All posts tagged Good Book Company

Little Black Books

by Hugh on October 26, 2010 in Books, Faith with No comments

I threw away my little black book when I got married… but then the Good Book Company sent me another one! That’s a joke, I never had one… but the second point is true.

I’ve just read through two of these ‘Little Black Books‘, one on the Bible and one on Suffering and Evil. They’re written by Scott Petty (from Oz), there’s currently others on Sex and on Predestination. They’re published by Mathias Media, sold by Good Book Company, and cost just £3 each – bargain!

I like these, they’re short enough to read quickly, but cover big topics well. They’re aimed at 14-20+ years… personally I think 11+ could handle these and they could rightly be used by adults as well (although some may find a bit patronising). Arguments are backed up from the Bible, with texts printed, and big words and big concepts are explained simply and clearly.

There are times when you think it’s been a bit over simplified (it’s only 50 pages) but further reading can be found in the endnotes with specific recommendations. These books fill a gap in resources for youth workers and families.

Worth getting… you can get the set of 4 for £10.

The Archer and the Arrow

by Hugh on October 8, 2010 in Books, Faith with No comments

The Archer and the Arrow is the second book in a series, following up from The Trellis and the Vine, produced by Mathias Media and authored by Philip Jensen and Paul Grimmond. In a nutshell it’s a book about the Word of God (the Bible) and how to preach it.

The basic premise comes from the illustration of an arrow and preaching is like firing one… first the shaft of the arrow is the exegesis (or the explanation / interpretation of the text), second the feathers which help the arrow to fly, these are things like historical context and theological framework, and thirdly the arrow head, the words which penetrate the hearts and minds of our hearers which is essentially the application of the gospel, through apologetics, ethics, pastoral application, and lots of other methods. It’s a very simple model, but has scope for lots of discussion and what our ‘arrows look like’.

This book would be a helpful reminder to a Pastor / Minister / Theological Student… but doesn’t really say anything you wouldn’t expect it to. But I think it could be a great resource for the occasional preacher, trainee, home group leader etc. There’s enough here to teach and train, and also be a bit of a rebuke for the regular preacher.

There were a couple of unhelpful asides concerning the role of women in ministry and Arminianism, with little explanation – not that I necessarily disagreed with what was said, but it just seemed inappropriate given the scope and audience of the book.

Definitely worth getting hold of a copy of this, I reckon it could be a very valuable resource for preaching / group leaders training in churches… see what you think…

Tales of the Unexpected

by Hugh on May 13, 2010 in Books, Faith with No comments

There’s a great new resource come out from the Good Book Company, a four-week evangelistic course on a DVD, featuring Pete Woodcock and Lizzie Smallwood. It’s based around 4 stories that Jesus tells in Luke’s Gospel – The Rich Fool, The Two Lost Sons, The Pharisee and the Tax Collector… Each episode is based around 3 5-minute teaching clips and one testimony. Here’s 5 reasons why I think it’s great:

4 Weeks seems like a good length for a short course… some people might be put off by a 10 week course
You don’t need a really good speaker… they’re there on the DVD
You can choose to have a bloke or a lady speaking, depending on your context
It’s really simple, short and down to earth
Each episode finishes with a helpful testimony

Here’s what a lady involved in a Mums and Toddlers group at my church thought:

I thought it was really good for anybody that it would be totally new to the idea of reading or doing a study/course. Very accessible and the testimonies were brilliant. The stories were well chosen to build up the picture of Jesus. I think it would provide an excellent step on from ‘Tiddlywinks’ and youth groups for people who are interested in finding out more about Jesus but Christianity Explained may bo too soon/too much. The people doing were generally very good, but sometimes a little cheesy! But certainly better than many I have seen on DVD format. Still think first hand person is probably best way to hear things, but think its generally a good resource.

You can buy the starter pack for just £16 – including DVD and 3 study guides

Beginning with God

by Hugh on January 20, 2010 in Books, Faith with No comments

When I started to flick through this new book from The Good Book Company, I was excited by the thought of getting into the Bible, even though this book is aimed at families with pre-school children, it just looks great fun!

