Tim Thornborough writes about keeping an eye on the clock over on his blog about leading a home group.
The study is flowing, the conversation is sharp, funny and moving by turn.
Someone raises an interesting question that everyone wants to comment on. Someone shares a deeply moving need that everyone wants to pray for.
You look at your watch, and it's 10.45.
"Whoa!" you cry, "time these little piggies were all tucked up in bed for the night." Some members shoot out of their seats and head straight for the door. Others linger in the hallway talking by the open door. You stifle a yawn, close the door and switch on the TV to wind down before you go to bed. The light doesn't go off until 12.45.
Sound familiar?
Time can just rush by at a homegroup when things are going well, when enthusiasm and interest seem to be sky high. But did you notice the warning signs in the little scenario above? "Some members shoot out of their seats and head straight for the door."
Before you read on, just pause for a moment and consider what the typical timings for your group meeting might be.... continue reading
This is an excellent testimony from our friends at Hill City Church, Wales.
"People used to think of me as Jim the Marine - it gave me that sense of recognition. And yet... there was something still missing."
James Richards talks about his experience serving with the Royal Marines, and his search for belonging in the battle of life.
What is the first city named in the Bible?
In which book does Paul talk about the armour of God?
Which book finishes, "The children of your chosen sister send their greetings."
What was created on the fourth day?
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I _____."
In John 21, how many fish does Simon Peter drag ashore?
Which of these four books is the longest?
Just laying out some Explore notes on 2 Timothy by David Sprouse, and thought this comment was a corker:
"It is a wonderful, as well as a sobering, fact that unlike any other book in the world, every time the Bible is read the author is present. And it is what He thinks that counts."
The talk and posturing over the place of evangelicals in the Church of England seems to have been endless. But after a few false dawns, a significant step towards an alternative oversight system for confessing evangelicals has been announced here.
The Anglican Mission in England (AMIE) held its inaugural event last wednesday at the Evangelical Ministers Assembly in London, and a new office will be opened in central London for the organisation which will be overseen by a number of bishops, from the UK and overseas.
Update: Rev Richard Perkins writes with some helpful explanation of what the AMIE means in practice.
The debate on euthanasia is not going to go away. We’ve blogged on how we approach the issue ourselves, as Christians: and Dr Jason Roach guest-blogged a medic’s perspective.
But what about the question asked by a friend over a coffee at work, or on the way home from football, or at the school gate?
Here, for what it’s worth, is what we think we might say:
In what was Jesus wrapped before he was buried?
God told Joshua to walk around Jericho's walls for how many days?
Which of these kings is NOT in Kings?
The shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the ___ of truth?
Which book is the longest Minor Prophet?
What time was it when Peter said, "These men are not drunk, as you suppose."?
Which book finishes, "And so he died, old and full of years."
