» 2007 » June

John Mott’s student delegation to Mt Hermon 1886

We’ve already talked about the emergence the College YMCA as a movement that came to dominate the religious life of American universities in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

David Setran outlines three distinct eras in this movement’s development.

1. Student Evangelism 1877-1888

The movement began in 1858 with a singular [...]

College YMCA leaders birth the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, 1886

Whenever I’m in London I pick up a stack of books I’ve ordered online in the UK. I remember a friend checking out my orders and telling me, “You buy the weirdest books!”

Well, here’s another weird book: “The College ”Y“: Student Religion in the [...]

You’ll reproduce what you are.

Wayne CordeiroHere’s the link to the plenary sessions of the 2007 National New Church Conference.

My favourite is Wayne Cordeiro who goes after the heart of a church planter. In addition you can listen to Ed Stetzer, Dave Ferguson, and Bill Hybels.

They’re already taking registrations for Exponential 2008.

Church PlantingWayne Cordeiro

As I study the lives of movement leaders a recurring theme is the sovereign work of God in their inner lives so that they become the change they are seeking to implement.

History records the incredible impact of dynamic movements in the renewal and expansion of the Christian faith. Too often we forget that there is [...]

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So what is to be done about Europe? Philip Jenkins’ God’s Continent has reminded us that Europe stands at a crossroad. Christianity is in serious and sustained decline. Secuarlism dominates and Islam is on the rise.

My thoughts, from a movements perspective, on what is to be done.

1. Reality Therapy

I’ll pick up where Jenkins’ book finishes:

“Nothing [...]

No apologies for such a long quote from Philip Jenkins and the future of European Christianity. It’s just too good to edit. Read it carefully, especially the last two paragraphs. Jenkins understands the vital role that movements play in the renew and expansion of the Christian faith.

The recent despair over the fate of God’s continent [...]

If you are the type of person who buys stocks and bonds. I’d buy Christianity. The price is very low. . . it has to go up.

Odon ValletIf you’re concerned about the future of Europe you’ll want to read Richard Neuhaus’ The Much Exaggerated Death of Europe. Neuhaus has written an excellent summary, review and [...]

When the Soviet Union collapsed, some academics spoke confidently of the End of History, the final resolution of ideological conflicts. Democratic capitalism had won, globally. Less then twenty years later, it seems, not only are rival ideologies once more locked in seemingly permanent struggle, but just as in the Cold War, Europe again represents a [...]

Wayne Pickford believes, “Wrestling is the opera of the working class.”

Wrestling is an important part of his strategy for reaching working class people in the steel mill town of Berkley, NSW.

That’s Wayne on the right just about to drive the other guy’s head into the canvas.

You can read about that part of his story in: [...]

The future always comes as a surprise, but political wisdom consists in attempting at least some partial judgment of what that surprise may be. And for my part I cannot but believe that a main unexpected thing of the future is the return of Islam.

Hilaire Belloc (1938)

When Christian faith had departed, it had taken with [...]