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[Book Review] Mark Greene ‘Thank God It’s Monday’

greeneI first heard of LICC (the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity) at Greenbelt in 2005. I’d been doing a lot of thinking about whether I should be doing ’more Christian’ work. I was particularly struggling as I was finding my job job in Manchester deeply unfulfilling. I picked up a few pamphlets, then when I was at a friend’s I saw this book, and have since read the whole thing through., been to a few LICC events, including sessions for practical re-thinking of a career, and a week-long ‘Toolbox’ course, designed to ‘equip’ us in line with the LICC vision:

The UK will be transformed when the Church envisions and equips ‘ordinary’ men and women to make a difference where we are, where we spend most of our time, where we have most of our relationships, where others can see the difference Christ makes in our lives at work, university, with our neighbours, etc.

The LICC believes in the concept of ‘FTCW (Full-Time-Christian-Worker), and therefore focuses on keeping whole-life discipleship central to UK church life (where 24/7 offers a context for worship, mission, ministry, and active Christian engagement).

P132: God is our real boss: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24

Greene has a great writing/speaking style – very self-deprecating – engaging, serious and humorous all at once. Many amusing stories – and when we think that this guy is essentially a famous evangelist now, it’s encouraging to hear of his issues (p53):

Clumsy for Christ

Five of us were on a two-day trip out of town. Surely, with all that time, God would give me the opportunity to share something with someone. No opportunity came, or at least none that I could see. The time came to fly home.

The client and I decided to work together on the place. So, briefcase in hand, I negotiated my way into the window seat. As I lifted my case over the seat-rest, the lid came open and out tumbled about 20 small orange booklets … ‘Oh no’, I thought.

Twenty copies of a tract called ‘The Four Spiritual Laws’ scattered all over the floor and on the seats in front of me and my client. I felt like a teenager caught with some improper publication. I bent to pick them up.

Then the worst thing that could have happened did happen.

The client said ‘What are those?’

‘Er… they’re booklets that explain the main points about Christianity’

I waited for a look of embarrassment. Or perhaps pity. Or discomfort.

‘Oh, that’s interesting’, she said, with a genuinely interested and open expression on her face. ‘I’ve been thinking a lot about that recently. Could I have a look?’

Prepared for use as an Oak Hall Leader.

By admin

Dr Bex Lewis is passionate about helping people engage with the digital world in a positive way, where she has more than 20 years’ experience. She is Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University and Visiting Research Fellow at St John’s College, Durham University, with a particular interest in digital culture, persuasion and attitudinal change, especially how this affects the third sector, including faith organisations, and, after her breast cancer diagnosis in 2017, has started to research social media and cancer. Trained as a mass communications historian, she has written the original history of the poster Keep Calm and Carry On: The Truth Behind the Poster (Imperial War Museum, 2017), drawing upon her PhD research. She is Director of social media consultancy Digital Fingerprint, and author of Raising Children in a Digital Age: Enjoying the Best, Avoiding the Worst  (Lion Hudson, 2014; second edition in process) as well as a number of book chapters, and regularly judges digital awards. She has a strong media presence, with her expertise featured in a wide range of publications and programmes, including national, international and specialist TV, radio and press, and can be found all over social media, typically as @drbexl.

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