Kindle readers launched in the UK
Good news for the UK readers …
Amazon’s Kindle reader will be released in the UK on 27 August and can already be pre-ordered. It comes in two versions:
A version with Wi-Fi and free global G3 connection for £149.00.
A version with Wi-Fi (but without the G3 connection) for £109.00.
This follows the cut in price of Kindle Readers in the US to $189.00 (no doubt responding to the launch of the iPad).
I should say that I don’t have either a Kindle Reader or an iPad, but I’m considering a Kindle Reader. Why a Kindle when the iPad is out with all its bells and whistles? For two reasons. First, the Kindle has an anti-glare screen because it is designed for reading books and reading books only. Second, I can’t afford an iPad. If I could, then it would be a close call. As it is, £149 is still lot of money.
Closing the Window on Porn
My book on pomography is to be published by Inter-Varsity Press in November 2010. The title will be Closing the Window: Steps to Living Porn Free (the UK title is Captured By A Better Vision). Here’s what Inter-Varsity say about it …
Pomography is everywhere. Far too many Christians regularly use and are addicted to it, warping their perception of se xuality and relationships, destroying marriages and ministries. But Christians who struggle with pom also long for change. When we realize the unfulfilling emptiness of pom, we come to yearn for freedom from it. But what do we do? Tim Chester says that we can be captured by a better vision–a liberating confidence that God offers more than pomography does. Moving beyond pat answers or mere willpower, Chester offers spiritual, practical and corporate resources for living pom free. He exposes the false promises of pom and redirects us to the true promises of God. With assurance of God’s grace and cleansing power, we can change our desires and escape the traps and temptations of pomography. However great the challenge, God’s grace is even greater. And we can come to a place where we no longer feel the need to use pom. Close the window on pom. And open the door to freedom, integrity and new life.
You can pre-order the book here from amazon.com. In the meantime you can buy the UK edition from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk.
Here are some endoresments …
“One of the greatest challenges facing Christians today is the call to se xual purity and integrity. Tim Chester’s book will prove indispensable for those committed to that challenge. By exposing the lies that fuel pomography addiction and offering practical tips for staying free, he arms us with the tools we need to win the battle against pom.”
“Finally, a book which rightly puts the struggle with purity, pomography and se xuality into the larger biblical framework of what it means to know God in the midst of our brokenness! This is a wonderful resource to add to the arsenal of anyone serious about finding freedom from the power of pomography. In addition to that, Tim has written a book that can be effectively used by pastors and leaders. It is an excellent pastoral tool to help those dealing with and impacted by the false promises and lies of our pom-is-the-norm culture.”
“Tim Chester has hit the nail on the head! Pomography is a cancer eating the heart of the church, and this excellent book tackles it head-on. As you would expect, it is thoroughly rooted in the Bible, very well researched and highly accessible. Crucially, Tim also offers fantastic practical and realistic help and advice that us men would do well to take advantage of. I highly commend this timely book.”
“Tim Chester believes that churches need to talk about pom, and has written a helpful book that explains why. I believe it will be a lifeline for those who feel trapped and say, ‘I can’t change.’ It contains a message of grace, strength and hope.”
“Christians think se x is great, but its misuse is bad! Pomography draws Christian men into a dark world where shame and guilt replace joy and freedom. This book superbly diagnoses the problem and points to God’s healing. Tim Chester’s writing will rescue many a marriage and restore many a man to a place where purity and passion coexist in biblical relationship.”
“Tim Chester offers hope, and the possibility of living free from the snare of pomography. . . . Without sounding superspiritual or piling on the guilt, this book emphasizes the fact that we cannot change without God’s help. . . . Chester’s diligent research and nonjudgmental approach will, I promise, help many Christians who are struggling with pom.”
[Before you ask, I've deliberately written 'pom' because my blog software screens expli cit words.]
Thursday Review: Francis Chan on The Forgotten God
A review of Francis Chan, The Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit, David C. Cook, 2009.
Available here from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
I love this book. I suspect that for most readers of this blog it will not add much that you did not already know (and, to be fair, it does not claim that it will). Instead it is an impassioned plea to take the Holy Spirit seriously. So, while it might not add to your knowledge, it will stir your heart to seek the Spirit, not to grieve the Spirit, to prayer for the Spirit, to be open to the Spirit. It is good for the soul.
Here are some quotes (with more following in future posts):
“From my perspective, the Holy Spirit is tragically neglected and, for all practical purposes, forgotten. While no evangelical would deny his existence, I’m willing to bet there are millions of churchgoers across America who cannot confidently say they have experienced his presence or action in their lives over the past year. And many of them do not believe they can.” (15).
