Contents

FEATURES

New year’s resolutions for God’s glory, not our own

The Frankfurt Declaration: A response to Tobias Riemenschneider

Meeting through music: Ukrainian refugees settle at Swiss church

Promoting gospel preaching in Ethiopia

Lessons my father taught me (Part 1)

Is this the most important question facing evangelicals today?

Was the Covid pandemic a judgment from God?

COMMENT: Growth, investment, and challenges at ET

GUEST COLUMN: What is a cult?

THINKING IT THROUGH: Urban Myths (or should we call them lies?)

A WALK WITH MR O: Leadership in one word

A SHRINK THINKS... Face masks and phylacteries

CRUNCH POINTS: Paul and Jesus said, ‘Do not be anxious.’ Is anxiety a sin?

NEWS

News in brief

Chaplain wins apology after being told to remove cross

Church steps in to host ‘cancelled’ conference opposing child sexualisation

UK Supreme Court says ban on protests around abortion clinics does not breach human rights

Heidi Crowter and others says they will appeal their Down’s abortion law discrimination case

Census shows almost half of England and Wales are happy to identify as ‘Christian’

Appallingly inappropriate sex education video shown to eight-year-old pupils at CofE school

Government moves to protect free speech by ditching plans to outlaw ‘legal but harmful’ content online

Inaugural Heritage Bible Conference is hailed a success

Two-year interim ends as Matt Palmer inducted in Colchester

‘A pen in God’s hand’ – Rob Parson inducted at Wooler church in Northumberland

Ukraine: Pentecostal preacher and son tortured and killed after being taken by Russian soldiers

Canada: Parliament discusses euthanising disabled children, while others call for babies to be included

Mozambique: Mission Aviation Fellowship pilot held in prison

Spain: European Mission Fellowship holds its first field conference in more than 30 years, with about 100 members meeting for the weekend

Afghanistan: Christians helped to flee the Taliban and resettle elsewhere

2022 a ‘record-breaking’ year for Bible translation, says Wycliffe

300 attend Christian Values in Education national conference

188 years and counting – London City Mission praises God at its annual Thanksgiving Service held at Westminster Chapel

Swanwick convention helps equip Christians to reach out with the gospel to people in the cults

OBITUARY

Walter Chantry 1937–2022

REVIEWS

Healing that divides: How every Christian can advance God’s vision for racial unity and justice

The Trial of the 16th Century: Calvin and Servetus

Lessons from the Upper Room: The heart of the Saviour

A handbook on Open-Air Evangelism: Guiding Principles and Best Practice

Disease, Scarcity, and Famine: A Reformation perspective on God and plagues

FEATURES

New year’s resolutions for God’s glory, not our own

It seems that every December, many people make well-intentioned resolutions for the new year. With premeditated bursts of enthusiasm, they are caught up in a whirlwind of peculiar, and sometimes public, activities that puzzle many.

We witness surprising promises and new year’s manifestos whereupon we are summoned to behold what sweeping changes may come in the new year. The sceptical observer may ask: is all this new year’s fervour genuine? Is it helpful? Is it really necessary?

Moreover, the curious onlooker may ask: is it even appropriate to make resolutions? After all, shouldn’t we at all times and all seasons seek to live wisely, obediently, and biblically?

Some may even go so far as to argue that resolutions themselves are not biblical, based on the fact that the Word of God itself provides us with a complete and authoritative compilation of God’s resolutions for his people to obey. To manufacture our own list of resolutions, they would argue, is superfluous at best.

These are the sorts of questions I have always considered when it comes to the whole business of making resolutions, and I have a hunch that many of my biblically informed brethren also ponder such questions.

Yet, we know that it is right and biblically justifiable to resolve to establish certain priorities and principles in life so that we might serve others faithfully and glorify God in all we think, say, and do.

And although it has not been my habit to make new year’s resolutions, I have always sought to establish and keep certain priorities and principles by which I strive to live every day, praying that the Lord would come to my aid daily to help me live according to those priorities and principles for his glory, and his glory alone, and not for the accolades and applause of those around me.

So, in considering how to glorify God in all that we do in our particular circumstances and callings, it is appropriate for us to establish and keep certain priorities and principles as we strive to love and follow Christ as his disciples – to the end that we might obey all that he has commanded us.

For some, resolutions may be one way they go about doing this, whether they make these resolutions at the turn of the new year or throughout the year.

All the while, whether or not we make resolutions, we do well to remember that we can only keep our priorities and principles in life by the power of the Holy Spirit, resting assured that by faith, and by faith alone, we have been declared righteous by the Father because of the righteousness of the Son.

Jonathan Edwards

The nineteen-year-old Jonathan Edwards knew his weaknesses and was aware of the destructive nature of his sin, so he resolved to establish certain priorities and principles in his life in his effort to live entirely for the glory of God. He helped pave the way for us as he prefaced his seventy resolutions with these words: ‘Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.’

These simple introductory words of Edwards not only provide us with a glimpse into the mind of one of history’s greatest thinkers, but they also provide us with a glorious insight into the heart of a young man who had been humbled and mastered by the Lord God Almighty. We would therefore do well to consider Edwards’ prefatory remarks as we seek to glorify God and enjoy him forever in our churches, our homes, and our hearts.

Resolving sensibly

‘Being sensible,’ Edwards begins his preface. We must be sensible, reasonable, in making resolutions. If we hastily make resolutions out of an illusion of sinless perfection, it is likely that we will not merely fail in our attempt to keep such resolutions but that we will likely be less inclined to make any further resolutions for similar desired ends.

We must go about making resolutions with genuine prayer and out of a thorough study of God’s Word. Our resolutions must be in accord with the Word of God; therefore, any resolution we make must necessarily allow us to fulfil all our particular callings in life. We must consider all the implications of our resolutions and be careful to make resolutions with others in mind, even if it means implementing new resolutions incrementally over time.

Resolving dependently

‘I am unable to do anything without God’s help,’ Edwards admits. We must be honest in grasping the simple truth that every resolution must be made in dependence on God.

And while every Christian would respond by saying, ‘Well, of course we must depend on God for all things,’ most Christians have been sold the world’s bill of goods. They think that once they become dependent on God, they will have immediate strength. They repeat the world’s mantra: ‘Whatever doesn’t kill me will make me stronger.’

While the principle is generally true, such thinking can foster an attitude of proud independence. We must understand that being able to do all things through Christ who strengthens us means that we must depend on his strength continuously in order to do all things and to keep all our resolutions.

In truth, whatever doesn’t kill us makes us weak, by God’s conforming grace, so that in our weakness we will rely continuously on the strength of our Lord.

Resolving humbly

‘I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these resolutions.’ In making resolutions for the glory of God and before the face of God, we must not come into his presence pounding our chests in triumphal arrogance as if God must now love and bless us more because we have made certain resolutions to follow him more.

In reality, the Lord in his providence may choose to allow even more trials to enter our lives; in his unchanging fatherly love for us, he may decide to discipline us even more in order that we might more detest our sin and delight in him. We should approach him in humble reliance on his grace as we seek not merely the blessings but the one who blesses.

Resolving for Christ’s sake

‘So far as they are agreeable to his will for Christ’s sake.’ We cannot resolve to do anything with a presumptuous attitude before God. The whole matter of making resolutions is not just goal-setting so that we might have happier lives. We are called by God to live according to his will, not our own – for Christ’s sake, not our own – for it is not to us but to him that all glory belongs.

This article was first published in Tabletalk, the Bible study magazine of Ligonier Ministries. Find out more at TabletalkMagazine.co.uk or try it free for three months today at TryTabletalk.co.uk.

By Burk Parsons, Senior pastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, and editor of Tabletalk magazine

The Frankfurt Declaration: A response to Tobias Riemenschneider

I am grateful to ET for giving space to Pastor Riemenschneider for his important contribution to a Christian understanding of our duties to man and God. The Frankfurt Declaration raises the issue primarily in the context of the government measures against the Covid pandemic, but the principles it offers apply universally.

The need is evident, and intention is laudable. I regret to say, however, that the principles are flawed and would lead to tragedies if implemented as suggested. They are flawed because they make rules absolute that are meant to have qualifications.

For example, ‘To make it clear, the issue is not whether or not certain measures make sense from a virological or epidemiological point of view, but whether or not the state has the right to forcefully impose such measures and thereby infringe on the rights and liberties of its citizens.’

Before demonstrating the flaw, I wish to praise the concern of those who signed the Declaration about state abuse of power. The tendency of sinful man in governance is to abuse power in the interests of the powerful. It is obvious that zealous arrogance did mark many governments and professional elites in their pandemic measures.

Dissenting experts were silenced; lies were told about the efficacy of vaccines in preventing transmission and the safety-testing of vaccines. Those who refused to take the vaccines were often penalised. These are the real abuses of state power. No Christian was morally obliged to go along with any of that.

That said, the state did not abuse its power when it imposed lockdowns; limited the size of meetings; restricted congregational singing; imposed social-distancing, etc. These are exactly the areas in which the Declaration falls down. It argues for the absolute separation of powers between the family, the church, and the state. It asserts that the state may not tell the church how it is to conduct its duties.

That assertion would indeed be true – if it was framed as a qualified sphere of power. If the state decided that it wanted to restrict or suppress the church, and ordered any or all of those measures in pursuance of that, then the Christian would be under no moral obligation to obey. God has given us the commands to do all of those, and we must obey him rather than man.

But the assertion fails because it does not recognise exceptions for any or all of those measures being imposed by the state. The church and family and state have valid exceptions to their spheres of power.

Several examples make this clear: does a husband who beats his wife have no accountability to the church or state? Certainly not! He would be disciplined by his church if it is a faithful body. He would be prosecuted by the state if his crimes came to light.

Does a church have the right to ignore quarantine in the face of a pandemic that threatens the nation? Certainly not! Has a family the right to insist on entering a congregation if the family is infected with a deadly and transmissible disease? Certainly not! Does a state have the right to impose a virtually untested vaccine of unknown safety on its populace? Certainly not!

For any of those spheres to insist on their rights as absolute is an abuse of the spheres of power God has given.

One is free to question the wisdom and efficacy of the anti-pandemic measures taken by government. That serious miscalls were made is evident: the transfer of untested and Covid-positive patients from hospitals to residential and nursing care homes is a scandal. It led to the mass-slaughter of the elderly, the most vulnerable among us. Delayed lockdowns by the British and American governments led to many unnecessary deaths.

Even the use of general lockdowns can be questioned – would it not have been better to implement the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated the focused sheltering of the vulnerable and the maintenance of the economy by the rest of us?

What can’t be questioned is the right of the state to impose reasonable measures on the family and the church in attempts to save many lives. These are the qualified rights of each sphere in action.

I saw for myself the reality of the dangers of Covid-19. In January 2021, I was admitted to hospital after struggling for several days with the virus. By the Lord’s mercy I did not need pressurised oxygen nor was intubated. What did the trick was just a regime of lots of oxygen, heavy steroids, antibiotics, and Remdesiver.

Had I not been admitted, I would have died that day, of that I am sure. In other lands many people were turned away from overrun hospitals and died at home. Two weeks of the best of care saw me released home to my family. But of all the patients admitted to the Covid wards in that hospital, 1 in 5 left in body-bags.

This time we, the church, got off lightly for any failures to respect the limited right of state intervention. The public looks back and thinks non-compliant churches or individuals were a bit reckless; some even think they were right. The state fined or even imprisoned individuals for a short time for deliberate breaches of the regulations.

But what if the virus had been a lot worse, as it could have been and might be in future? What if the government had accepted our rights to gather and sing unhindered, and large proportions of congregations had died? What if we had returned home to our wider families and neighbours and inadvertently slaughtered many of them?

What if the government had not transferred the infected from hospitals to care homes, but we maintained pastoral visits to those homes, and it was we who decimated the residents? What testimony would that have been?

We need to think this issue of legitimate authority through very carefully, for similar crises are certain to arise again.

By Ian Major, Ian is a member of Lurgan Baptist Church and a former missionary to prisoners in NI.

Meeting through music: Ukrainian refugees settle at Swiss church

When President Putin launched his ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, people were horrified because war had once more come to Europe. Many could remember the last war, and when the Queen died not long afterwards, many took time to reflect on its long-term consequences.

Since that time, the cost of living crisis has underlined the knock-on effects for all of us, as fuel prices have rocketed all over the world and everybody feels the need to tighten their belts.

But for the refugees who had to flee their homes last spring, sometimes with only a carrier bag of possessions, the effects of the war have been even more catastrophic.

Among the Ukrainian refugees are many Christian believers who have lost their homes, their churches, and their jobs. Now they are trying to pick up the pieces in a country where not many of them speak the language.

They are our brothers and sisters, part of the body of Christ, so we want to demonstrate our love to them and help them as much as we can.

Ukrainian exodus

Lausanne Free Church is an evangelical, Bible-believing church serving the English-speaking community in Lausanne and the surrounding areas of Switzerland.

Because our church is largely made up of people who are not Swiss, in some ways it is easier for us to understand what it is like to be strangers in a strange land. Conversely, because people sometimes travel a long way to come to our church, it is harder for us to offer them hospitality during the week and offer them practical help.

The first Ukrainians came to Lausanne Free Church last spring. Since then quite a few have arrived, although not all have stayed. Some are from a Pentecostal background and have gone elsewhere, some still come occasionally, but others come every week and have become involved in the life of the church.

One family has nine children; the younger ones water the plants and help prepare the Lord’s Table, and the oldest girl (who is the only one who speaks English) also plays the piano for some of the hymns.

When they said that their home was about 30 kilometres from the front line at the time, the reality and uncertainty of the dangers they faced suddenly felt very real. These people really had to escape.

Linguistic opportunities

The canton of Vaud decided to house many families as close to each other as possible and provide a place where they could cook and eat together.

They were given free travel passes for the trains and buses so that they could get to know the area that had become their place of safety, and slowly they began to make new friends.

Those who were Christians soon found each other, and a few weeks later another family arrived at the church on a Sunday morning.

They were from Mariupol, and their 10 children ranged in age from preschool to young adult; our Sunday School, which had been bilingual (English and French) for a long time, suddenly became trilingual.

They are mostly from eastern Ukraine, which is Russian-speaking, and in God’s providence our church is ideally placed to be able to help them.

God in his almighty power had already undertaken for his people in this unforeseen situation, which had taken us all completely by surprise.

Some years earlier two brothers who were Russian speakers had joined the church with their families, which meant that once we had purchased equipment to enable simultaneous translation via small headsets, our new brothers and sisters were able to understand the sermons and take part in our services.

We ordered 30 headsets, but the company sent us 50, so maybe we should expect even more Ukrainians to join us at some point.

In addition, some of the children are also able to translate into Russian for our Sunday School, which means that they have an opportunity to serve God in a new way.

Beyond hello

We all need to be able to communicate with the people around us; that is true in families, in work situations, and also in our churches.

At LFC, nearly everybody uses a foreign language almost all the time, since the majority of people are not native English speakers. Ukrainians are taught Russian as a second language, and those from the east usually grow up speaking Russian. One of the first things we had to learn was how to say ‘hello’ in Russian, followed by ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’.

Soon we wanted to share information and news, and some people began to navigate the mysteries of phone apps that can translate instantly. The technology is clunky, but we all feel the need to make a personal connection. Unsurprisingly, our Ukrainian friends are much more expert than we are.

