The greatest
stories ever told
What others have said
“There’s a spirit to this book: a sense of wonder about Christ, a quiet awe at who he is, and what he came to do, and a heartfelt yearning that anyone who reads this book - wherever they are in relationship with God - would know his love, his joy, him more deeply. Now. And forever.”
Mark Greene (LICC)
COMPASSIONATE mILLWALL FAN
missing pupil
Jesus Was Passionate about
getting his message across.
So, he used storylines based on everyday life to create stories that true faith-seekers could understand and relate to.
But, if Jesus were to tell these stories to you and me today, here and now, surely he would root them in our 21st Century culture of entertainment, media, technology, commerce, sport, medicine, social protocols.
Of course he would; and he would use these as everyday analogies and storylines to communicate his eternal, spiritual themes.
He would keep the themes and messaging of his parable stories unchanged, but he would wire his words into today’s world.
And so, in this book, the ‘Good Samaritan’ becomes the ‘Compassionate Millwall Fan’; and the ‘Lost Sheep’ becomes the ‘Missing Pupil’.
You can read these two ‘Rewirings’ in the Tasters section. But they are just that, ‘tasters’: the full feast includes 35 more.
In every case, I also include the original parable as Jesus told it: I freely acknowledge that he was a better storyteller than me!
About The Author
Mike has more than 40 years’ experience in business, marketing and advertising, working with a wide range of blue-chip companies including: Unilever, Nestle, Ford, Mercedes, Chrysler, Shell and Guinness.
He now runs his own management consultancy supplying strategic business and marketing advice, together with Non-Executive Director input to start-up companies in the marketing, communications and leisure sectors.
An active Christian, Mike is Chair of Trustees at Christian Publishing & Outreach. Previously he was Vice Chair at ChurchAds.Net, creators of the long-running Christmas Starts with Christ campaign. He has worked on a pro-bono basis with several major Christian organizations; and has been a Churchwarden and a Baptist Deacon. An experienced lay preacher, he has also contributed to ‘Thought for the Day’ on Radio Kent.
‘Parables:Rewired’ is his first published book and he is currently working on his second: ‘Proverbs Restitched in Time’.
He is married to Valerie and they have three daughters. She, and they, all feature in this book!
About The…
Book
I have preached on these ‘Rewirings’ many times and people have told me how they have enabled them to see a familiar parable in fresh light. They have also told me how they felt a particular Rewiring would speak to a non-Christian friend or family member and requested a copy of it to pass on.
It was this feedback that encouraged me to hear and obey God’s call to Rewire all the parables and create a book that could be used as a personal devotion; an evangelistic gift; or as a preaching resource.
Or, indeed, all three.
Parables
I have placed the parables in chronological order, so that they can be read in the context of Jesus’ ministry. The first parable Jesus told was about putting new wine into old wineskins and we can see that it was told around the time he was turning water into wine at a wedding! We also see that the last he told, shortly before being crucified, was about sheep and goats and pointed towards his second coming and Judgment Day.
The exact number of parables Jesus told depends on how one defines a parable! Without going into this academic debate, I have settled on 39, but even then, I have combined one or two to make a total of 37 Rewirings.
In telling the parables, Jesus’ objective was always the same: to use everyday, real-life storylines to get across the eternal, spiritual truths he was wanting to teach.
He told them in a variety of settings: on the streets, in public places, in private homes, on hillsides once even from a boat near the shore of a lake.
And he told the parables to a variety of audiences: his disciples, religious officials, men and women on the street.
Importantly, he was also telling them to you and me!
