The Good Book Company

1. Worship Jesus

A website full of resources for worship leaders & musicians from Olly Knight.

2. 14 Free eBooks for You

A collection of free e-books from Desiring God.

3. 21 Simple Ways to be an Exceptional Dad

Josh Mcpherson shares these ways that he's learnt from his Dad.

4. 4 Key Ingredients for Youth Ministry

Check out these key ingredients from Dave Wright at The Gospel Coalition.

5. And finally…

Our video of the week, part of the Open up the Bible campaign, 'Bible reading before work':

Found something that you think should make it on to the On to a Good Thing round-up? Send it to: ontoagoodthing@thegoodbook.co.uk

It was an embarrassing moment. “It’s gone out on Twitter and Facebook” said our blog editor. Having been (I admit it) rude about those who regularly use social media, I was rather astonished to find that my first book review for the Good Book Company blog had also gone out on social media – and had, within a few minutes, been read by folk in South Africa and the U.S.A.!

This led me to a more considered response (!).

Twitter has done much good in exposing what is really happening in Iran, the Arab Spring countries and Syria, for example, and reading Tim Chester’s little book, Will you be my Facebook friend?, has been very helpful in reflecting upon the positive and negative sides of YouTube, emails, Facebook and Twitter etc.

Domestic violence is in the news again. That's what happens when 2 celebrities have a very public row. And quite right too. Domestic violence is a hideous phenomenon that affects approximately 25% of women at some stage of their married / partnered life. It needs to be exposed. It needs to stop.

But there is another aspect to this crime. One which goes largely unreported. According to the National Centre for Domestic Violence, approximately 4 million men are affected by domestic violence every year. Every third victim of domestic violence is male. One man dies every 3 weeks at the hands of their partner.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable His judgements, and His paths beyond tracing out!
‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counsellor?’
‘Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?’
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

Romans 11:33-36

The first look took me completely by surprise.

Everything else we had spent the last six months researching, planning, working towards. The cot was installed. The room freshly painted yellow - we decided to be surprised by the sex, rather than find out from the scan so we could paint blue or pink. I had read up abut the technicalities of baby care, and how to be a supportive husband for a new mother. The visit from my mum had been planned. The plane ticket for her mum had been booked. Time off work scheduled. The technology researched and in place.

Everything was ready except me.

Are you helping to lead a camp this year?

Christian camps provide a great opportunity for children and young people to have a brilliant holiday, make new friends and explore who God is all in one fun-filled, action packed, life-changing week!

What makes a summer camp so unbelievably fantastic? Perhaps it’s the outdoor pursuits like canoeing, sailing, kayaking, surfing, archery, gorge-walking, caving, abseiling, skiing or climbing. Perhaps it’s the trips to the beach, wacky sports, arts, crafts, tournaments, football, table tennis, pool and swimming. Perhaps it’s the great friends you make, the fun leaders and the cracking atmosphere. It's definitely got something to do with the opportunity they provide to explore the meaning of life from the Bible!

But if you're a leader you'll know that camps don't just happen. They require a great deal of work.

We'd like to help relieve some of the burden and workload the camps bring.

To that end, The Good Book Company has a dedicated Summer Camps Bookstall service that is unbeatable on price, content, quality and ease of use. We are here to help you get the best Bible-based resources and reading for your camp in the most pain-free way possible. You'll get great value and a great service!

You can do everything online or give our team a call on 0333 123 0880 and we will help you through the process step by step.

If you aren't responsible for the bookstall on your camp - why not pass on the link to the person who is?

Christians shut out by officials because of equalities 'obsession', MPs warn

Crowd stunned after valedictorian rips up speech, recites Lord’s prayer

Eager to Adopt, Evangelicals Find Perils Abroad

Lutheran assembly elects first openly gay bishop

Cathedral gears up for Archbishop farewell

Archbishop Justin Welby: The 'muscular Christian’ setting a fine example to his flock

Disclaimer: The Good Book Company is not responsible for the content of external sites and does not necessarily agree with the content of articles listed.

I'll admit that I am slightly cat-mad but that's not the only reason the headline feature on the BBC site caught my eye today. Recently a team of scientists attached GPS locator chips and small cameras to the collars of a selection of friendly felines from a village in Surrey and tracked their behaviour. Data was transmitted to a central computer every time the cats moved giving an accurate representation of where they went and what they saw. If you happen to be interested in the life of Chip, Rosie, Coco, Hermie or their friends you can follow your chosen moggy or tom's cat-cam here.

But cute furriness and biological intrigue aside, the articles got me thinking. What would people see if someone attached a GPS and a camera to my neck? What would be flashed across the screens of computers worldwide if I live-streamed everything that I looked at and everywhere I went?

It wasn't the easiest conversation I've had this week. An elderly friend is coming to terms with an unpleasant realisation: she is getting old.

She doesn't feel it. Well, she feels it in her arthritis-riddled bones. But she doesn't feel it in her heart and in her mind. She still thinks of herself as the motorbike-riding, hill-walking, party-loving woman that she has always been. So it seems wrong, so wrong to be considering going into a care home. "They're for old people" she exclaimed. I probably could have been more subtle in the way I pointed out that 88 years and several strokes on, she is no spring chicken any more.