“If you or I had never been to a church and had read only the Old and New Testaments, we would have significant expectations of the Holy Spirit in our lives … If we read and believed these accounts, we would expect a great deal of the Holy Spirit. He would not be a mostly forgotten member of the Godhead whom we occasionally give a nod of recognition to, which is what He has become in most American churches. We would expect our new life with the Holy Spirit to look radically different from our old life without him.” (30-31)
“Have you ever thought about the significance of having ‘another’ Counsellor who is ‘just like’ Christ? Right now, imagine what it would be like to have Christ standing beside you in the flesh, functioning as your personal Counsellor. Imagine the peace that would come from knowing you would always receive perfect truth and flawless direction from him. That sounds amazing, and none of us could deny the benefit of having Jesus here physically, guiding and enabling us every step of the way. Yet why do we assume that this would be any better than the literal presence of the Holy Spirit? Those of us who believe in Jesus would never deny the truth that we have the Spirit of the living God, the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead, living inside of us. I’m just not convinced we’ve internalized this truth and enjoyed his blessings as he intends. It seems like this is mostly head knowledge to us, and that we have not owned it. It has not really made much of a difference in our lives, to the degree that if we woke up tomorrow and discovered that it is not true the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, most likely our lives wouldn’t look much different.” (35).
You Can Change at conferences next year
A bit in advance, but I’m speaking on the themes of my book You Can Change at two conferences in the spring of 2011.
New Word Alive
10-15 April 2011
Proclamation Trust Younger Ministers Conference
3-6 May 2011
Eschatology: clarifications and implications
I recently led a series of informal theological discussions on the theme of eschatology for leaders in our gathering of The Crowded House. This final session clarifies the now and net yet of the kingdom by defining inaugurated eschatology. It talks about how the kingdom is both the rule of God and the realm over which he rules. Finally it looks at the implications of eschatology for mission and pastoral care.
A prayer for church leaders and Bible teachers
Here’s a prayer for church leaders and Bible teachers …
Lord, I rejoice to suffering for your people
…..and I accept more of Christ’s afflictions
….for the sake of his body, the church.
You have commissioned me
….to be a servant of the church,
to present to your people your word in its fulness –
….the mystery once hidden
….that is now revealed to the saints.
To them you have chosen to make known
….among the nations
….the glorious riches of this mystery:
….Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Enable me to proclaim Christ,
….warning everyone,
….teaching everyone
….with all wisdom,
so that I may present everyone prefect in Christ.
Energize me, work in me powerfully
….so I can toil and struggle in this task.
May they be encouraged in heart
….and united in love.
May they have all the riches of full assurance
….and full understanding of Christ,
discovering in him
….all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Based on Colossians 1:24-2:3.
Bonhoeffer on the way confession creates community
I’m posting a few quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together 
which I recently reviewed (here).
Bonhoeffer has a long section on confession, partly because he recognises that it is treated with suspicion by many Protestants. Today some quotes on the way confession reinforces community.
‘In confession there takes place a breakthrough to community. Sin wants to be alone with people. It takes them away from the community. The more lonely people become, the more destructive the power of sin over them. The more deeply they become entangled in it, the more unholy is their loneliness. Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of what is left unsaid sin poisons the whole being of a person. This can happen in the midst of a pious community. In confession the light of the gospel breaks into the darkness and closed isolation of the heart. Sin must be brought into the light. What is unspoken is said openly and confessed. All that is secret and hidden comes to light. It is a hard struggle until the sin crosses one’s lips in confession. But God breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron (Ps. 107:16) Since the confession of sin is made in the presence of another Christian, the last stronghold of self-justification is abandoned. The sinner surrenders, giving up all evil, giving the sinner’s heart to God and finding the forgiveness of all one’s sin in the community of Jesus Christ and other Christians. Sin that has been spoken and confessed has lost all of its power. It has been revealed and judged as sin. It can no longer tear apart the community.’ (110)
‘In this connection, we are talking exclusively about confession between two Christians. A confession of sin in the presence of all the members of the congregation is not required to restore one to community with the entire congregation. In the one other Christian to whom I confess my sins and by whom my sins are declared forgiven, I meet the whole congregation.’ (111)
‘In confession there occurs a breakthrough to the cross. The root of all my sin is pride.’ (111)
‘Confession in the presence of another believer is the most profound kind of humiliation. It hurts, makes one feel small; it deals a terrible blow to one’s pride.’ (111)
‘It is none other than Jesus Christ who openly suffered the shameful death of a sinner in our place, who was not ashamed to be crucified for us as an evildoer. And it is nothing else but our community with Jesus Christ that leads us to the disgraceful dying that comes in confession, so that we may truly share in this cross. The cross of Jesus Christ shatters all pride.’ (111)
‘In confession there occurs a breakthrough to new life. The break with the past is made when sin is hated, confessed, and forgiven. “Everything has become new” (2 Cor 5:17).’ (112)
The kingdom of God and the atonement
I recently led a series of informal theological discussions on the theme of eschatology for leaders in our gathering of The Crowded House. This session continues our exploration of the kingdom of God and the coming of Jesus with a focus on the secret of the kingdom, the nature of the kingdom in the present age and the crucial link between the kingdom and the atonement.
