Seven up…

1) The Three Times of Year to Plan Christmas – I don’t mean to stress you out, but today is 1st October. Here’s Chris Green with some Christmas planning wisdom…

2) Tragedy, Sexuality & Speaking the Truth – Tragic circumstances which have been all over social media newsfeeds for the past fortnight, but Peter Ould calls for caution: “As we enter a crucial time in our denomination’s discussions in this area, we must make sure we do not weaponise our personal narratives and place emotion above truth.”

3) The Tiny Blond Bible Teacher Taking on the Evangelical Political Machine – Thank God for Beth Moore. And pray for America too.

4) ‘We are scared, but we have Jesus’: China and its war on Christianity – Good to see The Guardian covering the ‘tightening’ that’s going on across China at the moment. I’m told that the government are keen to remove large, publically-influential churches and thus make it harder for people to exercise any kind of religious practice outside of their official structures, these ‘legitimate’ forms of course inevitably involving a watering down of the gospel itself.

5) James Cary on the Resurrection, Bob Newhart-style – James Cary takes the wit that got him writing for Miranda & Milton Jones and applies it to John’s resurrection account, and quite frankly, you’ll probably never read the chapter the same way again.

6) Top 3 Life Lessons from 20 Years in Burundi – Love this from Simon Guillebaud. Live together gratefully.

7) Premier Digital Awards Shortlist 2018 – It’d be rude if I didn’t say ‘thank you’ to whoever it was that nominated me for one of these, but then there’s always the chance that it was my Dad. So, thanks Dad… Delighted to be amongst such esteemed company; some cracking resources and ministries shortlisted. And why not go vote for the excellent Go Chatter in the People’s Choice award?

Seven up…

1) The Gospel & Class: How Urban Geography Shapes the Journey to Reconciliation – This, from Mez McConnell, co-founder of 20 Schemes, is particularly apt given the conversations that are going on in British evangelicalism on class at present. In a similar vein, Stephen Kneale, a pastor in Oldham, addresses the Affinity Council on resourcing churches in deprived communities here.

2) How To Be A Successful Church Planter – Tongue-firmly-in-cheek, but it still stings.

3) Seven Ways to Navigate a Sexually Shifting Culture – Sam Allberry packs a huge amount into twenty-five minutes. “Jesus says it upfront; he doesn’t bury it in the small print. . . . The wonderful paradox of the Christian faith is that as we deny self we become our real selves.”

4) Taming Ministry Chaos – Marcus Honeysett kindly unpacks his own learning on the kind of systems and structures that someone in Christian work can use to tame the chaos that frequently accompanies it. Really useful.

5) The Best Response to John MacArthur’s Social Justice Statement – I confess I’ve not had the headspace to follow this furore Stateside over the last few weeks, but I think it’s worth being aware of, both to understand the state of American evangelicalism and because there’s knock-on significance for the UK, with race as well as class.

6) A Certain Uncertainty – Nell Goddard reflects on the popularity of the BBC’s Bodyguard.

7) How a Notorious Gangster Was Exposed by His Own Sister – For something a bit different, this long-form account of Astrid Holleeder’s decision to record her brother’s murderous confessions in an Amsterdam mob trial will leave you on the edge of your seat. Read it aloud, but perhaps not to the kids…

Elsewhere…

If you’re interested in what we’re upto in Barrow-in-Furness, you can read a piece about the church family we’ve been involved in planting, Grace Church Barrow, in the latest edition of Evangelicals Now. You may need to sign-up for a 30-day trial to do so!

Seven up…

1) 2018: Now is the Time for Evangelism – Really appreciated Rory Shiner’s optimism. If you prefer video over text, you can watch him giving this presentation here.

2) A Revolutionary Question for the Evangelical Church – David Robertson wonders why more of our churches don’t sing the Psalms; “If only God had left the churches of the world a whole book of worship songs to employ in corporate worship…”

3) The Mission Field of the Workplace – Helpful interview looking at seeing your workplace as a mission field, building on the work of churches across London.

4) Modelling Forgiveness with Your Kids – To coincide with the release of their new children’s book, The Friend Who Forgives, The Good Book Company have run two interviews with parents looking at the issue of forgiveness in family life. You can read them here and here.

5) Preaching and Teaching Christ from Proverbs – These two talks from this year’s Evangelical Ministry Assembly are really stimulating. If all of the Old Testament points to Jesus Christ, how do we faithfully preach Christ from the book of Proverbs? Scroll to the bottom of the list of resources for these two talks from Gwilym Davies – the online library doesn’t allow me to link directly to these two talks, but you can use the filters at the top of the page to highlight ‘Proverbs’. It’s a significant time commitment to listen along, but well worth the investment.

6) Confessions of a Reluctant Complementarian – Rebecca McLaughlin shares her own struggle over putting Ephesians 5:22 into practice, and offers three concerns and one challenge. Really helpful.

7) The YouTube stars heading for burnout – For something a bit different, check this out. “The most fun job imaginable became deeply bleak”. Fascinating but revealing look at some of the hopes/dreams/idols of our cultural moment – as well as showing how such dreams just can’t bear the wait we place upon them.