2014 - Issue 1
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Photo of new ELS/CLC Bookshop in Ranipet, India
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Walk With
CONFIDENCE
9781619580688
RRP: £8.99
The path you walk is a sure one; therefore, you can walk it with confidence no matter what and whom you meet along the way. Choosing Christ means embracing the life of a pilgrim and journeying confidently towards an unseen destination. It means abandoning loyalties that seem perfectly natural and making choices that take us beyond the comforts we think are so important. In this warmly written book, Susan Sutton acknowledges that this path is not always easy, but God has provided plenty of travelling tips—as well as a personal Guide—to help us make the journey with rewards we can never experience otherwise. Sutton’s insights urge us to accept the challenge—for only on this path can we discover the loving God who is always a step ahead of us. Each chapter includes notes for the journey—quotes from well-known Christians, a ‘for reflection’ section with Scripture verses, and journalling suggestions. This book is to encourage you to do your part . . . to take your life with God as seriously as He does.
COMING THIS
SPRING
Led to Lead: Faith and Leadership Lessons from the Life of Moses
Marty Berglund is challenging ministry leaders to grow deeper in faith through lessons drawn from the life of Moses. This book invites you to learn from the life of Israel’s greatest leader and to move ahead in your own life and ministry, implementing the lessons learned.
9781619581500 RRP: £8.99
Getting Into God: Practical Guidelines for the Christian Life
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9781619581524 RRP: £7.99
Stuart Briscoe’s Getting Into God will take you through the essential elements of Biblical study, prayer and witnessing. Whether you are a new Christian or simply wanting to get back to the basics of your faith, this book offers some fundamental instruction on the ‘practicalities of Christian experience.’
Christian bookshops BOOKS BIBLES
In This Issue: 5 Are You All In? 6-7 CLC/ELS India 8-9 40 Days with Jesus 10 Operation Relocation 12 CLC Donation Form
CARDS GIFTS
MUSIC
From the Editor:
What are your plans for 2014? Are you ready to step out in faith and walk with confidence knowing that your God is with you? Well, we are, and as you can see from this issue’s articles, we aren’t holding back! We hope you’ll join us in prayer and in action. Let’s make 2014 something to remember!
Amanda Lutes, Editor
13 Prayer Focus: Sri Lanka 14-15 CLC Canada: 60th Anniversary 17-18 Francine Rivers Interview 20 Book Reviews 21 C. S. Lewis Competition Winner 23 CLC Projects
CLC International (UK) 291 Abbeydale Rd, Sheffield, S7 1FJ Tel: 0114 2812136 Mission Website: www.clc.org.uk Retail Website: www.clcbookshops.com Editorial Email: clcworld@clcbookshops.com UK Director: ukdirector@clcbookshops.com Personnel Enquiries: personnel@clcbookshops.com Tel: 0114 2812136 CLC Finance Office: financeuk@clcbookshops.com Tel: 01962 733342 For Overseas Opportunities: office@clcinternational.org Address for Magazine & Finance Dept: 51 The Dean, Alresford, Hampshire, SO24 9BJ View online version of magazine: www.clc.org.uk/clcworld.htm Registered as a charity in England & Wales (1015793) and in Scotland (SC037939)
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Need a change? Maybe a new perspective? Why not discover mission in a whole new way? CLC has Christian literature ministries in over 50 countries around the world that are daily making an impact on thousands of lives!
Bringing glory to God by making Christian literature available to all nations so that people may come to faith & maturity in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Want to know more? Contact us! International Opportunites: office@clcinternational.org UK Opportunities: personnel@clcbookshops.com
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Are You All In?
