Category Archives: Blog

Raising Real Kids, not Fakers

Blog, Devotionals
Written by Gordon Mcdonald : Sponsored by Good Book Company

Family Driven FaithI’ve been in youth ministry for nearly 7 years, and I’ve ministered to droves of parents and students. I could tell you all kinds of stories – good, bad, redemptive, hilarious, and heart-breaking. As I’ve surveyed these interactions, however, a single summarizing word comes to mind: “shocked”.

“MY kid is looking at porn? NO!”

“My girl would NEVER do that to someone else. She’s such a sweetheart!”

“My boy using drugs? I don’t think so…”

Parenting Beyond Your CapacityAnd then I show them the website. I give them tangible evidence of what she did. I pull out the bag of weed. And then I watch the world melt before the parent’s eyes. “I just never thought my _______ was capable of something like that.”

I’m left shocked as well – not because parents are foolish, or because students are sinful. I’m shocked that parents are shocked. “How could they have missed that? Wasn’t it obvious? How many context clues does it take? How many comments and raised eyebrows from others? How many obvious lies?”

It’s a frustrating and disheartening experience for all involved.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.

The #1 Difference Maker

Parents in PainOver the years, I’ve also been blessed to see students who are real with their parents. Despite the pull of Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat to create multiple well-crafted identities, these students are real. They confess their flaws and grow closer to God and their families through them.

What’s the difference? 

The #1 difference is this: ”real” students come from safe homes. Put simply, a safe home is a place where it’s okay to fail. In fact, it’s expected, and embraced. Rather than excusing their children’s sin or “fixing” it, these parents resolve to love their children through imperfection. And that’s the #1 way to keep our children real.

Are You a Safe Parent?  Read more…

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Book Review: The Everyday Gospel

Blog, Book Reviews
The Theology of washing dishes : By Tim Chester

Reviewed by Sylvia Bester

Everyday Gospel, TheIf you’re anything like me you’ll hate washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen!

In this delightful booklet Tim Chester reminds us that mundane tasks such as washing the dishes can be done for the glory of God.  We read that because we have the wrong approach to these everyday tasks they become tedious and joyless.

What then should our attitude be to this seemingly irksome and useless activity?

Tim gives us 2 suggestions:

  1. Ordering Chaos: “We are expressing our true humanity and sharing in God’s joy at creation. It is the same with washing the dishes.  The dirty dishes become a pile of clean crockery. The cluttered kitchen becomes new again” (Page 10)
  2. Serving Others: “ How do we move from washing the dishes as an unpleasant duty to joyful service?

Part of the answer,  I think, is to offer the washing of the dishes to god as an act of service, to consciously think of doing the dishes in God’s presence for God’s pleasure” (Page 16).  So, washing the dishes  can become a delight and is our sacrifice of praise for the finished sacrifice of Christ

And that is just the first 21st pages, so I invite you to read on….. and see what the author says about:

  • When Washing the Dishes goes Bad
  • When You Should Not Wash Up

And more……go on… read it …..it will take an hour but it will change your attitude for life

CBD PRICE: R50.00  (booklet)

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Jesus, Lover of my Soul

Blog, Devotionals

Ephesians 2: 7-8   So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

Dawning of Indestrucible JoyGod wants us to experience the riches of your salvation:  the Joy of being loved constantly and perfectly by Him.  We make a practice of judging ourselves based on how you look or behave or feel.

If we like what we see in the mirror, we feel a bit more worthy of His Love.  When things are going smoothly and our performance seems adequate, we find it easier to believe we are His beloved children.  When we feel discouraged, we tend to look inward so that we can correct whatever is wrong.  Evening by Evening (PB)Instead of trying to “fix” ourselves, we should fix our gaze on Jesus, the Love of our souls.

Rather than using up our energy to judge ourselves, we should redirect it to praising Him instead.  Remember that He sees us clothed in His righteousness, and radiant in His perfect love.

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Book Review: If I were God I’d make myself clearer

Blog, Book Reviews

Author: John Dickson

Searching for clarity in a world full of claims…

If I Were God I'd Make Myself ClearerWritten from a Christian perspective, this books struggles honestly with questions that face ‘believers’ and ‘unbelievers’ alike:-

  • With so many religions on offer, can one of them be considered true?
  • Or are they different paths up the same spiritual mountain?
  • And how can any one person sort their way through the maze of claims?