One in Christ

We have been able to help in practical ways out of the plenty that we enjoy in Switzerland, but we have also been greatly blessed by the presence of our Ukrainian friends.

The time of open prayer during the service gives them an opportunity to pour out their hearts to God, and while we don’t understand much of what they are saying, we can hear the pain and suffering in their voices.

We don’t have a common language, but we all believe and trust in the same almighty God, who hears our cries, sees our tears, and provides for our needs.

One aspect of our worship has been particularly blessed by this new connection. We discovered that a good number of our hymns are also sung in Russian (or Ukrainian), so now we make sure that each week the words of at least two of them are printed out in Russian so that we can all sing together. I don’t think that anybody will forget the first time we all sang ‘It is well with my soul’ – we were all in tears.

As a result of this ability to sing together, we have learnt some new tunes and a new way of sharing our times of worship. One tune in particular sounded particularly Ukrainian to our ears, so we used DeepL software to translate the words into English.

I then did my best with the Lord’s help to write a hymn that we could sing with our brothers and sisters. The words are at the end of this article, and if any readers would like a free PDF of the score, then please contact me via ET.

Swiss education

The canton has now given the family a three-bedroomed apartment to live in. The disadvantage is that it is quite a long way from Lausanne, meaning that they have to catch a train quite early in order to arrive in time for the 10.30 a.m. service.

They still arrive at the same time, if not before, we do, meaning that as we drive along Chemin des Fleurettes we wave to a succession of children who are making their way to the church. Now we know what the King Charles feels like!

The children have started school, which is in French, so it is now becoming easier to talk to them. However, another consequence of what has happened to them really struck us when the oldest girls had to take an exam to establish how much they knew.

The oldest (who is the pianist) was in her first year at university in Ukraine, and hoped to become a translator or a teacher of English. She is now back at school learning, among other things, German and French, which are compulsory in Switzerland and without which she cannot go to university here.

This might seem a small thing to those of us who have already navigated the years when we are trying to work out what to do with our lives, but if your whole future has been snatched away by the actions of a powerful dictator who has annexed your home it must be hard to keep trusting God for the future.

Unknown future

Twice a month we share a fellowship lunch after the service, where anybody can bring food for everybody to share. Some people have been making dishes that are hopefully familiar to a Ukrainian palate, which we add to food from our own cultures. I think everybody at LFC has developed a taste for the pastor’s fruit crumble as a result.

The situation in Ukraine is in a constant state of flux, but it seems to be unlikely that anyone would want to take a young family back there anytime soon. None of us knows what the future holds, but from the point of view of LFC we are glad to have met these Ukrainian brothers and sisters and hope and pray that we will all continue to be blessed by their presence in Switzerland.

1. Like a pilgrim I stand

With my burden of sin

Looking up at the cross

Where my Saviour has died

Now my heart fills with joy

As my burden falls off

My new life has begun

Because Jesus has died

At the cross

At the cross

His blood has made me clean

Made anew, now I know that Jesus is my king

Tell the world, tell them all what Christ has done for me

Follow him, learn from him

Live just for him

2. Jesus died on the cross

Took the punishment due

To a sinner like me

And a sinner like you

Every blow that he felt

Every wound that he bore

Is what we all deserve

For the life we have lived

3. Now the cross is a bridge

Between heaven and hell

At the foot of the cross

We can leave all our sins

Jesus’ death made the way

For us all to be free

Turn our backs on the past

Face the future with hope

By Paula Hill, Paula is a member of Lausanne Free Church, Switzerland

Promoting gospel preaching in Ethiopia

An exciting new ministry is working to encourage gospel preaching in Ethiopia. Christian roots in Ethiopia go back to the earliest centuries. The treasurer of Candace ‘the queen of the Ethiopians’ (Acts 8:27) may have been the seed-bearer of a church in northeast Africa.

But roots sometimes need refreshing, and a group of Ethiopian pastors are trying to strengthen the preaching of the Bible in evangelical churches in the country.

Brana Gospel Focus Ministry, founded and directed by Abraham Belew (an Ethiopian pastor and former student at London Seminary), was launched in May 2021. ‘Brana’ is the Amharic word for ‘parchment’ (2 Timothy 4:13).

The ministry has three mission objectives and programs:

Brana Resources produces gospel-centred, Bible-based, and Reformed resources to equip preachers and pastors.

Brana Research conducts research and studies on the cultural, social, political, and religious issues that impact the church and its mission in Ethiopia, helping to raise awareness among the leaders.

The Brana Outreach program provides seminars, workshops, and conferences to preachers and pastors, designed to promote and enhance the preaching of God’s Word.

Brana Gospel Focus Ministry is a member organisation of the Ethiopian Evangelical Churches Fellowship (EECF). The president of the EECF and the regional evangelical leaders are fully behind our ministry and pledged to partner with Brana.

Brana Resources undertook the translation of the Welwyn Commentary Series in July 2021 and has so far translated four books: Genesis and Psalms (Vol. 1) by Philip Eveson, Luke (Michael Bentley), and Hebrews (Richard Brooks).

In the pipeline are Psalms (Vol. 2), Romans (Stuart Olyott), Deuteronomy (Andrew Stewart), 1 Samuel and Acts (Gordon Keddie), Isaiah (Derek Thomas) and 1 and 2 Peter (William VanDoodewaard).

Brana is thankful to the board of Evangelical Press who agreed to fund the printing of 2,000 copies of each of the first four books.

A special service to give thanks for the project and these books and make them known to the evangelical community was held at the International Evangelical Church in Addis Ababa last May. Our Facebook account quickly jumped from a few hundred followers to 1,200 followers, and is still growing.

Brana Resources currently has six translators, one language editor, and a managing director. So far, more than 700 books have been sold, and the feedback is encouraging: the Welwyn commentary style and format is adjudged by preachers and pastors to be just the right level to meet the present need. It is proposed to sell books to Ethiopian churches in the UK, Europe, and the US.

The news about the project is spreading, both in Ethiopia and among Ethiopian churches abroad, and several bookstores have approached them to buy in bulk.

As part of the Brana Outreach programme, two seminars were held on 31 May and 4 June 2022 for preachers, pastors, and leaders in Awassa (a city south of Addis Ababa). About 150 leaders attended the first seminar on the theme ‘Preaching Christ from the Whole Bible’.

Pastor Mostyn Roberts taught these sessions and the participants received soft copies of the translated material.

Brana Outreach is considering how to build on this effort for which the positive feedback from the church leaders and the participants has been overwhelmingly encouraging. Many who didn’t attend but heard about it are now downloading the material from our website.

The second seminar, on 4 June, was held at Misgana Evangelical Church. The theme that was chosen by the church was ‘Faithfulness in the ministry’, and over 100 ministers attended the seminar, led by Abraham Belew over two sessions.

Brana is thankful to individuals, churches, and Christian organisations that have been instrumental in God’s hand to sustain and support us so far, including our board of trustees, Graham Hind, the Board of Evangelical Press, the Bread of Life Church, London, and my home church, Christ Covenant Church, Birmingham.

Above all, we thank the Lord our God who ‘counted us faithful’ and entrusted us with this vision and who in his divine providence graciously provided us with the necessary human and financial resources to do his will.

We want to partner and collaborate with like-minded leaders, churches, and ministries, particularly Reformed pastors and churches both in Ethiopian and in other African countries.

We are planning a two-day event in Addis Ababa in May 2023, hoping that African Reformed leaders will be able to speak. We want to link and partner with Reformed movements in Rwanda, Kenya, Zambia, and South Africa. At home we want to reach key groups including emerging ministers of the Word.

If you would like to find out more about Brana Gospel Focus Ministries please visit www.branagospelfocus.org or email admin@branagospelfocus.org.

By Mostyn Roberts & Abraham Belew, Mr Belew is the founder of Brana Gospel Focus Ministry.

Lessons my father taught me (Part 1)

‘Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever’ (Hebrews 13:7-8).

Right from the start, let me say that neither of my parents was perfect. Even so, I am not going to share their faults with you. I am going to share their strengths.

I offer their strengths to you so that, first, you may be encouraged with the thought that a godly parent can have a positive impact on a child.

Second, I want you to know that if you will persevere with your child, your impact will be great.

Third, it is my hope that the young people who hear my story will remember some of what I say, that it might be a help to them when they become parents themselves.

My father died very suddenly. The telephone rang during a morning service at church, and a deacon brought the message to me in a note while I was preaching. His note reached me about ten minutes before the end of my sermon. It said, ‘Your father is seriously sick.’

When I saw those words, I knew. He had a history of heart problems, and so I knew that he had gone to be with the Lord. In his providence, I was preaching about the white robes, the glory, and the beauty of being with the Lord forever.

I will never forget the last five minutes of that sermon, how the Lord really gave me special freedom to speak about the future of God’s people in glory. Perhaps that is one of the greatest gifts of all that a father can leave behind for a child – to live in such a way as to leave no doubt in that child’s mind that you are now in glory.

We all miss our parents tremendously when they die, of course. We miss their love. But the greatest balm of comfort to the grieving soul is the knowledge that one’s parents are in glory.

My father lived and died serving the Lord. In fact, he went straight from leading a service to being in glory that day. He had prayed the long prayer with great emotion, and then began reading a sermon. He was on page two when he fell over with a heart attack. He went straight from the pulpit to the throne room of heaven at the age of 73. He was married to my mother for 52 years.

There are many memories, of course, that flood into my mind at a time like this. My dad taught me many lessons. Over the course of two articles, I will offer you nine examples.

1. My dad taught me the value of speaking to your children about God.

My dad spoke to us often about God’s ways with his people. I think his specialty was the work of the Holy Spirit in the soul. When I later became a minister, those talks would come back to me with a lot of power and comfort.

In his talks he would often have these ‘sayings’. He would say to me, ‘What I am about to tell you I wish I could write with an iron pen on your heart.’

I don’t know why, but that’s what he always said, and I knew something big was coming when he said it. As a matter of fact, it is almost as if his words were written with an iron pen on my heart, because I never forgot the things he said.

He would save these moments for very special instructions. For example, he once said to me, ‘What I am about to tell you I wish I could write with an iron pen on your heart: It is a wonderful thing to get some comfort from the Lord, but an instruction from the Lord is even more valuable, because a comfort lasts only a little while, but an instruction lasts your whole lifetime.’ He would say things like this all the time. You just cannot forget those things.

Another time he said to me, ‘I wish I could write this with an iron pen on your heart, but the difference between a believer and an unbeliever – and always remember this – is that a believer has a place to go all the time. When an unbeliever comes into trouble, he doesn’t know where to go.’

I’ve only had two surgeries in my life, and both were on my knees. I remember when I was going in for my first knee surgery. I had stood beside thousands of hospital beds over the years, but I had never been in one.

This was strange to think about on my way to the hospital. As I began to pray, my dad’s words came back into my mind. It brought me to tears on the way to the hospital: ‘A believer always has a place to go.’

I thought to myself, ‘There is no need to fear. You are safe in the hands of Jesus. Even if he takes your life, you will just go to be with him, the best place of all.’

I wrote recently about a man in Northern Ireland who awoke out of surgery and was told by his doctor that his body would fully heal. The man replied, ‘I am disappointed. I wanted to be healed altogether. I wanted to go and be with the Lord.’

My dad would find opportunities to teach us. His best time was often on Sunday nights, when he would read to us from Pilgrim’s Progress. Once he tried to read Holy War to us, but we did not understand it well so he stopped halfway through.

With that one brief exception, all of the twenty years that I lived at home, we did nothing but read Pilgrim’s Progress on Sunday nights. I know that book like the back of my hand, and I love it.

My dad would encourage us to ask questions. My brother and I asked many questions during our teen years. After I was converted, I would sometimes ask my dad questions until midnight or later. I would literally sit at his feet on the floor, and we would talk from heart to heart. It was absolutely wonderful.

During the week my dad was so busy that it seemed like he did not have any time for us kids. But Sunday night was a time to ask my dad spiritual questions. ‘Who was Mr Talkative?’, ‘What does that name mean?’, ‘Why did it take Christian so long to find the key of promise in Giant Despair’s castle?’

I asked many questions, and he loved it. He would set the book down and teach us with tears in his eyes.

For my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, we kids all agreed to share one thing we appreciated about Mom and Dad. All five of us said the same thing. We all appreciated our mother’s prayers, and we all appreciated our father’s family worships on Sunday evenings as he would go through Pilgrims Progress.

My brother said to him, ‘My oldest memory in life comes from a time when I was three years old. I was sitting on your lap, Dad, and I looked up into your face, and I saw a God who is real as I watched the tears stream down your face. I thank you, Dad, that I never had to question the reality of God.’

2. My dad taught me the value of service.

I only worked with my dad for two summers. When you worked for him, it seemed that he had time for you. My very first day on the job he said to me, ‘You see that hammer there? Don’t try to saw a board with it. You see that saw? Don’t try to drive a nail with it.’

I responded, ‘I know that, Dad.’ He said to me, ‘But do you know why I am telling you? Because God designed us to live to his glory and to be of service to our neighbour. When we try to live for ourselves it is like trying to saw a board with a hammer, and trying to drive home a nail with a saw. It doesn’t work. You will never find satisfaction and joy in life, my son, if you try living for a purpose for which God did not make you.’

I was thirteen years old when my dad shared this with me. I wasn’t converted until I was fourteen. It really made me stop and think. Service is what life is all about. My dad exemplified that, sometimes to the point of frustration.

It was rare for him to spend leisure time with us kids during the week, but if someone from the church called, he would be gone in a moment. He was a servant.

At times I resented him for this, but at other times I understood, especially as I got older. He would say to me, ‘If there are people in need, you meet those needs.’

Now, would it have been wiser for him to spend some time with his family first, and then go? I think so. But that was my dad. All day long he would work, and all evening long he would serve the church. I don’t ever remember my mom and dad just sitting together and talking at night. They were always working and serving.

The idea of making every moment count is something I learned from my dad. He never wasted time. He never occupied himself with things that he felt would not be fruitful in some way.

By Dr Joel R. Beeke, Author, minister, and President of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI.

Is this the most important question facing evangelicals today?

One of the most thought-provoking articles about evangelicals today was written last year, and it may have escaped your notice. It escaped mine until a friend pointed it out to me. You may not agree with every jot or tittle of the article, but I think it raises vital questions that evangelicals throughout the English-speaking Western world need to talk about.

The article is called The Three Worlds Of Evangelicalism, written by Aaron M. Renn and published in the United States in February last year by First Things magazine. I toyed with the idea of seeking permission to republish it in full here in Evangelical Times, but the article is rather long and (understandably) American-focused.

So I thought it would be better for me to attempt to summarise it here, and try and broaden it out to apply to the UK scene. You can read the full article yourself online if you wish. In fact, I would encourage you to do so. Plus, the follow-up video essays on YouTube are worth watching too.

In his article, Renn says that from the mid 20th century into the early 21st century there have been three phases in how the culture has viewed Christianity. The first phase was largely positive – which is to say that church-going and proclaiming Christian values were regarded as respectable things. Yes, church attendance and church membership may have been in decline, but nevertheless Christianity was seen as a virtuous thing.

