An Interview with Bob Fu - God's Double Agent

In early October, Simon Cox, Brand Manager at Lion Hudson, met Bob Fu in London during one of Bob's flying visits to the UK.  The following is the transcript of their meeting.

You grew up in rural China with no knowledge of the Christian faith. What was your first encounter with God?
That was around the time that my mother was dying. She had contracted a lung disease after years of being homeless and begging on the street. I remember coming back from school having been told that my mum was dying. My sister and I begged the village doctor to rescue our mum but he refused to help. My family experienced tremendous injustice and inequality because of our poverty. My sister walked to another village to look for another barefoot doctor and I walked back home. I was so scared. I couldn't imagine walking back to my mother’s bedroom so I stopped at the courtyard and kneeled and prayed my first prayer to the Heavenly Grandpa. My mum had told me that when she was begging for food almost every time when she was desperate she prayed to the Heavenly Grandpa. When we were starving and thirsty, and when winter was at its coldest she always found someone who would give her a bowl of food. She told me to remember that there is a Heavenly Grandpa and that I should call on him – even a blind donkey can find a way home with the help of the Heavenly Grandpa, she said.

Your mother played a big role in your early childhood – tell me about her impact on you.
She was loving, caring and compassionate, especially toward the poor. I remember at harvest time there were a lot of beggars. They usually came by during lunch or dinner time and she would instruct us to pick up what we were eating and give it to them.

She also encouraged me to help others. There was an elder couple in the village. They were designated as the enemy of the country because they were the old landlords. Under Chairman Mao their land was taken away from them and they were forced to sweep the street every morning. No one dared even to talk to them; they were considered to be poisonous. After dark my mum used to give me food to take to them, which I would slip under their door.

Her death must have had a big impact on you.
She passed away at a young age – in her fifties.  It was the first year after I had started college and I had made a commitment to her before I left that I would take her Tiananmen Square to see Chairman Mao's portrait – that was every country boys dream: to take their parents to Tiananmen Square. I was sad that I couldn’t take her.

You were at Tiananmen Square around the time of the massacre, weren’t you?
[laughs] Yes, it was around two years after my mother passed away but I was there for another reason. Without the student's movement I wouldn't have been there that early. At that time the atmosphere was very tense. We stayed in one corner of the Square in a tent. Several times the loudspeaker told us that the military were in Beijing and that they were approaching the Square from different directions. Heidi, who was my girlfriend at the time and later became my wife, had become sick from drinking the unclean water that was at the Square. She was hospitalised and so I had to leave three days before the massacre happened otherwise I would probably have been killed – I was certainly ready to fight!

How did you become a Christian in a country that is so hostile to the Christian faith?
After the massacre and the government crackdown on the student movement I was treated like a criminal. A special interrogation team was set up and I had to write a lot of confessions – it was a tough experience. I was at my most disillusioned when I learnt that my friends had betrayed me. I quickly discovered that people were unreliable and I couldn’t find hope. I was very angry and disillusioned; I even wanted to kill myself. As a country boy it is worse than death to be expelled from school and sent back to your village – your whole future has gone and it brings incredible shame to your parents and to your family tree if you are expelled from school for political reasons.
Around that time someone bought me the biography of Pastor Xi Zizhi. He had been an intellectual but then became addicted to opium. A British missionary sent by the China Inland Mission shared the gospel with him and he became a “new creation”. Through him hundreds of drug prevention centres were started and many were helped. I read this and thought, “This is the real deal”. This was what I had been yearning for; an inside out heart change. I had thought of myself as a righteous man but now I was full of bitterness and even meditated in my heart to kill others.

The Holy Spirit showed me that without Christ I was as deprived and sinful as my betrayers. He showed me how desperate and helpless I was without divine intervention. I made a decision: I want to become that new creation; I want to be a true follower of Christ. I went to my American missionary teacher and asked him how to formally become a Christian. He was scared, thinking that I’d been sent by the KGB but he led me to Christ anyway.

