Optimism, Pessimism and the US Election

You may have heard that there’s an election going on in the US today…

From across the Atlantic, and whatever your political persuasion, what’s really noticeable is the change of mood between 2008 and 2012. Four years ago, Barack Obama swept to power on a wave of “Yes, we can”. Whoever wins today will do so on a trickle of “You probably can’t, but you’re less bad than the other guy”.

If Obama does win, as the polls suggest he will, it won’t be, can’t be, with the same flood of optimism as in 2008. Then, he was the man. He would make it better. He would make it different. He was the one who would deliver the change you wanted (whatever change that was).

Of course that hope has become tinged with disappointment. He was and is, after all, only a man. He’d been asked to do too much (and, in fairness, had encouraged voters to think he could do too much).... continue reading

Evangelists Conference: Preach it because it's hard

Fantastic day at the Evangelists' Conference yesterday with John Woodhouse, Principal of Moore College Sydney. The day was trying to get to grips with how to preach Old Testament Narrative evangelistically. And it came at a great moment for me personally.

I've just started to prepare for a sermon in a couple of weeks' time, and I was given the story of Jephthah from Judges 10-11. This particular judge is raised up by God to beat back the Ammonites, but as he goes into battle he makes a vow to the Lord that If he gets victory, he will sacrifice the first thing that comes out to greet him from home. Victory comes. But his only daughter comes to greet him, and is duly sacrificed.... continue reading

Vaughan Roberts: Same-Sex Attraction

In an interview with Julian Hardyman published in British newspaper Evangelicals Now this week, well-known author and evangelical leader Vaughan Roberts has described his long-term struggles with same-sex attraction.

The very honest, personal, and candid interview explains how Vaughan views this as a temptation to be resisted, and does not seek to self-identify as homosexual or gay.

Vaughan, who is the minister of St Ebbe's Anglican church in Oxford, published a book called Battles Christians Face which included a chapter on homosexuality. In a revised edition published in 2012 he said in the introduction that he had struggled with all eight temptations in the book.... continue reading

Coming Soon... The Hard Corps!

We're very excited! We're launching a new book on 22nd September... The Hard Corps written by Dai Hankey.

The Hard Corps takes a look at King David's Mighty Men, his elite soldiers. And encourages Christian men to think about what it's like to be a man of God now.

The picture below is a still from the trailer we're making with 2V Design. The full trailer will be out soon so do look out for it!

In the meantime you can pre-order copies in the UK and the USA.

Alcohol and Age

I'm guessing that pretty much every church youth leader has at some point chatted to their young people about drinking. It's the sort of thing youth leaders do. And rightly so. The culture of youth binge-drinking in the UK and beyond is devastating to personal and community well-being and as such it's right that the under 18s in our care get a biblical perspective on alcohol that will help them to live for Christ.

I'm guessing that pretty much every university and college CU has had the same sort of chats. Acting in ways that are above reproach at parties and in the bar can be a great witness to friends and acquaintances while away at college.

But I'm guessing the subject doesn't come up too often in lunch clubs for the retired or afternoon fellowships for those in their 70s or 80s. It certainly hasn't been raised in those forums when I've been around. Nor has it come up for discussion at pastoral care meetings I've been in.

If recent research is to be believed, however, discussed it should be!... continue reading

Introducing The Good Book College!

Here at The Good Book Company we're passionate about equipping God's people for works of service, which is why we're so excited about our new-look distance-learning college, The Good Book College.

Formerly known as the Open Bible Institute, we now have a new-look website, a great new logo and most importantly, some great new courses coming this autumn to inspire and equip.

Always biblical, flexible and affordable, we hope there's a course to support you as you serve in your local church. So why not check out our new website today?

The Son of David?

When Jesus was born, as "the son of Abraham, the son of David" (Matthew 1 v 1), how many other people in Israel were descended from Abraham, and from King David?

Really interesting article on the BBC website, by a guy with considerably more mathematical skills than me. His (very convincing) answer: everyone!

There were, according to Matthew, 28 generations between David and Jesus (1 v 17); and it appears that by that stage, King David would have almost certainly been an ancestor to everyone who lived in Israel (and a lot of people who didn't), simply because the number of our ancestors doubles with each preceding generation. We have two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, so by the 28th generation there are 265,977,856 (assuming no "inter-breeding"). Since there were only around 1 million people in Jesus' time in Israel, there's a very high chance that David (and, therefore, Abraham) was the ancestor of all of them.... continue reading

The dating game

I read an article last week about the difficulties of finding a fellow believer to date and/or marry. Perhaps some of these quotes sound familiar:

• It is not just convenience that drives him to seek someone with similar beliefs. It is also a question of ethics.
• The numbers ought to favour men, as __________ women outnumber them by about three to one. But in practice it doesn't work out like that, he says. __________ women, it seems, are more willing to tolerate a non-_________ partner.
• Of course, there are men, too, who are prepared to be flexible – or maybe have little choice. G became a ___________ at the age of 12, while growing up in the north of Scotland, where there was not much hope of going out with a ____________ girl. “They are hard to come by in Aberdeen," he says.
• M accepts his girlfriend's diet. "There are relationships in which, though the people are completely different, they support each other's beliefs – and it works," he says.
• Although M is not going to change his beliefs, with the passage of time he sees that he may need to date a non-____________ if he is to find his life partner. "I would definitely prefer to go out with a ____________ but you cannot choose who you fall in love with."