But then we moved from the positive phase into what Renn calls the ‘neutral’ phase. Which is to say that most people no longer regarded church-going as self-evidently good. They didn’t necessarily see it as bad either. People were apathetic about it. Christianity was one choice among many, but the Judeo-Christian value system was no longer the de facto ethic for society.

However, today our culture has moved beyond the ‘neutral’ phase and is now in the ‘negative’ phase. Christianity – especially evangelical Christianity – is seen as a bad thing. To call yourself an evangelical is to announce to the world that you are an anti-women, anti-gay, anti-choice bigot. You’re probably a racist and a climate-change denier too.

Let me just break off from Renn’s article for a moment and share a story that illustrates his point. The church I pastor – Chorlton Evangelical Church in Manchester – has been hosting a children’s Bible club every summer for decades. And for decades we have advertised the club, in part, by leafleting parents outside their school gates when they pick up their kids.

I assure you, it was all done sensibly, politely, non-confrontationally, and on the public pavement. But a few years ago, a teaching assistant at one of the schools confronted one of our church members to say that inviting parents to send their children to our holiday Bible club was ‘disgusting’.

The use of the word ‘disgusting’ rocked me. To that teaching assistant, an evangelical church seeking to teach the Bible to children was revolting, sickening, and filthy. That’s quite something, when you consider the type of material used in sex education lessons these days. I’m not saying everyone in society views evangelicals that way, but many do. We are living in a culture that is openly hostile to biblical Christianity. Renn is right. We are in a negative world.

Back to Renn’s article. He dates the shifts between the positive, neutral, and negative phases of the culture to specific moments in American history. I don’t think those dates translate to the UK scene. In this regard, we on this side of the Atlantic are several years ahead of our American cousins. But the general analysis of the three phases is recognisable to anyone who has been paying attention.

How have evangelicals responded to these three phases? Here’s where Renn’s article gets interesting. He says we have seen the emergence of three distinct evangelical worlds.

First, we have the evangelical cultural warriors. These are the pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-religious freedom political activists. Renn references Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority, a 70s and 80s American movement associated with what is often called the ‘Christian Right’. They are still active in the US today in the form of Trump-adoring evangelicals.

Here in the UK, socially-conservative evangelicals have never had that sort of political influence. And so many of the extremes of the US Christian Right have not emerged here. Yes, we have organisations that campaign on similar issues, but identifying them as some sort of UK version of the US right wing political evangelicalism is a sloppy stereotype.

Nevertheless, we recognise the ‘culture warrior’ model. To these evangelicals, doctrinal fidelity is very important. That’s to their credit. But they run the risk of treating people as political opponents to be defeated in the culture wars, rather than lost souls in need of hearing the gospel.

However, according to Renn, other evangelicals have gone in a different direction. As the culture has moved from a positive to neutral to negative view of Christianity, ‘seeker sensitive’ churches began to emerge. These evangelical churches began to ask what would attract outsiders back to church.

So churches became much more consumer-driven. Gone were the old, stuffy, ancient hymns. In came the new worship bands with modern songs. Out went the preachers in shirts and ties, in came the dynamic speaker in jeans and t-shirts. Out went heavy doctrine, in came light-weight spirituality. Church became much more of an entertainment experience or a lifestyle choice.

Such ‘seeker sensitive’ churches have been enormously successful in terms of drawing big crowds. In the US, the largest mega churches have followed this model. The mega church phenomenon doesn’t really exist in the UK, but even here most large cities will have numerous ‘seeker sensitive’ churches drawing big crowds of people, many of whom are biblically illiterate.

There is, however, a third group identified by Renn. This group of evangelicals, he says, follows a ‘cultural engagement’ model. These evangelicals are not confronting the culture like the ‘culture warriors’, but nor do they embrace the full ‘seeker sensitive’ model. They don’t major on issues like abortion or gay marriage, and prefer to talk about social justice issues like racial discrimination and climate change.

These ‘cultural engagement’ evangelicals typically are to be found in the elite cities, mixing with creative media professionals, and they like to maintain their social status in the culture by distinguishing themselves from the ‘culture warriors’.

Evangelicals in this group say they hold to conservative beliefs on issues like sexual ethics and gender roles, but they also look for opportunities to maximise the visibility of women’s ministry and to show how open they are to those struggling with sexual identity issues. They look for areas where they believe the Bible and society agree, like the safeguarding of the vulnerable from abuse.

Renn says this group – the evangelicals that follow the ‘cultural engagement’ model – are most at risk in a culture that views Christianity so negatively. That’s because, no matter how softly-softly they engage with the culture, the culture wants to destroy them. The ‘cancel culture’ will shut them down, regardless of how sophisticated their approach may be. Unless they are prepared to embrace the full progressive agenda of the secular culture, they will always be viewed negatively by the elites.

There is another danger for this ‘cultural engagement’ group. They think by maintaining their social acceptability in the culture they will gain influence for the gospel. But their social acceptability comes at a price. Compromises must be made. Certain beliefs must be kept quiet, secular language has to be adopted, the politically-correct virtues must be displayed and signalled prominently. Eventually, the culture swallows you up so that you are indistinguishable from it.

By contrast, evangelicals who follow the cultural warrior model are more likely to survive, albeit at the margins of society, because they don’t care whether the culture ‘likes’ them or not. In fact, not being liked by the cultural elites becomes a badge of honour! Doctrinal purity is what drives them, and it even makes them willing to take pot shots at their fellow evangelicals who, in their view, have become too ‘woke’.

So then, according to Renn, in a culture that has moved from viewing Christianity positively, to neutrally, to negatively these three worlds of evangelicalism have emerged: the culture warrior world, the seeker sensitive world, and the cultural engagement world.

No doubt there are nuances within those worlds. No doubt there is a sliding scale. No doubt there are evangelicals who have a foot in two camps. Perhaps there will be some evangelicals who think they are able to rise above it all and take what’s good from every world. But nevertheless the worlds of evangelicalism are surely recognisable across the Western nations.

Renn has received much criticism for his article. He responds to the main areas of criticism in a YouTube video. During the video he says he identifies himself most with the ‘cultural engagement’ model of evangelicalism. So, he says, when he analyses that particular crowd, he does so on the basis of what he has personally seen and experienced. He sees their faults from within, he says. He thinks this group is the most vulnerable because it is trying to exist in the milieu of progressive culture.

How then shall we live as evangelicals in a culture that is increasingly negative towards Christianity? Renn doesn’t necessarily provide any definitive answers in his article. Rather, he’s trying to give a framework that analyses where we are at. He certainly thinks we’ve got to be more intelligent in our approach to culture, and avoid the political red-meat woke-bashing of the culture warriors.

He says we have to heed the words of Jesus when he told the parable of the wise and foolish builders, that we must not only ‘hear’ but ‘do’ the words of Christ. On that last point, surely all evangelicals can agree. As for the rest of Renn’s analysis, evangelicals will hotly debate it. But it’s a discussion we need to have.

By Mike Judge, Editor of Evangelical Times and pastor of Chorlton Evangelical Church, Manchester.

Was the Covid pandemic a judgment from God?

It is nearly three years since the outset of the Covid pandemic. How are we to assess what happened? In particular, was it an act of divine judgment on mankind?

Much pastoral wisdom is needed in how we respond to this question as there is plenty of opportunity for misunderstanding.

In the search for a simple answer, some adopt the following reasoning: ‘event P, affecting the group of people Q, is a judgment on sin R.’ However, this assessment is both arbitrary and ignorant.

First, it is arbitrary because reality is less neat. Typically, natural disasters have a range of effects, from mild to deadly – does that mean those affected worse, are worse sinners? (Note that Jesus provides the answer to a similar question in Luke 13:2-5.)

People are guilty of many sins, so why should sin R be the one that is selected as the cause of a particular judgment?

Further, group Q includes a whole variety of people, some of whom may not be characterised by sin R at all, and there are others outside group Q who may be immersed in sin R, yet escape unscathed.

Even where God does link the disaster enveloping a community with its sin, it is clear these complexities remain. For example, before the exile, Israel’s disobedience extended back many centuries, yet only the generation alive at the exile faced that specific consequence.

Similarly, many of those exiled were faithful Israelites (e.g., Daniel) and some who remained in the land continued in disobedience and unbelief.

Second, our assessments are based on ignorance because most of the time God does not give us a running commentary on how he is working out the justice of the universe. We are not God, and attempting to second-guess his purpose will never end well pastorally.

In short, we cannot answer the question, ‘Is coronavirus the judgment of God on...?’, but that is not the question I am asking. The question, ‘Is coronavirus a judgment from God?’ can be answered on the basis of what God has revealed.

If death is the wages of human sin (Romans 6:23), then coronavirus and other death-inducing features of the physical world must be part of the consequences of sin, and therefore become part of the natural order sometime after the first sin (the fall) of Adam.

As a result, the natural world now operates differently (Genesis 3:14-19, Romans 8:20-23) to the original ‘very good’ creation (Genesis 1:31). With this history of the world in place, we can provide the biblically-grounded explanation of natural evil: all suffering is due to sin, but not necessarily the sin of the person suffering.

Connections and consequences

In this framework, ‘innocent suffering’ (i.e., suffering not directly related to the sin of the person suffering) is the result of our interconnectedness, both with other people and the physical world: my thoughts and actions have consequences for others and the world.

Humanity as a whole, through history, suffers a complex mixture of physical consequences from Adam’s sin, everyone else’s sin, as well as our own individual sin. And it is those physical consequences that alert us to something being profoundly wrong spiritually.

C. S. Lewis helpfully spoke of suffering as ‘God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world’. However, if Christians try to sever the link between sin and natural evil (including Covid) by insisting on long ages of suffering prior to Adam’s fall (as evolution requires), then that megaphone produces a muted and distorted message.

A muted message

It is muted because if natural evil is part of how the world was made and how it has always been, then it is much harder to argue this is not how it is meant to be – i.e., that there is something wrong with how creation functions now.

Apologetically, this is an own goal, since one of the few things just about everyone does intuitively sense is that there is something wrong with the world! That sense of ‘paradise lost’ is explained by Adam’s fall, corrupting an originally ‘very good’ creation.

The ‘shock value’ of natural disasters is also muted, because these events have always happened such that they are a regular, normal (albeit unpredictable) part of life on this planet. In the words of 2 Peter 3:4, ‘everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation’.

A distorted message

Breaking the link between sin and natural evil, and thus avoiding the language of judgment, distorts the message that suffering conveys. It tells us that we are victims needing therapy, rather than guilty people deserving judgment.

Put in those terms, the attraction of going down this route in today’s culture is obvious, but it is a distortion of the gospel and does not point people to Christ.

If we interpret suffering as a badge of our victimhood, it merely leads us to seek comfort and whatever relief from suffering that we can find from any source, not necessarily Christ. Our focus becomes relief from suffering, treating the symptoms not the cause.

It also distorts how the cross of Christ is understood, such that it becomes about God sharing in our pain – as Tom Wright puts it, ‘his hands, in fact, are nailed to the cross in order to share our pain’ (Healthy Faith and the Coronavirus Crisis: Thriving in the Covid-19 Pandemic).

Judgment now and then

However, if suffering is ultimately due to sin, it confronts us with our guilt before our Creator. The only answer to that guilt is found in Christ, in particular his wrath-bearing atonement on the cross.

A message that natural evil is evidence of God’s judgment against sin and a warning of the greater wrath to come will not make us popular. But it will make us relevant, giving traction to our message that eternal judgment is something to be taken seriously – just as a patient experiencing pain or other negative symptoms is more likely to act on a doctor’s warnings of early death due to their unhealthy lifestyle.

As John Piper rightly notes (in his book, Coronavirus and Christ), the physical is tangible evidence of the spiritual reality. Jesus cites physical judgments from the past (Luke 17:26-32) as well as contemporary events (Luke 13:1-5) as warnings to be ready for the judgment to come.

While such warnings do need to be spoken boldly (not apologising for God’s righteous judgment), they must never be spoken coldly – Jesus wept as he prophesied Jerusalem’s destruction (Luke 19:41-44).

Nor should providing this theological rationale for our suffering be seen as opposed, or as an alternative, to practical help. Rather, understanding natural evil as a result of sin, and its removal as part of the redemption Christ has purchased, provides the motivation to do all we can to alleviate suffering in the present. In doing so, we are following Christ in bringing glimpses of the new creation into the present.

This is an edited extract of ‘COVID-19 and Creation: Megaphones, Mystery and Lament’, available at affinity.org.uk.

By Dr Stephen Lloyd, Dr Lloyd is a lecturer for Biblical Creation Trust and pastor of Hope Church, Gravesend.

COMMENT: Growth, investment, and challenges at ET

Last year, in 2022, ET saw an overall increase in paying subscribers. That’s wonderful news, and a big thank you to all our readers who took out a digital, print, or combined subscription last year. Without such subscriptions, ET couldn’t continue to provide our coverage of news and analysis for evangelicals.

We have invested heavily in improvements to our digital output. This is where we are seeing the biggest growth in our readership. We will continue to invest in this area. Our weekly email newsletter has proved very popular, as well as our social media feeds. But we remain committed to our monthly print edition as the backbone of our work.

We are especially thrilled to see the way our evangelistic Christmas supplement has grown. From a base of around 7,000 copies sold per year, we have rocketed to over 21,000 copies sold this past Christmas. Industry research consistently finds three readers per print edition of a magazine or newspaper, so that’s over 60,000 people reached with testimonies and gospel articles.

But the newspaper and magazine sector remains a challenging environment. Fewer people are reading printed editions, with more people getting their news and analysis online. Added to that, the cost of printing and distributing the print edition of ET has increased. The current economic climate is difficult for many people, but it has sadly been necessary to increase the cover price of ET to £2.

That’s still good value for money. At just £2 per month, ET is cheaper than a latte at your favourite high street coffee shop. It’s a small price to pay to keep yourself informed of the latest developments affecting evangelical churches in the UK and beyond.

If you really want to know the cheapest, quickest, easiest way to get yourself a monthly print copy of ET, then you should consider becoming a church agent. All you need is you and at least two friends at your church to subscribe and we will send a batch of ETs to one address for you to distribute at church. Visit evangelical-times.org/agents to find out more.

GUEST COLUMN: What is a cult?

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘cult’? Dangerous? Weird? Unorthodox? Damaging? Scary? It’s extremely unlikely that the word would engender positive feelings. Why is this?

In contemporary society, the word ‘cult’ is always used in a pejorative way. It has become synonymous with threat and fear. No one would send a Well done on joining a cult! greeting card to a friend or loved one. But although the term ‘cult’ is viewed negatively today, it has not always been so.

The word cult comes from the Latin, cultus. Among other things, the word denoted worship, reverence, and veneration, and could be used in a positive context. It was used in this way during the 16th and 17th centuries.

After falling from popular usage, the word was revived in the 19th century and given the broader meaning of ‘devoted attention to a particular person or thing’. One online dictionary defines cult as ‘great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work’.

This is a most unhelpful definition! It is so generic that it could apply to those who identify as Jedi knights, Spurs fans, Elvis impersonators, and, most shockingly, Christians. After all, don’t Christians exercise ‘great devotion’ to a particular person – the Lord Jesus Christ? As we can see, defining a cult is not simple.

The reality is that defining cult is very much dependent on the person giving the definition. Everyone approaches the word in light of their own worldview and context.

