Challenging Times

The ‘Seize the Day’ podcast for August is now online. In it, John Ayrton is talking to Andy Dipper, the CEO of Release International, about what we can learn from the persecuted Church. Last in series.

Go here to listen.

The ‘new atheists’ have succeeded in obtaining a high profile in the media: Richard Dawkins’ book ‘The God Delusion’ sold more than two million copies, and spent a year on the NY Times best-seller list. His latest book, ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ is now being widely promoted. A few years ago, UK Channel 4 TV showed his series ‘Root of All Evil.’ (I know… I know… he didn’t choose the title. But he was happy enough to put up with it.)

The bottom line for the new atheists is the idea that science in some way contradicts faith in God: there is a conflict that cannot be reconciled, and should not be reconciled.

Of course the facts tell a rather different story, and we think it’s vitally important that this story is heard in the public life of our culture. We produced the ‘God: new evidence’ series as a small contribution to this end.

‘God: new evidence’ is beginning to make headway, with ten thousand downloads from Youtube in the past few months.

Can you help us to make it more widely known?

If you’re on Facebook, and you haven’t yet joined our fan page (six hundred people, and growing), consider joining – and invite your friends:
www.facebook.com/godnewevidence

Or follow us on twitter:

www.twitter.com/godnewevidence

Or blog about our programmes on Youtube at

www.youtube.com/godnewevidence

Is the ‘new atheism’ just the same old same old, but with a different skin? Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says not, according to a recent blog post by Michael Patton. Mohler identifies the following key differences (my words, not his, nor Patton’s):

1. It celebrates atheism, rather than mourning the loss of faith.
2. It is specifically opposed to Christian theism, not just to theism in general.
3. It is explicitly based on a ‘scientific’ worldview.
4. It is hostile to moderate and liberal Protestantism, seeing these as a kind of ‘fifth column’ for faith in God.
5. It sees religious faith as pernicious, and says that society should not tolerate belief in God – it takes a moral stance, even if this is not explicit.
6. It sees theism as particularly harmful to children, and teaching Christianity to children is little different from child abuse.
7. It wants to see theism actively suppressed because of its harmful influence on society.

The full post is well worth reading.

Esther did it, on Saturday, from ten thousand feet:

I am tremendously proud of my daughter. You wouldn’t have got me into the plane, let alone out of it again at ten thousand feet. However, there is more to the story than just being a proud father, and it’s that ‘more’ which makes this story worth including in this blog. My sister and brother-in-law said it very well on their FB page, and I can’t do better than quote what they said there:

Today, our niece Esther jumped out of an aeroplane to raise money for Bristol-based charity ‘Enough’. ‘Enough‘ are reaching out to kids on the Hartcliffe estate in southern Bristol. Esther’s been volunteering with ‘Enough’ for the past couple of years.We are SO proud of her. It’s not too late to sponsor Esther – go to http://fs20.formsite.com/ecouchman1/form681688063/index.html?1277993221805.

The ‘Seize the Day’ podcast for July is now online. In it, John Ayrton is talking to Linda Harding about the Kairos missions mobilising course for local churches.

Go here to listen.

This time it’s personal.

Two weeks from today (July 3rd), my younger daughter Esther is going to throw herself out of an aeroplane at 10,000 feet.

She isn’t crazy (well, maybe not)…. She’s doing a sponsored skydive to raise funds for a cause she believes in. This is the ‘Enough‘ ministry, reaching out to kids on the Hartcliffe estate in southern Bristol. Esther’s been volunteering with ‘Enough’ for the past couple of years.

Esther and a group of ‘Enough’ supporters are doing a tandem sky dive with Skydive London. Now I’m scared of heights – I get vertigo standing on a kerbside. Esther may have inherited some of this from me: she is just a bit terrified. But she believes this is worth doing.

Her goal is to raise £1000 for ‘Enough,’ (in addition to the cost of the jump itself). If you think this is a worthwhile cause, and if you’d like to sponsor Esther to throw herself out of an aeroplane, please go here. Esther would be really delighted to hear from you.

Sponsor Esther

A couple of years ago, when we started working with the Evangelical Alliance on Slipstream, it consisted of a monthly podcast (presented by Krish Kandiah and myself), and a regular monthly email newsletter (e-letter).

Over the past two years, the way people use the Internet has continued to change, and our understanding of how best to deliver the Slipstream resources has also been changing.

In the future, the main way the Slipstream resources will be delivered will be through the e-letter. Users identified email as their preferred way to receive information. This will be more frequent, shorter, and will not have a regular schedule, but will be sent out when there is something specific to say – a new resource, an upcoming event etc.

(There is also a Facebook page and an RSS feed for Slipstream.)

Slipstream will continue to publish new video and audio resources. You will be able to find these on the Evangelical Alliance’s Slipstream web site, but we won’t be carrying them here on the ‘Facing the Challenge’ site.

Visit the Slipstream web site

The ‘Seize the Day’ podcast for June is now online.

In it, John Ayrton talks to Mark North, from Bolsover Methodist Church, about how they succeeded in reaching one in three of the people in their local community.

Go here to listen.

The Seize the Day podcast for May is now online. In it, John Ayrton and I are talking about ‘God: new evidence’ – the new apologetics resource from Focus.

Go here to listen.