evangelicals & catholics
Mary, quite contrary ...
Leonardo De Chirico
Date posted: 10 Feb 2026
This is the final instalment of five articles in which I have been looking at Dan Strange’s five magnetic points – the five fundamentals that all human beings are looking for and to which they are magnetically drawn, and which can be seen in the lives of Catholics.
The fifth magnetic point is the reality of a higher power: a way to measure up to the supernatural. From a Biblical viewpoint, we must remember what Jesus said: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8v12). He is the Highest Power who became a human being we can know and love personally. He is also the only mediator between God and us (1 Tim. 2v5). He is the only one who died, rose from the dead and can intercede for us.
a Jewish Christian perspective
'Jewish evangelism is crucial to world evangelisation'
Joseph Steinberg
Date posted: 10 Feb 2026
Romans 11 confronts us with one of Scripture’s great paradoxes: God brings life out of death. Israel’s stumbling became salvation for the nations, and one day Israel’s restoration will mean “life from the dead” for the whole world. This mystery is not a theological puzzle – it is a mission challenge to the church.
Paul writes that God allowed Israel to experience a “spirit of stupor”, and many ask why. Why would the people chosen to be a light to the nations be blinded to the Messiah? Paul gives the answer: “Because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles – to make Israel envious.” Israel’s loss became our gain. Out of their rejection came reconciliation. Out of death came life. It is the pattern of the cross itself.
everyday theology
A melting heart
Michael Reeves
Date posted: 9 Feb 2026
Today, many rightly bemoan the lovelessness, superficiality, and spiritual hollowness they see spread all too widely across the church. Yet in our longing for a cure, we must not be seduced into thinking that superficial, pragmatic answers are the solution. A moral campaign for better Christian behaviour will not touch the roots of the problem.
The church today is surely in great need of reformation, but reformation of lives happens from the inside out as the Spirit heals hearts with the balm of the gospel. The gospel of Christ’s redemption and the Spirit’s regeneration is not just a message for outsiders: it is our only hope if we are to see the renewal and reformation of the church in our day.
pastoral care
Helping believers in conspiracy theories
Helen Thorne-Allenson
Date posted: 9 Feb 2026
Conspiracy theories have always been part of human life (since the Fall at least). These false narratives, often claiming special insight into some event or the way life works, are repeated with passion despite flying in the face of truth. And with the growth of social media, internet celebrities now have a limitless platform to share what’s “really going on”.
Proponents use power to lead people astray. Sometimes with the odd Bible verse thrown in to provide an air of legitimacy, they suck congregation members into their misguided thinking and claim special knowledge of God. “This is who is really controlling the government…”; “This is what really happened behind that news article…”; “This is what is really being slipped into our food…”; “The truth is only to be found here”. It’s dangerous. It’s divisive. But for some in our churches, it’s alluring.
everyday evangelism
It’s almost Life ’26!
Gavin Matthews
Date posted: 7 Feb 2026
With the countdown in full swing to this nationwide gospel outreach (see more via en article here), Gavin Matthews spoke to Nick McQuaker from A Passion for Life about what to expect and how to get involved.
faith and life
Jesus & the end of shame
Nathan Weston
Date posted: 5 Feb 2026
Have you ever been made to feel ashamed for being a Christian?
Perhaps you’ve been frozen out of friendship groups because you expressed an opinion that some in the group found offensive. Perhaps you’ve been overlooked at work because you wouldn’t go along with a sinful workplace culture. Or perhaps – hardest of all – you’ve been shunned or sidelined by your own family, because your Christian lifestyle is a rebuke to the religion or morality of your own flesh and blood.
history
Valentines and martyrdom
Michael Haykin
Date posted: 2 Feb 2026
In February many will celebrate St Valentine’s Day with gifts of flowers and maybe chocolates to their loved ones.
The association of romantic love with St Valentine’s Day dates back to Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, but the actual figure after which this saint’s day is named comes from the early centuries of the Church. Details of his life are shrouded in the mists of history. Indeed, it may well be that there are actually two different Christian figures by the name of Valentine. Whether one or two, there is good evidence that the church remembered one of them as an early Christian martyr. Our Saint Valentine was an Italian bishop who was martyred on 14 February, 269, after a trial before the Roman emperor Claudius Gothicus (reign 268–270).
the Bible in action
Death and money
Martin Horton
Date posted: 1 Feb 2026
“When he’d died, I didn’t like people saying ‘Oh, he’s passed’. Or ‘You’ve lost your dad,’ as though I’d let go of his hand in the supermarket.”
That was Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, speaking on Radio 4 about the sudden death of his father.
What do you think of when ‘mission’ is mentioned?
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 31 Jan 2026
Growing up in the UK church, when the word “mission” was mentioned, I’d instinctively picture overseas work. The phrase “mission field” conjured up images of far-away countries with people I perceived as different from myself. Was I correct in my definition?
David Baldwin, CEO of 2:19 Teach to Reach – which exists to help local churches share the gospel cross-culturally – maintains that there is a difference between evangelism and mission: “Whereas evangelism means sharing the gospel with those in our usual circles, mission always involves movement across some kind of boundary; geographical, cultural, ethnic or other.”
