For students up and down the land, today is the day. Will all the work of the last year or two have been worth it? Did I achieve what I set out to achieve? Is that place at university or college secure? Is my future on track? Will my parents be proud? Or will life begin to unravel in disappointment and confusion about what happens next?
Here at The Good Book Company we're an eclectic bunch. Some sailed through A'levels with straight As and went up to an Oxbridge university. Others found A'levels a hard hurdle to overcome. We're all doing OK though - one happy family, serving Jesus with a range of results on our CVs. So what thoughts can we pass on to the students finding out their results today? Here are a few thoughts ...... continue reading
As yet another celebrity suicide hits the headlines, people have once again been discussing what it means to take your own life. Some describe it as a "waste", others a "mystery", many as a "tragedy" but, in quiet corners, there are other groups of people: those who see it as an "appealing option". Today on The Good Book Blog we meet one Christian who sought suicide, tried suicide but is now praising God for her life.... 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 prayer, 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, customer services:
The Customer Services department looks after the end of the publishing process: getting books into people's hands. We are a team of 5 people in the UK (Andy, Robin, Neil, Bex and Dex) and we are the guys and girls who answer the phone when customers call with queries. We also pick and pack all the orders that are generated from phone, email and web sales.
Please pray:
We want to serve our customers in the best way possible. Pray that we would continue to do so, and to go the extra mile for our customers' needs.
As we follow the patterns and rhythms of an academic year, the start of September will be a busy time. Pray that the team would be able to manage the extra workload, and continue to be of excellent service to the church.
That we would be continually reminded that we are serving for the Kingdom. Often we don't see or hear what happens when the resources are delivered. Pray that we would trust in God, and what he's doing through the resources we send out.
1. The Big Ego Trip just £5 till midday Thursday!
Get the ebook version of The Big Ego Trip for just £5!
2. Biblical Theology: Guardian and Guide of the Church
The new journal from 9Marks.
3. Tips for Hospital Visiting
A load of helpful tips from David Murray.
4. 7 Marks of Enduring Accountability Relationships
Brad Hambrick shares his seven marks.
5. And finally...
Our video of the week, ‘Can I Really Trust The Bible? Promo’:
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
I’ve got a friend who’s been a Christian for a while. She knows her Bible reasonably well. She can look back on some enthusiastic years. But now things have changed. She doesn’t look forward to church any more. Why? She’s been hurt by someone in the congregation. And she’s disillusioned by some of the policies and practises that are going on. The pain and frustration seems to have sapped every ounce of energy she used to have.
Sound familiar? It probably does. There are plenty of Christians up and down the land who struggle. There are plenty of people who can look back over a period of years and see the gradual waning of their enthusiasm. Maybe that can even be said of you?... continue reading
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 1:9 – 2:2
When Jonah walked the streets of Nineveh proclaiming the God of the Bible, the people's hearts were moved. Sackcloth and ashes were worn, lives turned round in repentance and God poured out his mercy.
Since then? Sometimes the church has thrived. Sometimes it has struggled. Today it is being systematically wiped out.
Few people can have been unmoved by the news in recent times. Terrified children, weeping mothers, men slaughtered and tied to crosses ... families fleeing, starving, dying for no other reason than they are followers of Christ (or are members of another minority group considered worthy of extermination by IS - it is right to remember them too).
Feelings of shock, disbelief and frustration at our inability to help can flood our minds. It seems impossible to grasp the enormity of the situation unfolding so far from our homes. We might change our photo on Facebook to show solidarity (and why not, it helps to start conversations) but surely there has to be more we can do ...... continue reading
Iraq Christians flee as Islamic State takes Qaraqosh
Iraqi Christians 'should be offered asylum in UK' - bishop
Bishops urge David Cameron to grant asylum to Iraqi Christians
U.S. doctor with Ebola on a mission to help
Christian group told they can’t pray at Georgia shopping mall
Sudan 'apostasy' woman Meriam Ibrahim arrives in US
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.
God doesn’t play fair.
Much to my parents’ concern, I hadn’t been to church for a long time. And yet here I was, in my first term at university, sliding into a pew at St Ebbe’s Church in Oxford.
This, I can promise you, was not the result of any pious yearning on my part. Rather, it was because the congregation counted among its number a particularly lovely second-year student of modern languages.
Where earnest parental pleading had failed, she had proved to be rather more convincing.... continue reading
