The opening verses of the Bible establish the bedrock upon which the rest of scripture and the Christian faith is anchored. Many Christians, however, find these verses in Genesis difficult to digest and even harder to interpret. Over time, people’s confidence in the text has been eroded by a combination of modern scientific discoveries and assaults against the authority of the Bible by groups such as the new atheists. Do believers really have to make a choice between science and religion? When it comes to philosophy, is Christianity simply ‘beyond the pale’?

‘In the beginning’ is a training day designed to help believers grapple with these difficult topics, so that they might be able to communicate and defend the gospel message more effectively and with a greater confidence.

Featuring

• John Lennox
• Amy Orr-Ewing
• Michael Ramsden
• Tom Price
• Vince Vitale

Find out more and register.

There have been many objections to the recent works of Professor Dawkins, and now this, from Colin Tudge who picks apart some of the weaker arguments of this book:

“Richard Dawkins has no sense of irony. He rails endlessly against fundamentalists yet he defends old-fashioned, Thomas Gradgrind-style materialism as zealously as the Mid-West Creationists defend the literal truth of Genesis. He accuses others of misrepresentation yet he seriously misrepresents religion. Also, which is irony writ large, he misrepresents science, in whose name he is assumed to speak. He condemns the Catholics for filling the heads of children with a particular view of life before they have had a chance to think for themselves – and now, in The Magic of Reality, written for readers as young as nine, he has done precisely that. As somebody said of Miss Jean Brodie, it’s time he was put a stop to.”

Read more in Colin’s article from The Independent

HT Neil Powell

Enter Bespeaking.org. A website “gratefully dedicated to those preparing to speak at Christian Union ‘Lunchbars‘.” If, like me, your idea of a lunchbar was a long table hosting more lunch options than a Starbucks barista attending to your coffee needs you may be wondering what all this is about. It turns out, a lunchbar is a format – typically employed by students – for laying on free food and then providing a talk.

Bespeaking has the tips, ideas and wisdom to guide you through the set up and application of these lunchbars. The ideas travel further than the University setting and may be useful to you in your environment so have a look. The subtle humour alone is worth the visit.

HT Dave Bish

Prison Fellowship, a ministry set up by Chuck Colson, have started a great campaign, ‘Get A Shirt, Give a Shirt’.

“When you get a Prison Fellowship T-shirt, your donation goes toward providing a quality dress shirt and tie for an ex-prisoner to wear to a job interview. You get the T-shirt to spread the word; he gets the shirt and tie to build his confidence.”

I was a sinner, and Jesus’ grace found me right where I was. It wasn’t something that I won, achieved, obtained for myself. It was a free gift. A gift of life, redemption, hope and a future. I was lost, but now I’m found.

In comparison, this is just a $25 donation.

Find out more, get your shirt and help an ex-prisoner get back on his feet today at forgivedontforget.org

Can’t see the video? View it on YouTube.

This is the short version. For the full-length (45 min) video take a look here.

It’s been said that there’s a 50/50 chance of retaining your Christian faith in university. It’s a real problem, as the above video (from The Truth Project) shows.

I feel passionately about this! I remember my secondary school experience and not being able to deal with tough questions that came my way. That’s why I’m doing something about it. The Reformation Generation is a 4-week training programme from YWAM Maui designed to prepare Christian students to survive and thrive in their university or college arena.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be blogging more and more on this issue. Stay tuned! For futher updates subscribe to my newsletter.

NBP: Eric Metaxas from Redeemer Video on Vimeo.

Unfortunately, a downside is that it can be hard to keep track of all that’s happening.

Step up the YWAM Podcast. Updated regularly this little gem brings together stories from all over YWAM and sticks them into one easy-to-digest review.

Authored by Bill Hutchison, one of YWAM’s Communications and IT gurus working with the International Chairman’s Team in England, the podcast comes with a page of links to find out more about the intiatives and programmes featured in the broadcast.

Both an article I recently wrote about health and the Reformation Generation seminar from YWAM Maui have been featured in episode 40.

Well worth a listen.

Wavegarden (Short) from wavegarden on Vimeo.