PNG violence Tribal conflict has broken out in Papua New Guinea (PNG), affecting the valley where the Wycliffe Bible Translators recently dedicated three New Testaments. The unrest started in the valley where the Bible translation centre of Ukarumpa is based and was the result of a lengthy dispute over access to water. According to Wycliffe…
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Pastor Pokorny (1917–2008) August Erwin (Tony) Pokorny was born at a chaotic time in history. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was on the brink of disintegrating and Austria was set to become a republic. Its economy was unable to cope with the large numbers returning from army and empire posts, and there was extensive unemployment. When Pokorny's parents…
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Songs of Praise The BBC has appointed a new series editor for Songs of Praise. David Taviner, who has been working in TV for 25 years, has thirteen years' experience of religious broadcasting. This includes launching Radio Humberside's live Sunday morning religious programme, It's Sunday, as well as producing Morning worship for BBC…
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Bible college in gay row A boardroom memo issued to the faculty of Calvin College in Michigan has stated that it is 'unacceptable' for academics to advocate homosexual practice or civil partnerships. For a college formed on the basis of Reformation theology in the 1870s, this should have been met with faculty approval. Not so.…
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What price politics? Very soon now there will be a general election in the UK. Christians, like everyone else, want to influence its outcome. But danger lies ahead - professedly Christian groups are involving themselves in the political process by attendance at Conservative and Labour Party conferences this autumn. Such convergence carries a double edge. On…
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The tidy pachyderm An edited extract from Edgar Andrews' book Who made God?,published by EP Books. Rudyard Kipling's 'Just so' stories were published in 1902, just 43 years after Darwin beat him to it withThe origin of species. If you read the stories carefully, it is difficult to avoid the impression that…
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The fall of Singapore in 1942 I recently had the opportunity to visit a museum in Singapore dedicated to the memory of what took place during the Second World War. There I learnt much. The British prior to 1942 did not expect the Japanese to succeed in any invasion attempt on Singapore, because…
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John Calvin's mission to France The year 2009 is the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. He was born in northern France and was converted, as a student, in the early 1530s. From 1541 until his death in 1564 he served as a preacher and teacher in Geneva. Calvin was never…
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Film review Creation Paul Bettany & Jennifer Connelly Han Way films The film Creation currently showing in British cinemas will catch the attention of thoughtful people. Its 'creation' is not that of Genesis 1, but the creation of the famous book published 150 years ago this November. The film, based on Annie's Box by Randal Keynes,…
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Beach missions reach many United Beach Missions have reported on a summer of evangelism across the UK, and into France and Belgium. One middle-aged couple in LaPanne, Belgium, attended church after the first week of beach missions, and then after attending each open-air meeting the following week, testified they had accepted Jesus Christ into their…
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The good Shepherd One of the most powerful metaphors in the Word of God to describe the relationship between believers and the Saviour is that of the sheep and shepherd. In the Old Testament, Jehovah is called the 'Shepherd of Israel' (Psalm 80:1) and his covenant people the 'sheep of his pasture' (Psalm 100:3). When God…
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Beer drinker reprieved The Malaysian woman who was sentenced to six strokes of the cane for drinking beer has had her sentence put on hold indefinitely. An Islamic court in Pahang state said that the sentence had been too harsh, despite Sharia law demanding such a punishment. Reports from the home minister's office suggested also…
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50 years reaching out to Europe In an ‘Ashes summer’ every half century is reason for applause and recognising the batsman’s skill. Inevitably, however, with the end of the summer (and Ashes series), popular interest begins to fall away like the leaves on the trees. But this autumn brings us another half…
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Snakes (and ants) alive! Let me tell you a couple of things from Guinea to remind you to pray for the safety of missionaries. In the cool of a January morning our missionary colleague went outside to turn on their generator. When he opened the door to the generator house, he was…
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Meteoric Methodism 'Shooting stars' leave a dramatic, but brief trail of light and fire in the night sky. So it was with Primitive Methodism. The Primitive Methodist (PM) movement blazed forward, but was extinguished within 120 years. What lay behind its rapid success and extinction? Consider the description of Primitive Methodism provided by C. H. Spurgeon's…