You started a church – tell me about that.
I went crazy sharing the gospel. I thought, “This is what China really needs”. Tiananmen Square had a huge impact – who would have thought the Peoples Government would kill its own people with machine guns? It was because of this that the student leaders started to turn their eyes toward heaven. Of the twenty most wanted student leaders, four or five became very prominent Church leaders.
The church started when I went to Beijing to continue my studies. The hearts of the students were thirsty and they were ready for the gospel. Until then, I had been worshipping in a government sanctioned church – the Three Self Church – but I encountered some problems there: the pastor was violently kicked out of the pulpit right in front of the congregation. I reasoned that this church could not be of God and so I started another one.

I travelled to other parts of the country. The growth of Christianity had been explosive so there was a huge requirement for training and Bible teaching. I remember a visit to one province where there were 600 churches with just two Bible teachers. I established an underground seminary in the suburb of Beijing with the help of some missionaries from the US; ultimately it led to my arrest.
Tell me about your arrest and what life was like for you in prison.

I was teaching English in a communist party school and in the evening I was preaching, ministering the gospel and managing an underground Bible school – it was a busy time! The Bible school was discovered by the authorities.

One day, having finished teaching, I went home where I received a phone call telling me that the Public Security Bureau from Beijing wanted to talk to me. I lived in an apartment and they asked me to walk down to the ground floor. I prayed with Heidi and gave her the church address book – it had all the addresses and contact details of our brothers and sisters – and asked her to hide it so that they wouldn’t be harmed. They were already coming up the stairs. I was cornered and escorted back to my apartment. They turned it upside down looking for evidence. Heidi was also arrested but she had hidden the book in time – it was a miracle.

We were accused of illegal evangelism and put into jail. The first few days and nights were non-stop interrogation. I was beaten. They hit me around the head and tortured me with sleep deprivation. They wanted to break my mind so that I would reveal my contacts and tell them who the other church leaders were.

How did you both escape?
We were released from prison after two months and put under house arrest. We were then advised that we would be escorted back to prison on the 1st October, which was National Day. The authorities wanted to demonstrate the stability of the capital.

At that time Heidi was pregnant. You needed a permit to have a baby and of course, we didn’t have one. We decided that we had to escape. We left at midnight.  I jumped from the second floor, which was about twenty feet and Heidi, having disguised herself, walked straight out the front door! We hid in the countryside for a few months before the Lord opened the door for us to escape to Hong Kong where we stayed for eight months. Three days before Hong Kong was handed over to China we were accepted by the US as a result of President Clinton's direct intervention. Usually you have to go through the UN.

How has your faith helped your through times of hardship?
I was really close to the Lord in prison. Without Him you have nothing to rely on so you pray every day and fix your eyes on Him. I called on Jesus; I wanted him to show me the needs of others in prison.

In the West you don’t understand something we call ‘prison theology’. This is a part of the biblical theology of the cross. Before we can enjoy the blessings of the resurrection of Christ, we are always reminded that we need to partake of his suffering and death first – there is no shortcut. If you want to have a shortcut, you change the nature of Christianity. Theologically the West has tried to omit this; it wants the good things of Christ without participating in his suffering.

What do you think about the church in the UK relative to China?
You can learn about obedience to God, 100% obedience. You have a rich history and take for granted the freedoms you have. There is much materialism and it penetrates every sector of society – it makes the Christians static because there is no need for God. A Christian faith and being a member of a church is often just an additional layer for your life. For the Chinese, it is the backbone; a core penetrating every area of life.

You now run ChinaAid.  Tell me about that  and what you are trying to do.
ChinaAid was established in 2002, when I was studying at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. It was triggered by a major church persecution case: five leaders in one particular church group were sentenced to death. I had organised a retreat in Maryland to talk about the gospel and the future of China. We invited Os Guiness and David Aikman who were keynote speakers. There were former members of congress and some prominent political dissidents – two of them were eventually kidnapped by Chinese Special Forces and they are now serving sentences in a Chinese prison. We stopped the conference and prayed.

We didn't have a strategy but there was a former member of Congress who was scheduled to meet with the Chinese President. He brought the case to him and we hired some lawyers. I wanted to find a Christian organisation to help these prisoners but no one wanted to touch it. I said OK and established my own. It was very tough. ChinaAid was created to advance religious freedom in China by exposing the abusers, encouraging the abused and equipping the leaders – we call it the 3e mission.

