An Agenda for Change: A Global Call for Spiritual and Social Transformation

148 Pages·2008·1.22 MB·English

by  Joel Edwards

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A N A G E N D A F O R
C H A N G E
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A N A G E N D A F O R
C H A N G E
A GLOBAL CALL FOR SPIRITUAL AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

J O E L E D W A R D S
GENERAL DIRECTOR OF EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE
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An Agenda for Change
Copyright © 2008 by Joel Edwards
All rights reserved under International and Pan -American Copyright Conventions. By payment of
the required fees, you have been granted the non -exclusive, non-transferable right to access and
read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down ­
loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage
and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known
or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.
AER Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-31475-2
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Edwards, Joel.
An agenda for change : a global call for spiritual and social transformation /
Joel Edwards.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-310-28400-0 (hardcover)
1. Church renewal. 2. Evangelicalism. 3. Christianity — Forecasting.
4. Twenty-fi rst century — Forecasts. I. Title.
BV600.3.E39 2008
270.8’3 — dc22
2007034455
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Today’s
New International Version®. TNIV®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International
Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Some Scripture quotations are from The Word on the Street. Copyright © 2003,
2004 by Rob Lacey. Published by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530.
Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this
book are off ered as a resource to you. These are not intended in any way to be
or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for the
content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.
Joel Edwards asserts his moral right to be identifi ed as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmi(cid:3) ed in any form or by any means — electronic,
mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in
printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements 7
Preface: Background Noise or a Great
Transforming Enterprise? 9
PPAARRTT OONNEE::
PPrreesseennttiinngg CChhrriisstt CCrreeddiibbllyy ttoo
tthhee TTwweennttyy--FFiirrsstt CCeennttuurryy
1 Will the Real Jesus Step Forward? 17
2 Christ Among the Gods 25
3 Rumours of Angels 33
4 Christ the Conversationalist 41
5 Rock Steady 49
PPAARRTT TTWWOO::
RReehhaabbiilliittaattiinngg ““EEvvaannggeelliiccaall”” aass GGoooodd NNeewwss
6 What’s in a Name? 57
7 A Good Time to Be Good (News) 65
8 To the Left 71
9 To the Right 77
10 To the Centre 85
11 A Good News Afterthought 93
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PART THREE:
PART THREE:
EEnnggaaggiinngg iinn SSppiirriittuuaall aanndd SSoocciiaall TTrraannssffoorrmmaattiioonn
12 God’s Gone Public 99
13 Towards Evangelical Citizens 105
14 In for the Long Haul 111
Questions for Discussion and Response 119
Notes 129
About the Author 137
About the Publisher 145
Share Your Thoughts 146
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This conversation began as pool-side soliloquy whilst I was on
vacation in 2004.
Having given a lot of thought over the previous ten years
to what it means to be involved in leadership of an evangelical
movement, it seemed to me that I had an obligation and privi-
lege to do three things: to present Christ credibly; to remind
evangelicals that, by definition, Chris tians are good-news
p eople with a calling to affect the spiritual and social fabric of
the nation; and to reassert to non-Christ ians that very same
message.
As everybody knows, talking to yourself in public is bad
for one’s own credibility. So I am indebted to all of my col-
leagues and Council members in the Evangelical Alliance UK
who joined in the conversation and agreed that it should be
encapsulated in our mission statement. But I am also obli-
gated to so many friends from other parts of the world who fed
in their perspectives as the conversation grew. In this regard,
special thanks to Geoff Tunnicliffe, international director of
the World Evangelical Alliance, whose passion for these issues
ignited my own thinking from time to time.
Writing a manuscript is one thing, getting it to this point
is quite another. So very special thanks to Mike Morris, Helen
7
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8 AN AGENDA FOR CHANGE

Calder and the good folks at Zondervan. Their support and
encouragement have been invaluable, and their collective belief
in the work was so firm it caused me to read it again! My sin-
cere hope is that the conversation continues beyond that which
has been captured in these pages.
And finally, a very special thanks to colleagues who spared
me the task of doing the important details. I shall forever be
indebted to my executive assistant, Vikki McLachlan, whose
commitment and devotion to duty often makes me appear bet-
ter than I really am. And last but by no means least – much,
much gratitude to Ian Wedd, whose writing skills and support
are inestimable.
If this conversation turns out to be profitable to the evan-
gelical church, perhaps I’ll go on vacation more often.
— Joel Edwards
August 2007
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