Bournagain

Sitting in the train on the way back from a couple of very fruitful days near Valence with friends working with Bethany Fellowship. It has been nearly 11 years since we left Bethany in Minneapolis after two years of studies, and we have always been a little sad that we haven’t managed to keep contact as well as we would have hoped. So when we were asked to join a conference of their European workers we jumped at the chance. Bethany’s European personnel are primarily church planters and workers in the UK, France, Slovenia, Germany, with a number of alumni working in other places. It was great to meet old friends and join in on discussions about recalibrating Bethany’s European focus and getting some insight on what mission in Europe might mean for Bethany in the future. Although we don’t work directly with the organisation they often function in partnership and cooperation with others and we would love to do more with them. The publicity for their mission training operation in Minneapolis has been called a “best kept secret” and it’s true that although the work is not very well known, it has been remarkable what has been accomplished, especially in developing an extensive network of culturally adapted mission training outfits in some very diverse places (102 to be exact). They call it “GO 100″ if you want to know more. We also talked about what that might mean in Europe, and specifically how their “hands on” training with an excellent new internship programme could be part of this new vision. Bethany played a pretty foundational role in our lives and we’re thrilled to have reestablished that contact.

How refreshing to find this interview with Bishop N.T Wright in Time Magazine.

The question of heaven is a good example of how we fail to understand the clear and obvious teaching of Scripture because of the blinkers imposed by our “Christian” culture. Men have been burnt at the stake for less than Wright’s assertions about what happens after death. This is a crucial question which cannot help but influence the way we live. The “it’ll all pan out in the end” approach to eschatology and the question of what happens when you die has left many of us ineffective and unproductive in our faith. I think there’s a real need for us to get our theology sorted on this issue.