Light in the darkness

"Christmas is just for children."

You often hear this said by bored teenagers and adults as they move beyond the Disney-fied storybook versions of the first Christmas that fill our bookshops at this time of year.

But of course it is not. Each year we apply ourselves as a creative team to thinking how we can keep the Christmas story fresh for those beyond the childhood years. This year we have been thrilled as we have worked on the "prequel" to The Third Day - our graphic-novel style realisation of Luke 22-24.

Light in the Darkness has the same gritty, contemporary feel that is so far removed from the graphic versions of the Bible already available. This resource will introduce the biblical account of the first Christmas to a new audience in a fresh way, powerfully capturing the joy, pain and emotion of Luke 1 and 2.

The depths of what Luke records for us in these chapters has come across to us in a powerful way as we have thought our way through them, working out how to illustrate them. The pain of childlessness for Elizabeth and Zechariah; the bewilderment and confusion over the angelic messages; the joy and happiness over the children; and the theologically rich songs that are sung throughout.

We're just putting the final brushstrokes to the colour but look out for this stunning new resource when it appears in early November.

Fighting the Monday feeling

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

Revelation 1:4-6

Engaging with Hindus: Sheela's story

This is an extract from the recently published Engaging with Hindus.

I was born in India but when I was eighteen, I went to Kenya to be married. In 1966 the whole family left Kenya and came to Britain. We found it very difficult coming to a strange country and adjusting to the different lifestyle.

I was a practising Hindu but was finding that Hinduism did not satisfy me. I started searching for an answer to my difficulties. One day I shouted out to God: “Please come and help me”.

Shortly afterwards, a friend suggested I try the Radha Soamis (a popular spiritual path led by Gurinder Singh Dhillon). My whole family went to their headquarters at Beas in the Indian Punjab. I took an oath not to eat meat or eggs. The Master gave me a mantra on which to meditate. I repeated it daily for two and a half hours but still didn’t have peace and security. Then I began to think: “I became a Radha Soami to receive peace. If I haven’t got it, I have been cheated.” I asked God: “I do all the correct things. Why haven’t I got peace?”... continue reading

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Disclaimer: The Good Book Company is not responsible for the content of external sites and does not necessarily agree with the content of articles listed.

International Bible Studies: Choosing and using the Bible

A. Choosing (what version?)

For most internationals (except university and post-grad students), a simplified translation of the Bible is best. The NIV may be suitable for students who have reached an advanced level of English (roughly corresponding with British university entry level). Otherwise, think about using one of the following:

• New International Reader’s Version
• New Century Version
• Contemporary English Version

Advantages

1. A limited range of vocabulary— important, because 10 is said to be the maximum number of new words most people absorb effectively in a day. Having to plough through endless items of vocabulary can be demoralising for language-learners and reduces time for opening up the Bible’s message.
2. Breaks up long sentences into bite-sized ones. Language-learners find it difficult to hang onto the “thread” of meaning in long, complex sentences (like some of Paul’s).

Engaging with Hindus: present Christ positively

This is an extract from the recently published Engaging with Hindus.

What is our aim as we engage further with our Hindu friends? Is it to find common ground and ways of living together in our divided society? Is it to persuade them to change their religion and be converted? Here are some suggested goals:

To seek to know the true and living God along with our Hindu friends which includes respecting their search for God and sharing with them our experience of God, so that they will also experience God’s love, grace, peace, forgiveness and justice shown to us all in the Lord Jesus Christ.

This combination of receiving (learning about, and respecting their search for God) and giving (sharing what we have experienced) reflects the example of Jesus himself. He condemned false religion, pride and selfishness. But he commended the faith of outsiders like Roman soldiers and Gentile women as they were drawn to him (see Matthew 8 v 5-13; 15 v 21-28). At the same time he invited them to focus their faith still further on him, so that through him they would find their place in the “kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8 v 11). His life, teaching, death and resurrection opened the way to eternal life, under God’s perfect rule.... continue reading

All These Children's Murders is Evidence that God’s Judgment is Right

Turn your back on Christ or watch your children die.

That’s the choice your brothers and sisters, if you’re a Christian, are being given in ISIS-controlled areas of Iraq and Syria, today. Children are dying because their families stay loyal to Christ. This is real. Right now.

And that is why God’s judgment is not just a truth we have to acknowledge because the Bible says it. It is not a truth that we must explain away, smooth over and get past as quickly as possible so we can talk about love and forgiveness.

Because “all this”, as Paul puts it to a church suffering serious persecution for your faith, “is evidence that God’s judgment is right” (2 Thessalonians 1 v 5). God’s judgment is not merely real, but right. It is good, and we should celebrate it.... continue reading

Engaging with atheists: Guillaume’s story

This is an extract from the recently published Engaging with Atheists.

I grew up in a wonderfully loving family in France, near Paris. My dad was a mathematician and computer scientist, and my mother “religiously” devoted herself to the well-being and education of her children. All in all, I was pretty happy with my life, and in a thoroughly secular culture.

On holiday, I met a girl from New York, who believed in God—an intellectual suicide by my standards. We started dating, and my new goal in life was to explain to her why all this was untenable, so that she could put this nonsense behind her, and we could be together without her misconceptions standing in the way. So I started thinking about the whole thing. What good reason was there to think God exists, and what good reason was there to think atheism was true instead?... continue reading