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:
These are all things that I find it very easy to do each December, regret in January, and then repeat the next Christmastime…
1. Be more excited about presents than Jesus. It’s great to think more about what we give to others than what we receive from them. But ultimately, Christmas isn’t about us giving, it’s about us receiving—receiving the precious gift of the Lord Jesus. All of which we know. But all of which we find easy to forget in our excitement at Christmastime.
2. Leave the Carol and Christmas morning services straight away. You may have family and mulled wine and turkey to go back home for. Chances are, there’s someone sitting in those services who doesn’t—who has only an empty home to return to. Why not plan to stick around for twenty minutes after the services, to be a friend to anyone who has nothing to rush off for? Why not prepare some extra mulled wine or cook some extra turkey in preparation for meeting them?... continue reading
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1 v 3-7
Whatever you're facing right now, if you will trust in the Lord, He'll get you through. He will make you resilient in your weakness. The Lord s watching over you, holding on to you, preparing a place for you, taking you to your inheritance.
And amazingly, Peter says in verse 7 that when Jesus returns in glory, He will look at His people who have come through suffering and a say: "Your are beautiful". What a prospect!
