Seven up…

1) Meet the Nativity, Episode 1 – If you haven’t watched and shared this yet, then get on board quick before Episode 2 launches at 5pm Monday: “a time-traveling romantic comedy in which 21st- and 1st-century Christmases magically collide.”

2) How your Christmas outreach service will probably go (told through Star Wars gifs) – Love it…

3) What Kind of Liberal Society Do We Want? – Theos Annual Lecture 2017 – Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats and committed Christian Tim Farron is on good form here. Some great insight into the current culture and the failings of our so-called liberal society.

4) Advent Reflections – I don’t know if you’re doing anything special for Advent, but there’s a short daily reflection at this blog and they’ve been brilliant. Go sign up.

5) Five Ideas for Celebrating Advent as a Family – Some great ideas for involving all ages in this season of waiting.

6) Paul’s Journeys in Acts – A bit niche, but have you ever thought, “I’d love it if someone put all of Paul’s missionary journeys on to Google Maps?” Well, merry Christmas…

7) Ten dark pieces to listen to on darker evenings – For something a bit different, stretch your musical vocabulary with this list.

On the Blog this Week:

365 Days with Rafa

Seven up…

1) Help Your Children Read the Bible – An Interview with David Murray – Some good stuff here to encourage you to read the Bible with your kids, as well as a taste of Murray’s new Bible read-through.

2) Are We More Offended Than Ever Before – I haven’t listened yet, but this looks really interesting. I’d imagine the answer’s “yes!”, right?!

3) How Do You Structure Your Prayer Life – John Piper shares a little about his prayer life as a pastor over the last few decades.

4) Beware the Modern Day Heretic Hunters – Pretty chilling stuff from an informal tribunal brought against a a graduate teaching assistant who presented a class with a clip of a video debate in which gender pronouns were debated.

5) You’re Damned Wrong, Mr Parris – Jules Gomes responds to Times columnist Matthew Parris’ claim that the Church needs to ditch talk of salvation and eternal life, as if that was the only motivation people had to live good lives.

6) On Tiaras and Tutus – John Percival makes some really astute points in response to the Church of England’s report and school guidance document, Valuing All God’s Children, which made headlines the week before last. As he concludes, “Bullying is evil, and ought to be addressed at all levels and in all forms. Nevertheless, a misjudged solution to a misdiagnosed problem can do more harm than good.”

7) How to Tell When Literally Every Baked Good Is Done – Yep, you can thank me later…

Seven up…

1) Ten Church Planting Lessons from 10 Years – Always good to hear the reflective wisdom of experience…

2) Dear Phillip – You may have heard the news about British school-teacher Joshua Sutcliffe (a Christian) who was recently told he would face a disciplinary hearing for ‘misgendering’ a student? The case has led to him being interviewed by Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning this week, which was a pretty ugly affair. This thoughtful letter of response to TV presenter Schofield raises some of the issues that so many found disturbing about how the interview was conducted.

3) Lessons for the church in England or Ten Reasons to be cheerful (part 2 of 2) – A couple of weeks ago I shared the first part of Jeremy Marshall’s reflections after the C of E reported their 5 year statistics. Here’s part 2.

4) Salvator Mundi went for $450m. But you can have the real thing for free – Christmas sermon illustration for free right here…

5) Your Most Important Meeting of the Week – Chris Green wants to persuade you there’s a weekly meeting you may be missing.

6) Meet the Nativity – Glen Scrivener’s annual Christmas video is being taken to a whole new level this year: a four part professionally-directed modern retelling of the nativity with a magical twist. Here’s the teaser…

7) The Acerbic and Extremely British ‘Grand Designs’ Is “HGTV, but Honest” – For something a bit different: So, I don’t know if you’re a fan of the TV show Grand Designs or not, but this American take on the British show makes for a very interesting read/watch. (By the way, HGTV is an American cable channel focused on home & garden improvements.)

On the Blog this Week:

Eric Says Please by Dai Hankey – A Review