David Almack’s (CLC USA) blog: faithlit.wordpress.com
I once heard a speaker say, “What would you do if money were no obstacle?” His goal was to get his audience to dream about why God had made them and to passionately pursue that as a vocation. For many people, myself included, that question can lead to fantasies of living on a Caribbean island living a life of leisure and fun — not thoughts of living the life God intended for us. Recently, I have been pondering why money has become such an obstacle in the first place. For some, it is the excess of money that traps them into a life-sucking job they hate. For others, it is the inability to find meaningful work that pays enough to support them and their family. Far too often, however, most of us simply assume that the things we really like to do can only be a hobby or a sideline to the daily grind we are destined to deal with in the ‘real world’. For a long time, I bought that lie too.
By Mark Batterson 9780310338659 RRP: £9.99
my life as I knew it? (Before I go on, I must be clear that the way God worked in my life is not a blueprint for everyone. God’s plans for us are like snowflakes — every one is unique.) What I did know was that God was challenging me not to just give Him my stuff, e.g. my time and treasure. He wanted me, all of me: my talents and gifts, my energetic personality, my failings and my weaknesses. He wanted everything and I was not ready to go there. Couldn’t I just keep some of me to myself? Ironically, I had seen my parents and grandparents trust God for all of their financial needs and He had provided. Maybe He hadn’t provided in the way I thought He should, but He had taken care of us. Could I ever trust God in the way they did?
Sure, going to college, studying business, getting a job in human resources and getting married provided a certain level of satisfaction. The jobs I held provided increasing responsibility, productive work, and, eventually, the vocational autonomy I had been hoping for. I quickly learned that God does not always place obstacles in our way to get our attention. Sometimes, he allows success and worldly accolades to be a part of the plan too.
I recently finished reading Mark Batterson’s new book, All In, and was deeply challenged by his words. In my late twenties, I did sell my house, change careers and become a missionary. I am doing what I love — serving, leading, reading and recommending life-changing resources, publishing great books and going to places I never dreamed I would. As I look back, it would be easy to give the impression that I did cash in all my chips but that would only be partially true.
At some point along the way, the questions started. Is this all there is? Is this what I am destined to do for the rest of my life? Is this really why God made me? The answers to these questions were too painful to deal with as I evaluated my heart motives for the life I had created. Money did matter to me and I wasn’t ready to part with it so easily. Despite this, the questions kept gnawing at me in the deep of the night.
My sense is that no matter what we think we are surrendering to God, there is always more that He wants. Nothing is off limits. While I used to think that going all in with God would mean a life of fulfillment and joy (and it is), I hadn’t counted on all the methods he would use to take me there. Joy often comes on the other side of suffering, and fulfillment can sometimes follow failure. What I do know for sure is that God does want us to passionately pursue Him, and He will shape our lives in ways we would never expect and will never regret.
So what was the alternative? Was God really calling me to give up my career, my home and
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ELS/CLC India: Stepping out in Faith! In December, 2013, Christopher Robert, the Director of CLC India (ELS India) was invited to lead a Christmas celebration service in their local branch of a national bank. He writes: “The Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is a very big bank in India. We [ELS India] have an account with them in a fairly major branch in Purasawalkam. Just before Christmas, the staff at the Purasawalkam branch wanted to have a Christmas celebration even though they are all, with just three or four exceptions, Hindus. “They approached me and asked if I would conduct a Christmas function in the bank, during which time business would go on as usual. A lot of customers, including several VIP customers, were invited by the bank for the occasion and the IOB’s General Manager, a Hindu from the north of India, came from the bank’s regional office. Including staff and customers, there were about 250 people present. Rita (my wife) and I went there together with four of our young men on the team who between them can sing and play the guitar and keyboard. We sang for a while, after which I shared the Christmas message. Then, as I was invited to, I had the opportunity to pray for the staff. The whole event seemed to be much appreciated by the bank officials and everyone else who gathered there. “Surprisingly, the next day, the news of this event was included in a leading newspaper in India (in Tamil), complete with a photo (See newspaper above). This paper has a circulation throughout the country in different languages, including a digital version which is read all over the world. A customer from Hyderabad called me and said he had seen the news in his own language! This has really given some good publicity to ELS since the name ‘Evangelical Literature Service’ is clearly mentioned in the news.” 6
CLC Ranipet Bookshop in Hospital Compound
Opening Ceremony
ELS/CLC India opened another bookshop in the country, making 20 in total, in January, 2014. The shop is located in the compound of the Scudder Memorial Hospital in Ranipet. ELS has had a small book outlet there for some time but, praise the Lord, we have been given a larger space in a prominent position where we can operate a full bookshop. Christopher Robert writes, “On Sunday evening, we had the opening ceremony of the Ranipet branch in the Scudder Memorial Hospital compound near Vellore. Rita, my wife, was born in this hospital and, also, her father was the head physician (Chief of Staff) in this hospital long ago.� Hospital Compound
Hospital Director, Dr. Anbu Rao, and Romualdo, our CLC Regional Director, cutting the ribbon.
