Fear or faith?

To mark the King James Version's 400th anniversary, Eastbourne-based evangelist Glenn Scrivener is blogging on various phrases that come from the KJV.

Glenn's posts are clear, insightful, and full of memorable phrases (a great combination!): for instance, take a look at this one on Abraham, about how ultimately the only answer to enduring a life of fear is enjoying a life of faith.

One-to-one: helping <i>you</i> to do it

“It’s all very well saying ‘start doing a one-to-one’. I can see it’s a good idea. I can think of a younger Christian I could ask. But what’s stopping me is…

“I just don’t know how to do it.”

If you’re thinking that—or if you’re a pastor and people in your church are thinking that—one great way to get going is to use some resources designed with one-to-one Bible reading in mind. That way, you don’t need to choose a passage and write a study from scratch.

Andrew Cornes (who you can hear talking about one-to-ones here) has written some great studies called one2one. They’re only £3 for 24 studies (working out at 12.5p per session!)

Or, why not use a Good Book Guide? They’re just as good being used in pairs as they are in groups—and this week, they’re 20% off at £2.40.

So if you can see the benefits of one-to-oneing, both for you and someone else… if you’d like to have a go at doing it… but you don’t know where or how to begin… just grab some resources and things suddenly seem a lot easier!

For a short introduction to what one-to-oneing is, just click here.

One-to-one: "There's no reason why it can't be you"

Dave Berkeley is 29 and lives in south-west London. He’s part of The Good Book Company’s sales team. Other than Christ, he loves rugby, reading, and using sporting analogies in general conversation.

When did you first do one-to-ones?
I read the Bible during my first year at university with one of the apprentices at church. Those meetings kept me going week after week in a challenging first year at uni: if it hadn’t been for those times I wouldn’t have stayed.
I can still remember those times of reading through Colossians, and the encouragement it gave me to keep going day by day with the Lord.

How did “being one-to-oned” like that affect your own ministry?
That experience made me keen to be there for others in the same way. So, I have recently been meeting up with a teenager from church.
It’s proved a bit of a challenge! We’ve struggled a bit to find a time when we can meet up: but it’s been a joy to see him understand new truths, and I’m praying that he would apply them fully in his heart. I know he’s appreciated the time (and doughnuts!).

What would you say to someone who’s been invited to one-to-one with an older Christian, as you were at uni?
I’d highly recommend it! I found reading the Bible with someone really has been one of the highlights of my life. Whatever stage you are at in your walk with Jesus, I’d encourage you to look for someone to read the Bible with regularly, an older Christian who has plenty of knowledge and wisdom.

And what about getting stuck in with being that “older Christian” in a one-to-one?
Again, do it! You don’t have to be a brilliant handler of the Bible (I’m not!), and you’ll learn as much as the person you’re leading through a Bible passage: that’s the real blessing of meeting up like this.
I’d say, don’t worry if you don’t know all the answers. The really important thing is to be there, to listen and encourage a Christian who’s younger in their faith than you. There’ll be a younger Christian around who needs to be encouraged and nurtured, and there’s probably no reason why it can’t be you who does that.

For a short introduction to what one-to-oneing is, just click here.

One-to-one: Tips from Nathan Buttery

Nathan Buttery is one of the associate vicars at St Andrew the Great Church, Cambridge.

For a short introduction to what one-to-oneing is, just click here.

A small spark

More than 60 homes and 4,000 acres of land in western Australia have been destroyed by bushfires.

You can read the full story here—what’s notable is what caused such widespread devastation:
“The fire … started when sparks from a power tool accidentally ignited grass in a back garden.” (Not sure they needed to include the word “accidentally” in that sentence!)

It’s that kind of experience James must have been thinking of when he used it as an illustration for something equally dangerous:
“Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is also a fire … it corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3 v 5-6).

One-to-one: "It gave me confidence in my own Bible reading"

Scott is a 38-year-old truck driver who lives in Hull. He became a Christian a couple of years ago. He loves his family, his tattoos and his Lord.

Who did you one-to-one with, and when? What did you do?
I met up with the curate at our church, Steve, every Sunday evening for an hour. We started about six months after I became a Christian. We did it for about a year, and we still meet up from time to time but a bit less regularly now. We looked at lots of different parts of the Bible—the ones I really remember are 1 Corinthians and Leviticus.

How did one-to-oneing help you?
It was just really useful to read the Bible with someone who knew more than me. I was able to make sure I’d got it, and get an explanation of difficult passages. Meeting up like that really gave me more confidence in my own Bible reading. I found I was able to understand it better. Now I’ve got it on my mobile phone, and I can read it during breaks on long truck trips.

How did you feel when you were first asked if you’d like to one-to-one?
I was really excited. I wanted to do it, because I wanted to get into the Bible and I thought it would help me do that.

Has one-to-oneing affected your own role in church?
Yes—I’ve just started doing Sunday School, teaching the older lads’ group. One-to-oneing has given me the confidence to do that.

And what would you say to someone who’s got the chance to one-to-one with a more experienced Christian, and isn’t sure whether they want to or whether they’ve got time?
I would say to them: Do it! Do it, because it will open their eyes. If you’re new to Christianity, like I was, it can be really hard to get what the Bible’s saying, and if you have someone to lead you through, and explain the bits you’re lost on, you can understand it so much more, and that’s exciting. So do it!

One-to-one: Why and How with Andrew Cornes

Andrew Cornes is Rector of All Saints Church, Crowborough, in Sussex.

For a short introduction to what one-to-oneing is, just click here.

How rich are you?

The BBC is running a fascinating analysis of wealth on its website (go here), and log in to do it.

It shows you how you're doing compared to everyone else in the UK. We did it as a family: cue predictable howls about how much richer our children's friends are, how we never go anywhere "special" on holiday, etc etc… And even I thought I didn't feel particularly wealthy. Wouldn't it be nice to have that bit more, like those other people. If only, if only…

But actually, we were well over half way up the lucre ladder. And of course, when we think in world terms—as you can here—that green-eyed perception-distorting monster lurking within us, the one which only ever compares us with those who seem to have so much more, goes a little quiet.

It reminded me of some free downloadable resources on our site, which look at the whole question of contentment.

Because actually, I need to remember that it's not about looking up or looking down: it's about looking at Christ, and seeing how far short I fall of deserving anything at all, and yet still seeing that in him, we will enjoy all the riches of God's grace for all eternity.