visionnetwork is a partner with Lausanne through its membership in the WEA.

National Director Glyn Carpenter said this is a great opportunity for people to participate in a Global Conversation. The conversations will be monitored and moderated and monitored. Constructive and/or interesting feedback will be captured and possibly used at the Congress conference.

The first topic "Whole Gospel, Whole Church, Whole World" by Dr Chris Wright contains some interesting insights, and can be read by clicking here.

For more information on the Global Conversation, and how to be involved, click here.

"The past 20 years have been like no other in history," said Cape Town 2010 Director for External Relations, Julia Cameron. "Everything about the way we think and about the way we live has changed.

"The under-25s entered education when the concept of Truth had already become historical, even quaint. And the last quarter century has, as a result, proved fertile ground for amoral pragmatism, which, not surprisingly, gained easy acceptance in many areas of life. The Church needs leaders who can discern the times, leaders like the men of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12:32).

"This abandonment of Truth has come at an unusual point in history. Twenty years ago we could barely have imagined the digital age as we now know it. Added to the changes it has brought, we have also seen advancement in biotechnology and new nanoscale possibilities.

"Together, these three open the door to anything fallen Man can desire; for all is now within our reach. The warning ‘You shall be as gods' (Genesis 3:5) suddenly starts to make more sense. The sin of Babel seems mild in comparison.

"New questions are emerging which are different from the older, familiar ones. And the older ones are also taking on new forms. Think, for example, of the issues surrounding the massive rise in people movements over the past 50 years, and of the trends in urbanisation, and of the penetration of other faiths.

"Christians need to talk, and global issues need global conversations."

The Lausanne Movement says evangelicals need to link arms and work together, to listen and to learn and to take counsel from one another. For the first time in history this is a real possibility, with internet access available, if not in homes then at least in universities and internet cafes almost everywhere. Automatic translation tools, while not perfect, will help if people have a commitment to the authority of Scripture and a willingness to listen and learn.

The Movement is working in partnership with Christianity Today and other publications around the world to provide 12 key articles by leading theologians on issues facing the global church.

The articles each have four commissioned respondents from different parts of the world and will be accompanied online by video and photo essays, and responses from anyone who wishes to join in. Joining the conversation can be done by logging on to www.lausanne.org/conversation It is hoped the discussion will spread further through such means as blogs, forums, and interactive tools like Twitter and Facebook.

The opening article by Christopher Wright, Old Testament scholar and President of Langham Partnership International (John Stott Ministries in the US), looks at the theme in The Lausanne Covenant of ‘the whole church' taking ‘the whole gospel to the whole world'. To do this effectively, he argues, we must read ‘the whole Bible', which evangelicals have often not done.

The conversation will focus on the final command of the Lord Jesus Christ which has never been rescinded: to bring his glorious gospel to all peoples and to every area of work and of society.

The next article will engage with the ‘prosperity gospel', and future articles with such themes as the environment, the biotech century, urbanisation, and the new issues raised by massive people movements across the world.