ELS/CLC India Team
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EASTER
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? For you:
Be strengthened as you read this 40-day devotional exploring the life-changing encounters biblical characters had with the risen Jesus.
For your small group:
Free online videos and study guides to help small groups learn and share together as they work through the 40-day devotional.
For your church:
Free online sermon outlines for church leaders exploring each of the 6 encounters highlighted in the devotional and small group resources. RRP £6.99 or £4.99 for orders of 10 or more ISBN: 978-1-78259-138-2
‘Profound insights into the teachings of the New Testament’ NICKY GUMBEL For more information visit www.40days.info Applying God’s Word to everyday life and relationships
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We’ve got really good news to share! Operation Relocation: Upcoming move for CLC Birmingham
By Richard Morris (UK Regional Manager - South)
Our central Birmingham shop in Stephenson Street is booming. That’s quite a turnaround from a year ago when the shop was ‘buried’ inside a massive building site, and access to the shop was down a long, dusty and, at times, precarious corridor of builders’ fences. Now, it’s a different story. Every hour, hundreds of pedestrians walk by our shop window as they pass between the new entrance to Birmingham New Street Station and the prestigious Bull Ring shopping centre.
At the beginning of 2014, we were greatly saddened to see the closure of Wesley Owen, the city’s other Christian bookshop with whom we had worked for many years. They occupied the lower ground floor of Carrs Lane United Reformed Church. Thank God that we are now preparing to move into that large and beautifully equipped store later this spring. God willing, CLC will be running two Christian bookshops in Birmingham for a season. Do please pray for us through this exciting time.
A street’s transformation from backwater to prime site comes at a cost. Before too long, our landlord will be looking for a much higher rent that we won’t be able to afford. However, we’ve seen the Lord’s hand powerfully at work.
Can you help? We are going to need volunteers to help with the move as well as to enable us to be open in both locations. Please pray that those who feel led to help will get involved!
Our current location (below):
Later this spring we will be moving to: Carrs Lane Church Centre Carrs Lane BIRMINGHAM, B4 7SX
51 Stephenson Street BIRMINGHAM, B2 4DH Tel: 0121 643 6187 birmingham@clcbookshops.com
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
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Please pray for our return to Sri Lanka Our bookroom is located on the 2nd floor. As you can see on the left, there are many stairs to climb!
We praise God that we are being given the opportunity to have a presence in Sri Lanka once again. It will be a very slow start, however, as ELS/CLC India, who are overseeing this new ministry, are not allowed to send funds to Sri Lanka to purchase a bookshop. For now, Brian Stephenson (the man who will run the future bookshop in Sri Lanka), is working with our team in India to raise funds by selling CLC books and other Christian resources supplied by ELS/CLC India at local events and churches via booktables. To begin with, we will operate from the small room with a size of 10 X 15 square feet, which is on the 2nd floor of the building, as you can see in the attached photo (where the arrow points). It will not be convenient for the customers to climb up. Please pray that we will soon have the funds and the location of a suitable ground level location. Please pray for encouragment and stamina for Brian Stephenson, as he maintains this bookroom and attends various events, that he will soon see the fruit of his labour with a permanent location.
