A little bit of levity to introduce you to a resource that you need to tell your Pastor about, inform your Home Group leader forthwith… or here is a radical idea, such could be the fodder for you, O blog-aid drinker, to offer up your services, using this material, thereby just doing something!

Let me unload a little, providing you some more light on this resource… Here is how this is introduced on the homepage

“Sounds good“… I agree!

Now, if you are a fan-who-wouldn’t-mind-being-a-friend… stalker, then it will not surprise you that the front man for this production, is none other than… Tim “the cardiologist” Keller, and here is the man on a trailer… for the product, that is!

And, here is another video related to this resource…

To find out more information on this, where you can view and read through the whole context of this resource, where one can download a number of resources, which includes a number of audio messages, and finally, after taking another breath, where one can buy the thing, then, you will need to go… HERE!

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

H/T: Justin Taylor

In what I will describe as a reflective, poignant, even remorseful account of the relationship with his brother, famous or in-famous Atheist prognosticator, Christopher Hitchens, Peter, talks about his loss of faith, and the Prodigal road home.

He begins the article this way…

During his teenage years and early 20s, Peter Hitchens lost his faith and rebelled against everything he had been brought up to believe in. Here, in a moving and thought-provoking account from his controversial new book, he describes his spiritual journey back to God – and the end of his feud with his brother

I set fire to my Bible on the playing fields of my Cambridge boarding school one bright, windy spring afternoon in 1967. I was 15 years old. The book did not, as I had hoped, blaze fiercely and swiftly.

Only after much blowing and encouragement did I manage to get it to ignite at all, and I was left with a disagreeable, half-charred mess.

Most of my small invited audience drifted away long before I had finished, disappointed by the anticlimax and the pettiness of the thing. Thunder did not mutter.

It would be many years before I would feel a slight shiver of unease about my act of desecration. Did I then have any idea of the forces I was trifling with?

In truth, it was not much of a Bible. It was bound in shiny pale blue boards with twiddly writing on the cover, a gift from my parents and until that moment treated with proper reverence, and some tenderness.

But this was my Year Zero. I was engaged in a full, perfect and complete rebellion against everything I had been brought up to believe.

As I had been raised to be an English gentleman, this was quite an involved process. It included behaving like a juvenile delinquent, using as much foul language as I could find excuse for, mocking the weak (there was a wheelchair-bound boy in my year, who provided a specially shameful target for this impulse), insulting my elders, and eventually breaking the law.

The full details would be tedious for most people, and unwelcome to my family. Let us just say they include some political brawling with the police, some unhinged dabbling with illegal drugs, an arrest – richly merited by my past behaviour but actually wrongful – for having an offensive weapon and nearly killing someone, and incidentally myself, through criminal irresponsibility while riding a motorcycle.

There were also numberless acts of minor or major betrayal, ingratitude, disloyalty, dishonour, failure to keep promises and meet obligations, oath-breaking, cowardice, spite or pure selfishness. Nothing I could now do or say could possibly atone for them.

I talk about my own life at more length than I would normally think right because I need to explain that I have passed through the same atheist revelation that most self-confident British members of my generation – I was born in 1951 –have experienced.

To my shame, I was the one who repudiated it, ripped it from its frame and angrily erased my signature, before recommencing hostilities. In a way, the treaty has remained broken ever since. Our rivalry was to last 50 years, and religion was one of its later causes.

My own, slow return to…

Yes, I have left you hanging, which means you will have to go and read the rest of the article… HERE!

Given the context of this man’s life, such is a fascinating perspective, and well-worth your reading time!

Always Informing, For the Always Reforming, From the Land of the Long White Cloud

Man of Spin

H/T: Apologetics315 on Twitter

I could rabbit on about the details, but here is the news from the source… a Press Release…

New online Christian bookstore

In February the Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship launched ‘Catalyst Books’: an online bookstore stocking high quality books in the area’s of Christian living, study and work. Primarily aimed at resourcing students and graduates, but available to the wider church in New Zealand, the site has was launched in earlier this month.

The bookstore is one part of Catalyst – TSCF’s ministry to graduates in the workplace, postgraduates and academics.  One of the stores unique features is that it focuses on providing a range of books helping Christians relate the gospel to their study and work.

