1. Gospel-Centred Life and Gospel-Centred Work just £1 each till midday Thursday!
Get the ebook versions of Gospel-Centred Life and Gospel-Centred Work for just £1 each!
2. God’s Great and Precious Promises
The second Look at the Book video from John Piper.
3. Four Things God Says to Singles
Vaughan Roberts looks at the topic of singleness.
4. Five Tips for Leading your Small Group
Kevin DeYoung shares five tips for leading a Bible study.
5. 10 Thoughts on Reading
Ten helpful suggestions about reading (Part 2).
6. Nine Secrets Your Pastor’s Wife Wishes You Knew
”What if we just asked our pastor’s wife to candidly, honestly, even anonymously share some of their secrets?"
7. And finally...
Our video of the week, Ben’s ‘Life Story’ from Live:
Found something that you think should make it on to the On to a Good Thing round-up? Send it to: ontoagoodthing@thegoodbook.co.uk
It's a question I get asked a lot. Those who love me, those who have been praying for me want to know ... But how do you assess whether the talk you've given (or the Bible study you've led) was "good" or not? Is it all about people having enjoyed themselves? Or about having learned something new? What criteria can we use to assess? Should we worry about negative reactions? It's a bit of a minefield. But here are the criteria I've started to use. Feel free to add to the list if you want...... continue reading
[Jesus said:] 'Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
Luke 11:11-13
When your elders, church council or PCC meets together, what occupies most time in discussion? What's on the agenda?
I suspect that the universal rule of human life kicks in that the urgent constantly threatens to displace the important. So it might be that your time is taken up with discussing pastoral problems, building projects and needs, complaints from members of the congregation and, the oldest one of all - arguing about the heating system.
A friend of mine put it like this.
Why do you think we are not yet with the Lord in the New Creation? Why has Jesus not yet returned? Is it so that we can worship and praise him better in the here and now?
No. We will do that far better in the new Creation.
Is it so that we can grow in holiness and godliness now?
No. We will be perfect in the new creation.
The only thing we can do now that we won't be able to do better in the new creation is to tell those who don't know him how wonderful he is, and what he has done for us...... continue reading
The cross is the very centre of the Christian faith, but that simple truth can sometimes be easy to forget. So how do we remember to focus every day on this reality with all that surrounds us? Never lay the cross aside, never move on says C J Mahaney. Deepen your passion for Christ and his cross each and every day.
Mahaney in his book, Living the Cross Centered Life implores us not to move on from the foot of the cross and examines the deepest truths of the events of Calvary.
Read more about the book and buy it HERE with 30% off (£6.29) until midday Monday using the code ccl0814 at the checkout.
A couple of days ago I received an Ice Bucket Challenge on Facebook. I was delighted—and have decided not to do it. Here’s why.
I had actually started to work out how I could perform the challenge in my allotted 24-hour period (if this blog has completely lost you, the Ice Bucket Challenge is where a friend nominates you, you give a donation of £3 or more to a particular charity, film yourself tipping a bucket of icy water over your head within a day of receiving your nomination, and then challenge some friends to do likewise). Then a Christian who is wiser and more thoughtful than me encouraged me to just check that I was thinking Christian-ly about it. To be honest, I hadn’t thought much at all. But the Bible tells me to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10 v 5). Every thought—even thoughts about ice buckets and giving to charity.
So I thought about it. And as I did so, I ended up deciding not to be part of it. Why? Well, here’s where I’m at. First and foremost, this is not an issue of Christian obedience. I’ve watched (and laughed at) Christians far more godly than me doing the Challenge, and I’m not saying they were disobeying Christ. If ever there were an issue where the Bible does not speak specifically, tipping ice-cold water over your own head would be it.
But I am saying that my best attempt at thinking with Christian wisdom is suggesting to my conscience that I shouldn’t do it. Here are my five reasons:... continue reading
Porn in unexpected places
I walked down the office carrying a pile of pornography. I'd wrapped it in two bags so my colleagues wouldn't see it, but I still worried. What if I tripped and broke my neck? After failing to resucitate me, the first thing people would discover was my pile of porn.
Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it sounds, but is a salutary tale nonetheless.
It started on my ride to work. The subway under the A3 always collects litter - usually crisp packets, coke cans and the odd condom. Not cards. Not a full pack of playing cards. And certainly not pornographic cards. I glanced down as I wheeled the bike through the tunnel, wondering who'd dropped their playing cards, to be faced with umpteen nude women. I was slightly shocked, but late for work so kept on going.... continue reading
We're conscious, here at The Good Book Company, of our need for prayer. We want to be working in God's strength - for God's glory - in God's Kingdom not just pottering about doing what we think is good and right. If you could remembers us in your prayers occasionally, that would be so much appreciated. To that end, this Wednesday we're continuing to pop up some prayer requests - asking you to pray for us department by department. This week, the creative team:
At our end of the office there are seven of us, who select and initiate publishing projects, who encourage and interact with authors, who edit, design proofread and nurse those books to the point where they are ready to be printed and deployed to edify, encourage and challenge. We sometimes even write whole resources ourselves!... continue reading
1. Six ways your iPhone is changing you
Own an iPhone? Love it? Tim Chester helpfully gives us 6 things to think about...
2. On Coming Out
In the wake of Vicky Beeching's recent announcment that she is gay, here are 4 articles that shed some interesting light on the issue.
3. Struggling to organise your prayers?
PrayerMate is a Christian prayer app that seeks to help you actually pray for all the people and causes you care about.
4. 10 greatest Hymns of All time
Well, according to Tim Challies anyway. Here are his 10 favourite.
5. Time to get back into your Quiet Times?
Our video of the week this week is an encouragment, with the holidays ending, to get into new habits of reading the Bible. We think Explore Bible reading notes will help with that:
Found something that you think should make it on to the On to a Good Thing round-up? Send it to: ontoagoodthing@thegoodbook.co.uk
God is a generous God. He gives us life, salvation, hope and a whole host of gifts so we can serve him and each other in the local church.
We don't deserve the gifts God gives us but we can make sure we use them well - humbly, lovingly, enthusiastically and for his glory. And we can make sure we hone them, so we learn more about what the Bible says on teaching, caring, administrating, encouraging, welcoming, evangelising as the years go on and become more aligned to God's desires.
That's where some structured studying can help.
In the busyness of preparing talks and craft activities, it can be easy to lose sight of what it means to teach the whole counsel of God to the children in our care. Beneath the piles of paperwork, we can forget just how missional administration truly is. Amid the texts and calls from hurting friends, we can let our eyes shift away from the pastorally liberating words of truth found within the pages of Scripture. Setting aside some time to study can help put all those things back on the map.
So this term, whether you're interested in Administration, Mission and Ministry, Pastoral Care, Women's Ministry or Youth and Children's Work, why not set aside some time to do one of The Good Book College's short courses?
Biblical, accessible and practical, these distance-learning courses will inspire you to read God's word and encourage you to serve God's people. All in the comfort of your own home without the pressure of fixed deadlines.
For more details and to enrol online, click HERE.