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by email or by post here: office@clcinternational.org 13 13
By Sheena Wardrope, CLC International Office
CLC began in Canada when Ken and Bessie Adams, the founders of CLC, went to North America in 1947, settling first in Toronto before moving to the USA. A bookstore operated in Toronto for some time, but was moved to Montréal in 1953. A lot of water has flowed under the bridges of the St. Lawrence River in Montréal, since those early days and, at the end of October 2013, CLC Canada celebrated 60 years in Quebec. 2013 was more than just an anniversary year for our team in Montréal, however. Since the beginning of January there has been a change of leadership when Oscar Cardozo took over from Rod Fowler as the National Director, a move from the central headquarters and bookshop in Westmount, and two new bookshops opened! There are now four CLC bookshops in Montréal covering the north, south, east and west of the city – or, at least, they do according to Montréal’s unique perspective on directions, which is not actually in line with the compass. In fact, Montreal has been called ‘the only city where the sun sets in the north’! CLC Brossard, on the ‘South Shore’, is not only a bookshop, but also the CLC headquarters with offices and a wholesale warehouse, which includes Video La Bergarie — a CLCowned non-profit company which specialises in the distribution of DVDs. During the last week of October, meetings were arranged for the CLC staff, visiting CLC members, the CLC board members and a 14
number of Canadian publishers. Most of the proceedings were conducted in French, with translation into English for the visitors. The bookshops all have books in French – in The sign up! one shop around 70% of the stock is inisFrench – and English. Sadly, the cost of importing or buying French books is very high, and the comparison between the price of books in English and in French is stark: French books can be three times the price or more! This is a constant concern for the team and ways to improve this situation need to be found. There is also a growing demand for Spanish books as there is a large group of migrants from Latin America in the city. Oscar Cardozo is himself originally from Paraguay, and he speaks Spanish, French, English, Portuguese and German – very useful given the incredibly multicultural society in the city. We have a multicultural team too. Currently, the team members are from Paraguay, El Salvador, Guyana, Korea, Canada (French - and English speaking regions), Belgium, Haiti and France. The culmination of the Anniversary Celebrations was a meeting that was open to the public. Over 300 customers and CLC supporters attended the event and enjoyed a mini-concert and time of worship led by ‘Héritage’ – two gifted young men who feel called to play and sing classic hymns in a contemporary style that appeals to all generations. David Almack, the Director of CLC USA and grandson of Ken and Bessie Adams, gave an address looking back at the history of CLC, pointing out the challenges and privileges of serving in this organisation.
Photo taken from Mount (Mont) Royal, a hill in the heart of MontrĂŠal, from which the city gets its name.
CLC MontrĂŠal Team
CLC Brossard
St. Lawrence River
CLC Ahuntsic
ISBN: 9781619580763
CLC Est
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N e w Yo r k T i m e s b e s t s e l l i n g a u t h o r
francine
riVerS A tale of
iSBn: 978-1-4143-9139-7
temptation, grace, and unconditional love set in the glitz and glamour of golden age Hollywood.
Available April 22, 2014. Order from your local bookshop today! FrancineRivers.com TYNDALE and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
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Francine Rivers is a multi-million bestselling writer of Christian fiction. Prior to becoming a Christian, she had already made her mark as a writer of romantic fiction in the secular market. Her first ‘post-conversion’ book, Redeeming Love, has sold well over a million copies and all her subsequent books have become bestsellers too. Her latest book, The Bridge to Haven, will be released in April, 2014. Here she shares some of her story.
How did you get started as a writer? I have wanted to be a writer since I was a little girl. I had no idea what I would write, so when I entered college, I majored in creative writing with an emphasis on literature and a minor in journalism. It wasn’t until after college when I had time to discover the rich world of popular fiction that I knew what I wanted to write. My first novel was a combination of the genres I loved: historical, romance, mystery.
