Contents

FEATURES

Unless providentially hindered

Take up and read! Christian bookshop in Edinburgh celebrates third anniversary

The National Lottery – a good idea?

Albania and the gospel – a current appraisal

Where there is no vision, the people perish

Lessons my father taught me (Part 2)

COMMENT: This woman of prayer has been thrown to the lions

GUEST COLUMN: Five marks of a cult

THINKING IT THROUGH: God’s wisdom in a swiftly changing world

A WALK WITH MR O: The idol in our churches

A SHRINK THINKS... Jesus’s love

CRUNCH POINTS: Can you preach the gospel too much?

NEWS

News in brief

Thought crime outrage over a woman arrested for silent prayer

Justin Welby backs CofE transgender guidance for use in schools

Teacher fights to save his career after he ‘misgendered’ a trans pupil and called Muhammad a ‘false prophet’

UK government blocks Scotland’s new transgender self-identification laws, sparking a showdown in the courts

Evangelical leader tells Prince Harry, this is not ‘the Christian way to deal with family disputes’, following publication of his book ‘Spare’

Planned ban on ‘conversion practices’ set to go ahead in England and Wales

Advertising watchdog bans ad which could ‘seriously offend’ Christians

Grace Baptist Mission conference highlights work in war-torn Ukraine

Scottish Reformed Baptist conference focuses on worship

18-year interim ends as new pastor inducted in Whitstable

Westminster Conference addresses ‘wrestling with our past’

Being a Christian financial adviser – does it matter?

Revd Dr Paul Ferguson inducted to Larne Mission Hall, County Antrim

Church leaders mark 100 years of the FIEC at Leaders’ Conference

TBS auxiliary donates 10,000 Bibles to give to London’s school children

Canada: Government forced to back down over euthanasia laws following international outcry

Nigeria: African nation tops religious persecution group’s ‘countries of concern’ list for the year ahead

Germany: Court rules that local lockdown of churches in Lage was illegal

US: Navy Seal ‘pushed’ into ‘lasting damage’ sex change

US: Texas abortion numbers plummet by 97 per cent after Roe v. Wade ruling

Pakistan: New homes for Christians who were hit by disastrous floods

REVIEWS

With a Mighty Triumph! Christ’s resurrection and ours

Ten Modern Evangelism Myths: A biblical corrective

Iron Sharpens Iron: Friendship and the grace of God

Our Priceless Christian Heritage: The only foundation and pillar of a just and free society

The Grace of Gratitude

The Mystery of Providence

FEATURES

Unless providentially hindered

I remember our first winter living in the USA. One Saturday afternoon it snowed heavily, and a phone call came saying that church the following day was cancelled. I remember being quite unimpressed and thinking, These Americans don’t take church very seriously!

The next morning, we arranged to meet with some local friends for family devotions. We went on foot, but as we trudged through knee-deep snow by unploughed roads, we realised that cancelling church was the sensible and unavoidable thing to do.

It was a situation that Christians in the past would term as being ‘providentially hindered’: sometimes God so arranges events that we are prevented from gathering for worship.

A biblical example would be the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). The Levite and priest in that story should have stopped on their way to worship in order to help the man on the Jericho road – they were providentially hindered because of the victim’s need.

The Levite and the priest hadn’t planned to stop on that road, but they should have stopped. The emergency demanded it.

Likewise Jesus says that if a sheep falls into a pit on the sabbath, then wouldn’t you take hold of it and lift it out? (Matthew 12:11). It would be an accident unforeseen and unplanned by the farmer and which required his immediate attention.

The point of the phrase is to recognise that it is God’s sovereignty that can prevent us using Sunday as we should, not our own decision-making.

Many reasons are offered for missing church, but most fall outside the category of ‘providential hinderances’.

I know of students who try to justify writing their assignments on Sundays by using the ‘sheep in a pit’ principle. But that’s not being ‘providentially hindered’. Really, they’re throwing their sheep in a pit on a Friday and waiting until Sunday to do something about it.

Agreeing to have family over on a Sunday but not making it clear to them that you will go to church is not what it means to be providentially hindered. That’s a decision you yourself have taken to put family before worship; it’s not a decision that God’s taken.

It’s possible to let pseudo-emergencies (which can wait), or our own disorganisation or other people’s decisions about Sundays hinder us from coming to church.

To be ‘providentially hindered’ remains, however, a reality. When Jesus warned of coming tribulations, he said, ‘Pray that your flight may not be…on a sabbath’ (Matthew 24:20).

Why? Well, your desire should be to keep the sabbath, but Jesus recognises there can be circumstances so bad, so dangerous, that despite your desire to gather for worship, you’ve got to run for your life!

The concept of ‘providential hinderance’ rightly recognises the reality of emergencies, ill-health, and unforeseen situations that come along and interfere with worship.

You don’t need to feel guilty when you’re stuck at home on a Sunday caring for a sick child. But neither should rationalise your bad choices and the things you let interfere with Sundays.

As far as we’re concerned, God wants us enlightened to the fact that ‘a day in his courts is better than a thousand elsewhere’ (Psalm 84:10), duly arranging our lives so that we can act upon that conviction.

But God is sovereign, and sometimes for his wise reasons interferes with our plans.

Wouldn’t it be great if we committed to the principle that we will gather for worship 100% of the time, not ‘unless hindered’, but ‘unless providentially hindered’?

By Simon Arscott, Simon has been sent by the International Presbyterian Church to lead All Nations Church, Ilford.

Take up and read! Christian bookshop in Edinburgh celebrates third anniversary

William Frizelle is the manager of Mound Books, Edinburgh. He shares insights with us on the current state of Christian reading and retailing.

JT: Tell us about Mound Books.

WF: Mound Books was established in October 2019 with the aim of making Christ known in Scotland. We seek to do this by providing access to solid, biblical Christian books as easily and as economically as possible.

We are situated on the Mound in central Edinburgh (literally a two-minute walk down from the castle), and currently occupy the location of the former Free Church of Scotland Bookshop which sadly closed some years ago. But as it happened, it was this unfortunate closure that prompted us to establish Mound Books in the first place.

Readers may already be familiar with the Evangelical Bookshop in Belfast. Upon hearing the news of the closure of the Free Church Bookshop, the board of trustees of the Evangelical Bookshop, after much prayer and consideration, decided to take up the space left behind by the demise of this shop.

This led to the formation of Mound Books effectively as an Edinburgh branch of the Evangelical Bookshop, albeit with a different name to suit our location.

I am very pleased to report that since our foundation in 2019 our sales have gone from strength to strength with the final few months of 2022 being our busiest to date, for which we give glory to God.

JT: How does Mound Books stand out from other bookstores?

WF: Probably the most distinctive feature of Mound Books, except for the possibility of us having the smallest Christian Bookshop floor space in the UK, is our focus on Reformed and evangelical books.

Right from the outset of the life of Mound Books it was decided that we will follow the ethos and focus of our partners in Belfast. This would mean specialising exclusively in titles that fit with the Reformed Calvinistic tradition.

With a financial outlook this may appear a strange decision – let’s face it, Reformed literature does not sell as well as titles with a Charismatic or prosperity gospel theme. Nonetheless, we felt God’s call not to deviate from the biblical truths of the doctrines of grace, which many Christian bookshops appear to have done.

The books we stock, therefore, are those produced by publishers who hold to core evangelical and Reformed teachings. These include Banner of Truth, Reformation Heritage, Presbyterian & Reformed, Christian Focus, Ettrick Press, Evangelical Press, Ligonier, Crossway, and others.

JT: What are the challenges and encouragements you’ve experienced over the last three years?

WF: For any retailer – bookshop or otherwise – the most challenging time we have faced over the last three years has been the Covid lockdowns. With no customers coming into the shop ‘off the street’, all of our business suddenly turned and relied upon our online presence.

Whilst we had a website from day one of the shop’s existence, the first couple of weeks of lockdown were spent improving and simplifying the customer experience on our site.

By God’s grace, this helped us to get through those dark weeks, and whilst many retailers went under in that period, I am glad to say that we were able to keep our head above water, and we praise God for that.

Lockdown also prompted us to improve our social media outlets as a means of promoting the shop and online sales. Our Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages grew threefold during this time and still form a core outlet for our sales and promotions of new books.

Among the most encouraging things I’ve witnessed over the last three years has been the number of unbelievers coming into the shop and asking what it means to be a Christian.

This may seem almost too good to be true, but I can assure you that during the summer months we have had people on an almost daily basis coming into the shop simply because they have never seen or even heard of a Christian bookshop before.

We give God glory once again for many gospel conversations that have taken place purely because our sign outside says Christian bookshop!

This feeds into our ethos as a shop that it is right to have a physical Christian bookshop presence on the high street. It’s all well and good having an online-based business, or one based in some industrial estate on the edge of town.

I’m sure many believers and churches do benefit from a business like that, but no unbeliever is ever going to come across a website or an industrial unit unless they deliberately look for it. In contrast, having a physical presence in the centre of a town or city leads (and has led in my experience) to many people coming across by accident a Christian bookshop.

Over the course of last summer, we have been able to provide many people who had no intention of ever coming into any form of ‘Christian place’ with books that point them to Christ. Not only that, but it has been a great encouragement to me personally to be able to provide people with their first ever Bible, purely because they have stumbled across us by accident.

I praise God for such a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel. After all, none of these people may ever have read a Bible unless Mound Books was here – clearly God’s providence at work!

JT: Is there a process of vetting theological works before they become available at Mound Books?

WF: Yes, we do have quite a strict vetting process at Mound Books. As shop manager it is up to me to decide which books and how many of that book to stock in the shop, a daunting task at times considering the value of books these days.

Normally I begin with the publisher. In some publishers – Banner of Truth, for example – I have complete doctrinal confidence, and will happily stock their material without too much consideration, except perhaps for the subject under discussion. There is no financial point in stocking multiple copies of a book that may be theologically sound, but might sit on the shelves for years.

For 90% of publishers, however, I move to the next step of the vetting process which is the author. In this step I look out for big names in the Reformed and evangelical world. These are people whose works I have read before or know that they are solidly biblical.

After this stage I look at the specific subject in question and see whether it is something that has perhaps not been written on or published before, or if it is a topic that will be helpful for or associated with believers in Scotland.

The final stage in the process is the recommendations on the back of the book. Again I look out for the names of authors, ministers, and pastors that I can trust. No well-known Reformed minister is going to put their name to something theologically dodgy.

JT: Which titles and topics have proved popular among customers?

WF: The obvious answer to this question is the Bible. We sell Bibles on a daily basis. But moving away from this, we have a particular focus on Scottish theology and Scottish church history. In the run up to Christmas 2022, our best seller was Sinclair Ferguson’s advent devotional, The Dawn of Redeeming Grace. We find that what sells best fluctuates between what is new and what is ‘in season’.

In terms of popular subjects, I would have to sadly admit that books on depression have been at the forefront of sales, particularly over the last year or so.

More positively, our second-hand books have to be the most popular corner of the shop. Quite often someone will walk in intending to buy one particular new book but will end up leaving with four second-hand books too!

Our second-hand section is also exclusively from the Reformed evangelical tradition, and many of these books are in ‘like-new’ condition, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that they sell so well.

JT: People are busy and life is more fast-paced than ever. Should evangelicals still invest time in reading books?

WF: This is a question that both myself and other shop staff are asked regularly. ‘Why should I buy more books when I already have a pile beside my bed to read?’ The short answer is, ‘You can never have enough Christian books to read!’ I am the manager of a bookshop after all, so I couldn’t really answer that question any other way!

One thing I do often suggest to customers is to simply take your time whilst reading. Life is indeed so fast-paced these days, and it amazes me that so many Christians assume that their reading also has to be fast-paced to match!

The truth is that books are enjoyed, and learnt from, much more effectively when they are read slowly, giving ourselves time to take them in. When I read books I tend never to read more than one chapter in a go, and if it’s a more heavy systematic theology title I sometimes don’t read more than one paragraph!

When our lives are so busy, it’s wonderful to be able to spend even just a short time stepping back in order to read and soak up the wonderful truths of the gospel and the grace of our God. That certainly helps me with the busyness of my life.

JT: Print media is slowly giving way to digital forms – why is it still important to provide physical copies of books?

WF: Not everyone has access to a computer or e-reader, and I include myself in this. I have never understood the appeal of reading a book on a screen. There is definitely something more pleasing and ‘real’ about holding a book in your hand rather than a Kindle. And books never run out of battery!

Moreover, one of the biggest selling points of books over against digital downloads (at least amongst our customers) is that they are so much easier to annotate, underline, and reference quickly.

On a more practical note, books can also be shared or loaned to a friend or family member who is perhaps struggling with a certain theological issue and needs more understanding. Physical books are more effective in outreach too. I am yet to meet anyone who will happily loan or give away their iPad to someone so that they can read an e-book!

You can learn more about the ‘Mound Books’ bookshop by visiting its website, moundbooks.com

By John Tredget, Elder at Grace Evangelical Church, Carlisle and Production Editor for Evangelical Times.

The National Lottery – a good idea?

The National Lottery has been with us since 25 May 1994. Like the white cliffs of Dover, it’s become an accepted part of British life. No one is forced to partake, but its participants do so eagerly. It gives the opportunity of becoming an overnight millionaire.

Half of the proceeds from tickets goes into the prize money. A quarter is spent on ‘good causes’ – charities and organisations can apply for National Lottery grants – and the remainder of the proceeds are divided up between the government and retailers.

No one who buys a lottery ticket would question whether doing so is a good idea or not. Christians, however, might have grave reservations about the whole enterprise.

True joy

The National Lottery promises great joy. People fantasise about winning, believing this would be a cure-all to solve all their life’s problems.

The Lord Jesus, however, stated that true joy is not material but spiritual. He said, ‘Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions’ (Luke 12:15).

True and lasting joy, according to the Bible, is having ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’ (Ephesians 3:8) in our spiritual bank account – being a recipient of his saving grace; being a beneficiary of the eternal salvation he procured for us at Calvary.

