In the lead up to Easter, we'll be looking at 5 snapshots from Luke's Gospel as Jesus makes his way to the cross. Today we join him in the Garden of Gethsemane...
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.
On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”
He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.
And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Luke 22 v 39-46
What is happening as Jesus prepares to drink the cup of God's wrath?... continue reading
Here are 6 ways we can avoid Bible-Reading damaging our health:
1. Read it (not notes!) Just read the Bible.
I think that Bible-reading notes can be helpful, but if you have never read the Bible without notes, can I encourage you to ditch them, at least for a while? Get used to reading the Bible as a book you can understand. Read it as that love letter from Jesus. Read it to find him. You do not need notes to get it.
2. Read all of it
And this applies to all of the Bible. It is all about Jesus. It is all good, exciting, beautiful truth about our Lord and Saviour. It centres on his cross, and it sings, whispers, heralds, shouts, cries and placards his name in every chapter.... continue reading
For years, I have struggled with Bible reading. Most Christians I know struggle to read the Bible (though we don’t like to talk about it).
We wonder why it doesn’t seem to make a difference to us. We wonder why we don’t miss it when we don’t read it.
We know we should read its words, but often we don’t really feel like reading it. We know it’s true; we don’t remember it’s beautiful.
Maybe you’re in that position as you read this. Maybe you are in church leadership and wish your church family would read the Bible more (even as you wish that your own Bible-reading was more than doing your duty).
... continue reading
The votes are in and it's looking like we have a title! By more than 3 to 1, you went for A: What makes us human?
It was interesting looking through the rationales given—thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. We trust your judgement on this people.
Look out for the new book, which we are planning to launch at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly at the end of June this year.
As an Englishman, one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in America is automated call centers. You miss a package delivery from FedEx, and you have to call them to arrange a new delivery time. The problem is that when you call, you aren’t connected to a human being. You are connected to a talking robot programmed to recognize what you are saying in English.
Or should I say, it is programmed to recognize what you are saying in American English.... continue reading
There's a rumour going round that women don't watch online sex. There's a school of thought that says our fantasies are romantic rather than explicit.
Purity is Possible is a book about how to live free of the fantasy trap.
The beginning of Romans 9:14 suggests that Paul has taught this material before! He has just stated that when people don’t believe, it is because God has not chosen them. Then he immediately says: “What then shall we say? Is God unjust?” He asks that question, of course, because he knows it is the first reaction of everyone who hears this teaching! It is normal to ask: To choose only some and not all—that is not fair! Isn’t God being unfair? But Paul counters: “Not at all!”... continue reading
Romans 12:1-2 shows us the way to overcome spiritual stagnation or ongoing disobedience; the way to bring our hearts joyfully to offer ourselves wholly:
1. View the mercies of God. (KJV and ESV have “mercies” instead of “mercy”; we are not to think of God’s mercy in general, but his specific acts and deeds—supremely, to look back at the cross.) If we lack a passion or interest in being holy, it comes from a failure to contemplate God’s mercies toward us. There is no way to sustain a pattern of holiness in Christian living without a kindling of our hearts by deep meditation on God’s mercy and grace; we need to begin reflecting on the mercies of God.... continue reading
We're really excited about Epic Explorers, the brand-new addition to the Christianity Explored range, specially designed for 4-11s. We'd like you to get excited about it too - tell your friends, your church's childrens worker, the person who runs the school CU - so we've made a desktop wallpaper for you...
Here's the wallpaper and it's available for your desktop, laptop, tablet and even mobile phone. Enjoy!
1024x768 | 1280x1024 | 1366x768 | 1680x1050 | 1920x1200 | 2560x1440 | iPad | iPhone
How to change your wallpaper: The wallpaper you need will vary , depending on your monitor size, screen resolution and a few other considerations. You can click here to see what your resolution is. Generally you set one of these are your wallpaper by clicking on the link to download the image, then right-clicking on the image (once it’s open) and selecting “Set as Background,” “Set as Desktop Background,” or something similar.
What better way to teach the Easter story this term than to show young people a realistic depiction of what happened at the very first Easter - using nothing but the original text?... continue reading