God’s perspective about things I have done, experienced or with which I struggle. In truth, writing has become a personal way for me to worship the Lord. I am on a quest to know Him better, to seek His perspective.
Her Mother’s Hope and Her Daughter’s Dream reference the rift between your mother and your grandmother. Do all your books have a personal, experiential basis to You were a successful author before you the storyline? became a Christian. How easy was it to switch For the most part, I would say yes, with the to writing books with a Christian angle? exception of the novellas. In the Lineage of It wasn’t really a matter of switching. God Grace, I studied the five women in the first closed the door to my writing chapter of Matthew who are romances after I became a listed in Jesus’ ancestral line. Christian. I tried, but nothing “…writing has become I wanted to know what made made sense to me. I realised a personal way for me them special enough to be I needed to get to know God to worship the Lord. I singled out for attention. Also, through the Scriptures. Writing the Sons of Encouragement ceased to matter to me. After am on a quest to know came out of my study of the three years, during which time Him better, to seek His church for my novel, And the we opened our home to a group perspective.” Shofar Blew. I could see how Bible study, things changed. important it is to have men When we began a reading of of strong faith behind the the Minor Prophets and came to the story of leader. Sadly, people tend to put their pastors Hosea, I was overwhelmed by God’s love. I also felt on pedestals and forget it is the Lord alone we Him nudging me to write HIS story through that are to worship. allegory. The most difficult and personal novel I’ve written Having written numerous historical romances is The Atonement Child which dealt with my set in California between 1840-1880, I decided shame and grief over having an abortion during to set the Hosea story in the Sierra Mountains my college years. My mother also carried the during the Gold Rush period of California history. secret heartache over being pressured into a I had received many letters from readers asking therapeutic abortion by doctors while she was why I wasn’t writing anymore, and this seemed suffering a relapse of tuberculosis. The story of a fitting way to share the new love of my life: Hannah in the novel is based on my experience, Jesus Christ. The result was Redeeming Love. and Evie is based on my mother. I have met a My writing moved into a new arena. number of Dynahs (the main character who is pregnant by rape). I went through an emotional I have also been able to work through various wringer while writing the book, but it also turned questions and issues through writing. Each out to be the most healing. novel has been a personal quest to find 17
Why is fiction a good vehicle for telling the Good News? Fiction is a non-threatening way to share the Gospel. Many people don’t want to talk about Jesus, and they don’t want to read the Bible, but they will read a novel. I want my characters to be real so that they will resonate with readers. Jesus is always at the centre of any story I write. Each character is on a journey to or away from God. This is true in real life as well as fiction. My hope is readers will experience through story what it means to live in faith in Jesus. I pray they will hunger and thirst for a personal relationship with Christ who is the bridge home to God the Father.
Tell us a little bit about your family life and what you enjoy doing when you are taking ‘time out’. I have three children, all married, with children of their own. Thankfully, they all live in our area, and Rick and I can enjoy our five grandchildren who range in age from sixteen down to four. We love travelling with our children and grandchildren. We’ve been to Hawaii and done one Disney cruise to Alaska together. We took them to Illinois to enjoy a family gathering with other relatives. I have taken our two older children with their children to the Southwest and Oregon (three times). I used to take our three children up to Brookings Harbor, Oregon, every summer for ten days to spend time with my parents. So it’s a nostalgia trip for our children and exploration for the grandchildren. As soon as the youngest grandchild is old enough, I’ll head north again.