Let down the nets

Andrew Bale on our primary task

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he very first gift that God gave to the new Church wasn’t the gift to heal the sick, raise the dead or cast out demons – these gifts would come later but they were not the first. The very first gift God gave to the new church was the ability to communicate the good news about Jesus in a way that people could understand. Any Christian movement that dares to ask God for ‘another Pentecost’ is simply asking for the restoration of this essential gift.

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Faith & the city - part 1

Areopagus # 22

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here do faith and the city intersect? What does faith in the city look like? In June, Dr. Jonathan Chaplin challenged participants to consider those questions at the Faith and the City Symposium sponsored by The Salvation Army Ethics Centre in Winnipeg Canada. The event drew a capacity audience of people who are engaged with these issues and under Dr Chaplin’s leadership they grappled with the everyday challenges of living faith in the living organism of the city. Articles written by Chaplin have appeared on theRubicon: Sphere sovereignty & public life | Street-level justice

Chaplin’s first lecture at the Symposium set the scene and provided background for his two subsequent presentations. To listen to this initial talk, entitled “God’s Servant for Your Good”: A Christian View of the State (runs 43:30) click on the arrow or click here to go to our Areopagus podcast on iTunes where this episode can be downloaded.

The two subsequent Chaplin lectures from the Faith and the City Symposium will appear on theRubicon on August 3 and 10. Chaplin’s biography is available on the next page. › Continue reading

Resurrected writers: Brengle

The dead still speak
An occasional series by Maxwell Ryan

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ne of the most neglected of foundational Salvation Army writers is Samuel Logan Brengle. Outside the Army in holiness circles and among people who are serious about their spiritual life his writings are sought after, read, quoted and cherished. But in the wider Salvation Army, apart from the United States, he is considered to be passé, too old-fashioned and unrealistic in his ideas about holiness. This, of course, is a tragedy for the Army, and an indication of how far we have moved from one of our denominational distinctives.

Even though the Army appears not to have abandoned its 10th doctrine, it has been reinterpreted a number of times so that its original intent and Brengle’s exposition of it have been weakened.

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Hastening the end

Jim Read on physician-assisted suicide

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ecently my wife and I had the privilege of presenting day-long ethics workshops in four rural hospice and palliative care centres in Manitoba (a central-Canadian province). I was able to contribute my knowledge of law, policies and ethical theory. Laurie was able to bring her nine years of clinical experience as a nurse leader in cancer care and palliative care. In order to get the workshop participants thinking about the social policy side of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide we showed an excerpt from Bill Moyers’s PBS series “On Our Own Terms.”

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When it’s time to say “No”

Breaking the law with Vadim Khurin

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hen was the last time you broke the rules while driving? I was recently stopped on the highway. I exceeded the speed limit. When the policeman approached me, I came to an understanding that I disrespected the law and prepared myself to face the consequences as a result. After a short conversation with the officer, I received a ticket and a lecture that breaking the rules is forbidden.

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Innocence & shrewdness

Areopagus #21

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ave you had enough of pizza parties, ice cream socials and mall scavenger hunts? Are you a young person looking for a more meaningful engagement with the ancient truths and imperatives of the Christian faith? Are you an older person ready for an unapologetic foray against the enemy of our souls? Major Richard Munn sounds the battle cry to join a fight we dare not neglect. In a thunderous January 2007 summons at Roots South in Talladega, Alabama, Munn declares war… and calls for reinforcements. To listen click on the arrow below (runs: 29:16) or click here to go to our Areopagus podcast on iTunes where this episode can be downloaded.

Munn’s biography is available on the next page. › Continue reading

Neo-denominationalism

Fading? Think again says Peter Lublink

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enominations are breaking down.” At least, so claim the post-modern voices in churches today. But are they really? While there is little doubt that the traditional boundaries between churches seem to be fading, a whole new kind of denominationalism seems to be forming. Missional churches, emerging churches, mega-churches, Purpose Driven Churches, seeker-sensitive churches, community church models, ancient future models, prosperity gospel churches…the list of labels can go on. These groups, and others, are increasingly coming under organized leadership, are exchanging resources and sharing ideological similarities, all actions that drive the creation of neo-denominations.

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Resurrected writers: Underhill

The dead still speak

An occasional series by Maxwell Ryan

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n my library is a well-worn paperback that, according to my notations, I read during Lent in 1998, and again during Lent in 2007, though I have dipped into it occasionally at other times. The 105-page book is Lent with Evelyn Underhill, edited by an American priest, G. P. Mellick Belshaw, published (and reprinted) in 1964.

Who, you might ask, is Evelyn Underhill? She was a Christian mystic who, during her lifetime (1875 – 1941), was one of the most widely-read writers on the spiritual life in the first 50 years of the 20th century.

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Women leadership in the church

Danielle Strickland on why it matters and how to change

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e have become increasingly familiar with what the raising of strong male figures looks like in the church. And while men are able to gather and develop similar-minded men, is the same urgency to shape strong godly females as prevalent? Are females less proactive in mentoring younger girls, and what is our perception of women leaders or pioneers? Do we aim to create more or less of these? How can women step into both, making sure they are learning from older women while passing on support to those who are younger?

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