If you were a youngish Christian in the 1980s, it is almost certain that, at some point, someone would have pressed a copy of John White’s The Fight into your hands and urged you earnestly to read it. It was simply one of the standard Christian books of the era, and for several good reasons.
Archives: review
Review: ‘You Can Change’ by Tim Chester
Review, Sola Panel
You Can Change: God’s transforming power for our sinful behaviour and negative emotions
Tim Chester
IVP, Leicester, 2008. 192pp.
Picking up Tim Chester’s You Can Change, you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for a self-help book. It has all the trappings—a title promising transformation, testimonies of change, an invitation to choose a personal “change project”, ten chapters with titles like ‘What would you like to change?’ and questions for self-reflection. You Can Change is designed to communicate to a society obsessed with personal change, but it turns the self-help genre on its head. (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.
Why Johnny can’t preach (Part 4)
Review
Having heard that Johnny can’t preach, Johnny can’t read and Johnny can’t write (read parts 1, 2 and 3), one could be tempted to think that David T Gordon is an old crank, romantically reminiscing about how good things were when he was a lad, and complaining about the state of the world in ‘the modern times’ (along with young people and their loud music!)
Youth ministry resource
Review
I spent Wednesday lunchtime talking to Kitty Fung, who works for Anglican Youthworks in Sydney, about the (relatively new) youth site fervr. Apparently it means whatever you want it to mean. I know we’re old and fogey-ish over here at Sola Panel, but I thought that there might be some people interested in checking it out and hearing what they’ve got to offer. Finding quality Christian resources for youth work is not always easy.
Why Johnny Can’t Preach (Part 3)
Review
The Briefing, to go
Resource Talk, Sola Panel
Back in the mists of time, before mobile phones, before the internet, even before Michael Jackson’s Thriller, there were ‘The SOCM Papers’. (more…)
Spiritual Depression
Review, Sola Panel
Spiritual Depression: Its causes and its cure
D Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1965, 300pp.
Available from Moore Books
02 9577 9966 (more…)
Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor
Review
Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson
DA Carson
Crossway, Wheaton,
2008, 160pp.
Available from Moore Books (more…)
Leadership on the Front Foot
Review, Sola Panel
Leadership on the Front Foot Zachary Veron
Anglican Press Australia, Sydney, 2009. 204pp.
Pragmatism is always dangerous: passages like 2 Corinthians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 2:3-6 and 2 Timothy 4:3-4 warn against certain methods that seem to get results and gain listeners for your message. But pragmatism is also commended: passages like Matthew 10:16 (in the context of a gospel preaching mission) and Luke 16:8 (in the context of using money to make friends for eternity) recommend ‘shrewdness’, rather than stupidity, in ministry dealings. (more…)
Sick of Bible study? Read on.
Resource Talk, Sola Panel
Are you sick of reading the resource talk column each month?
I know I’m sick of writing it. Here we are again with another 800 upbeat, encouraging words on some aspect of Christian ministry and the resources we produce to support it. It’s tiresome to write and (I feel sure) a bit of a drag to read. (more…)