What is the biggest issue facing Christians in China today?
The biggest challenge to the church is in the area of training. Some say the growth is the fastest in history: a conservative estimate is that there are 60m Christians; most say 80-100m, there were less than 1m when the communist government took over. The Daily Telegraph reported that China will be the largest Christian nation in the world by 2025 with 233m Christians.

What can Christians in the UK do to help?
We can pray for them and provide encouragement. We have a rich teaching tradition here in the West. A dynamic church like the one in China needs solid, biblical teaching for healthy growth. China also has the largest number of cultic teachings and some are very dangerous – this came about as a result of poor teaching.

Another challenge is the state church. I want a healthy church state model to protect all – this is my ideal practical contribution. A lot of issues and tension could be resolved if the church understood its biblical role.

What does the future hold for you? What are you excited about?
My greatest desire, having lived in the free world for 17 years, is that I never lose my first love for the Lord. It is very easy to lose. I was a beggar’s son living in the street, now I live in West Texas, in a rich city. I pray that my heart would stay as pure as when I was first encountered by the Lord and that I wouldn’t lose my first love. God has his unique purpose in creating me Chinese: 1.4 billion people are still hungry for the gospel – that is my prayer and concern.

Bob’s book, God’s Double Agent, is available from all good bookshops.

ISBN: 9780801015908

The Father You've Always Wanted

Father's day is just a few weeks away, so I have chosen a book on Fatherhood to feature in this post.

"How many of you did not have a father who knew how
to love and bless you?"

Ed McGlasson asked this question one evening when he was speaking, and the response was a sea of raised hands across the room.  It's an interesting question.  It is not "How many of you did not have a father who loved you..."  Though that may be true, sadly, for many.  This question allows that the fathers of the audience on that day DID love their children, but they did not know how to demonstrate it.  I wonder how many of those listening people understood the experience of an 83 year old Jewish man who told Ed, "All I ever wanted from my dad was for him to tell me one time that he loved me and that he was proud of me." 

Ed McGlasson's expertise in writing for dads comes from real, sometimes painful experience.  A father of five, he found that he was struggling to be the loving parent to them which he wanted to be.  He found it hard not to push his kids away from him when he was disappointed with them, and over-reacted when he was angry.  Busy trying to prove himself to those around him, he was pushing his kids to perform, because that's how his stepfather had parented him. But it wasn't the parent he wanted to be. 

He didn't want to be a 'better dad', he wanted his children to know without question that he loved them and was proud of them.  Despite good intentions and much effort he knew he was failing, and came to realise he needed something more.  Much more.  What he sought was an encounter with God which would turn his heart towards his children, as Mal 4:6 describes when it says God will "turn the hearts of fathers to their children and children to their fathers."  Ed wanted to know the hopes, dreams, passions and despairs of his children. 

He uses an example in the book when his son Lukas asks him whether he will still love him if he doesn't play football the next year.  Ed tells him that he will love him no matter what he chooses, and asks him what he wants to do instead.  Lukas, beaming, tells him that he has tried out for the tennis team, and made it in!  Ed writes:

"My son Lukas is like so many men and women I have met who feel trapped trying to live up to what they think their fathers want.  The fact I didn't know Lukas was interested in tennis taught me something: I wasn't close enough to his heart to know what his dream was.  But that's exactly what our job is as fathers.  We are called to listen to the heartbeat of our children's dreams, no matter how soft the sound, and call them forward in love toward wide and wonderful horizons."

This is a brave book.  Ed is very open in his own failings and frustrations as a parent, and as a believer.  His father died before he was born, and his stepfather parented harshly, with constant expectation and little affirmation.  Ed refers to this as broken parenting.  So when he became a parent himself, his frame of reference was also broken.  This issue of 'father wounds', caused by the failings of our earthly fathers is a major focus in this book and is tackled head on throughout. 

There are lots of examples and practical ideas in this book, and it is very compelling reading - even for a female who is not a parent!  I can recommend it to anyone who wants to understand God the father's true character better - rather than the God the Father we see through our father-hurt eyes - as well as to both fathers AND mothers desperate to parent their children with purpose, value and loving connection.

Full book information
You can pre-order the book via your local Christian bookshop, or any other bricks and mortar or online bookshop.
For digital readers, this is also available in ebook format.

