Barack Obama is back home, fresh from wowing millions of Germans.
After months of speculation, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says that he will stand down in September.
The media see the Anglican Bishops’ Lambeth Conference as some kind of a test of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s leadership (maybe they reached their conclusions about the outcome even before it started).
Meanwhile the British Labour Party is facing its own leadership issues.
And – perhaps predictably – the England cricket team’s test match against South Africa has provoked questions about captain Michael Vaughan.
All this without me even mentioning Robert Mugabe… Leadership is as big an issue as ever.
Leadership challenge
Leaders appear to have great power. But the reality is often different. Those they are supposed to lead can soon tire of the leadership they have cried for.
Already, some Germans seem to be a little less keen than they were on what an Obama presidency might bring. Still, they won’t be voting for him or anyone else in the US.
So this coming week’s readings in WordLive may challenge some of our thinking about leadership. Old Testament leaders weren’t too bothered by opinion polls. But then how much do we ask what God thinks?
And as for Jesus, his leadership challenged the religious and national leaders of his day. How would he fare in today’s confused climate?
Emlyn Williams
Friday, 1 August 2008
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Word-on-the-web hands over to WordLive!
Church Army's pioneering word-on-the-web ministry is handing over the baton to Scripture Union's new WordLive service to guarantee a future proofed multi-media Bible experience for Christians. Word-on-the-web has been operating since 2000, and has built up a current supporter base of over 7,000 subscribers from over 100 countries around the world.
www.wordlive.org, launched by Scripture Union in January 2008, is a free resource allowing online users a wide range of creative approaches to God’s Word, including audio Bible passages, video clips, worship songs and prayer activities, as well as a daily Bible reading and explanatory note.
Word-on-the-web will begin migrating existing subscribers over to WordLive from Monday 7th July. The final word-on-the-web study will be authored by David and Alison Booker who conceived the idea of web based ministry back in 1999 and produced the very first study. Word-on-the-web has issued more than 20 million daily emails over the course of eight years, covering 37 books of the Bible written by over 400 different contributors.
Captain Neil Thomson Church Army's Online Services Manager comments; "We have been so impressed with how Scripture Union's WordLive service has developed in offering Christians a fantastic range of creative approaches to engage with the Bible via text, podcasts, RSS, web and email. We want to encourage word-on-the-web subscribers to move to what we believe is a very creative way to encounter what God has to say to them through this innovative multi-media solution. Like word-on the-web it is FREE service – something we believe is important"
James Burden, Associate Director of Scripture Union says; "We are delighted to be welcoming subscribers from word-on-the-web to WordLive and in doing so celebrate the pioneering work of Church Army in web based ministry. We are pleased that Church Army will be involved in supplying future content for WordLive and promoting WordLive as part of their future web developments."
www.wordlive.org, launched by Scripture Union in January 2008, is a free resource allowing online users a wide range of creative approaches to God’s Word, including audio Bible passages, video clips, worship songs and prayer activities, as well as a daily Bible reading and explanatory note.
Word-on-the-web will begin migrating existing subscribers over to WordLive from Monday 7th July. The final word-on-the-web study will be authored by David and Alison Booker who conceived the idea of web based ministry back in 1999 and produced the very first study. Word-on-the-web has issued more than 20 million daily emails over the course of eight years, covering 37 books of the Bible written by over 400 different contributors.
Captain Neil Thomson Church Army's Online Services Manager comments; "We have been so impressed with how Scripture Union's WordLive service has developed in offering Christians a fantastic range of creative approaches to engage with the Bible via text, podcasts, RSS, web and email. We want to encourage word-on-the-web subscribers to move to what we believe is a very creative way to encounter what God has to say to them through this innovative multi-media solution. Like word-on the-web it is FREE service – something we believe is important"
James Burden, Associate Director of Scripture Union says; "We are delighted to be welcoming subscribers from word-on-the-web to WordLive and in doing so celebrate the pioneering work of Church Army in web based ministry. We are pleased that Church Army will be involved in supplying future content for WordLive and promoting WordLive as part of their future web developments."
Monday, 14 July 2008
WordLive this week
On WordLive this week we take a look at the world through the eyes of Jeremiah. Sometimes he's seen as a prophet of doom, but really he's just speaking a few home truths... that just happen to be inspired by God.
Oh, and you may, you just might want to find an old pot that you don't want anymore. It may come in handy for visualising the odd point that Jeremiah makes.
Oh, and you may, you just might want to find an old pot that you don't want anymore. It may come in handy for visualising the odd point that Jeremiah makes.
The end of an era - Delirious? press release
Keeping you in touch with what is going on in the wider Christian world, and also because some of their music has appeared, and I'm sure will continue to appear, on WordLive, I thought you'd be interested in the following press release from Delirious? On a personal note I would like to take this opportunity to thank the d-boys for their encouragement and support over the years, their humility has been a shining example to myself, thanks.
The End of an Era……
We would like to address all our fans, our friends and people around the world who have faithfully supported Delirious? After 14 albums, thousands of shows in front of millions of people, and many extraordinary memories, we have decided that at the end of 2009 we will take a break from recording and playing as a band.
