Gospel.com Blog

Looks like the InterVarsity Press website has gotten a recent overhaul. They’re featuring a new book about Narnia called Aslan’s Call: Finding Our Way to Narnia, complete with downloadable excerpts from the book and a short interview with the author. If the recent release of the Narnia movie has you in a C.S. Lewis mood, this looks like an interesting read.

Columnist James Watkins has been making humorous annual predictions (with a serious message) since 2002, and he’s back this year with some startling and daring guesses about what the New Year holds. Will there be armed conflict in 2006? Will a famous Hollywood couple divorce? These are the questions that only James can answer.

Last week, a Pennsylvania judge made a controversial ruling about the teaching of intelligent design in public school classrooms. Answers in Genesis has posted their opinion on the ruling. If the creation/evolution debate interests you, you’ll probably want to keep an eye on AiG–given their focus, you can bet they’ll have more to say on the situation in the future!

Yesterday we looked at several ministries offering some New Year’s Resolution advice. Here’s another to add to that list: The Greatness of Small Beginnings, the latest essay by Blaine Smith. From the article:

…we shouldn’t underestimate the value that taking any initial step toward a goal has upon us psychologically. Suddenly our psyche is committed, and we become more alert to opportunities that will move us toward our dream. Others become more aware of our intentions as well and are more likely to try to help us.

Yet the spiritual aspect of taking the first step is even more important. The seemingly insignificant small beginning often gets much closer to the heart of the biblical idea of going forward in faith than we realize.

If you’re not familiar with him, Blaine is a great inspirational writer–for years now, he’s been writing solid essays dealing with the trials and challenges of everyday life. Well worth bookmarking!

They’re easy to make and (alas) even easier to break: New Year’s resolutions! If you’re thinking about making some New Year’s resolutions for 2006, a couple of Alliance ministries have some insights.

Does one of your resolutions involve spending less money or working your way out of debt? MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) published some good advice a year or so back that still applies today: making a financial fresh start. Their advice? You’ll have to read the article, but here’s a hint: “keep it simple.”

The next ministry to check out is Back to the Bible, which is running a five-part devotional series this week called “Five Words of Resolution for the New Year.” The series just started yesterday; you can read the first installment here. Tune to their Radio page to read or listen to the next four messages as they’re broadcast.

Last but not least, Village Schools of the Bible has a good piece on making New Year’s resolutions that you can keep.

Enjoy!

Last week, we mentioned some Alliance ministries with insight into several Christmas music favorites. Here’s another one to add to that list: Woodrow Kroll of Back to the Bible has an excellent meditation on ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’. It’s part of an ongoing series of devotionals based on Christmas carols–he’s already talked about ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ and ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’.

All this interest in the music of Christmas is making for a really fun change of pace this year. Sing on!

Overcome by the spirit of the holidays, the Gospelcom gang has put together a special Christmas greeting for you to check out, complete with Christmas music performed by our own multi-talented Warren Kramer. Merry Christmas from Gospelcom!

Author Max Lucado, who among other things provides daily podcast devotions at his website, has put together a collection of Christmas reflections [PDF].

In six short chapters, he explores the Christmas story from several different angles and talks about what it means for us today. Here’s a short exerpt from his discussion of Jesus:

Jesus may have had pimples. He may have been tone-deaf. Perhaps a girl down the street had a crush on him or vice versa. It could be that his knees were bony. One thing’s for sure: He was, while completely divine, completely human….

To think of Jesus in such a light is—well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it? It’s not something we like to do; it’s uncomfortable. It is much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or blew his nose or hit his thumb with a hammer.

He’s easier to stomach that way. There is something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, packaged, predictable…. But don’t do it. Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in can he pull us out.

Great discussion material there. These essays would make good family reading as Christmas nears.

The holiday season is all about peace, joy, and goodwill… right? That’s certainly the ideal, but the truth is that many people struggle with depression during Christmas, ground down by hectic holiday schedules or feelings of loneliness.

Christians are certainly not immune to depression. If you’re stuck in the holiday blues this Christmas, the Christian Depression Pages ministry has a number of excellent articles about depression, which cut through popular myths about depression. If a family member or loved one is dealing with depression, you might want to read CDP’s list of things people say to depressed Christians to make sure you’re communicating in a way that helps, rather than hurts, the situation.

How do you raise children who make good moral decisions? According to Dan Seaborn of the Winning at Home ministry, it takes much than strict rules and frequent lectures. It’s much more difficult that that–raising principled kids requires that you as a parent consistently adhere to the principles you want your kids to follow:

Consistency is one of the most difficult tasks in parenting. Sometimes it seems almost impossible to make our actions match our words. Still, in guiding children down the right paths, it is crucial for moms and dads to live under the same moral codes they’ve set for their kids.

In other words, make sure you’re practicing what you’re preaching, and don’t assume your kids won’t pick up on even the most innocent hypocrisy!

(Many more good articles about parenting and marriage at the Winning at Home website.)