These are the ‘solid joys and lasting treasures none but Zion’s children know’. Jesus gives what a National Lottery win cannot give. He said, ‘I came that they may have life and have it abundantly’ (John 10:10).

He defined this further in John 17:3 when he said, ‘This is eternal life, that they know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.’

Our chief end cannot be realised by physical wealth. ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever’ (Question 1 of The Westminster Shorter Catechism).

Work

The National Lottery encourages us to obtain riches in a way contrary to the revealed will of God. It does so because it discourages work. Work is a divine ordinance, and God’s normal means of enabling us to provide for ourselves, our families, and the on-going Christian mission.

Paul writes ‘Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need’ (Ephesians 4:28). A lottery winner, however, need never work again. His life can be confined to one of leisure and idleness.

In the mysterious providence of God, Christians may experience hardship. Yet testing times are to be trusting times. Our faith is not in ‘lady luck’ but in a sovereign God of infinite goodness, who cares and undertakes for his children. ‘He cares about you’ (1 Peter 5:7).

Ultimately, he is the one who provides for all our needs. ‘My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 4:19). ‘For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; he bestows favour and honour. No good thing does the LORD withhold from those who walk uprightly’ (Psalm 84:11).

Covetousness

The National Lottery encourages covetousness. That is, it encourages a discontented desire for ‘more’. How much better your life would be if you were well off! Covetousness is not a crime, but an inward craving and attitude.

While covetousness is not forbidden by human legislation, it is prohibited by the law of God. The 10th commandment is ‘You shall not covet’ (Exodus 20:17).

The Westminster Shorter Catechism explains it like this: ‘The tenth commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour and all that is his.

‘The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontent with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinate notions and affections to anything that is his’ (Shorter Catechism).

According to Colossians 3:5, covetousness is a form of idolatry. We can be engrossed by and worship wealth, even if we don’t have it. The opposite of covetousness is contentment – being content in the love of God and his providential ordering of our lives.

Paul, even in prison, could testify, ‘Not that I complain of want, for I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content’ (Philippians 4:11).

In 1 Timothy 6:6-8 he writes ‘There is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world, but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content.’

Poverty

The riches which the lottery promises paradoxically promote poverty – and there is nothing dignified about poverty. I have personally been in a supermarket queue and witnessed a single mother spending all her weekly child benefit on lottery tickets.

I have also seen one on a state pension and disability allowance spending over £20 at one go on ‘scratch cards’, rubbing the cards, and then throwing them in the bin.

Both participants would have been wiser to put their limited resources towards food and heating. But the lottery skews rational thinking. Christians surely thus must oppose the lottery on grounds of compassion.

In Luke 10:29 we have the question, ‘Who is my neighbour?’ The answer is, ‘Those around us, irrespective of their faith.’ When our neighbour confines him or herself to poverty because of the National Lottery, Christians are rightly concerned. Who can calculate just how much financial hardship the lottery has brought in its wake?

Something better

The National Lottery. It is part of our national life. Christians, though, will surely have nothing to do with it and will want nothing to do with it.

There is something infinitely better: the grace of God in Christ. In Christ we know the secret of a truly happy life, a happy death, and a happy eternity. Why step down to be a millionaire?

Opposing the National Lottery will not make us popular, and not partaking in a syndicate at work can cause suspicion. But God calls us to live in a Christian counter-culture. We are not to let the world squeeze us into its mould. Our thinking is formed and is to be formed by the Word of God.

All Christians are to be non-conformists, for the Bible says, ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable, and perfect’ (Romans 12:2).

By Timothy Cross, Dr Cross is pastor of Cornwall Street Baptist Church, Cardiff, and the author of 40 Christian books.

Albania and the gospel – a current appraisal

Let’s get a few facts straight. The majority of Albanians don’t live in Albania, and they probably never have. The boundaries of the modern state, established in 1912, were not designed to include all those who identify as Albanian, whether through language or wider cultural factors.

Montenegro, North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, and Italy are all home to substantial Albanian minorities, while in Kosovo they are clearly the majority, so the two-and-a-half million or so who remain in the homeland only make up part of the Albanian story. But it’s in the homeland that we can most easily trace a heart-warming story of God’s grace.

Following 500 years of Ottoman rule (during which most Albanians were forced to convert to Islam), there was a move of God’s Spirit, especially in the southeast. However, such encouraging developments were cut short by World War 2, which was immediately followed by the highly repressive regime of Enver Hoxha, effectively silencing the gospel for nearly fifty years.

It’s what happened next that is such an encouragement to all who care about sharing the good news of Jesus. 1991 saw the start of what can only be described as an ‘awakening’. A people who had been brain-washed with party propaganda (especially their teenage offspring) would respond to the Word in extraordinary numbers and with an enthusiasm almost lost in the West.

Albania today

What of Albania today? Shaun Thompson – who has been a missionary in Albania since October 1992 – recently wrote a report on the situation after thirty years of gospel freedom. Warning against an ‘overly nostalgic’ view and with a seasoned eye on the material and worldly appeal of becoming attached to anything Western, Shaun states bluntly that ‘it is no surprise that many who professed faith, including some that were very active in church, were never truly converted’.

But he is quick to counter his own caution: ‘Recognising all of this shouldn’t take anything away from the miracle of grace demonstrated by lives dedicated to Christ, especially of those who have been following the gospel for the last 30 years.’

Recognising that Shaun is inclined towards a balanced appraisal of Albanian church life and witness today, it’s encouraging to hear that ‘there are still people getting converted. Not in large numbers, but right across the country the Spirit is at work. And you don’t have to be from a particular Christian stable to know that this – the new birth – is the greatest of miracles. I sometimes remind my fellow labourers of this important truth, so that they don’t grow discouraged with the ones and twos.’

Vigorous outreach

Shaun goes on to commend the revival of vigorous outreach programmes after the enforced inertia of the pandemic. Pointing to camps and holiday clubs, sports and educational programmes, he’s excited that opportunities to benefit communities are rarely missed. It is also encouraging to read of ‘surprising conversions’ linked to prison ministry.

Of particular encouragement is to see nationals now making up the core of the gospel workforce. Some have been doing so since the 1990s, while others have been converted in later years, including a number who have set aside career opportunities to serve Christ. In a country without much of a welfare state, that takes courage.

Financial support

This brings us to the subject of financial support. We would be naïve to conclude that the fourth poorest economy in Europe (Moldova is poorest, followed by Ukraine and Kosovo) is going to have a self-supporting church.

Here’s Shaun again: ‘Those familiar with the Albanian scene will know that many pastors and church workers are dependent on outside support. It has meant national Christians who would otherwise have emigrated being able to give themselves to the work of the Lord. The alternative would be to let churches close, particularly in poorer towns, leaving whole districts without a Christian witness. Obviously, when it comes to financial support, there needs to be maturity on both sides for it to be a help rather than a hindrance.’

At AEM (Albanian Evangelical Mission) we have long considered that our particular approach to financial support should be to come alongside where God is already at work. This is not to say we follow ‘success’ but rather to indicate that our partners in Albania are those who have previously made a sacrificial commitment to serve in ministry and our role has been to share their burden and strengthen their hands.

Most towns in Albania and not a few villages have some form of church or Christian gathering, and Tirana itself (home to more than a third of the population) can lay claim to maybe fifty congregations with an evangelical perspective, some of them sizeable.

Worship culture

The next question needs to be about what happens when they meet. Shaun Thompson’s perception is inevitably personal but helps us to understand where the needs might lie.

Regarding worship, for instance: ‘A more general area of concern is the worship culture prevalent in many churches. It’s not the dominance of contemporary songs in themselves – though some are very difficult to sing – so much as the orientation of churches towards a performative act of worship with the amplified singers and musicians being the only thing that can be heard.

‘It’s not just happening at church. I no longer like going to Albanian weddings either! It is just so loud. My problem with this at church is that it prevents people – particularly men – singing themselves, making it spiritually unhelpful. In addition to the volume, the ethos sometimes seems to be wrong as well. While worship should be a joy, we are getting it totally wrong if the focus becomes people’s enjoyment.’

Need for preaching

Shaun also shares his thoughts on the all-important area of preaching. ‘One of the never changing needs of the church is good preaching. Here I’m glad to say that there are some very good preachers in Albanian churches. Not enough to go round, and the ones who have a God-given gift for edifying believers are not always the ones with the biggest congregations, but praise God for some faithful servants of the gospel!

‘Even pastors who don’t have a strong preaching gift are able to do their congregation good by preaching the basic truths. Still, it is good to keep praying for God to raise up powerful preachers of the gospel who will reach their own people for Jesus.

‘I preach around the country and am humbled to often be assured by believers that I’ve been able to help them. Be that as it may, I would rather see an Albanian Bunyan, Wesley or Spurgeon, any day of the week!’

The future

Encouraged by all that has happened in thirty years, Shaun concludes with thoughts for the future: ‘It’s good that the Albanian church continues to enjoy complete freedom to worship and witness. Even, it would seem, more liberty during the recent pandemic than numerous Western countries.

‘Of course, the downside to religious freedom is that it opens the door to the weird and wonderful. Various sects have turned up over the years, not only causing spiritual confusion, but in some cases creating antagonism for genuine gospel outreach.

‘Of equal concern is the sectarianism of some Protestant missionaries who seem to like to travel with a lot of baggage. It is simply unacceptable to be re-baptising Albanian Christians that were previously converted in another evangelical church! Honestly, what are they thinking?

Return of Islam?

‘Looking at the wider religious landscape, it comes as no surprise that the various traditional religious groups have been trying to reassert their previous role in society. My perception is that they have had limited success.

‘If one looks back at the period when Albania was part of the Turkish Empire, the largest religion in Albania was clearly Islam. However, even though hundreds of new mosques have gone up across the country since the fall of Communism, the number of practising Moslems is relatively small, and it would be wrong to characterise Albania as a Muslim country.

‘That doesn’t mean we should be complacent. The fact that people are open to questioning their religious identity should give us all a sense of impetus to keep doing outreach while we can… most Albanians have a generally theistic view of life, in that they believe in a Creator and an ultimate judge over the affairs of men.

Western materialism

‘Nevertheless, the dominant forces at work in Albanian society today are Western materialism and superstition, more commonly recognisable as a worship of self and the pagan belief that you can make heaven serve you rather than the other way round.

‘Only the power of God can break the hold of sin – and Satan – on the human heart. That’s why we should pray. And that’s why we should keep proclaiming the gospel of Jesus.’

By Paul Davies, Director of Albanian Evangelical Mission.

Where there is no vision, the people perish

The following is an edited extract of an address given at the FCS(C) General Assembly meeting in May 2022 in Edinburgh.

A missionary to South Africa once said, ‘Missions are more than a matter of obeying a command, they are the result of an encounter with Christ. To meet Christ means to become caught up in a mission (Christ’s mission) to the world – a mission of reaching the lost with the gospel.’

Sermons in shoes

I have been engaged in full-time missionary work now for some 20 years. It remains vitally important across Scotland. Our churches everywhere are largely empty – empty of perishing souls who are unchurched, unreached, undisturbed, and unsaved.

If we are genuinely concerned about the destiny of souls then we should be deeply alarmed when we hear of so few people coming to Christ and being converted. Since so few people now come to church, how are we to reach them with the good news of the gospel?

Spurgeon once said, ‘The sermons most needed today are sermons in shoes.’ In other words, we need to get up and go out with the gospel, letting our feet and shoes carry us to those who are dead in their sins and living for this world only. We need to share with them the greatest story ever told, namely that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

We are to do so persuasively and compellingly, as far as God’s Word will allow us: ‘Knowing the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men’ (2 Corinthians 5:11).

Gospel witnessing

God’s command to witness the gospel is what it always has been. His mandate is, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled’ (Luke 14:21, 23).

Not once has the Lord ever said to his witnesses, ‘Stay at home and just be silent!’ Tragically, that’s what many believers have done for far too long, as I found out recently during a week of gospel outreach in a rural area.

One man said, ‘I have lived here for up to 50 years. While I have nothing against the church or against Christians, nobody has ever told me what you shared with me here today!’ What a lamentable indictment on professing Christians.

Christian literature

Once known as the ‘land of the Book’, this cannot be said of Scotland in 2022. The decline is a sobering reminder of why the message of ‘the Book’ must be shared at every given opportunity.

There was once an eminent US Christian statesman called Daniel Webster. He lived during some dark spiritual days in his nation’s history, and he stressed the importance of handing out gospel literature to those who never darkened the doors of a church: ‘If Christian books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation.

‘If truth be not diffused, then error will be. If God and his Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendency. If the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will.

‘If the power of the gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of this land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign without mitigation or end.’

Passion for souls

During my studies at London Theological Seminary (LTS) some 20 years ago, I was introduced to a man who made a deep and lasting impression upon me. That man was George Whitefield, the great evangelist of the 18th century.

After his heart was captured and conquered by the grace of God, all his ambitions in life were taken away and he was left with one soul-consuming desire: to win souls for Christ.

Such was his passionate love for Christ and ardent zeal for lost souls that he witnessed the gospel at every opportunity, wherever he went: ‘God forbid that I should travel with anybody a quarter of an hour without speaking of Christ to them… God is well pleased when all our actions proceed from love: love to himself, and love to immortal souls.’

Here was an evangelist who couldn’t be silenced. He would often tell his hearers, ‘If your souls were not immortal, and you in danger of losing them, I would not thus speak unto you; but the love of your souls constrains me to speak; methinks this would constrain me to speak unto you forever.’

His earnestness and enthusiasm in what he believed was so real and sincere that it had a profound effect on countless multitudes: ‘I will never speak of what is real as though it is imaginary. I will not be a velvet-mouthed preacher.’

Weeping for the lost

In 1844 an old man of 81 named John Knight recorded how he had heard Whitefield preach in 1769 during his last visit to his native parts in Gloucestershire: ‘I was about 6 years of age,’ writes Knight, ‘my father held me up in his arms, and though so young I well remember to have seen the tears run down the cheeks of that servant of God while preaching the love of his Master to dying sinners. It was a sight I’ve never forgotten.’