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers? Read popular fiction, classics, non-fiction, periodicals. Remember: what you read “My hope is readers will During times between projects, forms you. Hence, I read the experience through story I go to lunch with friends, read, Bible through each year and watch movies, play golf with study Scripture. What you what it means to live in my husband, Rick. He has read also teaches you how to faith in Jesus.” Parkinson’s, so we are traveling write. So read the best (the as much as we can while we Bible!). As with any craft or skill, writing takes can. In the last few years, we’ve been all over practice. Be diligent. Keep learning. Keep writing. the world. Our next trip will be ‘around the horn’. I still consider myself an apprentice. We’re following the path his grandfather took while sailing windjammers before he settled in San Diego How and when do you write and do you need where he met Rick’s grandmother. deadlines? I write in the morning after my quiet time. What are you currently working on? Typically, I try to complete four pages a day, five Right now, I’m not working on anything. I am days a week. Weekends are reserved for family going through my “TBR” (to be read) pile, and church. It takes a year to eighteen months gearing up for several long trips (one around to complete a novel, though it took me almost South America) and waiting for a character to three years to finish Her Mother’s Hope and Her rise in my imagination and give me that passion Daughter’s Dream, which I wrote as one book, to begin a new project. and it was released as two due to the length of the original manuscript. My new release, The Do you have any plans to visit the UK in the Bridge to Haven, took eighteen months to write. near future? It will be released April 22, 2014. Is that an invitation? Oh, how I wish. My brother and sister-in-law are travelling in the UK right Deadlines keep me accountable. Even if the now. Rick and I have been to the UK several publisher doesn’t give me one, I set a deadline times and hope to return in the near future. for myself so that I won’t procrastinate.
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Interview used with permission from Together magazine © (Issue 5, Dec 2013/Jan 2014). www.togethermagazine.co.uk Together magazine is published with the aim of supporting and encouraging the UK Christian retail and supply industry.
The Bible Kids Can Customise on the Outside as God Changes Them on the Inside! The glipit Bible allows kids to imagine and create countless designs using removable pieces that lock right onto the cover! Children can spell out their name, make a design, form shapes, or have fun popping the pieces on and off of their Bible cover.
Kids can design their own covers!
Features include: 123 Removable Pieces: Lets children create their own designs. 1 glow-in-the-dark cross 120 individual pieces 2 closure pieces Changeable Design: Children can create new designs as often as they like. Soft Silicone Cover—Removable & Washable: Perfect for little hands to carry. New Living Translation: Allows kids to easily read and understand Includes the text.
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Ages 8+
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Book Reviews And the Angels Were Silent by Max Lucado Review: Jean Mintoft
RRP: £9.99
ISBN: 9780849947513 Publisher: Thomas Nelson, 240pp
Max Lucado is a popular author whose writings are immediately appealing to almost anyone as he has a natural anecdotal style. This book traces Jesus’ journey during the last week of his life. Every one of the 27 short chapters concentrates on a single incident or saying of Jesus, and the author draws challenging lessons from each one. There are many practical everyday examples of the lessons that are being highlighted, which makes the book easy to read and understand. There is a very useful section of study and discussion questions at the end, some of them extremely challenging, which would be ideal for either group or individual use. Being Biblically based, this would be a good book to give as a gift to anyone interested in Christianity too.
Walking with Gospel Women by Fiona Stratta Review: Bonnie Brooks
ISBN: 9780857460103 Publisher: BRF, 176pp
Fiona Stratta provides a collection of meditative studies and monologues featuring women from the Gospels. Intended primarily for small group settings, each study begins with the reading of a Gospel account, followed by a monologue imagining the events from the perspective of the woman involved. The monologues are easy to follow and help the listeners to identify with the woman concerned.
RRP: £7.99
There are guided reflections, offering opportunity for group interaction. Some of the reflections raise difficult and painful issues with the invitation to share thoughts and experiences. I think these studies would be best suited to women’s groups which include some members with sufficient spiritual and emotional maturity to provide any necessary support and encouragement. For those wishing to deepen their relationships with God and with each other, this book could be a useful resource.
