family backgrounds are not unusual, and young
people can easily feel a sense of hopelessness.
There can be suspicion and hostility between Aboriginals
from different tribal groups. Poverty and all sorts of
health problems are common, with the life-expectancy of
Aboriginal people being significantly less than that of, say,
those of ethnic European roots living in Australia.
Castlereagh dry river
Aboriginal believers
Historically, and down through the generations,
Aboriginals have suffered discrimination and persecution
at the hands of some settlers and their descendants. In
more recent times, there have been conscious efforts to
seek to redress the injustices.
However, there is resentment, as well at what is seen
as a squandering of resources on people who simply waste
them. This of course is a caricature, because what some
may do does not characterise what all do.
Above all else, the greatest need of Aboriginal people is
to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today, the secular world
tends to romanticise indigenous cultures, and the idea of
Christians seeking to ‘evangelise and convert people to
another religion’ is seen as inimical to their needs. But the
Aboriginal religion is animistic, its practices spiritually
and morally harmful; and so are some aspects of the
culture that attends this religious background.
That is not the same as saying that Aboriginal culture
in its entirety is wrong, but it is to say that they, like all
people, do need to hear the gospel, because they are
sinners whose only possible hope is Jesus Christ.
Christians have sought to take the gospel to Aboriginals
for a long time. There have been many faithful men and
women prepared to cross social and cultural divides to
evangelise these ancient, traditional communities, as well
as provide practical help.
Today, by God’s grace, there are Aboriginal believers,
churches and leaders. In Western Australia, the Aboriginal
Evangelical Fellowship has its own Bible college, located
near to Perth.
They are seeking to train Aboriginal people for
ministry among their own people. AIM supports both
indigenous and non-indigenous men in pastoral ministry;
and some congregations are happily mixed, bringing
together believers from different ethnic backgrounds.
In other places, churches will be very much Aboriginal.
Some of these groups of believers are in incredibly isolated
locations in this massive country.
The Australian education system retains its Christianinfluenced ethos, established in the early decades of the
nation’s formation during the nineteenth century. Today,
people such as Stephen and Fiona Bignall can give lessons
in schools, teaching not ‘religion’, nor even merely ‘about’
Christianity, but teaching children what the Bible actually
says and about Jesus Christ as the Saviour of sinners. This
crucial ministry to children and young people could be
sowing the seeds for future blessing within Aboriginal and
other communities.
The logistics of mission support, and the opportunity
for fellowship with other groups of believers — attending
conferences, and many things we can easily take for
granted in the UK — are rendered difficult by the vastness
of the country.
Overlooked priority
All-in-all, this is a challenging mission field, much in need
of the prayerful and practical support of the Lord’s people.
It may seem strange that the UK-based Gaius Trust would
be seeking to raise financial support for missionaries reaching
out to Aboriginal people in Australia. One can understand
the need for prayerful support, but doesn’t wealthy Australia
have sufficient resources within its own churches?
To be frank, it must do. Yet it also has the sort of
blindness that we can all suffer from, which causes us to
overlook mission on our own doorstep. In a similar way,
mission in Europe has not generally been viewed by UK
churches with the same urgency as mission in Africa, Asia
or South America.
The same problem appears to be true among churches
in Australia, where mission on their own doorstep has
lacked priority. There is a vision for mission though which
is truly global, and, in this case, concerns the spreading
of the good news of Jesus Christ among the Aboriginal
people of Australia. There is a part to play for Christians
both in Australia and the UK.
For more information contact the Gaius Trust (office@
gaiustrust.org.uk); or visit: www.gaiustrust.wordpress.
com or www.australianindigenousministries.org.au
Martin Leech
Bush cafe Gulargambone: Martin & Penny Leech with Aboriginal staff
The author is director of European Missionary
Fellowship (EMF) and a trustee of the Gaius Trust
World Mission
Visiting the Australian Outback
Evangelical TIMES
World Mission
18
October 2015
Blessing at Christ’s Reformed
Baptist Church, Port Harcourt
The result of the presidential election in Nigeria on 28 March sent shock waves across the world. There were mixed feelings too among
Nigerians. With the conceding of defeat by Dr Good-luck Ebele Jonathan to General Muhamadu Buhari it was felt, in south Nigeria, as if
someone great had died.
We are waiting to see how events turn out
under the new government. Nigeria needs
prayer, as the Boko Haram insurgency
deepens, with bombings and killings every
day in churches and mosques.
Easter weekend
On 2 April, the Reformed Foundations
Theological Seminary students’ union
had its constitution read out by Christ’s
Reformed Baptist Church pastor and
seminary president, Rev. Dr Ani R. Ekpo.
The students’ executive was then elected.
Anthony Adindu, a church elder and
lecturer, is to be student Dean.
That same evening, just before Good
Friday, the church and seminary came
together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. On
3 April, we celebrated Good Friday with a
one-day conference on the ‘Seven sayings
of Christ from the cross, in relation to our
redemption’. Each elder helped expound
the sayings, the pastor concluding with
Christ’s cry, ‘It is finished’.
On Easter Sunday, five new converts
— two young men and three young women
— were baptised and another woman,
previously baptised in 2010, was received
into church membership.
One of the converts was from a Jehovah’s
Witness (JW) family. One day she thought
deeply about hell, the new birth, Christ’s
redemption for mankind and the salvation of
his elect, and all her JW arguments crumbled
before the Word of God.
The other two ladies were converted
through sermons on God’s love for us in
Christ (1 John 3:1-3) and Christian suffering.
One former church member, who
left the church last year, deceived by
Charismatics into a supposed quick fix for
her family’s problems, attended the church
again with her daughter.
After the sermon, a member overheard
her say, ‘This is what I have longed to hear
again. You can’t get this teaching anywhere
else in this city. Thank God for this place!’
Student ministry
The seminary’s exams were from 18-27
May. From 1-15 June, students embarked
on evangelistic mission work in different
churches. All our church plants benefited
from this, including in one town where 12
persons now gather for worship. On 19
June we had an evening of report-back and
testimony from the participating students.
For two weeks in June, Pastor Paul
Cookey came from Jos, where he is engaged
in PhD studies, and carried out intensive
module courses at Master’s degree level
with our senior students. Please pray for this
group, who are responsible for training men
in the seminary and in church leadership.
Work on the back building commenced
on 20 May. We are building offices,
classrooms, a student library and
conference room, and guest rooms for
visitors. One thousand books have been
donated from Liverpool, UK, for the
library. We are very grateful to God for this
Christian generosity.
We continue to be deeply grateful for
continued support from Christians and
churches, with much church-planting work
still before us.
Ours is the first Reformed Baptist
church in Nigeria. The task before us
is very great, but many are coming to a
knowledge of the Reformed Faith. Pray
to the Lord of the
harvest that he will
send more labourers
into this field.
A young man,
through his Facebook
contact with Judah
Ekpo, visited our
church two weeks ago
and has kept coming.
He was in Malaysia
for five years and
while there came into contact with the
Reformed Faith and left his Charismatic
church. He studied online courses from Dr
John MacArthur’s Master’s Seminary.
Sunday schools
Our branch Sunday school has grown
and now has an attendance of 120 children.
The church there is making progress under
Pastor Idy Jacob. Please, pray for the
growth and sustenance of our children’s
ministry in these localities. Because of
it, the crime rate in our vicinity has been
greatly reduced and the local parents are
happy and thankful.
In November 2015, God willing, we
will be having our next annual Reformed
Bible conference at Christ’s Reformed
Baptist Church, Port Harcourt.
The Sunday school quiz and prize-giving
took place on 21 June. Two hundred and
fifty children gather to answer questions
on teaching received during the first half
of the year. The new superintendent has
done a good job. Bibles, pens, pencils,
books, exercise books, and Trinitarian
Bible Society colouring picture books
were presented to the children.
Typhoon Haiyan two years on
This coming November will see the second anniversary
of Typhoon Haiyan, which left over 7000 dead and
more missing in the Philippine provinces of Samar
and northern Leyte. Tacloban City was particularly
hit, with thousands being killed and displaced.
Over the past two years, Christian Compassion
Ministries (CCM), the benevolent arm of Cubao
Reformed Baptist Church located in Metro-Manila,
has continued to help displaced families and schools
in the Tacloban.
Street
preaching
Bible distribution
We have continued to give relief packs where such
have still been needed and where families have little
income, if any. Schools have been lacking books and
often have had no electricity or ceilings in classrooms
with metal roofs.
CCM has sought to continue aid in such situations.
They have also sought to help in the most needy area of
all — the spiritual realm. On every occasion when relief
goods have been distributed, gospel preaching has also
taken place alongside the practical help.
Tracts have been distributed and, on one such relief
operation, 5000 Bibles in Waray — the local language —
were given away free to families.
Our concern for the victims of this terrible event has
continued up to the present. One of our great desires is to
see a sovereign grace church planted in Tacloban. While
I was in the UK, a church which had given generously to
the Haiyan Relief Fund said they would be happy if the
money remaining from their gift was used in a churchplanting work in Tacloban. That has now been taken up
and such a work is just beginning.
An hour to the south of Tacloban, in an area which was
less affected by Haiyan, is our sister church, the Abuyog
Reformed Baptist Church. This church has been helped by
Cubao Reformed Baptist Church to come to embrace the
doctrines of grace.
They have adopted the 1689 Baptist Confession of
Faith. They are now sending one of their gifted men to
spearhead church-planting work in an area of Tacloban.
A house has recently been rented for this purpose and the
first meetings have taken place.
We covet the prayers of God’s people that a sovereign
grace church will be established in Tacloban, to the glory
of God. Brian Ellis
Evangelical TIMES
October 2015
19
John Owen
(1616–1683)
Robert Edwards
St Peter ad Vincula Church,
Coggeshall
John Owen, perhaps the greatest of the Puritan
theologians, was born sometime in 1616 — 400 years
ago, next year — to a family of Puritans living in the
tiny village of Stadhampton, in Oxfordshire.
Crawford Gribben
The family was not especially wealthy, and neither were
they especially rigorous in their religious views. Owen later
described his father as ‘a Nonconformist all his days, and a
painful labourer in the vineyard of the Lord’ (Works, 13:
224), but this comment may reflect the kindness of a dimmed
memory, for his father was not among those Puritans whose
dissatisfaction with the Church of England drove them into
exile in Holland or the new world.
Instead, Owen grew up in a religious community that had
worked hard for the reformation of the Church of England,
and had failed.
Tumultuous era
Owen began his university studies in Queen’s College,
Oxford, at the age of 12. His college days must have been
tumultuous. During the late 1620s and 1630s, Queen’s
College, with the rest of the university, passed through a
religious revolution as the Reformed theological consensus
which had dominated theological discussion for several
decades was replaced by a new theological system, which
seemed to its critics to mimic Catholic styles of worship.
Within Queen’s, the debate provoked threats of violence,
with one academic threatening to stab the provost who was
driving forward the liturgical changes. The threat was a sign
of things to come, for England was about to enter a long civil
war, in which religious ideas would be used to justify horrific
levels of violence.
But, at the age of 21 and after years of preparation for an academic or clerical career, Owen felt he had to leave Oxford. He
could not support the religious innovations. He plunged
into a long period of despair, making decisions that
seem peculiar in light of the principles that had
driven him from the university.
For, within a year of abandoning his
academic career, he sought ordination
as a priest at the hands of the Bishop
of Oxford, one of the chief supporters of the religious innovations.
He then found employment as a
chaplain in the home of Sir Robert Dormer, a suspected Catholic whose recreational activities
suggested no sympathy for puritan views.
By 1642, Owen had accepted
another position as a household
chaplain, this time in the home
of Sir John Lovelace.
That summer, England drifted into the first civil war. Dormer and Lovelace both declared
in favour of the king. Owen, who
did not need to express any political
preference, decided in favour of parliament. Having abandoned the university, he now left the Lovelace household
and travelled to London, without prospects
and almost entirely without friends.
He found lodgings in Smithfield. It was a
cheap and unpleasant place to live, close to the red
light district and to the place where so many of the Protestant
martyrs had died. Here he worked on his first book (which
was never published) and experienced conversion through the
preaching of a minister whose identity he never discovered.
Early ministry
For the first time perhaps, Owen had come to understand
how the doctrines that had been so fiercely debated during
the previous decade could bring peace to a troubled soul.
With new resolve, he threw himself into another writing
project, A display of Arminianism, which he dedicated to a
committee of MPs who oversaw the religious health of the
nation. Gaining their attention, he was appointed to his first
parish, in Fordham, Essex.
Owen was quickly frustrated by the spiritual apathy of his
parishioners. Within a few years he had married a girl from the
neighbouring village of Coggeshall and had started a family. But,
as poor weather and a series of bad harvests created the conditions
of famine, John and Mary buried several of their children.
Moving to become pastor in Coggeshall, Owen was initially excited by the possibility of a new start, not least because the parish’s previous minister was now a member of
the Westminster Assembly. Large crowds came to hear him
preach, with some suggestions that over 2000 people attended
his sermons. But this was not a sign of revival — his parishioners were legally compelled to attend worship. And, within
a few years, he was again disappointed by the spiritual condition of his parish.
This disappointment developed as Owen changed his
views on church order. In his early parish ministry, he moved
from supporting a rather unformed Presbyterianism to adopt
the vision of church life then being promoted by Independents.
This change involved much more than the question of
whether or not individual congregations should be autonomous. Owen’s neighbouring minister, Ralph Josselin, recorded in his diary the ways in which the Coggeshall church
was changing.
Owen installed an elder, John Sams, and had him preach
without any ordination, even as he downplayed the importance
of his own ordination. He gathered believers together
for Bible study meetings, in which multiple
people participated. And he revised his
views on the Lord’s Supper, moving
gradually to the position that it should
be celebrated on a weekly basis.
Public prominence
Owen’s new vision of
church life was developed
in startling contrast to
the clerical, formal and
liturgical preferences of his
Presbyterian colleagues.
But he was not to remain
as an obscure country
preacher. In 1648 he
witnessed the siege of
Colchester, five miles from
Coggeshall, during which
were committed some of the
worst war crimes of the period.
His sermons celebrating
the achievements of the
Parliamentary soldiers and their
leader, Sir Thomas Fairfax, brought
him to the attention of the army. As
the political mood darkened, and the
king was put on trial and executed, Owen’s
new patrons identified him as the man to express
their achievements in a political sermon.
