The post Pursuing God’s Heart Yourself – 3 Bible Books first appeared on Cor Deo.

Here are a couple of brief endorsements to go with the book launch video above…

To buy the book in the UK, go to is.gd/himbook and in the USA please go to 10ofthose.com/us/mead

The post New Book Launched! first appeared on Cor Deo.

The post Study Titus With Cor Deo Online first appeared on Cor Deo.

Jonathan talks about how easy it is to reduce ministry down to a litmus test for evangelical orthodoxy, but then tells his own story of growing into a fuller appreciation of the magnificence of Jesus.

To see the full interview, you just need to sign-up to the Cor Deo mailing list and we will make the full interview available to you!  Click here to sign-up – http://eepurl.com/drPqj1

The post The Pastor’s Job – Jonathan Thomas first appeared on Cor Deo.

Please do sign up to receive our newsletters as that will keep you informed about every online event that you can attend or access via the archive.

Here is a little introduction we have made to John’s Gospel, focusing on three unlikely characters who gave great testimonies to Jesus:

The post Cor Deo Online Launches! first appeared on Cor Deo.

Later this month we will send an update with a schedule of Cor Deo refresher sessions for July and August.  We hope you will be able to join us, either live, or by watching a recording of a session.  The online gathering recordings will only be available to people on the Cor Deo email update list.  Other shorter videos will be available to all on our YouTube channel.

Two action points to get ready:

1. If you don’t already receive the Cor Deo periodic email, please sign up here to receive your invitation to our online gatherings.

2. Please subscribe to the Cor Deo YouTube channel and hit the notification bell so that you can see all the public videos that are coming in the next weeks.

Thanks so much!

A couple of items already on the YouTube channel that you might like to check out are a playlist of Bible reading highlights through John’s Gospel called Journey Thru John (21 highlights, one per chapter, from Peter), as well as a video Peter made alongside FOCLonline called Seven Suggestions for Enjoying the Bible More Consistently.

The post Lockdown Legacy first appeared on Cor Deo.

The post Update #71 Summer 2019 first appeared on Cor Deo.

Over the years we have consistently received lots of positive feedback after our normal Intensives.  These four or five-day courses combine Bible study, history, theology and applied spiritual formation and ministry related subjects.  One of the most consistent elements of that feedback has been how
good it has been to really invest time in the Bible study component at the start of the day.  And the majority of those Intensives have been built on several key sections of John’s Gospel.

So we wondered if we could study the whole of John within a four-day course. We tried it, we called it a John Feast, and that is exactly what it was!

Each day we worked our way through a section of the Gospel using a variety of approaches to keep from methodological monotony.  By the end of the week we were all blown away by the wonder of the cross and the revelation of God’s heart for us.  Along the way we were continually struck by the
character and gentleness of Jesus – actually noticing some aspects of his character that I don’t remember us spotting, even when we worked through the whole Gospel over three months in the full-time program years ago.  Each day we gained so much more, and yet we were always close to other texts already covered in the preceding days.

Bible study may have connotations of tedious boring mental exercise, but this was Bible feasting.  We just enjoyed our God more and more as the week progressed.  Yes we were tired – but it was a good tired.  And yes we did also feast at lunch times, grateful to God for the food we could enjoy together and trusting God to help us stay alert in the early afternoon for what was in store there.  The fellowship was special, the anticipation was tangible and we all felt that it had been a real privilege to taste John’s
Gospel in such a rich format.

So, we are planning to run another Feast later in the year.  We will probably do a normal Intensive (they are such special times too), and a Feast. The only question is whether we will do John again, or choose to experience another book in this format – Mark, Hebrews, 2 Corinthians?  Let us know if you are interested in attending and we will keep you in the loop when dates get confirmed!

The post Update #70 John Feast first appeared on Cor Deo.

