REV ANDY’S NEWS
JULY 2018
“WHAT GOOD NEWS?”
a progress report
Last month I had just started the essay “What Good News?”, looking at the context of the gospel though the ages. I have now covered the first 1800 years of the Christian era (wow!), including:
St Augustine: “I kept walking on dark and slippery trails and searching for you outside of myself, while failing to find the God of my own heart.”
The Barbarians: “Man appears on earth for a little while; but of what went before this life or of what follows we know nothing. Therefore if this new teaching has brought any more certain knowledge, it seems only right that we should follow it.”
The 12th century Renaissance: “You want me to tell you why God is to be loved and how much. I answer, the reason for loving God is God Himself; and the measure of love due to Him is immeasurable love…”
The 14th and 15th centuries: “No one has a harder struggle than the man who is striving to overcome himself; and it should be our business … every day to get the upper hand over our old natures and to show some progress and improvement.”
The Reformation: “The chief article and foundation of the gospel is that before you take Christ as an example, you accept and recognise him as a gift.”
The 18th century: “Sir, the pretending to extraordinary revelations and gifts of the Holy Ghost is a horrid thing, a very horrid thing.”
The 19th century – apparently the high water mark for the church in England, but below the surface there were currents which were undermining the very foundations of Christendom: The Sea of Faith Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. But now I only hear Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar…
Next month the essay will be complete and available as part of “Five Steps to Faith”.
The Five Steps are: Who or what is God? Who was Jesus? The Cross – a tragic mistake? Resurrection – can you believe it? Holy Spirit – power and presence
It is designed to be used in people’s homes and uses film, questions & discussion, and prayer instead of “chalk and talk” as guided exploration of Christianity.
“Great material here” Mark Collinson, Canon Principal Diocese of Winchester, Director of School of Mission
“I hope the book spreads far and wide & proves useful to many!” Rt Revd Graham Tomlin, bishop of Kensington
MY WRITER JOURNEY
Blogs 2017-18
From May 2017 to March 2018 I was writing “A Week of Prayer in Jerusalem” and “Five Steps to Faith”, but I knew i had to pay attention to my website as well.
It’s all very well having a website, but it has limited value unless it is going to have new content regularly so that people will keep clicking on it. So I knew that I needed to write blogs about the Bible. Since the beginning of 2108 I have tried to write a blog a week. All of them are themed around the Bible, because my secondary aim is to create a comprehensive resource for anyone wanting to get to grips with this fascinating but difficult collection of books.
I started with a subject I have my own strong opinions on, i.e. the trustworthiness of the gospels. To summarise my conclusions: Can we trust Mark? yes. Luke? by and large, yes. Matthew? more doubtful; John? God only knows! Take a look and tell me what you think.
I am now doing a whole series on Paul’s letters. I started with his life story; my most recent post is on “Paul on Sex”. To come are some more heavyweight topics like the Law and the Spirit.
I would love to include your comments on any of these – or indeed if you would like to write a blog yourself on the Bible. Just send me an email to bibleinbrief@gmail.com.
WEBSITE – WHAT A FANTASTIC CHOICE!
On Tuesday 10th July I sat in the office of Emma, my website administrator, and finally learnt how to upload documents, images and videos onto my website. The result is that now if you go to the website, you will have the following free downloads available:
Every reading for the six months from “Bible in Brief”
Nine fantastic short animated films on Old Testament characters, on Links
Prayer leaflets to accompany “Discovering Psalms as Prayer”
Three music videos to use in public performances of Job
40+ photos of Jerusalem to accompany “A Week of Prayer in Jerusalem”.
10 Bible handouts which give a real foundation to Christian faith, plus two short videos, to accompany the programme “Five Steps to Faith”
40+ Bible blogs
Enjoy!
DISCOVERY IN A CONVENT
How to create Family Friendly Faith
St Michael’s Convent, Gerrards Cross
14th – 16th September
Discover how to help families explore the Christian faith in five user-friendly steps in their own homes.
Rev Andy Roland, author of Bible in Brief, will lead five interactive sessions in a relaxed weekend in sunny Bucks.
£120 for the weekend – residential £30 for the weekend – non-residential
Book at: hospitality@sistersofthechurch.org. uk
If you would like to know more, email me at bibleinbrief@gmail.com