State of the Nation and US Evangelicals
Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink
State of the Nation and US Evangelicals
Monday 22nd February, 2021
The purpose of this weekly ‘Gospel and Culture’ blog is to assist pastors and Christian leaders to quickly understand ‘key’ issues of the day and how they might intersect with the Gospel, Church and with Christianity generally. It is essentially a ‘curated’ blog that raises between one and three current issues and directs you the reader to a reliable article, podcast and/or a website for further reading. It is my contribution to help us ‘think Christianly’ and to develop a Christian world-view. Jesus prayed for us in John 17, “I’m not asking you, Father, to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one………make them holy by your truth”.
The Salvation Army State of the Nation Report 2021 was launched last week. Like always it is both essential and sobering reading. There is an 8 page summary of the 92 page report available here. It’s a comprehensive study that looks at the welfare of children, housing, work and incomes, crime and punishment.
Here is a short interview with one of the authors, Ronji Tanielu.
POV. The Report talks about the growing poverty and inequality in NZ as a national disgrace. I am one of the fortunate people who is on the right side of the ledger. I am a ‘have’. I do my bit to help the ‘have not’s. I’m sure you do as well. But all the while the problem is getting worse. Last year the ‘cracks’ widened even further and faster. I often wonder what our collective resources as churches and Christian organisations could achieve? What ‘spare’ land could we provide for social housing? What about every church ‘adopting’ a street in an impoverished community and doing whatever is needed to support the residents in that street who want to live better lives?
How Do Non-American Evangelicals Respond to the U.S.? This is a most helpful article written by Brian Stiller, global ambassador of the WEA. It’s short and insightful. It also reminds us that ‘evangelicals’ in the States see the world quite differently to evangelicals in NZ and indeed most of the rest of the world. It certainly helps us understand ‘Trumpism’ a little better.
Christchurch Earthquakes. We remember today our fellow New Zealanders who endured a terrible earthquake 10 years ago that profoundly changed the City forever. We remember the with great sadness the 185 lives that were lost.
There are NO copyright restrictions on this email update. Got some feedback about this Update, or anything in the news? Would you like us to cover a story then drop me a note at alan.vink@leadershipworx.org.nz Alan is the Director of LeadershipWorx and writes a letter to Pastors here on leadership and church life issues every Thursday.
Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.