Welcome to November! Now is officially the time for coats and heating…

Peter and I want to thank you for praying for our preparation and hosting of the mini-Intensive a few weeks ago. We had a great time. As you can see in the photo, it was a much larger group than we’d normally have, but we enjoyed being in a room full of joy and godliness! There were men and women, young and old, British and international, new believers and ‘old,’ first-timers and returners. As one participant told us, “it was an absolute treat to be with everyone!”

We hope and plan to do more mini-Intensives. It really feels like a positive and ‘easy’ opportunity to get a taste of Cor Deo, as well as quality time with Jesus in the Bible, alongside a group of believers! So here is an invitation… if you would like to host or suggest a location for a 2-day Cor Deo Intensive, do get in touch! As always, we will consider every invitation!

You can click here to email us.

The post Update #69 November 2018 first appeared on Cor Deo.

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Have you ever had the experience of reading a verse in the Bible that you’ve read perhaps 50 times before, and all of the sudden it jumps off the page at you?  I had that experience recently in reading through 1 John 3:2 “…but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”  My heart went, “Wait—what?”  I read it again.  I have certainly always believed that being in the presence of Jesus one day would be glorious, but this verse is saying that in the moment when we see him as he truly is, we will be like him.

Now my heart began to race.  When we finally see Jesus face to face, just the sight of who he is—his love, his beauty, his glory, his fullness—will be transformational.  So transformational, in fact, that we will be like him.  That reality makes my heart long even more for that day!  When I ponder the ugliness of my own heart, and how I’m so drawn to respond out of selfishness and pride, it’s hard to imagine that I could ever really be like Jesus. And yet, the Bible is telling me that I will be like him someday, when I see him as he is.

As I continued to ponder the wonder of this, another thrilling reality struck me. Trapped in my fleshly body, with the ongoing wrestle of the Spirit and the flesh at odds within my heart, I cannot fully see Jesus as he is now.  But the truth still holds.  Even now, with all of my fleshly trappings, the more I see Jesus as he is, the more I will be like him, because the sight of him is transformational.

Our relationships with people bear this out, don’t they?  When you spend time with an elderly saint, who has walked with Jesus for decades, don’t they just seem to radiate his love?  Isn’t there a gentleness and care for others that some of us younger folks can’t quite make sense of?  There is something about having walked with Jesus day by day, year after year that is transformational.  They have seen Jesus with growing clarity, and seeing him has changed them.

Now, it’s true that there is no substitute for years of walking with Jesus. Seeing him through the ups and downs of life over a period of many years gives us glimpses of him that we just wouldn’t get in a day or two.  Still, wherever we are in our lives, we cansee Jesus more and more clearly.  He longs for us to do just that.  That’s why he’s given us his Spirit to unite us to himself and to continue to draw us close.  The Spirit is constantly welcoming us, constantly wooing us, to see Jesus as he is.

Just one example is the Spirit’s invitation to see Jesus through the Bible. On page after page, we see how Jesus loves and cares for those who are sick and hurting, how he reaches out to those who are marginalized, how he is patient with his failing friends, how he confronts wrong, how he serves and gives, and how, in the ultimate expression of his love, he lays his life down on the cross to give us hope that one day, we will not only be withhim, we will belikehim.

But, why?  Why would Jesus do all of that?  In John 3:16 we’re told that that God, the Father, so loved the world that he sent Jesus so that no one would be lost, but that all would be brought to eternal life. We see Jesus speaking what the Father gives him to speak (John 12:49) and doing the will of the Father (John 6:38).  We see the Father speak his love and approval over Jesus again and again, as Jesus carries out his earthly ministry and is obedient even to death on the cross.  So beloved was Jesus by his Father that his love overflowed to us—as he came, he cared, he served, he spoke, and he died.   The love of our God is an overflowing, outgoing, giving love. That’s the transforming love we see when we see Jesus.

I want see to see Jesus. I want to know him more, love him more, be more like him. May the noise of life in this world not drown out the Spirit’s voice as he speaks to my heart, “Come, see Jesus.” Because seeing him as he is will change me.

The post Seeing Jesus first appeared on Cor Deo.