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Iranian persecution Two Christian women, Maryam Rustampoor and Marzieh Amirizadeh, have stood in court in Tehran, Iran, charged with converting to Christianity. The women, who are 27 and 30 respectively, were born into Muslim families, but became Christians. The accusations against them were that they converted to Christianity and refused to recant their beliefs. They…
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Home-schooling and the State Mention to the average person that you home-school your children, and you will meet with one of three responses. Some will be bemused, never having heard such a thing exists. Others, knowing the moral chaos in many schools, will react more positively and wish you well. But there could be a…
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Mayor makes a stand A no-nonsense Yorkshire mayor has made an unusual stand against political correctness and attracted flak from the gay lobby. The new mayor of Doncaster, Peter Davies, has withheld local funding for 2009's Gay Pride celebrations, stating: 'I'm not a homophobe but I don't see why council taxpayers should pay to celebrate…
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Vietnam The US ambassador to Vietnam has praised Vietnam's moves towards religious freedom, but called on senior leaders to loosen controls on free speech. Michael Michalak, who has been ambassador to Vietnam for two years, said that human rights breaches were still being committed, including the arrest of human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh…
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SOLA 5 2009 The fifth annual SOLA 5 conference was expertly hosted this year by Brackenhurst Baptist Church in Alberton, South Africa. Brackenhurst's hospitality and fellowship were exemplary. They catered for 450 hungry stomachs on Sunday 6 September, but such an exercise always brings a rich blessing for the hosting church. Representatives from Zambia, Namibia,…
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Teenage pregnancy tests Teenage girls, many below the age of consent, are snapping up 99p pregnancy tests from bargain shops. One such store in Sussex is being accused of encouraging sexual activity. A report from the Daily Mail revealed that dozens of young teenagers are purchasing the kits from the Fabulous 99s store in Crawley,…
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Abortion pills online The internet is being used by women across the UK to buy abortion pills online, according to the news station Real Radio. Abortion pills are only available legally through licensed and trained staff in England, Scotland and Wales, while they are banned in Ireland. But the reporter found that such pills could…
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Street preacher silenced The Christian Legal Centre (CLC) has taken up the case of a Manchester street preacher who was silenced by police officers. Miguel Hayworth, 29, has been preaching in the streets of Manchester for the past five years. He said this July he was approached several times by Greater Manchester police, while preaching…
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OAC has new director OAC Ministries (formerly known as Open Air Campaigners) have appointed a new national director. Rev. Peter Kennelly, who is based in North London with his wife Alison, has been serving as OAC's London director and has been active in evangelistic outreach and training programmes. He will take over…
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More on Michigan It's all happening in Michigan: while one college debates the gay issue, a church elsewhere in Trenton is using a Screwtape Letters-style campaign to advertise Christianity. The Metro South Church, in Trenton, is posting billboards 'signed' by Satan to state why he hates the church. Its pastor, Jeremy Schossau, said the…
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Walking the talk Smithton Culloden Free Church, Inverness, hosted a celebratory dinner for Christians and charity fund raisers who took part in a sponsored walk from Glasgow to Inverness in August. Starting at Drumpeller Country Park in Coatbridge, Glasgow, and ending in Inverness five days later, the walk was to raise money for, and…
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Lottery row Theological think-tank Theos is embroiled in a row with the Big Lottery Fund over claims that lottery funds are not being distributed fairly. The war of words is being waged by open letters from Peter Wanless, head of the National Lottery, and Paul Bickley, senior researcher at Theos. It was started…
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Encouragement in Eastbourne The Lord has really been blessing our fellowship at South Street Free Church over the past 3-4 years. We had prayed that younger folk and families would join us; and our faithful God has answered our prayers, so that we have seen the fellowship increase. Over the past year we have had…
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'Boring, irrelevant, untrue?' This was the title of Stopsley Baptist Church's first evangelistic talk, as part of its town-wide, outreach suppers in Luton. The town, which obtained notoriety recently for its race riots and hostility towards soldiers returning from active service, is in desperate need of the gospel, according to Christians in the area. The…
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Lewd t-shirts Children's clothing is bearing increasingly sexual slogans, causing the Daily Telegraph to appeal for a ban on such t-shirts. In an article in August, writer Judith Woods interviewed Dr Catherine White, director of the Sexual Assault Referral Centre at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester. Dr White said that she had seen a rise…
