The greatest
stories ever tolD
‘Let’s keep them alive’
What people 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, Mission Champion, LICC
“A great, entertaining and accessible approach to the parables of Jesus. Stories ignite the imagination, and Mike Elms brings them to imaginative and practical life for a new generation of readers.”
The Rt Revd Nicholas Baines, Bishop of Leeds
“Jesus taught truth though imagination, stories and the everyday events of his time and place. Mike Elms takes these parables and puts them into our time and place to create a book which is provocative, challenging and invites us to go deeper into the truth of God.”
Professor David Wilkinson, Principal of St Johns College, Durham University
“Jesus’ ability to tell a tale still astounds today – even to a culture radically different from his own. It’s a brave man who tries to rewire them. But Mike Elms is brave, and he is talented, with a lifetime’s experience in communication which he brings to this sharp and stylish book. Provocative, personal, poignant: Parables: Rewired will help readers, familiar or fresh, to (re)acquaint themselves with the most effective storyteller in history, and his tales that can still turn our lives, and the world, the right way up.”
Nick Spencer, Senior Fellow Theos
“I’m always looking for creative ways to tell familiar Gospel truths. Mike Elms’ new book, Parables: Rewired, is one such resource. It is a thought-provoking, kiss-you-on-your-lips, throw water in your face, stop you in your tracks, kind of book.
Mike reframes familiar parables into stories about junk mail, Millwall FC fans, two landlords, a couple of plumbers, and impatient paparazzi. His writing made me laugh out loud, groan, pause for thought. Could Jesus have meant that? you’ll hear yourself saying.”
Ivan Filby, Ph.D, Author: ‘Livestream: Learning to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit’
About The Author
Mike has more than 40 years’ experience in business, marketing and advertising, working as an ad agency CEO with a wide range of blue-chip companies including: Unilever, Nestle, Ford, Mercedes, Argos, Hamleys, Shell, DHL, Lucozade and Guinness.
An active Christian, Mike is Chair of Trustees at CPO (Christian Publishing & Outreach). He was instrumental in the creation of the award-winning ‘Christmas Starts with Christ’ and ‘Share the Light’ advertising campaigns. He has advised national and international Christian charities and organizations. An experienced lay preacher, he has contributed to ‘Thought for the Day’ on BBC Radio and LICC’s ‘Word for the Week’.
‘Parables: Rewired’ is his first published book, recently adapted for the USA and published as ‘Jesus Unbranded’.
He is currently working on a follow-up: ‘Proverbs Restitched in Time’.
He is married to Valerie and they have three daughters. She, and they, all feature in this book!
Jesus Was Passionate about
getting his message across.
and he still is!
Jesus used story-lines based on everyday life in 1st century Palestine to create parables that would touch peoples’ hearts, minds and souls.
But, if he were to tell these stories to us today, here and now, surely he would root them in our 21st Century culture. With all its entertainment, media, technology, commerce, politics, sport, medicine, and social protocols.
Of course he would; and he would use these as everyday analogies and story-lines to communicate his eternal, spiritual themes, in the same way as he did 2000 years ago.
He would keep the themes and messaging of his parable stories unchanged, but he would wire his words into today’s world, tapping them into our culture.
And so, in this book, the ‘Good Samaritan’ becomes the ‘Compassionate Millwall Fan’; and the ‘Lost Sheep’ becomes the ‘Missing Pupil’.
In other parables you’ll meet entrepreneurs, plumbers, lawyers, builders, sports stars, corporate CEO’s, chefs and hospice nurses.
You’ll also encounter a Ferrari, a theme park, the Shard, a wine shop, the Angel of the North and an FA Cup final. You’ll even experience a night at the Oscars.
In every case the original parable, as Jesus told it, is included. Along with a some thoughts on what each parable may be saying to us, here and now.
The icing on the cake is that the parables are placed in chronological order, so they can be understood in the context of his three-year ministry.
So we see that the first parable Jesus told was about putting new wine into old wine-skins and 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.
Jesus told his parables to be heard. By as many people as possible. That’s why he told most of them in open spaces with a large crowd listening in.
Now, here’s the thing. When I felt called to rewire the parables, I also had the strong feeling that I was not to profit from doing so! The stories were told to be heard, not sold.
So, the good news for you is that you can read and download the book - containing all 37 parables - for FREE!
All I ask in return is that you share this website’s URL with as many of your family, friends, colleagues, neighbours as possible.
So that they can also get to read the book for free. And their social networks. And theirs. Helping the stories go viral. I think Jesus would approve.
But first, you need to read the book yourself. Just hit the button below.
‘Let’s keep the stories alive’
It might be that you’d like to give a ‘hard copy’ of the book as an outreach gift to someone. A Christian, non-Christian or a ‘fence-sitter’.
To bring them close to Jesus and hear him talking to them.
(That’s what I’ve been busy doing: the book has been going into churches, charities, universities, prisons even).
Or you might want one to place one on your bookshelf for future reference, or as a ‘tangible’ devotional resource. 37 parables would fit pretty well into Lent!
(Many people have already discovered that)
In either case, a limited number of the books are still available.
To grab one or more, at cost price, hit the button below.
Hurry: when they’re gone, they’re gone!