For example, those speaking from a non-religious, academic context would likely shy away from using the derogatory word ‘cult’ altogether. Preferred expressions would be along the lines of ‘New Religious Movement’, and from there a definition would arise.

‘New Religious Movement’ can be a helpful term, and I think that where possible, it is good to use it when sharing the gospel with a cult member. I have found that telling people they belong to a cult soon antagonises and alienates them, but using ‘New Religious Movement’ has proven to be much less offensive (even though I still view them as being cult members).

Sociologists would include in their understanding of New Religious Movements/cults the following key traits: 1) the use of psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate, and retain its members; 2) its founder/leader being self-appointed, charismatic, dogmatic, messianic, and not accountable to anyone.

This definition is correct for most (if not all) cults, but Christians need to expand upon this, especially when considering those New Religious Movements which label themselves ‘Christian’.

Perhaps the nearest we can come to a biblical definition of a ‘Christian’ cult is the Apostle Paul’s words written to the church in Corinth: ‘For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough’ (2 Corinthians 11:4).

Building upon the words of the Apostle Paul, Walter Martin (in his book, The Kingdom of the Cults), describes a cult in this way: ‘A group of people gathered about a specific person’s interpretation of the bible... from a theological viewpoint, the cults contain not only a few major deviations from historic Christianity. Paradoxically, they continue to insist that they are entitled to be classified as Christians.’

This is a helpful definition when considering the groups that claim to be Christian, like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. What do these groups believe and why would we call them cults? My next article will seek to answer those questions.

By Tony Brown, Speaker for Reachout Trust and member of Sunbridge Road Mission, Bradford.

THINKING IT THROUGH: Urban Myths (or should we call them lies?)

Have you come across the story of the tourist who smuggled a stray dog back from Hong Kong (or it might have been Buenos Aires, or Addis Ababa), and left it in her flat? When she came back that evening, she found the dog foaming at the mouth and her cat nowhere to be found. When the vet was called, he told her three things. One, there was nothing wrong with her dog. Two, her dog had eaten her cat. Three – her dog wasn’t a dog: it was a huge sewer rat from the Far East... or South America... or North Africa.

You’re sure the story is true. It must be. It happened to someone you know – or at least it happened to a friend of someone you know... or a friend of a friend of someone you know. But you’ve never been told the name of the tourist. Or the vet. Or the friend to whom she told the story. I first heard that story when I was a child; I’ve been told it many times since. It’s odd. Each time I’ve heard it, the details have varied. But the heart of the story is always the same.

How about the story of the United States (or was it UK?) warship that found itself on a collision course with another vessel? The captain of the warship demanded that the other vessel change course, and issued more and more explicit threats if it failed to do so. To which the unidentified vessel finally replied, ‘This is a lighthouse. Your call.’

Again, I’ve been told that story many times and each time I’ve been assured that it’s true. Okay, no one’s ever been able to tell me the name of the warship or its captain. I’ve never managed to find out exactly where this is supposed to have happened or when. Some of the details are different each time it’s told. But the person who’s told me knows that the story is well documented and to be trusted.

These are urban myths. Stories passed on from one person to another by word of mouth, or these days via the internet; reported as true, but with little or no information about their sources, and no evidence at all that the events described ever happened. I’ve given you two, but there are countless others in circulation. People enjoy hearing such urban myths and they enjoy repeating them. Some of the stories are funny, some are frightening, most depend for their effect on a startling punchline.

There are other urban myths which don’t take the form of stories. They are offered as surprising ‘facts’. Did you know that dogs can only see in black and white? Did you know that from the moon it would be possible to see the Great Wall of China with the naked eye? Did you know that at any time only two people in the world are allowed to know the formula for Coca-Cola? Did you know that in the Middle Ages, it was legal for a man to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb – hence the expression ‘rule of thumb’?

If you try to find out where these ‘facts’ (fictions) originate, you’ll run into problems. But I’ve heard them repeated many times. If you ask your informant where he (or she) learned them, or what evidence there is for their truth, he may become increasingly irritated. Almost certainly, he has never checked up on the accuracy of the statements. He’s simply repeating what somebody told him.

Edifying tales and faith-building ‘facts’

There are some urban myths that circulate exclusively in Christian circles. Half a century ago, I was hearing stories from friends who attended ‘charismatic’ churches. They would tell me about missionaries who had visited their churches and the wonderful things they had to tell. There were reports of miracles of every kind, including accounts of people raised from the dead.

Well, I would ask, ‘so the missionary was actually present when it happened?’ The answer was invariably, ‘No... But he spoke to someone who knew someone who was there.’ You could never actually find out the name of the person who had been raised, or the name of a witness, or the name of the village where it happened. It was just ‘somewhere in Indonesia’ or ‘somewhere in Brazil’ or ‘somewhere in China’.

I remember the story of the communion service where the folk were so poor that they couldn’t afford wine. They just used water. But when they poured it out, it had turned into wine. Again, the narrator would explain that he had met somebody who heard about it from somebody whose friend was there when it happened. But again, nobody could ever confirm the name of anyone who witnessed the event. And each time you heard the story, the details were different.

Have you heard about the nurse walking home alone after her night-shift (or it might have been a missionary on safari, or a Christian motorist whose car broke down) who, unknown to herself, was being watched by a gang of kidnappers / rapists / thieves...? Why didn’t they attack her? Well, because they saw two giant bodyguards walking with her, one on each side. The would-be attackers told the story after they were arrested / converted / overheard talking in a pub. They had seen her guardian angels!

And the people who pass on the story are sure that it’s true. They were told it by someone who heard it from a friend of one of the policemen who carried out the arrest. Or some other unidentifiable source.

People tell the stories for different reasons. Sometimes it’s simply that they’re thrilling and ‘faith-building’. Sometimes they provide a graphic illustration of some Bible promise. Sometimes they seem to bolster the historical or scientific accuracy of the Bible.

Have you heard about the NASA computer scientists’ discovery (or it may have been a university professor from Yale who made the discovery, long before computers were invented) that there was a ‘Missing Day’ in the Bronze Age – evidently the day when the sun stood still for Joshua? Nobody at NASA seems to have any record or recollection of such a discovery. But we know it’s true: it appears on so many Christian websites.

Have you heard how Darwin was converted shortly before his death and renounced his evolutionary theories? And we actually know the name of the lady who reported it – a Lady Hope. It’s just odd that no one else who knew Darwin ever found out that he had become a Bible-believing evangelical Christian. His wife was deeply distressed by his agnosticism. Why did he never tell her that he had come to faith? Very strange. But it must have happened! Christians have been repeating the story for a hundred years.

Have you heard about the computer in the Vatican (or it might be in Moscow, or in Brussels) called the Beast? I heard a lot about that when I was growing up. And did you know that the computer used a 666 operating system? Okay, you had never heard of the 666 operating system – but there must be such a thing or they couldn’t have installed it in the Beast, could they?

Have you heard about the gate in Jerusalem so small that a camel could barely get through it? That was what Jesus meant when he talked about a camel going through the ‘eye of a needle’, wasn’t it? Strange that no contemporary source ever mentions the ‘Needle’s Eye Gate’ and that no archaeologist has ever located it... but it must have existed. Why? Because I’ve heard so many preachers say so. And they wouldn’t have said it if it weren’t true, would they?

That’s the thing about urban myths. People take them on trust, without checking the facts. And Christians are no different. They listen open-mouthed to thrilling anecdotes, inspiring tales, amazing ‘facts’ and rarely ask, ‘How do we know that this is true?’ And then they pass them on to others without ever checking up on them.

Faithful or gullible?

Christian friends have told me that men have one less rib than women. They’ve heard it from their Christian friends and now they want to share this fascinating ‘fact’. How long would it take them to check it in this internet age? Why not just look up a photo of male and female skeletons on Google Images? If they did, they’d know it’s fiction. But no, they don’t feel the need to do so.

I learned another fascinating ‘fact’ a couple of years ago while listening to a sermon. The preacher was explaining to us a paradox. The Bible tells us that our sins are ‘scarlet’. Yet if they are washed in the blood of Christ, they become white as snow. The preacher explained to us that if you look at anything red through red glass, it will appear white. He had seen his wife through a red glass window. She was wearing a red coat, but through the glass, the coat looked perfectly white.

Again, it’s fiction – an urban myth. But he clearly believed it – to the point where he could convince himself that he had actually seen it with his own eyes. How long would it take to check the ‘fact’? But no, he clearly didn’t think that was necessary. Instead, he preached it as truth.

But aren’t Christians supposed to accept things by faith? Yes they are. But that doesn’t mean believing things for which there’s no evidence. It means believing in things that are invisible, things that are still in the future (Hebrews 11:1), because we have compelling evidence that they’re real. Real faith is always built on a solid foundation of facts.

When Paul preached the Day of Judgment to the philosophers of Athens, he didn’t tell them they must believe it simply because he said so. He appealed to the historical fact of the Resurrection: ‘God has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed, and of this he has given evidence to all by raising him from the dead’ (Acts 17:31).

And why should we believe that Jesus really was raised from the dead? ‘He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me...’ (1 Corinthians 15:5-8).

Again and again the New Testament writers insist that the stories they tell are established by eyewitness evidence: ‘We did not follow cunningly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty... we ourselves heard the voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain...’ (2 Peter 1:16-18).

The Jews of Berea were commended not for any willingness to believe things without proof, but for their willingness to check the facts. ‘These Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica: they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so...’ (Acts 17:11).

Christians are not called to be gullible. Whether the story is a comforting tale about angelic visitors, or a pseudo-scientific claim about the powers of red glass, we are entitled to ask, ‘But what reason is there to think this is true? Where did it happen? On what date? Who reported it? What witnesses were there? What documentary evidence exists?’ Urban myths may be entertaining. But they are no substitute for facts.

So does it really matter?

Yes, it matters. Truth always matters. A person who repeats falsehoods – even when it’s through negligence rather than deliberate deceit – is spreading lies. And God hates all lies. They are contrary to his character.

Many of the urban myths that circulate among Christians are not just lies. They are lies about God. If I pass on a story about a miracle that never happened, I am misrepresenting God. I am claiming that he did something that he did not do. Paul was clearly horrified by the thought of such misrepresentation (1 Corinthians 15:14-15).

Christians who repeat urban myths may also be guilty of breaching the ninth commandment. There are stories about individuals that spread with lightning speed though they have no basis in fact.

Do you remember the story about C. H. Spurgeon that went the rounds in his early days? One newspaper reported that he ‘had the impudence before preaching to say, as there were many young ladies present, that he was engaged... he wished them clearly to understand that he might have no presents sent him, no attentions paid him, no worsted slippers worked for him by the young ladies present. I suppose the dear divine... has been rendered uncomfortable by the fondness of his female auditors; at any rate such is the impression he wishes to leave’.

It was sheer fiction – an ugly slander – but it became an urban myth that was still being repeated years later.

Let me give you one more example of an urban myth that has been used to blacken the reputation of worthy men. It’s one I had reason to research some years ago and I was shocked by what I found. So I’m going to give you the facts at length.

Scholars or subversives?

Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort were two of the outstanding Anglican Biblical scholars of the 19th century. Neither belonged to the ‘evangelical party’ in the Church of England, but both were earnest defenders of the New Testament against the liberalism that was flooding in from Germany.

Both men had a special interest in establishing the exact words that the New Testament writers wrote. They were pioneers in the art of ‘textual criticism’ – their aim was to compare the different readings found in different copies of the Greek New Testament, and to decide which were most likely to be original.

Together they hammered out principles for deciding not just which readings are the most accurate, but which manuscripts and which families of manuscripts are most reliable. Westcott and Hort edited an edition of the Greek New Testament which was published in 1881. Hort wrote the preface. In it, he explained the principles they had adopted.

Those principles have been broadly accepted by almost all New Testament scholars. Some of the conclusions they reached have been questioned as more research has been done. But almost everyone studying the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament accepts the general method they set forth. In that sense, their work underlies nearly all the modern Bible translations.

Well, I discovered many years ago that many evangelical Christians are deeply suspicious of the work done by Westcott and Hort. Why? Because they were, apparently, evil men and heretics. I only had to mention their names and I would hear a string of accusations against them.

I was told that Westcott and Hort were raving liberals determined to undermine the doctrine of Christ’s deity. I was told that they were Jesuits determined to promote the cause of the Roman Catholic Church. I was told that they were spiritualists obsessed with the occult; their text-critical theories came from evil spirits speaking through mediums.

Those charges have been repeated to me lots of times by well-meaning believers. And I’ve read them in various booklets and on many websites. The only problem is that nobody seems to offer any first-hand evidence that any of those accusations are true. When I look up the sources they refer to, none of them offer proof that there are any real facts behind them. Let’s take the three main accusations in turn.

1. Westcott and Hort were liberals: their work was designed to undermine the New Testament’s witness to Christ’s deity.

Well, nobody who actually reads their works will take that accusation seriously for five minutes. Westcott wrote commentaries on John’s Gospel, the Epistles of John, and Hebrews. Just read through his comments on the opening chapters of each of those books and see how clearly and powerfully he argues for Christ’s full deity and true humanity. Here is his comment on John 1:14, ‘the Word became flesh’:

The clear apprehension of the meaning of the phrase, so far as we can apprehend it, lies in the recognition of the unity of the Lord’s Person, before and after the Incarnation. His Personality is divine. But at the same time we must affirm that His humanity is real and complete. He, remaining the same Person as before, did not simply assume humanity as something which could be laid aside: He became flesh... The mode of the Lord’s existence on earth was truly human, and subject to all the conditions of human existence; but He never ceased to be God. And the nature which He so assumed He retains in its perfection...

Does a man devote his life to writing books defending the deity of Christ, if his real goal is to attack that doctrine? As to Hort, if you want to see the care with which he upheld the biblical doctrine of Christ’s deity, I would point you to his ‘Two Dissertations’ of 1876, the first on John 1:18 and the second on the 4th century Eastern creeds. Does a man who rejects the doctrine of Christ’s deity toil at promoting the great orthodox creeds?

2. Westcott and Hort were Jesuits, aiming to undermine the Authorised Version, ‘the Protestant Bible’, and thus to entice Protestants back to Rome.

You might think that that accusation rather clashes with the first. After all, whatever the errors of the Roman Catholic Church, it is at least committed to the doctrine of the deity of Christ. Why would Romanist secret agents be commissioned to undermine the doctrines that Rome itself preaches? But again, let’s look at what these men actually wrote. I have in front of me Hort’s The Christian Ecclesia. It’s a study of the doctrine of the Church, made up of lectures Hort gave as professor in Cambridge. Hort knew that by giving these lectures he would be shaping the views of the next generation of Anglican ministers. And what position does he take? Well, the whole book is a demolition of the claims of the Roman Catholic Church.

The foundation of Roman Catholic doctrine is the Papacy. It’s constructed from three dogmas: that Christ gave to ‘Saint’ Peter the authority to lead the Church; that Peter became the Bishop of Rome; that Peter passed on his authority to each bishop of Rome in turn.

Here is Hort’s response, commenting on Matthew 16:18: ‘It was no question here of an authority given to St Peter; some other image than that of the ground under a foundation must have been chosen if that had been meant. Still less, was it a question of an authority which should be transmitted by St Peter to others. The whole was a matter of personal or individual qualifications and personal or individual work.’

