July 24, 2008
(from ChristianityToday.com)

One Langham scholar comments on the hope of God’s sovereignty amid political unrest.
How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. (Habakkuk 1:2-4)

Over the last five years, I have preached often from Habakkuk. I stress the fallenness of our world and the need to be realistic about human wickedness. But Habakkuk also stresses that history demands a judgment. If God is just, there must be a judgment one day — maybe not in this life but certainly in the life to come. God’s answer to our struggles with evil and evil men and women in this world is, “The righteous will live by faith — our loyalty to God in spite of the godlessness of others.” We’re getting lots of practice.

Read more: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/julyweb-only/130-41.0.html

You never now where the word “yes” will take you. could never have dreamed that his yes, first offered to God more than a quarter of a century ago at a church youth gathering in his home country of Burkina Faso, would have carried him halfway around the globe to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) in the summer of 2007.

Read his story (from the Trinity International University Web site):
http://www.tiu.edu/tiu/publications/trinitymagazine/yeslord

Langham Partnership and the Eastern Europe Literature Advisory Committee (EELAC) have agreed to a merger that will allow the aims of both charities to be enhanced. EELAC has had a 30 year track record of developing indigenous Christian publishing houses in Central and Eastern Europe. The merger with Langham Partnership will internationalise this ministry, enhancing Langham Partnership’s ability to partner with majority world churches in strengthening local publishing initiatives.

New Man Publishers in Bulgaria is a prime example of an indigenous publishing ministry which is now sustainable without further financing from EELAC. New Man will continue to strengthen the local church through much needed literature resources, which are Biblically rooted and culturally relevant.

New Man is one of several publishers, either planted or adopted by EELAC, which is now strong enough to help grow the smaller and younger publishers across the region. The model has proved highly effective and can now be taken beyond Eastern Europe.

Dr Colin Macpherson, formerly the General Secretary of EELAC, will become the Creative Director for Langham Partnership’s literature programme known as Langham Literature. Pieter Kwant, the International Programme Director for Literature noted that, “I have always had great admiration for the work of EELAC and I am delighted that the vision that has inspired it to such success will now reach even more widely within the Langham Partnership global network, nurturing many more indigenous evangelical publishing ministries to serve the Church’s needs around the world.”.

Langham Partnership and the Eastern Europe Literature Advisory Committee (EELAC) have agreed to a merger that will allow the aims of both charities to be enhanced. EELAC has had a 30 year track record of developing indigenous Christian publishing houses in Central and Eastern Europe. The merger with Langham Partnership will internationalise this ministry, enhancing Langham Partnership’s ability to partner with majority world churches in strengthening local publishing initiatives.

New Man Publishers in Bulgaria is a prime example of an indigenous publishing ministry which is now sustainable without further financing from EELAC. New Man will continue to strengthen the local church through much needed literature resources, which are Biblically rooted and culturally relevant.

New Man is one of several publishers, either planted or adopted by EELAC, which is now strong enough to help grow the smaller and younger publishers across the region. The model has proved highly effective and can now be taken beyond Eastern Europe.

Dr Colin Macpherson, formerly the General Secretary of EELAC, will become the Creative Director for Langham Partnership’s literature programme known as Langham Literature. Pieter Kwant, the International Programme Director for Literature noted that, “I have always had great admiration for the work of EELAC and I am delighted that the vision that has inspired it to such success will now reach even more widely within the Langham Partnership global network, nurturing many more indigenous evangelical publishing ministries to serve the Church’s needs around the world.”.

Langham Partnership and the Eastern Europe Literature Advisory Committee (EELAC) have agreed to a merger that will allow the aims of both charities to be enhanced.  EELAC has had a 30 year track record of developing indigenous Christian publishing houses in Central and Eastern Europe.  The merger with Langham Partnership will internationalise this ministry, enhancing Langham Partnership’s ability to partner with majority world churches in strengthening local publishing initiatives.

New Man Publishers in Bulgaria is a prime example of an indigenous publishing ministry which is now sustainable without further financing from EELAC.  New Man will continue to strengthen the local church through much needed literature resources, which are Biblically rooted and culturally relevant.

New Man is one of several publishers, either planted or adopted by EELAC, which is now strong enough to help grow the smaller and younger publishers across the region. The model has proved highly effective and can now be taken beyond Eastern Europe.

Dr Colin Macpherson, formerly the General Secretary of EELAC, will become the Creative Director for Langham Partnership’s literature programme known as Langham Literature.  Pieter Kwant, the International Programme Director for Literature noted that, “I have always had great admiration for the work of EELAC and I am delighted that the vision that has inspired it to such success will now reach even more widely within the Langham Partnership global network, nurturing many more indigenous evangelical publishing ministries to serve the Church’s needs around the world.”.