Our decision was triggered by a request from Martin to be released from the band to pursue new projects including his work with CompassionArt and the desire to be at home more with Anna and his children. We have of course honoured this request and made a decision together that now is the time to end this chapter of our lives.
We will continue to play and be excited about our current tours and bookings but will not be adding many more over the coming 17 months. We are all so deeply grateful to our incredible fans who have sung the songs and allowed Delirious? the privilege of providing the soundtrack to many lives over the years. From the school hall in Littlehampton to the stadiums of the world we have many stories to tell our children’s children. Delirious also would not be what it is without our amazing wives and families, and our gratitude to them is immense. We will now move forward to the next part of our lives where new challenges unfold and greater stories will be written.
We want to make it absolutely clear that although this decision has been extremely painful and difficult, we are still great friends and our respect for each other is unquestionable. We love playing in this band together and know that even though 2009 will bring an end to this current journey, there will be more adventures together in years to come.
We always used to say that we were ‘taking it wherever it goes’. The music ended up going further and deeper than we could ever have dreamed, yet we are now at a point where our creative futures will spread out and take on different journeys.
Thanks again for believing in us through all these years. We believe the best is yet to come.
Jon, Martin, Paul, Stu G and Tim
The End of an Era……
We would like to address all our fans, our friends and people around the world who have faithfully supported Delirious? After 14 albums, thousands of shows in front of millions of people, and many extraordinary memories, we have decided that at the end of 2009 we will take a break from recording and playing as a band.
Our decision was triggered by a request from Martin to be released from the band to pursue new projects including his work with CompassionArt and the desire to be at home more with Anna and his children. We have of course honoured this request and made a decision together that now is the time to end this chapter of our lives.
We will continue to play and be excited about our current tours and bookings but will not be adding many more over the coming 17 months. We are all so deeply grateful to our incredible fans who have sung the songs and allowed Delirious? the privilege of providing the soundtrack to many lives over the years. From the school hall in Littlehampton to the stadiums of the world we have many stories to tell our children’s children. Delirious also would not be what it is without our amazing wives and families, and our gratitude to them is immense. We will now move forward to the next part of our lives where new challenges unfold and greater stories will be written.
We want to make it absolutely clear that although this decision has been extremely painful and difficult, we are still great friends and our respect for each other is unquestionable. We love playing in this band together and know that even though 2009 will bring an end to this current journey, there will be more adventures together in years to come.
We always used to say that we were ‘taking it wherever it goes’. The music ended up going further and deeper than we could ever have dreamed, yet we are now at a point where our creative futures will spread out and take on different journeys.
Thanks again for believing in us through all these years. We believe the best is yet to come.
Jon, Martin, Paul, Stu G and Tim
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Using WordLive to focus on God at the beginning of the day
Here are three simple and quick tips to help you use WordLive to focus on God at the beginning of the day.
- Set WordLive as your homepage. Underneath your profile box on the left of the screen is a little link you can click. This will set WordLive as your browser's homepage. That means that whenever you open your web browser, WordLive will be there for you to use.
- Sign up for the daily email. Click on the My WordLive tab at the top right and then click on the My Details tab and you'll be able to sign up for and set up a daily email to be sent to you. This email will be in your inbox each morning when you turn on your computer.
- Get the podcast delivered. If you have an RSS reader you can subscribe directly to the podcast feed. Then when you open your reader it will be ready for you to listen. The link to the feed is this:
http://www.scriptureunion.org.uk/rssfeeds
/WordLivePodcast/23826.rss
Thursday, 8 May 2008
It's Live!
LightLive, the online service that puts Bible-based learning material at the fingertips of children's and youth workers, went live today (Thursday May 8). We'd love you to have a look at it and then pass the news around your networks.
Just to refresh your memories: LightLive gives children's and youth leaders free-of-charge access to a weekly syllabus of downloadable material following Scripture Union's Light programme, for groups aged up to 14. It also gives access to all-age materials.
Just to refresh your memories: LightLive gives children's and youth leaders free-of-charge access to a weekly syllabus of downloadable material following Scripture Union's Light programme, for groups aged up to 14. It also gives access to all-age materials.
Thursday, 24 April 2008
What's been going on?
I haven't been around here recently and I do apologise for that. There are two reasons.
The first is that I took a little break from the hectic day to day schedule and had a couple of weeks holiday. I didn't do too much but I did have a nice rest.
The second is that I, and the rest of the digital team, have been hard at work putting together the second of our digital projects, LightLive. LightLive isn't quite ready for launch yet, but lookout as we enter May. In the meantime you can find out what is happening by checking out the LightLive blog here.
Finally, just in case you've furned up here and know nothing about WordLive then take a look at this:
God's Word everywhere you go
The first is that I took a little break from the hectic day to day schedule and had a couple of weeks holiday. I didn't do too much but I did have a nice rest.
The second is that I, and the rest of the digital team, have been hard at work putting together the second of our digital projects, LightLive. LightLive isn't quite ready for launch yet, but lookout as we enter May. In the meantime you can find out what is happening by checking out the LightLive blog here.
Finally, just in case you've furned up here and know nothing about WordLive then take a look at this:
God's Word everywhere you go
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