G’day Church,
At the bottom of this letter we’ve listed some upcoming events for your diary and your prayers. But this week I thought I’d share some of my favourite Christian biographies with you. On Sunday we saw how Mark put blind Bartimaeus in front of us as a great role model of faith and discipleship. There is so much for us to learn from the example of Bartimaeus, even though it’s such a short passage from Mark 10:46-52. Without undermining the unique authority of Scripture, it’s great to remember that we are able to learn from many other great role models of faith and discipleship through biblically grounded Christian biography. I thought I’d share some of my favourites with you and encourage you to check out a couple that grab your interest.
Cheers,
Simon
- Bonhoeffer: Pastor, martyr, prophet, spy by Eric Metaxas. At 542 pages this is the big one on this list. But it’s worth the effort as we learn so much from the life, experiences and thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer – a German pastor at the time of the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis and one of the most brilliantly gifted minds of the 20th century.
- Fierce Convictions: the extraordinary life of Hannah More – poet, reformer, abolitionist by Karen Swallow Prior. Hannah More was a friend of William Wilberforce and played a significant role in the abolition of slavery, but that is only the start of her many achievements that flowed out of her fierce evangelical convictions. A great encouragement to us all, I think this book would be excellent to inspire young women with the profound impact of a life devoted to Jesus.
- Give Me This Mountain by Helen Roseveare. Roseveare recounts her experience as a young doctor moved to serve in Belgian Congo in the 1950’s and 60’s, only to find herself in the middle of the civil war that exploded soon after her arrival. “Her story is one of bright mountains, conquered after experiencing the dark valleys and learning to give the glory to God.”
- Joni and Ken: an untold love story by Ken and Joni Eareckson Tada. Not all biographies tell stories of glamourous success and achievement. This one is a powerful story of love and faithfulness in the context of fragility and suffering. Two wonderful models of faith.
- The Secret Thoughts Of An Unlikely Convert: an English professor’s journey into Christian faith by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield. In Butterfield’s own words: “When I was 28 years old, I boldly declared myself lesbian. I was at the finish of a PhD in English Literature and Cultural Studies… I was being recruited by universities to take on faculty and administrative roles in advancing radical leftist ideologies… At the age of 36, I was one of the few tenured women at a large research university, a rising administrator and a community activist… That same year, Christ claimed me for himself and the life that I had known and loved cam to a humiliating end…” This is a powerful story told beautifully told.
- Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: a devout Muslim encounters Christianity by Nabeel Qureshi. To quote straight off the back cover, in this book “Nabeel Qureshi describes his dramatic journey from Islam to Christianity, complete with friendships, investigations, and supernatural dreams along the way.” A great story with lots of helpful insights into sharing the gospel with people from a Muslim background.
Upcoming Dates:
- February 17 – Engage Work Faith “Re:frame Identity” half day conference: https://www.trinitybay.church/events/reframe-identity-2024/
- February 22 – Taste and See begins. Details and rego here: https://www.trinitybay.church/events/taste-and-see/
- March 3 – We’ve got some baptisms happening in the Sunday service and at the beach after church, followed by a BYO picnic at the beach. It’ll be a great Sunday to invite friends who want to know more about what it means to be a Christian.