Back in February, Sam Freney reported on the launch of the new Two Ways to Live app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. He mentioned at the time that he was working on “an enhanced iPad version, including some Q&A videos and testimonies about how the gospel has changed people’s lives”. (more…)
Author Archives: Ian Carmichael
The day I took Matthias Media’s money to the casino
Life
I was in the precinct of Sydney’s main casino on Saturday, and, with the full knowledge and approval of several of my Matthias Media colleagues, I trotted off to the casino with $140 of MM’s money in my pocket. (more…)
A different centre of gravity
Everyday Ministry
This heartwarming feedback just came in from Dave, a pastor here in Sydney:
I’m not a teary kind of bloke. Last night, though, I was almost at the point of crying as we went around the room and people shared what they’d got out of doing The Course of Your Life. In the week following the weekend away one lady has told virtually everyone she’s met about Jesus and started praying all the time; another lady has cut back her excessive work hours and is praying far more frequently; three men shared how they’ve started speaking about Christian things in conversations at work where in the past they would’ve kept quiet; one of them gets in the car a few minutes earlier each day so he can pray for opportunities to speak about Jesus at work; another guy can’t stop reading Colossians because it’s just so exciting.
Jars of clay: Being a Christian parent
Everyday Ministry
I’m glad this article is in the Jars of Clay series. It feels like an appropriate metaphor, because there are few areas where I feel as weak and inadequate for the role God has given me than when it comes to parenting my two children. And I don’t think I’m alone in that. I suspect most Christian parents feel that inadequacy keenly. (That’s probably why over the years most people we have asked to write for The Briefing on parenting have baulked at it.) (more…)
A Vine confabulation
Resource Talk
We at Matthias Media have recently made available a free and downloadable discussion guide for Col Marshall and Tony Payne’s The Trellis and the Vine. Download it from our Australian or North American store. (more…)
MiniZines
Resource Talk
This is the final instalment in my series of posts introducing the range of new Matthias Media resources that have just arrived in. And today’s takes a bit of explaining. Here goes…
One of the issues we’ve grappled with for many years at Matthias Media relates to our monthly magazine, The Briefing. Each year, writers and editors pour countless hours of thought and hard work into putting together helpful magazine-length articles on a wide range of important topics. The people who happen to be subscribing to The Briefing at that time get the benefit of reading that article. But once it is published, that’s pretty much it; it’s unlikely to see the light of day again or be read by anyone else.
Frankly, magazine publishing often feels a bit ‘vapour-ish’ in an Ecclesiastes kind of a way: here one month, gone the next. Which is a shame, because the articles we publish are extremely useful material.
It’s time
Resource Talk
The next in my series of posts introducing some of our recent releases at Matthias Media is about a tract called It’s Time to Come Home.
Let me start by pinching some comments Tony made recently in The Briefing:
With a little reflection, perhaps the continued popularity of tracts is not so surprising. They might not mount mind-blowing theological arguments, or be masterpieces of literature. They might not be trendy or on the cutting edge of digital culture. But they are short. They are cheap. They are easy to buy and give away. And most of all, if you want to start a conversation with someone—or continue a conversation that’s been going on for some time—they are hard to beat.
The timeless truths of an everlasting God
Resource Talk
The Everlasting God by Broughton Knox is another ‘new’ book that has just become available through Matthias Media. But it’s not really new; it’s a new edition of a book that was first published more than 25 years ago. (more…)
By God’s word (Volume 2)
Resource Talk
The next of the new resources I want to share with you is By God’s Word (Volume 2).
I suspect the majority of Sola Panel readers would be familiar with the name and Bible teaching ministry of Phillip Jensen. For those of you who don’t know, Phillip is the person who started Matthias Media some 21 years ago. (You can learn more about Phillip at his website).
To be quite frank, I don’t think I could name anybody who knows, understands, and loves God’s word more than Phillip. Nor can I think of anybody as gifted at teaching it and applying it to life.
Getting yourself right side up
Resource Talk
Over the next week, I intend to introduce some of the latest new resources from Matthias Media.
Today, I thought we might kick off with the brand new book written by one of our esteemed Sola Panelists, Paul Grimmond. It is Paul’s ‘debut’ book Right Side Up.
Like preachers who regularly preach that “The passage we are looking at today is one of the most significant passages in the Bible”, I guess I also run the risk of devaluing the currency when I say that “This latest resource is one of the most significant we’ve published”. Naturally enough, I get pretty excited about all our new resources.
But even when I force myself to apply some objectivity to the assessment, I am going to stick to my guns on the significance of this book for at least two reasons.