Owen did preach on the day after the regicide, but he
did not celebrate it. His new links with the army pulled him
further from parish ministry and brought him into contact
with Oliver Cromwell.
Owen’s links with this extraordinary and brilliant military
leader were initially very close. He accompanied Cromwell
on the invasion of Ireland in 1649, remaining in Dublin
where for the first time he believed his ministry was being
attended with conversions.
His journey to Scotland in 1650 was more complicated,
and he was drawn into the complex politics and internal
divisions of the kirk. He left the army, looking for new
opportunities, and was awarded with positions of academic
leadership in the university from which he had resigned less
than 15 years before.
John Owen’s return to Oxford was a moment of triumph.
As dean of Christ Church, and later vice-chancellor of the
university, he was being given the opportunity to reshape the
institution, so as to protect Reformed theology and promote
godliness among the staff and students. He pursued these ends
with diligence, and sometimes with a lack of scruple.
The move to Oxford had pushed him from the moral
clarity of civil war into the ambiguous and complex world of
academic politics. There is some evidence that he struggled to
know how best to negotiate his new environment. For all that
these appointments represented the apex of his career, they
also represented his greatest challenges.
Personal conflicts
Owen preached and wrote relentlessly throughout his
years in Oxford. A number of the books he completed
during the 1650s have become spiritual classics, including
Communion with God and his work on sanctification.
But he was becoming increasingly critical of the
government. It was obvious that the army, not the parliament,
held the real political power. Cromwell’s government was
increasingly similar to that of the king it had replaced.
Owen grew worried, but then over-reached himself.
In 1654 he was elected as an MP for the first Protectorate
parliament. In his few months in the Commons, he was
associated with radical republicans, men who were alarmed
by the monarchical trappings of the Cromwell family.
Owen was expelled from Parliament on the basis that he
was a clergyman — a status he rejected. He was, he insisted,
a layman.
Sent back to Oxford, he became ever more critical of
Cromwell and the direction his government was taking. He
condemned the frivolity of Cromwell’s court and intervened on
behalf of army republicans to stop Cromwell being crowned as
king. The breach with his old patron and friend was complete.
Owen did not see Cromwell as he gradually sickened
and in September 1658 died. When Oliver was replaced
by Richard Cromwell, his son, who wished to continue the
conservative trend, Owen moved immediately to gather a
congregation of disaffected republicans, who, in a complex
series of events, worked to undermine the new government.
The army had brought down governments before. In fact,
almost every parliament since the regicide had been ended by
the army’s intervention. But, this time, the officers gambled
and lost. Their coup created chaos until Charles II returned.
The restoration of the monarchy in May 1660 ended
the English revolution. Its leaders were tried, found guilty
of treason and publicly butchered. Meanwhile, the ejection
of Puritan ministers from the Church of England in August
1662 ended any hope that the godly could be accommodated
within the established church.
New challenges
Owen, who was in some personal danger, struggled to know
how best to respond to the new circumstances. His activities
in the early 1660s reveal his mental conflict. In January 1661,
while conducting a conventicle, his house was raided and the
militia carried away half-a-dozen cases of pistols.
Throughout the same period, his books advocated a
surprising range of positions. In Animadversions on Fiat Lux
(1662) and its Vindication (1664), for example, he praised
Continued on page 23
Evangelical TIMES
20
October 2015
The heart of
prayer
The Lord’s Prayer or family prayer, which our Saviour taught
his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, goes straight to
what the heart of prayer is.
Barry Loeber
Calling upon God as ‘Our Father’ shows us
that prayer to the Christian is never a cold,
abstract form, but an intimate encounter with
our father God. This is what prayer is all
about; it is the heartbeat of the Christian life.
We may live the outward life, but are we
living the inward life? We may be actively
involved in the works of the church, but are we
actively involved in the work of prayer? We may
spend lots of time in the church building, but do
we spend lots of time at the throne of grace?
These may be searching questions, but we
need to be serious with our souls. Almighty
God has been pleased to saturate us with his
mercy and grace, and to give his only Son as a
sacrifice for our sin. The least we can do is to
show and express our thanks and appreciation
to our heavenly Father in prayer.
There seem to be so many ‘celebrities’
today receiving knighthoods and other
awards, but we have received something far
greater than these. We have been granted
‘sainthood’ through the merits of our
Redeemer’s work on the cross. What an
honour and blessing!
We who once were far off from God have
been brought nigh by the blood of Christ.
And will we not draw near to our heavenly
Father and give him the praises of our hearts?
Walking with God
News
How close are we walking with God this
very day? Are we close enough to hear that
‘still, small voice’, or are we too far off and
living at a distance?
Is the fire of love ablaze in our hearts,
or have we allowed it to become a smoking
flax? I believe my family and friends would
start talking if, every time they saw me
walking with my wife, they observed that I
was always 100 yards in front.
They would count it a strange thing and
surely start to question our relationship. They
would without exception be concerned for us
and our marriage.
Well, what about us and God? Is it not the
case that we are often walking ahead of him?
Are we lagging behind in communion and
fellowship with him? Are we so busy in our
lives that we are not being still and knowing
that he is God?
Have we allowed the affairs of life to
interfere with our relationship with God? Are
we looking out for our brothers and sisters in
our fellowship? Are we noticing those whose
Sabbath attendance has become irregular?
Are pastors and elders observing those
who are gradually drifting away from
the work of the Lord? Are they allowing
worldliness to creep into the house of God?
Are we Christians slow to realise that so
many buildings where the church once gathered
to listen to the Word of God and sing God’s
praises are now just a blot on the landscape, or
being converted into houses and flats?
We must not be so naive to think that
it could not happen to ‘our church’. Let us
maintain our relationship and walk with
God, whatever the cost and consequences.
Relationship to heaven
Our Saviour tells his disciples (us) to pray
to ‘Our Father in heaven’. Jesus Christ laid
down his life to secure for us a place in our
Father’s kingdom. He is now preparing us a
room or mansion in our Father’s kingdom.
Mission
Damaris Trust update
Vox Caritas, the organisation that bought the assets of Damaris
Trust when it went into administration earlier this year, has pledged
to carry on the charitable purposes of the firm.
In a statement Vox Caritas said, ‘Initially some people were
concerned that the assets of the charity would be lost. [However],
they are being used for good and the charitable purposes of Damaris
Trust continue to be served through a new organisation’.
Vox Caritas has taken on some of the staff of Damaris Trust
— Steve Alexander, Judy May (Archer) and Sophie Lister — and
was able to return some resources to Nick and Carol Pollard,
which they had developed for schools and churches while they
worked for the Trust.
According to the statement, Vox Caritas is still developing the
Damaris film resources for community groups, and Judy May has
returned to lead this initiative. It is also working with the Museum
of the Bible in the US, to use its ‘innovative Bible curriculum’
within religious education classes in the UK.
The statement continued: ‘Recent research has shown that
fewer than 5 per cent of school-aged children in the UK are reached
through churches and Christian youth organisations in the UK, but
nearly all of them attend RE lessons of some sort in their schools.
We will be enabling schools to teach a Bible curriculum that uses
the most relevant and cutting-edge technology’.
Vox Caritas also works as CharityOffice, which provides back
office and fundraising support to charities and ministries.
When we come to prayer, we are
temporarily leaving the things of this world
behind and concentrating on things far higher
and greater. We may be praying in a room of
our home, but real prayer brings us into the
court of heaven.
Fervent prayer forgets our surroundings
and fills us with the wonder and splendour of
heaven. The seeking of God’s face in prayer
is surely a great remedy for the spirit of
worldliness that can sap each one of us.
We are deceiving ourselves if we say that
the things of this life do not easily drag us
away from the place of prayer. I am not here
talking about legitimate things, of course.
But, even legitimate things must have second
place when it comes to prayer.
Prayer breathes life and vitality into our
spiritual being. Without constant prayer we
will become second-rate Christians. Some of
us spend much time looking after our car. We
endeavour to make sure it receives proper
maintenance; we clean and polish so that it
sparkles and shines. Well, prayer helps us to
be purposeful Christians. It makes us ‘shine
like the stars in the universe’.
Having the right attitude to prayer enables
us to find the balance between heaven and
earth. We will make every effort to do the
things that are pleasing and honouring to our
heavenly Father while in this world. We will
‘throw off everything that hinders and the sin
that so easily entangles’ and live to please
our Father in heaven.
Reverence to God
Acknowledging almighty God as ‘our Father
in heaven’ will also foster the reverence
ACTS in Lagos
Africa Christian Textbooks (ACTS) has given
thanks to God for the provision of a big sum of
money to help it achieve its target for Lagos,
despite a bitter disappointment.
In a newsletter, ACTS said it had been touched by
gifts of nearly £30,000 towards its £50,000 target to
buy a property in Lagos that would serve as a main
warehouse and distribution centre for Christian books.
However, the owners of the property then hiked
up the price by an additional £20,000, pricing ACTS
out of the purchase.
The newsletter reads: ‘Over the past two months,
gifts amounting to £30,000 came in towards our
£50,000 target for Lagos. Each donation represents
sacrificial giving, encouragement and answered prayer.
towards God that we need to be expressing in
our Christian lives and in the life of the church.
Whenever we enter our Father’s company, we
should do so in an appropriate manner.
Stuart Olyott says, ‘We need to ask
whether our own generation takes such
teaching seriously. There is now hardly a
church anywhere which has not imported
into its worship some element which is not
approved by God’s Word.
‘In our worship we should not be in a
hurry to speak. We should solemnly recall
the enormity of what we are doing. God
is in heaven; we are nothing more than
creatures on earth.
‘When we remember this, we will
quickly see that there is no merit in pouring
out words of worship. A few sincere words
are much more in keeping’.
C. H. Spurgeon says, ‘Our Father and yet
in heaven: in heaven and yet our Father. May
his name be treated reverently, and may all
that is about him — his Word and his gospel
— be regarded with the deepest awe’.
Reverence is certainly lacking in many
churches today. Sadly, young Christians in
many of those churches are not being set
the right example; and this will continue to
spread down the generations.
Let us stop the rot from continuing,
by living reverential lives. Reverence is
needed in greater measure by us all. A right
understanding of the heart of prayer will
help remedy this condition and will bring the
solution that our Christian lives, churches
and society so desperately needs.
The author is deacon of world mission at
Gateway Baptist Church, Burgess Hill
‘Our hopes were high that we would be able to
purchase the property we had identified as suitable.
But our hopes were dashed.
‘We thought we had an agreement with the owner
and sufficient funds in hand (with help from Revival
Movement Association). Our management team and
two board members travelled from Jos to Lagos’.
The owner came to the meeting on 27 July, but
ended up demanding an additional £20,000 above
ACTS’ available funds.
According to the newsletter: ‘This was a painful
rebuff. Our hurt was lessened by the fact that all of
us involved (both in UK and in Nigeria) came to
the same conclusion, namely, that we should not
increase our offer.
‘God’s ways are mysterious at times, but we trust
that he knows best. Join us in praying for guidance for
our renewed property search and for additional funds’.
Grace Group All Souls Church, in Langham Place, London, has established a small, informal group for women who
are suffering with issues around eating and self-image.
According to members of the group, the Christ-centred meetings have helped to give them ‘hope
again’, with another stating, ‘It is one of the highlights of my week’.
The group, called Grace Group, was set up by female members of the church who realised there was a
growing need to help people suffering from eating disorders, whether these issues were eating too much
or too little.
The group meets on Thursday evenings to share testimonies, talk about ideas and goals, support and
pray for each other.
October 2015
s
w
e
i
v
e
R
Evangelical TIMES
ET’s guide to the review stars
0 stars: 1 star: 2 stars: 3 stars: 4 stars: 5 stars: Dreadful.
Helpful in parts, but has significant problems.
OK, but not exciting.
Good; well worth seeing a copy.
Excellent; buy it.
Outstanding, exceptional.
HHHHI
DVD review
The English Reformation
and the Puritans
Michael Reeves
Ligonier Ministries
One of the criticisms of the way history is taught in schools is that
pupils come away knowing a bit about Henry VIII and his six wives, some details of the horrors
of the slave trade and something about Hitler, but nothing to set it all in context. Some even
struggle to put all these in chronological order.
To understand history you first need an overview. To get such a background, ideally you
need an enthusiastic teacher who can inspire by telling a good story.
In the same way, a typical Christian’s understanding of church history is often patchy —
snippets of information picked up over time, featuring outstanding individuals or events, but
nothing bringing it all together. All too often we lack a big picture, a timeline showing a flow
and sense of direction. We need the background before we can put historic characters, their
teaching and other significant events in their proper place.
In Michael Reeves we do have an authoritative and inspiring teacher to relate the story of
the Reformation and the era of the Puritans — a period of around 150 years.
This DVD presents a series of 12 lectures given in America to a small group of people.
Don’t be put off by the word ‘lecture’. Each episode is engaging and around 25 minutes long;
it is difficult to think that most church members will not be stimulated by them. This would
hold true irrespective of the viewer’s familiarity with church history.
Reeves is a warm and lucid communicator. He leads things at a pace easy to understand and
absorb. His approach here is to provide an overview, but also to zoom in on three particular
Puritans, Richard Sibbes, Thomas Goodwin and John Owen. He delves into their background
and character revealing interesting details, before turning to examine their writings.
The key question with DVDs of this kind is how well they bear repeat viewings. In this
instance, it most certainly will. I would also commend it to churches for use at midweek
meetings or in house groups. Highly recommended.
Paul Mackrell
Horsham
HHIII
Atonement
Chris Woodall
Wipf & Stock, 208 pages, £17.00
ISBN: 978-1-4982-0795-9
Chris Woodall, of North-West University in
South Africa, has produced a book adding
to the growing list of publications on the
doctrine of atonement. It comes as third in
a series, following Covenant and Kingdom. I
have not read the previous volumes and it was
difficult to place Atonement’s perspectives in
a broader context.
Woodall writes from an evangelical
perspective with mild Calvinistic tendencies
(p.27). He freely cites Berkhof, Lloyd-Jones,
Hendriksen, Stott and others on the topic.
The author gets close to what might be called
Calvinism, but can hold back in surprising and
original ways.
