Doug Van Pelt

Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?

Apologetics

“A good spirited conversation can be very educational. It gives people the freedom to draw their own conclusions, which is usually more powerful than forcing one down the reader's throat. Preston Jones has 'authored' a great read simply by keeping the conversation true to what was 'said' via his e-mails with Bad Religion frontman Greg Graffin. This collection of back-and-forth debate concerning the worldviews of a naturalist and a Christian is fascinating and as compelling as a suspense novel, as educational as a college course and as relational as a blog. Anyone young enough to love rock and roll and smart enough to know that the Christian faith needn't back down from any philosophy will appreciate the frankness found inside this book.”

Jesus, Bread, and Chocolate

Christian Living

“This book is important. It captures an idea that is contagious and living. There’s a problem in our culture at large, the cause of which has never really been exposed—in my mind—until now. John Thompson puts his finger on it. Jesus, Bread, and Chocolate is more than just a study of the artisan crafts of bread making, coffee roasting, and beer brewing. It’s almost an indictment of the Industrial Revolution … Almost, because it’s not really the Industrial Revolution that is to blame, of course. It is each of us. The machinery only accelerated our shallow and sinful tendency to ruin things. But Thompson’s isn’t a radical cry to destroy the automation and assembly lines of industrialism; it is simply a call to be mindful of how we live; to extract the precious from the worthless. His stories fit together seamlessly, build on one another, and collectively pack a big punch. They trace the problem in small, personal, specific areas and, without straining, reveal how the dislocation from our true identity leaves us yearning for a reconnect. He then lovingly points to a resolution that’s within our reach.”