As someone who has a love for stories, films and drama, I have been wrestling with a creeping suspicion over the last decade. It's a doubt that the stories about Jesus - and particularly about his death and resurrection - are just one more form of a "story type" that exists in a huge number of forms in all cultures, and which certainly predates the New Testament. Stories about gods dying and rising seem to be quite common throughout the world.
You see it in the Egyptian myth of Osiris; the Norse myth of Baldr; the Aztec feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl; and even the Japanese story of Izanami. Wikipedia has an article on the theme or "trope" of dying and rising Gods that charts the extensive "lookalike Christ's" throughout history and culture.... continue reading
Here at The Good Book Company, we have a new member of staff. Dean Faulkner has just joined the team. We're excited to have him on board and we thought you'd like to meet him too.
Tell us about your role at Good Book
I'm the new UK Sales and Marketing manager. That means I'm going to be spearheading the drive to get our Bible-centred resources out to the people whose ministry will be supported by them. I'll be going to events, talking to bookstall managers, looking at the way we use social media and visiting a range of churches to talk about how we can serve you best. I'll be putting some great deals on the blog each Friday too!
What excites you about this role?
Everything! It's a great opportunity to serve God with the gifts God's given me and the experience I've built up in the commercial world. It's a privilege to be part of the Great Commission of spreading the gospel through the provision of biblical resources. And more than anything I'm passionate about holding out the light of life to those who are heading for death. Marketing isn't just about selling stuff, it's about getting gospel-resources into the hands of those who are doing gospel-work so people can come to Christ and grow in Christ. There's nothing more exciting than that.
How do you spend your time when you're not at work?
I'm married to Mary and have two boys (aged 9 and 12) - spending time with them is a big priority. I'm also very involved in my local church - St John's, Woking - where my wife is on staff as the Families and Children's worker. I'm a school governor. And, when it stops raining or snowing for long enough, I love to play Cricket - I do a spot of coaching too.
Any fascinating facts about yourself that you'd like to share?
I have two! I have a sister-in-law who's a Dame! And I was once (a long time ago) on the books of a professional football club ... until they saw through me and told me I wasn't good enough!
Please do pray for Dean as he begins his ministry with us. And do say 'hello' to him at one of the many conferences he'll be at in the coming months.
Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5v1-2)
Looking to the cross for our model.
Everywhere we look in the New Testament, the cross is the motive and measure of our conduct. The cross is to shape our attitude to other Christians (Romans 15 v 7; Philippians 2 v 3-8), the opinion of unbelievers (Galatians 6 v 14), and opposition (1 Peter 4 v 12-14). It is to shape our approach to leadership (Mark 10 v 42-45) and marriage (Ephesians 5 v 25). It all goes back to the call of Jesus: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9 v 23). The sacrificial love, selfdenial and service that we see in the cross are to shape our daily lives. “Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5 v 1-2). It’s a hard ask. It’s self-denial. But Jesus says this is how you truly gain life (Mark 8 v 34-38). The way of the cross is the way of blessing (John 13 v 17). After all, it’s the way of my Saviour.... continue reading
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. When he had said this, he breathed his last.
The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, ‘Surely this was a righteous man. When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. (Luke 23:44-49)... continue reading
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Luke 22:39-46... continue reading
I'm sure it's not just rose-tinted nostalgia - but I don't remember my own teenage years being quite so angst-ridden as what I see going on now.
Of course, I had all the same things to deal with as everyone has always had:
It's annual appraisal week here at The Good Book Company. That yearly chance for staff to get together with their managers to talk about how things are going. We're a friendly bunch. There are rarely any major problems. But I like to do well in my appraisal so when, in a doctor's waiting room, I saw an article on making progress in your job, I thought I'd have a read.
"In today's employment market, where competition to get a job, hold onto it and get promoted is tougher than ever, it's important you learn to use your wiles to stay on top" it began. A slightly more ambitious tone than I generally adopt but I was still interested in its advice. How did it continue? To stay on top you should do 7 things:... continue reading
Having started up and pastored a new “plant service”, aiming to reach an unreached demographic; and now being a “punter” in a young church plant, I’ve fallen into all these traps, one way or another… (by the way, I'm assuming that the plant is Christ-centred, and Bible-preaching. Obviously, the biggest pitfall is not to preach Christ from His word, relying on His Spirit!)
1. Forgetting what you're doing
A church plant is a kingdom-building project; a new structure of bricks in the only building that will last forever (1 Peter 2 v 4-6). Every week a new church meets is a miracle of God’s grace. Every new believer or growing believer is a result of God’s mercy. Church planting is hard, can be lonely, is often slow work. It’s easy to forget what it is that is happening when a new church begins in an area, or reaching a section of society, that hasn’t heard the gospel for years, decades, centuries, or ever. In 200 years, what you do for, with and in that church (whether a pastor or a pew-sitter) will still matter. What else do you want to do with your life?... continue reading
It was cold; I was tired; so I gave in and jumped on a bus. It was packed (clearly everyone else had the same idea). Standing room only. Most were glued to their phones—texting, tweeting, surfing and occasionally even phoning. But then I tuned in to a conversation behind me. Someone was witnessing to the stranger beside him. Brave.
I couldn’t see either of them, so drew a picture in my mind as I listened.
Each day, here on The Good Book Blog, we aim to bring you news, reviews and ministry views to help fuel your thinking, praying and action. We hope you find our posts helpful. But we also hope you'd like to share your ideas with us too ...
Please comment below and let us know what topics you would like to see blog posts on. Whether it's medieval church history, the interaction between social media and ministry, videos, testimonies or humour, please do let us know what you'd like to see more of here. And then, we'll see what we can do ...
Thank you!