For instance, he has a section addressing
John Owen’s The death of death in the death
of Christ, but does not do justice to Owen’s
position. He suggests that a more valid title
would be The death of death in the resurrection of Christ. We wonder about the usefulness of this comment that hardly does justice
to ‘death’ as understood by Owen.
Woodall distinguishes God’s purpose (the
arrival point of the biblical narrative) from
his plan (the preferred choice of means). Yet,
if God’s plan is purposeful, is this distinction
valid? Is it merely God’s purpose that is achieved
in man’s atonement, or is it more profoundly
the glory of God himself in salvation?
When
the
author speaks of
the atonement
being necessary
and the means
to bring God’s
purpose about,
this is not quite
the same as the
‘necessity’ of
the atonement
in classical theological discussions.
This appears
to result from Woodall’s view that what is
lost and restored by atonement is a right relationship with the creator. The purpose of the
atonement is to ‘effect the reconciliation of
relationship between God and man’ (p.92).
So man is reconciled, which is not quite God
being reconciled to man.
Having gone through sections on the
necessity and reality of the atonement, we
arrive at its benefits. The author speaks
with heart-warming appreciation of these,
albeit stopping short of espousing limited
atonement: ‘Scripture is not sufficiently
conclusive to promote or dismiss it’ (p.128).
There is much to appreciate in this
book, but one feels that the author, though
approaching a theology of grace, is slipping
away from it at the same time. I felt uneasy
with this ambiguity. Is it — to use one of
Woodall’s own expressions — a ‘cop out’?
Paul Wells
Eastbourne
21
HHHHI
‘Return to Me’ —
a biblical theology of
repentance
Mark J. Boda
IVP (Apollos), 240 pages, £14.99
ISBN: 978-1-78359-269-2
Mark Boda is professor of Old Testament at McMaster
Divinity College. Return to Me is volume 35 in the New
Studies in Biblical Theology series. D. A. Carson is the
editor of this series addressing key issues in biblical theology.
The introduction outlines the author’s convictions concerning the Scriptures and
biblical theology. It also highlights Hebrew and Greek words related to repentance.
Based on this initial study, repentance is defined as ‘a turn or return to a faithful
relationship with God from a former state of estrangement’ (p.31). The human
participation in this relationship is the core of the book.
Chapters 2-11 survey the theme of repentance throughout the Old Testament. The
order of the chapters follows the order of Old Testament books.
Chapter two looks at repentance in the Torah. In this section, it is seen to be a return
to a relationship with God. The purpose of repentance in this part of Scripture is to
bring an end to God’s disciplinary action.
Chapter three, dealing with the former prophets, reveals a penitential pattern,
‘showing how divine discipline prompts human penitence, which in turn prompts
divine mercy’ (p.52). In this section of the Bible, repentance is relational: a returning
to God that involves a change in heart and behaviour.
The section on the latter prophets picks up this penitential process through the role
of the prophet eliciting contrition from a wayward people. A basic structure of this
penitential process emerges and the author demonstrates that discipline is used as a
motivation for repentance. The author dedicates another three chapters to demonstrate
how this process is worked out in the prophetic books.
The wisdom literature is seen to reveal the need for a divine enablement to repent. The
issue of negative repentance or apostasy is also discussed here. Biblical books dealing
with the exile and restoration emphasise another dimension. In this section repentance is
prompted by various leaders, and prayer is seen as a key catalyst.
A helpful chapter addresses repentance in Old Testament theology. This chapter is
enlightening and challenging in giving a comprehensive understanding of the subject.
The majority of the book focuses on the development of repentance in the Old
Testament and its continuation in the New Testament. While ten chapters are dedicated
to the Old Testament, only two are dedicated to the New Testament understanding of
the concept. Some may find this strange, but having laid solid foundations through
study of the Old Testament, the New Testament understanding becomes much clearer.
The implications of repentance are addressed in another chapter, while the value of
rituals or actions are also highlighted in connection with repentance — what might be
termed the fruit of repentance.
In summary, this is a comprehensive yet readable treatment of the subject. It will also
help readers understand the different genres and settings of the biblical books.
Jeffrey Haskins
Lancaster
HHHHI
His love endures for ever
Garry J. Williams
IVP, 192 pages, £11.99
ISBN: 978-1-78359-283-8
This book is a profound and thoughtful meditation on the
love of God, by an author clearly moved by his subject. Each
of the chapters consists of three sections: an explanation
followed by an applicatory meditation and a prayer.
The author’s main concern is that the statement in the
apostle John’s first letter that ‘God is love’ is often taken to
mean that God’s love is just like ours. In fact, there remains
an infinite difference between God and all his created things, including ourselves.
Being finite creatures blinded by sin, our thoughts of God are inevitably
incomplete and impaired. To reveal himself to us, God speaks in ways we can
understand. He does this by speaking analogically, that is, by using words and ideas
that are familiar to us as humans.
These analogies involve similarity but not complete identification. Hence, just as
there are indeed restricted similarities between God and a rock, so there are finite
similarities between human love and God’s love.
The author explores the love of God in light of other divine attributes revealed in
Scripture. He writes: ‘We discover the full meaning of the statement “God is love”
when we read it alongside the other descriptions of God in the Bible’ (p.45).
These other descriptions cast further light on our understanding of God’s love, and
in each case God’s love turns out to be totally different from ours. For instance, since
God is unique and the only source of all perfection, it follows that it would be sinful
for him not to supremely love himself.
God’s love is also explored in light of his fatherhood, omnipresence, eternity,
sovereignty, immutability, knowledge, holiness, justice and grace. When I finished
this book, I thought it would be well worth a second reading.
Brian Maiden
Kendal
Evangelical TIMES
22
HHHII
October 2015
HHHHH
In defense of the
fatherless
Christian’s pocket guide to papacy
Leonardo de Chirico
Christian Focus Publications, 128 pages, £4.99
ISBN: 978-1-78191-299-7
Sara Brinton & Amanda Bennett
Christian Focus Publications, 304 pages,
£8.99
ISBN: 978-1-78191-551-6
The Bible speaks clearly of the Christian’s
responsibility to care for widows and orphans. Many
churches may already have a heart for reaching out to
these vulnerable groups, but the subject covered in this
book is one for every Christian and needs to be read.
The authors, who have vast experience working with international adoption, set
out to expose the deep-seated corruption in organisations seeking to find homes for
children (primarily in African and South American countries).
Because international adoption is such a lucrative business, in some countries
children are forcefully taken from loving homes in deceitful ways to supply the
demands of the West. Donations given to orphanages, often by the West, rarely
make it to the children. This is because the worse off the children are, the more
money the overseers get.
A further misfortune is that children are often abandoned at orphanages due to
the extreme poverty of their family members.
The authors caution against short term mission (STM) trips to orphanages, as
these often do more harm than good if not done properly. This may make hard
reading for Christians who have been involved in STM. But they say that the trips
often unsettle the children, make it more difficult for them to form the bonds crucial
for their development, and cause orphans to associate love with visitors bringing
them toys, sweets, clothes, and other luxury items, rather than the consistent and
necessary care of those who work among them long-term.
There is no easy solution for the world’s 153 million orphans. To look at the
orphan crisis alone is like looking at one symptom of a rampant disease; the root
cause is far bigger. Social injustice, poverty, the breakdown of the family, and the
need for local churches to address local needs are areas that need addressing just to
tackle this one symptom.
The problem is overwhelming. And herein lies one of the difficulties of the
book. You get the sense that, unless you are willing to be wholeheartedly involved
in solving these issues, it’s very difficult to help.
While the subject matter is important to publicise, the book’s format is not the
easiest and needs editing. There is much repetition and the flow is disjointed. This
hindrance was a disappointment for me, as I would love to see the information
spread to many churches.
Julia Milner
Northampton
HHHHI
Evangelistic preaching
Roger Carswell
10ofthose, 60 pages, £5.99
ISBN: 978-1-91058-717-1
Don’t read this book if you want a comfortable,
easy-going Christian life! It is aimed particularly at
preachers, but its message applies to all of us acting on
Jesus’ words: ‘You shall be my witnesses’ (Acts 1:8).
The introduction, ‘The need for evangelistic
preaching’, points out how our lives can be so
full of Christian meetings and good works that
evangelism can be squeezed out, ‘so that we are
spending far less time involved with eyeball to
eyeball evangelism than we are seated behind our
laptops and PCs’ (p.4).
Five brief chapters follow, describing the marks
of authentic evangelistic preaching. My favourite
chapter is on preaching with love: ‘If our hearts are
full of love, we will find that it is hard, though not
impossible, to offend people. To keep a heart of
love we will need time to be alone with the Lord, and also time with ordinary
people’ (p.26).
The final chapter, ‘Evangelistic preaching expects results’, encourages us all
to keep on taking the gospel to an often hostile world. Calvin is quoted: ‘The
gospel cannot be proclaimed without driving the world to rage’. But, as Carswell
reminds us, ‘according to Romans 1:16, the gospel is not an idea to be debated or a
philosophy to be discussed, but a power to be unleashed’ (p.55).
The book is full of punchy phrases, jolting the sleepy reader wide-awake! At 60
pages it is brief, so ideal for reading a second and third time.
In these days, when there is so much to discourage us from clear and bold
proclamation of the gospel, this book is just the tonic for putting iron into our bones
and propelling us out of our comfort zone into the world of lost men and women.
A final quote: ‘Let us remember that God uses the weakest Christian as well as the
most powerful evangelist. He uses a tract, a sentence or poster as a tiny seed...’ (p.58).
Richard Atherton
Whitby
With the Bishop of London giving approval to the ecumenical
movement and rejoicing in closer ties with the Roman Catholic
Church, this book is a must.
Not only does the said bishop give an unclear sound,
but even some of a Reformed evangelical outlook paint a
confused picture. A recently appointed moderator of a Scottish
Presbyterian denomination has proudly commended a book
written by Pope Benedict XVI, entitled Jesus of Nazareth.
And the ‘Holy Father’ himself was welcomed by the same
moderator as a fellow brother in Christ.
As the title would suggest, de Chirico’s book is a pocket
introduction to the errors of the Roman Catholic Church. Much
has been written about the theological errors of the papacy, yet
many today would object to the old evangelical separation from
Rome — after all, we share so much in common: we both believe
in the Trinity; virgin birth; crucifixion, resurrection and deity of
Christ; personality of the Holy Spirit; Lord’s Supper, baptism and more!
Yet herein lies the real danger. Scripture warns that the devil appears as an angel of light.
Even in areas of agreement, all is not what it seems. Two vital examples of radical divergence
concern Catholic and Protestant views on baptism and the Lord’s Supper (what the Roman
Catholic Church calls the ‘Mass’).
Other questions addressed by this guide include: Who is the head of the church? Who is the
‘Vicar of Christ’? What did Jesus mean by ‘upon this rock I will build my church’? What role
does the apostle Peter have in the church of Christ? Was Peter indeed the first pope? And that
ever-vexing question, ‘Is the pope the antichrist?’
Christian unity and religious oneness are big issues today, especially with the church faced
by Islamic threats and an aggressive secular culture. Yet uniting with error and falsehood is
not the answer to this onslaught. It needs a return to a clear and robust defence of historical
Christianity, as given, for example, by this little book.
Stephen Holland
Westhoughton
HHHII
Preaching
Timothy Keller
Hodder and Stoughton, 309 pages, £16.99
ISBN: 978-1-444-70217-0
Having paid good money for a 300-page tome, you might feel
cheated when you discover that one third of the pages are taken up
with acknowledgments, an appendix and 68 pages of end notes! But
you could do with an extra bookmark to guide you through the end
notes since they are worth reading!
There is much to stimulate heart and mind in this latest offering
from Tim Keller. He writes engagingly from a long-term ambition
to write about preaching. Acknowledging that many have done the same before him, he is
humble enough to recommend 17 previously published books on the subject.
The material is presented in three parts: ‘Serving the Word’, ‘Reaching the people’ and
‘Preaching in the Spirit’. There is a chapter on sermon preparation in the appendix. His text is
laced with quotations from many sources, with Alec Motyer, Sinclair Ferguson, C. H. Spurgeon,
John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards featuring strongly.
The book is advertised as ‘an accessible guide for pastors and lay people alike to present the
Christian message’, but I suspect its readership will be more among the former.
Keller stresses the need to preach Christ and to preach the gospel in every sermon. He warns
against a purely moralistic application of Scripture. The gospel is to be applied to unbelievers
and to believers. Believers are to be exhorted to live gospel lives on the basis of what Christ
has done for them.
He takes great pains to emphasise the requirement to speak into the culture of our day,
understanding its thought patterns, using its language and quoting from its sources, in order to
bring the challenge of the gospel. In my opinion, he overstates the importance of acquainting
ourselves with culture.
Having agreed with Spurgeon that we may spend too much energy defending the Bible
when we should be expounding it, he falls into that same trap. I found the chapter on
‘preaching to the modern mind’ tedious and distracting, with its extensive analysis of the
western mindset. Such an emphasis could lead to sermons taken up with apologetic material
rather than biblical content.
Keller rightly emphasises the importance of preaching Christ from all of Scripture. However,
in doing so, he offers what I consider some unconventional and unhelpful examples of how this
should be done. I think he is inclined to force Christ into texts where he is not meant to be
found; I believe ‘Christ in all the Scriptures’ doesn’t mean Christ in every verse.
With the above reservations, there is much here to help those of us engaged in the demanding
work of preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ to our generation.
Roger March
Wolverton
Make your purchase using the Evangelical Times website.
To help readers, we have arranged for each reviewed book to be
linked to an online bookstore, via ET’s website (www.evangelical-times.org).
Evangelical TIMES
October 2015
Mission in reverse
Robert Moffat, the pioneer missionary to Africa, was
converted as a young man through the witness of a
small congregation at the hamlet of High Legh in the
Cheshire countryside, in the early 1800s.
At the time he was working on the High Legh
estates as a gardener, but, after reading an advert for
a missionary meeting in 1815, he was filled with a
burning desire to take the gospel to people who had
never heard it. He left High Legh and became a pioneer
congregational missionary for the London Missionary
Society in southern Africa. David Livingstone later
became his son-in-law.
The High Legh congregation later affiliated
to a small denomination called the Independent
Methodists in 1851 — which is best described as
Congregational Methodists.
