Well worth taking some time to watch Sam Allberry's session from the 2014 ERLC National Conference on “The Gospel, Homosexuality, and the Future of Marriage.”
You can order Sam's book, Is God anti-gay?, HERE.
It's Halloween on Friday (it will also be Reformation Day, but our local shops don’t seem to be stocking too many Martin Luther outfits). Whether you think the festival is horrendous, harmless, or somewhere in between, why not make sure you’re praying about it… here are five pointers from Colossians:... continue reading
We're called to grow - to bear fruit for the gospel (John 15:8). And we're called to help our brothers and sisters do the same (Hebrews 10:24). But there are some great ways to ensure we duck our responsibilities ... here are just five. Maybe you can spot your tendency in the mix:... continue reading
Do you ever doubt the strength of the Lord?
Probably not when you’re in a Bible study and you’re asked a theological question but on those days in between church and home group, do you doubt he can act?
Can God really sort out the wars? The injustice? The hunger? The persecution in the world? Can he really bring the promised peace?
Is he really sovereign over the chaos – the floods, the accidents, the abuse? Will there be true perfection one day?
Can he heal the brokenness in your life? Enable you to conquer that persistent sin? Can he truly bring to completion the work he has begun in each of us?
Will evangelism ever be complete? Will his gospel ever reach the farthest corners of the world? Will his Kingdom ever fully come …?... continue reading
A. Choosing (what version?)
For most internationals (except university and post-grad students), a simplified translation of the Bible is best. The NIV may be suitable for students who have reached an advanced level of English (roughly corresponding with British university entry level). Otherwise, think about using one of the following:
Advantages
It's a busy time of year. It's an incredibly busy time of year for us here at The Good Book Company. And we would really appreciate your prayers over the next week or so.
We're going to be running 8 big bookstalls at 8 events across England and Wales in towns from Cwmbran to Southampton and London to Manchester. And there are going to be some brilliant deals along the way ...
We're going to be launching fantastic new books like A Man's Greatest Challenge, Purity is Possible as well as Engaging with Hindus and Engaging with Atheists.... continue reading
It was an unpleasantly hot autumn afternoon on the London underground. Having read all the adverts and glanced one too many times at my neighbour's newspaper, my eyes settled on the man opposite. His t-shirt was blue, slightly grubby and bore these words: "You are what you watch"
I imagine it was a commentary on film or TV watching. If so, that would make me James Bond or a character from NCIS - for better or for worse. But the concept intrigued me - a deeper truth lurked in those crumpled words.
Where we put our eyes impacts our Christian walk:
I guess, in part, that's why the writer of Hebrews encourages us to live our Christian lives with our eyes very carefully positioned:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
It's an inescapable fact: you are what you watch.
It's a subject that's taboo. A reality that many find shocking. A fact that some would prefer to deny. But the truth is out there: women use porn too.
Accurate statistics are difficult to source but a quick trawl of the web seems to suggest that about a quarter of those who visit internet pornography sites are female. Some pages suggest that up to 60% of women have used porn at some point in their lives. And while we might prefer to think otherwise, it's fairly safe to assume that some of those surfing such sites will be Christians who are confused, ashamed, addicted or desperate. Indeed over the last decade I've had quite a few Christian sisters confide in me - each convinced that they are the only one. Far from being a solely male pastoral issue, porn is something that affects women too and those involved in women's ministry need to be addressing the subject proactively.... continue reading
Are you looking forward to getting older?
Not the aches and the pains or the more serious bodily deterioration. Nor the reduction in energy. Those things are no fun at all. But the wonderful benefits of age - are you looking forward to them?
We live in a culture obsessed by youth - looking young, living young, feeling young - but the Bible has a different perspective.... continue reading
I’ve just come back to the office after having spent two months in South Asia with Serving in Mission. Here I tell the story of one of the believers I met there—I’ll call her T. As I sat in her living room eating the traditional sweet dessert she’d served me (like many things there, it was made from rice), I asked her how she had become a believer. This is what she said:
“It all started with my husband.”
As a young woman, T had an arranged marriage. This would have been very normal, except for the fact that—unlike herself, her family, and almost everyone else in the region—her new husband was not the Muslim T had assumed he would be. It was only after she married him that she discovered, to her alarm, that he was in fact a Christian.
Her family advised her to get divorced at once, but T knew she would have no hope of getting married again. In any case, her husband seemed like a good, caring man. “I was on this path”, she told me, “so I thought I might as well see where it led.”... continue reading