Benjamin Franklin was an agnostic but loved to hear Whitefield preach. The story is told that one day he was on his way to hear Whitefield preach when someone stopped him and said, ‘Franklin, why are you going to hear Whitefield? You don’t believe that stuff he preaches.’ Franklin responded, ‘I don’t, but he does. That’s good enough for me!’

Mission and vision

The true story is told of a Chinese farmer who had cataracts removed from his eyes by a missionary doctor. A few days later, as he looked out of his bamboo window, the doctor saw something that puzzled him.

He noticed the farmer he had healed holding the end of a long rope. Holding onto the rope behind him were several blind Chinese he had rounded up and led to the missionary doctor who had worked the ‘miracle’ on this farmer’s eyes. He gave them the same assurance, ‘What he did for me, this doctor can equally do for you – he can give sight to you all!’

This is the same kind of mission and vision we should have as a church as we seek to reach out with the gospel and win souls for Christ. Indeed, ‘Without a vision, the people perish’ (Proverbs 29:18).

By Donald J. Morrison, Missionary with the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing).

Lessons my father taught me (Part 2)

This is a continuation of the article published in the January edition.

3. My dad taught me the value of organisation

My dad received formal education only to a relatively young age, but he was an organised man. He was always elected clerk of the classis for our whole denomination.

As I grew older, I sometimes wanted to say to them, ‘Don’t you know that my dad only has an eighth-grade education and can’t write well?’ But he managed to put it together. He was organised, and he was a pretty good clerk.

His language was a bit rough, so he would often slip his notes over to me and ask if I would proofread them for him, which I did.

My dad just knew what task needed to be done next, so he accomplished a fair bit. I think he modelled that for me in a way that really impacted me, even more than I consciously realised.

I once had to give a talk to the students at Puritan Reformed Seminary on the subject of organising one’s time. I had never before thought about that subject. I did not know what to say. So I began to think about how I organised my own time.

As I did so, it occurred to me how much I had been influenced by my dad in this area. He did not teach time management to me, I just picked it up from him. My brothers and sisters were influenced by him the same way.

4. My dad taught me the value of placing prayer at the centre of life

My dad wasn’t as free with prayer as I. For example, if he happened to drive by an accident on the highway, he wouldn’t just spontaneously pray. But I knew prayer was at the centre of his life.

I would often see him just sitting in his chair for a while meditating, especially as he grew older. That wasn’t wasted time. It was purposeful meditation. I just knew somehow that while he was meditating, he was praying with eyes open.

5. My dad taught me the value of sharing your spiritual life with your children

My dad often spoke about how the Lord had led him personally and spiritually. He told me that when he was 27 years old he read Van Reenen’s work, Bert and Case, and that God had used it to convict him of his sin.

He told me about how he found Christ in his early thirties. He told me about how he and Uncle Pete were shingling a roof together one day when Uncle Pete came under sudden conviction of sin, and so the two of them just sat down on the roof and wept together over their sins as they were seeking for a Saviour.

These stories made a deep impression on my own spiritual experiences later on. My father taught me experiential Christianity; that the doctrines of grace must not only be known, but felt and experienced.

6. My dad taught me the value of holy earnestness

My dad was in earnest for the wellbeing of souls. When he was home he was very laid back, almost passive. But when it came to the church, and to matters of truth and eternity, he could become quite moved.

Sometimes I wondered whether my dad cared about my bodily needs, but I never doubted that he cared for my soul. I knew that he believed what J. C. Ryle once said: ‘Soul love is the soul of all love.’

This made a profound impact on me as well. Now I think that my dad just left the whole matter of physical needs to my mother’s care, and he is the one who really looked after my soul.

7. My dad taught me the value of Christ’s beauty and amiability

I cannot say that I learned this lesson from my father initially. Early on, he was a bit of a hyper-Calvinist, believing that God only spoke to sensible sinners. He hardly believed that anyone was saved.

This was very difficult for me initially. Once when I was fifteen, I awoke my father in the middle of the night to tell him that I had found real deliverance in Christ, that he was my Saviour and Lord, that he was everything to me.

But my dad actually discouraged my enthusiasm. He didn’t want me to believe too quickly that I had been delivered. Later in life, when the gospel really came home to him, this attitude completely changed.

The process of transformation was very interesting. When I was young I would sit at my father’s feet. Even while I was in seminary, I would come home and ask him questions. But a point came early in my ministerial years when the tables were turned and my father would ask me theological questions.

It was a strange thing. It was still to our mutual edification, but there was a definite changing of the tide. Especially as he approached his 70th year, he seemed to love Christ more and more. It was tangible. As I would preach about Christ from the pulpit in Kalamazoo, Michigan, his face would be bathed in tears. And not just once in a while, but normally.

When he was a bit older I said to him, ‘Dad, you’ve changed so much in terms of the gospel. Now you find it so much easier to believe that God is working in the hearts of sinners, and you love Christ so much more. And you seem to be at such peace now. You are not nearly as uptight about spiritual things as you once were. What happened?’

He replied that three things had impacted his life. First, he was impacted by the gospel-centred preachers in our denomination who had visited the church over the years. Second, he was impacted by my brother’s book, Bible Doctrine for Teens and Young Adults. Third, he said he was impacted by my sermons. It really touched me when he said this.

It is a beautiful thing when you and your adult children not only speak to one another, but exchange ideas and are of help to each other. Sometimes you almost become the child, and your child becomes a parent to you, teaching you.

This is the kind of relationship I have with my son, Calvin, whenever we go hunting. He is the parent, and I am the child. He teaches me about hunting because I know nothing about it. It is a wonderful thing to relate to adult children, and we need to grow in this area as parents. Sometimes we just need to sit back, relax, and enjoy the fruits of God’s work in our children’s lives.

As my father grew older, his love for Christ became so fervent that my siblings and I would say to each other, ‘Yes, his health is strong, he can’t live long like this. It is like he is not fit for this earth. He yearns to be with Christ so much.’ In his prayers he would often pray to be with Christ forever, saying, ‘Oh, come Lord Jesus, come quickly!’

8. My dad taught me the value of self-examination

Even though my father became much more Christ-centred at the end of his life, he still taught us throughout his life that we must examine our own souls and never approach spiritual things casually or superficially.

He was looking for reality in his life and in the lives of others. If you can keep that emphasis on self-examination, without the hyper-Calvinistic belief that almost no one is saved, you will have a powerful combination for combating shallow religion, while at the same time keeping yourself in the love of Christ.

9. My dad taught me the value of focusing on eternity

One of my dad’s expressions in prayer was, ‘Lord, let our lives be nothing but a preparation to meet thee in the righteousness and peace of Jesus Christ on the Great Day.’

He was always praying like that, always focusing on eternity, always preparing to meet the Lord. We must remember that we have here no continuing city. This is a very important legacy to leave to our children.

Jonathan Edwards once prayed, ‘Oh God, stamp eternity upon my eyes.’ We need to impress our children with this thought. We are all traveling to eternity. Eternity is what ultimately matters. We must be prepared every moment to meet the Lord.

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

COMMENT: This woman of prayer has been thrown to the lions

By the time you read this, the case against Isabel Vaughan-Spruce may have been dropped by the police or thrown out by the courts. It ought to be. To arrest a woman for praying silently in her head is an outrage. Yes, we know it was in the vicinity of an abortion clinic. Yes, we know there was a protection order (‘buffer zone’) in place. But the clinic was closed on the day she was arrested. There were no people going in or out. There was no one to be ‘intimated’ by this woman’s silent prayers.

As if anyone would be ‘intimidated’ anyway! Buffer zones are not really about protecting people from ‘intimidation’. They are there to silence and criminalise one side of the abortion debate, the pro-life side. What’s next? Are we going to arrest republicans who stand outside Buckingham Palace thinking anti-monarchy thoughts? Are we going to arrest vegans who stand outside butchers because they’ve got anti-meat ideas in their heads? It’s a nonsense.

Yet it happened. The police stopped, questioned, arrested, searched, detained, interrogated, and charged this woman for the prayers in her head. That’s thought policing, plain and simple. Even if the police do drop it, or the courts throw it out, it’s outrageous that we’ve come this far. It just shows the influence of the woke lobby on local authorities and the police.

Prayers don’t have to be location-specific, of course. They don’t somehow become more powerful just because you are standing in the vicinity of the thing you’re praying about. So yes, it’s perfectly possible to pray elsewhere for the protection of unborn babies and mothers experiencing pregnancy crisis. But people should be free to stand on a public pavement and pray.

Think about the prophet Daniel. The governing authorities wanted to get rid of him, and they targeted his prayers. But Daniel went about his ordinary prayer life, and as a consequence he was thrown into the lions’ den. In the end, God’s hand of protection was on Daniel and he came out unscathed. Whatever happens in this case, we should have the courage to hold to the truth that all life is created by God and is sacred from the moment of conception. And, wherever you are, keep on praying.

GUEST COLUMN: Five marks of a cult

We can define a Christian cult as ‘a group, church, or organisation whose central teachings or practices are claimed to be biblical or representative of biblical Christianity, but which are in fact unbiblical and not Christian in nature’.

There are many groups to which this definition applies, but the most well-known are the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormons). What are the beliefs and practises of these groups that qualify them as ‘Christian’ cults?

It should be noted that these groups teach nothing new. Divergent beliefs concerning the identity of Christ and the nature of the gospel message have been peddled since the birth of the church. Jesus himself warned of ‘false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves’ (Matthew 7:15).

The apostle Paul starkly warned the churches in Galatia: ‘Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed’ (Galatians 1:8-9).

What characterises the false teachings of the ‘Christian’ cults that puts them outside of historic, biblical Christianity? Here are five hallmarks:

1. Extra-biblical authority

These groups, although claiming the Bible to be their authority, in practice teach that the Bible is not enough. For example, Mormons have several extra-biblical writings which they claim are equal to (if not more authoritative than) the Bible. Jehovah’s Witnesses claim the Bible as the source of all their teachings, but they are bound to follow the teachings of literature published by their leaders in the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.

2. Faith and works

Just as the Bible is not enough among the cults, so faith in Jesus is also not enough. Jesus did his part (we’re told), but now we must perform ours in order to be saved. Christian cults often emphasise James 2:17 (‘Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead’) without balancing it against Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 2:8-9: ‘By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.’ How can we reconcile Paul’s emphasis on faith with James’s emphasis on works? It isn’t difficult when we consider the following equation: salvation always produces works (James); works never produce salvation (Paul).

3. Defective Christology

‘For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus…’ (2 Corinthians 11:4). When someone tells you that they believe in Jesus, your response should be, which one? So said cult-expert Walter Martin. Every ‘Christian’ cult has a Jesus, but theirs is always a pale imitation of the Jesus revealed in Scripture. To Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus is no more than a created being, and to Mormons, Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer (both literal offspring of God the Father). Most concerning is the fact that the false Jesus of the cults is not the one, true Christ presented in Scripture, and so cannot save anyone.

4. New revelation

Many Christian cults arose in the 19th century in America. Their founders claimed new revelation through angelic visitation or new discoveries. Joseph Smith (founder of the Mormon religion) claimed that he was led by an angel to some ancient golden plates which God helped him to translate into the Book of Mormon. Charles Taze Russell (founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses) claimed that he discovered and restored long-lost truths that ‘Christendom’ had lost.

5. Exclusivity

Most of these groups would claim exclusivity. They claim to stand alone as God’s mouthpiece to the world; they are the ones with the full truths of God. Many would teach that people can only be saved through association with their group. Mormons teach that only faithful members of their church can reach the highest heaven. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that only faithful members of their group can achieve eternal life and avoid destruction at Armageddon.

Given these divergent beliefs, what then should be our response as evangelicals? How can we share the true gospel with them? We will consider this in the final article next month.

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

THINKING IT THROUGH: God’s wisdom in a swiftly changing world

Christians need wisdom. ‘Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her’ (Proverbs 3:13-15).

What is wisdom? Wisdom is the capacity to see things clearly and to act accordingly. The wise person is the person who sees things as they really are, understands what he needs to do in different situations, and does it.

Where does wisdom begin?

The Bible tells us that ‘the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom’ (Proverbs 9:10). God himself is the ultimate reality. He is the one Eternal Being, the Creator and Upholder of all things, the Sovereign Ruler over everything that exists, the great Lawgiver, the Judge of all his creatures. He never changes.

Recognising God for who he is and fearing him is the starting point of all wisdom. If a person leaves God out of account in his thinking, he cannot see anything clearly. However intelligent or well-educated that person may be, he’s a fool.

A wise person has a proper fear of God. And therefore he takes notice of all that God has said in his book, the Bible. He pays attention to what God has said about the world, about human beings, about life , about death, about marriage, about bringing up children, about money, about eating and drinking, about work and rest and sleep – about everything!

God is perfectly wise; he made the world and everything in it so he understands all these realities perfectly. If we fear God, we’ll listen to what he has said about all these things, and we will grow wise.

Of course, being wise means studying the rules that God has given us and understanding how to apply those rules in every area of life. A wise man may not understand why things happen as they do. And he may not be able to predict what will happen in the future. But he follows God’s directions in the various situations he faces. So he makes right decisions – decisions that please God and lead to good outcomes.

Growing in wisdom

A believer should grow in wisdom as the years go by. That was true even for the Lord Jesus. ‘And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man’ (Luke 2:52). As a toddler, Jesus’s wisdom was perfect but limited. He didn’t need to make decisions about marriage or investments or politics, or careers. He didn’t need adult wisdom about such things. But as the years went by, he was faced with ever more demanding decisions and he needed ever greater wisdom.

All through our Christian lives we should be increasing in wisdom. We should be better and better equipped to make wise decisions in every area of life. Paul urged the Ephesian believers: ‘Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is’ (Ephesians 5:15-17).

And this is how he prayed for the members of the church in Colossae: ‘...we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God’ (Colossians 1:9-10).

When we first came to Christ, we were like newly-born babies, with little understanding. But as the years go by, we should be maturing, becoming better equipped to handle difficult and complicated choices. We should be growing in wisdom.

