Great books for Men

I run a men’s non fiction book group with some of the dads from my sons’ school. I am sure lots of women would love these books too, but I thought it might be interesting to list some of the hits so far in our book group.
Blood River
This is a great book – an adventure [...]

Read Full Post »

Top 10 books on the emergent church

1. The Church in Emerging Culture, Leonard Sweet (Ed), Emergentys, Zondervan
This book is authored by a great team of writers including author and thinker Leonard Sweet (Author and thinker), Andy Crouch of Christianity Magazine, Professor and reformed theologian Michael Horton, Frederica Mathewes-Green (an Orthodox believer), Erwin Raphael McManus from Mosaic church and Brian D. McLare. [...]

Read Full Post »

Essential reading for Preachers

I try to read at least one book on preaching a year. I want to continue learning how to stay faithful to the text and continually rethink how best to stay connected to the culture. Here are some of the best books I have read over the years.
1. How to Read the Bible for All [...]

Read Full Post »

Suprised by Hope

Here’s a review of NT Wright’s wonderful Surprised by Hope on Christianity magazine’s website.

Read Full Post »

Twenty Four Remixed

Here’s some viuals I have been playing with – see if you like them.
New and Improved Twenty Four!
With a brand new cover and internal design. Twenty Four now includes discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Twenty Four can be used in small groups or in mentoring situations.
Twenty-Four’ takes a [...]

Read Full Post »

FRESH – is finally here

FRESH is finally here!
Fresh is a new book to help students make the most of their time at university.
It provides daily inspirations for new students covering everything from writing essays to writing home, from making friends to making the grade, from debt to dating. FRESH offers a challenging introduction to maintaining a strong personal Christian [...]

Read Full Post »

Last King of Scotland

The Last King of Scotland is a powerful movie based around the life of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. It uses the plot device of a fictional young Scottish doctor (played by James Macavoy) who goes to Africa escape an overbearing father, “to have some fun and to make a difference.” Through a series of [...]

Read Full Post »

favourite quote today…

Tim Vine: “I’ve taken a speed reading course. I read “War and Peace” in three seconds. It’s only three words but it’s a start.”

Read Full Post »

Evangelical Reality? – Letter to a Christian Nation,God is not Great, God Delusion

Have you noticed that if you want to write a best selling non fiction book at the moment it needs to be an angry athiestic rant. Let me rant a little…
Professor Richard Dawkins seems to have started the recent trend with his very polemical attacks at Christianity. He will not really be remembered as an [...]

Read Full Post »

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

(see the harry potter and the halfblood prince).
This is part 5 of the Harry Potter series. I must confess I have never read a whole Harry Potter book and so my review is based around the film as a film rather than as a literary conversion. I really enjoyed the movie – the centre piece [...]

Read Full Post »

Bridge to Terebithia

I was expecting a predominantly fantasy based film along the lines of the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Especially as it was made by Walden Media. What you get instead is a very intense drama about two children who don’t really fit in at school – so they construct a fantasy sanctuary in [...]

Read Full Post »

Favourite Douglas Coupland

OK I am a Douglas Coupland fan.
I haven’t read everything he’s done.
But here is my top ten.

Life After God (1994) – my first exposure to Coupland – loved the open hearted pathos and homage to REM.
Girlfriend in a Coma (1998) – loved the apocalyptic story line – it’s the end of the world [...]

Read Full Post »