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Need a last-minute Christmas gift that can be delivered on time? A digital stocking stuffer could be the answer. This week (beginning 8am Pacific time on 12/19/23), holiday prices are in effect for two titles available on Amazon.com. $1.99 each for the Kindle editions of:
Six stories about lives of faith reveal how God's promises speak to our hearts' concerns. Come along with Jake and Sally, Tammy Jo, Charlotte, Larry and others as they experience the Lord's care as the Shepherd of their lives.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GV76SWF
James' letter to early Christians offered examples and instruction concerning what a life of faith will look like. He described the sorts attitudes and activities that will flow from being connected to Jesus Christ. You'll find contemporary examples and inspirational anecdotes to encourage you in your own active life of faith.
If you stumble across this page, here are some posts that have been published in recent months at the new Electric Gospel site:
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If you happen to be visiting or still subscribed to this older version of The Electric Gospel, you've been missing new content at the new site.
Today a post was added for Christmas:
Other posts in recent months were these:
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A two-part series on humility has been posted at the current version of The Electric Gospel blog.
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Pentecost Sunday, 2022
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Luke’s Pentecost narrative [Acts chapter 2] challenges the church today to find even more effective ways of communicating the gospel to peoples in every land on earth. … Just as the early Christians moved beyond the land of Israel and the Jewish people, so we must help all the peoples in our world hear and express the gospel in their own languages and according to their own cultural patterns. - Daniel J. Harrington, “The Challenge of Pentecost,” America (May 5, 2008)
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The sign over the classroom door encouraged students’ eagerness: “Enter with an open mind.” Inside, though, an open-minded approach was not consistently encouraged. In this elementary classroom at a Christian school, religious lessons for the month were focused on the practices of other groups, organizations, and faiths (different from the affiliation of the parochial school). The children would come home and tell their parents, “Do you know what this (or that) group believes? They’re so weird!” The lessons were teaching young denomination members to judge others. One of the assignments, mislabeled as an “evangelism exercise,” asked the children to compose a letter that they would send to Tom Cruise, trying to convince him of the dangers and evils of Scientology.
Certainly, God tells us to be wary of temptations and to steer clear of false teachings. Yet our call as evangelists (proclaimers of good news) is to be warm and winsome in our witness to others, to be models and messengers of the character of Christ. It is an unhappy consequence if education efforts lead us to become insular and narrow and focused on our own ways and practices. Our discipleship goal in the body of Christ is not to close minds and hearts or isolate ourselves from others in our communities. Rather, we seek to expand and enrich our own understanding and reach out to others with the truths we have come to know in Christ.
The apostle Paul advised us, “From now on … regard no one from a human point of view” (2 Corinthians 5:16). We don't calculate who might be more inclined to agree with us or who seems too different from us. We take a view that is open to the wide variety of persons in our world–all of whom are people for whom Jesus died and rose again. We don’t close ourselves off from the world around us or avoid those who seem "weird" to us. [Truthfully, we likely seem "weird" to them too.] Our aim is to live in the world and impact the world by the testimony of lives in Jesus. We want to be seasoned by the Spirit to serve as the salt of the earth, to walk as children of the light to give off light to the world (cf. John 13:35-36). May we see ourselves (and teach our children to see themselves) as ambassadors for Christ, imploring other’s on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled to God (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:20). That will be our way of "praising God and having the goodwill of all the people" (Acts 2:47).
God of all the nations, we pray for your one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. Praise to you for the great diversity present in the peoples, languages, rituals and practices of all people who follow you in the name of Jesus Christ. Turn us from fear of difference toward celebration. We pray for all people globally. Through the Spirit, grant us the power to be your disciples in the world. In our worship and in our work in the world, guide us to be good neighbors to our neighbors near and far. Free us from prejudice, that we may see your face in people around the world, through Jesus Christ, our Savior, and share his peace with all. (Adapted from Celebrate Global Ministries, Pentecost Sunday, 2017)
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Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
A new post was published this past weekend at the current ELECTRIC GOSPEL site. Go to this link to read this week's post:
https://theelectricgospel.com/love-for-all-good-news-for-all/
I had a dozen days available to use for Amazon Kindle ebook giveaways. So, I've scheduled ebooks to be available for free download starting May 1, according to the schedule shown below. If you don't have a Kindle tablet for ebooks, the Kindle Cloud Reader is available, or you can install the Kindle app on your computer. You also can get the Kindle app for iOS and Android to use on your phone.
If you take advantage of one or more of the free book offers, I'd appreciate reviews posted on Amazon's site. All reviews are welcome, whether you like the book you read or not. Even bad reviews are better than no reviews!
Here's the schedule of free download dates for books:
If you happen to miss the free download dates for any books, they are also available for sale in both Kindle and paperback formats.
Happy springtime, and happy reading!
An Easter message was posted to the new Electric Gospel site today:
Click the link to go to the post.
Feel free to explore other posts also and subscribe at TheElectricGospel.com.
A new post was published this past week on The Electric Gospel.
The sermon-length message is a meditation on Psalm 129, contemplating our patience in suffering, knowing Christ has suffered for us.
Read the post on patience here, at The Electric Gospel's current site:
https://theelectricgospel.com/patience/
Our hearts are with the people of Ukraine at this time, as they struggle to protect their country and many have been forced to flee their homes. A number of years ago, I visited Ukraine to teach a course at a seminary there. I asked a contact of mine what, if anything, those of us far away could do in the present crisis. He responded, "Thank you very much for your prayers and concern. Here is a link where you can donate to Ukrainian Army: https://uahelp.monobank.ua/." [If you go to the site, a donation of 1000 hryven’ at today's current exchange rate is 33.28 in US dollars.] Others may be inclined to show support via humanitarian agencies. The Guardian newspaper recently published links to charitable agencies working to alleviate suffering: "How Americans can help people of Ukraine."
At the beginning of in Lent in 2009, I was privileged to preach to a group in Ternopil. I'll share a version of that message for the first week in Lent here. Let us pray for and support one another in all the struggles and tests of faith that this life brings.
Find the message for the 1st Sunday in Lent at the new Electric Gospel site: https://theelectricgospel.com/the-lord-is-our-righteousness/
