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July 30, 2007
John Stott Ends Public Ministry with Call for Christ-Like Efforts
The Rev. Dr. John Stott concluded his final public engagement this past week, asking evangelical Christians in England, "What is God's purpose for his people?”
John Stott Ends Public Ministry with Call for Christ-Like Efforts
The Rev. Dr. John Stott concluded his final public engagement this past week, asking evangelical Christians in England, "What is God's purpose for his people?”
Sun, Jul. 22, 2007 Posted: 13:27:26 PM EST
www.christianpost.com/pages/print.htm?aid=28528
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The Rev. Dr. John Stott concluded his final public engagement this past week, asking evangelical Christians in England, "What is God's purpose for his people?”
Giving his last major address before retiring from public ministry, the man whom many regard as one of the most celebrated evangelists of the modern era told the crowd at this year’s annual convention in Keswick, England: “I want to share with you where my mind has come to rest as I approach the end of my pilgrimage on earth.
“God wants His people to become like Christ,” Stott said, as he was greeted with a standing ovation. “Christ-likeness is the will of God for the people of God.”
Stott, who has been called by the Rev. Billy Graham as “the most respected clergyman in the world today,” spoke Wednesday night as his last speaking engagement before he is to retire from public ministry at the age of 87, moving to a retirement community for Anglican clergy.
His decision in April was made “with the strong belief that it is God’s provision for him at this stage.”
Building his sermon on three texts – Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 1 John 3:2 – Stott affirmed Wednesday night that “if we claim to be a Christian, we must be Christ-like.”
He went on to stress the five main examples in the New Testament of how Christians should seek to imitate Christ.
“We are to be like Christ in his Incarnation,” he said. “It was unique, in the sense that the Son of God took our humanity to himself in Jesus of Nazareth, but the amazing grace of God in the Incarnation of Christ is to be followed by all of us. We are to be like Christ in his Incarnation in the amazing self-humbling which lies behind the Incarnation.”
Stott warned his audience that being Christ-like in “patient endurance...may well become increasingly relevant as persecution increases in many cultures.”
The Anglican evangelist urged believers “enter other people's worlds …. [a]s Christ had entered our world.”
"This entering into other people's worlds is exactly what we mean by incarnational evangelism. All authentic mission is incarnational mission,” he said.
“Why is it, you must have asked, as I have, that in many situations our evangelistic efforts are often fraught with failure?” Stott continued. ”[O]ne main reason is that we don't look like the Christ we are proclaiming.”
Explaining his comments, Stott referred to a “perceptive little book” by John Poulton, entitled “A Today Sort of Evangelism.”
“The most effective preaching comes from those who embody the things they are saying,” Stott cited from the book. “They are their message. Christians need to look like what they are talking about. It is people who communicate primarily, not words or ideas. Authenticity gets across. Deep down inside people, what communicates now is basically personal authenticity.”
To illustrate the impact that a Christ-like church could have on the world, Stott noted the words of non-Christians such as a Hindu professor in India who said one of his Christian students: ”If you Christians lived like Jesus Christ, India would be at your feet tomorrow.“
From the Islamic world, Stott noted the words of the Rev. Iskandar Jadeed, a former Arab Muslim, who said: “If all Christians were Christians – that is, Christ-like – there would be no more Islam today.”'
Rallying a captivated congregation, Stott asked the question: “Is Christ-likeness attainable?”
He concluded: “In our own strength it is clearly not attainable but God has given us his Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to change us from within ... God's way to make us like Christ is to fill us with His Spirit.”
Commenting on the evening, Keswick Convention Council Trustee and preacher Jonathan Lamb said: “He may be known as one of the greatest Christian leaders of the 20th century, but few of us could remain unmoved by the sight of a stopped figure, now quietly spoken, calling us to become more like Jesus Christ.