Growth: steady or sudden?

For many Christians, growing in wisdom has been a slow and steady process. As the years go by, we study the Scriptures, we hear them expounded, we listen to more mature Christians, we learn from our experiences (and often our mistakes) and bit by bit we learn to ‘walk in a manner worthy of the Lord’.

But it’s not always like that. Sometimes the Lord plunges us into circumstances which are overwhelmingly complicated and puzzling. We face dilemmas which we’ve never had to face before. We have to deal with problems which we find completely baffling. We’re forced to make decisions though there seems no clear road ahead. We realise that we simply don’t have the wisdom we need to handle the situations that have erupted around us.

At such times we find ourselves crying out to God to give us wisdom. We ransack the Bible searching for passages that throw light on our dilemmas. We’re forced to think harder than we’ve ever thought before. It’s as if the Lord has put us onto a fast-track, accelerated learning course. We have to gain wisdom swiftly if we’re to survive.

A time of crisis

I believe we’re experiencing that sort of steep learning curve now. Not just some of us but all of us. The world around us has been changing rapidly throughout our lifetimes. But the changes that have come in the last few years have been astonishing – and bewildering.

Our society has changed almost beyond recognition. And that means that we are faced with decisions and dilemmas that we have never had to face before. Let me list some areas of life where we are going to need God-given wisdom to cope with the changes that are sweeping through our society.

The internet – and especially the domination of social media

The internet has transformed every aspect of life in our society. It is becoming harder and harder to function without a smartphone. In many schools the children can only find out what homework has been set via a phone app. Some doctors and dentists insist that they will only communicate with you via your mobile phone. Banks are closing their high street branches so accounts can only be accessed via the internet.

How should Christians respond? We know that the internet – and especially social media – is addictive. We know that it exposes our children to bullying, to pornography, to propaganda. We know that it pressurises them to accept as normal things that are bizarre and twisted.

And we know that we are becoming more and more dependent upon it.

What does a wise Christian do when he realises that he is spending more time each day reading internet blogs than he spends reading his Bible? What does a wise Christian do when she realises that her first impulse on waking up is to check her Facebook or Instagram account?

What do wise Christian parents do when their thirteen year old daughter comes home sobbing because she’s been unfriended on Snapchat? Or when they find obscene photos on their ten-year-old son’s phone?

And how far should churches go in embracing the new internet culture? How willing should we be to transfer our activities online? How far should we pour our resources into online outreach? Churches as well as individuals need wisdom.

Our relationship with the authorities

It has become evident that many people in power in the UK today have an outlook that is hostile to God and to a biblical way of life. In particular, the covid crisis made it clear that at least some of the people governing us are eager to strip away personal freedoms, including the freedom to worship; they are anxious to monitor and control every citizen; they are unembarrassed when they are found to be lying.

Beyond that, we have people in authority who are actively waging war against the family; who aim to transfer the role of parents to the state; who want to introduce ever younger children to unbiblical sexual practices; who want to make it ever easier to kill babies in the womb as well as the elderly and handicapped.

The police arrest open-air preachers and women who pray silently outside abortion clinics. But meanwhile, they offer their help to people who illegally block motorways and prevent ambulances from reaching hospitals. The courts, the NHS, universities, schools, have all been taken over by ideologies that call evil good and good evil.

Believers and churches need wisdom to know how we relate to our rulers. When do we show respect for them and when do we denounce them? How much loyalty can we give to leaders who are bent on destroying our national sovereignty? When does civil disobedience become our Christian duty? When do we disobey wicked laws or government edicts that have no legal basis? And if we do, do we do it openly or try to keep our disobedience secret? We need great wisdom if we’re to be faithful to God when living under godless rulers.

Schooling for our children

I’ve mentioned schools under my first two headings. I suspect that very few Christians are aware how far our schools have gone in promoting corruption.

There may be individual schools where clean-minded staff have managed to hold back the tide. But in the great majority of schools, children from the earliest age are being sexualised. They are introduced to explicit practices. They are being brainwashed into believing that someone born a boy may actually be a girl or vice-versa.

Sexualisation is not the only problem. Youngsters are being introduced to a host of other radical viewpoints.

Critical race theory teaches that all white people are privileged and should be forced to recognise their unconscious prejudices.

Climate change dogma insists that the world is heading for environmental catastrophe and that the only way to combat it is to put power into the hands of a global elite.

Radical feminism teaches that there is no difference between males and females. If women finish up doing different work from men, or have different roles in society, it must be down to male oppression.

And these positions are taught in many schools not as ideas to be debated but as unquestionable facts. Anyone who questions them must be ignorant, bigoted, or plain evil.

So what are parents to do? Should they withdraw their children from school and teach them at home? My wife and I were able to do that. But not everyone has that option. And in any case, the people in power are determined to clamp down on homeschoolers.

Should we be pouring resources into setting up Christian schools? But the government is already clamping down on Christian, Jewish, and Muslim schools that refuse to teach the whole ‘woke’ programme. Some have been closed.

How can parents and churches protect children now that the whole education system has become a tool of corruption? I don’t know. We need wisdom.

Employment

Most Christians, at some point in their life, will be looking for work. A few may be able to set up their own business. A few may work for a Christian employer. But most will take a job with a secular employer. And that’s where the problems begin. The workplace is becoming an ever more hostile environment for Christians.

It has become harder and harder to find jobs that don’t involve Sunday work. You want to work in a shop? At the airport? In a nursing-home? Then almost certainly you will be told you have to work Sundays. Christians have agonised over that dilemma for many years.

But there are new challenges that have emerged more recently. Doctors and nurses have been dismissed for offering to pray with patients. Christians working in professional sport have been fined or sacked for quoting Bible verses on social media. Christian staff in schools have been told that they must actively promote the sort of views I’ve written about under heading number 3.

Some have been sacked for refusing to call pupils by their ‘preferred pronouns’ – in other words, to treat boys as girls or vice versa. Christian social workers have been told they must be prepared to place children with homosexual foster parents. Christians in many professions have been told they must join in Gay Pride marches or that they must wear rainbow badges at work.

So should Christians take jobs in supermarkets knowing they’ll have to work on Sundays? Can a Christian join in a Gay Pride march if he’s ordered to by his employer? Is it wise for a Christian to aim for a career in medicine, or as a school teacher, or as a social worker?

How should Christians handle situations where customers or clients complain about their ‘bigoted’ views?

How open should they be about their faith? Should they accept that they must never invite a colleague to church or pass on an evangelistic tract? When is compromise legitimate and when is it a denial of our faith?

Christians in the workplace or looking for work need more wisdom today than ever.

Transgenderism

I’ve mentioned this already – especially as an issue in schools. But it’s an issue that may affect any of us. Which of us foresaw how quickly transgenderism would become mainstream? If you think this issue doesn’t affect us, think again.

Consider these situations: What should a Christian do if one of his colleagues at work announces that he’s changed his gender and that from now on he must be known not as Mark but as Marjorie? And the company sends round a memo to say that Mark must always be referred to as she? Should the Christian comply? He may be sacked if he refuses. Should he take that risk?

A Christian student – let’s call him Harry – has been trying to befriend a fellow-student called Jeremy. He has taken opportunities to witness to him and Jeremy has seemed willing to listen. But now Jeremy declares that he’s decided to identify as a woman. He seems happy for the friendship with Harry to continue, but makes it clear that he expects Harry to accept him as female and call him Jessamy. He even says that he’ll come to church with Harry but he’ll be dressed as a girl and Harry must introduce him by the new name. Should Harry go along with that?

What should Christian parents do when their ten year old son comes home from school and says that a girl in his class now says she’s a boy and changes for PE with the boys? Or when their eleven year old daughter comes home from school and says that she’s realised that she’s actually a boy in a girl’s body; that she wants to ‘transition’ and that at school the teachers are already treating her as a boy?

A church runs an evangelistic meeting for teenage girls. A lad wants to come to it and explains that he identifies as a girl and intends to transition as soon as possible. He’s obviously lonely, unhappy, and confused. The group leaders think he should be allowed to attend so that he can hear the gospel. Are they right?

These are situations that Christians in the past never had to cope with. But Christians and churches are facing them now. Will we handle them wisely when they come to us?

Money

Here’s one that none of us can avoid. Our country is bankrupt. Our economy is in crisis. Recession is looming. Businesses are folding. Jobs are vanishing. Inflation is soaring. Pensions are dropping in value. Prices are rocketing.

Some of us grew up in homes where we had to count every penny. But the majority of us have had it relatively easy for the last few decades. We’ve been able to run a car, to take holidays each year, to eat out from time to time, to run the central heating without worrying about the bill, to buy costly presents at Christmas time, to give generously to charities and the church.

It’s not like that for most of us now. Christians are having to ask difficult questions. ‘Can we afford to pay the mortgage or should we downsize?’ ‘Should I move my pension from a high-earning but risky fund to a less rewarding but safer investment?’ ‘Should we turn off the central heating and just heat the rooms we’re actually using?’ ‘ I usually send the grandchildren presents: should I write to them all and tell them frankly that I can’t afford it this year?’ ‘Should we get rid of the car; how much would we save if we stuck to public transport?’ ‘I pledged to give a tithe to the church ten years ago when I had money to spare. Should I cut it now?’

The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about money. It’s one area where foolish decisions lead very quickly to misery. And once we’ve made bad decisions, it’s very difficult to reverse them. In a time of economic uncertainty and insecurity, we need wisdom.

Health

I mentioned the covid emergency above. It has left us with lots of unanswered questions. Was the covid-19 virus a natural phenomenon or was it the product of human engineering? And if the latter, with what purpose?

Relative to other illnesses, how dangerous was covid-19? How was it that (with very few exceptions) countries across the world responded to the threat of covid with the unprecedented policy of lockdown? Who initiated that policy and why? There is no doubt that the lockdown policy has led to economic, social, and educational disaster. It has left behind it an epidemic of mental illness. But was it necessary?

Why did our government listen to advisors whose computer modelling went so wrong in previous epidemics? Why did they silence highly qualified medics who dissented from the official view?

Many of the rules or advice issued by the government at the height of the crisis are now agreed to have been pointless or counter-productive. Churches were told that they should not sing because it was dangerous. It’s now known that that claim was false.

Why did government advisers draw up rules that had no basis in science? And why did the people at No. 10 insist that we should all obey rules that they had no intention of keeping themselves?

The government assures us that the covid vaccines are ‘safe and effective’. But already the Astra-Zeneca vaccine has been withdrawn from use in the UK because of its side-effects. Can we be sure that the others are safe?

The NHS is in crisis. Many people find that they cannot access a GP or a dentist. Patients wait months or years for a hospital appointment. Folk who have had accidents wait hours for an ambulance. Nobody quite seems to know what is causing the log-jams.

But we have to decide what to do. Do we try to ‘go private’? Do we become more and more forceful with the receptionist who says there are no appointments available? Do we give up and try to treat ourselves? Looking after ourselves and our families takes much wisdom.

Relationships with our fellow-Christians

One last area in which we need wisdom (I could list a lot more). We need wisdom to know how to relate to other people who seem to be believers but whom we don’t see eye-to-eye with. There is so much confusion on the Christian scene.

We meet Christians who say that they believe all the same things that we believe. But they think worship means an hour of rock music led by a teenage girl. We meet Christians who don’t belong to any church but ‘worship online’ and drop in on different churches when it suits them. We meet Christians who are dedicated to combating racism or poverty but show little interest in the gospel. How do we relate to all these people? Do we treat them as fellow-believers? Or do we keep them at a distance?

What should I do when I meet serious-minded Roman Catholics and feel that I have more in common with them than with some ‘evangelicals’? How should I react when I meet Christians who think that I’m a liberal because I don’t use the Authorised Version? Can we, as a family, be friends with another family who think that keeping the Lord’s Day special is legalism?

And how do we as a church relate to other churches which say they believe the Bible but accept things that we could never accept – churches where women are encouraged to preach; churches where all and sundry are invited to the Lord’s Supper; churches where the youngsters are encouraged to go out night-clubbing or pub-crawling?

Sometimes it’s hard to know who are our friends and who are our opponents; whom we should be holding hands with and whom we should be avoiding. We need so much wisdom.

Trusting our generous God

The good news is this: God has promised that he’ll give us the wisdom we need if we seek it. Read again Paul’s prayer for the Colossian believers which I quoted earlier. They were living in a society very different from our own but with just as many confusing and difficult dilemmas. But Paul prayed that they would be ‘filled with the knowledge of his (God’s) will in all spiritual wisdom...’ Did he expect his prayer to be answered? Of course he did!

This is what James wrote in his letter: ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him’ (James 1:5-6). Are you feeling overwhelmed by the speed at which the world is changing? Are you bewildered by the choices you have to make, frightened that you could make mistakes which could cause damage to yourself, your family, the church, and the Lord’s honour?

Well, here’s the solution. Our generous God is always ready to teach his people true wisdom. He has filled his Book with wise rules and principles for every situation. And he is willing to give us the Holy Spirit to show us how those words can be applied in the 21st century, in our society.

‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths’ (Proverbs 3:5-6).

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: The idol in our churches

Mr O, what is an idol?

You’ll tell me in a moment what is behind your question. The answer, however, is simple. Whatever receives the attention which is due to God alone is an idol.

It’s just that I’ve been reading 1 John and the apostle closes his letter by telling us to keep ourselves from idols. That has left me wondering what our modern idols might be.

That varies very much from person to person. But there is no doubt that there is one idol which has installed itself unnoticed in the vast majority of our churches. You see it almost everywhere. It is the idol of cultural relevance.

Cultural relevance? I don’t think I really know what that is. What do you mean?

Well, every group of people has a culture. This is true of nations, regions, and societies in general. In this 21st century it is true of what we call ‘The West’. A group’s culture consists of the beliefs and values which are widely shared by the people of that group.

Thank you, Mr O. But perhaps you could also tell me what you mean by ‘relevance’.

Something is relevant when it has some real importance or significance for people; when it has a bearing on their lives.