Loosely based on Paul’s sermon to the Athenians, the book helps people to think through the issue of clarity in the minefield of religious faiths. It helpfully probes the issue that all faiths are of equal value and shows that such thinking is neither logical nor
fair to the claims of those faiths. The book goes on to suggest that certain faiths lend themselves to being more thoroughly examined because they make claims which can be checked and verified, and therefore offer a seeker a degree of confidence in their claims.

This book is not seeking to explain the Christian faith, but is rather encouraging people to see that Christianity is a faith that repeatedly offers us evidence of its truthfulness.

CBD Price: R75.00

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20th Birthday Celebration: July Promotion

Blog, Special Promotions

Prices valid until 30th July 2015 or while stocks last.

BOOK TITLE AUTHOR PUBLISHER RETAIL PRICE DISCOUNT BIRTHDAY PRICE
 The Next Story Challies, Tim Zondervan  R247.71  40%  R150.00  The Next Story
The Family Balswick & Balswick Baker R485.71 49%  R250.00  Family, The
Stirrings of the Soul Ruiter, Michael Matthias Media R150.00 50%  R75.00  Stirrings of the Soul
Secret of Contentment Matthias Media R21.43 53% R10.00  Secret of Contentment, The (Minizine)
Dawn of a Kingdom (1 Sam) Welwyn Comm, Keddie, Gordon Evangelical Press R171.43 50% R85.00  Dawn of a Kingdom (1 Samuel - Welwyn)
Young, Restless, Reformed Hansen, Colin Crossway R135.71 48% R70.00  Young, restless, reformed
Truth about Jesus Barnett, Paul Aquila R148.57 50% R75.00  Truth About Jesus, The
Men of God Various Good Book Company  R71.43  51%  R35.00  Men of God
Life God Rewards Wilkenson, Bruce Multnomah  R30.00  50%  R15.00  A Life God Rewards HC
These are the days of Elijah Kendall, R.T. Revell  R264.29  38%  R165.00  These Are the Days of Elijah
Turning Back to God (Hosea & Obediah) Bentley, Michael EP  R128.21  50% R65.00  Turning Back to God (Hosea & Obadiah)
On the New Testament Driscoll, Mark Crossway  R100.00  50%  R50.00  On the New Testament (2)
Declaration of Love Davies, Samuel Crossway  R22.64  56%  R10.00  Declaration of Love
Domestic Abuse Powlinson, Tripp,Welch P&R  R28.57  47%  R15.00  Domestic Abuse
The God who saves Matthias Media  R34.00  50%  R17.00  God Who Saves, The
NIV Gospel of Luke Good Book Company  R21.43  53%  R10.00  NIV Gospel of Luke (Goodbook)
Peer Pressure Tripp, Paul New Growth  R35.71  50%  R17.50  Peer Pressure
Help, my marriage has gone cold Rick, Thomas Day One  R25.00  50%  R12.50  Help_My_marriage_has_grown_cold_9781846252198
Future and Hope(Geared for Growth) Potter, CM CFP  R50.00  50%  R25.00  Future and Hope
 For the Lord we love Stott, John Didasko  R14.29  65% R5.00  For the Lord we Love

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A new week with new promotions from CBD

Blog, Special Promotions

Prodigal God Curriculum KitThe Prodigal God DVD & Study Guide Pack: Timothy Keller

Keller takes his trademark intellectual approach to understanding Christianity and uses the parable of the Prodigal Son to reveal an unexpected message of hope and salvation.
Within that parable, Jesus reveals God’s prodigal grace toward both the irreligious and the moralistic. This book will challenge both the devout and skeptics to see Christianity in a whole new way.

Normal Price: R290.00    SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL PRICE: R200.00

What's So Amazing About Grace (PB)What’s so amazing about Grace: Philip Yancey

Grace is the church’s great distinctive. It’s the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else – for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world.  Yancey explores how we as Christians can contend graciously with moral issues that threaten all they hold dear and challenges us to become living answers to a world that desperately wants to know,” What’s So Amazing About Grace”?

Normal Price: R155.00    SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL PRICE: R120.00

Steve Saint (DVD)Steve Saint: The Jungle Missionary (DVD)

How does a man come to love the very people who killed his father? How does he trust that God can and will bring good out of evil?  Steve Saint recalls life in the jungles of Ecuador and the events surrounding the death of his father, Nate Saint, and 4 other missionaries in 1956. This inspiring DVD is both moving and challenging.

Normal Price: R195.00    SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL PRICE: R140.00

If You Could Ask God One QuestionIf you could ask God one Question? Williams & Cooper

If you could ask God one question, and you knew it would be answered, what would it be? Paul Williams and Barry Cooper have spent several years asking people that question. And inside this book, they reveal the results: the twelve most frequently asked questions about God. But this isn’t just a book about questions. There are answers too. Answers from the lips of the most powerful, insightful and extraordinary figure in all of human history.

