When did you last feel fully alive?

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

  Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,

  And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

It is well, Horatio Gates Spafford (1828-1888) and Philip Paul Bliss (1838-1876)

Image from Don Moen.

King Jesus is a song written by Matt Redman, Jason Ingram and Joel Houston.

Shout all the earth
Shout like you know that our King is risen
Shout like you know
The kingdom of heaven is here
Shout all you saints
Shout like you know
That we’re in His presence
Shout like you know The King is in residence here

Here’s a lyric video of the song.

The full lyrics:

Christians have taken sides for too long. Either we’ve pursued strong biblical teaching, or we’ve gone after an experience of God’s presence. In this article for Premier Christianity magazine, RT Kendall says ‘It’s time to end the war’.

Many years ago I was having a meal in London with a well-known minister whose emphasis had been in the area of signs, wonders and the prophetic. I said to him: “You need my theology, I need your power.” My words no doubt sound pompous since they imply that my teaching is necessarily right. Nevertheless, this conversation was the beginning of a new focus in my own ministry, namely, that the Word and Spirit need to come together.

We need both the sun and rain to give beauty and balance in nature. Likewise we need both the Word and the Spirit in order to understand God and his ways. The word is like the sun; the Spirit is like rain. One without the other can result in a natural disaster. It has been said before: “All Word and no Spirit, we dry up; all Spirit and no Word, we blow up; but with both Word and Spirit we grow up.”

Continue reading “RT Kendall: When Word and Spirit come together, revival will follow”

You can purchase cards, stationery, homeware, artwork, books and prints featuring Hannah Dunnett’s original artwork intertwined with religious texts from www.benandhannahdunnett.com.

This powerful 4-min video shows the two songwriters telling the story behind writing Until You Do, a favourite song sung at Explore.

“I told you, but you don’t believe. Everything I have done has been authorized by my Father, actions that speak louder than words. You don’t believe because you’re not my sheep. My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. I and the Father are one heart and mind.”

John 10:30, The Message

Image from UCB.co.uk.

The more stuff I donated, the more I was able to breathe. The more trash I threw away, the more weight I felt lifted. The more stuff I took out of our home, the more I was able to see a new life. The more uncluttered I lived, the more joy I found.

Zina Harrington

The greatest day in history

Death is beaten, you have rescued me

Sing it out Jesus is alive

The empty cross, the empty grave

Life eternal You have won the day

Shout it out, Jesus is alive

He’s alive

Tim Hughes, Happy Day

Image from UCB.co.uk.

“Forever Good” is written by Michael Farren, Steve Merkel and Brian Campbell. It’s simple in its lyric content and melodic structure but faith affirming, you don’t have to be too clever to be effective. 

The content contained in this article was first delivered at the Unbelievable? Apologetics Conference. Rev Tim Alford was addressing a group of youth leaders and parents on the subject of what makes Generation Z tick. It was later published by Premier Chrsitianity magazine, because youth leaders and parents aren’t the only people who needed to understand this. Ultimately, any Christian who cares about the next generation needs to understand how they think, because this will allow us to present the Gospel to them in a way they can understand. Tim did a brilliant job of summing up so much important research in this short article. 

Today’s teenagers and 20s make up the first truly biblically illiterate generation. Tim Alford explores how the Church can best communicate the gospel to this unreached people group

What is the faith of the next generation worth to us? Because what we are doing isn’t working. Recent statistics reveal that churches up and down the country are losing young people. Nick Shepherd, former chief executive of the Institute for Children Youth and Mission, points out that unless we change the trajectory, “those churches with fewer than five young people can literally be said to have no future”.

Continue reading “Tim Alford: What every Christian needs to know about Generation Z”