A Place at the Table - 1

Lent has arrived, and I'm now reading Chris Seay's A Place at the Table and adjusting my eating and drinking to reflect on what it's like for the poor of the world - including those in our own country. 

Because I am walking this journey alone and because I thought that sticking to one thing for six weeks might be a step too far for me, I decided to vary my approach each week.  This week I have reduced my food budget.  Next week I will be living mostly on the staple foods of someone living in poverty in India.  The week after that is going to be about water rather than food, so I will be limiting my intake of all drinks EXCEPT water during that week. 

So this week I decided to reduce my usual weekly spend by 2/3.  On a tight budget there's no way you can impulse buy or shop without planning first so I set off for the supermarket with a list I'd made of exactly what I'd need for the coming week's meals.  I made it under budget, just.

The shopping was the toughest part of the week so far to be honest but it hasn't proved necessary to live on baked beans on toast for a week after all.  That said, my trip to the supermarket was IT for this week.  No nipping in for extra or forgotten items.  With 83p left in my purse after my main shopping trip there just isn't the cash for additions.

Of course I recognise that it is very much tougher for those living hand to mouth week in and week out 'for real' though.  And that's why I like the element of this process which is about doing something practical for others.  For me, shopping on a tight budget has been a reminder of a tough couple of years early in my working life.  So this week I'm donating the money I saved on my weekly shopping to CEF Oxford (Community Emergency Foodbank). 

New from Alister McGrath

"Apologetics is not to be seen as a defensive and hostile reaction against the world, but as a welcome opportunity to exhibit, celebrate, and display the treasure chest of the Christian faith."

So says Alister McGrath in the introduction to his new work on apologetics.  He goes on to say:

I have tried to make this book accessible, interesting, and useful, while giving pointers to more advanced resources that will allow you, the reader, to take things further in your own time.  It is not comprehensive... nor is it committed to any particular school of apologetics.  Rather than limiting itself to any one specific school or approach to apologetics, this work draws on their collective riches.  It aims to help you get an idea of what the issues are and how Christians can respond to them.

All the material used in this book has been tested on student audiences and in public addresses over a period of six years, primarily in a foundational lecture course I teach at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics entitled "An Introduction to Christian Apologetics." 

This has been supplemented by material developed for summer schools in Oxford and at Regent College, Vancouver, dealing with the central themes of apologetics and how they enable the church to engage positively and powerfully with the questions our culture is asking.

Price: £8.99

UK Publication Date: February 2012

More information

Less Than Six Weeks Until Lent!

Are you one of the thousands who gives up chocolate or alcohol for Lent?

I don't know about you, but I have been thinking quite a lot lately about the things which I have, and the general drive for consumption which affects most of us. It's easy and convenient to generalise, and talk about 'our society' but in fact 'our society' includes me and if I'm honest I can easily get swept along with the urge for a 'retail splurge' on things which I don't actually need, and I definitely can over-do the eating..! (As a result of which I then have to over-do the gym, which is a whole other issue.)

So to go back to my opening question - do you give something up for Lent? If so, are you really finding yourself bored with doing the 'same old thing' every year?

Or are you one of those who doesn't really think much of 'giving stuff up for Lent', dismissing the whole idea as pointless, so ignores it.

What about doing something different this year?

A Place at the Table is a challenge to do just that. It's not simply about giving up chocolate or whatever, but about connecting in a far more fundamental way with those who have less than we do. And that's a lot of people. Even for those of us who don't consider ourselves rich.

So I will be taking up the 40 day A Place at the Table challenge through Lent 2012. And as well as eating and drinking differently, I plan to adjust my 'aquisition focus' - meaning that I plan to reduce my consumption in general, especially during Lent, and take the chance to value what I already have and be thankful for it.

The idea of starting is quite scary actually. I'm already afraid that I'll mess it up at some stage. But I'm going to start out anyway, and see where the journey takes me. Lysa Terkeurst (author of Made to Crave) says of the challenge that it is "a place to stop the rut of constant inhale. Taking in, taking in, taking in. It clogs the soul. So for 40 days, let us learn to exhale with great thanksgiving... For pondering what God might bring close... For this place where our souls breathe and dream once again." That sounds good to me. I'll let you know how I get on.