Preaching that is good to taste, easier to create and spreads even further

In June 2008 at a JSM-Langham Preaching event in Ghana known as NEPS (National Expository Preaching Seminar), three leaders who had applied what they had learned at previous NEPS events to their local situations. Two young ministers were inspired to share training with their local network of pastors, while a third pastor worked to influence his national diocese.

Nana-Atto Hope and Emmanuel Anseh are two twenty-something Methodist leaders who have equipped their local “Bread of Life Society” of Methodist ministers with ideas from the NEPS conference in 2007. Methodist churches in Ghana require local ministers to meet up in local societies, which are only one part of a larger regional circuit that is, in turn, a part of a cluster of transnational dioceses.

Last year the Bread of Life Society decided that meeting once every four months for prayer was not enough. But what would be the purpose of more regular meetings? Nana-Atto and Emmanuel suggested that the NEPS course materials and experience could be used as material for more meetings, as a means of helping other ministers with a crucial weekly task – preaching.

The idea was immediately seized upon since the Bread of Life Society is renowned within their Circuit for its innovative new approach to ministry, and maintaining that reputation was becoming ever more difficult.

For the first three meetings Nana-Atto and Emmanuel repeated all they had learned at NEPS 2007 with their group of 15 ministers. For the six meetings prior to this year’s NEPS conference, the group chose, on a rota basis, three or four ministers from the group for monthly Saturday morning expository preaching events. For each sermon given the participants gave their considered assessment based on clarity, relevance and faithfulness to the text.

The success of these local meetings, helped by that historic reputation for innovative thinking, has meant that their circuit is now taking interest in what they have been doing. They now hope to move it upwards into this wider circuit arena after the June 2008 NEPS conference.

It also became clear that both Nana-Atto and Emmanuel had benefited enormously from what they had passed on to others. “We find that expository preaching allows us to give more to the people,” Nana-Atto chimed in with the big grin of a leader who feels he’s finally scratching where people itch. “I see it as a way for me to get more from the Bible than I did before,” added Emmanuel.

But it’s about more than just “feeding” Christians; it’s also about reducing those dreaded preparation tensions. “Now I find that preparing my sermon is so much easier than before,” said Emmanuel. “It used to be very tough for me … but now it flows so much more easily as I can think more systematically about the text.” Nana-Atto immediately agreed with Emmanuel by giving him a Ghanaian style hand shake that clearly reflected their joint relief at finding an excellent de-stressing tool for preachers.

So, more food to give and easier to prepare as well. Now that sounds like a recipe worth imitating by any Methodist circuit.

While two young ministers spent the year revitalizing their local network, one Council Chairman worked to influence the national Methodist Diocese. S.V. Mpereh is a circuit minister for the Medina Circuit and leader of the Ebenezer Methodist Society. He also holds the chair of the local Council of Churches. When ministers met in his quarterly circuit, “S.V.”, as he is known, decided to introduce them to the NEPS 2006 training material.

In one sense S.V. is working from the top-down as well as from the middle-up. Last year he asked the circuit ministers to filter down the training into their local societies. That way what is learned at circuit level can be repeated again once a quarter at society level.

“This way I keep them always learning,” S.V. noted with glee. The challenge of leading a circuit clearly weighs heavily on S.V. as he asks God for wisdom in leading an ever expanding group of ministers. If that was not enough he also ensures that they all get opportunities for practical training and assessment from other local ministers. “I act as the coordinator and that way they all can have a turn,” he adds, as if this coordinating role was the easiest part of all that he does.

So how many people make up this “Circuit Preacher’s Club?” Sixty was S.V’s emphatic response, “But I want to expand it upwards to a diocesan level this year,” and that will multiply the numbers by 26.

S.V is a classic example of a man with ambition and the coordinating skills to match, both of which are so needed to help JSM-Langham Preaching with launching a grass-roots indigenous preaching movement.

Preaching that is good to taste, easier to create and spreads even further

In June 2008 at a Langham Preaching event in Ghana known as NEPS (National Expository Preaching Seminar), Ian Buchanan was able to spend time with three leaders who had applied what they had learnt at previous events to their local situations. Two young ministers were inspired to share training with their local network of pastors, while a third pastor worked to influence his national diocese.

Nana-Atto Hope and Emmanuel Anseh are two twenty-something Methodist leaders who have equipped their local “Bread of Life Society” of Methodist ministers with the skills they learnt at the NEPS conference in 2007. Methodist churches in Ghana require local ministers to meet up in local societies, which are only one part of a larger regional circuit that is, in turn, a part of a cluster of trans-national dioceses.

Last year the Bread of Life Society decided that meeting once every four months for prayer was not enough. But what would be the purpose of more regular meetings? Nana-Atto and Emmanuel suggested that the NEPS course materials and experience could be used as material for more meetings, as a means of helping other ministers with a crucial weekly task – preaching.

