The European Court of Human Rights has just given its verdict on four cases, all involving Christians:
Name your idols. Maybe you’re thinking of people you look up to and admire — a sports star or a singer. But what is an idol? When the Bible uses the word, it isn’t thinking of the latest winner of a TV talent show.
Stupid statues
Idols feature loads in the Bible, even in the Ten Commandments, where God tells His people: “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20 v 4–5). So an idol is something that we worship instead of God.
In the Old Testament that mostly meant worshipping statues or idols made of metal, stone, wood etc. It should have been self evident that these home-made gods were a joke, but from the golden calf onwards (Exodus 32 v 1–4), God’s people kept falling into the same old trap. Isaiah 44 v 9–20 is a blistering attack on how stupid the whole thing is. Check it out for a moment.... continue reading
You may have heard people talk about the “big but’s” of the Bible; for example: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. BUT now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” Colossians 1 v 21-22. But I’ve been thinking about the “yet’s” of the Bible.
I know many people who have had a hard time during the autumn, including illness, bereavement, church issues… Others are facing a difficult start to 2013. And some of us are experiencing both. Which is what got me thinking about biblical “yet’s”. Here are a couple to mull over:
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will YET praise him,
my Saviour and my God.
Psalm 42 v 5... continue reading
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
1 John 1 v 5-7
Simple words, huge truth — God is light. That’s total perfection. Flawless truth. All-revealing power. The false teachers claimed to be connected to God, yet the way they lived showed they were living a lie. Nothing we can do can put us right with God. Only Jesus’ blood — His death on the cross — can make us pure, connect us to God and to other believers.
Tim Chester has just released a great little book called Will you be my Facebook friend? in which he addresses the joys and perils of this social networking phenomenon.
You can pick up a copy for just £2 for the next 72 hours. Just use the code fbfriend at checkout.
It's nice to know they care. Far from being a faceless corporation, it seems they are interested in our lives. Have you noticed it on your social media screen? It's been a recent change. Facebook is now asking us the question, "How are you doing?"
As a prompt to get us to update our statuses it's not a bad one. Sometimes I rise to the bait and answer their enquiry with a quip or short retelling of some ridiculous incident from my life ("I'm fine, thanks - but the cat sat on a candle and ignited her tail" ... sadly, a true story). But I'm going to go out on a limb here ... I don't think they really care how I'm doing at all. I reckon I could pour out the deepest pain in my heart and the corporation that is Facebook wouldn't step in and help. They may be asking the question but they wont come to visit me if I'm sick; they wont do my shopping if I'm housebound; they wont pray with my if I'm in despair and they certainly wont give me a lift to church. Some of my friends might ... actually, I'm sure they would. But Facebook itself ... probably not.... continue reading
CofE drops opposition to gay bishops in civil partnerships
Girl Guides set to drop God and Queen from its oath
Washington National Cathedral to perform same-sex marriages
Christian fundamentalists freak out over yoga in the military
Africa rises, China falls on Christian persecution list
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.
In each issue of Engage, a section called Toolbox gives readers tips, tools and advice for wrestling with the Bible. In issue 18, we ask: who should we copy?
Follow the leader?
When learning to drive, it’s natural to watch other drivers and copy them. But many experienced drivers don’t drive as you’re meant to in the driving test. There are some habits you should copy and some you shouldn’t.
Sometimes we should follow the example of people in the Bible. But not always! For example...
We're recruiting for a new Sales and Marketing Manager to join the team at our Epsom office. They will take the lead on getting the word out about our resources and other ministry services in the UK and as such will play a crucial role in our future work.
Commercial Director James Burstow said, "This is an exciting time to be joining The Good Book Company, with some great new titles in the pipeline and some tremendous opportunities to develop digital resources that help people engage with the Bible. At heart we remain committed to serving local churches and equipping individuals to open up the Bible so we're looking for someone who can help us get that message out as widely as possible."
Details of the position and a full job description can be found here and the closing date for applications is the 24th January. We would be really grateful for any help you can give us in promoting this opportunity and would value your prayers that the Lord would bring the right person to join our team.
Sometimes, timing is everything.
And so it was that last week, in the same week, two things happened. First, Sam Allberry wrote a blog:
Jesus is more than worth it, even with all it entails for gay people... Homosexuality is an issue I have battled with my entire Christian life. It took a long time to admit to myself, longer to admit to others, and even longer to see something of God’s good purposes through it all. There have been all sorts of ups and downs. But this battle is not devoid of blessings, as Paul discovered with his own unyielding thorn in the flesh. Struggling with sexuality has been an opportunity to experience more of God’s grace, rather than less.... continue reading
