GroshLink

Tonight, at the U. of Pennsylvania there will be a follow-up gathering to Jim Sire's visit.  Pray for strong participation and good conversation as they take Sire's material an additional step by using If God is There, Why Doesn’t He Show Himself? -- a short piece by Rick James, author of InterVarsity Press' (IVP) Jesus Without Religion: What Did He Say? What Did He Do? What's the Point?   Note: You might consider picking up a copy of Jesus Without Religion to share w/friends and family interested in knowing more about Jesus, it's widely used on campus with undergrads. Below is the end of the preface, taken from the IVP website, which also has Chapter 1 for your consideration:

As this is religious subject matter, I feel I should give a disclaimer up front. I write with considerable bluntness, and generally, if it pops into my mind, it appears on paper. I, of course, could edit myself, but for the most part I choose not to because I’d like this book to be as accessible and down-to-earth as possible, as such subject matter rarely is. But I do want to say that it is neither my desire nor my goal to be irreverent, only relatable. And don’t mistake my manner of communication for either apathy or agnosticism — I assure you I’m neither. Rather through context, commentary and considerable bluntness, my desire is to strip away the veneers of both religiosity and skepticism (which has its own creeds) and get down to the bare wood, looking to arrive at not some austere set of facts but the unvarnished Jesus of the Gospels and history -- Jesus without religion.