The idea was immediately seized upon since the Bread of Life Society is renowned within their Circuit for its innovative new approach to ministry, and maintaining that reputation was becoming ever more difficult.

For the first three meetings Nana-Atto and Emmanuel repeated all they had learned at NEPS 2007 with their group of 15 ministers. For the six meetings prior to this year’s NEPS conference, the group chose, on a rota basis, three or four ministers from the group for monthly Saturday morning expository preaching events. For each sermon given the participants gave their considered assessment based on clarity, relevance and faithfulness to the text.

The success of these local meetings, helped by that historic reputation for innovative thinking, has meant that their circuit is now taking interest in what they have been doing. They now hope to move it upwards into this wider circuit arena after the June 2008 NEPS conference.

It also became clear that both Nana-Atto and Emmanuel had benefited enormously from what they had passed on to others. “We find that expository preaching allows us to give more to the people”, Nana-Atto chimed in with the big grin of a leader who feels he’s finally scratching where people itch. “I see it as a way for me to get more from the Bible than I did before”, added Emmanuel.

But it’s about more than just “feeding” Christians; it’s also about reducing those dreaded preparation tensions. “Now I find that preparing my sermon is so much easier than before”, said Emmanuel. “It used to be very tough for me … but now it flows so much more easily as I can think more systematically about the text”. Nana-Atto immediately agreed with Emmanuel by giving him a Ghanaian style hand shake that clearly reflected their joint relief at finding an excellent de-stressing tool for preachers.

So, more food to give and easier to prepare as well. Now that sounds like a recipe worth imitating by any Methodist circuit.

While two young ministers spent the year revitalizing their local network, one Council Chairman worked to influence the national Methodist Diocese. Revd S.V. Mpereh is a circuit minister for the Medina Circuit and leader of the Ebenezer Methodist Society. He also holds the chair of the local Council of Churches. When ministers met in his quarterly circuit, “S.V.”, as he is known, decided to introduce them to the NEPS 2006 training material.

In one sense S.V is working from the top-down as well as from the middle-up. Last year he asked the circuit ministers to filter down the training into their local societies. That way what is learnt at circuit level can be repeated again once a quarter at society level.

“This way I keep them always learning”, S.V. noted with glee. The challenge of leading a circuit clearly weighs heavily on S.V. as he asks God for wisdom in leading an ever expanding group of ministers. If that was not enough he also ensures that they all get opportunities for practical training and assessment from other local ministers. “I act as the coordinator and that way they all can have a turn” he adds as if this coordinating role was the easiest part of all that he does.

So how many people make up this “Circuit Preacher’s Club”? Sixty was S.V’s emphatic response, “But I want to expand it upwards to a diocesan level this year” and that will multiply the numbers by 26.

S.V is a classic example of a man with ambition and the coordinating skills to match, both of which are so needed when it comes to spreading a grass-roots indigenous preaching movement.

The National Evangelical Church of Beirut has deep roots in Lebanon, first established in 1848 and later creating the first evangelical Arabic-speaking congregation in the Middle East. It has a long history of serving as a center for publishing and other communication among Arab Christians. In June, the tradition of this church continued as it became the venue for a book-launch of Langham scholar Riad Kassis’ latest publication to an enthusiastic crowd that included many local and national dignitaries.

Organized by Clarion Publishing House, the event celebrated the publication of Riad’s book Why Don’t We Read the Book That Christ Read? Towards a Better Understanding of the Old Testament (Beirut: Clarion Publishing 2008). The book was released in Arabic and supported in part by a grant from the Langham Literature program. Riad is the first Langham writer to publish in the Middle East and the first to publish in Arabic.

The main objective of the book is to approach the difficulties that an Arab reader may face when reading the Old Testament, to provide an appropriate methodology on reading the Old Testament, and to show the relevancy that the Old Testament has for the ethical, social, and political issues of the Arab world today. The book launch was sponsored by Clarion Publishing and the educational and spiritual ministry committee of the National Evangelical Church of Beirut.

Among the attendants of the event were following: the president of the Supreme Council of the Evangelical Churches in Syria and Lebanon, the president of the Evangelical Alliance in Lebanon, many pastors, school principals and teachers, as well as the presidents of several theological institutions in Lebanon.

“I was also pleased to see the most influential writer and biblical scholar in the Maronite/Catholic church of Lebanon, and perhaps in the whole Middle East, Father Dr. Boulos Feghali,” Riad said. “Even Father Feghali, who was not scheduled to speak, insisted to say a few words on the importance of my work.”

Riad was honored and thrilled with the excitement from the people who attended. One leader from the Lebanon chapter of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) wrote, “Allow me to thank you for yesterday’s ‘classy’ signing event. I liked all of its parts, especially your word! … May the Lord bless you and keep your pen running for His glory!”

