‘An Agent of Usefulness.’ This is how William Wilberforce viewed himself as he reflected on the call of God on his life, and his constant prayer became that he might remain so for the benefit of mankind. He would end up giving his life and health in the pursuit of that call.
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I had been with Christian Focus Publications for a year or two when I pulled into the leafy campus of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts in late Autumn 2002. Coming from the Highlands of Scotland I was something of an innocent when it came to understanding the intricacies of the different tribes of US Evangelicalism. I knew what CFP stood for but was in the process of discovering where we fitted.
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“Did John Calvin murder Michael Servetus?” Questions like this swirl around Calvin’s involvement in the trial, judgment, and execution of Servetus in 1553.
Unlike other trials, the case of Calvin and Servetus is compounded by the often–emotional topic of Calvinism. As a hero or villain in church history, one is likely to read the evidence tainted by a desire to defend or vilify Calvin.
A dear friend of mine—whom my kids call Uncle James—is a missionary in Vietnam. When I first met James, he was on furlough in the States, visiting his aging mother. How did he spend his time while on furlough? He bunked at a nearby homeless shelter, living among the inner–city homeless in order to share the gospel with them. In fact that’s where I met James: serving him breakfast at the homeless shelter.
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Picture this. It’s May 1994. The Wembley atmosphere is electric as rain falls on the pristine turf. A sea of Chelsea blue and Manchester red surrounds me, as 90,000 people cram into the world’s greatest stadium to watch the world’s greatest domestic cup final. They say it’s every schoolboy’s dream to play in an FA Cup Final and thousands of young kids around the world are watching amongst the 90 million global TV audience.
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Florence and her sister were not sorry to be parted. They were so very different. Parthe (whose full name was Parthenope) loved parties and frilly dresses. Flo, as Florence was known, liked books and studying. Both thought the other was boring.
‘I love staying with you,’ Flo told her cousin Hilary. ‘We do such exciting things!’
Hilary smiled cheekily.
‘Would you like to come visiting today?’
Thinking that meant dressing up and sitting in parlours, Flo screwed up her face.
‘No thanks,’ she
We have had a number of requests from children’s workers, bookstore owners and teachers to make video readings of our children’s books available online for the kids (and adults) that they’re not able to see in person. We want to support people in whatever ways we can by making good children’s literature accessible to as many people as possible.
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Dominic Smart went home this morning (28th April 2020) just before dawn. New morning for him, valley of the shadow for us. He has gone where he longed to go and to a place which the Lord Jesus by his grace prepared him for and prepared for him.
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Is it just me, or did you think you’d have more time on your hands in lockdown than you actually do? Between baking bread, trimming our own hair and countless Zooms and online quizzes, the time just seems to vanish.
If you thought you’d be able to use all your spare time to finally read those Christian books that you’ve been meaning to get to, but they continue to look at you guilt–inducingly from your shelf, you might want to consider an audiobook. It’s like reading, but you can do it while doing
Whatsoever comes to pass really does cover everything, all the bases as they say. Everything you experience during every day of your existence comes under its span. Whatsoever comes to pass means – the good, the bad and the ugly, and God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
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