Prominent Christian leader Steve Chalke has declared himself in favour of accepting homosexual couples who are in committed same-sex relationships. In an article to be published in Christianity magazine Chalke says that after a long struggle, he has decided to announce his support for faithful same sex relationships. What are we to make of this?
If you’re reading this and you’re in (or would like to be in) a gay relationship, we’re so glad you’re here—and you could be forgiven for being a bit confused. Not about your own feelings, but about the church’s feelings towards you, and (much more importantly) God’s feelings towards you? Does He love you, or hate you?
So, before I begin responding to the Steve's announcement, and his article where he states his support of long-term same-sex relationships, here’s what, if you’re gay and if you’re wondering, you need to know about what God thinks.... continue reading
You don't need me to tell you, I'm sure, of the challenges and attacks that the Christian faith finds itself faced with right now. The secular world chooses to try to demean and diminish Christianity, to marginalise it and undermine it's place in our world. The spread of atheism and vocal nature of New Atheists who look to disprove God and undermine the credibility of the Gospels has heightened the pressure under which we Christians find ourselves.
So how do we counter the desire and instincts of a large number of non-Christians to destroy the validity of the Gospels and therefore the credibility of Jesus and God himself? In Gospel Truth, Paul Barnett looks at the main issues and questions we are challenged with and offers in response historical and reasoned arguments to help us all deal with this onslaught and those around us who seek to question what we believe and the foundations on which our faith is built.
Read more and get the book here for just £4.99 until midday on Monday. Use the code gt1213 at the checkout.
It's now the day when the sales start, and the big "box stores" try to pull in as many of us as possible to grab our post-Christmas bargains and deal with the flurry of returns and exchanges. But what was the original purpose of this day? And why "boxing" day?
As I grew up the youngest of three lively boys, it was inevitably the day when we started fighting each other over the use or breakage of a treasured Christmas present - the fights were never under the Marquis of Queensbury rules, and I usually lost. But it's not that kind of boxing.
Traditionally it is thought to have come from the Victorian practice of wealthy families presenting gifts in boxes to their household servants, and to tradesmen who had served them well during the year. In other words, a day of expressing gratitude to those less well off. An alternative, but related suggestion is that it was the day the church opened its Alms box to feed and bless the poor and needy of the parish.... continue reading
This is going to sound soppy, but I can still remember the first time my wife, then my girlfriend, said: “I love you”. It meant the world to me.
It still does, of course. But in the twelve years since, Lizzie has told me she loves me so many times that in a way, it has less of an impact than it did that first time (or the second, or third).
But (before you start thinking I’m a truly awful husband), her “I love you” also means much more than it did. Because, the more life we’ve spent together, and the more I’ve got to know her, and the more she’s done for me, the more I’ve come to appreciate that love, the more I’ve come to rely on that love.
So there’s this tension; it means more, but can have so much less impact. I need to just stop and appreciate the old truth: She loves me.... continue reading
Britain has its first atheist church.
It’s in north London, drew over 300, erm, worshippers last Sunday, and offers the chance to sing songs like Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now and Stevie Wonder’s Superstition.
And the “Sunday Assembly” has its own mantra, too: “Live better, help often, wonder more”.
Here are four thoughts, and then over to you for yours in the Comments section:
1. Everyone is religious. We long to belong to a community of fellow believers, with a code for living, and a purpose for our lives. Romans 1 v 25 tells us that humans are wired to worship something—it will either be the Creator, or created things, but it will be something.... continue reading
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favourite things …
There won’t be much chance of escaping it over the festive period – the Sound of Music is as much a feature of many people’s Christmases as turkey, mince pies and the Grinch. But much as cute animals, beautiful plants and presents are to be enjoyed, it strikes us that there are many things far more wonderful about celebrating Christmas with our brothers and sisters in Christ in our local congregations.
So here are some of the things members of The Good Book Blog team love most about Christmas with their respective churches:... continue reading
In that day you will say:
‘I will praise you, Lord.
Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
and you have comforted me.
Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself,
is my strength and my defence;
he has become my salvation.’
Isaiah 12 v 1-2
Who: John Calvin
When: 1509-1564
Where: Geneva, Switzerland
So what?
John Calvin is the Marmite of church history – people tend either to love him or hate him. The bare facts are: he was brought up a French Catholic… studied to become a priest and then a lawyer in Paris… became a convinced Protestant… wrote a letter to the King of France to defend Protestants from the charge of being rebels, and attached to it a book about Protestant doctrine (the famous Institutes)… and ended up as a pastor in Geneva with some influence, then great influence, over the church in that city-state.... continue reading
I love hearing Christmas songs on the radio in December—Mariah Carey, Jona Lewis, and yes, even Cliff Richard. But there’s one guilty pleasure that’s making me feel increasingly uneasy: Band Aid’s Do they know it’s Christmas? Although it’s still a favourite sing-along in bars and clubs around this time of year, I can’t help but think that describing Africa as “a world of dread and fear”, a continent reverberating with “the clanging chimes of doom”, is a bit patronising.
Thankfully, it’s becoming further and further from the truth, too. In 2000, the UN set eight Millennium Development Goals, with the aim of achieving them by 2015. A report by the Africa Development Bank Group this year, reviewing progress towards the goals, praised “steady economic growth and improvements in poverty reduction”. As development organisations plan targets and strategies for their work after 2015, Band Aid’s annual cater-walling is starting to seem outdated.... continue reading