“Emotions were high amongst the thousands present, each with memories of the power and clarity of John Stott's writing and preaching, and thankful for a life of godliness, integrity and humility. How fitting that his final visit to Keswick should deliberately point to the Lord Jesus, whom he has served so faithfully.”
Stott, who served as chaplain to the Queen from 1959 to 1991, has now officially retired from public ministry and returns to a retirement community for Anglican clergy in the south of England, which his representatives have said will be able to provide more fully for his present and future needs.
Daniel Blake
Christian Post Correspondent
Posted by latimer at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
This is a critical time - A Statement from the Global South Steering Committee
This is a critical time - A Statement from the Global South Steering Committee
Global South Steering Committee
London, July 16-18, 2007
1. We are grateful for the prayers and witness of the millions of Anglicans around the world who live out their Christian faith in complex and sometimes hostile situations. Their lives and witness offer hope to a world that is in desperate need and we have been greatly encouraged by their testimony. Their commitment to the ‘faith once and for all delivered to the saints’ deepens our determination to stay true to the biblical revelation and our historic tradition.
2. We reaffirm our dedication to the vision of the church that has a passion to reach all those who have not yet come to a saving knowledge of Christ and one that is truly good news for the poor and freedom for those who are oppressed. We are saddened that the actions of a small part of our Communion family have caused such division, confusion and pain and we are grieved that our witness to the oneness of Christ and his Church has been sorely compromised.
3. We in the Global South remain committed to the underlying principles and recommendations of the Windsor Report and the various Communiqués that we have issued, especially the statement that was produced during the most recent Primates’ meeting in Dar es Salaam. It was the result of enormous effort and heart-felt prayer and we remain convinced that it offers the best way forward for our beloved Communion. In particular, we are hopeful that the development and endorsement of an Anglican Covenant will help us move past this debilitating season into a new focus of growth and missionary zeal.
4. We were distressed by the initial response of the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church USA issued on March 20th, 2007, reaffirmed by the Executive Council on June 14th, 2007, in which they rejected the underlying principles and requests of the Dar es Salaam Communiqué. We urge them, once again, to reconsider their position because it is their rejection of the clear teaching of the Church and their continuing intransigence that have divided the Church and has brought our beloved Communion to the breaking point. Without heartfelt repentance and genuine change there can be no restoration of the communion that we all earnestly desire and which is our Lord’s clear intent.
5. We have also been pained to hear of the continuing and growing resort to civil litigation by The Episcopal Church against congregations and individuals which wish to remain Anglican but are unable to do so within TEC. This is in defiance of the urgent plea agreed to by all of the Primates in the Dar es Salaam Communiqué. This approach to use power and coercion to resolve our current dispute is both enormously costly and doomed to failure and again, we urge the immediate suspension of all such activities and a return to biblical practices of prayer, reconciliation and mediation.
6. Because of the categorical rejection of the unanimously agreed Pastoral Scheme and the urgent needs of the growing number of congregations now linked to various Provinces in the Global South, we have had no choice but to provide additional episcopal oversight from the concerned Provinces. We believe that failure to do so would have resulted in many individuals and congregations lost to the Anglican Communion. The rejection of the proposed Pastoral Scheme has also had a profound impact on those dioceses that had requested alternative primatial oversight. We are aware that they are exploring various ways in which they can maintain their Anglican identity apart from The Episcopal Church. We are encouraged by this and also that they are working together within the Common Cause Partnership to avoid unnecessary fragmentation. We recognize that this is a temporary measure and look forward to the time when it is either no longer necessary or they are all part of a new ecclesiastical structure in the USA.
7. We are aware of the anticipated visit by the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the ACC to the September meeting of the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church USA. Sadly we are convinced that this decision, made jointly by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chair of the ACC, undermines the integrity of the Dar es Salaam Communiqué. We believe that the Primates Meeting, which initiated the request to the TEC House of Bishops, must make any determination as to the adequacy of their response. We strongly urge the scheduling of a Primates’ Meeting for this purpose at the earliest possible moment.