NORMAL PRICE: R85.00   SPECIAL PROMOTION: BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

(on-line shoppers please insert “onequestion” as the coupon code.

One Life- What's It All AboutOne Life – What’s it all About? Tice & Cooper

We all get one life to live, and most of us are asking the same question – what’s it all about?   it’s a huge question and yet it would be so easy to miss the answer… This jargon-free introduction to Christianity explores who Jesus is, why he came, and what it means to follow him.

NORMAL PRICE: R85.00   SPECIAL PROMOTION: BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

(on-line shoppers please insert “onelife” as the coupon code.

Sovereign (CD)Sovereign CD by MW Smith

Normal Price: R160.00

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL PRICE: R130.00

Prices valid until end August 2015 or while stocks last.

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Disenchanted with Islam: The Spiritual Impact of ISIS

Blog, Devotionals

Spiritual Impact of ISIS

Written by Daniel Abraham of Avant Ministries
Breaking the Myth of Islam

Seeking Allah, Finding JesusWhat is religion? Many people may think they know the answer, but in the halls of academia the term religion has several definitions. One of these definitions I subscribe to is a functional definition by the theologian Paul Tillich that religion is an ultimate concern.

I grew up during the Iraq-Iran war. The bombs falling around us made death a tangible reality to me. Death was imminent, real, and near. I was ultimately concerned with death and the solution for death resided in the faith of my childhood (Islam). Islam says that there is a life after death with reward or punishment for Islam in our Backyardwhat you do in this life. This life became nothing but a temporary place of preparation and a test for the eternal life in heaven or hell.

I held these Islamic religious views because I inherited them from my family and my society. I accepted them as the ultimate truth, just as a child accepts by faith that Santa Claus is real and that he has this omnipresence to deliver Christmas gifts to all children everywhere in one night. As silly as this may sound to an adult, to a child who has faith in this myth it is unquestionable truth.

Islam, What Every Christian Should (PB)The Bible, the best spell breaker, disenchanted me with Islam. Being disenchanted from a myth can lead to two actions: rejecting the myth or accepting the myth as a beneficial tradition that you know is not true but like to keep (like the case of Santa Claus). Rejecting does not mean one is adopting a new belief. In my case, rejecting Islam did not lead to an automatic conversion to Christ; it was a process to break free from the myth that imprisoned my mind. For me, conversion was accepting new beliefs as truth after rejecting the old ones. I was awakened to the truth, until my soul yearned and earnestly sought God in the darkness of the night of that spiritual affliction.  Read more…

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Remember the Pit

Devotionals

By David Murray – this devotion can also be read on his blog page .

“Remember the hole of the pit from which you were dug” said Isaiah the prophet. It’s a spiritual exercise that the Psalmist models for us in Psalm 40:1-3. Although the exact nature of the pit is not specified – it could be the pit of affliction, of persecution, of mental distress, or of family trouble – it’s most likely it was the pit of sin and guilt. When I look back at that pit I remember it was:

  • Dirty: I couldn’t see it, feel it, or smell it for many years, but by God’s grace I came to see I was in a filthy, slimy, muddy, miry, disgusting bog of slime and muck.
  • Deep: Way too deep to climb out of, and getting deeper by the day as the weight of sin and guilt pressed heavier and heavier upon me.
  • Dark: The Psalmist called it a fearful pit, and full of fear it was, at times horrifying and terrifying with its darkness and hopelessness.
  • Disabling: Sin and condemnation drained my strength. Repeatedly trying to climb out exhausted and weakened me. I’ve since found out that no one has ever climbed out of it themselves.
  • Dangerous: There were innumerable unseen dangers in that pit, including spiritual diseases and plagues, meaning the longer in it, the less likely I was to get out of it.
  • Devilish: Although I couldn’t see him, the devil was always there in the dark, holding me down, pushing me down, pulling my legs away whenever I tried to escape.
  • Deadly: There were billions of skeletons at the bottom of this pit. Untold numbers perished in it.
  • Depressing: It was sometimes so awful, so dark, so fearful, so hopeless, I just wanted to give up and give in.
  • Deceiving: Here’s the scariest thing of all – I was in this pit for 21 years and I never realized it. I was just about over my head in muck, and I thought I was safe and sound. So blinded, so foolish, so deceived!
  • Damning: Dying in this pit results in the bottomless pit, sinking forever and ever and ever.

