Faith

Please visit our Book Bulletin 2019 crowdfunding project at CrowdPatch to buy recommendations for our Winter 2019 catalogue and to volunteer your skills, experience and contacts. All funds raised will support not-for-profit Jolabokaflod CIC’s forthcoming programme of events.

Why?
Sharon Dirckx
(UK: Inter-Varsity Press, @ivpress, 2013)

Why do bad things happen? … If God exists, why doesn’t he do something? … Why am I being singled out?

Of all the hurdles to faith, surely suffering must be the greatest. It tears lives apart and raises questions for us all. But when we ask ‘Why?’, to whom are we addressing our question? Where do the most satisfying answers come from? Does it matter?

Sharon Dirckx deftly interweaves the stories of Frances, Will, Grace, Charles and Rachel – who have faced some of life’s toughest personal challenges – with a practical consideration of the ‘Why?’ questions we all ask about God and suffering.

Recommended by:
Ruth Jackson, Editor, YCW (Youth and Children’s Work) and Head, Youth Apologetics, Premier
Ruth says: ‘This book is great on suffering.’

Prior to joining Premier, Oxford University graduate Ruth Jackson worked at the BBC and the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA). She now edits Premier’s YCW magazine and heads up the company’s youth apologetics arm (profile). In her spare time Ruth plays bass in an all-girl rock ’n’ roll band called The Daisy Chains. YCW is a monthly magazine sold at good Christian bookshops and available by subscription from Premier.

The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus
Dr Hannah Fry and Dr Thomas Oléron Evans
(UK: Black Swan, @PenguinUKBooks, 2017; USA: Harry N Abrams, @ABRAMSbooks, 2017)

How do you apply game theory to select who should be on your Christmas shopping list? Can you predict Her Majesty’s Christmas Message? Will calculations show Santa is getting steadily thinner – shimmying up and down chimneys for a whole night – or fatter, as he tucks into a mince pie and a glass of sherry in billions of houses across the world?

Full of diagrams, sketches and graphs, beautiful equations, Markov chains and matrices, The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus brightens up the bleak midwinter with stockingfuls of mathematical marvels. This proves once and for all that maths isn’t just for old men with white hair and beards who associate with elves. Maths has never been merrier.

Recommended by:
Sanne Vliegenthart, Freelance Digital Producer | Consultancy: Booksandquills; YouTube channel: Booksandquills

Sanne runs Booksandquills – a freelance consultancy to manage her skills as a digital producer, public speaker and YouTuber vlogger – having worked as an Audience Manager at Penguin Random House UK. She offers many different ways to work collaboratively on digital projects via her Booksandquills social channels. Sanne specialises in young adult and twenty-something audiences, sustainable lifestyle, books, culture and travel. She excels at creating authentic influencer campaigns, engaging digital content and host events that connect with audiences: here are the freelances services she offers to clients.

God on Mute
Pete Greig
(UK: Kingsway Publications, @PeteGreig, 2007; USA: Baker Books, @ReadBakerBooks, 2012)

God on Mute is a book born out of the author’s wife fight for her life and diagnosis of a debilitating brain tumour. Pete Greig asks the timeless questions of what it means to suffer and to pray – and to suffer through the silence as your prayers seem unanswered. This silence, Greig relates, is the hardest thing. The world collapses. Then all goes quiet. Words can’t explain, don’t fit, won’t work. People avoid you and don’t know what to say. So you turn to Him and you pray. You need Him more than ever before. But somehow … even God Himself seems on mute.

In this heart-searching, honest, and deeply profound book, Greig looks at the hard side of prayer, how to respond when there seem to be no answers, and how to cope with those who seek to interpret our experience for us. Here is a story of faith, hope, and love beyond all understanding.

Recommended by:
Ruth Jackson, Editor, YCW (Youth and Children’s Work) and Head, Youth Apologetics, Premier
Ruth says: ‘This book is great on unanswered prayer.’

The Reason for God
Timothy Keller
(UK: Hodder & Stoughton, @HodderBooks, 2009; USA: Penguin Books, @penguinusa, 2009)

The founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, Timothy Keller, addresses the frequent doubts that sceptics – and even ardent believers – have about religion. Using literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and potent reasoning, Keller explains how the belief in a Christian God is, in fact, a sound and rational one. To true believers he offers a solid platform on which to stand their ground against the backlash to religion created by the Age of Scepticism. And to skeptics, atheists, and agnostics, he provides a challenging argument for pursuing the reason for God.

Recommended by:
Ruth Jackson, Editor, YCW (Youth and Children’s Work) and Head, Youth Apologetics, Premier
Ruth says: ‘This book is great on lots of apologetic questions.’

The Divine Dance
Richard Rohr
(UK: SPCK Publishing, @SPCKPublishing, 2016; USA: Whitaker House, @whitakerhouse, 2016)

The Trinity is supposed to be the central, foundational doctrine of the entire Christian belief system, yet we’re often told that we shouldn’t attempt to understand it because it is a ‘mystery’. Should we presume to try to breach this mystery? If we could, how would it transform our relationship with God and renew our lives?

The word ‘Trinity’ is not found in the New Testament – it wasn’t until the third century that early Christian father Tertullian coined it – but the idea of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was present in Jesus’ life and teachings and from the very beginning of the Christian experience.

In the pages of this book, internationally recognised teacher Richard Rohr circles around this most paradoxical idea as he explores the nature of God as a divine dance.

Recommended by:
Neil Ruckman, Storyteller, Writer, Exams Consultant and Special Needs Teacher

Neil is a drama practitioner and storyteller wth over 30 years of experience. He has directed a number of plays, including a UK wide tour of Mark’s Gospel. He has performed as a storytelller at a range of arts festivals, including the inaugural International Storytelling Festival in Rome (both solo and with early music group, Fontanella). He has been involved in arts projects and organisations with a faith perspective. including JC2000, Cre8.Ed and Seeds). He currently teaches drama, film studies, creative writing and psychology from primary to university level. He works for a number of exam boards and is a voluntary leader at The Stable (a Christian church).

Online Mission and Ministry
Pam Smith
(UK: SPCK Publishing, @SPCKPublishing, 2015; USA: SPCK Publishing, @SPCKPublishing, 2017)

Many clergy and churches are now taking to the internet and social media to promote their churches or ministries, but few have thought through some of the difficult pastoral and theological issues that may arise. ‘Virtual vicar’ Rev. Pam Smith guides both new and experienced practitioners through setting up online ministries and considers some of the issues that may arise, such as: ‘Are relationships online as valid as those offline?’, ‘Is it possible to participate in a “virtual” communion service?’, ‘How do you deal with ‘trolls’ in a Christian way?’ and ‘What is it appropriate for a clergyperson to say on social media?’

Recommended by:
Sheridan Voysey, Writer, Speaker and Broadcaster | Media website: Sheridan Voysey

Sheridan Voysey, writer, speaker and broadcaster on faith and spirituality. He is the author of seven books, including Resilient: Your Invitation to a Jesus-Shaped Life (2015: Amazon UK | USA), Resurrection Year: Turning Broken Dreams into New Beginnings (2013: Amazon UK | USA), and Unseen Footprints: Encountering the Divine Along the Journey of Life (2016: Amazon UK | USA). He writes regularly for the globally popular devotional Our Daily Bread and is a regular contributor to faith programmes on BBC Radio 2.

Many Paths: One Goal
JP Vaswani
(UK: Sterling Publishing, @SterlingBooks, 2010; USA: Gita Publishing House, @DadaJPVaswani, 2010)

All paths lead us to God. Therefore fights, feuds, arguments, discussions, debates and differences in the name of the religion are futile. You can follow the path that draws you; let another follow the path that draws him; yet another can take the path that he chooses – ultimately all of you will arrive at the same destination.

Recommended by:
Gita Publishing House: at BookExpo America

Gita Publishing House is dedicated to publishing the work of Dada JP Vaswani, an acclaimed humanitarian, philosopher, educator, writer, orator and non-sectarian spiritual leader, who was the head of the Sadhu Vaswani Mission in Pune, India who captivated the hearts of millions worldwide. Dada JP Vaswani’s teachings and thoughts opens readers up to new dimensions in living, new insights about the secrets how to live a good life in a world full of stress, fear, anxiety and despair, and presenting the art of living in intellectually sound, acceptable and emotionally satisfying ways so as to revive your faith in the one Being.

	Christopher Norris on Secret Santa 2022
	Bronwyn on Secret Santa 2022
	Richard on Let’s get the Icelanders…

Please visit our Book Bulletin 2019 crowdfunding project at CrowdPatch to buy recommendations for our Winter 2019 catalogue and to volunteer your skills, experience and contacts. All funds raised will support not-for-profit Jolabokaflod CIC’s forthcoming programme of events.

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