LIST OF REVIEWS

BOOKS

Evangelistic
  A Sneaking Suspicision (John Dickson)
  Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)
  More Than A Carpenter (Josh McDowell)

New Christians
  A Fresh Start (John Chapman)
  Hanging In There (John Dickson)
  
Christian Living
  Loving God (Charles Colson)
  Knowing God (J.I Packer)
  Cost of Discipleship (Deitrich Bonhoffer)

Relationships & Marriage
  Point Man - How a Man Can Lead His Family (Steve Farrar)
  Passion and Purity (Elisabeth Elliot)  

Specific Topics
Grace
  What's So Amazing About Grace (Philip Yancey)
  Transforming Grace (Jerry Bridges)

Atonement
  The Cross of Christ (John Stott)
  The Cross of Jesus (Leon Morris)


OTHER - e.g Magazines, Newsletters etc
The Briefing (Homosexuality - Issue #221/2 July 2, 1998)

EVANGELISTIC
A Sneaking Suspicion - John Dickson
Rating: good ****
Readability: very easy
Price: Around $10
Comments: For non-Christian highschoolers who have a suspicion that there might 
be a God out there somewhere.


Mere Christianity - C.S Lewis
Rating: excellent *****
Readability: Moderate
Price: Around $10
Comments: For non-Christian who require an intellectual answer to why they 
should become a Christian.  


More Than a Carpenter - Josh McDowell 
Rating:  very good ****1/2
Readability: quite easy
Price: Around $5 
Comments: Great to give to your friends who aren't Christians because it explains 
clearly why the bible is reliable  as a historical document, and shows why Jesus 
is Lord.


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NEW CHRISTIANS

Hanging In There - John Dickson
Rating:  must read *****
Readability: Dead easy to read
Price: around $10
Comments:  I very easy to read book for highschoolers who have just become 
Christians or are struggling as Christians.  Chapters on how to read your bibles, 
sex, church and other 
practical things ...


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CHRISTIAN LIVING

Loving God - Charles Colson
Rating: must read *****
Readability: easy
Price: around $10
Comments: Easy to read and inspiring.  Has many personal illustrations on
which is used to show what it means to love God.  

Knowing God - J.I Packer
Rating: must read *****
Readability: harder
Price: around $10
Comments: One of the best books on what God's like.  Chapters are jammed packed 
with great biblical themes about God.  Recommend reading one chapter at a time 
to soak itall in.  Includes study guide

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RELATIONSHIPS AND MARRIAGE
Point Man - How a Man Can Lead His Family (Steve Farrar)
Rating: must read *****
Readability: Easy
Price: $14.95
Comments: Very insightful and helpful practical advice for husbands on how to lead their families


Passion and Purity (Elisabeth Elliot)  
Rating: insightful ****1/2
Readability: Easy
Price: $4.95
Comments: "Reveal personal glimpses, combined with relevant biblical teaching, provide
realistic guidance in today's climate of confused and compromising moral standards.  Areas
covered include dating, singleness or marriage, virginity and chastity, men and women's roles
and putting God first in relationships

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SPECIFIC TOPICS

Grace
Transforming Grace - Jerry Bridges
Rating:  must read *****
Readability: Moderate
Price: around $10
Comments: An excellent book which clears up much of the confusion about grace 

What's So Amazing About Grace - Philip Yancey
Rating: must read *****
Readability: quite easy
Price: $12.95
Comments: Inspiring book on Grace.  Easy to read because it uses many illustrations 
and examples to show different and amazing aspects of grace.
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Briefing #221/2 - Homosexuality

I've just finished reading two articles in the July 2 (issue #221/2) of "The Briefing" about homosexuality. I actually wasn't going to read it, because I usually look at the title of the article, and decide then and there whether I'm going to pay close attention to the article or not. I thought I was going to be bored and end up just ditching the article but I was compelled by the information it conveyed. It radically changed my attitudes and prejudices (good and bad) about homosexuality.

One article was actually written by an ex-gay Christian, titled "homosexuality in the church". I was prompted to write to you because of what this article had to say. "Churches should provide support and education for the many people who struggle with unwanted homosexual feelings. As I have already said, many people do not want to live a gay lifestyle and the church must start to provide for these people. It is not good enough to sit in judgement or silence about homosexuality. Many people struggle with this problem or have been affected by the homosexuality of a loved one.

We need to start educating ourselves about this subject and then passing it on to other"

To be honest with you, I'm probably one of those who sit in judgment or silence about homosexuality. When Alex Hone got up at church a few years ago and talked about homosexuality, my subconscious reaction was of indifference, I knew I wasn't a homosexual, I had no contact with homosexual, and my attitude was "homosexuality is dead wrong, full stop, end of story". So what has changed since reading these two articles?

I can't do justice to these two articles by the quick summary which follows (because I know that if it's any longer there's no way you'd read this email, I'm doubtful that many of you have read this far), so I HIGHLY recommend that you read them. If you want a copy of the articles I'll make some for you.

"How we went gay" (Tony Payne) - The rise of homosexuality as an acceptable strand of mainstream society has been one of the most striking features of the final quarter of the twentieth century. How did it happen? And how should Christians react?

Main Points
1. The commonly stated figure that 10% of the population are homosexual is wrong
* The Kinsey Report in the late 1940s stated among other things that 10% of the population were predominately homosexual and 4% exclusively so.
* There were serious things wrong with the Kinsey Report (if you want details read the article), some even saying that it was both fraudulent and criminal. Recent studies have reduced the 10% reported by Kinsey to around 1%

2. Claims that homosexuality is basically genetic or biological in origin is very much exaggerated.
*In 1991, Simon Le Vay published an article in Science magazine reporting that he had discovered a cluster of cells in the brain of homosexual men that was twice as large as those in homosexual men. The mainstream media's response was to run headlines like "Research points towards gay gene"
* Such studies have come under severe criticism from other scientists and they've been shown up to have serious flaws, in how they were conducted and the conclusion.

3. The stereotype of the homosexual of the happy gay man with this lifelong, loving partner is a myth.
A survey of nearly 200 studies into the gay lifestyle, all of them conducted by reputable scientists and research facilities, and virtually positive or neutral in their attitude towards homosexuality, show that as a lifestyle, homosexuality is extraordinarily dysfunctional and destructive.
"Homosexuality in church" (Chris Keane)

"In the ex-gay movements experience, every congregation has at least 5-10 men struggling with homosexual attraction, and at least 2 to 5 women ...."

"The church doesn't seem to think it has any homosexual members, so these people, in turn, find scant encouragement in the church. Theirs is a problem which isn't supposed to exist among Christians, so they struggle alone, silently praying for deliverance and aching for the comfort of a listening ear or a bit of compassion." Return to top of page