Crews from local media–including SAT-7 (the evangelical satellite television) and Noursat (the Catholic satellite television)–were also present. SAT-7 will be broadcasting the book-launch event on July 2 and 3, 2008, and will feature a special interview with Riad on July 10. It is expected that the event will also appear in several major newspapers in Lebanon and the Middle East.

Please join Riad in prayer that the success of his book release will help promote the need for the publication of more books written by and for Arab Christians.

Read the recommendations for Why Don’t We Read the Book That Christ Read?

View more photos of Riad Kassis’ historic book launch.

Revd. Dr. Saleem Sahouny
President of the Supreme Council of the Evangelical churches in Syria and Lebanon

“This book represents a great academic and reference value to be added to our Arabic Christian library. Revd. Dr. Riad Kassis is an example of a believing Christian scholar who, on the one hand, has a distinguished academic wealth and on the other hand carries the burdens of his fellow Arab Christians. These Arab Christians were overwhelmed with various difficulties to understand the Old Testament. They were also subject to illegitimate interpretations of the Old Testament that mixed up the message of the Old Testament with the complexities of the political situation. All this have contributed to widen the gap between the Arab reader and the text of the Old Testament and to build a strong wall at the edge of the gap.

In this interesting book, Dr. Kassis attempts to build bridges of reconciliation between the reader and the text of the Old Testament that was regarded by the church throughout the centuries as an integral part of its holy heritage revealed by God. Have Dr Kassis succeeded to build the bridges? I would like to invite the readers to accompany our writer in this journey to enjoy bridging the gap and to be able to see what is behind the wall.”
Revd. Eng. Atef Gendy, Ph.D. (Aberdeen University)
President of the Evangelical Presbyterian Seminary, Cairo, Egypt

“This is an interesting, deep, and documented book. It deals with dilemmas and questions that an Arab, particularly the Christian who is committed to his/her faith and to the issues of his/her country, faces as he/she reads the Old Testament. Although I do not agree fully with Dr. Kassis’s perspective on the text, I do find the book to be helpful to the reader to have his/her own conviction in understanding the Old Testament based on sound hermeneutical foundations that builds up his/her spiritual life.”
Engineer Jiries Habash
President of the Higher Council of Evangelical Churches in Jordan and Director of Bible Society in Jordan

by Chris Wright, International Director, Langham Partnership International

Kwame Bediako passed away this week. Langham Literature Director Pieter Kwant and I had the opportunity to visit him at the Global Church Tour in Grand Rapids in April, where he and his wife were spending some sabbatical time at Calvin College. Mark Hunt, Langham Partnership International’s board chair, had also met with him earlier in the year when he was among the speakers at the National Pastors Convention in San Diego.

Kwame was one of the most remarkable senior African leaders I have ever met. He had a surpassing level of scholarship (two doctorates - one in English and one in French). He had a range of knowledge of the history of the church in Africa (and Europe) that could keep us spellbound for hours just listening to his stories. And he had a most profound understanding of the relationship between the gospel and African culture. He also had a huge passion to bring African Christians together to affirm their Christian identity in authentic ways that would overcome some of the worst legacies of the colonial era. And yet he wore all this learning with such a light touch. His twinkling eyes and sparkling humour and laughter were a constant tonic. It has been such a joy and privilege to know him for many years.

The Akrofi Christaller Memorial Centre for Mission Studies, that he established at Akropong, Ghana, has a fine record of research and publication in African Christianity and contextual theology, and just recently got its charter from the government of Ghana for the awarding ofKwame Bediako degrees including doctorates.

Kwame also had a deep love for John Stott, and the whole work and ethos of the Langham Partnership. He was not himself a Langham scholar, but he knew many of them, and was regarded as a mentor and father figure by many. Though a man under incredible pressures of work and leadership, Kwame stepped up immediately when I asked him, to arrange and chair the first Regional Council for West Africa (Anglophone) in Ghana 2006 , and to co-chair the first meeting of the Regional Council for Francophone Africa in Cameroon in 2007. When I last spoke to him, he was full of enthusiastic plans for the next meeting of both combined, to be held in Ghana in October 2008.

So we shall miss him greatly. He is a sad loss to Ghana, to Africa, and indeed to the world church.

Please pray for his wife (known to some as Gillian and to others as Mary), who has been totally involved in all the work that Kwame did, and is herself a writer and editor of immense experience.

It is hard at a time like this to understand the ways of the Lord. But the legacy that Kwame Bediako leaves is simply enormous, and we pray that his ministry and contribution will now be multiplied even further through those whom he has mentored and inspired over the years.at Kwame Bediako leaves is simply enormous, and we pray that his ministry and contribution will now be multiplied even further through those whom he has mentored and inspired over the years.