Seven up…

1) “I Gave My Life to Jesus” – This is a powerful spoken word piece from evangelist Glen Scrivener, reflecting on the language  we often use when preaching evangelistically (and the theology that undergirds it). Is ‘giving your life to Jesus’ really that helpful? And it’s a brilliantly shot video.

2) The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self – Carl Trueman gives a taster for his forthcoming book on the ‘modern self’: “we do not choose our time, and we must not waste energy lamenting our time. We need first and foremost to understand our time and then to respond to it with informed wisdom.” If you read one thing today, let it be this.

3) What to avoid on your church website – A useful guidance paper on church websites from church consultant John Truscott.

4) I’m with Heidi – At present in the UK, abortion is permitted up until the moment of birth in pregnancies where the baby is known to have Down’s syndrome. Heidi Crowter, who has the condition, has been campaigning this week to highlight this discrimination and showing how this law is deeply offensive. Her words were moving and beautiful, and yet it also felt like we were starkly asking a group of people to defend their lives. Chillingly, the country of Iceland is on target to eliminate Down’s syndrome entirely. I also spotted this powerful letter written by a parent to the Health Secretary, in response.

5) Let’s Deconstruct a Deconversion Story: The Case of Rhett and Link – Rhett & Link may be less well known to UK audiences, but this is a fascinating look at the contemporary power of a ‘deconversion story’. With their Good Mythical Morning channel, this double-act are a YouTube sensations, frequently getting A-list celebrities to stop by, and having an estimated worth of $23 million. But it gets interesting when you know they used to identify as Christians, and worked actively in student mission for Campus Crusade (a bit like UCCF in the UK). Last month they recorded 3 hours of footage talking fans through why they walked away from Christianity. Here Alisa Childers reflects on the power of both the media platform and the personality – and the way in which our culture is primed to make it possible for “two comedians to persuade Christians to rethink their faith in just three hours of video.”

6) Taking an Opportunity – I loved this account of a guy, Tyler Ellis, who used his TEDx talk to get people thinking about Jesus.

7) 40 Ideas in 40 Tweets – For something a bit different, this is quite fun. Gurwhinder Bhogal attempts to summarise 40 fairly complex ideas, each in the confines of a tweet. Everything from Survivorship Bias, to the Streetlight Effect, to the Pareto Principle. You’ll learn something…

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‘It’s about the journey, not just the destination…’

We’ve probably all heard that remark – and of course, there’s something in it. Mind you, it’s not much fun when you’re broken down on the hard shoulder.

But this new book from Sinclair Ferguson – designed as a Lent devotional – follows a particular journey: that of Jesus as he ‘sets his face’ to Jerusalem and walks towards the cross. It’s certainly a situation where the destination really matters, but as Ferguson shows, for us the journey is transformative too – revealing the heart and character of Jesus as he comes to ‘seek and save the lost’. In that sense, this resource offers to take us on a journey too – as we move towards the staggering events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday – and thus gaze afresh at our Saviour. But Ferguson also notes a challenge: Jesus asks if we will ‘come after’ him, denying ourselves and taking up our own crosses.

Following in a recent tradition of Lent and Advent devotionals from the Good Book Company (including an Advent 2019 devotional from the same author), there’s a daily reading and short reflection from the second half of Luke’s gospel, along with space to journal and note your own reflections. Having read the first few reflections, I’m looking forward to following along. They are rich, pastoral and reflective.

It’s also interesting to hear Ferguson reflect on his own journey when it comes to appreciating ‘the Christian year’. For some, the idea of Lent is something of foreign concept. Yes, for the Christian every day is to be a ‘remember the cross’ day, just as every day is a ‘remember the resurrection’ and a ‘Jesus will come back’ day. But these annual rhythms provide an opportunity us to re-focus our hearts, rewiring us into a story. Ferguson notes the way they help us to focus on the person of Jesus himself, rather than just propositional truths or doctrines.

You can listen to James Cary interview author Sinclair Ferguson about the book and his own journey here.

You can pick up a copy of To Seek And To Save from the publisher here.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, but I hope this is still a fair and honest review.

Seven up…

1) Revamped Christianity Explored website – The Christianity Explored website is a great resource, and has been revamped with 10 new videos on their ‘most common questions’ section, with bitesize responses from the likes of John Lennox, Becky Pippert, Sharon Dirckx, and Jason Roach. As well as addressing objections & questions, there’s also a series of new testimony videos – some have dramatic conversion stories, like the woman who started reading the Bible while high on heroin, whereas others are less dramatic, like the woman from a Christian home who came back to church and put her faith in Jesus after some years away. If you’ve not come across Christianity Explorer, a few years ago, I shared 10 reasons why I love Christianity Explored.

2) How to Improve Your Preaching – Are you still wanting to get better as a preacher? Seasoned preacher and pastor Kevin DeYoung offers some questions for us all to reflect on.

3) The reality of life as a Bible translator – This is an eye-opening account of someone spending their life in ensuring God’s word is translated for every ‘tribe and tongue’…

4) Why do churches manage people badly? – An interesting and perceptive piece with some useful next steps.

5) Free eBook: Living Life Backward/Destiny by David Gibson – This is one of the most stimulating Christian books I’ve read in the last 5 years – it’s a powerful and engaging deep-dive into the book of Ecclesiastes, often misunderstood. It reads really well and is full of good application. The publisher is giving it away in eBook form if you subscribe to their newsletter – grab it! You can always unsubscribe!

6) The stunning Southern Baptist controversy over Donald Trump and Russell Moore, explained – US politics and Christianity is a fascinating cocktail of culture and belief. As someone who has appreciated Russell Moore, I found it interesting to see how The Week had picked up on this.

7) Justin Bieber describes encountering the real Jesus – For something a bit different – well, actually not that different this week… it’s been half-term after all. Fair play to Biebs for speaking so openly about this. It’s so easy to make a Jesus ‘in our own image’ or imagination – or in the image of those we receive him from – but to not engage with the biblical reality. Jesus always graciously calls everyone to ‘repent and believe’, turn and trust – and in that message we find not the end of life, but the beginning of true life.

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