8. We have also noted the decisions of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada and are dismayed by their unilateral declaration that ’same-sex blessing is not core doctrine’. While we were grateful for the temporary restraint shown in not proceeding with any further authorization, we have observed that a number of the bishops are continuing to defy the recommendations of the Windsor process. We are exploring the possibility of additional pastoral provisions for those who want to remain faithful to Communion teaching and have been affected by the continuing actions of their own bishops.
9. We are concerned for the future of our Communion as a truly global fellowship and our witness before the world as a respected ecclesial family within the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. In regards to the proposed Lambeth Conference in 2008, we are concerned that the publicly stated expectations for participation have changed its character and function. It is now difficult to see it either as an instrument of unity or communion. At a time when the world needs a vision of reconciliation and unity, our failure to restore the ‘torn fabric’ of our Communion threatens to show the world a contrary example.
10. We remain committed to the convictions expressed in the CAPA report “The Road to Lambeth” and urge immediate reconsideration of the current Lambeth plans. It is impossible for us to see how, without discipline in the Communion and without the reconciliation that we urge, we can participate in the proposed conference; to be present but unable to participate in sacramental fellowship would all the more painfully demonstrate our brokenness. The polarization surrounding the Lambeth meeting has been exacerbated because we are also unable to take part in an event from which a number of our own bishops have been arbitrarily excluded while those whose actions have precipitated our current crisis are included.
11. We have received requests from around the Communion to call a gathering of Anglican Communion leaders. We expect to call a Fourth Global South Encounter to bring together faithful Anglican leaders across the Communion to renew our focus on the apostolic faith and our common mission.
12. This is a critical time for the Anglican Communion and one that will shape our future for many years to come. We are praying for all those in leadership that the decisions made and the actions taken will bring glory to God and encouragement to all God’s people. We are hopeful for the future because our confidence is not in ourselves but in Jesus the Christ who gave his life that we might have life. (see John 10:10)
Posted by latimer at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2007
Archbishop of York: Exclusive interview
A Plea for Unity: "I want to say to both sides, you would do well to come to the Lambeth Conference for us to hammer out our differences."
Archbishop of York: Exclusive interviewBy Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:26am BST 26/07/2007
For complete interview: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/25/nsentamu125.xml
Extract:
A plea for unity
Inevitably, questions over the future of the worldwide Anglican Communion surfaced, and Dr Sentamu, a close ally of his counterpart at Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, issued a plea for unity.
He warned the leaders of the conservative Global South group that they would be in danger of putting themselves outside the worldwide Church if they carried out their threats to boycott the Lambeth Conference next year.
He said: "The thing that unites all Christians is our faith in the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and what makes us Christians is that we participate in the death and resurrection of Christ.
"The other thing to remember is that we are all sinners in need of God’s grace.
"As long as someone does not deny the very basic doctrines of the Church - the creation, the death, the resurrection of Christ and human beings being made in the image of God - then the rest really helps but they are not the core message.
"And I haven’t found that in Ecusa or in Canada, where I was recently, they have any doubts in their understanding of God which is very different from anybody. What they have quarrelled about is the nature of sexual ethics."
He nevertheless emphasised that Dr Williams does expect those who attend Lambeth to abide by the decision-making processes of the Anglican Communion.
"The Archbishop of Canterbury is very clear that he still reserves the right to withdraw the invitations and that those who are invited are accepting the Windsor process and accepting the process about the covenant.
"But in another sentence, he said that attending Lambeth is not also a test of orthodoxy.
"Church regulations and Church legislation should not stand in the way of the gospel of love your neighbour.
"You are members of one body and therefore you should listen to one another and find a way out.
"I want to say to both sides, you would do well to come to the Lambeth Conference for us to hammer out our differences.
"It will be no good for either side to say, it doesn’t matter now, we can just do anything we like."
Posted by latimer at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)