By the way, I am hoping that lots of people will be joining in with the 'A Place at the Table' challenge, and would love to hear from anyone taking part, via the comments on this blog, or via twitter or our soon to be launched Facebook page.

Becoming a Servant in a Serve-Me World

Today I’m writing about another ‘backlist’ title. (That’s publisher speak for a book which is no longer ‘new’.) It’s great to talk about the new books coming along, but there are lots of real gems which are easy to forget with all the hoopla surrounding the new ones.

Today’s choice is The Outward Focused Life, and it’s about expressing a ‘doing faith’, not simply a ‘believing, static faith’. Let me share a bit of it with you.

“For years I’ve held on to a letter that reminds me of what’s really important. A woman wrote to me:

We live on a busy street. There are lots of kids who ride by our house on their bikes. I am probably overly protective of my children because I don’t want them to get in with the wrong crowd. Perhaps not a very Christlike move on my part, but I feel I need to protect them. There is a little girl who rides around here named Annie. I have had to talk to her before, because she turns our water spigot on until she has made a mudhole of our yard. She is always dirty, and I, ashamedly so, hate to see her coming. [My six-year-old daughter] Becky was outside playing today, and her older sister came inside to tell on her. Becky was playing with Annie. I told my older daughter to ask Becky to come inside for a minute. I asked Becky why she was playing with Annie.

She said, “Mom, I am playing with her because she has no friends. She rides by here every day by herself and never has anybody with her. I thought that I would not like to have to ride my bike alone all day, so I asked her if I could be her friend. She is sitting out on our porch right now waiting for me. Can I go back out and play with her?”

I was dumbfounded. I get so wrapped up in what I am doing and in trying to raise good kids that I forget what God wants us to be doing. I took a Popsicle out to Annie, and she thanked me and smiled the prettiest little smile through that dirty face. Then I thought of that verse about “whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.”

This letter makes me think about what’s really important in my life. And maybe I should stop asking, “What’s important?” and start asking “Who’s important?” “Who” is always more important than “What.” The question all of us have to ask is, “How important to us are people who don’t yet know Jesus?” There are adults who ride their bikes past the doors of our churches each day and don’t know that Jesus – the friend of sinners – is their friend. They have dirty lives and play in dirty mudholes, and we, the church, have all the Popsicles.

We just need to step off the porch and ask them if they’ll be our friend.

Journeying Through Loss

“People around us don’t understand grief unless they’ve been through it themselves.”
H. Norman Wright

Kirk Neely’s son Erik died suddenly. On a Tuesday evening he spoke to his son on the phone. Early the following morning his daughter in law called to tell them Erik was on the way to hospital, and asking Kirk and his wife to get there as quickly as they could. Halfway there, they received the call every parent dreads. In his book When Grief Comes Kirk wrote “I had been through valleys of grief before, but this one was deeper, longer, and darker than any other.”

Grief is often referred to as a season, and it seems as though this season has come around again, sliding in alongside autumn and being somehow emphasised by the golden colours of the dying leaves, and the promise of austere weather and short cold days ahead.

Perhaps, since I walked my own valley a few years ago, I am more aware of the grief of others than I would have been before. I think H Norman Wright’s comment is true. When we’ve grieved deeply, we understand better the pain that others are going through.

This time, the grieving is not mine personally, but the loss and pain affecting close friends. One recently lost her father, less than a year after losing her closest friend. Another has lost, only last week, her dearest friend of many years. Maybe it’s my friends’ loss which makes me feel so sad for Emma Egging, the brave and proud wife of Flt Lt Jon Egging who died just last month when his Red Arrow Hawk aircraft crashed. Seeing her speak of her husband on TV on Sunday at the Great North Run, and watching the Red Arrows fly their own tribute overhead brought a lump to my throat.

Grief is a strange thing. It is not linear, and doesn’t follow a prescribed pattern. The ‘big things’ can be faced and got through. The small things trip you up, sometimes months or years later. We know these things, but we don’t really understand them until we’ve been there. And when we find our friends there, the challenge is how to support and care for them while they walk through their own dark valleys.

