Dear Friend,
It so happened that this past weekend I was in the UK during the celebration of the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. I was speaking at a conference in the town of Kilmarnock, which is in Ayrshire. It was there, in 1956, that I stood with my mum and waved my Union Jack as the Queen passed through town. For the past sixty-six years I have enjoyed the privilege of being one of her subjects.
The Queen has lived successfully in the public eye for seventy years, causing us to wonder at the source of her strength. The Christian Institute reported, “In an article for Parliament News, Lord Michael Farmer credited the Queen’s faithfulness to her position and constancy in public life to her devotion to God,” writing, “The answer lies in her continuous confession of her trust and reliance on Jesus her saviour, and God her father.” There is only one person she addresses as “Your Majesty,” and that is Jesus, who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. She is the queen who has a King! Her identity, like all who trust in Jesus, flows not from wealth or social status but from her union with Christ.
One of my sisters gave me, as a gift for my seventieth birthday, a coffee mug which says “70 Glorious Years”—obviously a reference to the Queen’s jubilee, but meaningful to me also.
In her Christmas addresses, the Queen has not surrendered to the temptation to universalize her message but has declared her trust in God, drawing strength from the hope of the Christian Gospel. I would love to send her copies of our two books on offer this month, because I believe she would agree with their messages.
The first is Living Life Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to Live in Light of the End. The author of Ecclesiastes, like the Queen, knew every good earthly gift, yet he concluded that the pleasures of this world can’t provide lasting happiness. Living Life Backward helps us explore Ecclesiastes more thoroughly so we can find sustained contentment by keeping our gaze on eternity.
Our second book is a new release titled Being the Bad Guys: How to Live for Jesus in a World That Says You Shouldn’t. The book’s topic is particularly relevant, and it offers good advice for not only how to faithfully follow Jesus in a culture that is moving away from God’s authority but also how to lovingly engage in conversations with friends and neighbors about the Christian faith.
Your partnership in this Bible-teaching venture is bringing the Gospel to people all around the globe. Thank you.
With my love in the Lord Jesus,