Cybersecurity: Loving your (digital) neighbour
Tristram Ridley-Jones
Date posted: 30 Jan 2026
It is a Tuesday morning in the church office. The administrator sits down, coffee in hand, to process the weekly DBS checks for the new Sunday School volunteers. It is a mundane, administrative task, a "Martha" moment in a world that often prizes "Mary" spirituality. But in today's day and age, this simple act of administration has become a frontline of spiritual stewardship.
Last year, the data breach involving the Access Personal Checking Services (APCS) (a third-party supplier used by many dioceses and Christian organisations) served as a stark wake-up call. It reminded us that the church is not invisible to the digital threats that prowl the modern world. For many church leaders, terms like "phishing," "ransomware," and "two-factor authentication" feel like a distraction from the Great Commission. They would rather talk about grace than firewalls.
How the gospel is going viral with LEGO
Jake Owen
Date posted: 29 Jan 2026
In a former church building overshadowed by a shopping centre, a small media organisation is producing Christian content which is going viral across social media.
Go Chatter Studios is animating Biblical stories - from the prophet Jonah’s reluctant journey to Nineveh to Christ’s raising of his friend Lazarus from the dead - using the much-loved construction toy, LEGO.
Did you know that anxiety is contagious?
Matt Waldock
Date posted: 28 Jan 2026
At least once a year a member of the staff team will drag themselves into the office with their nose running, coughs hacking and full of cold; then everyone else will roll their eyes in the knowing frustration that unless their immune system is like an athlete, it’s only a matter of time before the whole team gets sick.
But what if there is a far more dangerous contagion that stalks among our congregations? That contagion is anxiety.
At a distance: Are we only willing to follow Jesus up to a point?
Wallace Benn
Date posted: 27 Jan 2026
“And Peter had followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest” (Mark 14v54).
This describes the worst moment in dear Peter’s life, of which he was later so ashamed, and about which he needed the Lord’s forgiveness and reinstatement, which he graciously received (John 21). It was not that Peter had given up following Jesus, it was that at a crucial moment when he was under pressure he denied his master and Lord. Peter wanted to follow Jesus, but he did not at this time want the hassle and danger of doing so – it was all too much for him to cope with. Later Peter thankfully showed that he was more than willing to take up his cross and follow Jesus wherever that led.
Learning from Martyn Lloyd-Jones: A Biblical synthesis of Reformed and Charismatic faith for today?
Adam Ramsey
Date posted: 26 Jan 2026
Over the next few months, en will be running a series of articles written by Adam Ramsey, of Liberti Church, Gold Coast, Australia, exploring what we can learn from Martyn Lloyd-Jones today about the questions set out in the headline. The essays, of which there are five in total, need to be taken together. They are taken from original, yet-to-be published research undertaken by Ramsey for his Doctor of Philosophy thesis. They also, we hope, represent something of the generous-hearted, thoughtful, Biblical approach that en was founded 40 years ago in 1986 to embody.
Introduction
During the 20th century, it was no secret that Calvinists and Charismatics frequently viewed one another with mutual suspicion. Rarely would those who affirmed a high view of God’s sovereignty in salvation in the Reformed tradition, and those with a high experiential expectation of the Holy Spirit’s direct and supernatural activity, find themselves worshipping in the same church. Or, for that matter, even cooperating outside of their respective churches.
Evangelicals after John Smyth: Andrew Graystone interviewed
Rebecca Chapman
Date posted: 23 Jan 2026
Rebecca Chapman speaks to Andrew Graystone, who has been instrumental in exposing the scandal around abuser John Smyth.
Graystone is the author of Bleeding for Jesus, detailing the story of what went on, and was also involved in Channel 4’s exposés of what happened. A review of the book’s second edition, which has just been published, can be read on en's website here.
scattering seeds of hope
Sharing my faith with friendship, patience & coffee
Marcia McLean
Date posted: 20 Jan 2026
Mocha. Black coffee. Milky coffee. Latte. Latte with oat milk. While my coffee preferences have changed over the years, one thing that has not changed is my love for coffee! And while my love for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ has not changed either, I have definitely changed in how I share my faith.
As an extrovert, I love to meet new people. Not to build on the stereotype, but I am also an American living in the UK. I love getting to know people and building friendships, and in God’s kindness sometimes these overlap with my love for coffee.
Peter's counter-cultural words to slaves
Tim Vasby-Burnie
Date posted: 15 Jan 2026
Who is a "model Christian"? A pastor-evangelist who can both disciple a congregation and reach the lost effectively? A nurse putting in long hours, working with compassion and praying silently for her patients?
Peter says: think of a slave. A slave - with no power, suffering for doing good - is a model Christian.
Have you noticed the endings of these Psalms?
Mitch Chase
Date posted: 15 Jan 2026
The book of Psalms has five smaller books. They’re not equal in length, but the ending of each book is marked by various climactic statements.
Book I is from Psalms one to 41, Book II is from Psalms 42 to 72, Book III is from Psalms 73 to 89, Book IV is from Psalms 90 to 106, and Book V is from Psalms 107 to 150.