With a growing number of books on a wide range of professions including architecture, agriculture, linguistics, law, sciences, sport and much more.  There are books at different levels for those just starting to think about these issues, as well as those who want to really dig deep into issues surrounding the gospel and their work – everyone can find a good book here!

The team at TSCF have worked hard with people around the world to review and select some of the best books on these subjects, so although the range of books might be smaller than other Christian bookstores  - these books have been tried, tested and recommended.

But Catalyst Books isn’t just a bookstore, the website will enable customers (who want to) to connect with others who have read the same books, allowing those who want to, to start conversations around these subjects.  These conversations will allow reading to be more than an individual activity, and to be shared with others with similar interests.  These dialogues have the potential to develop into valuable networks, reading groups or professional groups.

Mark Grace (Catalyst Team Leader) has three more reasons why you should take a look at Catalyst Books: ‘First is price– thanks to our partners we can offer amazing value to students and graduates.  The second reason is delivery is free, and the third is that this is a Kiwi initiative, so the books we have in stock are in New Zealand, so we can deliver them to your door in just a few days.’

Check out the bookstore at catalyst.ac.nz/store

If you didn’t pick it up in the details, what is particularly significant about this bookstore, which may be the first of its kind with such comprehensive coverage, is their selection of titles, arranged in a number of vocational disciplines/contexts, which seeks to encourage the Christian to Gospel-centre their context, thinking through such implications for the glory of God!

Not only this, but it is also cheap… skate, which is further encouraged with FREE SHIPPING!

While this store is only available for those in a “kiwi” context, the job that has been completed, in sourcing these titles, is definitely catalytic in world-wide context, as anyone can search this site, finding an appropriate title, in a chosen discipline, which one can subsequently purchase from a book-selling-source, in one’s neck of the woods!

If I may get a little autobiographical… I have had a little bit to do with the “grunt” work behind the scenes, so I am aware of the time, effort, and commitment that has been involved in getting this site up and running, which you should definitely redeem… and spread!

This is the place to head… NOW!

catalyst.ac.nz/store

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin

Such is surely what many in our cultural contexts will want to affirm!  Do you provide a response to such, if indeed you disagree with this perspective?

Not sure?  Well, this event will help…

Today, many best-selling atheists argue that belief in God is delusional and a roadblock to political, moral, and scientific progress.

In this public Q and A event, several of New Zealand’s top Christian thinkers come together to consider popular arguments against Christianity and whether belief in God is merely a consequence of superstition and credulity.

Speakers:

Jeff Tallon (PhD) is Distinguished Scientist at Industrial Research Ltd and a former Professor of Physics at Victoria University. He is internationally known for his research in high-temperature superconductors, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and in 2002 was awarded the Rutherford Medal, New Zealand’s highest science award.

Matthew Flannagan (PhD) lectures in the History of Philosophy at Laidlaw College and specialises in applied ethics and the interface between philosophy and theology. He is currently relief teaching philosophy, ethics and religious studies for St Peters College. He is a prominent New Zealand Christian thinker, debater and blogger at www.mandm.org.nz.

Michael Drake (DipTeach) is the principal of Carey College in Panmure and a pastor of the Tamaki Reformed Baptist Church. He has been involved in advocacy for Christian schools and in raising issues about race, education, and Christianity before Parliament. He is also a Tertiary Student Christian Fellowship Associate Chaplain at the Manukau Institute of Technology.

Joe Fleener (MDiv) lectures in Old Testament, Church History, Christian Worldview, Apologetics, and Christian Ethics at The Shepherd’s Bible College.

Sponsored by the Tertiary Student Christian Fellowship.

And, note the following details…

Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Location: 260 – 098 Owen G Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road, The University of Auckland

What this means is that the location for this event, has been confirmed!

I would encourage you to visit this Thinking Matters post, or the Facebook page, where you can register your attendance, and even connect with some of those who will be attending!

You never know, I actually may be at this one, as I am planning on being in Auckland, the “Big Smoke,” at this stage!

Always Informing, For the Always Reforming, From the Land of the Long White Cloud

Man of Spin