Pastor’s Picks – Recommended Resources

These are recommended resources that we have been personally encouraged and challenged by and hope they do the same for you. It’s been said before that great leaders are readers, and we are committed to regularly reading through our Bible and never stop learning. May the Lord bless you as you grow! -Pastor Tim Molter

Movie: Time Changer

The year is 1890 and Bible Professor Russell Carlisle has written a new manuscript entitled “The Changing Times”. His book is about to receive an unanimous endorsement from the board members at Grace Bible Seminary until his colleague, Dr. Norris Anderson, has a “difficulty with something.”

Dr. Anderson believes what Carlisle has written about morality could greatly affect future generations and fears that teaching good moral values without mentioning Christ is wrong. Using a secret time machine, Anderson sends Carlisle over 100 years into the future, offering him a glimpse of where his beliefs will lead.

Arriving in the early 21st century, Carlisle is shocked to find that half of all marriages end in divorce (instead of 5% in 1890), teenagers talk openly about deceiving their parents, movies contain blasphemous language and people who go to church are so bored by the sermons that they need extra activities. This film cleverly shows us what our society has lost from a perspective that most church going Americans can relate to and that morality alone does not make you a Christian.

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Book: The Case for Christmas (A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger) by Lee Strobel

From Lee Strobel comes the holiday themed book ‘The Case for Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger’. Strobel adapts segments of his previous book “The Case for Christ” to give a shortened version and examine whether Jesus’ biographers can be trusted, if the archaeological and forensic evidence support the Gospels, and if Jesus met the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah.

The narrative is well-written, with Strobel introducing each topic with an anecdote from is career as a reporter demonstrating its importance, and showing a clear line of reasoning for both his questions as a skeptic and what the answers he got mean. And Strobel does a good job at being objective and conveys the journey that took him as a convert to Christianity. A fascinating logic read which will help people find the evidence for the reason for the season.

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