Displaying items by tag: Cornerstone

A Bible using the idioms of North Korea in a side-by-side display with the form of Korean spoken in the south is ministering to the hearts of defectors and may be a tool God uses for the eventual reunification between north and south. It has been developed by Cornerstone Ministries, which spent eight years on the New Testament and 15 years on the entire Bible. The project began with a simple request: ‘North Korean believers who received and read the Korean Bible requested that we publish the Bible in Korean using idioms and phraseology they could easily understand.’ Cornerstone delivered the Bibles to 3,500 defectors in the South during the Christmas season. After one defector received a Bible and read it slowly he said, ‘The text was very nice and familiar. There are some parts of the revised Bible that we defectors had difficulty understanding. However, for me as a North Korean reading this translation the words “Yes” came out of my mouth.’

Cornerstone, a Christian adoption and fostering charity, tried to overturn earlier judgments finding it had discriminated by only accepting heterosexual evangelical Christians as potential carers. The Court of Appeal agreed that the judge had been unduly dismissive of the importance of Cornerstone’s evangelical faith to its work and mission, but ruled that this did not justify sexual orientation discrimination in the furtherance of that mission. Cornerstone sought to argue it did not discriminate on the ground of sexual orientation but rather on behaviour, a distinction which was rejected by the court. However, this distinction is central to how many evangelical churches and organisations engage with issues of sexual orientation and identity within a biblical frame. As such, this highlights a growing chasm in societal and traditional evangelical approaches to human sexuality, making future challenges in this area highly likely. Cornerstone intends to appeal this latest decision.

It is with great sadness that we write to inform you of the death of our much loved brother in Christ, Archie Gilmour after a short illness. At this time our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Janet and the whole Gilmour family. He died peacefully with his family around him on 22 December.

We first got to know Archie in 1979 and over the ensuing years built a wonderful friendship and working relationship as he helped us in so many ways as a Trustee, Company Secretary and Adviser to Cornerstone and Cornerstone Quest and of course up to the present World Prayer Centre vision and April ’97 Trust as Trustee and Hon Treasurer.

If you asked Archie about his priorities in life he would always say, Jesus first, Janet and his family next, relationships with wider family and friends and then whatever work he was involved in at a particular time. Archie was not an upfront person but he was VERY influential. Archie loved to use the word ‘Very’ especially when talking about the goodness of God, or thanking you for work done or kindness given. He was a man who always thought of others first and how he could help, support, bless and encourage; our lives are richer because of his amazing friendship.

Archie was a remarkable man for detail. Those of us who live broad brush stroke lives would often get a bit frustrated by Archie's attention to detail, but we always gave thanks as his attentiveness saved us from many mistakes and pitfalls, especially with Charity law and financial issues.

Of course his passing leaves a huge space in the lives of Janet and the family, but also in the lives of all who knew and loved him. His work, his life, his testimony and his generosity directly influenced many people and indirectly touched the lives of countless thousands in this nation and around the world.

On our way to visit Janet we drove through Harvest Fields estate and gave thanks for the vision Archie and Janet had carried and seen fulfilled with houses and a centre that influences so many lives for the Kingdom of God; an amazing legacy.

So we sorrow but not as those without hope. Many years ago Archie gave his life to Jesus, knowing in that simple act of faith; he also received the sure and certain hope of eternal life. Archie has started a new chapter in his eternal journey. His final words to us when we visited him in intensive care were, “I have a VERY wonderful God, a VERY wonderful wife and family and VERY wonderful friends.”

We shall miss him VERY much.