With that comment, Hort smashed the whole Roman Catholic system to smithereens. Did a Jesuit infiltrator really believe that he would advance the cause of Rome by persuading all his young students that the claims of Rome were false?

3. Westcott and Hort were occultists, at best spiritualists, at worst Satan-worshippers.

It is true that when Westcott was an undergraduate at university, he was one of the leaders of a club – the Ghostlie Guild – devoted to investigating ‘supernatural’ phenomena. But how did they go about that task? The members of the Club sent out a circular to explain what they intended:

The main impediment to investigations of this kind is the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient number of clear and well-attested cases. Many of the stories current in tradition, or scattered up and down in books, may be exactly true; others must be purely fictitious; others again, probably the greater number, consist of a mixture of truth and falsehood... some members of the University of Cambridge are anxious, if possible, to form an extensive collection of authenticated cases of supposed ‘supernatural’ agency. When the inquiry is once commenced, it will evidently be needful to seek for information beyond the limits of their own immediate circle. From all those, then, who may be inclined to aid them they request written communications, with full details of persons, times, and places...the mere collection of trustworthy information will be of value.

Not a word about seances or occult activity. The club’s business was simply to compile a list of ‘stories current in tradition’ or already published in books, and investigate their sources. Far from encouraging people to become involved in spiritualistic activities, Westcott made it his business to warn them to leave well alone.

Once again, we can quote his own words. He wrote,

Many years ago I had occasion to investigate spiritualistic phenomena with some care, and I came to a clear conclusion... It appears to me that in this, as in all spiritual questions, Holy Scripture is our supreme guide. I observe, then, that while spiritual ministries are constantly recorded in the Bible, there is not the faintest encouragement to seek them. The case, indeed, is far otherwise. I cannot, therefore, but regard every voluntary approach to beings such as those who are supposed to hold communication with men through mediums as unlawful and perilous. I find in the fact of the Incarnation all that man (so far as I can see) requires for life and hope.

Westcott and Hort may have deviated from biblical truth at many points. Their text-critical theories may be fallacious. But claims that they rejected the deity of Christ, or were Romanisers, or were involved in the occult, are simply urban myths, repeated from one person to another, rarely investigated, never proven. Those who pass on such claims are guilty of breaking the ninth commandment.

‘Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully...’ (Psalm 24:3-4). How careful we should be before we pass on as truth what may turn out to be just another urban myth!

All Bible quotations in this article are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, published by HarperCollins Publishers © 2001.

This article has been adapted from material first published in the monthly bulletin of Grace Baptist Church, Stockport.

By Stephen Rees, Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Stockport.

A WALK WITH MR O: Leadership in one word

Mr O, I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but you’re getting on a bit and you won’t be around for much longer.

Don’t count on it! We shall see. But why on earth have you begun our chat in such a strange way?

Well, you’ve been in Christian leadership for most of your life. After you’ve gone it will be people like me who have to take over. Have you got a key piece of advice that you would like to pass on to future leaders?

Yes. Love!

Is that it?

Yes. Love! Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And love everybody else like yourself. Love, love, love, love, love, love, love!

I know you’re right Mr O, but my first reaction to that answer is to feel a bit disappointed. I’ve been looking forward to you teaching me a hidden secret you’ve discovered. I’ve been preparing myself to hear something radical. And all you’re doing is to tell me to love!

But it is radical! Think about it. If I love God, even a little, I will regularly take time to stop and admire him. Love does that. I will pause in silent awe while I reflect on his being, his attributes, his One-ness, his Three-ness, his covenant, his creation, his providence, his redemption through Christ, his application of that redemption by his Word and Spirit, his coming judgment, his personal dealings with me, and so very, very much more. In that place of contemplation my flickering love-flame is fanned into a blaze. He is wonderful! And he loves me. I can’t help loving him in return. Isn’t that what you want to see in every Christian leader? Isn’t that what you want in your own life?

Go on, Mr O, please don’t stop!

Overcome with the God-ness of God, and conquered by his love, we are driven back to his Word, which we now read with new affection and new eyes. More and more we see things as God sees them. We see people as God sees them. Our hearts ache for them. We are eager for their present and eternal welfare. We put a new value on every child and adult that we meet. We weep over the crowds who go through life as sheep without a Shepherd. And in the depths of our soul we find a special and tender desire to care for each one of God’s people, and a willingness to sacrifice ourselves so that our inward love can express itself practically.

What else does love do?

There is rigour about true love. It is not sentimental slush. The love which we are talking about is dominated by the thought of God. It therefore cannot see anything as the world sees it. It knows that what the world considers wise is foolish, and what the world considers foolish is wise. It cannot bear to see people being led astray. It is aware that the devil blinds human minds and that the whole world lies under his sway. It therefore questions everything that humans say and do.

Everything?

Everything! God is perfect and his way is perfect. Therefore, anything that deviates from his way is inevitably a disaster. Love is broken-hearted when it sees men and women despising God and running to ruin. God’s way is the way to go! So love takes the time to weigh up and evaluate the truth of every news outlet, the integrity of every politician, the direction of every trend in society, the eternal worth of people’s values, the content and spirit of every sermon, and the beliefs and practice of every church.

But surely that’s a recipe for cynicism!

Cynics don’t see any good anywhere. Nor do they come up with a solution to the evils they see. Godly love is different. It doesn’t receive anything without questioning it, but when it does see something good, it recognises it and thanks God for it. It then proceeds to trumpet the fact that the gospel of the grace of God is the cure for everything else.

Stuart Olyott, is an actively retired minister and conference speaker. He preaches most Sunday mornings at Caergwrle Evangelical Church.

A SHRINK THINKS... Face masks and phylacteries

‘Why are they still wearing them?’ I have kept asking myself, when seeing other doctors wandering around hospitals in face masks. After all, we knew from before Covid-19 that such masks were only for use in operations and similar procedures, and that elsewhere they are useless, not designed or able to stop airborne viral infections.

The Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and others said as much back in March 2020, before political imperatives trumped him and the world went mad and we were all told to wear them all over the place. But why now, when we have finally accepted we have to live with Covid-19 along with the many other mutating viruses circulating in the world?

I can understand why some people in the general population have continued to do so. The indoctrination during the pandemic scared some people about Covid-19 and propagandised them into believing face masks have some value. So I understand why some of my patients still wear them (especially those who have severe illnesses) and in such circumstances I will too, for their sake.

But healthcare professionals? Doctors? Why, I wondered, are they still wearing them? Then I realised from conversations that the reason is not scientific but social, that it is part of the wider phenomenon of virtue signalling. I was going to type ‘modern phenomenon’, but then realised that virtue signalling has a long history, being exemplified in the New Testament by the Pharisees.

Like modern virtue signallers, the Pharisees of the New Testament period wanted people to know they were good people, righteous men. It wasn’t enough to live by the large and complex set of rules and regulations that had gradually accrued in their tradition. They needed to advertise their righteousness.

And this was, of course, one of the reasons our Lord Jesus stridently condemned them. They were keen to display their ‘right’ practices in the full view of others (Matthew 6:1-6), and just in case such individual acts might be missed, they dressed for show. Like preening peacocks they made sure they got noticed, they built (literally) on a literal interpretation of Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:18 and constructed large phylacteries, boxes containing texts from the Law, and displayed them prominently on their foreheads.

The Law did require them to wear fringes (tassels) on the corners of their garments (Numbers 15:38-39; as Jesus therefore did, e.g. Matthew 9:20) but these men made such fringes excessively long so they could not be missed (Matthew 23:5). And as if this ostentatious display were not enough, they also made sure they obtained the best seats at their synagogues and feasts (Matthew 23:6) so everyone would know they were the top dogs and thus the men to honour.

Today’s Pharisees follow their predecessors in the Gospels by using clothing to advertise their superior morality to the rest of us. Masks and rainbow lanyards have been common means to display their agreement with secular morality and promote themselves as ‘tolerant’, a woke word for ‘good people’. By ‘taking the knee’ they imitate the Pharisees in their public display of the correct behaviour and bow to the secular gods of woke morality. It shows they are in line with 21st century righteousness. Or they hang Ukrainian flags from their houses or paint their faces blue and yellow so people can see they agree with this latest politically correct behaviour.

Had it been available, the Pharisees would undoubtedly have taken full advantage of social media as other means by which they could show everyone their moral superiority. For today, social media gives ample opportunity to the elite self-appointed opinion leaders to display their zeitgeist morality. A beloved donkey is for the axe and an emotional owner makes a plea and the donkey is suddenly an internet sensation as Twitter and TikTok run rampant with likes. A child has cancer for which the treatment is exceedingly expensive and can’t be given on the NHS and so again social media is flooded with messages of support.

But social media pile-ons are not just to support the ‘good’ but to criticise those who dare to breach or criticise a modern orthodoxy. The most well-known example here is probably J. K. Rowling, who spoke out against the trans claims that we don’t know what a woman is and anyone can decide to be one, which place women at risk from predatory males. She has been widely hated across all forms of media since.

What this example helped to show is how small in number the ‘righteous’ actually are. Like the Pharisees, they are a tiny elite who have managed to corner the market in deciding what righteousness is, what actions are deemed to be good and what are decried as bad. Most people then feel obliged to join in or keep silent because it is hard to stand out from the crowd.

Modern virtue signallers are arguably worse than the Pharisees because their morality is so cheap and easy. This was amply illustrated by the England football team at the recent World Cup. Having loudly proclaimed they would fly to Qatar in a rainbow themed plane to show their support for LGBT, the plane they flew out in was decorated with a rainbow the size of a postage stamp! Too small to offend their Qatari hosts.

And then we had the rainbow armband farce when Harry Kane, the captain, decided not to wear this as soon as the organisers threatened there might be a cost in doing so. At least the Pharisees adopted a system of strict behaviour which required some effort. Our modern Pharisees feel no such need to actually change their lives.

Bold headlines and feeble, cost-free protests are the woke way. A few clicks to signal their agreement on a social media platform is enough and then they await their applause. No actual commitment to do anything is required. It is a ‘righteousness’ so brief and flimsy it is absurd. Such is the decrepit state of ‘morality’ in modern Britain.

Alan Thomas, Professor and Consultant in Psychiatry. Elder at Newcastle Reformed Evangelical Church.

CRUNCH POINTS: Paul and Jesus said, ‘Do not be anxious.’ Is anxiety a sin?

Anxiety can be sinful if it reflects a spirit of unbelief in the gracious promises of a heavenly Father. We must be careful, lest we heap upon tender consciences burdens they need not or cannot bear.

You are thinking of Christ’s command not to seek what you should eat or drink, nor to have an anxious mind (Luke 12:29), and Paul’s words: ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God’ (Philippians 4:6). Don’t take away the force of these commands: Christ tells us not to be anxious – we should take that seriously.

Anxiety involves a troubling or tormenting fear about ‘what might be’, a sense of being left hanging. Speaking to Job, Zophar expressed ‘a turmoil within me’, a frantic or agitated spirit, with swirling thoughts and distressing doubts provoking speech (Job 20:2). This gives a good picture: the words ‘worry’, ‘care’, and ‘concern’ can all carry something of the same meaning.

Neither Christ nor Paul demand stoical impassivity in the face of distresses. Our Lord could be troubled in spirit (John 12:27; 13:21) – he felt things deeply, without ever sinning. Paul says not to be anxious for anything, but uses the same word to express that he has no one who thinks like him who will ‘sincerely care for your state’ (Philippians 2:20). He explains to the Corinthians that besides his other trials he has the daily burden of ‘my deep concern for all the churches’ (2 Corinthians 11:28).

Consider the characteristic spirit and typical response to such pressures. Every believer fights this battle. In us, anxiety is often woven together with a lack of trust in God, his providences and his promises. We do not embrace all that God has said concerning his care of us. That was clearly not the case in the Lord Jesus, though his faith would be tested to a degree beyond ours. It was clearly a challenge for the apostle.

If you look at the context of all our examples, in each case anxiety (actual or potential) is relieved by explicit declarations of confidence in God concerning what lies ahead, or testimonies or instances of prayerful dependence on God in the midst of those troubles. Paul tells the Philippians to be anxious for nothing because he is doing precisely what he told them to do: taking all his concerns to the Lord in believing prayer, just as Christ did perfectly.

Remember that some people seem constitutionally inclined to anxiety, or may have a medical condition which prompts this kind of agitation. If there is a physical issue (such as a biochemical imbalance in the brain), then medication or other counselling may sometimes be an appropriate part of the response.

However, even in such cases – while showing compassion and wisdom – we do not bypass or dilute the Scriptures to suit the situation. You have asked about anxiety as a spiritual problem. There is typically a spiritual dimension, and the antidote there is faith.

A second question is important: ‘If a characteristic agitation about what might come to pass reflects a lack of belief in God and his care, how should I respond? What does obedience to Christ’s command look like?’

The answer is, even in the most difficult times, to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt us in due time, casting all our care upon him, for he cares for us (1 Peter 5:6-7).

The antidote to sinful anxiety – the kind of unbelieving fear that grips, conditions, overwhelms as a matter of course – is a prayerful grasp upon the good and gracious God who has assured us of his loving care for all those who trust in him.

That may not always be as simple as it sounds, but when doubts and fears arise, and our hearts are overwhelmed, we must flee to the Rock that is higher than we are (Psalm 61:2).

If you would like an answer to a crunch question, please email crunchpoints@evangelical-times.org. We cannot guarantee an answer to every question.

By Jeremy Walker, Jeremy is the pastor of Maidenbower Baptist Church in Crawley.

NEWS

News in brief

Shame on Sturgeon

Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has been criticised for endangering single-sex spaces by pushing ahead with plans to allow people as young as 16 to choose their legal sex. Sturgeon was heckled at an event by a woman saying, ‘Women are being assaulted because they are standing up for women’s rights. Shame on you.’

Covid choir ban flawed

A ban on church singing during the Covid crisis was based on flawed evidence, a scientific report has concluded. The ban, which was enforced in many countries, was founded upon one single choir practice session in the US which was labelled a ‘super-spreader’. But now it turns out the evidence was ‘exaggerated’ and flawed.

Campus free speech diluted

Plans for new laws to protect free speech at British universities have been watered down, campaigners say. The government said it would act to stop the ‘cancel culture’ on campus. But now it has ditched proposals to give academics and students a right to sue institutions for breaching their free speech rights.

‘Bible is not appropriate’

The Crown Prosecution Service – which is responsible for prosecuting alleged breaches of the criminal law – says parts of the Bible are ‘no longer appropriate in modern society’. The claim came in a case against 55-year-old street preacher, John Dunn. He was accused of homophobic hatred, but the case against him was later dropped.

Matt Chandler back to preach

Matt Chandler, leader of The Village Church in the US, has returned to preaching following a three-month disciplinary absence due to him sending inappropriate social media messages to a woman who is not his wife. He was also suspended by the Acts 29 church network. He returned to preaching in his church on 4 December.

Key religious freedom case

The US Supreme Court has heard oral arguments in a crucial religious liberty case involving an evangelical web designer who does not want to be compelled to promote gay marriage. Lorie Smith is asking the Court to uphold her freedom of speech by allowing her to create websites celebrating biblical marriage, but not gay marriage.

