My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
Proverbs 2 v 1-11
December 1st is nearly here. Soon children around the world will be eagerly looking forward to opening a door each day and discovering something exciting. For some, the excitement will come from a small and swiftly gobbled piece of chocolate. For others, that excitement will be focused on Jesus as they work through a calendar that helps bring the real meaning of Christmas to life.
If you haven't bought a calendar for your children - or if you've been meaning to buy one for friends' children but haven't quite got round to it yet - and you'd like to help them engage with God's word this season, why not grab a bargain this weekend? Usual price: ÂŁ4.99 - now just ÂŁ3.49. Just use the code calendar at the checkout.
The internet has boundless potential to surprise. Each week we stumble across bizarre, thought-provoking or just plain weird sites. My favourite find of the last few days (courtesy of an evangelistic talk given at my church pub quiz) is The Death Clock. Now, it’s probably fair to say that this is not a site to visit if you are already feeling melancholy! But how it works is this … you type in your age, gender and a couple of indicative health facts and the death clock calculator guestimates the date of your death. Then (and this is most intriguing bit) it calculates how many seconds you have left to live, starts a clock and you can quite literally see your life ticking away …... continue reading
Church of England votes no to women bishops
In its search for 'relevance', the Anglican Church is losing relevance
Pakistan Rimsha blasphemy case dropped
The Brick Bible: Turning Jesus Stories into Lego Scenes
Imprisoned Christian Pastor in Iran 'Likely to Die' If Plight Is Ignored
China's Communism Opening Up To Christianity?
Primary school teachers 'could face sack' for refusing to promote gay marriage
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.
A very happy Thanksgiving Day to all our US friends.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures for ever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100: 4-5
Christmas is a time for giving presents – and a season that links directly to God’s rescue plan in sending Jesus. So surely the obvious present to give a child is a Bible? Yes! And No!
Yes, it’s always wonderful for children to have God’s living Word in a version they can enjoy and understand. But sadly many such Bibles stay on the shelf, unread. And others may get read – but be less than faithful to the full text of Scripture. So, how do you choose a good Bible to give away? Here are a couple of pointers – plus a link to a full article with some further help in making your choice.... continue reading
We’re hearing a lot of pretty strong claims made about the whole women-bishop-debate in the Church of England.
The secular media reports, and the comments from the bishops, are overwhelmingly annoyed that the measure to admit women to the episcopate failed—unsurprisingly, since both the media and the bishops were strongly in favour. Views of those who oppose women bishops tend to be buried right at the bottom of articles—this a pretty representative one. To read the articles and the weight given to the two side’s views, you could quite easily forget that over a third of the “normal” members of the CofE’s General Synod opposed the measure.... continue reading
It's scarily close. That season when many who are sympathetic to Christianity (but rarely give God a second thought) make their annual visit to church. And if you're speaking at a Christmas event, the chances are you're starting to at least mull the content of your talk and pray that the lost will be reached. But how do you preach evangelistically?
The Evangelists' Conference last month tackled just that question. To fuel your prep, why not click here and listen to some immensely useful talks from John Woodhouse?
After yesterday's suggestions on how to get it wrong - here are a few suggestions on how to get it right! Let's take our lead from the message the angels gave to the shepherds:
"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people." Luke 2 v 10
1. It's Good News…
People will be scurrying around and fretting to get everything done - you may be one of them. But let's keep Jesus at the centre of what it is all about. How about:
