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David Couchman

David Couchman
David produces the Slipstream podcasts and edits the 'Facing the Challenge' courses. More...


Phil Prior interviewing David about Focus's vision

Latest resources for 'Facing the Challenge'

This page contains the latest resources to help you make the most of 'Facing the Challenge', and links to some free samples and downloads to explore if you are thinking about using the course. We are adding new resources all the time, so bookmark this site and visit it regularly.

Including a web site, book, or other resource on this site does not necessarily mean that we agree with everything it says!

General articles and features

Truth on the Rocks

Review of a clash between artist Tracey Emin and columnist Melanie Phillips on the facts about marriage and cohabitation on BBC TV's Question Time, and the subsequent article by Melanie Phillips titled 'A Nation That Lies To Itself', reflecting on the contemporary preference for falsehoods over facts. Read more...

The News

Drowning us in trivia, distracting us from the truth. (Can be used as the basis of an event for a youth group made up mainly of followers of Christ.) Read more...

True for you (but not for me)

We live in a society where right and wrong have become a matter of individual lifestyle choice, and truth has become a matter of personal preference. Read more...

Tolerance: A strange reversal?

The meaning of tolerance has changed. In the past, it meant accepting other people even though you disagreed with their beliefs. It has now come to mean not disagreeing with anyone, and pretending that all beliefs really are equally valid. Read more...

Books

A Long Way East of Eden, by Pete Lowman

A Long Way East of Eden: Could God explain the mess we're in?
Pete Lowman, Paternoster 2002

For many people today, whether or not we believe in God is just a personal choice: you choose to believe; I choose not to believe.  If you believe, it's nice that you have something to help you get through the day, but it does not really matter. It does not really make any difference. In 'A Long Way East of Eden', Pete Lowman explores the difference this 'loss of God' has made to our society and to us as individuals.  In successive chapters, he explores the question of identity, purpose, ethics, truth, and love.' His repeated conclusion is that 'it matters whether there is a God or not.'

In the closing three chapters, Lowman encourages his thinking but uncommitted reader to consider 'what if there is a God after all?' How does this reality affect all these areas - identity, purpose, truth, love etc?  He explores how the Biblical worldview both explains the reality we face, and answers to our needs. 'A Long Way East of Eden' is a wonderful 'worked example' of the approaches that the 'Facing the Challenge' course is seeking to encourage. This is an excellent book, for Christian and non-Christian alike. Read more...

 

Useful tools

Top Tips for House group Leaders

A guide to how to lead a home group effectively. Read more...

A Guide to Using the Internet

This is the best guide we've seen for Christians who want to use the Internet effectively. It's written by Tony Whittaker of SOON, and used with permission. Read more...