Hillsong pastor in Sydney court

The Hillsong church founder Brian Houston is on trial in Sydney, Australia, for allegedly failing to tell police about his father’s sexual abuse of a boy. His father confessed in 1999 to sexually assaulting the boy. Brian Houston has pleaded not guilty to one charge of concealing a serious indictable offence of another person.

Pastor found dead in Laos

A pastor in Laos has been found dead just a few days after disappearing, with villagers alleging that he was murdered for his faith, according to Barnabas Aid. The body of Pastor Sy Seng Manee, aged 48, was discovered alongside his motorcycle, at a roadside near to the village. The pastor appeared to have been badly beaten.

Anniversary in Leicester

In September, Little Hill Church in Wigston, Leicester, held anniversary services marking 50 years since its founding. Originally meeting in a British Legion Room of Remembrance, a church building was later constructed by church members themselves. Wes McNabb (The Slade Evangelical Church, London) spoke at three anniversary services held over the course of a weekend.

FIEC leaders’ conference

Nearly 100 FIEC church leaders attended a conference at Stockwell Baptist Church in September. Terry Virgo (founder of Newfrontiers) spoke from Romans 6 and 7, underlining the importance of a Christian identity. Delegates also heard from Carl Knightly (LCM), Geoff Coyne (chaplain at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability), and Alex Lyell (Streatham Central Church).

Pastor’s cancer research run

Andrew Roycroft, pastor of Portadown Baptist Church in Northern Ireland, completed a 60-mile run for charity over the course of September. He ran an average of two miles every day and raised over £900 for Cancer Research UK. ‘Having lost my father to the disease,’ he told ET, ‘it’s a cause close to my heart.’

Morningstar movie tour

Morningstar, a new film about the life of John Wycliffe, underwent a premiere tour of selected venues in the UK in December. Produced by Trinity Digital, the film includes dramatisation, narration, and interviews with historians including Prof. Ian Hamilton. The producers partnered with several churches to arrange screenings in cities including London, Manchester, Edinburgh, and others.

Chaplain wins apology after being told to remove cross

Marie Curie has unreservedly apologised to a Christian chaplain after he was told he would face ‘consequences’ and would need ‘re-training’ if he did not remove a half-inch badge pin with a cross on it from his jumper.

Derek Timms, a 73-year-old businessman turned chaplain from Solihull, was told by a Methodist minister at the charity’s Solihull branch that he must not wear the cross as it might ‘offend’ and create ‘barriers’ with patients.

Mr Timms, who has worn the miniature cross for four years at Marie Curie without complaint, has been supported throughout the ordeal by the Christian Legal Centre.

The controversy began in September last year, shortly after Marie Curie’s Solihull branch announced that the job titles of members of the chaplaincy would be changed to ‘spiritual advisors.’

According to the Christian Legal Centre, the move signalled that the visibility and role of the Christian faith would be neutralised at the organisation in favour of an ‘interfaith’ approach.

A new Methodist minister began leading the ‘spiritual advisors’, and after meeting Mr Timms told him in an email that she was ‘surprised’ he was wearing crosses and that he should ‘refrain’ from wearing them.

Mr Timms’s lawyers say he was told that unless he took his cross off, he could not work at Marie Curie as a chaplain.

But when the matter was escalated to the Marie Curie regional head office, the organisation wrote to Mr Timms to apologise.

The letter stated, ‘I can confirm that currently we have neither an organisational or uniform policy that would support our recent request to remove your cross while supporting patients and families in the Hospice. I apologise unreservedly for the distress that we have caused.’

Responding to the apology, Mr Timms, who supported vulnerable patients and families throughout the Covid pandemic at Marie Curie, said he was ‘shocked and hurt’ by how he was treated.

He said, ‘I started wearing a cross 14 years ago and have not stopped since. No one is going to tell me that I can’t wear it as it means so much to me. No one has ever been offended until now.

‘The easiest thing to do would have been to say, “I’ll take it off”, but I thought, “no”, I should be standing up for what I believe in. If I had given in, I believe I would have been saying that I am embarrassed to be a Christian.’

The Christian Legal Centre’s Andrea Williams said, ‘Derek is a kind man who is passionate about Jesus and sharing the hope and faith that transformed his life.’

She added that he ‘showed great courage by refusing to cave into the significant pressure to remove what mattered so much to him’.

By Mike Judge, Editor

Church steps in to host ‘cancelled’ conference opposing child sexualisation

A church in Glasgow stepped in at short notice to host a conference highlighting the indoctrination of children in Scottish schools.

LGBT activists thought they had managed to get the event ‘cancelled’ but the Tron Church offered their premises as a venue. The conference – ‘Education not indoctrination’ – was organised by campaign group Hands Up Scotland.

They had invited discussion from academics, parents, and teachers on the pressure to shut down debate on issues in schools.

Issues for debate included the promotion of LGBT ideology and the sexualisation of children through sex education.

It was originally due to be held at Civic House, but operators Agile City said its staff refused to work at the conference, claiming it ‘opposed their values and made them feel unsafe’.

Dr Stuart Waiton, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology at Abertay University, said, ‘You couldn’t really make this up. But cancel culture has now firmly taken root in Glasgow.’

UK Supreme Court says ban on protests around abortion clinics does not breach human rights

Banning pro-life protests outside abortion clinics is lawful, according to a ruling by the UK Supreme Court.

The court was asked to decide whether legislation introduced in Northern Ireland, which includes a ban on such protests, breached human rights.

The court decided that so-called abortion buffer zones do not ‘disproportionately interfere’ with protesters’ rights.

Pro-life groups were disappointed by the ruling, saying that the new law threatens peaceful demonstrators with arrests, fines, and imprisonment.

They also say the law will introduce a disproportionate restriction on the rights to expression and peaceful assembly.

Commenting on the ruling, Liam Gibson (pictured), the Policy and Legal Officer for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), said, ‘This is a watershed moment for civil rights in the United Kingdom.

‘Freedom of assembly is not only necessary in a democratic society but legal restrictions on peaceful protests undermine democracy itself.

‘This is not only a bad decision, the Supreme Court has set a precedent which has the potential to endanger everyone’s right to freedom of speech and the right to engage in peaceful protest.

‘The abortion industry loathes the public expression of the pro-life message and our efforts to reach out to women considering abortion.’

Supreme Court President Lord Reed said judges had unanimously agreed that the legislation was within the Northern Ireland Assembly’s competence.

He said the bill had a ‘legitimate aim’ and while it restricted the exercise of protesters’ rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, the restrictions could be justified.

Lord Reed said, ‘It seeks to ensure women have access to advice and treatment relating to lawful termination of pregnancy under conditions which respect their privacy and dignity, and are not driven instead to less safe alternatives.’

The ruling is likely to encourage the introduction of more abortion clinic buffer zones around the UK.

In October, MPs backed similar proposals for England and Wales but they are still going through Parliament.

In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the government will support plans to outlaw such protests outside health clinics.

In December, legal action was launched against Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole Council for imposing a ‘buffer zone’ that censors free speech and makes prayer illegal outside an abortion clinic.

The action is being spearheaded by Livia Tossici-Bolt, a former clinical scientist who leads pro-life group 40 Days for Life Bournemouth.

She has said she will pursue a statutory review of the council’s decision to force through a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) in October 2022 following what she has called a ‘questionable’ public consultation.

Heidi Crowter and others says they will appeal their Down’s abortion law discrimination case

Heidi Crowter, the woman behind a landmark case against the UK’s discriminatory law that allows abortion up to birth for Down’s syndrome, has vowed to continue her legal battle.

Back in November the Court of Appeal ruled against her, but now the 27-year-old woman from Coventry, who has Down’s syndrome, has said she will take her case to the UK Supreme Court.

Under the current law in England, Wales, and Scotland, there is a general 24-week time limit for abortion, but if the baby has a disability – including Down’s syndrome, cleft lip, or club foot – abortion is legal right up to birth.

Heidi said people with Down’s syndrome ‘face discrimination every day in schools, in the workplace, and thanks to this verdict the judges have upheld discrimination in the womb [...] which is downright discrimination.

‘When Wilberforce wanted to abolish the slave trade he didn’t give up when things didn’t go his way. I won’t give up either because the law should be changed to get rid of a negative focus on Down’s syndrome – even the words used in it are offensive.

‘This law was made in 1967 when we were not even allowed to go to school because of our extra chromosome, so I think it’s time that the judges move with the times and actually meet people with Down’s syndrome and see the people behind the chromosome.’

Heidi is joined in the legal action by Máire Lea-Wilson, who was placed under pressure to have an abortion when a 34-week scan revealed her son had Down’s syndrome.

The 33-year-old mother said that the Court of Appeal’s ruling ‘gives very little consideration to the fact that many women, like myself, are pressured to abort much wanted pregnancies at such a late stage in the context of fear and misinformation which is given to them.

‘I do not regret bringing this case, because I believe it has helped raise awareness around the wonderful lives people with Down syndrome and their families lead, and helped dispel some of the negative, outdated and prejudicial attitudes that are prevalent in society and the medical profession.

‘As Aidan’s mother, I will continue to fight for his rights, and look to appeal this judgment, because equality should be for everyone regardless of the number of chromosomes they have.’

Their solicitor, Paul Conrathe, said, ‘This judgment is disappointing and perplexing. Rather than affirming the equal value of those with disabilities, it further adds to the stigmatisation they suffer.’

He added, ‘My clients are resolute in their fight for the legal recognition of the equal value of people with disabilities and will appeal to the Supreme Court to see this anachronistic and outdated legislation changed.’

Census shows almost half of England and Wales are happy to identify as ‘Christian’

Almost half of the population of England and Wales identify as ‘Christian’, according to latest figures from the 2021 census.

When asked about their faith, 46.2 per cent describe themselves as Christian, which remains the most common response to the faith question.

That’s a fall from 59.3 per cent in the previous census held ten years earlier, and it is the first time fewer than half the population have identified as ‘Christian’.

However, the number of people identifying as ‘Humanist’ has fallen by over one third, with only 10,000 people identify as humanists in England and Wales.

Humanists, atheists, and agnostics account for just 0.1 per cent of all those who responded to the religion question in the 2021 household questionnaire.

After ‘Christian’, the second most common response to the question ‘What is your religion?’ was from those who ticked the box ‘No religion’ – a group commonly known as ‘Nones’.

Although 37.2 per cent of census respondents claim to have ‘No religion’, a survey by the think-tank Theos revealed that eight in ten ‘Nones’ believe in the supernatural, and two in ten ‘Nones’ believe in the possibility of an afterlife.

An editorial for the Spectator magazine said, ‘The decline of organised Christianity will not surprise those who attend churches, which have been closing at the rate of about four a week.

‘Too many church leaders seem to think their job is managing decline. During lockdown, churches across the country were closed even for private prayer.

‘Church leaders didn’t just support this: some demanded it. If bishops don’t seem to think that worshipping in the pews is an essential part of British life, it’s hardly surprising that the laity feel the same way.’

John Stevens, National Director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, said, ‘Despite the decline in cultural Christianity the true church of believers in the Lord Jesus is growing.

‘Churches that are preaching the gospel faithfully and demanding discipleship and obedience of their members are seeing slow steady growth.’

Appallingly inappropriate sex education video shown to eight-year-old pupils at CofE school

A Church of England school has been criticised for showing eight-year-old children a sex education video about masturbation and wet dreams.

A mixed-sex class of year four pupils at the school in Birmingham was shown the video explaining what happens to boys during puberty.

The mother of one girl contacted the school after her daughter came home very upset following the lesson.

She said, ‘I am very angry about this because I don’t want my eight-year-old daughter being taught about masturbation and wet dreams.’

She said that other parents she spoke with felt ‘exactly the same way,’ adding, ‘I didn’t know she was learning about this. She told me she felt very uncomfortable when being told about it.’

The mother said the school’s head teacher ‘reluctantly accepted the video was inappropriate’.

The Christian Institute’s Head of Education, John Denning, said, ‘This was a completely inappropriate video to be shown to children of that age.

‘It’s really important the school RSHE policies are clear about what is covered, are written following consultation with parents and that schools then stick to them.’

In November last year it was reported that the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, plans to clarify that parents may view relationships and sex education content, including resources provided by outside organisations.

The Department for Education statutory guidance currently states, ‘Schools should ensure that parents know what will be taught and when, and clearly communicate the fact that parents have the right to request that their child be withdrawn from some or all of sex education delivered as part of statutory RSE.’

Government moves to protect free speech by ditching plans to outlaw ‘legal but harmful’ content online

Free speech campaigners have welcomed a government announcement to drop plans to ban ‘legal but harmful’ content on the internet.

The Online Safety Bill is currently being considered in Westminster after a delay due to lack of Parliamentary time.

While the bill contains uncontroversial plans to protect children from online harm, it also contained other more contentious measures that could have limited free speech.

It was feared that the measure to ban ‘legal but harmful’ content would result in big technology companies being overly censorious in banning material that others may find offensive.

It could have resulted in evangelical sermons and gospel material being banned online, together with other statements of biblical Christian ethics.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy, Paul Scully MP, explained, ‘It is vital that people can continue to express themselves freely and engage in pluralistic debate online.’

He added, ‘That is why the bill will be amended to strengthen its provisions relating to children and to ensure that the bill’s protections for adults strike the right balance with its protections for free speech.’

He also said that tech companies ‘must treat their users fairly and ensure that the internet remains a place for free expression and robust debate’.

Former Cabinet Minister David Davis, who had previously warned the bill ‘could be the biggest accidental curtailment of free speech in modern history’, thanked the government for deciding ‘to remove the legal but harmful clause’.

Inaugural Heritage Bible Conference is hailed a success

We praise the Lord for his help and encouragement during the first annual Heritage Bible Conference, held on the grounds of Crown Hall in Droitwich, Worcestershire.

This three-day conference for believers of all ages took place during the last weekend of August and was hosted by the Crown Christian Heritage Trust for the purpose of strengthening families through sound preaching of the Word of God.

Morning and evening sessions were filled with challenging messages and sessions from the Bible, as well as a helpful children’s Bible club exploring truths from the Sermon on the Mount.

Adults also had the opportunity to go on a Christian Heritage Tour, guided by Mr Roland Burrows. They visited local sites and learned about the lives of Frances Havergal and Richard Baxter, while children had the opportunity to enjoy an afternoon of inflatables and funfair activities.

Dr Clarence Sexton, pastor of Temple Baptist Church and founder of The Crown College in Tennessee, was our guest speaker for this year’s conference. He brought biblical messages on the subjects of prayer, providence, and raising up children in the Word of God.

We were blessed to have more than 250 guests in attendance and enjoyed Christian fellowship with believers from all four nations of the UK. We praise the Lord for a wonderful inaugural conference; plans are already underway for next year’s meeting.

By Joy Kleman

Two-year interim ends as Matt Palmer inducted in Colchester

Last September, members of Greenstead Evangelical Free Church (Colchester), together with friends from churches far and near, gathered to join in the induction of Matt Palmer as pastor.

The church had been without a pastor since the retirement of Martin Peirce in February 2020. Many applications had been received, and three candidates emerged (at different times) for the church to consider seriously, but none of these proved to be the man of God’s choosing for Greenstead.