The country chapel maintained its Christian
witness in the middle of the Cheshire countryside
until its closure in 1996, upon which their premises
were converted into the Northwood Christian Centre
for camps and conferences.
Exactly 200 years after Robert
Moffat’s missionary call, the centre
at High Legh welcomed a ‘reverse
missionary’: an African woman
evangelist, who came to share the
gospel at a camp for children from
the West Yorkshire town of Morley.
Rwandan Claudine Uwizeye
is a member of Cannon Park
Congregational Church in Middlesbrough. She
recently began working as an evangelist with
the Child Evangelism Fellowship of Great
Britain and is working alongside several EFCC
(Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational
Churches) congregations.
These include Cannon Park in Middlesbrough,
Whitby and Bulkington, where she is assisting with
children’s meetings, holiday Bible clubs and camps. Morley camp
She was invited to the Northwood Centre this summer
by youth workers from Morley Community Church
(EFCC), to be the guest speaker and share the gospel
with 17 young people from Morley. This yearly camp
for Morley youngsters has run continuously since 1999. They pitched their tents for a whole week in early
August and took part in an action-packed week,
which included water sports, games, swimming and
quizzes. There was a night walk, a trip to a theme
park, a visit to a maize maze, plus hiking and other
activities.
Ms Uwizeye led sessions each evening, in which
she explained the gospel in an engaging way to the
children, most of whom had no church affiliation at all.
Each
morning,
there were short and
simple Bible study
groups, with a team
member giving a
testimony after supper
each evening.
Camp co-ordinator
Andy Dalton said that
it was significant that,
200 years since Robert
Moffat left High Legh
to evangelise Africa,
an African had come to evangelise the British.
He said, ‘The story has
gone full circle. Is it not
amazing to see the results of
missionary endeavours two
centuries ago? Moffat and his
fellow missionaries opened
up Africa for the gospel, and
today we see the results of
their labours with millions of
Christians and churches. ‘It has been moving to see
this young African evangelist
engaging effectively with
these children and young
people from the UK’.
Progress in Oxford
An independent evangelical church, planted in Oxford two years
ago, has launched an evangelistic evening service, designed to
share the gospel with students in the city.
This second service at Trinity Church, which is affiliated to
the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) and
belongs to the South Central Gospel Partnership, will take place in
term-time and complement the morning all-age worship.
A Baptist church building in the centre of Oxford will be the
home of these new outreach services, which start on 4 October.
The main morning service will be in a venue just outside the city
centre, where there is more space and room for parking.
Robin Cooper, one of the elders at Trinity Church, said he
was excited about the plans, but acknowledged there were plenty
of challenges. He said, ‘Trinity’s vision is to invest deeply in the
spiritual lives of successive generations of Oxford students, in the
hope that, with God’s grace, they will be useful in the kingdom both
here in the UK and throughout the world. We believe that quality
Bible teaching within a loving church is key to realising this goal’.
Vulnerability
News
Mission
23
He added that the church was ‘very conscious’ of its vulnerability
and fragility as a new plant, and asked for prayer, especially as
the projected two-service model would stretch the small church,
which has approximately 50 members.
Trinity Church’s regular morning services now take place in
the Brent Building at the City of Oxford College — the church’s
third home since launching in 2013.
‘City centre locations, which we see as essential to attract
students, are like gold dust’, Mr Cooper said, adding: ‘Our longerterm challenge is to find a more permanent building large enough
to accommodate growth.
‘The decision to start a second meeting was strongly influenced
by the lack of affordable premises of the right size in the city centre.
Our morning venue, although central, was often three-quarters
full and would not have coped if we were suddenly blessed with
a healthy invasion of undergraduates. We felt we had to pray and
plan in faith for this’.
He pointed to God’s kindness in providing funding for
a student worker, and an offer for the evening use of a Baptist
church situated in the centre of town. Mr Cooper added: ‘We are
still working on the precise format of our evening meeting, but we
are clear on one thing: the need to provide nourishing food, both
spiritual and physical’.
Andy Dalton
John Owen (1616–1683)
the new king as the greatest Protestant in Europe, defended
his role as the head of the established church, and denied the
need for confessions of faith.
In other publications from this period, he defended
Independent church order and called for congregations to
strenuously defend Reformed theology. All of these works were
published anonymously, and some of them were published
illegally. Owen passed by the impaled heads of many of his
old friends every time he passed in and out of London. Who is
to say he did not fear that he too could become a victim?
By the mid-1660s, however, the political situation began
to settle. Nonconformists gained courage to begin public
preaching again, even in London. Owen kept his head down,
kept writing, and found time in 1668 to pose for a portrait by
one of the most fashionable and dissolute of the court painters.
By the early 1670s, his situation had changed again. His
small congregation, which comprised around 30 individuals,
many of them prominent republicans, combined with a
congregation of around 100 individuals, which had been led
by the recently deceased Joseph Caryl. They began to meet
in their city premises.
His preaching changed. His sermons were shorter, more
focused and geared very directly to the pastoral needs of his
listeners. In many ways, these sermons, which are mostly
collected in volume 9 of the Banner of Truth edition of his
Works, represent some of the best of his work.
Legacy
Christ Church, Oxford
John Owen was surrounded by death.
Mary, his wife, died in the later 1670s
and their only surviving child died
shortly after. He quickly remarried, but
his friends remarked on his continuing
depression. He had lost so much — a
wife, each of his children, and, it seemed,
the work of a lifetime.
When he died, in August 1683, he
believed that the English reformation was
almost over and that the puritan project
had failed.
Of course, events proved otherwise. The Glorious
Revolution secured the British Protestant constitution, but it
did not secure the integrity of the British churches. Owen’s
congregation was not long to continue in his footsteps, but
eventually became Unitarian.
Surprisingly perhaps, it was John Wesley who kept
Owen’s reputation alive. Wesley republished parts of
Owen’s writing in his Christian library (1750). Throughout
the eighteenth century, Scottish publishers kept his
ecclesiastical works in print, while a much smaller number
of English publishers occasionally reprinted his devotional
and exegetical works.
In the nineteenth century, Owen was praised by the Exclusive
Brethren leader William Kelly, even as he was abominated by
liberal evangelicals within the Church of Scotland. In the early
twentieth century, he found appreciative readers among A. W.
Pink in the 1920s, Martyn Lloyd-Jones in the 1930s, and Jim
Elliot, the future missionary martyr, in the early 1950s.
When the Banner of Truth republished The Death of
Death (1959), the stage was already set for his return.
Today, it is easier than ever before to read this greatest
of Puritan theologians. Owen’s books, in both original and
modernised editions, are readily available. And he deserves
to be read. For Owen was extraordinary.
His work repays all the close attention it requires. And
when better to begin to read Owen than in the year of his
400th birthday?
Professor Gribben is head of school and
professor of early modern British history at Queens
University, Belfast. His forthcoming biography, John Owen
and English Puritanism: experiences of defeat is to be
published by Oxford University Press next year.
Evangelical TIMES
24
October 2015
‘Time is of
the essence’
Lord’s weathervane
Down through the centuries people have
been fascinated by time. Can you remember
seeing sundials and clock faces with the
inscription ‘tempus fugit’?
Nigel Faithfull
This Latin phrase (Virgil, 70-19 BC) means ‘time flies’,
never to be recovered. Another is ‘carpe diem’ (Horace, 23
BC), often translated ‘seize the day’. These two Latin phrases
encourage us to think carefully about time.
Young people vainly imagine they will live for ever.
The hourglass of their lifetime is filled with sand in the
top chamber and seems to trickle so slowly through the
narrow hole into the lower bulb. In later years, however, it is
frightening how rapidly the sand is flowing. The truth is that,
for all of us, time is limited and we are moving inexorably
towards eternity.
The hymnist Anne R. Cousin (1824–1906) saw beyond
the sinking reservoir of sand to the approaching glory:
The sands of time are sinking, the dawn of Heaven breaks;
The summer morn I’ve sighed for — the fair, sweet morn
awakes:
Dark, dark hath been the midnight, but dayspring is at
hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.
The traditional symbol of time is the figure of ‘Father
Time’, with a long grey beard and a scythe over his shoulder,
ready to cut us down from the land of the living to join the
harvest of the dead (used for example in the weather vane at
Lord’s cricket ground).
If only we could slow the progress of time, it would
enable us to live longer. Fiction writers have been fascinated
with the idea of manipulating time. The author H. G. Wells
wrote his novel The time machine in 1895 — and we all
know about Dr Who’s time-travelling machine The Tardis!
Time and eternity
There has been much speculation about the relationship
between time and eternity.
We are entirely time bound. Time machines remain entirely
in fiction. The beating of our hearts and the nervous impulses
in our brains are time bound events. In contrast, God dwells in
eternity: ‘The eternal God is your refuge’ (Deuteronomy 33:27).
At death or at the Second Coming, we must all cross over
from the world of time into the eternal world. The eternal God
is able to give eternal life to his adopted children: ‘The gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 6:23).
The Bible also has instructions connected with time.
Psalm 90, written by Moses, is all about the role time plays
in our lives and how God is in control of our destinies. He is
not affected by the passing of time as we are.
‘The days of our lives are seventy years — or eighty, if
we have the strength’ (v.10). Moses asks God to ‘teach us to
number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom’
(v.12). Verse 5 has been immortalised by Isaac Watts (1674–
1748) in his hymn ‘Our God, our help in ages past’:
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
The New Testament points us to the future
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to claim his
bride, the church, and to judge the world. In
the light of this, we are all urged to ‘seek an
out of court settlement’ with God before it is
too late.
The first message Jesus declared in his
earthly ministry was, ‘The time has come
... the kingdom of God is near. Repent and
believe the good news’ (Mark 1:15). Jesus
later told us, ‘So you also must be ready,
because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do
not expect him’ (Matthew 24:44). Peter, in his older and
wiser years, exhorts believers, ‘The end of all things is near.
Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled, so that you
can pray’ (1 Peter 4:7).
What is time?
Did time begin with the creation of the universe? Certainly,
solar time of 24 hours per day could only begin after the
sun was created on the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19). Yet,
even from the first day, there was a kind of light which God
separated from darkness and controlled to provide an evening
and a morning (Genesis 1:3-5).
The American theologian J. Gresham Machen (1881–
1937), thought that ‘God created time when he created finite
things’. St Augustine (A.D. 354–430) struggled to understand
the nature of time and its relationship with eternity (pp. 155172 of the eleventh book of his Confessions).
He saw how the past has gone for ever, apart from
present memories, and the future has not yet come to pass,
though there are signs as to what might occur. The only
reality is present time.
Eternity does not suffer the loss of
the past or the absence of the future, but
stands still in a steady state: ‘Who will
hold the heart of man that it may stand
still and see how the eternity which
always stands still is itself neither future
nor past, but expresses itself in the times
that are future and past?’
He says later: ‘But if the present
were always present, and did not pass
into past time, it obviously would not be
time but eternity’ (book 14).
He then confessed: ‘My soul burns
ardently to understand this most intricate
enigma. O Lord … to whom shall I
confess my ignorance of these things
with greater profit than to thee, to whom
these studies of mine (ardently longing
to understand thy Scriptures) are not a
bore?’ (book 22).
Augustine sought to base all his
thinking on the Scriptures, and we
should try to do the same.
The gift of eternity
The Scriptures give us hints of the
nature of eternity. When Moses asked
God his name, God replied: ‘I am who I
am’ (Exodus 3:14). This is a God who is
always present. He doesn’t change with
circumstances, but sees all of history,
together with the present and future, in
an instant.
Not only that; he has shaped all events and works them all
out to his glory. We are made in his image and it is his will to
share eternity with us, so for all believers ‘the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 6:23b).
God the Father and God the Son both declare themselves
‘I am the Alpha and Omega … the beginning and the end’
(Revelation 1:8; 22:13). They are the ever-living ‘I am’,
where past, present and future combine into an ever present
divine consciousness, and over which the Godhead exercises
sovereign determination and control. We mortals can discern
past, present and future, but are unable to understand how
they all combine in our God. A. W. Tozer (1897–1963)
expressed the same thought when he said, ‘God dwells in
eternity, but time dwells in God. He has already lived all our
tomorrows, as he has lived all our yesterdays’.
Is eternity simply time which never ends, or is it the
absence of time? We cannot know for certain, but perhaps
it will reflect the continuous present in which God dwells,
and incorporates all past earthly events and future heavenly
events. This will only be fully understood when we have our
resurrected bodies (1 Corinthians 15:44).
It is interesting that, as T. S. Eliot (1888–1965), in his Four
Quartets, grappled with the idea of time, his natural reason led
to a conclusion which is probably not so far from the truth:
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable …
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
October 2015
s
r
e
ett
Evangelical TIMES
25
Antioch
L
Dear Sir,
I am enjoying the September ET a great deal. I think that I will have read it from cover to cover,
way before September arrives!
Re Mrs Mary Beeke’s article ‘A Visit to Israel’ on p.24, she states that ‘Paul embarked on his first
missionary journey from Caesarea’. Some readers who are sticklers for facts might point out that
Paul actually began his first missionary journey from Antioch, rather than Caesarea (see Acts 13).
Timothy Cross
Cardiff
Worship
Audacity
Dear Sir,
Dear Sir,
I would like to draw your readers’ attention
to a DVD just released called Audacity. It
comes from Living Waters Ministries and is
aimed at presenting the biblical truth about
homosexuality.
Although it is very American, it is
nonetheless completely biblical and says
what needs to be said, cleverly expressed in
the context of a drama. I feel that its release is
providential and the more faithful Christians
who obtain it and show it the better.
I feel this DVD is ideal for students
and those in their 20s in this country who
regularly watch American films and dramas
as part of their ‘staple diet’. I have already
shown it to my Bible study group with great
success and am in contact with other faithful
pastors who intend to use it as part of their
teaching programme for young or new
Christians.
I was very moved by the latest editorial in ET (ET, September 2015) regarding
this nation being under judgement. Assuming the Lord tarries, the issue of so called
‘gay unions’ will split numerous churches up and down the country.
The DVD can be obtained from Living Waters Europe, 27-29 Kirkgate, Newark,
NG24 1AD (tel. 01636 302230). The price for bulk copies to churches is extremely
low, as part of their aim is to defend Scripture and be affordable.
I would like to congratulate you on your excellent paper and look forward to getting it each month. You
printed a photo of the Keswick Convention. I have seen it on television and attended it a few years ago.