This is a new series of Bible study notes for parents to do with their children. Each session consists of an ‘appetiser’ introduction with ideas for chats and games, a main course with prayers, Bible story, and sticker time, and a snack time, a little nugget to keep kids thinking.

There’s a page at the back where you can photocopy and cut out the little snack nuggets and take them out with you during the day… I’m 24, and I think this sounds fun… in fact I might just have to start making babies (after getting married) so I can do it with my kids!!

The notes are written by Alison Mitchell and Jo Boddam Whetham, and produced by The Good Book Company. They’re just £5, which is a bargain with the stickers and fun stuff to do. You can get your hands on one of these from the 1st February… do it!

Read online sample (pdf)

A Few Good Men

by Hugh on January 24, 2009 in Books, Faith with No comments

A Few Good Men is an encouraging read, designed to spur Christian men on in their faith through the example of Biblical heroes of the faith. Author, Richard Coekin (Co-Mission, London Men’s Convention) takes us to these heroes and applies the good principles of how they lived and applies it to us, here and now. He uses the following 10 examples, drawing on one particular aspect of their character:

Obedient Noah, Sacrificial Abraham, Self-disciplined Joseph, Unworldly Moses, Wholehearted Caleb, Humble Isaiah, Distinctive Daniel, Pastoral Paul, Prayerful Epaphras, and Loyal Onesiphorus.

Each chapter includes the Bible text telling the story of one of these heroes. Coekin then rewrites the story in his own words drawing out the situations and characters in the stories, helping the reader to really grasp what’s going on, after reading that you feel a lot closer to understanding the character. From this point Coekin helps us to apply the principles of godly character into our own situations; at home, at the workplace, at university etc.

The chapters conclude with some extra biblical background information on the character, and then some group discussion questions in light of the applications of the chapter. There is also a concluding 11th chapter conclusion… “Jesus: the perfect man”… Coekin finishes by showing how Jesus is the fulfilment of all these heroes and how he shows perfection in all of these godly characteristics.

The book is an enjoyable read, it’s helped greatly by Coekin’s retelling sections, they help you to understand what’s going on, each chapter is almost like a short commentary/biography on the character – very useful. The book has great story telling, great application and it’s always grounded in and directs the reader to the cross of Christ.

Having said that one of my concerns in the way the book is written is that it may come across as a little bit religious. While the book is aimed to spur Christians on, and it’s made clear that Jesus is the only perfect man, Coekin ignores the massive failures of these men, reading some chapters just made me feel a bit rubbish, I feel the book could be better if it also picked up on these men’s failures and the grace that kept them. So it was great that Coekin always took us to the cross, but I felt it needed the GRACE of God in the cross and in the lives of these men to be emphasised more.

I do highly commend it, great to read, great as a resource looking at Biblical characters, and I’m sure it would be great for a men’s group to read together and discuss. Get your copy from the Good Book Company, only £7.

Why I like the Prodigal God

by Hugh on December 31, 2008 in Books, Faith with No comments

I finally got round to finishing Tim Keller’s ‘The Prodigal God’, it’s not a long book, I’m just a slow reader and easily distracted! If you want a summary of the book, I would say… Tim Keller through the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15) exposes how we look for hope in the world – through the emptiness of sensual living (like the younger son) or through the folly of moral obedience (like the elder son), he shows us how living in these ways cause us to be lost. But he shows us the hope of a third way, the hope of the gospel, the hope that comes only from God’s lavish grace given in Jesus.

Here’s some reasons why I like the book, other than the previous sentence:

It helps you to see things differently – particularly in exposes the true cost of bringing the younger son back and the true heart of the elder brother
There are loads of little mini Bible overviews of themes running throughout; the Father, the true elder brother, Sin, forgiveness, repentance, exile, lostness, Hope, Home, feasts
Keller does faithful exposition, practical, relevant application and Biblical overview all in the same chapter
I don’t really read novels, but it’s great for people who do… Keller seamlessly interweaves the narrative of secular novels by way of illustration into his writing
Keller’s assertions are backed up through the writings of philosophers, it’s intellectually robust

Finally I loved Keller’s concluding acknowledgement to the influence of Edmund Clowney in his ministry:

“He also taught me that it was possible to be theologically sound and completely orthodox and yet unfailing gracious – a rare and precious combination.”

