If you’re looking for a new job, an apprenticeship, some training or a chance to get involved more on the mission-field then The Good Book Company website has a new community section that might be right up your street.
In addition to The Good Book blog and our ever-popular events-booking facility, it’s now possible to see all the adverts that appear in The UK Briefing online.
So whether you’re looking for a one day event or a 3-year degree; a gap-year position or a pastorate in an inner-city church; a chance to link up with a great mission organisation or an opportunity to get involved with a small church plant, do check out our online ads.
And if you would like to consider placing an ad – in the Briefing and online – you can find out more details on our website.
What's the second book of the Bible?
What's the second commandment?
Who was the second disciple Jesus calls?
Who was the second king of Israel?
What was the second plague of Egypt?
What was created on the second day?
What's the second longest book in the Bible?
Just got back from a wonderful holiday with the family, which we have been planning for the last two years. It was a long road trip punctuated by several "mini-holidays" of a few days each - on a beach, in a city, by a lake.
We pondered how we might read the Bible together as a family, and came up with a cunning plan. Some older Christians I know are in the habit of reading a chapter of Proverbs every day - there are 31 chapters - one for each day of the month. So we took up this approach for our daily dose of God's Word.
We passed the Bible around the car (actually - the ESV on my iPhone) and looked at the chapter corresponding to the day of the month. Then each of us - me, my wife, my three daughters - chose the verse that particularly struck us. We encouraged each other to say why it was interesting, to illustrate it, and to apply it.
Result?
A refreshing change of approach to family Bible reading. Sometimes they chose a verse because the picture it painted was just funny:
"An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones." (12 v 4). (Prompting much hilarity and discussion about Mum and Dad's marriage - but also some insights for them about what to look for in a marriage partner).
Sometimes they chose a verse because it reflected a real situation they faced:
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (16 v 18). Much talk of teachers at school that they thought fitted this category.
One thing I did need to keep doing, was to bring us back to the source of true wisdom from 1v7 - "the fear of the Lord is the beginning (or source) of true wisdom." Sometimes it is easy to read the proverbs out of this, the central context of the book as a whole. It is not just worldly wisdom, but describes how we should live under the loving rule of a sovereign God.
Benefits?
Sometimes it was a bust - particularly, when one of us got distracted into inventing an increasingly preposterous story to illustrate the verse. But mostly it was enjoyable, and turned into a good conversation. And it marked a change. Before, our Bible times had mostly been about Mum or Dad teaching and explaining - or answering questions that were posed. Now we were loving the fact that our girls were cutting their teeth on preaching God's word to us - explaining, illustrating, applying - rolling the words of God around in our minds as the miles of tarmac rolled under us.
It’s that time of year again. Many children are about to start a new term, a new class, maybe even a new school. And Christian parents and friends up and down the land are praying hard.
Many are praying for good friendships to be formed. Others for academic or sporting success. A few are pleading for the end of bullying or a greater ability to cope with the many pressures of school life.
But over all these personal hopes and fears, it’s great to take a moment to pray through these verses.
The LORD … established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so that the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. [Psalm 78:5-7]
They are fantastic verses that remind us of God’s priorities. So why not take the opportunity right now to think about your own children or the children in your congregation:
We are delighted to have been invited to exhibit at the Together for Adoption conference on 21-22 October 2011 in Phoenix, AZ.
In the build up to the conference we are partnering with Together for Adoption to do three book-giveaways over the coming weeks. If you enjoy reading and are always on the lookout for gospel-saturated books, this is a giveaway in which you’ll want to participate. Details of how to enter this first giveaway are at the end of this post.
The first giveaway contest is for the book Gospel-Centered Life by Tim Chester (a T4A keynote speaker) and Steve Timmis. You can read the first two chapters of the book online. Gospel-Centered Life will help you discover how, in the gospel, everyday problems and experiences can be transformed. There are 15 copies of this book to giveaway.
Here’s how to have a chance to get one of the 15 copies.
You have through midnight Saturday (September 10) to enter. T4A will announce the 15 winners next Monday.
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
(Isaiah 40 v 28-31)
The Lord is the one who creates, sustains, controls and directs His world for His purposes. And He’s promised to restore and renew His people. Who can compare to Him?
It’s been a busy week on The Good Book blog! We’ve featured an interview with Rico Tice of Christianity Explored ministries; heard from people using CE in a range of contexts; and offered an amazing deal on CE course handbooks, to be found only on this blog.
Here’s a full round-up of what we’ve posted, in case you’ve missed any of it.
The Handbooks Deal:
Find the code you need to quote when ordering here.
The Rico Interview:
How you can use CE:
The CE website:
A couple of the “Real Life Stories” from www.christianityexplored.org. See if you agree with US pastor and author John Piper!
The site also features a “Tough Questions” area—here are a couple of the answers featured there:
It’s easy to point to the site on your church’s website: go here to download some designs.
Why not get some cards with the site’s address on to keep in your wallet or pocket, ready to give out to people? Order some now: email admin@thegoodbook.co.uk (UK) or admin@thegoodbook.com (US).
Steve Smith is pastor of Grace Church, a small but growing church family who meet in a school hall in Worcester Park, Surrey. Here, he tells the story of how a couple completely unconnected with church ended up on a CE course.
“A couple in our church downloaded a poster about Christianity Explored from TGBC’s website, and put it up in their block of flats. The poster had the website www.christianityexplored.org on it.
“A little while later I got an email from a couple who were South Africans living in our area. They’d been to church many years before, but were totally unconnected with church now.
“They’d never heard of CE until they saw that poster. They went to the website, decided they needed to do the course, and searched for their local course.
“I’d booked our course on to the website as soon as we got the materials to start running the course. So they found us, their local church, and emailed. They signed up for, and came along to, the CE course.
“He’s become a Christian, and she’s signed up to go through the course a second time. They’re both now regulars at our church.... continue reading
The new Christianity Explored website, launched in April, is a fantastic new resource for Christians trying to share their faith with friends, family and colleagues.
Because it presents the gospel and apologetics clearly, but in a warm and positive way, it’s great for pointing people to, whether they’re:
whether they’ve only just begun to think about Christianity, are asking lots of questions or whether they’re thinking of signing up for a CE course (or have already done so).
The website has a “Course” section which gives details about how CE courses work—but it’s also capable of being used as a standalone evangelistic tool.
It features:
How can you use it to equip and encourage evangelism in your church?... continue reading