Bonhoeffer on giving and receiving rebuke
I’m posting a few quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together which I recently reviewed (here).
Today some quotes on giving and receiving rebuke.
‘The basis on which Christians can speak to one another is that each knows the other as a sinner who, even given all one’s human renown, is forlorn and lost if not given hep. This does not mean that the others are being disparaged or dishonoured. Rather, we are paying them the only real honour a human being has, namely, that as sinners they share in God’s grace and glory, that they are children of God. This realization gives our mutual speech the freedom and openness it needs. We talk to one another about the help we both need. We admonish one another to go the way Christ bids us to go. We warn one another against the disobedience that is our undoing. We are gentle and we are firm with one another, for we know both God’s kindness and God’s firmness. Why should we be afraid of one another since both of us have only God to fear?’ (104/105)
‘The more we learn to allow the other to speak the Word to us, to accept humbly and gratefully even severe reproaches and admonitions, the more free and to the point we ourselves will be in speaking. One who because of sensitivity and vanity rejects the serious words of another Christian cannot speak the truth in humility to others. Such a person is afraid of being rejected and feeling hurt by another’s words. Sensitive, irritable people will always become flatterers, and very soon they will come to despise and slander other Christians in their community. But humble people will cling to both truth and love. They will stick to the Word of God and let it lead them to others in their community. They can help others through the Word because they seek nothing for themselves and have no fears for themselves.’ (105)
‘Nothing can be more cruel than that leniency which abandons other to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than that severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.’ (105)
GCM Collective Conference October 2010
The GCM Collective (of which I’m a member) will be hosting their first GCM Conference in Austin, TX this October, bringing together church planters, pastors, and leaders to collaborate on the practice of missional communities. This three-day conference will feature main and breakout sessions under the theme of GOSPEL, COMMUNITY and MISSION.
You will get to hear from, meet and interact with leaders who are daily practitioners, living in gospel communities on mission in their cities. This is a unique experience that will present the why, what and how-to of starting, leading and multiplying missional communities. Interactive plenary sessions, breakouts and unique training experiences will fill our days both on-site and off.
Big church, small church, multi-site or neighborhood this event is for every church that seeks to effectively expand the gospel in their context.
Who: GCM Collective
What: GCM Conference
Where: Austin, TX, United States
When: Thursday, October 28, 2010, 8:00 AM – Saturday, October 30, 2010, 5:00 PM
Speakers: Ed Stetzer, Steve Timmis, Jeff Vanderstelt, Caesar Kalinowski, David Fairchild, Drew Goodmanson and Jonathan Dodson.
COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE: Become part of a GCM Collective. Our team will group you together with a small group of other missional leaders to exchange learning, share experiences and operate as advisors to one-anothers’ gospel communities on mission. In this process you will complete a Missional Readiness Indicator (MRI) test, answer demographic information and a few interview questions to help pair you with the right group. Contact GCM Collective to learn more.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28TH
3:30 – 5:00PM Pre-Conference: Forming a Collective Drew Goodmanson
7:00 – 9:00PM Main Session ONE: GCM Collective Vision Panel Discussion
9:00PM – Meet-Up at Gingerman Pub
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29TH
9:30 – 10:30AM Main Session TWO: What is the Gospel? David Fairchild
10:45 – 12PM Breakout Session [ 1 ]
12 – 1:30PM Lunch Break
1:30 – 2:45PM Main Session THREE: A Post-Christendom America Ed Stetzer
3:00 – 5:00PM Breakout Session [ 2 ]
5:00 – 7:00PM Dinner Break
7:00 – 9:00PM Main Session FOUR: Gospel Rhythms Caesar Kalinowski
9:00PM – Downtown Experience
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30TH
9:00 – 10:30AM Main Session FIVE: Making Disciples on Mission Jeff Vanderstelt
10:45 – 11:45AM Breakout Session [ 3 ]
12 – 1:30PM Main Session SIX: Stealth Church Steve Timmis