I am not impressed with the worship style. Surely people who find themselves in God’s
presence have an attitude of prostration, of bowing down?
John MacArthur says worship is to quicken the conscience to the holiness of God, feed the
mind with the truth of God, purge the imagination by the beauty of God, open the heart to the love
of God and devote the will to the purpose of God. The frivolity in the singing would be found
wanting when you read the above instructions.
Jonathan Willans
Reigate
Ultra-dispensationalism
Dear Sir,
Many thanks for the excellent presentation in September’s ET of my review of Penny’s
New Covenant article. The contrasting fonts, colours and pictures were impressive and
impactful. Your chosen title was very apt. I was particularly pleased by your description
of the New Testament’s spiritually nuanced hermeneutic of the Old Testament, which
is in stark contrast to the ultra-dispensationalists’ hyper-literalism.
I was also impressed by two other things in August’s ET: firstly, Michael Phelan’s
article on the theological implications of the Genesis Gap Theory, held by most
dispensationalists, including Scofield and E. W. Bullinger (I myself too, until reading
Unformed and unfilled by Weston Fields).
Secondly, by the ET review of Oren R. Martin’s Bound for the Promised Land
(given 5 stars). I purchased a copy immediately and have found it very useful in my
repudiation of ultra-dispensationalism.
F. J. Peachey
Sudbury
Dear Sir,
I refer to Frank Peachey’s article ‘Dispensing with ultra-dispensationalism’ (ET,
September 2015) and I certainly rejoice with him that he has been delivered from
this soul-withering system. However, I do think it should be stressed that his article
was dealing with the far end of dispensationalism.
Admittedly, there was a second article explaining this to some extent, but I think
the overall impression given was still too negative. There have been many moderate
dispensationalists in the Brethren movement, and elsewhere in evangelicalism, who
have been zealous Christians and, in the main, helpful teachers of God’s Word.
I am not any sort of dispensationalist (nor even a premillenialist), but I am greatly
indebted to such men; e.g. Dr Harry Ironside, who was for 18 years pastor of the
Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, and whose easy-to-read Bible commentaries
have been a great blessing to me over the years.
Peter Currie
London
Richard E. Cregan
Portadown
Graciously sustained
Dear Sir,
Over the past few weeks, whilst on holiday with my family, I’ve been reflecting on God’s
faithfulness to me personally and also to us at Christian Concern.
The event that prompted me to reflect in this way was my 50th birthday, celebrated in August.
Turning 50 has reminded me just how faithful God is. Ever since I was four years old, when I first
fell in love with Jesus at Sunday school, he has never left my side. Every day I have prayed to
honour him, love him and serve him with all my heart, soul and strength.
Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre were set up in 2008 with Ade Omooba, Paul
Diamond, David Clark, Mark Mullins, Sam Solomon and Philip Ross Smith. Not long after this,
I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I said to those around me that maybe the Lord was giving me
permission to stop, to close the office because we had so little money. But the team around me
would have none of it and were adamant that we should press on in faith.
The Lord brought me through breast cancer and he graciously sustained Christian Concern as
well. How true are the words of Jesus found in 2 Corinthians 12:9, ‘My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness’. My life and this work are entirely wrapped up in Jesus
Christ and sustained miraculously by him.
We now have a thriving staff team of 20. We are daily asked to comment in the media, where
we are committed to speaking of Jesus Christ in our nation’s public life. We’ve been able to
support hundreds of Christians who have contacted us when facing opposition for living out their
Christian faith. And we’re now in our sixth year of hosting the Wilberforce Academy, training and
equipping the next generation of Christian leaders in public life.
It is the Lord who has put us in this privileged position. Without him, our work wouldn’t be possible.
One of the ways in which he has sustained us is through the giving and support of others. Our
funding comes only through our donors and I am constantly amazed at how the Lord uses the
generosity of his people to provide for us.
It is often a very humbling experience to have to
wait for God to provide from month to month, but I am
confident that he has chosen to keep us dependent on him
in this way.
We have many cases and events coming up in the
next few months, for which we look to the Lord for the
necessary funding — the Wilberforce Academy; the
case of Nikki Kenward in the High Court (opposing
assisted suicide); the case of Mike Overd (defending
public proclamation of the gospel); the case of Aisling
Hubert (protecting unborn children); and a parliamentary
campaign against assisted suicide.
We’ll keep speaking of Jesus Christ in our nation’s public
life for as long as he keeps providing for this work. Please
continue your partnership with us as we take on the work that
God has set before us.
I want to thank once again those who have been
standing with us. Let us keep on looking to our faithful
God, to whom belongs all the glory.
Andrea Minichiello Williams
Christian Concern and Christian Legal Centre
The editors would be very grateful if all ET correspondents could send ‘letters to
the editor’ by email (either themselves or through a friend), rather than
hand written, as this saves greatly on internal administration.
Evangelical TIMES
26
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CHURCHES
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BEDFORDSHIRE
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Street, SG19 2NS. Sunday 10.45am & 6.30pm.
Wednesday Bible study/prayer meeting 7.00pm.
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WESTONING. Baptist Church, Greenfield
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BERKSHIRE
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Sundays: 10.45am. Thursdays: Bible study,
7.30pm. Tel: 0743 221 8932. www.thatcham
freechurch.org.uk
Edward Centre, King Edward Road, CB16 6ND.
Sunday 10.30am. Pastor Robert Read. Telephone:
01354 694393.
PETERBOROUGH. Cardea Community Church,
currently meeting at Morrisons Superstore,
Stanground, Bellona Drive, PE2 8GP. Sunday
10.30am. E-mail: [email protected] Facebook: Cardea Community Church
Supported by FIEC.
CORNWALL
GORRAN HAVEN. Haven Church (Mount Zion)
(off Church Street), PL26 6JH. Sunday 11.00am
& 5.00pm. Wednesday 7.30pm. Tel: Anne Standfield, 01726 69252/Geoff Fox, 01726 842873.
www.havenchurch.co
BRISTOL. Stapleton Road Chapel, Newton Street,
BS5 0QZ (Evangelical - Congregational). Sunday
11.00am & 6.00pm. Tuesday 7.00pm. Friday,
10.00am to 12 noon, coffee morning. Secretary:
Mike Pickering, tel: 0117 941 3343.
BRISTOL. Zetland Evangelical Church, 4/6 North
Road, BS6 5AE. Sunday 11.00am & 6.30pm.
Contact: Richard Penn. Tel: 0117 908 1174. www.
zetlandchurch.org.uk
THORNBURY. Morton Baptist Church, Horse
Lane, BS35 1LF. Sunday 10.30am & 6.00pm.
Wednesday 7.00pm. Minister: Jonathan Hunt, tel:
07840 333834. www.mortonbaptist.org
YATE. Grace Church Yate, 250 Station Road,
Yate, BS37 4AF. Sunday 11.00am & 6.00pm.
Wednesday 7.45pm. Contact: Phil Heaps, tel:
01454 311906. www.gracechurch.org.uk
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
CHATTERIS. Community Church, The King
BOREHAMWOOD. Cowley Hill Free Church
(Baptist). Sunday 11.00am & 6.30pm; Wednesday
7.30pm. Contact: Philip Hambridge, 020 8953
1867.
PLYMOUTH. Beacon Park Baptist Church,
Peverell Park Road, Plymouth, PL3 4LR. Lord’s
Day services 10.30am and 6.30pm; Sunday school
and Bible classes 3.00pm. Wednesday Bible study
7.30pm. A warm welcome awaits you. Pastor
Richard Clarke, tel: 01752 565334.
HATFIELD. Evangelical Baptist Church, Oxlease House, Travellers Lane. Sundays 11.00am.
S/school 9.45am. Wednesdays 7.30pm. Pastor
Murray Gifkins, 01707 884534. See www.hope
4hatfield.org
SIDMOUTH. Emmanuel Baptist Church (FIEC),
Manstone Lane, EX10 9TU. Sundays 10.30am
& 6.30pm. Tuesdays 7.30pm. Secretary: Chris
Wilson, tel: 01395 515496. www.emmanuel
baptistchurch.org.uk
SMEATHARPE, nr Honiton. Newhouse Baptist
Church. Sunday 11.00am & 6.30pm. Tuesday
7.30pm (April-October). Details: Pastor John
Woollam, tel: 01404 861313. www.newhousebaptist.org.uk
WELWYN GARDEN CITY. Campus Church
(Independent Evangelical Baptist), 33 Hyde
Way, Welwyn Garden City. Sundays at 11.00am
and 5.30pm. Wednesdays at 7.45pm. Facilities for children. Pastor: Chris Davies. Further
information from 01707 331680. www.campus
church.org.uk
WELWYN. Welwyn Evangelical Church, Fulling
Mill Lane, Old Welwyn, Herts. Sunday services
11.00am & 6.30pm. Bible study/prayer meeting
Wednesday 8.00pm. Pastor Mostyn Roberts. Details tel: 01438 715372.
DORSET
ISLE OF WIGHT
NEWQUAY. Reformed Baptist Church, Chapel Hill
(off Central Square), TR7 1NB. Sunday 11.00am &
6.00pm. SS 11.00am. Tuesday 7.30pm. Tel: Mark
O’Byrne (Elder) 01726 65035 or Steve Fountain
(Secretary) 01637 876504. E-mail: [email protected] www.newquaybaptist.org.uk
CHRISTCHURCH. Carmel Evangelical Church
(non-ecumenical) meeting at Homelands Hall,
King’s Avenue, Christchurch, BH23 1NP. Sunday
services 11.00am & 6.30pm. Tuesday Bible study
7.30pm. Tel: Robin Lewis 01202 475650 or John
Jarman 01425 622965.
CUMBRIA
DORCHESTER. Grace Church (Baptist),
YMCA Hall, Sawmills Lane, Weymouth
Avenue, Dorchester, DT1 2RZ. Sundays
10.30am. Tel: 01308 424510. www.grace
churchdorchester.org.uk
SANDOWN. Avenue Road Evangelical Church.
Sunday services 11.00am and 6.30pm. Tuesday
10.30am. Tel: 01983 403725. E-mail: jrodgers
[email protected]
KENT
KESWICK. Lake Road Chapel, evangelical
and congregational. Sundays 10.30am and
4.00pm. Thursdays 7.30pm. Preacher: Andrew
Wheeler. Enquiries: 017687 71452. www.keswick
congregational.org.uk
DERBYSHIRE
CRICH. Baptist Church, Market Place. Sunday
10.45am and 6.00pm. PM Tuesday 7.45pm, BS
Thursday 7.45pm. Pastor Chris Hand, tel: 01773
853180. E-mail: [email protected] www.
crichbaptist.org
DERBY. Castlefields Church, Traffic Street.
Sunday 10.30am at Lakeside Community School,
London Road, DE24 8UY and 6.00pm at Traffic
Street, DE1 2NL. Wednesday 7.30pm at Traffic
Street. Pastor David Fielding, 01332 550879.
www.castlefieldschurch.org.uk
STANTON LEES CHAPEL (off A6 nr Darley
Dale). Sunday: 8.00am prayer meeting; 10.00am
Sunday school; 2.30pm & 6.30pm Services.
Visiting preachers. Wednesday 7.30pm.
Tel: 01629 732307. www.stantonlees
chapel.org.uk
DEVON
BARNSTAPLE. Whiddon Valley Evangelical
Church (Reformed), Stoat Park. Sundays 11.00am
& 6.30pm, Tuesdays 7.00pm. Pastor David Kay,
tel: 01271 328813. www.wvec.org.uk
BRISTOL
BRISTOL. Buckingham Chapel, Queen’s Road,
Clifton. Sunday 11.00am & 6.30pm, Wednesday
7.30pm. Contact: John Norris, tel: 01179 503871.
www.buckinghamchapel.org.uk
PAIGNTON, Devon. Foxhole Grace Baptist
Church. Sundays 11.00am, Kings Ash Academy
(school, Pimm Road). Contact: David Lamb:
01803 527542. www.foxholebaptist.talktalk.net
CHESHIRE
CHESTER. Upton Baptist Church (Ind), Flag
Lane South, Upton, Chester. Sunday 10.30am &
6.30pm. Wednesday 7.45pm Bible study & prayer
meeting. Tel: (01244) 639644.
October 2015
DAWLISH. Baptist Church, Park Road. Sundays
10.45am, 3.00pm (Sunday school) & 6.30pm.
Wednesdays 7.15pm. Pastor David Landricombe.
Tel: 01626 638556. www.dawlishbaptist.org.uk
GILLINGHAM. Baptist Church, Gillingham,
Dorset. Sundays 10.30am & 6.30pm. Wednesdays
7.30pm Bible study and prayer meeting. Secretary,
Peter Wick, tel: 01747 841430. www.gillingham
baptistchurch.org.uk
WEYMOUTH. Weymouth Independent Evangelical Church. Sundays, 11.00am & 6.30pm.
Women’s Institute Hall, Gallwey Road, DT4 9AJ.
John Mann (Tel: 01305 774523).
ESSEX
WICKFORD. Reformed Baptist Church. Sunday
10.30am & 6.30pm. Thursday 7.30pm. Details from secretary, tel: 01268 735127. www.
WickfordReformedBaptistChurch.org.uk
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
GLOUCESTER. Coopers Edge Baptist Church,
Coopers Edge School, GL3 4DY. Sunday 10.30am
& 5.30pm. Wednesday prayer meeting in homes,
7.30pm. Details: Harold Gamston, tel: 01452
302837. Please no correspondence to school.
GLOUCESTER. Trinity Baptist Church (Free
Evangelical), Finlay Road. Sunday 11.00am &
6.00pm. Sunday school 10.00am. Bible study &
prayer, Thursday 7.30pm. Pastor Phil Jones, tel.
01452 424733. E-mail: [email protected]
www.tbcgloucester.org
HAMPSHIRE
EXETER. Independent Evangelical Church
meeting at Heavitree Evangelical Church, Fore
Street, Heavitree, Exeter, EX1 2RR. Sundays
11.00am & 6.30pm. Thursday 7.00pm Bible study
& prayer. Tel: Pastor Jonathan Munday 01647
270067 or Brian Ashley 01392 431958.