So what’s wrong with cultural relevance, then?

There’s nothing wrong with it unless it becomes our idol. And, sadly, that is exactly what is happening in so many of our churches.

Can you give me some examples?

Yes. Just look at the content of so much modern preaching. Sermon after sermon does the same thing. It consists largely of an examination of what our society believes and values, and then gives a biblical answer to it.

I’m sorry, Mr O. I can’t see why that is a problem. How can we live for Christ in this modern world unless we know how this world ticks, and how God expects us to live differently in it?

The problem is that it is actually the world that is deciding what is being taught in our churches. Meanwhile there are vast tracts of truth which God wants us to know about which are entirely neglected. This is one of the reasons why so many modern evangelicals have such poor Bible knowledge and are so doctrinally muddled. In our police forces there are units which specialise in spotting counterfeit banknotes. How are those units trained? They spend almost all of their time in looking closely and repeatedly at genuine notes. In this way they learn to spot fakes instantly, even if they have never met that particular type before. Their training is focused on getting a thorough knowledge of what is genuine, not of what is false. As I see it, this is how churches should behave.

What about some other examples of the idolatry of cultural relevance?

By giving undue attention to cultural relevance churches actually end up being more worldly than godly. ‘The West’ now takes it for granted that if people are meeting up, it must be for some sort of entertainment. If those people are going to be instructed about anything, it must be by using screens. If they are going to have a great time together, music must be prominent. And in the final analysis everything must be about ‘me’. The real ‘me’ is what I feel myself to be; and I must be constantly reminded that I can be anything I want to be.

Yes, Mr O, I can see for myself that all those ideas have infiltrated our churches. Worship is expected to be user-friendly. Screens are everywhere. Music dominates. And people expect to feel good at the end.

And yet, as the Scriptures reveal, there is nothing so beautiful, so attractive, so thrilling, and so terrifying as God. When everything is done to bring him credit; when we hear his Word taught plainly and feelingly; when we carry home pictures in our own minds; when we sing simple harmonies; and when we catch new and soul-ravishing views of Jesus, we experience dimensions of eternal love, joy, and peace of which the world knows nothing. ‘As for God, his way is perfect’ (Psalm 18:30).

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

A SHRINK THINKS... Jesus’s love

It is sometimes claimed that during his earthly ministry Jesus showed love only for his people, the elect. Is this correct? It seems wrong. After all, we read of Jesus exhorting his followers to love our enemies and reiterating the greatest commandments to love God and to love our neighbour and so on. So surely Jesus himself would have lived this way too?

We have surprisingly few examples where Jesus is described as expressing ‘love’ for others. In the synoptics the only example of Jesus being said to love someone is the rich young ruler (Mark 10:21), which is itself a problem for those who claim Jesus only loved his people.

In John we have more examples. Lazarus was the one whom Jesus loved (11:3) and he also loved his sisters Mary and Martha (11:5) and most famously there was the one disciple whom we are told Jesus loved (13:23, etc.). John tells us Jesus had loved his own during his earthly ministry (13:1) and his washing their feet showed the extent of his love for them.

Then during the subsequent discourse in the upper room and the prayer which followed (John 14–17), Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples of his love for them and his Father. Such love reached its climax at Calvary.

What is striking here and has often been observed is that, leaving aside his love for his Father, love words are indeed used for Jesus only in relation to his disciples, for those who believe in him. This gives the claim some credence.

But fundamentally there is a problem here in trying to build doctrine on words, as if ‘love’ is the only word that can be used to capture this key part of the character of God and Jesus. There are different aspects to love; it expresses itself in different ways which may be captured by different words.

So, for example, in his earthly ministry Jesus often showed compassion on people. Such compassion (sometimes translated as pity) was also an expression of Jesus’s love.

As we see in the above examples, love as love is contemplative, calm, and considered. It is deliberate, sustained, and borne of a serene disposition. It is not reactive, not a response to the current situation. This contrasts with the responsiveness of compassion which erupts out of love.

Lazarus, Mary, and Martha were already objects of Jesus’s love before Lazarus became sick and died. His love for them did not emerge in response to this crisis. Jesus’s love for John (usually understood to be the disciple whom Jesus loved) was similarly long-lasting and publicly recognised. Jesus’s love for these people was not situational but sustained and deliberate.

The language of love in John 14–17 is also something durable and sustained, something lasting – indeed, it is everlasting. When spoken of in relation to the disciples, it is related to the same kind of love the Father and Son eternally have for one another. We never read of the Father or Son having compassion for each other, do we? This is because compassion refers to reactions. In modern jargon we may say compassion is reactive while love is proactive.

Consider the examples of situations in which Jesus manifests his compassion in the Gospels. He sees a crowd containing many people with various illnesses and he has compassion on them by healing their sick (Matthew 14:14). He sees another crowd of 4000 who are hungry and his compassion flows out to them as he miraculously creates ample food to feed them all (Matthew 15:34; Mark 8:2).

Jesus is moved with compassion for a leper who had sought him out, and he cleansed him of this horrible and defiling disease (Mark 1:41). There is a multitude of Jewish people who are ignorant, let down so badly by their leaders they are like sheep without shepherds, and he manifests his compassion for them be teaching them, giving them the spiritual food they need (Mark 6:34).

He sees a suffering father whose son has frequently been injured during epileptic seizures and he pities them both by healing the boy (Mark 9:22). As he passes by a funeral procession he expresses his compassion for the grieving widow by bringing her dead son back to life (Luke 7:13). As he leaves Jericho for Jerusalem, Jesus sees blind men who plead with him for healing and he responds by healing their blindness (Matthew 20:34).

In all of these episodes the compassion word is derived from the word for bowels, since, as in other societies past and present, they captured the inwardness of compassion/pity metaphorically by thinking of the bowels as the inward seat of deep, loving feeling. We today tend to use heart instead, don’t we? ‘Her heart went out to him in his distress’, and so on.

In these episodes Jesus is moved deeply, affected inwardly by distress. His love reacts and reaches out as he encounters these various manifestations of the effects of sin. Jesus’s love here is disturbed and bursts out in response to sickness and death and hunger and ignorance with all its associated distress and pain, physical and mental.

And this takes us back to the rich young ruler. It is the same with him, isn’t it? We can see from these other Gospel episodes that we could substitute ‘compassion’ for ‘love’ in Mark 10:21.

Here Jesus’s love is stirred by the plight of this young man whose right intentions are prevented by his sinful ignorance. Jesus teaches him, but he won’t listen and submit. Jesus loves him with a compassionate love, responding to his conflicted pain.

We ourselves see such pain in people, often family members, who know they need to come to Jesus but whose sinful pride causes them to resist. We too love them with such compassion, because Jesus didn’t only narrowly love his people but loved broadly, responding emotionally in different ways to different people.

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

CRUNCH POINTS: Can you preach the gospel too much?

The obvious answer is, ‘No!’ The good news of Jesus Christ suffering and dying in the place of sinners like us is the beating heart of all the true good we know, for in the Lord Christ life eternal is both received and sustained.

In that sense it is and always remains life and health and peace for us, and converted people go on needing the gospel just as much as we did before, to anchor us and to feed us and to strengthen us and to lift us up, that we may speak and live to the praise of the glory of God’s grace.

Whether or not we think of the more formal declaration of the gospel from the pulpit or platform of a church building, or the more informal communication of the same truths from the mouths of parents, children, siblings, friends, colleagues, neighbours, our speech should be full of Christ and our lives rich with his savour.

I don’t ever recall someone deeply and affectionately attached to someone else ever complaining that they thought too much of them or spoke too often of them – it was the natural overflow of a heart taken up with its delightful object. So with Christ and the believer – the good news ought to spill over, the fruits of our contemplation of Christ and his excellencies.

But perhaps we should also pause for a moment to think about how and where and when we preach the gospel. There we need wisdom. Let me explain what I mean.

Suppose you are seeking to speak about Jesus to your colleagues at work. You spend three hours during the afternoon explaining to three or four fellow-workers about Jesus Christ. Is that actually a good testimony? You have stolen from your employer something like twelve to fifteen hours of the work that you are being paid to do. Perhaps not, ‘Too much!’ there, but perhaps, ‘Too long at the wrong time!’

Or suppose that you have a congregation of largely elderly saints, well-proven over many years. While we should never casually and automatically assume that everyone who professes to be in Christ is a true Christian, would it be helpful to preach to them morning and evening, Sunday by Sunday, that they are damnable outcasts who need to trust in Jesus or they will go to hell? Should we constantly preach to them as if they are unsaved sinners? Perhaps that is not to preach the gospel too much, but to preach it with the wrong tone and aim.

Or, more generally, it may be possible to preach the gospel too shallowly and narrowly. Many of the most sincere preachers can be guilty of this. We boil the gospel down to a Calvary sermon, and preach the glorious truths of a crucified Christ without any scope, range, or richness – not so much the same truth again and again as the same sermon over and over.

Even when Paul told the Corinthians that he was determined to know nothing among them but Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2), and at the first that might have meant the plain and pure preaching of the cross, the very same letter shows the breadth and depth of gospel application.

Paul is always and thoroughly evangelical even when he is not evangelistic. His letters to the churches are unashamedly gospel productions, showing how the gospel both brings in and brings on God’s elect.

So remember, a perishing world needs to hear the simple gospel; a saved sinner and a growing church needs to hear the simple gospel – never stop speaking of a crucified Christ and all it means to know him and follow him. But we should not preach a reductionistic, simplistic, diluted gospel – preach a whole Christ to the whole man for the whole life!

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

Do you have a female father?

A security vetting form for staff working in Parliament asks them whether their father or mother is ‘male’, ‘female’ or ‘other’. One staff member told The Daily Mail, ‘I found it baffling,’ and added, ‘there is only one possible answer.’ Former Education Minister Brendan Clarke-Smith MP called it ‘woke nonsense’ and irrelevant.

No consent DNR order

A pensioner has claimed that he was recorded as ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ (DNR) without his knowledge after he suffered a seizure in hospital. Pat Burke was visiting the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent, for a routine check-up when he had a seizure in the waiting room.

Guernsey begins its opt-out organ donation scheme

A new ‘presumed consent’ system for organ donation has come into force in the Channel Island of Guernsey following legislation that was passed in 2020. Under The Human Tissue and Transplantation (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, from 1 January 2023 adults are automatically registered as organ donors unless they explicitly opt out.

Pro-lifers spark humanists’ fury

Humanists have expressed outrage that a pro-life group has been allowed to teach young people in Scotland about the reality of abortion. Pro-abortion journalist James McEnaney reported that the Society For The Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has carried out a number of school visits across eight council areas over the last five years.

‘Christian’ poll on evangelism

A recent poll of self-identifying ‘Christians’ in the UK indicated that less than half agreed that it was important to share their faith with others. The survey, conducted by Savanta ComRes, also found that more than two in five active Christians (43%) were unaware of the Great Commission.

PTS Study Day held

‘The best Saturday afternoon I’ve ever spent in a Christian bookshop’ – that was the verdict of one of 53 people who attended the Autumn Study Day of the Protestant Truth Society, held last October. Roland Burrows spoke on the abiding relevance of the Protestant Reformation, and Edward Malcolm spoke on the fruitful ministry of Heinrich Bullinger.

TBS update in Stockton

Craig Dennison (TBS) recently addressed the Presbyterian Reformed Church, Stockton-on-Tees, during a deputation. He provided updates of Bible distribution and translation carried out by the Trinitarian Bible Society. Current projects involving Zambia, Russia, the Philippines, and Bolivia were mentioned. Craig preached from Ephesians 6 on the ‘sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God’.

New Fellow for Tyndale House

Tyndale House in Cambridge has appointed Tony Watkins as Fellow for Public Engagement. He said the role ‘helps make biblical scholarship accessible, so a large part of what I do will be writing, producing videos or podcasts, and speaking at events’. Tony has been an adjunct lecturer at NLA University College, Norway, since 2002.

Dublin drugs gallery to open

A medically supervised ‘drug injection facility’ has been given permission to open in Dublin for 18 months. Despite serious concerns about increased drug dealing, anti-social behaviour, and its proximity to a school, the so-called ‘shooting gallery’ will allow addicts to take drugs without the fear of prosecution.

Satanists target US pro-life laws

Satanists in the US have stated their intention to take legal action against strict abortion laws in Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, and Texas. In an interview with The Guardian, the co-founder of the Satanic Temple said the cult was exempt from pro-life laws in the US because the protections interfere with its diabolical ‘religious abortion ritual’.

Open Doors group splits

A split appears to have taken place within Open Doors USA, the American arm of Open Doors International. CEO Dr David Curry announced it was rebranding with a different name. But Open Doors International disputes the name change and says Open Doors USA will continue under a new CEO, Lisa Pearce.

China enforces church tribute

Protestant Christians belonging to the Chinese state-controlled Three-Self Church, were told to pay public tributes to Jiang Zemin, the hardline ex-president and former general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The order to remember him after his death last year was passed to national leaders of the church organisation during a conference in Shanghai.

Thought crime outrage over a woman arrested for silent prayer

A woman was arrested by police in Birmingham in December because she was standing on the public street silently praying in her head.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, 45, was standing near an abortion centre, but the facility was closed at the time.

The incident was captured on video and the recording has since gone viral on social media.

Vaughan-Spruce has been charged with ‘protesting and engaging in an act that is intimidating to service users’.

The video shows Vaughan-Spruce being searched and arrested after being asked, ‘Are you praying?’ by three police officers.

She had made clear to the arresting officers that she was not there to protest. It was only after she admitted she was praying in her head that she was arrested.

A so-called ‘buffer zone’ is in place around the abortion facility, which prohibits protests within the zone.

It is enforced by what is called a local ‘Public Space Protection Order’ (PSPO) which defines protests as including prayer.

Vaughan-Spruce is due to face court on 2 February, after this edition of ET went to print. She is being supported in her defence by religious liberty group ADF UK.

Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK, said, ‘Nobody should be arrested because of their silent thoughts.

‘Isabel has been clear that all she had done in the PSPO zone since it was instituted in November was to pray, silently, in the privacy of her own mind.

