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:

1. 4 Weeks seems like a good length for a short course… some people might be put off by a 10 week course
2. You don’t need a really good speaker… they’re there on the DVD
3. You can choose to have a bloke or a lady speaking, depending on your context
4. It’s really simple, short and down to earth
5. 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

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 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.

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:

1. 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
2. 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
3. Keller does faithful exposition, practical, relevant application and Biblical overview all in the same chapter
4. 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
5. 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.

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”