ANDOVER. Koinonia Independent Evangelical
Church warmly invites you to join us in worship
and fellowship. We meet at the Harris Hall, Church
Close (opposite Iron Age Museum) on Sundays
at 10.30am & 6.30pm. Telephone Bas Jacobs on
01264 323561. www.koinonia-andover.org
GALMPTON, nr Paignton. Flavel Chapel,
Stoke Gabriel Road, TQ5 0NQ. Sunday worship
10.30am - please phone for Sunday evening and
all other meetings. Pastor Ian Cameron, 01803
559366. Walford Catling, 01803 559040 or
John Young, 01803 521125. All are warmly
welcome. E-mail: [email protected]
Web: flavelchapel.blogspot.com
PORTSMOUTH. Grace Baptist Church, PO3
5AH. Sundays 11.00am and 6.30pm. Contact:
Evan Richards, 07922 179274. Web: www.
gbc-portsmouth.co.uk
HONITON. Evangelical Congregational Church,
High Street. Sunday services 10.30am & 6.00pm.
Tuesday 7.30pm. Contact: Karl Upchurch: 01404
41245. www.honitonecc.org
OTTERY ST MARY, East Devon. Reformed
Church. Sundays 6.30pm and Wednesdays
7.30pm. Details telephone: 01404 813417. www.
otteryreformed.freeola.net
WINCHESTER. Hyde Street Chapel. Sundays
10.00am & 5.30pm. Thursdays 7.30pm. www.
hydestreetchapel.org or Pastor Richard Turner,
tel: 02380 445742. Visitors warmly welcomed.
HERTFORDSHIRE
BALDOCK. Reformed Baptist Church at Community Centre, (1689 BCOF). Sunday school
9.15am. Morning service 11.00am; Evangelistic
service 6.00pm. Wednesdays as announced. You
are warmly welcome. Contact: J. E. Northern,
01462 893203. www.baldockbaptists.org.uk
BROMLEY. Rehoboth Baptist Chapel
(Reformed), Highland Road. Lord’s Day 11.00am
& 2.30pm. Contact: Hedley Taylor, tel: 020 8402
7319. E-mail: [email protected]
CHATHAM. Enon Baptist Church, Skinner
Street, ME4 5RF. Sunday 11.15am and 6.30pm.
Wednesday 7.30pm. Pastor: Paul Relf, tel: 01634
301499. www.enonbaptistchurch.net
GILLINGHAM. Wigmore Evangelical Free
Church, Durham Road, ME8 9HQ. Sunday
11.00am and 6.30pm. Tuesday 7.30pm. Details:
Rev. Timothy Wood, 01634 388187.
MEDWAY TOWNS. Waterford House Evangelical Free Church, Rede Court Road, Strood.
Sundays 11.00am & 6.30pm. Tuesdays 7.45pm.
Norman Hopkins, tel: 01634 221477. www.
whefc.co.uk
WHITSTABLE. Hamilton Road Evangelical
Church. Sundays: 11.00am and 6.30pm; SS & YP
11.00am; PM Wednesdays 7.30pm. A warm welcome to all. Mr David Platts, tel: 01227 450596.
www.hamiltonroad.org.uk
LANCASHIRE
BLACKBURN & RIBCHESTER Evangelical
Presbyterian Churches. Sabbath services 11.00am
and 6.30pm (Fecitt Brow, BB1 2AZ) and 3.00pm
(Mission Church, Blackburn Road, PR3 3YP).
Minister: Rev. Norman Green. Tel: 01254
260388.
BLACKPOOL. Baptist Tabernacle, FY1 1QL.
Evangelical Sunday services 10.45am & 6.30pm.
Wednesday Bible study and prayer meeting
7.30pm. You are warmly invited to share worship and fellowship. 50 yards from Promenade
opposite Metropole in Springfield Road. Tel:
Rev. V. P. Tracey, 01253 394326.
PRESTON. Ashton Baptist Church, Garden Walk,
Ashton, PR2 1DP. Sundays 10.30am & 6.00pm.
Wednesday 7.30pm prayer meeting. Pastor:
Andrew Holland, tel: 01772 396282. Elder: Ray
Russell, tel: 01772 715517.
PRESTON. North Preston Evangelical Church,
Sherwood Way, Fulwood, Preston. Reformed
Baptist Ministry. Sundays 10.30am and 6.30pm.
Wednesdays 7.30pm. For more details contact
Terry Smith, 01772 712219.
LEICESTER CITY
LEICESTER. Melbourne Hall Evangelical Free
Church, St Peters Road. Sunday 10.45am and
6.30pm. Wednesday 7.30pm Bible study / prayer
meeting. A warm welcome to everyone. Rev. Paul
T. A. Bassett B.D. and Rev. Gurnam Singh. Tel:
0116 270 8410. www.melbournehall.org
Evangelical TIMES
October 2015
27
News
International
LETTER FROM
AMERICA
Planned Parenthood in the
spotlight
In the laws governing American society, there are
fundamental principles traceable to God’s moral law.
Whatever one’s opinion about the United
States being built on Christian principles
or not, the law is framed so that, most
of the time, most legislators, judges,
lawyers and police condemn those who
murder, lie and steal. And one of the Ten
Commandments says, ‘You shall not
murder’ (Exodus 20:13).
However, there is one immoral event
that has happened legally every day in the
United States since 22 January 1973. It is
the murder of unborn children.
Abortion, a practice accepted by
society, ostensibly in support of women’s
rights, inherently denies the idea that
infants are created in the image of God
and are human.
It is an issue that has caused great
debate all over the world, and the recent
release of undercover videos in the USA
of Planned Parenthood’s practices have
brought the horrors of this practice right
into the open.
History
Abortion is certainly not a new practice. It
has been performed in every barbarian and
civilised culture since the fall of man. The
ancient Greeks and Romans practised it,
and even killed deformed or sick children
after birth.
Since the rise of the Christian
church, the killing of children has been
condemned in the West, although not
officially until the sixteenth century.
Abortion was banned by civil law in the
United Kingdom and the United States
in the nineteenth century, but only for a
little while. As people began demanding
their civil rights in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries, the value of the
unborn was thrown out the window for the
sake of reproductive health.
It is interesting to note that the first
countries that legalised abortion were
the Soviet Union (1919), Iceland (1935),
Sweden (1938), and Nazi Germany
(permitted for some in 1935).
The first abortion clinic in the United
States began in Brooklyn, New York,
when Margaret Sanger, her sister and
another woman opened a clinic in 1921.
They were initially arrested and convicted
for distributing ‘obscene materials’, but
their prison sentences were never served.
Sanger and her associates gained
popular support and soon clinics, under
the name of the American Birth Control
League, sprouted up all over the country.
By 1941 there were 222 clinics, and 49,000
women had been processed in their system.
The American Birth Control League
was given a new guise in 1942 and renamed the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. By 1973, abortions were
widespread, but laws varied from state
to state on whether women may have an
abortion based on health issues or in cases of rape.
Roe v. Wade
In 1970 a case reached
the United Supreme
Court concerning an
appeal from the Texas
District Court (Texas
had been represented
by attorney Henry Wade), in which Norma
McCorvey (under the alias ‘Jane Roe’)
had wanted to have an abortion but was
denied that ‘right’ because her pregnancy
was not the result of rape or incest (at the
time, Texas allowed abortions in those
circumstances).
During the district court hearing,
McCorvey’s case had been upheld, though
the court had not changed the laws barring
abortion. The district court’s decision was
based on the Ninth Amendment of the
Constitution, which states that rights not
enumerated in the Constitution shall not
be denied to the people.
The case eventually came to the US Supreme Court and, after much deliberation,
it was ruled that abortion was a fundamental right under the Constitution. Since that day (22 January 1973), millions of unborn
children have perished in the
name of human rights.
The Roe v. Wade trial
brought greater power and
unmitigated
government
funding to Planned Parenthood (PP) and, until this
past summer, unbridled
support from various state
legislatures.
While the operations of
PP were never honourable,
American society turned a
blind eye to their practices
and very few cases brought to
light just how barbaric abortions actually are. Today’s
abortions involve killing unborn babies with drugs or, in
the final stage, through surgical force.
investigators that PP sells the ‘specimens’
for $30-100 apiece depending on how
intact they are.
Not only did the investigation uncover
that PP is involved in selling body parts
‘for research’ (which is illegal), but PP
unabashedly admitted that the procedure
by which they procure body parts is
identical to ‘partial birth abortion’, which
is also illegal.
To put it delicately, a late term
abortion means that the doctors
are able to obtain more developed
organs, but the procedure becomes
complicated to remove the entire baby
from the uterus intact.
The doctors therefore change the
legally prescribed procedure to obtain
Undercover videos
In July this year, the Centre
for Medical Progress released
a series of undercover videos
that revealed that PP and their
affiliates have participated in
selling aborted baby organs,
tissue and body parts.
Not only is this practice
cruel and barbaric according
to God’s law, it is banned
by US law. As I watched some of the
undercover footage, I was shocked by how
flippantly and casually these ‘brokers’
behaved while they discussed the sale and
value of baby organs.
The senior director of medical services
at PP, Deborah Nucatola, told undercover
Foetus at 16 weeks
the required body part. Both of these
practices are punishable by prison and
substantial fines (10 years and $500,000
for the sale of baby organs and tissue).
Since the release of these videos,
three states have stopped funding PP,
in addition to eight others who refuse to
give any funds to any organisation that
performs abortions.
Moreover, the majority leader of
the House of Representatives, John
Boehner, has called for a congressional
investigation of the abortion agency. Yet,
in spite of these measures, it may be some
time before these practices actually cease.
I hope and pray that they end very soon.
Wicked practice
Since 1973, over 58 million babies have
been aborted in the United States, while
the worldwide total number of abortions
since 1980 is over 1.3 billion. More babies
are being killed by the minute.
This horrific practice has killed more
humans than all the wars and
genocides of the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries. It is appalling that our society can
be ‘okay’ with this practice
and shamelessly kill unborn
children because they are not
deemed human until born.
While many have written to
their congressmen to try to stop
these horrid practices and many
have marched and shouted in
the streets decrying their wickedness, we must not forget that
God is always in control, even
in situations as horrible as these.
Moreover, I think the
proper response of Christians toward those who carry
out abortion is not hatred but
rather gospel love. Are we not
as vile as they; and were we
too not once dead in our trespasses and sins?
Please pray that these
practices will indeed end, but
also pray for boldness to share
the gospel to these people.
There are many abortion doctors who have been converted
and have sought to share the
gospel with those who continue to perform abortions.
May the Lord frustrate the
work of the evil one and may
he save those who are perishing
— both abortion doctors and
infants in the womb!
Ben Wilkerson
The author served with Sheffield
Presbyterian Church, UK, and is now a
Christian writer residing in the USA
Evangelical TIMES
28
LEICESTERSHIRE
EAST LEAKE. Evangelical Church. Sundays
10.45am & 6.15pm in Village Hall. Thursdays
7.30pm in Costock Village Hall. East Leake,
near Loughborough, Nottingham, Derby. Pastor
Paul Brunning, 01509 852133. www.eastleake.
org.uk
HINCKLEY. Grace Baptist Church (Independent
- KJV Bible used), 216 Coventry Road, LE10
0NG. Rev. Christopher Salmon. Visitors always
welcome. Sunday services 10.30am & 6.00pm.
Wednesday Prayer & Bible study 7.00pm. All
enquiries please phone 01455 612377 or Church
01455 617857.
WIGSTON. Little Hill Church, Launceston
Road, LE18 2GZ. Sunday 10.30am and 6.30pm.
Thursday 7.45pm. Joshua Harrison, tel: 0116
2245932 or www.littlehill.org.uk E-mail: mail@
littlehill.org.uk
6.00pm. Thursday 7.45pm. Pastor Robert Dale,
tel: 01522 822454.
OX16 0RS. Wednesday in homes. Contacts: 01295
252607 or 01295 251169. www.befc.org.uk
LOUTH. Evangelical Church, Monksdyke Road.
Sunday 10.45am inc. Sunday school, and 5.00pm.
Thursday 7.15pm. Elder: C. Sharp, tel: 01507
339714 (01507 327715).
SHROPSHIRE
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
NEWCASTLE. Reformed Evangelical Church,
Hoylake Avenue, Longbenton, NE7 7UN.
Sundays 10.30am and 6.00pm. Wednesday Bible
study, 7.30pm. Minister: Rev. Dan Peters. For
further details see www.nrechurch.co.uk or tel:
0191 266 2422 or 0191 285 9757.
TELFORD. Grace Church Wellington, Wellington
Library, TF1 1LX. Independent Reformed Evangelical. Sundays 11.00am. Pastor Tim Wills. Tel:
0758 1033913. E-mail: gcwellington@hotmail.
com www.gcwellington.com
SOMERSET
CLEVEDON. Copse Road Chapel (Evangelical
Free), Seavale Road. Sundays 11.00am, 6.30pm.
Wednesdays 7.45pm (ring 01275 878490). Pastor
Ian Hilder. www.copseroadchapel.org.uk
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
SLAPTON & WAPPENHAM Independent
Evangelical Church (near Towcester). Sundays
10.45am, and Sunday school 10.45am, at Wappenham. 6.00pm at Slapton. Tuesdays 7.30pm
at Wappenham. Contact: David Lawrence, tel:
01327 861297.
NORTH CURRY. Baptist Church (Independent).
Sunday 11.00am & 6.30pm. Bible study/prayer
meeting Wednesday 7.30pm. Pastor: Mike Scott,
tel: 01823 491265. www.northcurry-baptist.
org.uk
SURREY
LINCOLNSHIRE
NORTHUMBERLAND
BILLINGHAY. Baptist Chapel, Church Street.
Sunday 10.30am & 6.00pm. Tuesday 7.00pm.
Pastor James Mansfield, tel: 01526 861439. www.
sermonaudio.com/770171
BOSTON. Prayer and study fellowship meet alternate Thursdays at 7.30pm. (Most of us meet at
Billinghay Baptist Chapel on Sundays.) Contact:
Hector Hall, 01205 365689; or Pastor James Mansfield, 01526 861439.
LINCOLN. Evangelical Church, Uffington Close,
off Skellingthorpe Road. Sunday 11.00am and
LONGHORSLEY. Mission (FIEC). Sunday
11.00am & 6.00pm. Creche 11.00am. Thursday
7.30pm Bible study & prayer meeting.
