Book reviews - and the real God worth knowing

As we start to think about filling in Christmas cards, and prepare for the Christmas period, here is the first of some books I've reviewed which should get you thinking about God at this time of year, - because I know He can get squeezed out of our thoughts all too easily but I believe it is actually immeasurably important to be moving towards a close, dependent relationship with Him. I hope these books we help you see more of this, and more of Him.

First up: But is it Real?

In this short book Amy Orr-Ewing tackles in quick succession 10 real objections people have to the Christian faith. Each objection has come from someone she has met (a student, a mechanic, a taxi-driver) and they include “What about the spiritual experience of people in other religions?” and “Your ‘experience of God’ is a delusion”.

She treats each statement carefully to get to the heart of the matter - using lots of real-life stories - before going on to claim that it is possible and desirable to have a relationship with the God of the Bible, and that it does not require us to throw our minds into the bin! For instance, she claims it is possible to have respect for people with other beliefs while disagreeing firmly with the content of those beliefs. She exposes the problems with atheism and points to the wealth of intelligent people (including Nobel-prize-winning scientists) who claim to have experienced a relationship with the true God as revealed in the Bible. Leading us through some of the claims of Christianity, she encourages us to approach God for ourselves, as the Bible promises that if we draw near to God, he will draw near to us.

More books coming soon, approaching the subjects of God, religion and life from some intriguing angles...