I chat to my bereaved friends, but I also like to send them things. Perhaps something small which I know they will like, and often a book. Kirk Neely’s book is not the latest book out, but it is a very personal walk through the grieving process. It’s written in a way which makes reading it easy. Like grief itself this is not a linear book. You don’t have to start at the beginning and work to the end. You can dip in and out. Kirk says he tried to write it “remembering how difficult it is to read when your heart is broken and your eyes are blurred with tears”. It is a book of comfort, of encouragement, and of hope. In short, highly recommended.

Coming Soon from Baker Books!

What if preaching isn't just one part of worship? What if preaching is worship?

Michael Quicke explores the role of preaching in the church in his new book Preaching as Worship.

At the start of the book Michael says "in recent years, I have been propelled into a fresh understanding of how worship includes everything. Whenever definitions of worship limit and shrink it down to small scale stuff, great damage is done to God's cosmic purposes. We need to see not only how preaching belongs within worship but also how the whole of church life and mission is part of worship too. My convictions about worship have grown in dimension so much that they have radically deepened my life and ministry and reordered its goal. That's why I hope you will take the time to read this book."

Even though this book was written in the US much of it came out of Michael’s UK background and experience. Michael says “I really do see it as the outcome of my own journey with preaching and worship which all began in England, and some of my illustrations come straight out of the UK.”

Sample chapter.

Preaching as Worship is out in the UK in October.


Bringing the Bible to Life.

The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook is colourful, informative and easy to read and use. It is a big book - over 1100 pages long, and is full of photos, illustrations, maps and charts as well as articles by leading scholars. Split into three sections, it covers:

God's Story (and Your Story), which includes sections on how the Bible is organized, and the history between the Old and New Testaments.

The Spirit and the Scribes (How the Bible Came to Be), which includes sections on the production and shaping of the Old Testament Canon, the Dead Sea scrolls, and Bible translations.

Digging Deeper into the Bible, which considers elements usch as how to read, interpret, and apply the Bible; Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament and responding to contemporary challenges to the Gospels.

There is a vast amount more than just those sections outlined above!







The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook is published in the UK in October.

Then the Lord shut him in. Genesis 7:16

Consider these three lessons. First, when the Lord shut Noah and his family up in the ark, they were totally secure and thereby become an illustration for us of the believer’s perfect security in Jesus Christ. The rains would come. The floods would rage. But nothing would touch these who had been sealed in the ark by Jehovah. The Lord does not place the safety of his people in others’ hands. He himself throws the lock. It is said of him, “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (Rev. 3:7). The shutting in of Noah was the equivalent of our being sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph.4:30). Like him, we are not only saved; we are secure as well.

Second, there is a lesson of God’s great grace. The last thing we are told in this story before the waters actually begin to come is that “the Lord shut him in.” Presumably this was done at the last possible moment. Noah had been preaching God’s righteousness, man’s sin, and the coming of the great flood for 120 years, but no one had believed him. They were refusing to believe now. But still the door to the ark remained open, and any who wanted to could have gone inside. What great grace! What magnificent forbearance on the part of God! Since Noah had believed and had gone in, no one who stood without could say that the possibility of belief was closed to him. “Whoever willed” could come.

So also today. All who will may come. Many do not, but none of these can say that the possibility of repentance from sin and turning to Christ are beyond them.

Finally, there is a lesson in that there is an end to grace. Grace is great but it is not unending. If it is spurned, the day of reckoning eventually comes. For one final week the door stood open. But the week ended, the door was closed, and the flood came. The same God who opens doors is himself the door (John 10:7, 9). He also closes doors and refuses to open them — when the time for grace is gone.

For you it is not yet past, whoever you may be. This is still the day of grace,and although it will end, it has not ended yet. Won’t you come while there is still time? God said to Noah, “Come . . . into the ark” (Gen. 7:1 KJV). At the end of the Bible we read, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Rev. 22:17).

Taken from: Come to the Waters, publishing in the UK in October.

Sample chapter.

August Bank Holiday = Greenbelt!

Over 20,000 people attend the Greenbelt festival at Cheltenham every year. A huge programme offers music, talks, debate, performing arts, and worship. Are you you going this year? If so, are you going feeling exhausted with all the negative news you hear? Negatives which are often even worse within the church than outside it. If this is you, then Upside may be just the book for you. Full of surprising good news about the state of our world, it's a refreshing antidote to some of the negatives we so often hear.