Finally, in early 2022, the church was made aware, through the agencies of Johnny Prime at the FIEC and Simon Medcroft (pastor of Danbury Mission), that Matt (who was then assistant pastor at the King’s Centre, Chessington) was feeling the Lord’s leading to return to Essex where he and his wife Catherine had grown up, in order to further gospel work there.

Matt and the church at Greenstead were put in contact and it became clear to both parties that this was the Lord leading them together.

The induction was a joyous occasion with much thanksgiving to God. Many friends from Chessington and Danbury (as well as sister churches around Colchester) joined the believers at Greenstead.

The service was led by Simon Ford (one of the deacons) and the charges to Matt and the church were put by Mark Howson, who had acted as moderator for the church during its interregnum.

Simon Medcroft preached from Acts on the priorities of the early church: to reach, build, and send.

We are deeply grateful to God for the tireless work of Mark Howson as GEFC moderator and for the constant support and prayerful interest of its sister churches.

Our earnest prayer is that this new chapter in GEFC’s history will be marked by God’s blessing, as we reach out with the gospel to the community of Greenstead estate (which has around 15,000 to 20,000 residents).

By Dr John Ford

‘A pen in God’s hand’ – Rob Parson inducted at Wooler church in Northumberland

‘An uplifting occasion’ was how members described the induction of Rob Parson to Wooler Evangelical Church last September. Located in rural Northumberland, the church building was filled as many visited to witness the induction.

Rob has served in church work in the northeast before, but most recently spent four years studying for an MA in Theology at Oak Hill Theological College in London. During his studies, he felt called to minister in the region of Northumberland.

Speaking at Rob’s induction was Dan Strange (former vice-principal at Oak Hill, and Rob’s tutor). Dan gave an address which laid out the pathway for servant-hearted, sacrificial ministry.

Comparing Rob to a pen, Dan challenged him to remember the role of pastor as being one of witness – not to himself, but to the Word. He was to be merely an instrument in the Lord’s hand.

There followed a time of warm fellowship and introductions over food, with many people from across Wooler, the northeast, London, Northern Ireland, and even the USA attending.

Reflecting on his new role, Rob told ET, ‘It is a humbling and joyful responsibility to be called to be pastor of Wooler Evangelical Church. The welcome has been so warm, the thirst for the gospel evident, and the love for God and one another tangible. As a whole family we are excited to be here.’

By John Tredgett

Ukraine: Pentecostal preacher and son tortured and killed after being taken by Russian soldiers

The bodies of a Ukrainian Pentecostal church deacon and his 19-year-old son have been discovered in a forest after they were allegedly abducted by Russian soldiers.

According to a report by Release International, the father and son had been tortured and killed four days after they disappeared.

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group and the Global Investigative Journalism Network claim the pair were abducted by Russian soldiers at 7 p.m. on 22 November, while they were working in their garage close to Kherson.

The reasons for their abduction are not known, but four days later, the family were told that their bodies had been discovered in a nearby forest. Anatoliy Prokopchuk (52) and his son Oleksandr had been tortured and shot.

Release International’s partner in Ukraine ‘Pavel’ says Anatoliy was a deacon and preacher at a Pentecostal church in the city of Nova Kakhova, which is close to Kherson.

According to Pavel, when the Russian troops arrested them, the soldiers claimed: ‘Your church has no right to exist, as it has connections with America and other western countries.’

For four days, the family were denied news of what had happened to them. Then on 26 November, the dead bodies of the men were found outside the town.

Says Release International partner Pavel: ‘Their bodies had signs of prolonged and excruciating torture. They were so mutilated that it was difficult to identify them.’

He describes Deacon Anatoliy Prokopchuk as having ‘helped many people in practical ways, enthusiastically and sacrificially, regardless of whether they were members of his church. As the Bible says, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.”’

For Pavel, the accusation that the Pentecostal church had no right to exist and was acting as an agent of the West has an all too familiar ring from the days of the Soviet Union.

Anatoliy Prokopchuk leaves a widow, Irena, and five other children, four sons and a daughter.

Meanwhile, as the winter crisis deepens in Ukraine, the European Mission Fellowship (EMF) has launched a Bible and blankets appeal.

EMF missionary Volodymyr Kostyshyn said, ‘Today is another day of the war in Ukraine and another day of opportunities for gospel ministry.

‘This time the food packages, which churches give out to the internally displaced people in our area, included blankets and the Bible.

‘Who would’ve thought that God would give us such an opportunity for evangelism?! Food packages and blankets, because our bodies need to be fed and kept warm, but the Bible, because our souls need to be healed!’

More information about the Bibles and blankets appeal can be found on the EMF website, europeanmission.org.

Canada: Parliament discusses euthanising disabled children, while others call for babies to be included

Campaigners have slammed discussions in the Canadian parliament over whether assisted suicide should be considered for children over the age of 14.

According to reports in The Telegraph and elsewhere, supporters of euthanasia have been lobbying government to consider bringing the age of assisted suicide to 14, to allow severely disabled children to have the right to end their own lives.

But the suggestions go further: the Quebec College of Physicians also made a statement in support of euthanasia for severely disabled newborn children (infanticide), as well as for children aged 14 to 17.

Speaking on behalf of the Quebec College of Physicians to the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying, Dr Louis Roy recommended euthanasia for babies with ‘severe deformations’ and ‘very grave medical syndromes’.

But campaigners have criticised the college’s comments and the Canadian government for facilitating such comments.

Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said, ‘If the child is not going to survive, the child can be kept comfortable and die naturally. There’s no reason for us to kill the child.’

Krista Carr, vice-president of disability awareness charity Inclusion Canada, said, ‘Most families of children born with disabilities are told from the start that their child will, in one way or another, not have a good quality of life.’

However, this is no reason to euthanise a child that has a disability and, in fact, many children go on to have happy and fulfilled lives.

In the Netherlands, infanticide is permitted for babies before the age of one if they are thought to be suffering unbearably and with the consent of their parents.

This example was put forward by the Quebec College of Physicians as a potential model for Canada to follow.

But Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said the Netherlands’ example should not be one that other countries follow.

She said, ‘While advocating for euthanasia for disabled children is appalling and a clear form of eugenic discrimination, it follows the logic of one of the main arguments for assisted suicide and euthanasia.

‘Once we start thinking that the solution to suffering is to end the life of the sufferer, there is no good reason to limit euthanasia and assisted suicide to only adults.

‘Unless there is a profound change in the medical culture in Canada so that patients are seen as people to be healed, rather than have their lives ended, it seems likely that Canada will go the same way and start euthanising their own children.’

Mozambique: Mission Aviation Fellowship pilot held in prison

American pilot Ryan Koher and two South African volunteers have spent weeks in prison in Mozambique after being detained on 4 November.

Koher, who works for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), was imprisoned in the Montepuez District by police while delivering medical supplies and vitamins for various orphanages in the remote region.

According to MAF, it is believed the men have been held on suspicion of supporting insurgents in Cabo Delgado. A statement from MAF has said these suspicions are ‘entirely false’.

David Holsten, president and chief executive of MAF US, had urged the police to release Koher and have him home ‘in time for Christmas’ but, as at the time of ET going to press, he was still being held in Mozambique.

Holsten added, ‘I urge Christians around the world to pray for Ryan’s safety and swift release and call on those in power both in Mozambique and in the US to do everything they can to resolve this wrongful detainment.’

MAF – which operates under the affiliate name Ambassador Aviation Ltd in Mozambique – has been operating in the country since 1999.

It has been offering humanitarian assistance, including emergency relief flights for refugees fleeing Palma in 2021.

According to MAF, Koher’s flight on 4 November 2022 was a regular charter service, which has been delivering supplies to various orphanages in the region for almost a decade.

The country, the 35th largest in the world by land size, is predominantly ‘Christian’ but following Islamist attacks in October 2022, government advice is to avoid travel to certain parts of the country, including Palma, which is one of the areas near Montepuez.

Spain: European Mission Fellowship holds its first field conference in more than 30 years, with about 100 members meeting for the weekend

In Autumn 2022, approximately 100 members of the European Mission Family met for a long weekend, gathering in central Spain for the first Field Conference in more than 30 years.

There was joy on the faces of those who had not seen colleagues for years and anticipation in the hearts of all.

It was a truly blessed time of powerful Bible ministry, happy fellowship, and encouraging reports of what the Lord is doing across Europe, the most spiritually needy continent on Earth.

EMF has been accepting new missionaries in recent months, most of whom are in church-planting ministries, or in small churches that have no way of supporting their pastor.

Such is the case of teacher Martin Hjellvik in Norway, who has been freed up to work part-time with the little congregation ‘Kilden Menighet Jæren’ in South Western Norway, many miles away from any vaguely like-minded church.

The youth of these recent members of the family encouraged everyone. The Lord is answering prayer for a new generation of workers to be raised up.

New missionaries thrilled their hearers, but the missionaries who have served for decades earned the respect of all there too.

Luis Cano and his wife Pilar, for example, are now in their 60s, but for years have given all their energy to discipleship, evangelism, and pastoral care in central Spain.

Details about EMF’s ‘Expanded Vision’ called ‘Lighting up the Darkness’, a project aimed at taking on workers in the darkest places in Europe (especially the Balkans and the Nordics), produced excitement and fervent prayer.

Volodia Kostyshyn’s appearance on video brought a poignant note to the Ukrainian report time, where we saw how appeal funds have been so vital to the desperate people among whom Ukrainian pastors work.

It was a special conference, summed up by one of the many positive comments received: ‘We have been refreshed, encouraged and revived.’ Please pray for this dark continent, so full of false religion and secularism.

Afghanistan: Christians helped to flee the Taliban and resettle elsewhere

Christians who have fled Afghanistan to escape the Taliban are being helped to resettle in other countries and rebuild their lives, a report has claimed.

UK-based Release International, which supports persecuted Christians worldwide, told of how many Christian families have been rescued after escaping the Islamist country.

Release told the story of ‘Tareq’ and his family, who fled Afghanistan after they heard the Taliban were knocking on doors searching for Christians in hiding.

Because there had been reports that some Christians were put to death in these raids and others imprisoned, Tareq and ‘Aisha’ believed they had no option but to flee in the middle of the night to save their lives and the life of their one-year-old daughter.

They were helped to cross the border by Release International partners and are now being cared for by partners in Brazil.

Another partner of Release International is in contact with Christians who have chosen to remain in Afghanistan.

‘Baset’, a teacher, told the SAT-7 TV network, ‘Our lives have changed. As Christians we are exposed to security threats and must remain in hiding. We are always praying. Our only hope is in the true and living God.’

According to Paul Robinson, chief executive of Release, ‘Their lives are at risk from militants, their families, and in some cases the authorities.’

A 2022 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom stated, ‘The Taliban have reportedly gone door-to-door looking for US allies, former government workers, rights activists, and Christian converts. Christians have received threatening phone calls.’

2022 a ‘record-breaking’ year for Bible translation, says Wycliffe

‘Remarkable progress’ was made in Bible translation work last year, an annual survey by Wycliffe Bible Translators revealed.

The twelve months to September 2022 saw ‘the largest increase on record of languages where work has commenced,’ the report stated, ‘representing a new language programme starting for every day of the year.’ This represented a 13% increase on the previous twelve months.

In 2022, a total of 52 different languages received portions of Scripture for the very first time – another record. The number of languages with a complete Bible rose by 7 (to 724), and languages with a complete New Testament rose by 42 (to 1,617). In context, there are 7,388 spoken languages in the world.

Ngbugu is a dialect spoken in the Central African Republic and the Congo by some 150,000 people. In February 2022, it received its first translation of the New Testament.

One Ngbugu-speaker shared his delight: ‘Zacchaeus had to climb a tree to catch sight of Jesus. We don’t! You can find him right here, in the pages of this book. He has come to your house today!’

Why is Bible translation prospering? The report identified several factors, including increased numbers of indigenous, native speakers leading translation work; the benefits of computer technology; and heightened awareness among missionary organisations that a lack of Bible translation is a critical barrier to evangelisation.

There remains much to be done. James Poole, Executive Director of Wycliffe, said, ‘The fact remains that 1 in 5 people still do not have access to the Bible in their language. That’s around 1.5 billion people.

‘This is why translation teams across the world continue to work with urgency to put this right, and why we continue to support them in their work so that the desperate needs of those without can be met.’

By John Tredgett

300 attend Christian Values in Education national conference

Christian Values in Education equips and encourages believers involved in education. The charity held its annual National Conference last September. The theme was ‘Issues in education today’.

Over 300 attended the event at the King’s Centre in Chessington. Keynote speakers were John Denning and Sharon James, both of the Christian Institute.

In a talk titled ‘Issues in education’, John Denning set out RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) resources currently available in schools and being presented to children in lessons.

He contrasted the Christian and progressive worldviews, offering wise counsel on how to ensure that schools are keeping to and not exceeding their authority in these matters.

Sharon James spoke on ‘Worldviews in education, standing on biblical truth’, tracing the historical development of worldviews that challenge the Christian ethos.

These secular approaches were exposed as ahistorical in their denial of the dominant role played by Christianity in the fields of science and knowledge.

The CViE Conference is very much a family event, and there was a great sense of gratitude to God in seeing 150 young people, including over 50 in their teens, attend a number of sessions specifically designed for the different age groups.

Several Christian organisations were also represented at the conference. These included the Association of Christian Teachers, Lovewise, Christian Concern, Truth in Science, Answers in Genesis, the Christian Home Education Support Service, Valley Christian School Online, and Christian Bookshop Ossett.

These all contributed to a busy market atmosphere, and meant that all in attendance spent a day in fellowship, being helped in many different ways to be faithful Christians in education today.

By Tim Wills

188 years and counting – London City Mission praises God at its annual Thanksgiving Service held at Westminster Chapel

Many involved in London City Mission met at Westminster Chapel last September for the charity’s annual Thanksgiving Service.

The Service is an opportunity to praise God who has sustained LCM for 188 years as it continues to support the capital’s churches and shares the gospel with London’s hard-to-reach communities.

It’s also a special time to thank supporters for upholding the mission prayerfully and financially.

Many stories were shared of fruit borne across the Mission. People who are homeless have been housed, people struggling with addiction have been helped, and those rejected by society have been accepted.

Above all, the gospel hope of forgiveness of sin through Christ has been shared and received by many across the city over the last year.

Revd Dr Jason Roach (Director of LCM’s ministries) preached from Acts 10. He challenged us concerning how God’s kingdom expands when we expand our horizons as a church, through welcoming and witnessing to people who are unlike us.

The encouraging updates about LCM, the message preached, the hymns sung, and the many prayers all contributed to another great service, where some 400 people attended, with more online.

Many supporters, LCM staff, and church leaders stayed after the Service in order to network or just share fellowship. We look forward to what the Lord will do through the Mission and beyond in 2023.

By James Tredgett

Swanwick convention helps equip Christians to reach out with the gospel to people in the cults

Reachout Trust is a nationwide ministry that reaches out to people in cults. It was established in 1982 by the late Doug Harris as an outreach to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

After a hiatus of several years, Reachout’s annual three-day convention recommenced last September. 50+ people gathered for it at The Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire.

Delegates travelled far to be there, both geographically and spiritually, as many were former cult members themselves.

Others who were simply interested in getting better equipped to reach cults with the gospel also attended.

