I'm guessing that pretty much every church youth leader has at some point chatted to their young people about drinking. It's the sort of thing youth leaders do. And rightly so. The culture of youth binge-drinking in the UK and beyond is devastating to personal and community well-being and as such it's right that the under 18s in our care get a biblical perspective on alcohol that will help them to live for Christ.
I'm guessing that pretty much every university and college CU has had the same sort of chats. Acting in ways that are above reproach at parties and in the bar can be a great witness to friends and acquaintances while away at college.
But I'm guessing the subject doesn't come up too often in lunch clubs for the retired or afternoon fellowships for those in their 70s or 80s. It certainly hasn't been raised in those forums when I've been around. Nor has it come up for discussion at pastoral care meetings I've been in.
If recent research is to be believed, however, discussed it should be!... continue reading
This week, various blogs have been reviewing Delighting in the Trinity by Tim Chester (UK, USA, Australia). It's a brilliant book for helping our understanding on how the Trinity works and the relationship of the three to each other and to us. Here are some of the reviews...
Delighting in the Trinity Blog Tour
Book Review: Delighting in the Trinity by Tim Chester
Until the end of Monday we're doing 35% off if you use the code ditt at checkout. The offer is also available for the e-book version (UK, USA, Australia).
Enjoy!
Offer expires 10/09/12.
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Who does the phrase “the splendour and glory of his majesty” make you think of? If you’re anything like me, and familiar with the Old Testament, you’ll think of the Lord God. So imagine my surprise the other morning when I read these words. They weren’t assigned to the King of Kings, but to King Xerxes of Persia. Inevitably, as I read through the rest of Esther chapter 1, I found myself comparing the two kings. Here are three contrasts I came up with – there may well be more:
1. True majesty
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I listen to music through headphones while I work. I use it to block out the noise of the office so I can concentrate. Recently, after several years of hard service, my headphones conked out. I quickly rushed to replace them cheaply. As I cut open the impossible plastic packaging encasing my purchase, a small note fell out. This is what it said:
Some time ago, I had a dream in my sleep.
I dreamt that I was shipping millions of boxes around the world
(which is exactly what my company Sweex is doing).
And in spite of useful products in them,
I experienced an empty feeling in myself.
I sat with the dream for a while and pondered over it.
Then I realized — I needed to fill the boxes with my wish for you.... continue reading
Copyright. A word that produces a number of reactions, all dressed up as a yawn. But whatever we think about copyright, the law has certainly tightened up on this over the last few years and I’m pretty sure that many churches are (in most cases unwittingly) breaking that law. As gospel-loving Christians we need to be subject to the authorities on this (Romans 13).
It’s quite an easy thing to get sorted – The Christian Copyright Licensing International organization sees itself as the ‘one stop’ copyright resource for the Church. Its existence has eased many consciences all over the world about this matter by helping us to be legal. It can be expensive, but CCLI was set up because of a $2 000 000 lawsuit taken out against the Chicago Diocese for copyright breaches, so better to be slightly hard-up than completely broke!
Here are some nuts and bolts.... continue reading
"For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God."
Ezekiel 36 v 24-28
When God’s people were scattered all over the place, their enemies mocked them. “Their God must be weak to let that happen.” Now God would bring His people home so the world would know He’s a God of power, justice and holiness. There’s great hope for God’s people. He gives them a new start, a new heart, a desire to obey Him, and His Spirit to help them do it.
Murmuring underneath everything we’ve seen so far is a fifth and final reason why our discipleship of others is failing so badly.
5. Our churches are ashamed of the gospel.
Not so long ago, I was invited to speak at a church just outside London. Numbers had been dropping, so the church was going to significant lengths to attract young people. They’d added another service at a more convenient time on a Saturday evening, they were getting in guest speakers from all over the country, they were spending money on marketing, and they had paid a worship band to come from 100 miles away.
I got chatting to a delightful congregation member about the reasons for their flagging, elderly attendance. “This may be a sensitive question,” I said, “but how’s the preaching of the gospel going?” His response came with a knowing and slightly embarrassed smile. “Well, we have to give people what they want.”... continue reading
