Essentials
Amos, Faithful Ministry, and Evangelism from the Heart
- Written by: Andrew Reid
The prophecy of Amos is rich for its courage, depth of insight, and contemporary relevance. One example of this is one encounter within its pages that has some sobering words for those of us who have been appointed by God and his church to engage in ministry. The encounter is between the prophet Amos and Amaziah, a priest of Bethel in the eighth Century BC. My intention here is to explore the text of Amos 7:10–18 in the light of the obligations these two men had before God and to observe what we can learn from their encounter for our own ministries.
The larger context of the encounter is set by a series of five visions that are given to Amos. These visions begin in Amos 7:1 and conclude in Amos 9. All the visions involve God judging his people. The first vision (7:1–3) is of a locust plague which God uses to judge the wickedness of his people. The response of Amos is to mimic the prophet Moses by interceding on behalf of the people. God responds to such intercession just as he had with Moses in Exodus 32 and relents from sending disaster. The second vision is of God judging by fire (7:4–6). Again, Amos intercedes on behalf of the people and God again relents. The third vision is the famous but somewhat enigmatic one of a plumbline (7:7–9). This time Amos does not intercede and there is no relenting on God’s part. Instead, God promises a fierce judgment that will reach not only the religious establishment but also the secular, striking even the house of Jeroboam. The mention of Jeroboam is significant because until this point Amos has largely focussed on the social and religious sins of the people and has not specifically mentioned the king and it appears as though it is this mention that lies behind the events that unfold next.
Read more: Amos, Faithful Ministry, and Evangelism from the Heart
18 Positive Moves to Promote Evangelism in Anglican Parishes- Summer 08/09
- Written by: C Appleby
- Governance models of leadership must give priority to evangelism.
Evangelism must have a seat at the table at every Vestry meeting. Too often the governance models of leadership in Anglican parishes drawn from secular sources (not necessarily a bad thing) but tend to neglect biblical priorities and diocesan regulations, which identify evangelism as an important priority for vestries . - Promote staff appointments for a Pastor of Evangelism.
More full-time or part-time, paid or voluntary, appointments need to be made of Pastors for Evangelism. New and broader portfolios for holistic evangelism need to be developed to secure ongoing and long term commitment to parish evangelism.
Read more: 18 Positive Moves to Promote Evangelism in Anglican Parishes- Summer 08/09
Relationships in Personal Evangelism- Summer 08/09
- Written by: Langdon Stewart
“I haven’t mentioned my faith, I just don’t think I have a good enough relationship yet?”. Maybe you have heard this statement or said it yourself. When is enough relationship enough to share your faith? Navigating complex relationships cannot be reduced to a three point, step by step plan. Believers need to make their own sound judgments as to how to gauge the point in the relationship that gospel conversation is appropriate. However, when it does come to that appropriate time to share their faith, do members of our churches know what to do?
Relationship is important in personal evangelism, especially to Generation X (born in the 60’s-80’s). Generational consultant, Graham Codrington in his book Mind The Gap reflects on this pragmatic generation born into a divorce boom. He states: “Many an Xer spent every second weekend at their other parents home and saw a profusion of different family relationships such as ‘dad’s girlfriend’ and ‘mums ex-husband’. No wonder Xers are skeptical about relationships, yet feel a need to fill the void with something else. This has turned out to be surrogate families made up of friends and peers who are chosen for their closeness, loyalty and dependable relationships.”
Read more: Relationships in Personal Evangelism- Summer 08/09
Reflections on GAFCON - Glenn Davies
- Written by: Glenn Davies
On June 22, 2008 over 1200 Anglicans gathered in the city of Jerusalem for a week of prayer, Bible study, consultation, discernment and planning for their future. The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) had begun. The number of people who made their pilgrimage to the land of Jesus' birth was impressive, but when measured against the number of Anglicans represented by the 300 bishops present, the significance of this conference is brought into sharp relief. While statistics of Anglicans in England are often quoted as being 25 million, it is well known that only about 1 million people are regular church-attending members of the Church of England. By contrast Nigeria has 20 million church-attending Anglicans and Uganda has 10 million. These latter figures far outweigh the number of the active Anglican membership in the West. With the worldwide number of church-attending Anglicans being estimated at 55 million, 75% of these were represented by the bishops and archbishops attending GAFCON.
Global Anglicanism – Where to From Here?
- Written by: Paul Hunt
What is GAFCON?
The Global Anglican Future Conference was an 8 day conference in Jerusalem, with 1148 lay and clergy participants, including 291 bishops from across the globe! The estimate is that 70% of the world's Anglicans were represented.1
There was a sense that this was an historic time in God's plan for his church. There was the recognition that there was a steadfast need to reclaim and re-proclaim the authority and truth of the scriptures, as the true ground for Anglican formularies and practice. There was a sadness that GAFCON was necessary.
Jerusalem Declaration
- Written by: Chris Appleby
- We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, have met in the land of Jesus' birth. We express our loyalty as disciples to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus. We joyfully embrace his command to proclaim the reality of his kingdom which he first announced in this land. The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of salvation, liberation and transformation for all. In light of the above, we agree to chart a way forward together that promotes and protects the biblical gospel and mission to the world, solemnly declaring the following tenets of orthodoxy which underpin our Anglican identity.
- We rejoice in the gospel of God through which we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God first loved us, we love him and as believers bring forth fruits of love, ongoing repentance, lively hope and thanksgiving to God in all things.
Finding the central ministry purpose of a book Part Two
- Written by: Peter Adam
Finding the central ministry purpose of a book of the Bible
Part Two – 2 Corinthians
In Part One, I tried to show the general principles and practice of finding the central ministry purpose of a book of the Bible. In Part Two, I will show how this applies to a difficult example, that of 2 Corinthians.
There are two preliminary questions that need to be answered when tackling 2 Corinthians.
a. Are 1 and 2 Corinthians one unit of meaning, and so mutually explanatory?
Traditionally these two letters have been regarded as one unit, in that it has been assumed that they both tackle the same issues, that they refer to each other, and that 2 Corinthians flows on naturally from 1 Corinthians.
Read more: Finding the central ministry purpose of a book Part Two