Romans 12:1-2 shows us the way to overcome spiritual stagnation or ongoing disobedience; the way to bring our hearts joyfully to offer ourselves wholly:
1. View the mercies of God. (KJV and ESV have “mercies” instead of “mercy”; we are not to think of God’s mercy in general, but his specific acts and deeds—supremely, to look back at the cross.) If we lack a passion or interest in being holy, it comes from a failure to contemplate God’s mercies toward us. There is no way to sustain a pattern of holiness in Christian living without a kindling of our hearts by deep meditation on God’s mercy and grace; we need to begin reflecting on the mercies of God.... continue reading
We're really excited about Epic Explorers, the brand-new addition to the Christianity Explored range, specially designed for 4-11s. We'd like you to get excited about it too - tell your friends, your church's childrens worker, the person who runs the school CU - so we've made a desktop wallpaper for you...
Here's the wallpaper and it's available for your desktop, laptop, tablet and even mobile phone. Enjoy!
1024x768 | 1280x1024 | 1366x768 | 1680x1050 | 1920x1200 | 2560x1440 | iPad | iPhone
How to change your wallpaper: The wallpaper you need will vary , depending on your monitor size, screen resolution and a few other considerations. You can click here to see what your resolution is. Generally you set one of these are your wallpaper by clicking on the link to download the image, then right-clicking on the image (once it’s open) and selecting “Set as Background,” “Set as Desktop Background,” or something similar.
What better way to teach the Easter story this term than to show young people a realistic depiction of what happened at the very first Easter - using nothing but the original text?... continue reading
Open Doors USA has released its 2015 World Watch List.
Food for prayer.
Why not consider reading this book which tells of extraordinary stories of men and women who suffered and died for the gospel in Ethiopia.
Before Christmas, Steve Kryger from Communicate Jesus emailed 100 Australian churches to ask about their Chrstmas services. This is what happened.
One wonders what the results would be for a similar experiment in the UK? Perhaps this book my help in getting our priorities right in time for Easter...
There's something about the run-up to new year that makes us think about our lives: ponder the possibility of change; plan for the future; resolve the tensions of the past. For those of us in churches, it's a time when we often think about what ministry we're involved in and whether it might be time for a move. But whether we're a youth worker wondering about handing in our notice; or a member of the music-group, planning to ditch the flute in favour of a role in the children's work, how do we make such ministry-decisions well? Here are 6 principles to hold on to as we make decisions at the end of 2014:... continue reading
Did you have a lovely Christmas day? Were you reminded afresh of the mind-blowing story of God made man? Did you experience once more the excitement of the gospel of salvation as you sat alongside your brothers and sisters in Christ and listened to the nativity retold? Did you eat a beautiful meal? Enjoy the company of some family or friends? Rip open some presents that brought a smile to your face? Sit, safely, in your home - warm and comfortable?
If so, you - like me - are astonishingly privileged. To be a child of God is an incredible grace. To be able to live and worship in safety, indulge in a spot of luxury as well - such things are not to be taken for granted in our fallen world. So, as you sit and digest that extra mince pie (or, my particular weakness, that 7th piece of turkish delight) it's worth pondering how best to respond to the many gifts that have been showered on us.... continue reading
I've just written my to-do list. It's festive. But it's long. And, if I'm honest, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to manage to deliver all the cards and presents at the same time as taking part in various services, cooking large quantities of food, holding down my job, going to parties and maintaining some kind of residual sanity. Far from reflecting on a "silent night", I feel more as if I'm living in a whirlwind of activity which threatens to suck me into oblivion.
Which is why I'm very grateful to have stumbled across the post-it note I wrote for myself last Christmas (sandwiched in the middle of the amorphous mass of tinsel that lurks in the decorations box). There's only one word on it. And that word is this:... continue reading
As the year draws to a close and people make all sorts of Top 5 for 2014 lists, we thought we'd do our own. And add a little competition.
Over the past few days, we've be telling you our Top 5 selling books for 2014. And here it is, our top selling book for 2014:... continue reading
They’re everywhere at the moment. There are the small children – usually girls – swathed in white sheets and gold tinsel all poised to enter stage left and address the tea-towel clad shepherds and associated stuffed sheep with “tidings of great joy”. There are the cards we’re sending and receiving. There may even be one on the top of your tree. But what exactly are angels? And what do they do when they’re not announcing the birth of our Saviour? Here, this Christmas time, is a quick Q&A about our angelic neighbours:... continue reading
