What we talk about when we talk about evangelism, Christian Today, Justin Welby

Evangelism is such a word. For Christians, it's the name for an activity that some love and others hate – it's a passion for some and an embarrassment for others. For non-Christians, it's a word that can send them running to the hills, feeling they are in danger of having something 'done' to them. (I wonder which of these descriptions fits you – and what you've experienced in the name of evangelism to make you feel this way?)

Given all this controversy around the word, it was no surprise that when, on taking office last year, I declared evangelism as one of the three priorities for my ministry.  Some people thought I was profoundly misguided, while others jumped for joy.

However, it's my belief that if only we truly 'got' evangelism, we, the Church would live to show what it meant. And to 'get' it means to receive it, and to give it. Continually. And if we lived what we spoke of, and spoke of what we lived, no-one would have to point at the Church and wonder what it was for.

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Further Reading

                    1)     Kingdom Evangelism

2)   The Church, God’s Agent of Transformation

3)    Some thoughts on Evangelism and Mission

                    4) A View on the Church

Universalism Is Next for the Soft Love Crowd

Universalism Is Next for the Soft Love Crowd

According to Steve Chalke, the traditional teaching of God's wrath being poured out on His Son on the cross "stands in total contradiction to the statement 'God is love.'"

But couldn't it be just as easily argued that any type of future punishment for the lost, especially if it does not result in their ultimate salvation, "stands in total contradiction to the statement 'God is love'"?

After all, why would a loving God punish someone or judge someone when there's no hope of their redemption? Wouldn't that be utterly cruel?

And what about all the nice people who don't believe just as we do? Are they eternally lost? And let's not forget all the "gay Christians" (by which I mean those who claim to follow Jesus and practice homosexuality at the same time). Surely a loving God would not condemn nice people like them.

Make Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson gay lovers, fans urge BBC , Daily Mail

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• ·         Co-creator Mark Gatiss admitted receiving explicit plotlines and drawings
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  ·        It comes ahead of the release of series four, which is due late next year
  
  
  ·        Landlady Mrs Hudson often makes references about the pair's sexuality
  
  
  ·        Gatiss says they took inspiration from Billy Wilder's 1970s film on detective
  
  
  The creator of BBC TV series Sherlock has been inundated with fan mail urging him to make the detective and Dr Watson gay lovers.
  
  
  Mark Gatiss admitted he had been overwhelmed with explicit drawings and plotline ideas ahead of the new series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, due late next year.
  
  
  It follows a running joke in the show which hints the pair might be closer than friends, especially by landlady Mrs Hudson, played by Una Stubbs, 77, who often makes references to their sexuality.
  
  
  Read more here
  
  
  Further reading