‘Had police not asked her what she was doing, and had she not let them know that she “might” be praying in her mind, there are no grounds under which she would have been charged for breaking the PSPO.’

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce said, ‘It’s abhorrently wrong that I was searched, arrested, interrogated by police, and charged simply for praying in the privacy of my own mind.

‘Censorship zones purport to ban harassment, which is already illegal and I condemn wholeheartedly. Nobody should ever be subject to harassment.

‘But what I did was the furthest thing from harmful – I was exercising my freedom of thought, my freedom of religion, inside the privacy of my own mind. Nobody should be criminalised for thinking and for praying, in a public space in the UK.’

By Mike Judge, Editor

Justin Welby backs CofE transgender guidance for use in schools

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has rejected calls to scrap the Church of England’s transgender guidance.

Critics of the guidance say it affirms children as young as five in the ideology of gender confusion, but the Church of England denies this.

In an open letter to the Archbishop, Christian parents Nigel and Sally Rowe had called on the Church of England to urgently scrap its ‘Valuing All God’s Children’ guidance which covers 4,700 CofE primary schools.

The letter was sent following the Rowes’ legal victory against the Department for Education (DfE) in September 2022, which led to a £22,000 settlement for legal costs.

The Rowes raised alarm that the CofE was continuing to endorse the VAGC guidance which they said says that children as young as five years old should be affirmed by CofE schools if they wish to identify as the opposite sex.

But the CofE’s chief education officer, Nigel Genders, claims that its guidance in no way affirms primary school children in gender confusion.

Justin Welby has refused to meet with the Rowes to discuss their concerns, and the Rowes say they are ‘very disappointed by the response’.

Teacher fights to save his career after he ‘misgendered’ a trans pupil and called Muhammad a ‘false prophet’

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) is seeking to remove a Christian teacher from the profession for allegedly ‘misgendering’ a female pupil who self-identified as a boy.

Joshua Sutcliffe, 32, from London, appeared before the TRA’s professional conduct panel in Coventry last month.

He faces a series of allegations, including that he called Muhammad a ‘false prophet’ on his personal YouTube channel, and gave his opinion about same-sex marriage.

If the TRA rules against him, he could be struck off and unable to teach. Sutcliffe is being defended by the Christian Legal Centre.

An investigation in December 2017 alleged that he had ‘misgendered’ a pupil, which broke the equality policy of the school he was working at.

Sutcliffe denied he had ‘misgendered’ anyone and he subsequently took legal action for constructive dismissal and discrimination, saying he had been ‘placed on the altar of “cancel culture”’.

He said he was unlawfully targeted and punished by the school because he had been vocal about his evangelical Christian beliefs. The case was later settled out of court.

However, in November 2019, he was forced to resign from another school, St Aloysius in North London, over views he posted on his personal YouTube channel.

An active evangelist outside of work, he posts videos which include his views about the Bible and Christianity.

He says he was ‘constructively dismissed’ from the Catholic school in Islington where he had been teaching for over a year after he ‘made a video in which [he] said “Muhammad is a false prophet”’.

In the video, he also comments, ‘I would suggest that Muslims have a false understanding of God because they’ve been led by a false prophet,’ and that ‘the fruit of Islam is not peace, it’s division’.

Other allegations brought by the TRA include the accusation that he shared his belief that same-sex marriage is wrong after he was asked for his views by a pupil.

He says he was asked for his opinion during a Bible group session he had set up as part of the Christian Union he had started at the school.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said, ‘The TRA is targeting an exceptional teacher because his Christian beliefs do not fall in line with the prevailing secular orthodoxy which cannot tolerate any dissent.

‘For loving Jesus, speaking truth in his personal time and responding to questions from students on the Christian faith, he is being hounded out of the teaching profession.’

UK government blocks Scotland’s new transgender self-identification laws, sparking a showdown in the courts

The UK government has decided to block Scotland’s controversial transgender rights bill from becoming law.

The bill is highly divisive because it gives people as young as 16 the right to legally change their sex without a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

That would put Scotland at odds with the gender recognition laws in the rest of Great Britain, and the UK government wants equality laws to be consistent.

This is the first time since devolution that a bill passed by the Scottish Parliament has been blocked by the UK government.

The Scottish government – controlled by the Scottish Nationalist Party – is furious, and has vowed to fight the decision in the courts.

The UK government’s Scottish secretary Alister Jack (pictured) wrote to Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to explain the reasons for the block.

He said the bill would have a ‘significant impact’ on protections contained in UK equalities legislation.

He cited concerns over its effect on legal rights to run single-sex clubs, associations, and schools, as well as rules on equal pay for men and women.

He added that having ‘two different gender recognition schemes in the UK’ risked creating ‘significant complications,’ including ‘allowing more fraudulent or bad faith applications’.

But First Minister Sturgeon called the move a ‘full-frontal attack’ on the Scottish Parliament and vowed to oppose it.

She said the Scottish ministers would ‘defend’ the bill, warning if the veto succeeded it would be the ‘first of many’.

But the bill itself has been highly controversial in Scotland, even before the UK government moved to block it.

One of the SNP’s longest serving MPs has said Holyrood’s gender self-ID bill risks women’s safety and should be axed.

Angus MacNeil, who has nearly twenty years’ Commons experience, fears ‘bad-faith actors’ could exploit the law to gain access to women’s safe spaces.

Around two thirds of Scottish voters said they were against the plans, but nevertheless MSPs voted by 86 to 39 to approve the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

MacNeil, chairman of the International Trade Committee and an SNP spokesman on Trade at Westminster, called for the approved bill to be ‘withdrawn and scrapped’.

He said, ‘This is not about trans people. It is about people who could possibly masquerade as trans people and invade women’s safe spaces’.

The legislation, he argued, creates a ‘loophole’ that could be exploited by men ‘who pretend to be trans’ and consequently ‘poses a threat to women’.

Evangelical leader tells Prince Harry, this is not ‘the Christian way to deal with family disputes’, following publication of his book ‘Spare’

This isn’t the Christian way to resolve family disputes, an evangelical leader has said in response to the publication of Prince Harry’s book, Spare.

In the book, Prince Harry alleges that his brother, Prince William, knocked him to the floor in an argument about Harry’s wife Meghan.

Graham Nicholls, director of Affinity – a group of over 1,200 evangelical churches and organisations – gave his reaction to Premier Christian News.

He said, ‘I know we’re hearing only one side of the story, but obviously relationships have broken down.

‘I feel sad that the relationships are broken down so badly in a family that is in the public eye and to some degrees is a role model.

‘I feel disappointed that they are basically dramatising their family squabbles for money. There’s quite a lot of money involved and it sours the credibility of it.

‘I just don’t think that’s the Christian way to deal with family disputes. It’s hard to know his (Harry’s) own motivation.

‘Again, because there’s so many large sums of money involved and such a whole marketing operation associated with it, the leaks and all that sort of thing.

‘It makes it hard to work out what is the motivation other than either some kind of revenge pact against his brother or against the royal family in general.

‘I think if they’d have done it in a different way, in a more low-key way, then you might have thought, well, this is this is genuinely people who are hurt.

‘So I don’t know the motivation, but it doesn’t look good from the outside.’

Meanwhile, American evangelical Franklin Graham has also commented on the situation.

He said, ‘I saw part of Prince Harry’s interview on 60Minutes and if I could give him some advice, it would be: Look for a way to make peace and have reconciliation – and keep it private.

‘Follow the example of your godly grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and keep family business out of the public.’

Planned ban on ‘conversion practices’ set to go ahead in England and Wales

The government has announced it will introduce a new bill to criminalise conversion practices in England and Wales – and the plans will cover transgenderism.

The planned new laws would make it illegal to try persuade anyone to resist any LGBT temptations they may face.

The laws could catch certain types of Christian preaching, praying, pastoring, or parenting which express biblical beliefs about sexuality and gender.

Legislating in this area is highly controversial, with concerns that it effectively introduces an LGBT blasphemy law so that nothing can be said against a progressive view of sexuality and gender.

Some secular groups are worried that it will criminalise parents who object to, or have reservations about, their children undergoing transgender treatment.

Such was the controversy surrounding the previous proposals that there was a raft of U-turns by the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

First he said the government was abandoning the ban altogether, then he said there would be a ban, but it wouldn’t cover transgenderism.

But speaking in the House of Commons on 17 January, the current culture secretary Michelle Donelan (pictured) confirmed a ban will go ahead, and it will include trans issues.

She said, ‘We are announcing today that the government will publish a draft bill which will set out a proposed approach to ban conversion practices, this will apply to England and Wales.

‘The bill will protect everyone, including those targeted on the basis of their sexuality, or being transgender.’

She added, ‘This is a complex area, and pre-legislative scrutiny exists to help ensure that any bill introduced to parliament does not cause unintended consequences.’

Advertising watchdog bans ad which could ‘seriously offend’ Christians

A poster promoting a new album by pop singer Demi Lovato has been banned by the advertising regulator for being likely to cause serious offence to Christians.

The poster features the singer wearing a bondage-style outfit while lying on a mattress shaped like a cross.

Taken together with the album title, which is a play on a swear word, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found the poster was offensive.

The ASA said it was ‘likely to be viewed as linking sexuality to the sacred symbol of the crucifix and the crucifixion’. This was likely to cause serious offence to Christians, the regulator said.

The ASA also received complaints that the poster promoting Demi Lovato’s album was irresponsibly placed where children could see it.

According to the BBC News website, the poster was put up in six places across London before being taken down on 23 August 2022.

As the poster appeared in a public place where children were likely to be able to see it, the ASA ‘considered that the ad was likely to result in serious and widespread offence and had been targeted irresponsibly’.

The watchdog told Universal Music Operations Ltd to ensure their adverts did not cause serious or widespread offence in future.

Defending the poster, Polydor Records, a division of Universal Music, said it did not believe the poster would cause serious or widespread offence.

According to The Daily Mail, the record company told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that it had checked that the poster was acceptable to run at the proposed sites prior to release, and had been assured that it was.

Grace Baptist Mission conference highlights work in war-torn Ukraine

More than 400 representatives of Grace Baptist churches came together last October in London for Grace Baptist Mission’s annual Mission Day.

The strap line for the conference was most appropriate: ‘Life and peace – our mission of grace to a troubled world’.

Our chairman, Keith Johns, encouraged us at the beginning of the day with a reminder from Daniel 2 that Christ’s kingdom will triumph over all others.

The AGM endorsed the annual report and accounts, giving thanks to God who has supplied the Mission’s needs through another year.

The day included a programme of seminars at which GBM missionaries from four continents provided reports.

At one notable session led by our friends from EMF, two guests from Ukraine brought moving accounts of the situation in the churches in their country.

The Lord is mightily at work among that war-torn nation, bringing ‘Life and peace’ to troubled souls in their troubled world.

The work of radio ministry is being blessed in lands where there is persecution. We were encouraged to pray for the programmes and accompanying literature which are eagerly listened to and read.

Three mission families have returned to the UK this summer, while others went overseas during the year.

The day came to a climax with ministry from Paul G., who serves in Central Asia. He powerfully expounded 2 Corinthians 3:3-18, reminding us of what kept the apostle Paul going: the gospel message, the gospel’s power, God’s presence, and the God-given method of ministry. It is available to hear via the GBM Media Podcast.

By Howard Sayers

Scottish Reformed Baptist conference focuses on worship

The theme of last October’s conference was ‘The wonder of worship’. The conference was attended by believers from various churches throughout Scotland and two friends from the USA.

Pastor Conrad Pomeroy (Dudley) opened the conference with a message from Revelation 1 about the wonder of worship as it is found upon seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke of worship as the desire to be moved by the presence, power, grace, and glory of Jesus Christ.

Dabney Olguin (Cleveland, Ohio) was the main conference speaker. He gave three messages on the importance of worship, the wonder of worship, and worship as it relates to preaching.

Another session was led by Donald Morrison, a home missionary with the Free Church Continuing. He spoke briefly of how our Lord led him into the work and highlighted the failure of churches and believers who have a stay-at-home-and-do-nothing mentality, even though we have the greatest story in the world.

Conrad Pomeroy delivered a historical paper on the minister Robert Bruce. He had a deep concern to do the will of God regardless of consequences. His preaching was forthright and he was instrumental in the conversion of Alexander Henderson who, as a religious statesman, was second only to John Knox.

Gilbert McAdam (Wick) closed the conference with an exhortation to worship God based on Psalm 96. He noted that although many people today think that worship means singing and music, singing is in fact only part of worship.

Conference messages are available from the Trinity Baptist Church website (tbcdundee.org.uk).

By Elisabeth Shrimpton

18-year interim ends as new pastor inducted in Whitstable

Last October, over 150 people gathered to welcome Adam Laughton (pictured) as new pastor of Hamilton Road Evangelical Church in Whitstable.

It was a wonderful time of praise and fellowship, as representatives from many local evangelical churches were present.

The church in Whitstable has been without a pastor for 18 years, yet the Lord has enabled the church to maintain a witness in the community.

The church has enjoyed incredible support over the years from a number of very committed visiting speakers; it was delightful that so many of these faithful men were able to be present at the induction.

Tom McAdam (deacon) gave a welcome from the church and David Platts (deacon) outlined how the Lord had led the church to call Adam as pastor.

Adam responded with a brief testimony of the Lord’s leading of him and Julia to accept that call to Whitstable.

Stephen Lloyd (Hope Church, Gravesend) and Richard Hagan (Emmanuel Church, Canterbury) respectively questioned Adam and the membership about their commitment to serve the Lord together.

John McDonald (Trinity Baptist, Tenterden) preached from Romans 1, reminding us of Paul’s great burden to preach the gospel and our great need to hear it.

The day ended with lots of refreshments, provided through the generosity and hard work of church members and friends.

Adam asked us to pray for Hamilton Road, Whitstable. He writes, ‘We believe the Lord has kept the work open through much difficulty for a reason! The work is still very fragile, but there is so much opportunity and potential.