This is a definite must-read, go and get it – £10 from the Good Book Company.

On Church

by Hugh on November 7, 2008 in Faith with No comments

Had the privilege of listening to John Chapman (Chappo) today on personal evangelism for church leaders.

He said this…

“Without good preaching, the wheels fall off a church”

I also picked up my copy of� ‘The Prodigal God‘ today – �10 from GBC. At the end of the first chapter [p16] Tim Keller makes this observation about our churches…

“If our churches aren’t appealing to younger brothers, they must be more full of elder brothers than we’d like to think”

Interview with Barry Cooper

by Hugh on October 18, 2008 in Faith with 2 Comments

Here’s my first interview from the Discipleship Explored launch event.

I speak with author and presenter Barry Cooper about what Discipleship Explored is and why we should be using it… apologies for bad camera work, need some practise!

Discipleship Explored DVD

by Hugh on October 18, 2008 in Books, Faith with 2 Comments

So last night I went to All Souls, Langham Place in London for the launch event for the Discipleship Explored course DVD… on the train up I happened to bump in to the chaplain at my Uni (well I’ve graduated now), Hi Gavin, if you happen to be reading! We chatted for the whole hour of the train journey about whether you can be an Anglican but not Protestant… so I got a history lesson of the Reformation, and we had some good debates about the inerrancy of Scripture and sacramental theology… he’s a clever man but he did says that ‘legally’ I won the debate with my trump card – The 39 Articles! Anyway, that’s an aside… but another aside I had the pleasure of meeting a couple of people I’d only known virtually; fellow blogger Dan Green and Emily from GBC – Hi Emily!

So why was I here?? Well I’m sure most people reading have heard of Christianity Explored… I’m sure that most, but probably a few less have heard of it’s follow up course, Discipleship Explored which has been around for a few years. The great thing about the DVD is that it makes it much easier to run a course!

Here’s a trailer for the DVD, giving you a flavour…

The DVD takes you through the book of Philippians in 8 sessions�� . Each session is about 10 minutes long; the passage is read by a guy with a cool Scottish accent, then a key verse is picked out. The key verse along with the rest of the passage is explained, common questions about the Christian life are answered, the presenter Barry Cooper does a great job of clearly explaining stuff and getting us to the point. These sessions aren’t really a substitute for a talk or Bible study but they’re a great launching block into the passage, and a great way to start a group and get people thinking.

Here’s another little video. Rico Tice interviewing Barry Cooper about the Discipleship Explored DVD… great question and answer is the one to the first question “Why Philippians?”… sorry about the angle of filming, couldn’t be bothered to move:

Coming soon… a couple of short video interviews, one with Barry Cooper, and one with Rico Tice.

For more information and to order resources visit the Good Book Company… the Discipleship Explored DVD is available for just �30.

Mark Driscoll on Good Book Company

by Hugh on August 19, 2008 in Books, Faith with No comments

Good news. Not only are the Good Book Company selling Mark Driscoll books, but they are cheaper than Amazon!! The little ‘Book you’ll actually read’ books are selling for just �5!! And I expect there’ll be a little discount on top of that if you have a UCCF student card. On Amazon they’ll cost you �6.29… you fools who bought from Amazon, get them cheap from GBC!!

News to come soonish about some books for men (grrr) and bible reading notes for adults and young people available from the Good Book Company.

Ps. Tom, if you’re reading, I hope you will complete the collection… Radical Reformission and Confessions?? Don’t forget also Death by Love and Vintage Church coming soon. You saw how popular they were at Dwell!!

Pps. Emily, if you’re reading, got the books and study notes (thank you), will review soon! Holiday reading