A Skeptic's Guide to Faith

Accidentally bought ' a book titled Designer Sex, by Philip Yancey', only to realise it was a pamphlet based on a chapter extracted from this book. There are three parts to this book, What are we missing, , Signs of Disorder and Two worlds.

I Was Just Wondering

I think one of the main reasons why I like Philip Yancey is because he distills some of the greater writings into palatable bite size nuggets of enlightenment There was a phase when i was so inspired by his description of certain classical writers that I bought the original books- it didn't help that I was in the States and books were really cheap off amazon. But 2 years later and counting, I have not managed to finish a single book with many 'given up halfway' attempts in between.

This book is a collection of his thoughts as he reads and observes the different phenomenon around him. Its kinda like a collection of blog posts arranged in loose themes. I love his writings because they juxtapose the reality of the world with God and show that they actually complement, unlike popular belief that they are always in conflict. I don't mean that the values of the world and God are in sync, but the distortions and beauty that we see around us are shadows of what the bible says. Its like how the old testament foreshadows Jesus, the world and the human experience foreshadows a greater being and realm. And in doing so, he strips away the jargon and the the hypocrisy to offer a new perspective.

What's So Amazing about Grace.

This was actually written by David Lim at a time when I was trying to come to terms with  Joseph Prince's message of grace. For the unfamiliar, David actually attended New Creation church for about 2 years and the pastor there has a different take on the message and its application. And I needed intellectually to resolve the two interpretations before I can move on ( poor boy? haha).  So we decided to read two different interpretations of grace.. one by Philip Yancey who I'm familiar with and Pastor Prince's book on ' Destined to reign'. We then summarised a book each and shared it with each other. And they actually meet in many parts of their argument. Maybe I would do a similarities and differences one day when i reread these summaries written more than 2 years ago.

It was a long hard struggle of questioning before I came to some sort of resolution. I must thank David Chan also because he had a heart to share Ps. Prince message with us and loved enough to debate endlessly with me despite me being emotionally involved. And more importantly, he has a clear idea of why he believes what he believes which helped my understanding at the end. yup, i think i came away with a clearer idea of what grace is, something which i think is paramount! especially if you grow up with the image of a stern God. You should run to God more when you're darn dirty rather than wait till you're clean. okay enjoy reading if you decide to.

Prayer, Does it make any difference.

Prayer has always something that has been at the back of my mind. Why Pray? Does God answer prayer? when I pray in front of others and my prayers don't get answered, how is that a testimony of the powerful God I claim to serve?  How do you pray with faith if  prayer might not get answered? I think alot of Christians have asked this question but never really gotten a satisfactory answer. I think this book helps address some of the key questions, helps put things in perspective, highlights certain idea. I think ultimately we have to see prayer as conversation with God, and not like rubbing the genie.

Soul Survivor

Like many Christians, Philip Yancey has often felt kicked around, abused, and damaged by the institutional church. And like many Christians, he has found solace in reading about and getting to know some extraordinary individual believers. He profiles 13 of those believers in Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church. "I became a writer, I now believe, to sort out words used and misused by the church of my youth." 

I bought this book while I was doing a study exchange in the states. Looking back, I am grateful for God's grace for the existence of such a book and for the writings of Philip Yancey. Amazon is a great resource if you're in America for books and I was goggling for something to lift me out of my extreme dissatisfaction with the institution of the church. It was in fact the push factor for my exchange. And reading the book was the beginning of a slow ascent back to having hope in God and thus in the church again.

Reaching for the Invisible God

Is God playing Games? What can we count on this God for? HOw can we know? How can we know God?

What Good is God? In search of a Faith that Matters

Philip Yancey travels the globe in search of an answer to a query posed the world over. It's a universal question, one that ' occurs in some form to every person who experiences pain or death or poverty or unfairness- in other words, to everyone. ' What good is God in a world where terrorist attack tourists site, where a gunman kills 32 student, where 6 million people in South Africa alone suffer with HIV/AIDS. Or on a more personal level, does faith really matter when you're struggling with addiction, when you get laid off or when chronic depression sits in. 


This book is divided in 10 sections where each section comprises of two parts, the context and preparation and the actual speech itself. 

The Bible Jesus Read

In the old testament, I discovered a rich tapestry of encounters with GOd that added an important background to paul's example. In the psalms, for example, i found disorientation, confusion, rage, despair and anguish such that I had never heard discussed in my church.

The Old Testament's overwhelming lesson about God is that he is personal and intimate, its overwhelming lesson about human beings is that we matter. What we say, how we behave, even what we think and feel- these things have an enormous effect on GOd. Thay have in fact cosmic implications.