The November/December 2011 edition of IDEA, from Evangelical Alliance UK, is devoted to the Bible, containing the articles listed below. Individual articles are linked to from here. Or the whole issue can be downloaded as a 10.7 MB pdf here.
Bikers, bloggers and the Bible
Spearheading the national Biblefresh campaign, the Alliance has been encouraging Christians to refresh their Bible passion throughout 2011. Purely and simply – re-discovering the excitement of its words and making it relevant in people’s lives – for good times and bad. And with bikers, bloggers and British festival goers all getting involved with us during the year, Rebecca Taylor looks at how the work has been making the Bible fresh for thousands both in the UK and abroad.
Quoting the King
What is the most famous verse in the Bible? Think of your instinctive response. Was it John 3:16 by any chance?
How churches renewed their love of the Bible
Churches around the country have been taking part in Biblefresh projects inspired by the national campaign with great enthusiasm this year, Claire Musters finds out the highlights from around the country.
What the Bible means to me
I became a Christian in my late teens. I had grown up in church but was never too convinced by the whole thing. But one day found myself reading the gospels and it was while I walked through the stories of Jesus I found someone compelling and inviting.
How to read the Bible
Hearing the deafening roar of 12 motorbikes revving up outside a tent packed full of Christian worshippers; seeing hundreds of children laughing and playing barefoot in sweltering heat waiting to hear a Bible story; feeling infuriated not getting a word in edgeways as Richard Dawkins held forth on the BBC’s Bible Special show: Biblefresh has been quite a year for me.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Looking for conversation starters, Sophie Lister finds relevant themes in popular culture... In a world without God, reason can have no real relationship with ideas about right and wrong.
Living the text
Reading, studying and knowing the word of God is a good start. The fruit, however, is to be found in how we collectively live out the meaning of the text. We are, after all, a letter of Christ, to be known and read by all (2 Corinthians 3:3).
Biblical influence: How Scripture shaped Great Britain
Our political system owes a lot to the Bible, writes Nick Spencer, research director at think-tank Theos and author of Freedom and Order.
Antiseptic effect: The Bible and social renewal
When evangelicals start talking about ‘public morality’, the effects are often incendiary. The reactions usually involve criticisms about ‘moralising’, ‘judgmentalism’ and of course ‘Bible-bashing’. And herein is a problem. If the Bible is all that we believe it is, and yet we cannot refer to it in our social commentary, then we are reduced to talking in code and smuggling in value judgments by other means. Over time, this ‘Bible-blushing’ will have inevitable effects on our national life.
Gather: God is doing something
Unity movements where church leaders from across towns, cities and regions work together in friendship are helping to change their communities. God seems to be doing something very special where Christians are working together...
Truth shining light in the darkness
General Director Steve Clifford asks whether the shaking of our institutions is actually an answer to prayer.
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