DesktopLive! is an open source computer programme from the team behind Life Changing Words, that delivers a new background to your computer’s desktop every day. Like Life Changing Words, each desktop wallpaper features a daily Bible verse. It’s easy to download and use, is available in 12 languages, and just launched a new version. Download from www.lcwords.com, where you can also sign up for the Life Changing Words daily Bible email service.

17/9/08 UPDATE: the service has just been updated with new graphics. These will be used in DesktopLive!, and ecards and posters.

Colin Greene (SGM Lifewords‘ Head of Mission and Theological Development) and Martin Robinson have just written a new book looking at the future for the Bible, Church, and Mission in “post-postmodernity” … Definitely worth a read. The chapters on Cultural Engagement and Biblical Theology are particularly thought-provoking. You can get the book from Amazon or Paternoster … or check out the Metavista website to find out more about the book, and the wider conversation around the issues.

The new Life Changing Words site has just launched. Click here to visit, and sign up for our daily Bible email service.

I know this is the Christmas blog, but just in case you happen across it in March, I wouldn’t want you to miss out on our Easter resources. SGM Lifewords’ Easter site for 2008 is now live, with audio, video, and spoken word downloads.

We’re also hosting an online reflective journey through Holy Week. You can sign up by email, and on day one we’ll send you a link to the day’s animation.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the crowds poured out of the city to meet him. They tore down palm branches and waved them like flags. In extravagant worship they took their cloaks and threw them down before Jesus.

This Easter, will you lay down your cloak?

Theos, the public theology think tank, have released some interesting research on the Christmas story. In a poll of over a thousand adults in the UK, the survey found that 73% knew the basics of the Christmas story. When people were asked more detailed questions about the story, the number of people fully informed fell to just 12%.

Respondents were asked where Jesus was born, who told Mary that she would have a baby, who was Jesus’ cousin, and where did Mary and Joseph go to escape king Herod. Almost two thirds of those questioned were able to identify Bethlehem as Jesus birthplace, and an angel as the source of Mary’s revelation. On the two trickier questions, just over half did not know that John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin, and only 22% knew that the family escaped to Egypt.

Unsurprisingly, Christians got more answers right, although only 36% got all four correct answers.  Older groups scored higher, with 55-64 year olds scoring best. 18- 24 year olds scored lowest, suggesting that younger generations are less familiar with the story.

Paul Wooley, director of Theos, said: “These findings show that the Christmas story, in its classic formulation is still very much in our cultural blood stream.”