Encounters with Jesus: by Timothy Keller
Review: Rev. David Barnes
RRP: £12.99
ISBN: 9781444754131 Publisher: Hodder Faith, 213pp
Timothy Keller is well known for his apologetic works such as The Reason for God and here this ability to answer doubts and hard questions directed at Christianity is wonderfully woven together with excellent exposition of Jesus’ encounters with a variety of characters described in John’s Gospel. Based on talks given to sceptical students at Oxford, Keller shows how Jesus addresses the big, universal, ‘meaning of life’ questions: What is the world for? What’s wrong with it? What, if anything, can make it right? And where should we look for answers to these questions in the first place? Keller also concentrates on the events surrounding Easter in the latter part of the book and how important it is that we see what Christ has done for us to save us. In all these things, Keller brilliantly compares the secular outlook and finds it wanting time and time again in comparison with the sheer beauty of Christ.
I would highly recommend Encounters as a book to give to sceptics. Ordinarily, books of apologetics can be hard to digest, being packed with abstract logic and argument. Here these elements are powerfully in evidence, yet succinctly expressed. Also, because these apologetics arise out of ‘real life’ human story and interaction and because Christ is central to all observations made, Encounters is both fascinating and compelling in equal measure. 20
Engaging the written Word of God by J.I. Packer
Review: Rev Brian Butler RRP: £10.99
ISBN: 9781598569612 Publisher: Paternoster, 331pp
Jim Packer has been a doughty defender of the infallible and inerrant Scriptures since the publication of his first book, Fundamentalism and the Word of God, way back in 1958. (I remember how eagerly I read it as a young minister trained in a Liberal college). This new compilation brings together twenty-three previously published articles on the same topic. Each and every one of them is a cogent and engaging defence of the authority of the Bible. Packer’s lively and engaging style is evident on every page. It is divided into three main sections: God’s Inerrant Word, Interpreting the Word and Preaching the Word. He tackles basic topics like the unity of Scripture, the place of Reason, Jesus’ understanding of the Law of God, Creation, Women, Eschatology (including a robust chapter on “Let’s stop making Women Presbyters”!). And the final section is worth its weight in gold to any preacher who wants to understand his craft better.
Much of Packer’s work has been in the essay form, but is nonetheless welcome for that. Here is a book which undergirds and strengthens our evangelical faith.
The book ‘The Screwtape Letters’ by C.S. Lewis turned my whole life around. 9780007461240
C.S. Lewis Competition Winner Mrs. Olive M. Ayres
It was just after World War II, in 1945, when we returned as a family to live in Bromley, Kent. I was a teenager at the time and began attending Bromley County Grammar School. I had always been a ‘voracious’ book reader, ever since learning to read, and I just wanted to know everything! Even when I was just three years old, I wanted to know things like how flies could walk upside down on the ceiling. I kept on asking until one of my uncles finally took me seriously and explained it to me.
By the time I took School Certificate, I was consuming many books on subjects beyond this world, such as palmistry, water divining, ancient Egyptian religion and such like. I can’t remember who but, during these searching days, someone put £7.99 The Screwtape Letters into my hands and said, “I think you’ll like reading this book.” I discovered it was all about the way that ‘Screwtape’, alias, the Devil, instructed his nephew ‘Wormwood’ on how to keep every person on earth doing evil, yet thinking they were doing good. RRP:
I had always thought I was a good person, but here I was being shown, quite clearly, that I was on the wrong side, the wicked side. Halfway through the book, I knew I had to find God. Of course, being the inquisitive mind that I was, I began trying different things to gain knowledge and understanding of Him. I began reading the Bible, attending church and asking difficult questions of anyone who had faith. These were trying days as my questions seemed to frighten some to the point they ran away! Competition Prize - 3 books!
After ten years of searching and attending church, one Sunday morning I was following the minister’s reading with my finger in the Bible when, suddenly, my finger seemed to become the opener of a curtain. As the curtain was opened, I could finally see that Jesus died on the cross to forgive ME and to give me NEW LIFE. God revealed Himself to me that day. I can testify that ‘Seek and you will find’ is true!
But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deut. 4: 29 GNB
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New editions of the UK’s most popular Bible. Includes previously unpublished illustrations by Annie Vallotton. Written in everyday English.
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