The weekend was packed with great teaching. Topics covered included ‘Developing a Christian worldview’; ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses and the two covenants’; ‘A new Mormonism’; ‘Catholicism – is the Reformation over?’; ‘The Enneagram – New Age in the church?’; and ‘Talking about the Trinity’.

We also had a super session on practical evangelism from Roger Carswell. He spoke from Mark 4 on the parable of the growing seed, emphasising the supreme value of spreading the good seed of the gospel.

On the Friday evening we heard a testimony from Dawn, a former Jehovah’s Witness. She movingly brought home to us just how trapped people are in this group, and the need they have to be set free in Jesus.

Michael Thomas (Chairman of Reachout Trust) then spoke from God’s Word, setting the scene for our weekend together. On Saturday evening, we again had a tremendous time of sung worship followed by a question panel.

The speakers for the weekend responded to questions from the delegates on a variety of topics related to the teachings heard in the seminars.

On Sunday morning we gathered for worship. This was a blessed time as we shared in sung worship and heard a stirring rallying-call message from Michael Thomas. Some delegates commented that they had felt a measure of freedom and fellowship that they had never known or experienced while in the cults.

God is good. A tremendous time was had by all and we at Reachout Trust feel confident that this was the launching pad for the annual convention to return.

If you would like to know more about the work of Reachout Trust or to invite us to your church, please get in touch. Visit reachouttrust.org or email office@reachouttrust.org.

By Tony Brown

OBITUARY

Walter Chantry 1937–2022

In the recent death of Walter Chantry last September, I lost an old, wise friend. We met at Westminster Seminary, Philadelphia, in 1961. Walter was a year ahead of me.

He had that lovely, rare combination of seriousness and popularity among fellow students. His opinions and counsels were sought, and he was great fun to be with.

Converted aged 12 in 1950, Walter studied at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. There he joined the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship.

He attended Grace Baptist Church in Carlisle where he discovered and embraced the doctrines of grace. Walter would pastor the fellowship from 1963 to 2002.

There were few Reformed Baptists at that time in the USA. Conservative American Christians had abandoned the northern Baptist denomination over its modernism. They formed the GARB (General Association of Regular Baptists), but quickly those congregations drifted into use of the Scofield Bible and adherence to dispensationalism.

Only a few Southern Baptists remained confessional, and these were soon marginalised by the SBC. Walter ministered in Carlisle against this backdrop.

An author as well as preacher, Walter’s notable works include Today’s Gospel, Shadow of the Cross, and Signs of the Apostle. His church also broadened its ministry via organising ministers’ conferences and annual family camps in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains.

Grace Baptist Church also pioneered an Association of Reformed Baptist Churches. However, those who were enthusiastic for an organisational expression of Christian unity were in for disappointment.

There were Baptists as well as Presbyterians who had been damaged by connectionalism, by pulpit rotas and quotas, by money going to central funds which supported pulpit purveyors of another gospel which was no gospel.

There were also those who wanted the Reformed Baptist Association to take a stand on the Authorised Version, and to oppose contemporary changes in worship, but the Association refused to do this.

These matters were the familiar issues debated by many of us on both sides of the Atlantic who lived through the latter half of the 20th century, as well as questions concerning the behaviour required on a Christian sabbath and the claims of the Charismatic movement.

Walt proved a rich blessing to me as we moved on parallel tracks for forty years. I learned much from his writings, the church he pastored, and his whole spirit. I thank God for every memory of him. We shall soon meet again at Jesus’ feet.

By Geoff Thomas

REVIEWS

Healing that divides: How every Christian can advance God’s vision for racial unity and justice

Jason Roach and Jessamin Birdsall

The Good Book Company

176 pages; £8.99

BUY

Formulating a biblical response to the sin of racism (partiality) has become a very pressing issue among evangelical Christians. Jason Roach and Jessamin Birdsall seek to offer a vision for ‘racial unity and justice’. Their approach receives strong praise in the book’s commendations and Roach has been invited to speak at the 2023 FIEC Leaders’ Conference entitled Ministry of Justice.

This book contains good advice on how to approach discussions on this topic, such as seeking to listen carefully, being open to questioning personal assumptions, and not jumping to conclusions based on stereotypes. However, because the authors accept some aspects of debated secular frameworks, such as Critical Race Theory, their approach leads to unbiblical conclusions.

Roach and Birdsall do critique these frameworks, but they conclude that they contain both truth and error. What they fail to identify is that the errors are in the foundational concepts used to build these frameworks. For that reason, the whole systems are problematic.

One of the clearest examples of this is how the authors accept and use the concepts of systemic or institutional sin. The Bible speaks of sin as a personal offence. We are not judicially guilty of the sins of others because we share a characteristic with them – such as our skin pigmentation, ethnicity, or gender. Institutions can be evil because they can encourage sinful behaviour and can magnify the sins of individuals. But being part of a group or institution does not create a shared moral guilt before God unless we participate in a particular sin personally.

If sin is something that can be shared through group identity, then the perfection of Christ would be threatened. Jesus is a member of some groups that some claim were guilty of shared sin since he is a male and a member of a majority ethnic group. The authors do acknowledge that critical race theory denies a universal sinful nature, but they accept the premise of shared sin and guilt, which is a fundamental flaw in the framework.

In their desire to ‘drain the bathwater while keeping a firm hold of the baby’, the authors set evangelicals on the wrong path in seeking to engage with these important issues. This book is a missed opportunity because racism is a present and past reality in our world and Christians should be opposed to it from a fully biblical framework.

The approach taken by some evangelicals to these subjects mirrors the early responses to Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species. Some Christians showed initial warmth towards several of Darwin’s ideas, but over time clearer reflection demonstrated how dangerous his framework was to biblical Christianity. We face a similar challenge over Critical Race Theory in the 21st century and we should pray that we might not make the same mistakes again.

Matthew Seymour

Warwick

The Trial of the 16th Century: Calvin and Servetus

Jonathan Moorhead

Christian Focus

104 pages; £9.99

BUY

The facts surrounding Michael Servetus’s 1553 arrest in Geneva, his subsequent trial, and execution by burning have been woven by Calvin’s detractors into a narrative that paints Calvin as an intolerant, mean-minded monster, capable of bloodthirsty acts, and utterly ruthless in his treatment of anyone who disagreed with him. Calvin’s own words, in a 1546 letter to Guillaume Farel – ‘if [Servetus] shall come [to Geneva] I shall never permit him to depart alive, provided my authority be of any avail’ – have not helped!

Jonathan Moorhead sets the record straight. More of the book is devoted to the historical context than to the trial itself. One interesting fact about the trial is that Calvin was tasked by those in charge to prepare theological articles that demonstrated Servetus’s departure from orthodoxy. He prepared 38 – and then loaned Servetus books from his own library so that he could prepare his responses!

Far from being the ‘Pope of Geneva’, Calvin was a state employee. His life was a constant battle with the city’s authorities over lines of demarcation between them, as professedly Christian rulers, and the Genevan Pastors, particularly when it came to church discipline. By 1553 he had more than once come close to resigning in discouragement. In 1553, there was no such thing as ‘Calvin’s Geneva’.

The reader learns from Moorhead of Calvin’s interactions with Servetus over a period of some 20 years. Calvin went the extra mile in his efforts to bring Servetus to faith.

The conduct of the proceedings was entrusted by the Genevan authorities to a man under excommunication at the time! The prosecutor’s assistant was Calvin’s long-standing critic, Ami Perrin. Advice was sought from several other reformed cities, all of which advocated execution.

This book’s penultimate chapter asks why Servetus was executed when other deniers of the Trinity had faced only banishment. Only four months earlier, Servetus had been arrested in Vienne, escaped, and been burned in effigy, along with a pile of papers that represented his books. Protestant Geneva was massively under pressure to show itself just as rigorous in its treatment of the heretic Servetus as Catholic Vienne had been. This, coupled with Servetus’s guilt and his own conduct during the trial, sealed his fate.

We are indebted to Jonathan Moorhead for a thoroughly researched and carefully contextualised treatment that does the justice it should to Calvin’s character and burnishes his honoured memory.

Ian Jemmett

Pluckley

Lessons from the Upper Room: The heart of the Saviour

Sinclair B. Ferguson

Ligonier Ministries

237 pages; £15.99

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This fine book consists of 13 perspectives on chapters 13–17 of John’s Gospel. It is ‘an invitation to spend a few hours with Jesus’ disciples, listening to His teaching and overhearing Him pray’.

Eminently readable, this is edifying devotional reading for the lay Christian, although pastors and leaders will also profit from Ferguson’s insights. A few snapshots follow.

To really contemplate Jesus’ humility in washing the disciples’ feet is astounding: ‘The significance of this foot-washing was in the fact that it was done by the Lord of glory, the King of heaven, the Son of the living God, the Word who was face-to-face with God’ (p.26).

Later Judas leaves the room, repelled by the grace he saw in the Lord Jesus Christ, but his departure changes the atmosphere. Jesus now shares holy things about his imminent glorification. As crucifixion was the prelude to Christ’s glorification, so Christians are called to follow a crucified Saviour.

The section titled ‘The Heart of Christ Opened’ reflects on Christ’s mission to rescue a doomed people and grant them eternal life, fulfilling God’s promise in Genesis 3:15. What condescension! And a brilliant allegory, ‘The Stranger in Smokeland’, helps us marvel at Christ’s giving of himself to redeem a sinful, polluted people.

What a blessed assurance that Christ prays for each of us personally as believers. Yet New Testament outreach is not primarily individualistic: ‘Spirit-given unity in a church family is essential for our evangelism.’ If the glory of God the Father and the Son is seen in the church, ‘an inbuilt evangelistic attraction in our worship and fellowship’ will surely follow.

A book to read with prayerful purpose as you spend time with Jesus.

Philip Bell

Leicester

A handbook on Open-Air Evangelism: Guiding Principles and Best Practice

JP Earnest

Day One

96 pages; £6

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Too many believers write off Open Air evangelism because of bad examples they have observed. This book is more than an antidote – its aim to is encourage Open Air evangelism that adorns the gospel.

The subtitle is ‘guiding principles and best practice’. JP Earnest weaves both together to produce a distillation of wise counsel on how to conduct biblically based and sane open air work.

Other contributors include seasoned evangelists Edwin Baker, Roger Carswell, Paul Linnell, Andy Little, and Mike Mellor. The Christian Institute’s solicitor advocate, Sam Webster, provides a briefing on how the law supports reasonably exercised free speech and how to avoid trouble with the authorities.

The book is packed with helpful advice. The reader learns how best to use visual aids, how to set up and use a book table, and even how to identify public places by observing where council workers empty the bins. The author explains how to dial down the ‘weirdometer’, why audio recordings are helpful but video recordings less so, and the best type of literature to use. The use of apologetics is covered on a practical level, emphasising the need to lead on to Christ.

Preaching is likened to throwing a ball: it must be to people, not at people. There is advice on engagement – not ‘conning people into listening’ – while realising when it’s time to pass on the baton: ‘if you haven’t “struck oil” let someone else drill’.

The wisdom of experience is demonstrated by advice on singing groups: ‘well-meaning Christians aren’t necessarily the best judge of “good singing”’.

The short length, straightforward style, and practical content make this ideal reading for everyone involved in Open Air work. nd for everyone who should be!

Paul Smith

Margate

Disease, Scarcity, and Famine: A Reformation perspective on God and plagues

Ludwig Lavater

Reformation Heritage Books

176 pages; £14.99

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This book is centred on four sermons preached in the late 16th century by Ludwig Lavater, Heinrich Bullinger’s son-in-law and successor in Zurich.

Readers should not be put off by the constitutional background of this city-state and its lifestyles. If anything, this added to my enjoyment of the book. Its lessons are very relevant for today’s readers caught up in the effects of the Covid pandemic, war in Europe, and international shortages.

Lavater displayed deeply thought-out meditations on sudden death, care of the suffering, and responsibility for the physical and spiritual health of neighbours, relatives, and friends. My response was that this book is a challenging ‘must-read’ for anyone who wishes to follow Christ in a suffering and fallen world.

The sermons are very readable and amply illustrated by real events – sometimes very much more dramatic, widespread, and disastrous than we experience in the 21st century. They add a perspective of which we are largely ignorant.

Lavater saw disasters in the world as God’s response to sin and an ‘invitation to repent’. His sermons drew from a deep knowledge of suffering in the Scriptures, a consideration of events contemporary to him, and historical events going back hundreds of years.

The material has been translated and edited by Michael Hunter, who has amazingly condensed it, along with its ancient sources and biblical references, into just over 150 pages.

This book warns against regarding disasters merely in terms of secondary causes and emphasises the sovereignty of God. It underlines our need to exercise faith and repentance in perplexing times.

Frederick Hodgson

Whitby

Table of Contents

FEATURES

New year’s resolutions for God’s glory, not our own

The Frankfurt Declaration: A response to Tobias Riemenschneider

Meeting through music: Ukrainian refugees settle at Swiss church

Promoting gospel preaching in Ethiopia

Lessons my father taught me (Part 1)

Is this the most important question facing evangelicals today?

Was the Covid pandemic a judgment from God?

COMMENT: Growth, investment, and challenges at ET

GUEST COLUMN: What is a cult?

THINKING IT THROUGH: Urban Myths (or should we call them lies?)

A WALK WITH MR O: Leadership in one word

A SHRINK THINKS... Face masks and phylacteries

CRUNCH POINTS: Paul and Jesus said, ‘Do not be anxious.’ Is anxiety a sin?

NEWS

News in brief

Chaplain wins apology after being told to remove cross

Church steps in to host ‘cancelled’ conference opposing child sexualisation

UK Supreme Court says ban on protests around abortion clinics does not breach human rights

Heidi Crowter and others says they will appeal their Down’s abortion law discrimination case

Census shows almost half of England and Wales are happy to identify as ‘Christian’

Appallingly inappropriate sex education video shown to eight-year-old pupils at CofE school

Government moves to protect free speech by ditching plans to outlaw ‘legal but harmful’ content online

Inaugural Heritage Bible Conference is hailed a success

Two-year interim ends as Matt Palmer inducted in Colchester

‘A pen in God’s hand’ – Rob Parson inducted at Wooler church in Northumberland

Ukraine: Pentecostal preacher and son tortured and killed after being taken by Russian soldiers

Canada: Parliament discusses euthanising disabled children, while others call for babies to be included

Mozambique: Mission Aviation Fellowship pilot held in prison

Spain: European Mission Fellowship holds its first field conference in more than 30 years, with about 100 members meeting for the weekend

Afghanistan: Christians helped to flee the Taliban and resettle elsewhere

2022 a ‘record-breaking’ year for Bible translation, says Wycliffe

300 attend Christian Values in Education national conference

188 years and counting – London City Mission praises God at its annual Thanksgiving Service held at Westminster Chapel

Swanwick convention helps equip Christians to reach out with the gospel to people in the cults

OBITUARY

Walter Chantry 1937–2022

REVIEWS

Healing that divides: How every Christian can advance God’s vision for racial unity and justice

The Trial of the 16th Century: Calvin and Servetus

Lessons from the Upper Room: The heart of the Saviour

A handbook on Open-Air Evangelism: Guiding Principles and Best Practice

Disease, Scarcity, and Famine: A Reformation perspective on God and plagues