That’ll Preach…

Langham Preaching:
Apple/Android
Free

An App for a Vision

Founded by John Stott, the vision of Langham Partnership (LP) is ‘to see churches in the majority world equipped for mission and growing to maturity in Christ through the ministry of pastors and leaders who believe, teach and live by the word of God’. A key means of implementing this vision is ‘equipping local pastors to teach the Bible’ – and this app is a tool birthed for that end.

In particular, the Langham Preaching app was designed for three reasons: i) to help preachers prepare sermons; ii) to help local preaching training groups (or ‘clubs’ in LP terminology) share their sermon outlines; iii) to allow preachers from all over the world to connect.

Teach to Preach

After creating a free account, a simple menu highlights key features, including ‘Sermons’. Essentially here users create a file for each sermon they are preparing. Upon entering the Bible passage, four preparation steps are shown: Passage Study; Passage Structure; Sermon Application; Sermon Structure.  As users work through each of these stages, there is a simple grid/form to work through.

For example, in ‘Passage Study’ users are encouraged to note down literature type, author, audience, etc. In ‘Passage Structure’, users make notes on the verses and identify the passage’s ‘Heartbeat’. ‘Sermon Application’ encourages consideration of the congregation, its challenges, relevant illustrations, before ‘Sermon Structure’ unsurprisingly allows a framework to be crafted.

An ‘Outline’ button automatically then selects some of the information entered in those four stages and presents it altogether, giving a helpful and simple overview of the sermon so far. This can then be easily shared with the user’s ‘Preaching club’, and a ‘Chat’ feature allows interaction with club members.

A Tool for Teams

Shearsby Mupfudzapake, a pastor in South Africa and Langham Preaching’s movement coordinator for SA, said, “We are grateful for such a useful tool. The App helps me to organise my thoughts, as per bible passages, leading into well-crafted sermon outlines.”

The LP model involves week-long annual preaching seminars alongside community-based local ‘preaching clubs’. It’s clearly within this model that the app is designed to excel, rather than as a stand-alone input. 

However, the app is certainly of benefit to UK-based preachers. Forcing oneself to work through these stages develops and sustains a healthy pattern of sermon pattern. But it also invites preaching to be collaborative as they share progress: the ‘Chat’ and ‘Clubs’ feature could easily be utilised by a church’s preaching team or a cohort of ministry apprentices on a regional training course.   

Multi-lingual versions of the app are currently in development and readers can give via Langham’s Seedbed project.

More info on Langham Preaching here.

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A version of this article was first published here in the April 2021 Issue of Evangelicals Now and is shared here with permission. EN is a monthly newspaper published in print and online, offering a biblical perspective on current issues and insight on what’s happening with God’s people worldwide. Online subscription is just £10 p/a with print & online combined for just £18. Order a free sample or subscribe here.

Spurgeon In Your Pocket

Despite a slightly uninspiring name (Daily Readings), this is a delightful little app bringing you cherished daily wisdom on the Scriptures, as well as the chance to sing along to treasured hymns.

DAILY READINGS:
Apple/Android
Free

A joint project of Christian Hymns and the Evangelical Movement of Wales, Daily Readings provides the user with daily morning and evening Bible readings and reflections from two of British evangelicalism’s most respected pastors: Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle.

Spurgeon and Ryle

Both Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening reflections and J.C.Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels have edified countless Christians since their release in the 19th century. Pithy, perceptive and practical, now they’re readily and freely available through this app.

Simply open it up and you’ll be presented with the day’s devotional, with the option of switching between Ryle and Spurgeon (and for him, both morning and evening). Advocates of Morning and Evening will know Spurgeon tends to focus on a verse or part thereof, so there’s also an optional additional Bible reading for those who want more. The app has the ESV Bible text built-in and offers a helpful and applicatory ‘For Thought and Prayer’ section at the end of each reading too.

A Daily Hymn

But perhaps the unique aspect is the daily hymn for each reading. Click through and you’ll be presented with lyrics and the option of playing an instrumental accompaniment. This is clearly a labour of love.

The whole Daily Readings app interface has been well designed to be both aesthetically pleasing and easy to use, with a clean font and simple colour scheme. Spurgeon has been ‘lightly modernised’ and the app is actually a real gem.

I was more impressed than I expected from this app. It makes Spurgeon and Ryle highly accessible, and if you’re particularly familiar with hymnody, this is well worth downloading.

