Linda walked up to me after church, a cup of coffee in her hands. As we exchanged pleasantries, she suddenly said: “I’m a bit confused. A friend has been talking to me and she says that we all become ghosts after we die. That’s not right … is it?”
What do you say?
We were studying John’s Gospel in homegroup, and had finished reading chapter 16. Dave, always enthusiastic to ask his questions, got us started by saying “I like to think of the Holy Spirit as a kind of electricity that keeps us going...”
What do you say?
Most of the youth group had been to see the movie, and it was the subject of an excited discussion as I walked up to them. “It’s really scary to think that the devil can just take people over like that,” said one girl. “But at least you wouldn’t be responsible for the stuff you did when you were possessed,” a boy replied.
What do you say?... continue reading
This year, The Gospel Coalition National Conference (starting in the US on Monday 8th April) is going to be focusing on Jesus' mission in the Gospel of Luke. It looks as if it's going to be a great conference and if you're interested you can follow events at the conference using #TGC13. To mark the start of the conference The Good Book Company in partnership with The Gospel Coalition are offering a free series of daily devotionals based on Luke for your mobile device.
The Good Book Company's Explore App offers devotionals for your phone or pad so you can study God's word wherever you are and whenever you want. Each study will refresh and encourage your walk with the lord as it points you to His word. Explore doesn't simply tell you about a passage of scripture - it takes you into the passage, through a mixture of questions about the text, short summaries and helpful links to other parts of the Bible. Then it helps you bring the passage into your own life through application and prayer pointers. It's ideal for anyone wanting to continue, add to or re-establish a good habit of reading the Bible every day. Each devotional is suited for new Christians and more mature believers, and comes with the passage and any cross-references attached and is based on the ESV translation. Users can either choose dated material, which works through the whole Bible in around seven years; or to download devotionals on a particular book of the Bible. Contributors include Timothy Keller, Mark Dever, Graham Beynon, Christopher Ash, Mike McKinley and Tim Thornborough.
The Explore series on the Gospel of Luke, written by The Good Book Company's Senior Editor Carl Laferton, comprises 105 studies. Until the end of June you can download the first 35 for free, and be thrilled, for the first or thousandth time, by the Lord Jesus and His life, love, words and deeds. To access your 35 free devotionals. search for "Explore Bible" in the App Store or Google Play, download the app and then in the "Read" section select "TGC Luke 1 - 9"
As a taster, you can access pdfs of the first three studies here.
The only right motivation for serving or obeying Christ Jesus is love. It sounds so simple and obvious; but we find it so very easy, and it appears so very natural, to serve for any and every reason other than love. We serve to earn blessing (or even salvation); to pay Jesus back, as though he’s not generous; to be noticed by others or be part of an in-crowd; we serve because we think Jesus needs us to, as though if we don’t serve, His mission will fall apart.
We serve for all kinds of reasons other than the only one which Jesus asks for, looks for, and is pleased by: love.
And when we serve in love, everything changes.
Think about an act of service for a moment, maybe something you do in church, at home or at work. Choose something repetitive—a way you serve others every day or each week. Now ask: If I do that act of service as a way to earn God’s love or blessing, or to impress others or be needed by others, what will it do to my heart? One of two things. It will fill your heart with pride, if you’re noticed or needed, or if you consider that now you have deserved God’s blessing. Or it will fill it with despondency or bitterness, if you feel you haven’t had the praise you deserve, or if God doesn’t do for you what you think He should.... continue reading
How do you serve Jesus? And (more importantly) why do you serve Jesus… and how do you feel about serving Jesus?
If you’re anything like me, serving can be a bit of a burden—just one more job in an already busy life. I often feel weary or discouraged about it. Or, when it’s going well, I feel proud and self-reliant about it.
Most of the time, it’s just the price that has to be paid to get eternity.
John Hindley, whose new book Serving Without Sinking has just launched, puts it this way:
“We Christians often seem to be a burdened, joyless bunch. It should not be like this, and it doesn’t need to be—for me or for you.”... continue reading
How do we change and grow as Christians? In the same way we became Christians. That's why in Galatians 3 v 1-3, Paul reminds the Galatian Christians how it was that they came to Christ. And in essence, “Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified” (v 1). This portrayal was achieved through preaching, through “what you heard” (v 2, 5). Paul isn’t referring to a literal picture, but a metaphorical one.
