Tim Chester and his group of collaborators are to be praised for the work they do in living incarnationally in some of the toughest neighbourhoods in Britain. They seek to bring the Good News of Jesus to local residents and to plant culturally relevant churches among them. The book draws on this experience and is… Continue reading Vital subject, narrow perspective: Tim Chester’s ‘Unreached’ [review] – by Greg Smith
Category: Recommended books & reviews
The Fifty Shades of Christian Fiction: ‘Cross Roads’ by Wm Paul Young [review]
What has Wm Paul Young, author of The Shack, got in common with EL James, author of record breaking series Fifty Shades of Grey? Well, for a start they have both sold millions of books. But also, both writers have catapulted a relatively marginal genre of literature, namely erotica and Christian fiction, into the global… Continue reading The Fifty Shades of Christian Fiction: ‘Cross Roads’ by Wm Paul Young [review]
So what fiction has inspired you most spiritually? Our competition winners…
Thanks to everyone who entered our competition this week and sent in emails in response to this question: Which works of fiction (book or film) have inspired you most in your spiritual journey? You can see the five winning responses below. We selected a range of genres and themes, including Hollywood, humour and hell, and… Continue reading So what fiction has inspired you most spiritually? Our competition winners…
New book from author of The Shack – ‘Cross Roads’ + your chance to win a free copy
Today, WM Paul Young is launching his second novel Cross Roads. His first novel The Shack was a global bestseller, shifting over 600,000 copies in the UK and 18 million copies globally. I must confess that I was not a huge fan of the style of writing of The Shack but the book still had… Continue reading New book from author of The Shack – ‘Cross Roads’ + your chance to win a free copy
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas [review]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian and Pastor, who was killed in a Nazi concentration camp, is undoubtedly a Christian hero. But in a Church plagued by theological tribalism, the legacy of such heroes can become a sharply contested. Different tribes claim the legacy of such heroes as their own as lives are analysed and attributes… Continue reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas [review]
‘The Lion’s World: A journey into the heart of Narnia’ by Rowan Williams [Review]
The Narnia books had a very significant role in shaping my Christian faith. I read them as a young teenager and then around the time I decided to be a Christian at 16, I re-read them. No books, before or since, have given me the experience of entering another world like these did. Yet it… Continue reading ‘The Lion’s World: A journey into the heart of Narnia’ by Rowan Williams [Review]
‘Everyone can be great, because anyone can serve’
Photo by Hugo Magalhaes on Pexels.com ‘Long before and after Jesus, prophets and philosophers have been trying to reconcile the fullest individuality with the most just community. Greatness of servanthood may have been as good an answer as any ever found. The best woman or man was the one who did the most for the… Continue reading ‘Everyone can be great, because anyone can serve’
How ‘Surprised by Hope’ changed my whole outlook on life & death – by Mari Williams
What is the Christian hope? What does the Bible say about life after death? What are the implications for life before death? Tom Wright tackles these and other questions in his seminal book Surprised by Hope. It’s dense but engaging, rooted in Scripture, and it’s changing the way I think, pray and act. I won’t… Continue reading How ‘Surprised by Hope’ changed my whole outlook on life & death – by Mari Williams
John Bunyan’s warning to bloggers
Recently I read John Bunyan's classic tale Pilgrim's Progress, published in 1678. Like some of the most powerful Christian writings, for example Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters from Prison and Paul's Letter to the Philippians, it is a book written from a prison cell. What makes it such a brilliant book… Continue reading John Bunyan’s warning to bloggers
Faith Under Fire by Andrew White: Awful and Awe-full
Faith under Fire is both one of the most Awful (in what it recounts) and Awe-full books that I have read in recent years. Andrew White is better known as the stubborn and inspiring 'Vicar of Baghdad', serving his 3500 strong congregation of St. Georges – the only Anglican church in Iraq. He daily faces the… Continue reading Faith Under Fire by Andrew White: Awful and Awe-full