‘It would only take a few people committing to join with us to make a huge, positive impact. We are praying for conversions of course, but a few faithful believers moving to Whitstable would be amazing as well!’

By Adam Laughton

Westminster Conference addresses ‘wrestling with our past’

Once more this edifying conference met in the comfortable surroundings of the Regent Hall in Oxford Street, London.

The two-day December event featured six papers, with a discussion session after each except the final paper. This year over 90 men and women attended.

The conference originated as the Puritan Conference in 1950 during the ministry of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel – hence its present name.

Its aim is still to examine ‘the history, doctrine and practice of people, events and churches associated with the Puritans, their forebears and successors’, and to draw helpful lessons for today.

The conference theme this year was ‘Wrestling with our past’. The six titles presented were: ‘Archibald Alexander and Religious Experience’ (David Pfeiffer, pictured); ‘Eusebius and the Use and Abuse of Church History’ (Robert Strivens); ‘Evangelicals, Slavery and Colonialism (Ian Shaw); ‘David Livingstone’ (Alistair Wilson); ‘The Protestant View of Tradition’ (Ian Hamilton); and ‘Guillaume Farel’ (Stephane Simonnin). The final paper was read by Jeremy Walker, since Mr Simonnin was unwell.

The discussions were, as usual, discursive and not always tightly focused, but they brought nuggets of real insight and elucidation. Inevitably, the impact of an event like this will vary for different people. But for this writer, the dominant impression was one of historical surprises.

Archibald Alexander’s perceptive understanding of religious experience developed unexpectedly from his normal training and ministry as a pastor – he did not set out to be a ‘Christian counsellor’.

It is a common mistake to think of Eusebius (c.260–339), the first historian of the Christian Church, as distorting history to toady favour with the Roman establishment, since he was aiming at a factual and objective account.

Evangelicals today are quite deeply divided over how to relate to the participation of evangelicals in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century slavery.

David Livingstone, for all his zeal for the kingdom of God, was not involved in the planting of one church! He was a ‘pre-missionary’.

The early Reformers were motivated (in the first instance) to protest against medieval Catholicism’s idolatrous worship rather than its doctrine of justification.

Moreover, John Calvin appealed extensively to Christian tradition, in the form of the writings of the Church Fathers, when he polemicised against Catholic abuses of worship.

Finally, William Farel (1489–1565) was something of a firebrand. His reputation as a Reformer was not enhanced, especially in the view of John Calvin, when at the age of 69 he married the teenager Marie Thorel.

By Roger Fay

Being a Christian financial adviser – does it matter?

The theme of the 2022 Association of Christian Financial Advisers’ (ACFA) conference was: ‘Giving financial advice as a Christian – does it matter?’

Held over two days at High Leigh Conference Centre, the ACFA attendees expressed their gratitude to God for being able to recommence the conference in-person after being forced to do it online due to the pandemic.

The financial advisers gathered to worship together each day as well as to discuss matters relating to their careers, whether this be their attitude to helping clients manage their money, being involved with politics, ethical and sustainable investing, or helping clients give charitably.

On Monday, guest speaker Mark Harris, chaplain to the Christians in Parliament’s all-party parliamentary group, spoke about the three broad views of how Christians could be involved in politics.

He discussed whether we should be ‘separatists’, ‘transformationists’, or ‘distinctively engaged’ – that is, to seek to be an influence for good.

One of the conference organisers, Charles Matthews – himself a chartered financial planner – said, ‘Mark said it was thrilling to see Christian politicians from different opposing parties coming together to study God’s word and pray together, unified by their love of Christ (John 13:35)’.

On Tuesday, among talks from some of the companies that were partnering at the conference, Simoney Kyriakou, editor of FTAdviser, held two interactive sessions on whether it matters to be a Christian at work, and why.

One of the overriding discussion points was the need to communicate better – to listen to clients, to talk constructively with the financial services regulator, and to be ‘salt and light’ in whatever sphere of life.

Elizabeth Mackenzie, director of Grange Financial Planning, said one thing advisers could do to improve communications and show their difference as Christians is to work with the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority – rather than complain about all the rules, all the time.

She said, ‘I have sought to work with them when given the opportunity. A few years ago now, I volunteered to present on their behalf to groups of employees in their workplaces.

‘The initiative was called “Make the Most of your Money” and covered the basics of pensions, investments, mortgages, and protection policies.

‘More recently, I invited a representative of the FCA to speak to us at the ACFA annual conference with a view to improving our relationship with the regulator. This speaker was a Christian ex-colleague of mine, a former IFA and before that policeman, who now works in the Enforcement Team.’

By Simoney Kyriakou

Revd Dr Paul Ferguson inducted to Larne Mission Hall, County Antrim

The induction service for Revd Dr Paul Ferguson to the pastorate of Larne Mission Hall, Northern Ireland, took place last November.

Paul studied Biochemistry at Queen’s University, Belfast, and Law at King’s College, London. He subsequently worked as a solicitor for several years in England.

Heeding God’s call to full-time service, Paul underwent doctoral seminary studies in the USA.

For nearly 20 years, he served as a missionary in China and a pastor in Singapore.

Paul is married to Cheryl and they have two children – Sarah and Samuel.

A packed congregation gathered for the service, and chairman for the evening was Revd Noel Darragh, formerly minister of Straid Congregational Church, and long-time friend of Larne Mission Hall.

The opening prayer was given by the previous pastor, Revd Philip Berry (Lisburn Congregational Church), and was followed by the hymn, ‘Great is thy faithfulness’.

Larne Mission Hall chairman Stephen Campbell, gave the ‘call’ on behalf of the church, and Paul shared how God had called him to this ministry.

The ‘charge’ was read by Revd Noel Darragh; he was then joined by members of the Larne Mission Hall committee for the induction prayer.

Gifted local singer Emily Campbell (who attends the church) shared in song the message of following God’s will, before another congregational hymn was sung: ‘There will never be a sweeter story’.

The speaker for the evening was Denis Lyle, a retired Baptist pastor who brought a challenging message based on God’s promise from Exodus 33:14: ‘And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.’

Closing prayer was given by retired Free Presbyterian minister Revd Ron Johnstone. The night ended with a delightful supper prepared by the ladies of the congregation.

Many guests stayed and shared in fellowship together, some having travelled quite a distance to be there for this historic occasion.

By Trevor Robinson

Church leaders mark 100 years of the FIEC at Leaders’ Conference

Nearly 1,000 pastors, elders, women’s workers, youth leaders, and others in church leadership gathered at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool last November for the 2022 FIEC Leaders’ Conference.

It was the first national conference for three years due to the covid pandemic, but came just in time, marking FIEC’s 100th anniversary.

The conference sought to reflect on the founding principles of the Fellowship that are still at the heart of FIEC: faithfulness to the truth, a commitment to unity, and mission at the heart of the local church.

With some church groups and denominations changing their position on orthodox Christian doctrine and teaching, and only 2-3% of the UK population thought to be born-again believers, this vision of truth, unity, and mission is as important in 2022 as it was in 1922.

The main gatherings included preaching from FIEC directors – including Andy Paterson (FIEC Mission Director) as he retires – and FIEC pastors, exploring the letter from Jude on contending for the faith, the importance of core doctrinal convictions, and the power of partnership.

Seminars went deeper into the topics of the main gatherings, and there were prayer gatherings between similar churches from across the country.

Looking to the next 100 years of FIEC, ‘Pray for One Hundred’ was launched, which features a selection of one hundred mission initiatives at churches across the FIEC Fellowship. Leaders took home resources to help their churches pray for these mission initiatives across the country.

By Joel Murray

TBS auxiliary donates 10,000 Bibles to give to London’s school children

The Greater London Auxiliary of the Trinitarian Bible Society was delighted to report at its Annual Meeting held last November that over 10,000 Bibles have been distributed to London schools since the auxiliary was formed in December 2019.

London is one of the world’s highest-ranking cities in many respects, yet there are millions of people there who know very little of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This has the most tragic effect upon all people, including children, so it is particularly wonderful that so many children are receiving free Bibles.

While some hospitals and care homes have accepted free grants of Bibles, New Testaments, and other Scripture items such as bookmarks and calendars, the bulk of the auxiliary’s effort has centred on schools.

Two volunteers have been writing to schools, and this has been followed up with presentations of Bibles with short talks to pupils about the Bible.

Interest in requesting Bibles has been stimulated by the offer of special commemorative Bibles such as the Platinum Jubilee Bible, which was soon followed by a Bible marking the reign of Elizabeth II.

The Society hopes to produce a commemorative edition for the Coronation of Charles III, and this is also expected to be popular with schools.

Besides the work of sending Bibles in this way, in July the auxiliary was able to secure a place in Trafalgar Square to distribute Bibles in many languages.

By Matthew Vogan

Canada: Government forced to back down over euthanasia laws following international outcry

The Canadian government has put on hold its plans to allow people with mental ill health to commit assisted suicide, following international and domestic criticism.

Canada, which has a lenient approach to assisted suicide and euthanasia, had been debating proposals to liberalise the law to help those with mental health problems kill themselves.

It has now put these plans on hold while it takes further evidence, with some highly qualified critics and opposition party spokespeople claiming the proposed rules would breach laws that protect people with disabilities.

Michael Cooper, Canada’s Shadow Minister for Democratic Reform, told reporters, ‘Literal life-or-death legislation deserves thorough review and consultation to ensure the most vulnerable people are protected.’

As reported in ET in September last year, Professor Tom Koch of the University of British Columbia, Canada, had warned that the law had been creeping in scope and its impact has been made ‘clearly evident’ in the country.

In a paper published in the BMJ Journal of Medical Ethics, Professor Koch had warned that this has led to an ‘expanding class of eligible persons and an ever-increasing number of medically induced deaths’ among those who have disabilities and, soon, among those who have mental illnesses.

The ethicist and author told the BMJ Journal that assisted suicide and euthanasia are now seen as ‘the only alternative to suffering’ for those without access to palliative care.

Professor Koch also said that pressure to ensure palliative care is provided has been removed since controversial Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) legislation came into force in 2016.

But Canada’s plans also stretch towards lowering the minimum age at which a person can choose to be medically euthanised.

In December, ET reported on a statement from the Quebec College of Physicians (QCP) in support of euthanasia for severely disabled newborn children (infanticide), as well as for children aged 14 to 17.

The QCP seemed to have been taking its cue from the Netherlands, where 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.

At the time, pro-life campaigners criticised the proposals, with Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson saying the Netherlands’ example should not be one that other countries follow.

She said, ‘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.’

Nigeria: African nation tops religious persecution group’s ‘countries of concern’ list for the year ahead

Nigeria has come top of the list of countries of concern in 2023, according to Release International’s Persecution Trends report.

Along with India and China, Release International has warned that persecution of Christians is set to rise over the course of the year.

The report said, ‘The country of key concern for the coming year is Nigeria, where violence is growing, along with demands to divide the nation.’

Paul Robinson, chief executive of Release International, warned: ‘Persecution has been on the increase in recent years. 2023 looks set to continue that trend. The next 12 months will be significant for large swathes of the church across the globe.’

In particular, the presidential elections in Nigeria this year could mark a significant step towards breaking up the nation, which has been wracked for several years by Islamist insurgency.

The Islamist pressure in the north, including from terrorist groups which have caused devastation and loss across the northern states, might see the south split from the north, causing greater unrest.

One Release partner on the ground told the report, ‘Every indication suggests Nigeria is at a pivotal point in its history. The election in 2023 will determine whether the nation grows as an entity or disintegrates.’

But there have been increasing attacks against predominantly Christian communities in the Middle Belt region, as well as spreading to the central and southern regions. Terror groups Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa continue to defy the authorities, and Fulani militants attack Christian villages with impunity.

In 2022, reports indicate Fulani extremists killed more than 6,000 Christians and destroyed 17 villages.

Meanwhile, Chinese Christians will come under even greater pressure in the coming year to demonstrate unswerving allegiance to Premier Xi Jinping by rejecting the Christian faith.

Growing numbers of evangelicals are being targeted and arrested. Leaders and members of unregistered churches have been taken in by the authorities for questioning and church buildings have been demolished.

In India, radical Hindus appear increasingly emboldened by the dominance of the nation’s right-wing BJP government.

More states have been passing anti-conversion laws and there are concerns that a national law to limit the right to convert may follow. As intolerance rises, reports of violent attacks against pastors and congregations continue.

Other countries of concern include Afghanistan, Malaysia, and many African countries, including Burkina Faso.

However, Robinson had a hopeful note despite the report’s claims. He added, ‘Those who use violence to try to stamp out Christianity have forgotten the lesson of history.

‘It teaches us that persecution, terrible though it is, strengthens resolve. It emboldens and refines the Church.’

Germany: Court rules that local lockdown of churches in Lage was illegal

Churches in the German city of Lage were unlawfully forced to close during the coronavirus pandemic, a court has ruled.

In a bid to curb new variants, the local government of the city in North Rhine-Westphalia banned all congregations from meeting for public worship back in March 2021.

The measures were considered to be excessive, as there had only been a coronavirus outbreak in one church.

At the time, a legal challenge from the Bible Congregation Lage was rejected, but the administrative court in Minden has now upheld its case, ruling that the blanket ban was disproportional, and violated freedom of religion.

The court in Minden criticised the ban for not providing exceptions in the case of churches which introduced suitable measures for tackling the spread of coronavirus.

Speaking after the ruling, Peter Dridiger (pictured), pastor of Bible Congregation Lage, said the decision was an ‘important victory’, which will help churches in the future.

Several courts throughout the world have ruled against various covid restrictions enforced on churches and street evangelists.

As reported by ET last year, the Scottish Court of Session ruled that the Scottish government’s ban on public worship during the pandemic was unlawful.

The regulations which required churches to close across mainland Scotland had been challenged by 27 church leaders, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, who said the restrictions were a breach of their freedom of religion.

In his decision, Court of Session judge Lord Braid agreed, ruling that the regulations constituted a ‘disproportionate interference’ with people’s ‘freedom to manifest their religious beliefs’. He also said the rules had gone far further than intended.

