Volume 13.2

In this issue, the editors have contributed rather more than usual. We trust that readers do not find this excessive, but there are times when we feel we have something to say!

John Lovatt leads with a thoughtful exploration about the significance, eternal as well as temporal, of the things that we make. What are the implications of Paul�s statement in Colossians 1:20 that God through Christ has reconciled all things? John pursues this theme through the form of a dialogue between two Christian friends. Hopefully this will have the advantage of capturing most questions that readers might have on the issue, but if you want to continue the debate, please write in � just as Graham Brightman did in response to Mark McAllister�s piece on fossil fuels in the last issue.

We are now following a regular practice of including an interview in each issue. Sally Orwin interviews Ged Tyrrell, a Lancastrian who runs an engineering business and has integrated his faith with his work in an impressive way. She also reviews God at Work, the increasingly popular course based on Ken Costa�s book and promoted by Alpha. Sally is developing into a regular chronicler of Faith in Business events, and with Richard Higginson she reports on the recent Ridley Hall conference on Sustaining a Business Recovery � where an appropriate Christian response to debt emerged as a major issue.

Stephen Green, chairman of HSBC, has featured prominently in response to the financial crisis, and Richard weighs in with a favourable review of his book Good Value. Richard also offers a summary of the report he co-authored for the Church Investors Group on the ethics of executive pay, another topical and controversial subject. On speaking trips to Hong Kong he has met Natalie Chan, who here writes for FiBQ for the first time. In the course of research into marketplace ministries she discovered Christian toy manufacturers, notably Mr TS Wong, who are having a positive ethical impact on the industry in China. This is an inspiring and encouraging story.

Peter Heslam meanwhile draws role model inspiration from a combination of Carolina Lopez, the winner of a Central American Pioneer of Prosperity competition that he co-judged, and the biblical example of Dorcas. As ever, we hope you find plenty in this issue that will stimulate and challenge you.