If you haven't read the J. B. Phillips translation of the New Testament recently—or haven't ever been exposed to it—it can be as invigorating as mountain air or wind off the ocean on a summer day. So much more is involved than a vivid sense of words or the joy of a skilled and powerful translator at work. The words of the Bible are obviously coming alive in the translation because what it means to live in Spirit is so real and vital for J. B. Phillips. In his preface to the translation of The Acts of the Apostles, Phillips talks about the Spirit-filled Church. It's a stirring point of reference, we think, for a Journal devoted to the subject of the potential and power of the Church waking up to its purpose in the world.
Reprinted with the permission of Macmillan Publishing Company from THE YOUNG CHURCH IN ACTION by J. B. Phillips. Copyright © 1955 by Macmillan Publishing Company, renewed 1983 by Vera M. Phillips.
. . . The newborn Church, as vulnerable as any human child, having neither money, influence nor power in the ordinary sense, is setting forth joyfully and courageously to win the pagan world for God through Christ. The young Church, like all young creatures, is appealing in its simplicity and singleheartedness. Here we are seeing the Church in its first youth, valiant and unspoiled— a body of ordinary men and women joined in an unconquerable fellowship never before seen on this earth.
