Welcome to this sixth edition of Equip for Ministry for 2003. We enjoy making this Christian Education and Publications resource available to churches, subscribers, events participants, and supporters of CE&P’s ministry. We appreciate the many e-mails, notes, personal calls, and comments that let us know you are benefiting. You are our target audience. We hope it will not only inform you about helpful events and resources for you and your church, but also that it will encourage you in your various roles of ministry.

A Christian education chairman from one of our CE&P presbyteries recently said that CE&P is the best-kept secret in the PCA. All I could say was, “we do not intend for it to be a secret.” With this publication, our WIC Resource Quarterly, our website, our staff travels, and e-mail, we want to challenge each church to be aware of the resources available.

As I shared recently with our CE&P committee, as we try to raise support from our churches and individuals the comment occasionally comes, “what has CE&P done for my church or for me personally?” That is a hard statement to respond to because our staff is small but gifted and the PCA is geographically a large church. The CE&P staff and its regional trainers are actually in churches on a weekly basis.

As I was sharing my frustrations with the staff about not being able to effectively respond to that statement, one staff member said, “That’s the wrong question. Our response should be, ‘when or what has CE&P not done what you have asked us to do for you?’” As I mentioned this to the committee, I said it was like a light turned on with that statement.

We are working on our next five-year ministry plan. As we evaluated the different aspects of the present five-year plan (now in its fifth year) we were amazed at the things that God has enabled us to do. Yes, there is much to be done and some things were done that were added blessings not directly in the plan. We have agreed that this ministry is not about us, and only at a second level is it about you. It is ultimately about God.

Our present CE&P chairmen and former moderator of the General Assembly, challenged the Assembly in Birmingham 2002 in his retiring moderator’s address with that thought. It is not about us. It is about God. We are driven by that thought, as we seek to fulfill our commission “to disciple God’s covenant people.”

Each issue of Equip for Ministry is prepared with those thoughts in mind. The lead article, the “In Case You’re Asked,” the general CE&P news, the book reviews, the advertisements are all part of our attempt to assist in keeping ministry focused on God and his will. I am always pleased when I hear statements like “CE&P helps me understand my world and my role better than any other source,” or “your book reviews determine my reading list,” or “thank you for answering that difficult question.”

With that in mind, as you read the lead article by Dean Conkel on youth ministry, please also read the “In Case You’re Asked” section alongside it.

The book reviews are carefully selected. One of the biggest challenges the staff and I face is which of the books provided to us by the publishers should we include? There are some really fine books that would merit comment and we are discussing ways to include more titles. However, the ones chosen are selected because we believe you would want to know about them and may not know about them otherwise. The two books on Islam are extremely important and timely. Lewis is one of the top experts on this difficult topic. Catherwood has had much experience with Islam. Both writers, Lewis and Catherwood are clear writers.

The book on the Christian mind is simply another attempt to remind our readers that Christianity is not only a religion of the heart but the mind as well. A kingdom disciple is one who learns to think, understand, and believe in a substantive manner. When George Gallup, Jr. says that 95% of Americans believe in God or some supreme being but most do not know God, we must take note. I believe we missed a great opportunity on September 11, 2001 to answer the question, “Where was God in that tragedy?” Most Christians were not poised to answer that question. That’s why we said in our review of R. C. Sproul’s, When Worlds Collide, that the book was such so timely. Developing a Christian mind that “thinks God’s thoughts after him” is not optional for a kingdom disciple.

Other books included in this issue will also be helpful resources to you. Do check our bookstore website at www.cepbookstore.com for more titles. Pray for us and our ministry. We do want to make a difference, not for personal gain, but for the Lord’s own glory. These are timely and important days and we need each other working on the team, if any thing good is to result. Thank you for reading.

- Charles Dunahoo

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