A publication of the Renewal Fellowship
A publication of the Renewal Fellowship
COVER: A scene from the series of engravings on the Book of Job by William Blake (1757-1827) shows Job surrounded by his wife and his three friends. His herds, sons and daughters are gone. Job is covered with sores. Job’s companions “sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was” (Job 2:13). In this issue of Channels several articles and book reviews touch on suffering.
ARTICLES
REVIEWS
A promising, seventeen-page interim report on “Human Sexuality” which is now available for study asserts that a Christian sexual ethic will make wise use of tradition, reason and experience, but will subject these to the witness of Scripture. … Read more
By Kenneth Oakes. Do we have the answers to all this suffering? – No! But we know we have One who is forever with us, through our suffering; the Lord. Surely that is “good news” for us to share with those who are suffering with a terminal illness! … Read more
By Jack Archibald. The one great redemptive gift of suffering is renewal: in faith because suffering forces us to lean more on God, in hope, because suffering brings us face to face with our mortality, and in our love for God because we are more grateful for his grace. … Read more
By Edward P. Mason. This is a prayer of preparation for worship, reflecting on both personal witness and the worshipping body. … Read more
By Esther Mcllveen. Prayer enhances marriage tremendously. Praying together provides intimacy and affects physical, psychological and spiritual closeness. … Read more
By George Anderson. “God specializes in graveyards.” This little church which had no Sunday School or Bible study groups and had about twenty adults attending seemed like a valley of dry bones. Humanly speaking the answer seemed to be “No” but the Spirit of Life, the Spirit of Jesus said “Yes.” … Read more
By W. Stanford Reid. We as Christians can reach out to those who know not the Christian faith and through our care, interest those not Christians, in our faith. We can also reach out to our fellow Christians to help them in their loneliness. … Read more
By Howard Mcllveen. The book pictures the homosexual ideology as the hidden enemy which when released from the horse will capture and fundamentally change the unsuspecting city/church. … Read more
By Kit Schindell. Living with Dying is a book for a person who is living with dying. In one sense it is for all of us, as each of us will face death sooner or later. But some of us have a clearer indication of the span of their life. … Read more
By John Vaudry. A most perceptive and helpful book on dealing with spiritual depression, bitterness of soul, discouragement, doubt, and disappointment with God, bringing out the way the Word of God speaks to each situation. … Read more
By Nancy Bettridge. Renewal in worship is a gradual process, and the book gives several suggestions for change that an individual worshipper can make, and focusses on corporate changes in worship. … Read more
ARTICLES
By Neal Mathers – We don’t often talk about it but he truth is that leadership has often been identified as the key factor in developing a healthy growing church. If the minister, elders and congregational leaders do not take the lead in developing goals and strategies for church growth then the congregation will reflect this non-growth mentality. … Read more
By Ted Ellis — “Don’t call it ‘renewal’, call it ‘new life’. It is the most wide-spread movement in the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT).” Pastor Tan Sin-chhiong from the East Coast is not given to over-statement, but this is how he describes what is now known as “The New Life movement” in the PCT. He sees the PCT as old and creaky in places “but God is working to wake us up.” … Read more
By Calvin Brown — This Covenanting Liturgy is based on Hebrew 11 and the Covenanting Prayer. It should be read with enthusiasm, feeling and growing intensity. The sense is that as we help one another remember the faithfulness of God exhibited among his people we more and more identify with them until we become one with them in Spirit and are willing also to make gladly the commitment that they did. … Read more
