We Owe You The Truth On...

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... YOUR ORIGINES

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... YOUR FUTURE

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... YOUR VOCATION

WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS again this year that all of the teaching at the Faculté Jean Calvin will be faithful to the Word of God, and that day by day the students will be enlightened and guided by the Holy Spirit.

And, for the Back to School Service, Sunday September 17, with Thierry LE GALL of CNEF.

FACULTÉ JEAN CALVIN
The faculté that is not afraid of the Truth.

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Who Is Jean-Philippe Bru?

           Jean-Philippe and Dana Bru

           Jean-Philippe and Dana Bru

      Jean-Philippe Bru is the current occupant of the James Montgomery Boice Chair of Practical Theology at the Faculté Jean Calvin, the Reformed seminary in Aix-en-Provence, France.

      The Rev. Bru was born near Bordeaux in 1965, but grew up in Nîmes, a major center of Protestantism in France. His family embraced the evangelical faith in the 1970s. After high school, Jean-Philippe attended the Seminary in Aix for a year. He then trained as a missionary in the Baptist Church, and was sent as a church-planter to Rumania. There he met his lovely wife, Dana. Together they returned to Aix so that Jean-Philippe could complete his studies. Dana is a scholar in her own right, an expert on European literature.

      After receiving the Masters degree at Aix, the Brus accepted a call to help with a church-planting effort in Lyon, alongside Francis Foucachon, another graduate from Aix. After six years in that work, the Brus were called to do evangelism in Saint-Girons, a town at the foothills of the Pyrénées, the mountain range bordering on Spain. He has also been a regular translator for Editions Excelsis, the largest evangelical publishing house in France. Jean-Philippe was ordained in the year 2007 in the Evangelical Reformed Church.

      Here is how Jean-Philippe describes his sense of call to the Seminary at Aix: “If I accepted the position of professor-coordinator of practical theology, it is of course because I have always been drawn to teaching, but it is especially because I have become more and more aware that pastors needed, in addition to their formal training, to be able to reflect theologically about their practice and to enlarge their toolbox in order better to face the challenges of their ministry.” Jean-Philippe believes the Faculté Jean Calvin is the right place to carry this out.

New Way to Contribute

There’s a new way to make financial contributions to The Huguenot Fellowship. Amazon is willing to make a contribution on your behalf whenever you shop using AmazonSmile. There is no extra cost to you. The amount they contribute is 0.5% of the purchase price on the items your order.

To get started go to smile.amazon.com, and follow the instructions below.

On the right side of the page, see the area: Select a charity. Another charity will be suggested, but you want to type ‘The Huguenot Fellowship’ in the box below the phrase: Or pick your own charitable organization, then click on the Search button. (‘The’ must be included, not just ‘Huguenot Fellowship’.) This will bring up a new page that shows The Huguenot Fellowship. Click on the yellow Select button next to ‘Glenside PA’. Thankfully, one only needs to perform this selection process once!

This is very important. Contributions are only made when shopping at smile.amazon.com, and not at amazon.com. So, please delete any links or shortcuts you may have to amazon.com and replace with smile.amazon.com. There’s no learning curve as both sites have the same look, features, and items for sale.

Your motivation for participating and Amazon’s motivation for contributing are likely as different as serving God versus serving mammon, of which, one cannot serve both. (Matthew 6:24) Let’s keep serving the Lord, and let Amazon answer for its own!

While Europe Slept

"Europe cannot remember who she is unless she remembers that she is the child not only of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds and the Enlightenment but also of Judaism and Christianity—the child, therefore, of Catholicism and the Reformation. If Europe abandons her religious heritage, the idea of Europe dies. And Europe has abandoned, or forgotten, her religious heritage. Europe is now “post-Christian.” What does this mean? What does it portend?" ~ Jean Bethke Elshtain, the late American ethicist and political philosopher

Although Elshtain "...speak(s) here not of faith but of sustaining cultural memory...", her 2009 essay While Europe Slept is a thoughtful analysis of Europe's floundering self-identify and cultural malaise.

The Faculté Jean Calvin (Aix-en-Provence, France) is one of a few points of light in Europe that not only help to retain its fading memory of the Reformation; but most importantly, trains and prepares those who minister in calling Europe back to the Faith of the Reformation.

The Huguenot Fellowship's primary mission is to support the Faculté in order to keep its light shining brightly in the spiritual twilight of France. 

Please share this post with friends who may have a burden for the spiritual renewal of France and Europe.

Click here to read Elshtain's entire essay While Europe Slept.

Enduring The Race That Is Set Before Us

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. ~ Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)

Quant à nous, nous sommes entourés de cette grande foule de témoins. Débarrassons-nous donc de tout ce qui alourdit notre marche, en particulier du péché qui s’accroche si facilement à nous, et courons résolument la course qui nous est proposée. Gardons les yeux fixés sur Jésus, dont notre foi dépend du commencement à la fin. Il a accepté de mourir sur la croix, sans tenir compte de la honte attachée à une telle mort, parce qu’il avait en vue la joie qui lui était réservée ; et maintenant il siège à la droite du trône de Dieu. ~ Hébreux 12:1-2 (La Bible en français courant)

Declaring the Faith to Those Disappointed with Secularization

Dear Friends,

       France has long been considered one of the most secular countries in the world. Its policy of laïcité keeps anything smacking of religion out of public life, to the point where there is serious legislation limiting the size and prominence of symbols such as the cross or the hijab. But it doesn’t take much to see another ethos coming to the surface.

       The left-leaning Nouvel Observateur recently asked, “Why the devil are all five leading presidential candidates Catholics?” Despite declining numbers attending mass, one quarter of the French population considers itself Catholiques engagés. And everyone, Protestant, Catholic or secularist, is newly fascinated by Martin Luther on the five hundredth anniversary of his posting the 95 Theses on the Castle door at Wittenberg. Part of the reason for the new courage of Christians to declare their faith is the perception of a double standard applied to Muslims and the rest. After years of trying to comply with laïcité they resent how the media and politicians enforce the rules differently with Muslims. Time to stand up.

       Our Seminary in Aix is at the forefront of these trends. In a recent Carrefour Théologique, the annual conference held at the Faculté Jean Calvin, the topic was “faith and works: the biblical and theological approach”. Not only were Catholicism and Protestantism compared, but a special lecture on the role of good works in Islam was given by Karim Arezki, a converted Algerian now serving as a pastor in a large evangelical church in Paris.

       Our graduates are going into a society which has been deeply disappointed by secularization. There is a thirst for something more. Their message will not primarily address the unfair treatment of Christians but the great relevance of Jesus Christ for our times. For more information on the Huguenot Fellowship and the work of the Seminary in Aix do visit our newly invigorated web site. And thank you very much for your generous support.

    Very Truly Yours

       William Edgar,
President