In England, a Christian street preacher who was arrested on Easter Sunday 2020 for supporting homeless people during the covid lockdown eventually won his two-year legal battle.

Andrew Sathiyavan, 47, was arrested, detained in a police cell, and issued with a fine for preaching and supporting the homeless during lockdown, but then a Crown Court Judge overturned that decision.

In Canada last year, a Calgary-based street pastor and others who were accused of breaching a covid lockdown order won an appeal against a contempt of court finding.

US: Navy Seal ‘pushed’ into ‘lasting damage’ sex change

A retired US Navy Seal has spoken out about the lasting damage caused to his body and mind after he was pushed towards transitioning into a woman.

According to reports from CNN and The Daily Mail, Chris Beck had a decorated 20-year military career, after which he started to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Beck was deployed 13 times and received more than 50 medals and ribbons for his service, including a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

However, while he was taking prescription medication for his PTSD, he said a psychologist affirmed his belief he might be transgender and prescribed him cross-sex hormones.

He claimed he was used by a Veterans Affairs doctor and other activists to push and ‘normalise’ a ‘radical transgender agenda’ without proper medical investigation.

In 2013, he appeared on CNN as ‘Kristin’ Beck after ‘transitioning’ from male to female. He lived as a woman for more than a decade before he began the process of detransitioning.

Although he admits, ‘I did this to myself,’ he adds, ‘I had help. There are thousands of gender clinics being put up all over America.’

This means as soon as young people say they feel they may be a tomboy or uncomfortable in their own body, they are told they are transgender, prescribed strong hormones, and pushed down a path towards life-changing surgery.

When he started his own journey of transitioning, he was given just one hour-long consultation at Veterans Affairs before being offered hormones. He told the Mail: ‘I walked into a psychologist’s office, [and] in one day I had a letter in my hand saying I was transgender.’

US: Texas abortion numbers plummet by 97 per cent after Roe v. Wade ruling

The number of abortions in Texas fell to just 68 in the first month after Roe v. Wade was overturned in the US.

According to statistics from the Texas Health and Human Services, 2,596 abortions were carried out in the US state in June 2022 while only 68 were performed in July – a 97 per cent decrease.

As reported by Evangelical Times, the Supreme Court overturned its 1973 ruling on Roe v. Wade on 24 June last year.

The ruling handed back power to individual states to legislate on the issue, and Texas only permits abortion in the case of a medical emergency to protect the life of the mother.

Pakistan: New homes for Christians who were hit by disastrous floods

Christian Pakistani families pushed to the brink of hunger, homelessness, and hardship after the devastating floods last year have been given new housing through Barnabas Fund supporters.

In July and August 2022, unusually powerful monsoon rains flooded southern Pakistan, leaving villages and farmland under metres of water for nearly three months. Crops, housing, land, and animals were all destroyed, prompting international aid organisations to help provide emergency shelter, as well as rebuild and restore homes.

Barnabas Fund has built dozens of new homes for Christian families – who are often left at the bottom of the pecking order in the strongly Islamic country.

One man whose home is being rebuilt, ‘Karam’ (not his real name), said he thanked ‘the people of God who have been sharing the love of God’ by helping him and other flood-affected Christians.

The homes are semi-permanent structures with pillars of proper kiln-fired bricks between the mud walls and plastic sheeting under the mud roof. This construction will make them more resilient to future flooding. Moreover, Barnabas Fund has been repairing those homes that were only partly damaged.

REVIEWS

With a Mighty Triumph! Christ’s resurrection and ours

Rhett P. Dodson

Banner of Truth Trust

162 pages; £6.00

BUY

‘Apart from the bodily resurrection of Jesus,’ says Rhett Dodson, ‘the church has nothing to offer the world but moralistic maxims with no more authority than any other any other religious or philosophical system.’

Most books on the resurrection are evangelistic or apologetic. But in this excellent verse-by-verse exposition of 1 Corinthians 15, Rhett Dodson makes the case not only for the physical resurrection of Jesus but also for its power to save a fallen world by transforming lives.

For far too many Christians, their expectation for their future is little more than the ancient Greek concept of the immortality of the soul, which was current at the time of Paul. For Paul, however, Christian hope is nothing less than resurrection from the dead, and Dodson deals helpfully with that glorious reality. For anyone who attempts to speak to Mormons, he is particularly helpful on Paul’s reference to baptism on behalf of the dead in verse 29.

With a Mighty Triumph! is easy to read, theologically rich, and practical in its application to Christians at whatever stage of their spiritual development. Baptist readers will not be persuaded by Dodson’s justification for infant baptism. But I carp. The book will stimulate your mind and warm your heart.

Paul urged Timothy to ‘Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead’ (2 Timothy 2:8). With a Mighty Triumph! is a powerful stimulus not only to remember the historic, space-time resurrection of Christ, but also to live what Rhett Dodson calls the ‘resurrection-shaped life’.

Mike Moore

Curry Rivel, Somerset

Ten Modern Evangelism Myths: A biblical corrective

Ryan Denton

Reformation Heritage Books

93 pages; £8.99

BUY

In this short, easy-to-read booklet, Texan evangelist Ryan Denton challenges ‘modern myths’ about evangelism.

These myths are: (1) Theology doesn’t matter, (2) The Gospel isn’t enough, (3) Evangelism is unsuccessful if no one is converted, (4) The lost should not be offended, (5) There is only one right way to evangelise, (6) Evangelism and apologetics are different, (7) Reformed Christians don’t evangelise, (8) Hell should be left out, (9) Only Church leaders should evangelise, and (10) The Church is unimportant.

The author outlines different models of outreach such as relational evangelism, servant evangelism, and cold-call evangelism. He shows that each of them has value, and that each can be used in a way that is biblical. A case is put against evidential approaches, and in favour of presuppositional apologetics. Denton also argues that ‘monergism’ (the belief that salvation is the work of God alone) protects the evangelist from discouragement when people aren’t saved, and it protects from pride when people are saved.

The book can be simplistic at times, but the overall enthusiasm of the author to combine a zeal for evangelism with faithfulness to Scripture is a great encouragement.

Nathan Pomeroy

Nottingham

Iron Sharpens Iron: Friendship and the grace of God

Michael A. G. Haykin

Union Publishing

152 pages; £7.99

BUY

This is a sweet book, and will be sweetest to those who are already primed to like the men whom the author likes, and in whose company we walk in the pages of the book.

The opening chapter is a short and lively survey of friendship. It will be no surprise to those who appreciate Haykin’s other writings that he chooses to adorn the concept with a study of friendships among the Particular Baptists of the 18th century.

If you are familiar with men like Andrew Fuller, John Ryland Jr, and William Carey (John Newton also makes a substantial appearance), then you might already be inclined to revel in their deep and open relationships, and to take account of particular strains and tensions.

If you do not know the names and places so well, the book may be slightly harder going. Even should that be the case, there is enough information and insight to stimulate Christians, especially men, in thinking about what it means to have and to be a true Christian friend.

As the author notes, every study of friendship – perhaps especially Christian friendship – laments the relative paucity of material on which to draw. There are clearly seams of historical gold to be mined in considering this topic. This is a brief and accessible study, far from exhaustive, which nevertheless brings some of the riches of the topic to our attention. The principles and practice of friendship are brightly set forth, to be enjoyed and emulated.

If you would have friends, be friendly (Proverbs 18:24); if you would like to learn what that looks like, this is a good place to begin.

Jeremy Walker

Crawley, West Sussex

Our Priceless Christian Heritage: The only foundation and pillar of a just and free society

Roland Burrows

Wakeman Trust

341 pages; £11.00

BUY

Roland Burrows’ book aims to show the benefits which Christianity has bestowed on individuals and societies over the 20 centuries since Christ ascended into glory. In a largely atheistic Western society where these benefits are challenged or denied, this book is a helpful reminder of ‘what God has wrought’!

With a huge array of Bible commentators, Christian writers, historians of many types, politicians, and secular scribblers, Burrows gives an impressive display of evidence for the overwhelmingly positive influence of the Christian religion.

The author’s own writing is lucid and engaging, well within the compass of the average Christian reader. Where one could be critical is of the sheer bulk of quotations – making over 35% of the words – and not always in a style as readable as Burrows himself.

The other warning that needs to be made is that the book is really about the progress of ‘Christendom’ rather than the thrilling advance of the gospel. This makes it hard for the author to be positive about benefits during the dark ages of Catholic domination and ‘Christian’ crusades of war.

But when we reach the Reformation and revivals of the 16th to 19th centuries, the chapter titles show the author’s excitement, which must surely be shared by the reader – for example, ‘The 18th century and its multitudinous benefits’ and ‘The enormous influence of Christianity in the 19th century’.

In conclusion, there are many books available to read of how the gates of hell have never prevailed against the church of Christ. But Burrows’ book gives a rarer and necessary view of the ebb and flow of the Christian religion through the ages, and the benefits that have flowed from it. Many readers will enjoy this different approach.

Martin Wells

Catshill, Bromsgrove

The Grace of Gratitude

Paul Mallard

10 Publishing

62 pages; £2.00

BUY

Most people are agreed that we ought to be more thankful for the good things we enjoy. Even secular psychologists maintain that an attitude of gratitude is good for our health.

Paul Mallard begins his book by contrasting two people he came across in the same year, one grateful, the other bitter. He asserts that the attitude of the first character was more than just a positive mindset. ‘Gratitude is a supernatural grace implanted in the hearts of God’s children. We cannot create it, but we can sustain it’ (p.55).

Through a study of Psalm 66, considered to be a song of thanksgiving by King Hezekiah after his deliverance from Sennacherib, Mallard demonstrates how every Christian can live a life characterised by sincere gratitude.

The writer of the psalm shows that the worship of God is important for us, because it ‘fixes our attention outside of ourselves and nourishes the grace of gratitude’ (p.17). He also focuses on who God is and what he has done, and calls on others (ourselves included) to share in his wonder at it all.

Chapter 4 deals with the thorny question of how the Christian remains thankful in the midst of trial and tragedy, and in the final chapter we are challenged to consider if any cherished sin is hindering our fellowship with God, the very foundation of our gratitude.

This short book could be read in an hour, but would certainly be worthwhile reading more thoughtfully and taking time to consider the questions at the end of each chapter and the links to other relevant portions of Scripture. All in all, this is a very helpful book.

Ruth Burke

Belfast

The Mystery of Providence

John J. Murray

Ettrick Press

142 pages; £4.95

BUY

John J. Murray was well known in Reformed circles though his work with the Banner of Truth Trust. He was the author of many books, particularly in the area of church history and biography.

Of Highland Free Church stock, he entered subsequently the ministry of the Free Church in 1978, and served pastorates in Oban and Edinburgh. Following the sad death of his daughter Linda he wrote the booklet Behind a Frowning Providence (1990).

Murray’s passing in 2020 in his 85th year was widely lamented. The memory of the just is blessed, but it is a happy occasion which sees this series of lectures on the subject of divine providence being made available posthumously. These lectures were first delivered in Singapore in late 2000 and have been lovingly transcribed from audio recordings.

The volume is a choice one. It is presented in four sections, covering the wonder, working, beauty, and design of providence. It is quite comprehensive, and is instructive, experiential, and encouraging. As one might expect from transcribed addresses, this is a straightforward and readable book, and it is highly recommended as a good introduction on an aspect of the sovereignty of God touching life in this world.

Though there are mysteries and even sometimes perplexities in the workings and interpretation of providences in the lives of the believers, all things do work together for their good, and the book ends quoting from James Durham: ‘God’s perfect work will be manifest to all in the end of the day.’

John W. Keddie

Kirkhill, Inverness

Table of Contents

FEATURES

Unless providentially hindered

Take up and read! Christian bookshop in Edinburgh celebrates third anniversary

The National Lottery – a good idea?

Albania and the gospel – a current appraisal

Where there is no vision, the people perish

Lessons my father taught me (Part 2)

COMMENT: This woman of prayer has been thrown to the lions

GUEST COLUMN: Five marks of a cult

THINKING IT THROUGH: God’s wisdom in a swiftly changing world

A WALK WITH MR O: The idol in our churches

A SHRINK THINKS... Jesus’s love

CRUNCH POINTS: Can you preach the gospel too much?

NEWS

News in brief

Thought crime outrage over a woman arrested for silent prayer

Justin Welby backs CofE transgender guidance for use in schools

Teacher fights to save his career after he ‘misgendered’ a trans pupil and called Muhammad a ‘false prophet’

UK government blocks Scotland’s new transgender self-identification laws, sparking a showdown in the courts

Evangelical leader tells Prince Harry, this is not ‘the Christian way to deal with family disputes’, following publication of his book ‘Spare’

Planned ban on ‘conversion practices’ set to go ahead in England and Wales

Advertising watchdog bans ad which could ‘seriously offend’ Christians

Grace Baptist Mission conference highlights work in war-torn Ukraine

Scottish Reformed Baptist conference focuses on worship

18-year interim ends as new pastor inducted in Whitstable

Westminster Conference addresses ‘wrestling with our past’

Being a Christian financial adviser – does it matter?

Revd Dr Paul Ferguson inducted to Larne Mission Hall, County Antrim

Church leaders mark 100 years of the FIEC at Leaders’ Conference

TBS auxiliary donates 10,000 Bibles to give to London’s school children

Canada: Government forced to back down over euthanasia laws following international outcry

Nigeria: African nation tops religious persecution group’s ‘countries of concern’ list for the year ahead

Germany: Court rules that local lockdown of churches in Lage was illegal

US: Navy Seal ‘pushed’ into ‘lasting damage’ sex change

US: Texas abortion numbers plummet by 97 per cent after Roe v. Wade ruling

Pakistan: New homes for Christians who were hit by disastrous floods

REVIEWS

With a Mighty Triumph! Christ’s resurrection and ours

Ten Modern Evangelism Myths: A biblical corrective

Iron Sharpens Iron: Friendship and the grace of God

Our Priceless Christian Heritage: The only foundation and pillar of a just and free society

The Grace of Gratitude

The Mystery of Providence