If the whole 'religion thing' is just making you tired, and part of the reason you're going to Greenbelt is to refresh your spiritual energies, then God Without Religion might be the one to read.

You will be able to find both books in the festival bookshop, together with The Great Emergence by Phillis Tickle who will be speaking during the festival.

A Preview of A Place at the Table

Be honest. How much of your day do you spend thinking about what you are going to eat?

A Place at the Table challenges the reader to spend 40 days eating like the poor of the world and by so doing connect and empathise with the millions of people in the world whose food choices are limited at best. Furthermore it encourages tangible, practical help.

One way of following the 'A Place at the Table' challenge is to eat a similar diet to that eaten by a sponsored child in the developing world. The author himself chose to eat a diet like that of the children his family sponsors in Uganda and Ecuador. He learned that these children ate rice, beans, chicken, tortillas and vegetables and felt that by embracing their meals he was also embracing the children he sponsors. In his own words he felt that by doing this he was 'making a place for them at his table and in his heart', rather than forgetting about them for extended periods.

If that is too scary though, there are lots of other ways you can get involved. You could simply halve your food budget, eating more basic and less varied foods and cutting out treats and 'extras'. Or you could try living below the official poverty line as some have to do in our own country, never mind those in far poorer parts of the world.

During the 40 days the Sundays are treated as 'feast days'. They give the chance to eat your more usual foods, and perhaps appreciate them more than usual.

The practical support mentioned earlier comes from donating the money saved from your usual grocery bill to a charity working in tangible ways with poor people, such as Compassion, one of the charities being supported by the book. Part of Compassion's work is in the sponsoring of children around the world, enabling those children to have a basic but healthy diet as well as supporting their other needs.

We're planning lots of social media activity when this book is released so watch out for information, tips, other peoples' ideas and progress and lots more via this blog and our Twitter and Facebook posts.

Lots of books claim to change your life. This one has the potential - perhaps more importantly - to change the lives of others, as well as your own.


A DVD is also being released to help small groups and churches which are inspired by the challenge to take part as a group. Containing six sessions it has been shot on location in the Holy Land, Haiti, and Ecuador.

Interested in taking up the challenge early?
We're looking for individuals, groups and churches who would be willing to work through the process ahead of the book's publication, and share their experiences with us. If this is something you would like to know more about, please contact us on bpg@lionhudson.com


Price: £8.99 (DVD: £12.99 incl. VAT)
ISBN: 9780801014512 (DVD: 9780801014529)
Publication date: January 2012
Published by: Baker Books (part of Baker Publishing Group)
Available through any good bookshop, online, or via Marston Book Services
Marketing & PR enquiries: Anne Rogers at anner@lionhudson.com

The Faith of Leap

"Whether we like it or not, we are all on a journey, a Quest if you will, every day of our lives, and the path we must take is full of perils, and our destiny can never be predicted in advance... the book of Acts must continue to be written by Christians in every age and context. We are the people of the ultimate Quest - we are on a wild, and sometime dangerous, adventure to save the world. This is our story and our song."

So say Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch in their forthcoming book The Faith of Leap, which challenges the reader to embrace a theology of risk, adventure, and courage. In the introduction they point out: "It is clear that simply opting for more of the same is not going to resolve our problems. We must be willing to dream again, to innovate, and to risk the rejection of peers who think that the status quo is sufficient to the task. The church should be one of the most adventurous places on earth... but let's be honest - this is not the case with the church-as-we-know-it. It's time to move, to cast off from safe shores, and take a journey again!"

Are we ready to take up this challenge? This book may well challenge the reader to change the way they live out their faith. Yet despite the 'big challenge' so dynamically described, there is also acknowledgement of smaller elements. The authors quote Ralph Wood, who says,

"To get out of bed, to answer the phone, to respond to a knock at the door, to open a letter - such everyday deeds are freighted, willy-nilly, with eternal consequence."

A very thought-provoking book, this is an engaging read, with lots of illustrations taken from popular culture such as films. It is a book which is likely to have far-reaching effects.

To whet your appetite, you can read the introduction, and see the contents pages here.