There was a message communicated—“Jesus Christ … crucified” (see 1 Corinthians 2 v 1-5). Notice that the essence of this message is not how to live, but what Jesus has done for us on the cross. The gospel is an announcement of historical events before it is instructions on how to live. It is the proclamation of what has been done for us before it is a direction of what we must do.... continue reading
My friends are hurting. I’m guessing yours are too. There seems to be a never-ending stream of people sharing their struggles. In the last few months alone I’ve had phonecalls about suicide attempts, unplanned pregnancies, lost jobs, broken relationships, spiraling debt, childhood abuse and post-traumatic stress syndrome (to name just a few).
It’s a privilege to stand alongside people in tough times. Any Christian with a heart of compassion will want to support those who struggle. All of us, I’m sure, know the importance of prayer. And I imagine most of us are confident in the transformational work that can take place when people turn to Jesus as the great counselor and sovereign Lord. But, if you’re anything like me, there are moments when you feel ill-equipped. What can (or should) be said to someone in the depths of despair? What can we do to point people to Jesus in the tough times?... continue reading
Today on The Good Book Blog, Carl Laferton speaks to Mike McKinley about his new book, Passion.
Passion is a book about the last day of Jesus' life, leading up to the cross. There are A LOT of books about the cross! Why is this one different?
Well, Passion certainly doesn't break any startling new ground. I think that's probably a good thing! But there are three features of the book's approach that I hope make it particularly helpful: First, it’s expositional. The book is rooted in the text of Luke. I hope that by the time the reader is finished with the book, they have a fresh grasp of the what the Scriptures tell us about the suffering of our Lord. Second, it’s applicational (if that’s a word!). The writers of the New Testament saw the cross of Christ (alongside his resurrection) as one of the foundational realities of the Christian life. The cross applies to our lives right now; we are meant to live and love and believe in light of what Jesus did for us there. Third, it’s slow.There is a lot of action packed into Luke's account of that day. My goal in Passion was to slow down and look carefully at all of those events and what they mean to us.... continue reading
And here, to whet your appetite, is an extract from Mike McKinley's brand new book, Passion.
Barabbas is famous for being the man who was set free instead of Jesus. We only know a few things about him. We know his name. Barabbas means “son of the father” (bar=”son”, abba=”father”). Some early manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew tell us that Barabbas’ full name was Jesus Barabbas.
We also know that he was in jail, having been found guilty of starting a riot and committing a murder. He was a dangerous criminal, a killer.
Barabbas is the opposite of the people we’d like to be, and like to think of ourselves as. But for a moment, put yourself in his shoes. You are sitting in a Roman jail awaiting your death. You know you will be crucified for your crimes. And, in your more honest moments, you know you deserve it. There aren’t many worse ways to die. And so day after day you sit in this jail, anticipating the nails, the mockery, the excruciating pain, the blood filling your lungs, the breaking of your legs. That’s your future. You don’t know when it’s coming, but you know it is coming.... continue reading
The cross of Jesus is the centre of human history. It's the centre of the Christian faith. And it changes everything we are, everything we have been, everything we will become. Or at least it should ... But it's all too easy to let the wonder that is the cross seem routine, in our thinking it can become just an historical fact that will one day get us a free pass to eternal life. All too often it doesn't always have the pivotal place in our lives that it deserves. Which is why we're so excited to be launching Mike McKinley's new book today: Passion.
Through its pages, Mike takes us on a tour of the last day of Jesus' life. He draws out the awfulness of Jesus' execution and the awesomeness of the salvation it buys in ways that will inspire and equip. Through the questions for reflection at the end of each chapter, the implications of Jesus' death are gently but challengingly brought to bear. So whether you're exploring Christianity, a new Christian or have been following Jesus for many years, this book is a great opportunity to reflect on how Christ's Passion can change everything - absolutely everything.
To buy Passion with at least 15% saving, click here if you're in the UK, or for our US customers buy Passion here. Or check back later today for a the chance to read an extract from the book ...
Name your idols. Maybe you’re thinking of people you look up to and admire — a sports star or a singer. But what is an idol? When the Bible uses the word, it isn’t thinking of the latest winner of a TV talent show.
Stupid statues
Idols feature loads in the Bible, even in the Ten Commandments, where God tells His people: “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20 v 4–5). So an idol is something that we worship instead of God.
In the Old Testament that mostly meant worshipping statues or idols made of metal, stone, wood etc. It should have been self evident that these home-made gods were a joke, but from the golden calf onwards (Exodus 32 v 1–4), God’s people kept falling into the same old trap. Isaiah 44 v 9–20 is a blistering attack on how stupid the whole thing is. Check it out for a moment.... continue reading