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New Tribes Mission in Guinea, West Africa The country of Guinea is home to about 40 people groups, most of which are classed as least-reached or unreached with the gospel. It is just the sort of place one would expect to find a mission like New Tribes Mission (NTM), since our mandate is…
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I'm trying? Mark Jenner investigates 'trying'. You'll need an open Bible for this (and a little Greek or Hebrew would help!) It amazes me how Scripture is full of meaning even at the level of its individual words. At a Christian camp in summer 2008, I was set the challenge of finding out how many times…
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Arminius In what must be one of the great ironies of church history, Jacob Arminius shares an anniversary year with John Calvin. The Genevan Reformer was born 500 years ago on 10 July 1509. Arminius, who did so much to question Calvin's theology of sovereign grace, died on 19 October 1609. Like Calvin, Arminius…
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Guinea turned 50 The year 2008 marked the 50th anniversary of Guinea’s independence from France. In honour of the occasion, a colleague wrote the following words: ‘We prefer liberty in poverty to slavery in riches’. For this ideal the Republic of Guinea fought and gained independence from French colonial rule. But during the…
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Bakewell outreach The 179th Bakewell Show was held from 5-6 August in a picturesque setting in the Peak District of Derbyshire, and drew an estimated crowd of 65,000. For the past 30 years there has been a distinct Christian witness at this event, ever since believers from the Bakewell Gospel Hall first had…
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Battling with technopoly (3) How to live faithfully in the iPod generation Guest Column Anthony Selvaggio Over the last two months, we have seen the harmful effects that technopoly can exert. However, our use of technology need not degenerate into technopoly. Technopoly can be resisted. In order to resist it, we must engage in the very activities which…
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Archbishop denies hell The Archbishop of Canterbury has stated that Genesis is not historical truth, while hell is a state of mind rather than a literal place of punishment. In a Channel 4 documentary How do you know God exists?, which was broadcast in August, Dr Rowan Williams was asked how he knew God existed.…
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Sowing the seed It is part of the Great Commission that evangelical churches should reach out to their neighbourhoods, regularly and prayerfully, and use the opportunities given. Perhaps the greatest opportunity, apart from regular visitation, is at Christmas time. For the past three years, Aycliffe Evangelical Church in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham,…
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'Christian geeks' 'Christian geeks', whose efforts to ensure church services run smoothly through technology and sound systems, are to have their own awards ceremony. The 2009 Original Christian Web and New Media Awards is to show appreciation for people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure everything works well, from producing Christian e-newsletters,…
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Pastors' road shows The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches is hosting another series of road shows next year for members of its pastors' association. Building on a successful road show in 2009, the FIEC's pastoral link team is working on bringing men together again to sharpen their vision for gospel work and to network with…
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Elderly at risk Changes in the 'right to die' laws will put vulnerable people at risk of increasingly poor practice and even illegal actions, experts have warned. The Patients Association (PA) in its report Patients not numbers, people not statistics has revealed that the quality of care for the elderly has decreased significantly. It claimed…
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Eisteddfod evangelism Every year for the past 60 years, the National Eisteddfod of Wales has been held in the first week of August. The Eisteddfod, held in a different part of Wales each year, is the main cultural event of the nation, with an average daily attendance of 20,000. There are competitions held…
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Church history Protestant missions to Guinea began in 1918 when the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) entered the country. Other missions entered in the ensuing years but were expelled without exception in 1967 by the Marxist government. Only eight CMA personnel were allowed to remain, and their activities were restricted. As a…
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Republic of Guinea fact file The population is just over 10 million. The highest point in the country is Mont Nimba (5,748 feet). Guinea is ranked 13th from the bottom among the poorest countries in the world. Guinea possesses over 25 billion metric tons of bauxite (nearly half the world’s reserves),…
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'I believe … in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord' Timothy Cross continues explaining the Apostles' Creed A Christian is one who belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ and relies on him alone for salvation. The Christian faith is not primarily concerned with a creed or a lifestyle, important though these are. Rather,…
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