Here's something truly encouraging.
It's an article in Evangelicals Now, a simple testimony of one man's path to faith. But the really heartwarming thing is the number of different individuals involved, and how God guided this guy's questioning over a number of years.
He was struck both by what Christians said, and also how they lived – from school years onwards.
I would guess that some of those involved never knew whether their words and actions had an impact – maybe they thought he was yet another person they prayed for but who didn’t respond.
It's just really encouraged me to keep reaching out, even though most of the time I won’t know if there’s any fruit until the new creation.
Memory VersesLeading our church service last Sunday, I remarked that church was like a lot of different things:
It was a throwaway line to introduce the confession we said together but, in a way I hadn't planned or foreseen, its real value came after the meeting as we mingled for coffee.
I find it quite awkward sometimes to open up conversations with people at a level deeper than "How was your week?" I usually find myself talking about the kids rather than about Christ.
But on Sunday, I just asked people this simple question: "What did you need most this morning - a school, a family or a hospital?"
It opened up a series of brilliant conversations about the sermon, our human needs, and about some doubts and other issues people were concerned about. It felt like fellowship ought to. Real, natural, open, non-judgmental and caring.
Why not try it this Sunday morning... and why not help me for next time I lead a service, by leaving a comment suggesting another way to prompt some Christ-centred post-church conversations?
A recent study by the UK Department of Education has discovered the top ten factors in having happy children. Some surprises, but a lot of great encouragement for parents. Here's the list:
So worth persevering with family meal times, keeping the lines of communication open and insisting on brocolli.
But you might also check out Luke 6 v 20-23 for some challenging thoughts on how your children will be truly happy... it's Jesus' list. I suppose the rather glaring difference between the two springs from the fact that Jesus' factors are taking eternity into account, rather than focusing only on the here and now.
Jesus is everywhere in the Old Testament: He said so Himself (in Luke 24 v 27).
There are the famous bits, like Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 and the Passover in Exodus 12-13. But recently I've been reading through 2 Samuel, mainly because I'm not sure I've ever read through it from start to finish before. And in 2 Samuel 15, God's chosen king David faces a rebellion. His own son has set himself up as king in his place; Israel has rejected him. He's been betrayed by a trusted companion, Ahithophel. He has to flee Jerusalem, passing through the Mount of Olives as he does so. Those who see him weep.
It looks as though all is lost: God's christ, David, has lost God's kingdom.
But outside Jerusalem, David wins a great victory, and is restored to the throne.
It should be a happy ending, but it isn't. His rebellious son, Absalom, is killed, and David mourns for him: “My son Absolom! If only I had died instead of you!” (2 Samuel 18 v 33).
David's kingship is secured, but his rebellious son could not be saved.
I was happily reading through this historical account (I'm a history geek) when the penny dropped: what happened to God's "christ" David is a glimpse of what would happen a millennium later to God's ultimate Christ, Jesus.
But Jesus could do what David only wished he could: save His rebellious people, by dying instead of them. On Jesus' lips, David's “If only I had died instead of you” became “This is my body, given for you” (Luke 22 v 19).
Jesus both secured his kingship and saved his rebellious children.
That's our King. Isn't He amazing?
Jesus in 2 Samuel. Wow.
If you've come across Jesus in the Old Testament recently, do share it below so we can all say “Wow” (or, in more theological language, “Alleluia”).
OK, we confess. We've been keeping a secret from you for the last year.
When you were getting stuck into "A passion for life" (was that only last Easter?!), we were making plans. When you were lying on the beach over summer, we were editing the scripts. When you were restarting the school year we were running round the country with a film crew. And when you were shivering and sliding to work in the snow, we were writing and editing the books.
But now the secret is out. A third edition of Christianity Explored will be launched on May 10th.
It's the same Bible-based, Christ-centred course which has been used evangelistically by thousands of churches worldwide, with hundreds of thousands hearing the gospel. But now it's even better.
There's a completely new DVD. The course itself has been reduced from 10 weeks to seven, in response to feedback. There's a whole new handbook and leader's book. There's a new design and strapline.
Check out the "teaser trailer" here (it's also the blog's "Video of the week"), or read more here.
And watch this space for further announcements.
Stop press: the Bible encourages us to have sex outside marriage.
Or at least one Bible translation did—the so-called "Wicked Bible", a 1631 edition of the King James Version which managed to miss the word "not" out of the seventh commandments.
It's going on display, along with a lot of other very old (and much more correct!) Bibles, at Cambridge University.
Got me thinking: first, were there any happily-married 17th-century readers who immediately ran out of the house to obey the command?!
And second, what Bible verse today do we most often act as though it said something very different? Mine would probably be replacing the word "pure" with "zero" in James 1 v 2.
There were a hundred people on the platform, and only about 20 spaces left on the train. So there I was jostling with everyone else, trying to get through the doors before they shut. I even managed to dodge in front of a woman who'd been queuing in front of me. I was going to make it!
Then, for some unknown reason (actually, it was probably the Holy Spirit), these words popped into my head:
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10 v 44-45).
I was trying to get myself to a position higher (nearer the doors) than I deserved by my queuing. Jesus would not only have not done that, he would have have got himself to a position lower, further away from the doors, than He deserved.That's what greatness looks like in His kingdom.
Occasionally I make some big, obvious act of service (usually in church, usually where people can see). But how often have I jostled on the platform? How regularly do I miss the opportunity, in all sorts of circumstances, to become a “slave of all”, and do what's best for others and not for me?
So, next time the signals are down and there's a mass scramble for the train, I'm going to try to let those words of Christ affect my behaviour. Even train queues are a chance to be Christlike.
I must be missing loads of others. All suggestions for other situations welcome – comment below!