Do you remember it?  But what’s the point in going back to such a hideous and ugly place? Why remember the hole of the pit from which we’ve been dug?

So that we can appreciate the solid rock all the more, sing the new song even louder, and enjoy calculating the incalculable sum of God’s mercies towards us (Psalm 40:1-5).

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Equip Book of the Month: July

Blog, Book Reviews

 Radical: David Platt

Radical (Platt)“What is Jesus Worth to You?”  “Do you believe that Jesus is worth abandoning everything for?”

In Radical, David Platt invites you to encounter what Jesus actually said about being his disciple, and then obey what you have heard. He challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated a God-centered gospel to fit our human-centered preferences. With passionate storytelling and convicting biblical analysis, Platt calls into question a host of comfortable notions that are common among Christ’s followers today. Then he proposes a radical response: live the gospel in ways that are true, filled with promise, and ultimately world changing.

“Through solid examination of the Scriptures and compelling testimonies from believers enduring persecution, my friend David Platt pulls back the curtain on subtle dangers weakening the church in our Western culture. Radical is the urgent call we need to care more about the spiritually lost and physically impoverished people of the world.”
—Ed Stetzer, president, LifeWay Research

Usual CBD Price: R190    Special Equip BoM Price: R150.00

Price valid until 3 August 2015 or while stocks last.

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This week’s promotions at CBD

Blog, Promotions, Special Promotions

Mastering Monday: John Beckett

Mastering MondayChristians can keep their church and working lives in separate compartments. They may want and even try to live for Christ in the office, factory or school, but somehow what they learn on a Sunday seems not to bear on what they are doing on Monday. Is being a Christian at work any more than not swearing or stealing paper clips? This book is a bold call to transform the workplace into a place where the kingdom of God is experienced. Beckett recounts some of the struggles he has encountered during his long career in business and management, and how they have enhanced his understanding of his faith and work. He introduces several biblical characters as role models for living out faith in the workplace, and focuses on five themes where biblical truths and business realities intersect. He weaves three principles into his workplace agenda: a personal relationship with the Lord, a closer alignment of faith and work, and the multi-faceted expression of God’s kingdom. Throughout the book, he grounds these ideas in Scripture and applies them in practical ways to the working lives of his readers.

Normal Price: R135.00      SPECIAL PRICE: 100.00

Wrestling with God- Loving the God we don’t understand: James Emery White

Wrestling with God 1If God wants a relationship with us then why is he so distant? If God loves his creation then why is there so much pain? If God is good then why does he plan to consign people to hell? We give ourselves to God and then struggle profoundly with the relationship. But instead of embracing our doubts and confusion we often deny them to ourselves and others. Sometimes we make things worse either by feeling guilty about our struggles or by dismissing them as unimportant or insignificant. We may choose to live on the surface of faith, or become resentful that God does not simply step in to clear up the confusion.  This book explores the difficulties all Christians face – of heart, soul, mind and strength, and the struggles to love our neighbour as ourselves. He grapples honestly with our tough questions and disappointments, and helps us take our angers and fears back to the God who loves us.

Normal Price: R125.00     SPECIAL PRICE: R90.00

In the Company of Jesus: Bill Donahue

In the Company of JesusWhat images come to mind when you hear the name “Jesus”? Religious icon? Mystical guru? Maybe he’s the figure in the stained-glass window at church, or in the painting hanging in the hallway of your grandmother’s house. Bill Donahue spent years asking these questions, and the Jesus he eventually met was not merely an ancient sage but the living, breathing Son of God. He found himself captivated by Jesus’ teaching, embraced by his love and disarmed by his grace. And so in this book, the author brings to life the many facets of who Jesus is and what his work in the world is all about. Written in forty brief segments with opportunities for personal reflection and dialogue with God, In the Company of Jesus makes ideal daily reading. This book is a companion to the Jesus 101 series and elaborates on the ideas found in those studies.

Normal Price: R140.00    SPECIAL PRICE: R100.00

In Search of a Confident Faith: JP Moreland & Klaus Issler

In Search of a Confident FaithMany obstacles can get in the way of having a healthy Christian faith. Some of those obstacles are intellectual, but there are emotional, relational and experiential ones as well. Even theological problems can get in the way when the very nature of faith itself is misunderstood. J. P. Moreland and Klaus Issler team up in this book to clear away the barriers to faith by helping you gain a clear grasp of what faith is, identifying the various obstacles to it and providing guidance for growing in your trust in God through Jesus Christ.

Normal Price: R140.00    Special Price: R100.00

These prices are valid until end July 2015 or while stocks last.

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