I am writing this in Florida, looking out a window at the Gulf of Mexico. The warm, sunny weather is a welcome change from the cold and rain of March in Washington, and the respite has given me time to revise and nearly complete a book manuscript that I may entitle The World, the Flesh, and the Devil. It deals with worldliness—what it is, how to overcome it. It starts at the Garden of Eden and ends up in the new Jerusalem, the city of God. But enough of that.
This issue contains two articles evaluating the recent Bangkok missionary meetings of the World Council of Churches. The central issue, one that has plagued the Church for a generation, is that of the mission of the Church. It is possible to define the Church’s mission biblically and definitively without fulfilling that mission. It is also possible for the Church to make clear what its understanding of its mission is not in words but in activities and programs. Every reader whose denomination is related to the WCC will be interested in these analyses. Both will be included in a forthcoming collection of articles called The Evangelical Response to Bangkok, edited by Ralph D. Winter. The book will be available around mid-April from the publisher, William Carey Library (533 Hermosa Street, South Pasadena, California 91030), for $1.45.
