Reviewed by Shirley Charleson. Called to Die is the biography of American linguist Chester Allen Bitterman III who was slain by terrorists in Bogota, Colombia in 1981. Chet Bitterman was an enthusiastic man of 28, married and father of two little girls when seven armed terrorists broke into … Read more
And the Angels were Silent, by Max Lucado
Reviewed by Roma E. Bryant. Max Lucado has a most extraordinary gift, to bring the mighty events of the final week of Jesus’ life and death into sharp focus as they relate to our every day lives. … Read more
Margaret Avison, Poet
By J.H. (Hans) Kouwenberg. Margaret Avison, pictured on the cover, has an urbanized, educated imagination. Many of her poems have thoughtful and intriguing word choices. The poetry in her second volume, The Dumbfounding, revealed a deep Christian faith which had not been evident in her earlier work. … Read more
Dying for the Gospel: The Gordons of Erromanga
By Peter Bush. After the murder of his brother, George Gordon, a missionary to Erromanga in the New Hebrides, James Gordon brought his murderers a message of forgiveness. Both Gordons preferred to train islanders to spread the gospel, and by 1900, 95% of the people of Erromanga were Christians. … Read more
Report
A. Donald MacLeod reports on the October 18th Southern Ontario Renewal Day, at which Dr. Jerry Kirk, of the multi-staffed College Hill Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, spoke about evangelistic outreach, nurturing groups, and a commitment to the ministry of the laity. … Read more
A Churchful of Ministers
By Michael Green. In mainline churches, there is a clear distinction between clergy or ministers and laymen. The clergy are the professionals, and the laymen the amateurs. All this would have sounded very strange to New Testament ears. They knew nothing of any such distinction! … Read more
The Alpha Course – Affirming Our Faith and Building Community
By Douglas McQuaig. What makes the Alpha Course work are an invitational banquet, home-based small groups, the fellowship of a meal shared, group discussion, prayer and ministry, a weekend retreat, a celebration banquet, and a rolling program of evangelism and spiritual growth. … Read more
The Next Assembly
By Mariano Di Gangi. Some ecclesiastical conventions commence with invocation but conclude with provocation. Each General Assembly has its own character. At times, there is a prevailing calm. At others, vigorous debate and proliferating dissent. Much depends on the issues before the court … Read more
The Problem of Preaching, by Donald Macleod
Reviewed by Stephen Self. Preaching is the art of making the preacher and delivering that. The preparation of the speaker is more important than the preparation of the sermon. Six qualities every sermon should have … Read more
Unfinished Business Is His Business: Helping Adults Resolve Their Painful Pasts
By Bob Moeller. The adult children of dysfunctional homes are known as ACOAs – an acronym for adult children of alcoholics, though the term is applied to a wide variety of dysfunctional home settings. … Read more
Perspectives on the Church Doctrine Report on Human Sexuality
John A. Vissers urges the commissioners to the 120th General Assembly in June to adopt the report of the Church Doctrine Committee: it talks about God. The crisis of faith is that we are being asked to believe in ourselves more and more as sexual beings, and in God less and less. … Read more
New Board of Directors Member Profiles
By Calvin Brown. The Executive Director introduces three new members of the Renewal Fellowship Board of Directors: Carolyn Dickie, Geoff Wood, and Bill Boycott. … Read more
Reformation Overview
Reviewed by Albert Bailey. This is a kit designed to help us pass on knowledge of our Reformation heritage to new generations. The compact kit has two videotapes with six half-hour segments, a Leader's Guide with suggestions for ways of developing the programs, and printed resources. … Read more
When the Chair is Empty – A Tribute to Dr. E.H. Bean
By Daniel MacKinnon. My spiritual father, my mentor, my counsellor, and my example has gone to be with the one he has worked his whole life to be with, and now I have the task of being a spiritual father, mentor, counsellor and example for the student sitting by my chair. … Read more
No Other Gospel
By Donald G. Bloesch. Theologically, there is a move from Trinitarianism to Unitarianism, from particularism to universalism. God is no longer “Father, Son, and Spirit” but now “the God beyond God.” The church may well be engaged in the not too distant future in a battle for the Trinity. … Read more
Needed: A Spiritual Revolution
By W. Stanford Reid. Today, we find western society very much in the moral morass which engulfed western society in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. What is needed to bring about social, political, and personal moral renewal is ,the spiritual renewal of the church … Read more
A Cambodian Diary
By Paul Dylla, Marieke Schindell, and Grant Wilson. Fairview Presbyterian Church, Vancouver BC, celebrated its 100th anniversary by undertaking as a missions project: the building of Sunshine House, a home for children orphaned by AIDS in Cambodia. Three members of the congregation travelled to Cambodia, met the children, and recorded their reflections on the experience. … Read more