Tel: 01670 518202/01661 822546. www.
longhorsleymission.org.uk
OXFORDSHIRE
BANBURY. Evangelical Free Church. Sunday
10.30am (creche & junior church), Lecture Theatre, Banbury Academy, Ruskin Road, Banbury,
OX16 9HY; and 6.30pm at Grange Road Chapel,
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WORTHING. West Worthing Evangelical Church,
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BULKINGTON. Congregational Church. Sunday
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STRATFORD UPON AVON. Grace Church,
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9BL. Sunday 11.00am & 6.00pm. Details: Brian
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WILTSHIRE
DEVIZES. Maryport Street Baptist Chapel,
Maryport Street, Devizes, SN10 1AH. Sunday
11.00am & 6.30pm. Tuesday 7.30pm. Pastor:
Thomas Yates, 07752 258177. www.maryport
streetbaptist.org.uk
WORCESTERSHIRE
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DROITWICH. Witton Chapel, Tagwell Road.
Evangelical Reformed ministry in Worcestershire.
Sundays: 10.30am and 6.30pm. Thursdays: 7.30pm
Bible study and prayer meeting. Details: (01905)
794271 or (01684) 567969. www.wittonchapel.
org.uk
YORK
YORK. Evangelical Church, meeting at Mill
thorpe School main hall, entrance via Philadelphia Terrace off Albemarle Road, YO23 1DH.
Sundays 10.30am and 6.00pm except 1st Sunday
evening, 5.00pm, St Clements Hall, Nunthorpe
Road, YO23 1BW. Wednesdays 8.00pm (check
venue). Mark Troughton, 01904 700681. www.
yorkec.org.uk
YORKSHIRE: EAST
HULL. East Hull Presbyterian Church (Evangelical), R/O 336 Holderness Road, Hull, HU9 3DQ.
Sunday 10.30am & 6.00pm. Wednesday 7.30pm.
Details, tel: 01482 214248/01482 581069/01482
789690. E-mail: christophermlawson@hotmail.
com
October 2015
CHURCHES
CHANNEL ISLANDS
JERSEY. Quennevais Evangelical Church.
Sundays 10.45am & 6.00pm. Bible study/prayer
meeting Wednesdays 7.30pm. Minister: Roger
Davies, tel: 01534 744984. E-mail: rogerand
[email protected] www.quennevaisec.
com
CHURCHES
WALES
ABERYSTWYTH. Alfred Place Baptist Church
(Independent), SY23 2BS. One block from the
promenade, up Corporation Street. Sundays
10.30am & 6.00pm. Tuesdays 7.30pm. Pastor
Geoff Thomas, tel: 01970 617982.
CARDIFF. Emmanuel Baptist Church, Gabalfa
Avenue, Gabalfa, CF14 2SH. Sundays 11.00am
and 6.00pm. Wednesday 7.30pm. Pastor John
Woolley. Contact: Alan Lansdown, tel: 02920
616816. www.emmanuelcardiff.org
CARMARTHEN. Evangelical Church, 11 The
Parade (road behind Lidl, Priory Street), SA31
1LY. Sundays 10.30am & 5.30pm. Sunday
school 3.15pm. Tuesday 7.00pm. Contact:
Rev. C. Rogers, tel: 01267 236147. E-mail:
[email protected] www.carmarthen
evangelicalchurch.org
HAVERFORDWEST, Pembrokeshire. Hill
Park Evangelical Baptist Church. Sundays
11.00am & 6.00pm. Sunday school 11.00am.
Midweek fellowship Wednesday 7.30pm. Contact:
Pastor Gareth Edwards, tel: 01437 762994.
PONTARDDULAIS, Swansea. Noddfa Evangelical Church, St Teilo Street (on the edge of
Gower). Sunday 10.30am & 6.00pm. Sunday
school 10.30am. Prayer meeting Weds. 7.30pm.
Pastor Alan Levy, tel: 01792 893228.
LAMPETER. Evangelical Church, Victoria
Hall, Bryn Road. Sunday services: English
10.30am, Welsh (with translation) 5.00pm.
Wednesdays 7.30pm. Contact G. Jones, tel:
01570 423368. www.lampeterevangelical
church.org.uk
SWANSEA. Ebenezer Baptist Church, near High
Street station. Sundays 11.00am and 6.00pm; SS
10.00am. Wednesdays 7.30pm. Minister: Rev.
Graham John, tel: 01792 582845.
WELSHPOOL. New Street Evangelical Church,
The Old Chapel, New Street, Welshpool, Powys,
SY21 7SF. Off Broad Street turn by Nat West
Bank. Sundays 10.30am and 6.00pm. Weds. BS
& PM 7.30pm. Contact: Graham Hind. Tel: 01490
440302.
CHURCHES
OVERSEAS
MALTA. Bible Baptist Church, Madonna TalGebla Street, Gzira. Worship services in English.
Sundays 10.15am. Thursday 7.00pm. Faith Bible
Institute meets Tuesdays 6.30pm (August-May).
For free transport and a friendly welcome call
Pastor Joe Mifsud 00 (356) 79971433. E-mail:
[email protected] www.
biblebaptistchurch-malta.org
FOR SALE
PURITAN SETS for sale. Must collect. Tel: 01904
425234.
MISCELLANEOUS
HULL. Kingston Evangelical Church, Park Grove
off Princes Avenue. Sunday services 10.30am &
6.30pm. Wednesday 7.30pm. B
ible study and
prayer meeting. Enquiries, tel: 01482 844579.
YORKSHIRE: SOUTH
SHEFFIELD. Grace Reformed Christian
Fellowship. Sunday service 3.00pm at Handley
Street, Sheffield, S3 9LG. Visitors welcome. Further details: www.gracereformed.org.uk
GO-DIRECT AUTOS can supply used/new cars
to your door. Professionally prepared, at discount
prices. Part exchanges welcome. Contact Richard
on 01604 408895. E-mail: richardboyes856@
btinternet.com
Evangelical TIMES
October 2015
29
Shutterstock
Raising
teenagers
‘My son, if you accept my words … then
you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God’
(Proverbs 2:1-5).
Roy Summers
My wife and I, by the grace of God alone, have raised four
children. We are now convinced that the teenage years are
among the most difficult ones to face. This is true for both
parents and young people themselves. Understanding what the
Scriptures teach about this age will help us be wiser parents.
What are the particular challenges of youth? According to
the Scriptures, young people face some unique challenges.
Challenges
Young people increasingly have the bodies of adults and
desire to make their own life-changing decisions. However,
they lack the wisdom and experience of adults. The young
prodigal son (Luke 15) leaves home with half his father’s
money. He lacks the wisdom that comes from experience
and, consequently, he wastes it all!
A young man is enticed by a loose woman (Proverbs 7),
but, without the experience that would alert him to danger,
is led ‘like an ox going to the slaughter’ (7:22). Youth is a
time when God can so easily be forgotten. It is so filled with
new and exciting experiences that it is easy to forget God
altogether. This is one reason Solomon writes: ‘Remember
your Creator in the days of your youth’ (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
Youth can be a time of intense temptation. ‘Flee the evil
desires of youth’, writes the apostle Paul (2 Timothy 2:22),
implying that there are temptations unique to youth. Paul is
not only referring to sexual temptation, for vanity and overzealousness (now called ‘radicalisation’) are also particular
temptations for young people. Paul himself was a violent
zealot when young (Acts 7:58).
These challenges are compounded by the long transition
to adulthood young people have to endure in Western
culture. In other cultures, young people have to accept adult
responsibilities much earlier in life.
In contrast to these special dangers, youth can be a time
of great spiritual opportunity and service. It can be a time for
accomplishing great things for God.
Samuel was a leader from his youth (1 Samuel 12:2).
David killed Goliath in his youth (1 Samuel 17 — would he
have attempted such a daring act as a more ‘sensible’ adult?).
Daniel and his three friends stood up fearlessly for God in
their youth (Daniel 1-3), and Timothy was a young pastor (1
Timothy 4:12). So we must never assume that the years of
youth will necessarily be times of failure and decline.
How then should we guide our teenagers? In the light of
the particular challenges of youth, how should parents guide
their children during these years?
Scriptures
Parents ought to familiarise themselves with the particular
Scriptures that can help young people at this time: the early
chapters of Proverbs; the specific teachings of the apostle
Paul on raising children; the example of God the Father,
both towards his perfect only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and
towards us, his erring sons and daughters; and the way Jesus
gently discipled the Twelve, as recorded in the Gospels.
Prayer
To pray for them goes without saying. How will we gain
the wisdom we need without constantly remembering our
children before the Lord in prayer? I will never forget the
tearful prayers of my own mother for her six children.
Patience
Understand the enormous changes taking place in their bodies
and lives and don’t ‘exasperate them’ (Ephesians 6:4). Choose
your battles carefully and let many lesser matters pass.
One of the most remarkable characteristics of our Lord’s
patient discipling of the Twelve is how he admonished them
only for big faults — such as pride, prayerlessness and
faithlessness — forbearing with their lesser foibles. A wise
parent of teenagers will learn not to nag like a dripping tap.
Encouragement
At the start of his ministry, Jesus Christ heard his Father in
heaven speak highly of him: ‘This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17). During the
teenage years, when our children are trying to work out who
they are, speak encouraging words to them.
have to learn more about their interests to engender and
sustain this ongoing communication.
Second, since they so easily forget the Lord, talk to your
children about God. Find creative opportunities to do this:
on walks, in the car, on the way home from a sports event or
movie. God’s people are to include God in whatever they are
doing (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). There will be new adult areas of
conversation to discuss from a Christian perspective.
Advice
Be explicit in your advice. Every parent of teenagers should
make a close study of Proverbs chapters 1-7, where we find
Solomon giving explicit advice on everything from gangs to
sexual temptation.
Parent, you have the experience your child lacks; share it
with them freely! Take special note of the tender and intimate
way Solomon shares his wisdom: ‘Listen, my son…’ (1:8).
If you leave a vacuum on tricky subjects, be sure the gap
will be filled by the world, and most probably filled with evil.
Give good and sound reasons for the ‘shoulds’ or
‘shouldn’ts’ of belief and behaviour, since teens are now
reasoning for themselves. And remember, while they may not
seem to be listening, they are!
Protection
Teach them to protect themselves online. There is no greater
source of danger in a teenager’s life today than the Internet, now
available by all kinds of device. Parents, wake up to the danger!
According to the Christian software protection website
‘Covenant Eyes’, 68 per cent of young men and 18 per cent of
young women view pornography online every week. In other
words, pornography is becoming a normal part of youth culture.
For younger teens, cyber bullying is commonplace. Did
you know that the information young people put out on social
media about themselves may stay there for ever, jeopardising
their future careers? Talk about these dangers openly with
your children. Break the taboo of silence.
Use an Internet Service Provider (ISP) which blocks evil
at source. Encourage your teens to use software that logs
every internet site, establishes accountability partners and
alerts those partners immediately if some dodgy website
has been accessed. (Of course, parents must have this sort
of accountability in place themselves before they encourage
their children to use it.)
Two helpful Christian accountability software companies
are ‘Covenant Eyes’ and ‘Accountable2you’.
If you do not take action to protect your children from
material on the internet, they are in danger of being corrupted.
That is how serious the situation is today. Dear parents, you
have been warned!
Let them go!
Love
The prodigal’s father continued to love his wayward son and
every morning scanned the horizon, hoping and yearning
for his speedy return (Luke 15:20). Whatever happens, our
children should be assured of our love for them.
Conversation
Keep talking to them. In the Gospel of John we catch a
glimpse of the constant fellowship between God the Son and
God the Father.
We know that communication is central to all
relationships. Maintain communication with your teenage
children, even though talking can be difficult, especially if
the chatty child suddenly turns into a silent teen. You may
Finally, after doing your best, under the Lord, to bring your
children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, learn
to let them go. As they develop, give them more rope; don’t
tie them to your apron strings. We need strong young men
and women of God, not perpetual babies.
The prodigal’s father did not try to manipulate his son
when the son left home (‘I’ll be so lonely without you’;
‘You’re really letting me down’; etc.). And that’s why, in his
hour of greatest need, the son returned freely. For no child
willingly returns to a manipulative parent.
‘Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not
forsake your mother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace
your head and a chain to adorn your neck’ (Proverbs 1:8-9).
The author is pastor of Manor Park Church, Worcester
Evangelical TIMES
30
HOLIDAYS
ENGLAND
CORNWALL
GORRAN HAVEN. Bungalow, sleeps 7, bedding, towels, cream tea provided. Short walk to
evangelical church and beach. Tel: 01726 843345.
www.clovellygorranhaven.co.uk
PADSTOW. Chalet, sleeps 6. Sea glimpses.
Beaches nearby. £150-£350 weekly (including
heating). Missionary discounts. Tel: 01202
253879/382598. E-mail: paulandruthbromley@
gmail.com www.atlanticbaysholidaypark.co.uk
PORT ISAAC, near. Quality, superbly equipped
cottages on working dairy farm. Close to beaches,
walks etc. Each has own private garden and
parking. Family friendly. Open all year. Short
breaks available. Visit Britain 4 star. Pets welcome.
Information: www.treharrockfarmcottages.com
Tel: 01208 880517.
DEVON
APPLEDORE, North Devon. Cottage on
quays ide. Sleep s 6 /8 . 1s t flo o r lo un g e,
waterside views. Good rates. Contact: 01271
346382.
ISLE OF WIGHT
NEWCHURCH. Spacious bungalow, countryside
village setting. Sleeps up to 7 + cot. Large garden.
Central for attractions, beaches. £390-£775.
Contact: [email protected] or tel: 07928
581095. www.thebrambles.moonfruit.com
HEALAUGH, SWALEDALE. Character
cottage. Quiet hamlet. Sleeps 1-4. Private parking.
All inclusive. Evangelical church near. Ministers’
discount. Brochure. Tel: 01748 884848.
YORKSHIRE: NORTH
HAWES, WENSLEYDALE. Cottage, sleeps 4,
garage, bedlinen. No pets. Mrs I. Whaley, Widdale Side, Hawes, North Yorks, DL8 3LX. Tel:
01969 667363.
CHANGING
YOUR CAR?
Here’s how to save
money and worry.
We buy only to meet specific orders.
No expenses on stock and
showroom means low prices!
