If you’ve ever found it hard to keep your priorities right or your diary tight... If you’ve ever wondered how to stay engaged and enthusiastic in whatever ministry God has equipped you to serve... then you have experienced a struggle that is common to most of us who are active in the local church. A struggle that, if not addressed carefully and biblically, can drag us down.
At a seminar at the Christian Resources Exhibition last week a group of church administrators and I spent 45 minutes looking at how we could use the principle of purposeful pairs to help us persevere in the face of such difficulties.... continue reading
I looked up the word Career in the dictionary the other day and the definition resonated. It said:
"Career (verb): An uncontrolled headlong rush normally ending in disaster"
I grew up in a "non-believing" home, with some pretty wild older siblings. Dysfunctional doesn't quite describe it. When I first started going to a gospel-teaching church as a teenager, I was drawn to a warm Christian family, and eventually responded to the message that made me a part of it.... continue reading
I blogged a few days ago about my visit to the Picasso exhibition that’s running at Tate Britain in London. Each room explored Picasso’s influence on a modern British artist, one of whom is Francis Bacon. I’m not a huge fan of Bacon’s work, so was scanning the paintings quite quickly – until I came across one that literally made me recoil with a shudder. I hated it. It was a triptych – the three paintings displayed side by side – each as horrible as the next.
Intrigued to know why I’d reacted so strongly, I went closer to read the blurb, and discovered that the three images were of people at the foot of the cross. That explained my revulsion. Bacon had cleverly taken the hate, spite, cruelty and self-righteousness of those who had crucified Jesus and were now watching, perhaps even gloating, as He died. “Yes”, I thought, “that’s the sick, evil rejection of God’s King”. And I felt the same revulsion for those wicked people that I had felt for the paintings.
And then I paused. Because it was my sin that held Jesus on the cross, just as much as theirs. The revulsion I felt is a slight glimpse of how we should respond to all sin – not just the obvious, the cruel, the violent – but all my “little” sins as well. The truth is that I have rejected God’s King every bit as much as those jeering onlookers. And it is only through His loving death for me that I now have the privilege of knowing Him as my Lord and Saviour. So now I’m really pleased that I hated Bacon’s work so much. Because through it I have been reminded of the blackness of my own heart, and the wonderful forgiveness made possible, and offered freely, by the one who died and rose again.
It’s a safe bet that at a significant number of evangelical churches last Sunday, the service leader said something like:
“Now Sue’s going to come and read from the Bible, and then our pastor Steve is going to explain the passage to us.”
When I lead, that seems to be my default for explaining what a sermon is: I usually find myself saying that Steve (in our case) is “going to explain the passage to us”.
But I’m not sure that’s a good thing to say—certainly not a good thing to almost always say. A couple of reasons why:... continue reading
There’s a fascinating exhibition running at Tate Britain in London, called Picasso and Modern British Art. It traces the legacy and influence of Picasso on seven British artists including Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore and David Hockney. It’s well worth a visit. One room focuses on a visit Picasso made to London in 1919 to work on the scenery and costumes for Sergei Diaghilev’s ballet The Three-Cornered Hat. It reminded me of watching that same ballet, with Picasso’s scenery and costumes – though not in 1919. It was part of a programme of short ballets where the décor and/or costume designs were by well-known artists. My memory of The Three-Cornered Hat is lots of reeling around by a miller and his wife. But the ballet that really stuck in my mind was very different…... continue reading
It's that familar story I'm sure we've all experienced: evil Norse legend teams up with equally evil alien race to attack Earth. Naturally, the U.S. government gathers a crack team of superheroes, monsters and scientists to thwart the tyrant and his hoardes. Okay, so the premise may be an unfamiliar and fanciful one, but the emotions, frailties and problems at the heart of this super movie are very human and recognisable...... continue reading
Over the next few Mondays we thought we’d introduce you to The Good Book Blog team. A little glimpse behind the screen to the people who type away week by week … First:
Helen Thorne, Blog Editor
An unlikely member of the blog team (given that a year ago she’d never actually read a blog post let alone written one and has a general disposition of extreme techno-phobia), Helen oversees the day to day running of the blog at Good Book. Her main role is to bring order out of the many and varied ideas that seem to spontaneously ooze from the creative team members!
A Christian since 1989, she’s worked at Good Book since 1999 which officially makes her an “old-timer”. She has resigned – twice – but keeps coming back and now accepts there is no escape from these hallowed walls.
As well as looking after the blog, she manages the Open Bible Institute – Good Book’s distance learning college. It’s a role she loves because it combines her passion for theology with the opportunity to get to know at least some of the 900 students enrolled on the courses.
When not at work, Helen attends Christ Church Kingston where, among other things, she plays the piano most Sundays. She’s a trustee of Capital Youthworks a Bible-centred youth work charity which runs events like Sorted. She’s active in local politics and is attempting to do a doctorate in the field of teaching parables (though it’s probably not a good idea to ask her how that’s going just now!).
But Helen is probably best known for her irrational love of all things cute … She is regularly mocked for her over-zealous affection for the 3 felines (psycho-cat, dim-cat and barge-puss) with which she shares her home … and rumour has it that it is only a matter of time before she buys her first micro-pig.
I have always loved God’s creation of seasons, and His promise that they’ll continue as long as this world does (Genesis 8 v 22). There’s so much variety – especially living in the UK. I even have two seasons in my flat – summer at the front, winter at the back (which is why I’m wearing fingerless gloves to type!). But my favourite thing about seasons is that it means we get Christmas every year, and Pentecost, and Advent, and… Easter.
Many of the children’s and youth workers I know have been running Easter clubs and events. It’s a fantastic opportunity to focus on the cross. I find that children, unlike some adults, have no problem with the concept of sin. They’re used to being in trouble; they know they mess up; they recognise their need for forgiveness. So the death of Jesus for their sins makes sense (if I can put it that way) for many of them. As does the fact that the resurrection shows that God accepted Jesus’ payment in full.
But I know that many of these children come to holiday club and not much else, which can mean the message of the cross is once-a-year. And while it’s great that the seasons give us this annual focus on the Easter events, I find myself wanting to home in on the cross all year round. Which is why I’m so pleased with many of our supermarkets. The Easter eggs have all gone – but something remains. Have you noticed that hot cross buns are now an all-year phenomenon? That’s great if we like them, but even better when we’re looking for visual aids. How about giving an “Easter talk” at a completely different time of year; then giving everyone a hot cross bun afterwards? The cross isn’t just for Easter – it’s for life.
PS That’s the reason this year’s children’s “Easter tract” doesn’t look Easterish. The message of the cross is for any and all seasons, and I’m hoping the tract can be used that way too.
58 years ago to the day, the world experienced its most boring day - April 11th 1954 was very dull.
Apparently, it’s official. I heard it on a QI rerun last night and then checked it on Google, so I guess it must be right…! Nothing of interest happened. No really famous people were born or died. No wars or acts of terror were committed. No celebrity weddings occurred. Nothing. A whole 24 hour period where there were no note-worthy headlines or jaw-dropping incidents of any description.
Or so the media would have us believe.
The gospel reality, however, is that no day can ever be truly boring. Every day is full of exceptional acts of grace. And if you would like to take a moment to ponder, you might find yourself smiling at just how extraordinary every day really is:
And then there’s the miracle of new life – each baby knit together by God himself. The fact that our every thought is known by the loving and holy ruler of the universe. The wonder that God is tender enough to lead mere humans like us through each day of our lives until he calls us home.
Incredible truths (from Colossians 1 and Psalm 139). Extraordinary privilege. All stemming from an awesome God.
Boring? Never!
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
