Preacher Profile: Dr. Tim Keller

Is Christian faith is reasonable?

Is it possible to be both intelligent and have an orthodox Christian faith?

Is Christianity a firm foundation on which to base your life?

If you’ve ever struggled to find answers to these questions, then Tim Keller is a great person to start listening to.

I first encountered Dr. Keller when Ali and I went for a holiday in New York in October 2006, and our good friend Ray Gaydon suggested we go hear him at his church, Redeemer Presbyterian Manhattan. From one listening it was clear to me that this guy was a genius, as well as an incredibly pastoral and sensitive speaker. (you can download that that sermon we heard there for free http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/absolutism-dont-we-all-have-find-truth-ourselves )

Little did we then know that this very sermon series was soon to be turned into a book ‘The Reason for God’, which Rev. Steve now has a pile of in his office to hand out to sceptical thinkers!

Along with most of what’s left of Western Christendom (and the Southover clergy team), I can wholeheartedly endorse this guy to listen to.

You will enjoy Tim Keller especially if:

you enjoy thinking.

you prefer a ‘calm, collected, thoughtful’ approach to faith.

you are struggling with tough question of faith. 

(If you’re still not convinced, check this out! http://t.co/TAWS2sB4).

Getting Connected

Tim is online and there are a series of youtube clips that will get you introduced to his style of thinking. Type in his name and you’ll find everything from 1 minute shorts to hour-long sermons.

The (very small) downside to listening to Tim’s sermons is that you have to pay for them, though only about $2.50, or around £1.50. Worth every penny, but there are a sufficient number of free sermons on their website to get you interested before you have to invest… http://sermons2.redeemer.com/redeemer-free-sermon-resource

Tim has also written loads of great books – what I love about him is that he doesn’t waffle. His writing is efficient and clear with spectacular command of language.

Titles to Google or search on Amazon:

‘The Reason for God’ – the best apologetics book written in years

‘Counterfeit Gods’

‘King’s Cross’ – on which we’re basing our Mark series

‘Prodigal God’

‘The Meaning of Marriage’

Brilliant thinker, great man. Check out Dr. Tim.

Welcome to the blog!

So, this March Southover did a mini-series on the Bible in the hope of encouraging and equipping you to read it more and get more out of it. And in #4 (The Bible, God's Treasure) I spoke about making the most of everything technology has to offer - and it's from giving this sermon that I've started this blog, so I can post here everything I think could be worth you checking out.

In case you're interested to hear more in-depth about the relationship between the Church and Technology, Mark Driscoll has done a great run-down which you can listen to by scrolling to the bottom of this page: http://marshill.com/2010/11/09/this-is-why-we-do-video (those people who have hung around me for a while will know I listen to a lot of Driscoll... but more on him later).

The web has become the biggest game-changer since Gutenburg printing press in 1436 - in 2010 there were 88 billion Google searches per month. So, this is my rather tiny contribution in helping you find helpful stuff you might like.

Happy exploring,


Chris :-)



P.S. ...

My hope behind this is to help mainly younger Christians find things that will
encourage and feed their faith, as a supplement to serving at church.

Therefore , if you are a ranty atheist:
feel free to browse, but please save the ranting for facebook.

Or, if you are a Christian using the internet as a substitute for church:
feel free to browse, but please get yourself to a good church soon.
Move house if you have to. Matt 9:37

With thanks to the humourists...

Before we get to business, I must credit Jon Acuff for the inspiration behind the blog title (though, to be fair, he nicked it from someone else). I bought his book 'Stuff Christians like' a while back - which was pitch perfect. Sarcastic enough to be genuinely funny, but not so cynical that it made me stop wanting to go to church. You can 'like' him on facebook for occasional posts, of varying humour levels.. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jon-Acuff/231450353538563.

Also thanks to Tommy for the profile pic. There will only be a few people reading this who havn't encountered him yet, but just in case: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tommy/286651441372738.