SURECAR CONSULTANTS
024 76673971 (office hours)
www.surecar.co.uk
171 Broad Lane, Coventry, CV5 7AP
Run by Evangelical Christians.
A very special offer on
quantities of John Blanchard's
Why on earth did
Jesus come?
Grab a pack of 50 for £50
Take a case of 170 for £100
HOLIDAYS
SCOTLAND
PORTHENDERSON, Ross-shire. Recently refurbished, fully equipped seaside cottage. Sleeps
2. Garden opening onto safe, sandy beach. For
brochure, contact 01445 741237.
ULLAPOOL, 3 miles. Two bedroom modern
bungalow with garage. Comfortable and well
equipped. Central heating and double glazing.
Overlooking Lochbroom to the Summer Isles. Tel:
01862 892178 or 01854 612498.
HOLIDAYS
WALES
FRESHWATER EAST (near Pembroke). Holiday
home. Safe sandy beach 300m. Sleeps 6. £200£440pw. Tel: 01295 252607.
HOLIDAYS
OVERSEAS
EPeooks www.epbooks.org
Distributed by:
, of those.com
Trusted resources at great prices
Tel: 0330 223 3423
[email protected]
CYPRUS. Beautiful family villa. Private pool and
gardens. Near beaches and restaurants. 12km from
St Paul’s Cathedral. Tel: 01582 881685.www.
comecyprus.com
Are you interested in being part of a
Reformed and Presbyterian church
plant in Manchester or Leeds?
FLORIDA. Villa. Private pool and lake view.
Disney/shops/restaurants 20 minutes. Evangelical
fellowship 10 minutes. Contact 07971 194211 or
www.christiancoastalapartments.com
We are beginning church planting Bible
studies soon. Do contact the minister of
Sheffield Presbyterian Church (part of
EPCEW), Rev. Dr Kevin Bidwell,
for more information.
Mobile: 07954 546487 [or]
[email protected]
Self-catering holidays in
relaxing Rutland
www.lodgecountrypark.org.uk
CALNE CHRISTIAN
BOOKSHOP
16 Phelps Parade, Calne, Wilts SN11 0HA
Tel: 01249 823265
Open
Tuesdays to Fridays 9.45am to 1.30pm
Saturdays 10.00am -12.30pm
Wide selection of adult and children’s
books, videos, CDs & DVDs.
THE OLD TEMPERANCE BOOKSHOP
The Christian Bookshop
Reeth, Richmond, DL11 6TE
Tel: (01748) 884185
Christian books, cards & crafts
Tel: 0845 060 1689 (local call charge)
Beside the village
green in Reeth, the
‘capital of Swaledale’,
we are 50 yards up from
Reeth Evangelical
Congregational Church.
In the north of the Yorkshire Dales,
not far from the border of Co. Durham,
Reeth is 10 miles beyond Richmond in
beautiful walking country.
Opening times:
1.30 - 4.00pm Monday, Thursday, Saturday
10.30am - 4.00pm Friday (Market Day)
All models from new to five years; older
part exchanges taken and for sale.
Finance and leasing available.
Free UK delivery (mainland).
Additional discounts for pastors.
Care to know more?
Please call Stephen Crowter.
Get ready for
Christmas evangelism!
REETH, SWALEDALE. Cottage near evangelical
church. Sleeps three. From £160. Ministers’
discount. Winter breaks (3 nights). Brochure. Tel:
01748 884615/884759.
SUSSEX: EAST
HAILSHAM. B&B/self-catering. Quiet country
location. www.longleysfarmcottage.co.uk and
www.eastsussexselfcatering.co.uk Tel: 01323
841227. E-mail: longleysfarmcottagebb@dsl.
pipex.com
October 2015
Sevenoaks Road, Pratts Bottom,
Orpington, Kent, BR6 7SQ.
Open Monday - Saturday
9.00am to 5.00pm
Probably the largest selection of
‘in print’ Reformed study books
outside central London
All within 2 minutes of junction 4
on the M25
Ample parking and in house
tearoom to refresh the traveller.
www.thechristianbookshop.co.uk
TO ORPINGTON
ESSO
TO BROMLEY
A21
JUNCTION 4
M25
WE ARE HERE
PROTESTANT TRUTH SOCIETY
Providing Christian support for
people with learning disabilities
www.lodgetrust.org.uk
NORTHWOOD
MISSIONARY AUCTIONS
A charity run by Christian volunteers
WILL ARRANGE TO SELL BY AUCTION
your jewellery, silver, plate, china, glass,
pictures, Victoriana, stamps and other
valuables. Proceeds to a missionary or
outreach society or church of your choice.
NO COMMISSION WILL BE DEDUCTED
For more information please telephone
01923 836634
Visit our web site www.nmauctions.org.uk
Established 1969
Registered Charity no. 290227
184 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2HJ Tel: 0207 405 4960
E: [email protected]
W: www.protestant-truth.org
Christian Bookshop
Visit our bookshop, Monday - Friday, 9.30am - 5.30pm
We stock a good selection of Evangelical & Reformed books,
Bibles, commentaries, concordances, periodicals, etc.
Bite-size School of Theology & prayer meetings
You are invited to the PTS bookshop for lunchtime talks
& discussions every Tuesday afternoon — 1.10-1.45pm.
Wickliffe Preachers
Our PTS team of Wickliffe Preachers are available to
speak at churches and assemblies throughout the country.
‘Protestant Truth’ bi-monthly magazine
Contact us for a complimentary copy.
Evangelical TIMES
October 2015
Remembering
Hiroshima
Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, and then
another on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945.
This forced the unconditional surrender
of Japan on 14 August 1945 and drew to
an end over six years of war across the
globe.
Little Boy and Fat Man
‘Time is of the essence’ Continued from page 24
Our perception
Our view of time is that it is real, and has been created
by the God, who also sovereignly controls the course of
history. Our limited knowledge means there remains a
subjective element to our understanding of time.
We are all aware of time ‘dragging’ by so slowly
sometimes, and yet ‘flying by’ at others. Time, however, is
not merely subjective; it is a wonderful gift of God.
John Calvin (1509–1564) commented on the subjective
appearance of time when he said, ‘If we look around us, a
moment can seem a long time, but when we lift our hearts
heavenwards, a thousand years begins to be like a moment’.
The end
The universe as we know it will one day come to an end,
and will be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth
(Revelation 21:1). J. C. Ryle said, ‘There is a time appointed
by the Father when the whole machinery of creation shall
stop, and the present dispensation shall be changed for
another’.
The ending of the time in which we now live will also
mean the ending of the opportunity God has given all
people to repent of their sin and unbelief, to turn to him and
accept the forgiveness and righteousness he freely offers,
by his grace.
Whatever our views of time and eternity, God has
left us in no doubt that the ‘now’ we experience each
day is a moment of opportunity which can never be
repeated. That is why Paul exhorts us: ‘I tell you, now
is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation’
(2 Corinthians 6:2).
The frightening thing is that those who refuse to accept
God’s cleansing will be locked into their dirty condition
for all eternity, whereas those who have confessed their
sin to God will be kept safe and clean for ever (1 John 1:9;
Revelation 22:11).
How will you spend eternity? Are you ready to
welcome the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, like Josiah
Conder (1789–1855) in his hymn ‘See the ransomed
millions stand’?
Time has nearly reached its sum;
All things, with Thy bride, say ‘Come!’
Jesus, whom all worlds adore,
Come and reign for evermore!
The author is a retired analytical
chemist and member of St Mellons Baptist
Church, Cardiff. In 2012, he published
Thoughts fixed and affections flaming
(Day One, concerning Matthew Henry.
News
outright; a further 35,000-40,000
died from long-term health effects
— mostly leukaemia, but also
after-blast and burn injuries, with
hundreds from radiation illnesses.
Seventy years later, Japanese
prime minister Shinzo Abe and
the mayor of Hiroshima called on
There were mixed emotions at the
world leaders to work together to
Japanese commemorations to mark the
Little
Boy,
the
uranium
bomb
dropped
on
abolish nuclear weapons. During
end of the Second World War with the
dropping of the atomic bombs (A-bombs) Hiroshima, was one of 32 built by the US a memorial service attended by
military. It directly caused 66,000 deaths, 40,000 people in August 2015,
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
As the War in the Pacific drew to allegedly including 20,000 members of commemorating the dropping of
a close, US president Harold Truman the Imperial Japanese Army, and injured Little Boy, representatives from 100
countries held a moment of silence
approved the military use of atomic 69,000 others.
weapons — dropping first one on the Fat Man, the plutonium bomb dropped at 8:15am, the time of the blast.
heavily populated Japanese city of on Nagasaki, killed 35,000-40,000 people More than 5000 additional
names were added to the memorial
at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Park, taking the total there to more
'Unbroken' premiere in Sydney,
than 272,000 people.
November 2014
Such was the impact of the
bombing that, on 10 August 1945, the Unbroken
Japanese government wrote a letter of
protest to the US of ‘a new-type, cruel Missionary and former Olympian Eric
bomb ignoring international law’. Even Liddell died in a Japanese camp, in Weishien,
today Japan does not accept that the use of in 1945. He was not the only former
Olympian to suffer at Japanese hands.
the A-bombs was justified.
The 2014 film Unbroken, produced
However, thousands of British,
Australian and American servicemen and directed by Angelina Jolie, tells of US
were tortured in Japanese prisoner of war runner, Louis Zamperini, who pledged to
(POW) camps, counter to the Geneva serve God if he survived a crash-landing
Convention on how to treat prisoners in the ocean.
of war. Some of the most atrocious acts After 47 days at sea, he and his fellow
included a massacre of 150 Americans at a survivor, a practising Christian, were
camp in Palawan, and the deaths of 2,200 picked up by the Japanese navy and thrown
during a forced march into a POW camp. The film tells of his
endurance under extreme persecution by
through Borneo.
There were also one particular officer, Mutsuhiro Watanabe.
notorious camps along After the war, Mr Zamperini returned
the Burma-Thailand to Japan in 1950 to address the Japanese
‘death
railway’, war criminals held at Sugamo Prison in
where 15,000 Allied Tokyo. While there, he shook hands and
POWs perished, along embraced many of his old camp guards.
with almost 180,000 His old torturer had avoided capture, but
civilians impressed Mr Zamperini later wrote a letter forgiving
his former tormenter and unsuccessfully
into slavery.
Moreover, as the tried to meet with him while in Japan for
Americans
fought the 1998 Winter Olympics.
their way across the Thankfully, the world has not been led
Pacific towards Japan, to another world war, but those who lived
the Japanese had hung through the Cold War will have experienced
on to their conquests to the fear of living under the threat of atomic
the last man, causing warfare. Pray to God that there will never
countless
casualties be a need to use such weapons.
on both sides for every
Simoney Kyriakou
Atomic bomb clouds over Nagasaki (l) and Hiroshima (r), August 1945
territory liberated.
Event
31
Evangelical TIMES
32
October 2015
youthfeature
EMW summer camps
News
The Evangelical Movement of Wales (EMW) saw more than
400 children and young people attending the 11 camps that
it ran over the summer.
According to a statement from the EMW Camps
Committee, all the children heard the good news of Jesus
Christ; some have become Christians and others have
been strengthened in their faith; more have still to respond
positively to the offer of new life.
According to Mark Barnes, one of the leaders of camp
10, Dyffryn Ardudwy, there had been some rather interesting
incidents in the camp, including a marriage and a birth!
He said, ‘There cannot be many camps that can boast
a wedding and the birth of a child, but two of our officers
married each other on Saturday (joining the camp on Sunday).
‘Then, late on Sunday night, our chaplain had a call from
his wife to say that she had gone into labour, two weeks early.
Thankfully he was able to get to the hospital an hour before his
daughter was born, and returned to camp on Tuesday afternoon’.
By God’s grace, the camp was not disrupted and Mr
Barnes said the camp felt the presence of God. He said, ‘We
looked at what Jesus said about the Bible in the preaching
meetings, and everyone was listening attentively.
‘As is often on camp, it can take a few days for campers
to open up, but that began to happen. Some campers from
Christian homes began to realise that perhaps they had been
pretending to be Christians’.
From camp 11, also at Dyffryn Ardudwy but for 14-18
year olds, one of the leaders Paul Daniel said it had been
a tough start, mostly because of some stormy weather,
although this cleared up later in the week.
Mission
Every child, every day
Charity Feed the Hungry has launched a campaign
called ‘Every Child, Every Day’, to help raise awareness
about, and meet the needs of, street children in Manila.
In the slums of Tondo, many children have to
rummage through garbage to find something to sell in
order to raise money for their families.
However, the new programme aims to feed 1000
children a daily, nutritious meal at school, which
according to teacher Diana Buenaobre, who formerly
He said, ‘Matt Bownds took us through some challenging
topics, such as what the Bible says about spiritual warfare,
assurance, sex and relationships. We saw campers coming
forward with thoughtful and honest questions as they grapple
with the Christian walk. It is clear that our campers face a
tough time away from camp in a secular society’.
Beach road, Dyffryn Ardudwy
lived in the Tondo slums, is desperately needed.
Ms Buenaobre — who says Jesus changed her life
— said, ‘We lived here for 12 years, and it was very
difficult. The area and water are not clean. It was my
dream to become a teacher.
‘Thank God for the privilege that I was a scholar
and could go to college. There were times [when I was
younger] that I didn’t have money for lunch at school, but
the Lord provides.
‘Food is really important, especially for the kids
right now. Malnutrition is increasing, and we all know
that food can help the students think well. This is a
motivation that would help our children go to school if
they could have a meal’.
ET Christmas issue
Where does God live? — Clive Anderson; The ultimate gift — Gary Benfold; Sad world; good news — Stephen Clark;
The surprising story of Colonel Gardiner — Faith Cook; True tolerance — Timothy Cross; Meet Adam — Paul Garner;
Good news for chocaholics — Peter Jeffery; Pity for a broken world — Simoney Kyriakou; Peace, perfect peace — David Magowan;
Armenian experience — Sisan Manoogian; Oxford-trained scientist acknowledges the Creator — Dr Yusdi Sorntoso;
Creation and evolution — Graham Swift; God gave his Son — Geoff Thomas; Jesus, our Immanuel — Martin Wells; Is the Bible reliable? — Peter Williams
December evangelistic issue: order form
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pdf - Evangelical Times

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