Women Bishops and an Empty Jesus

If yesterday’s Church of England debate about women bishops told us very much at all, it was to do with what happens when pragmatism and popularity becomes confused with principle.

This post isn’t a comment on the rights and wrongs of women bishops—it’s about how you arrive at the positions you hold, and how you argue for those positions.

I’m not an expert on the ins and outs of how the Church of England’s General Synod works, but here are, as reported in the media — eg: here and here — the three main reasons why the church needs female bishops, and needs them now (or at least within the next year).

1. Outsiders think the church is out-of-date, old-fashioned and bigoted
2. There may well not be enough men who would make good bishops.
3. The church has already made up its mind.

These all sound great. But none of them are good.... continue reading

Who are we talking about when we talk about Jesus?

We have a problem with Jesus. Particularly when it comes to evangelism.

The problem isn't with who Jesus is. Though it's a cliche, Jesus is the answer to all our questions and longings. He is the compassionate one the broken want; the forgiving one the flawed need; the strong one the weak can cling to; the challenging one the complacent require. In evangelism, as in all ministry, if we're not talking about Jesus, we're missing the point and we're missing the power.

So what's the problem? It's with the simple word "Jesus". As soon as you read that word in the first sentence of this post, you had a mental sketch of this man in your head. It may have been a picture; may have been some words; may have been a vague idea. It's the same for everyone. Even in our post-Christian culture, Jesus is still so famous that everyone has an idea about him. He may be lots of things, but he’s not a nobody.... continue reading

On to a Good Thing

1. ‘But I Say to You…’ ebook just £4.50 until midday Thursday

Get your e-book copy of ’But I Say to You…’ by John Stott for just £4.50.

2. Life to the Full

A new website and video from Christians in Sport.

3. John Piper: The Infographic

An infographic from Tim Challies about John Piper.

4. 5 Things to Look for in a Good Bible Teacher

Mark Driscoll looks at 5 traits of a good Bible teacher.

5. Do You Feel Tension in the Christian Life?

A great article on the tensions in the Christian life.

6. And finally...

This week's video of the week, in case you missed it before, '’Original Jesus: Trailer’:

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

'But I Say To You...' ebook just £4.50 until midday Thursday!

Jesus took issue with his contemporaries on many of the basic questions of life - salvation, authority, morality and ambition to name but a few. Questions that still resonate today and ones that often leave us scratching our heads.

'But I say to you...' is vintage Stott - clear, biblical, passionate, thoughtful and Christ-centred - a magisterial defence of biblical, historic evangelical Christianity. By brilliant analysis of the debates of Jesus with the Pharisees and Sadducees of his day, he highlights modern versions of the same distortions. Profound, lucid and compelling, this book is as relevant to current debates as when it was first published.

Read more and get the ebook HERE for just £4.50 until midday on Thursday. Simply use the code say0214 at the checkout.

When your child grows up...

I don't read The Telegraph often but one of the lead stories today caught my eye: Your child is not a genius. Get over it.

Its basic thesis is this: Being ahead or behind in reading or maths as a child has little bearing on achievement as an adult. So take off the pressure, enjoy your kids and let them grow at their own unique pace. Really, it's not a competition. And, quite frankly, who wants to be a genius anyway?

Intriguing words... You see, I've noticed a trend among many of my friends: Extra tuition, practice papers every week, an abundance of extra curricula activities that will boost their child's chances of getting into a better school or more prestigious university. The diaries of children are a hive of activity and, at times, a melting pot of pressure.... continue reading

Fighting the Monday feeling

Though the fig-tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the sheepfold
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Saviour.

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Today's children don't know the Bible: three ways to respond

A survey for the Bible Society, released today, shows that almost three in ten children don't know key Bible stories, or if they do, they don't realise those stories come from the Bible. And it's not just the children and young people (those surveyed were 8 to 15-year-olds) - their parents didn't recognise many of these stories either.

So how do we respond to this kind of news? It's easy to tut about modern standards, shake our heads at the state of religious education in schools, and hark back to "the good old days". But here are three more positive suggestions instead:... continue reading

Scandalous - half price until midday Monday!

As Christians, we all appreciate that the cross is central to our faith. Jesus' death and resurrection are at the core of our beliefs. The events of Holy week and the final days of Jesus' life are probably familiar stories to us. But whilst we may know what happened way back then, do we fully appreciate and understand what those events mean? The entire Bible pivots on that one weekend in Jerusalem 2000 years ago so we must give it our fullest attention.

Scandalous by D A Carson helps us do just that. It is broken into five chapters, based on some lectures he gave.

One usually doesn’t think of irony as being a part of Jesus’ crucifixion; yet, it’s clear that the events of the crucifixion are profoundly ironic. And that's where Carson starts. Taking the Gospel of Matthew, Carson identifies the following four ironies of the crucifixion:... continue reading