Northern Lights

A Christian vision for science

peterdray — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:09:15 +0000

I’m leading another session at York CU tomorrow – this time I’m meeting with students of the natural sciences. It will be great to see how they respond to think about approaching the study of science from a Christian perspective. As part of my preparation for tomorrow’s discussion, I read this superb vision for studying …

Studying literature and linguistics for Jesus

peterdray — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:43:28 +0000

We live in Jesus’ universe. Charles Colson apparently said that the answer to the question, “What is Christianity?” is that it is “the explanation for everything.” Of course he did not mean that everything is explained in the Bible, but that the Bible reveals the framework of truth overarching all of reality, finding its ultimate reference …

The Artist: silence, celebrity and sociability

peterdray — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:37:57 +0000

The Artist is set in 1920s Hollywood. George Valentin is a huge star of silent film. But there’s technological change on the horizon – and with it the threat to the careers of silent stars like George. Worse still, the Great Depression threatens George’s day to day finances. How will he cope with these new …

Welcome, New Tribes Mission

peterdray — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:30:31 +0000

On Tuesday I had the pleasure of chairing a meeting of the North of England Mission Agency Partnership. The partnership exists to promote the cause of world mission amongst students across the North West, North East and Yorkshire. The partnership runs an annual ‘mission tour’ in CUs and also mentors students considering longer-term cross-cultural ministry …

War Horse: humanity at its best and its worst

peterdray — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:00:34 +0000

War Horse tells the story of the relationship between Albert Narracott and his horse, Joey. When Albert’s father, egged on by pride, buys a thoroughbred colt at an auction, it seems that the family will lose everything. Yet Albert forms a fast bond with the horse and is able to train the reluctant animal to …

RIP Kevin Boyle

peterdray — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:38:43 +0000

I have just the heard the very sad news that my friend Kevin Boyle’s body has been found in south London. Kevin had been missing for several months. I had written here on this blog before about my concern for him. I have many fond memories of Kevin. I remember his zeal catering at CU …

Northern Biblical Evangelism audio online

peterdray — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:00:43 +0000

We had a great weekend in December at the inaugural Northern Biblical Evangelism Conference. I’m pleased to say that the audio from the main sessions that I delivered is now online. In the first message, I posed the question: if God’s word is powerful in itself, why is there a need for evangelists at all? …

Young evangelists’ questions for Becky Pippert

peterdray — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:37:55 +0000

I’m just coming out of a busy but thrilling weekend of hosting Rebecca Manley-Pippert and her husband, Dick. As I mentioned in a previous post, the main reason Becky was here was to run a Saltshaker Course in York on Saturday. But on Friday night, we gathered together a group of students in whom we’ve …

Encouraging the evangelists

peterdray — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:00:17 +0000

This weekend is massively exciting for those of us working with CUs of students in Yorkshire. We have author of Out of the Saltshaker and Uncover, Becky Pippert, joining us. Becky’s ministry will focus in two areas whilst she’s with us. On Saturday, she’ll be leading us through one of her Saltshaker Courses in York …

CU small groups: soaked in Scriptural truth

peterdray — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:42:26 +0000

I’ve made the point in previous posts that CU small groups are to be mini witnessing communities, bringing blessing and sharing the gospel together. We admit that, in the Bible, Christians together are greater than the sum of their parts. This truth definitely applies to Christians from different churches getting together in their hall, college …