More info on Daily Readings here.

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A version of this article was first published here in the March 2021 Issue of Evangelicals Now and is shared here with permission. EN is a monthly newspaper published in print and online, offering a biblical perspective on current issues and insight on what’s happening with God’s people worldwide. Online subscription is just £10 p/a with print & online combined for just £18. Order a free sample or subscribe here.

‘Not another book on Christian marriage‘, you might cry!

I had the opportunity to write a foreword to my friend Steve Donald’s up-coming book on marriage, Marriages Are Made in Heaven, published by Evangelical Press.

Steve particularly considers how God’s sovereignty and human responsibility play out as we consider marriage, both for those approaching or weighing up marriage and those already married.

For me, it was a chance to reflect on how marriage is considered in our cultural moment and I re-print the foreword here with Steve’s blessing and commend the book for the reasons below…

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“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife …”

Austen on the Money?

Times have changed dramatically since Jane Austen penned those priceless words to begin what is often heralded as one of the best works of romantic fiction ever written, Pride & Prejudice. And yet despite its accolades, Austen’s subtle genius as a commentator for our times is perhaps not as acknowledged as it should be. She wryly observed the first impacts of social currents that we continue to swim in today: the rise of the individual, the place of personal choice, and the fragmenting of cultural norms.

Of course, those currents have totally re-shaped our social landscape in the two hundred years that have passed since Austen’s day—and we perhaps glimpse that nowhere more starkly than when it comes to marriage. Undoubtedly some of this change has been helpful, as we’ve disposed of cultural baggage that had been mistakenly taken as biblical principle. But it’s also meant, when it comes to marriage, that we now find ourselves torn as a culture. On one hand we idolise the Netflix image of the couple, who seem both fully loved and fully known. And yet on the other hand we also idolise our so-called freedoms—including ultimately the right to self-determine our identities. As such we baulk or get edgy about the lifelong commitment of marriage. This is our culture’s paradox, as we try to figure out if and how these two ideals can co-exist.

Optioned-Out?

And this brings us from Pride & Prejudice to the book in your hands, Marriages are Made in Heaven. Now, Steve Donald is not claiming to be Jane Austen, but it is his own cultural observations that have led to this particular choice of subject matter. Anyone who dares think they may have something to add to the already overcrowded canon of Christian marriage literature is a brave author. But actually, the significance of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility in approaching marriage is a refreshing focus for our times.

It’s often said that those of us currently under-40 are ‘optioned-out’, distracted-to-death, and commitment-phobic. Some of us might point to the misguided priorities of our forebears and argue we find ourselves here as a result of others’ decisions. But regardless, it is still here that we find ourselves—and we need to acknowledge this place. What is this like as a lived-experience? Well, I find the words disorientating, overwhelming and flimsy crop up often enough in conversation. Throw into the mix the idea of committing ourselves to one person for life and you start to see it’s no wonder that people are uneasy about marriage.

‘Destined Perfection’

But it’s here that Steve shows us seeing our lives and marriages against the backdrop of God’s sovereign goodness brings real assurance and true freedom. In particular, Steve’s way of unpacking the Bible’s teaching on ‘destined perfection’ throws us a lifebuoy of hope amidst these unsettling currents. Whether we are married (happily/unhappily/bit of both) or single (happily/unhappily/bit of both), knowing this God brings Rest for our restlessness.

I think it’s worth saying that the subject of marriage is inevitably going to be intensely personal. Going back to Austen, her varied examples in Pride & Prejudice comically illustrate for us that ‘one size doesn’t fit all’. Sometimes we can take this too far and be resistant to any input into our own marriages. And yet in my experience, most of us still want to lean in to other people’s experiences and stories— especially when it’s one generation to another. Maybe in part that comes from a humble recognition that every marriage is a work in progress.

So, whatever your situation, full marks for picking this book up and seeking encouragement. I think you’ll find Steve a trusty guide, as he balances sharing honestly from his own story, without treating it as a roadmap for everyone else. And thank you to Steve, for lifting our eyes from off spouse (whether the spouse of our dreams, our expectations or reality) and instead fixing them on our everlasting God, helping us to rediscover that ‘those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength … they will walk and not be faint’ (Isaiah 40:31, NIV).

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Marriages Are Made in Heaven is published on 14th February 2021, but you can pre-order from the distributor here.