By GOH MUI PONG
TWO past issues touched
on the topics of how to read and where to find things to read.
What if you hate reading? What alternatives are there?
First of all, it is important to note that God gave us a Bible
to read. He might have chosen pictures or icons or moving pictures
but He chose a collection of books. That ought to suggest that
we must read.
Reading is needed not just for us to be able to engage with society
but also to obtain the intellectual ammunition to come to grips
with the matter at hand. The importance of literacy can be seen
in that one of the first few things that missionaries do in a
new country is to set up schools. If one is unable to read, e.g.
due to illiteracy or sight problems, then investing in audio books
is a worthy one.
Second, that said, there are other resources to supplement your
reading. There are other excellent multi-media resources that
one could turn to.
Videos/ DVDs
It used to be that Christian video resources seemed more easily
available. I remember that my youth group leader used to rent
Christian videos from Great Joy Media in Singapore to screen for
youth group meetings. They were great!
I still remember one particular video - "If I Perish"
- which was about a Korean girl defying the Japanese during World
War II. Student Venture, part of Campus Crusade, in Singapore
used to have a film festival where it would show the Jesus Film,
which has become the hallmark of Campus Crusade for Christ, like
their "4 Spiritual Laws" and "Hell's Bells",
which looks at the dangers of rock music). My friends used to
play Veggie Tales, a Christian video targeted at children, on
their laptops at the National University of Singapore to encourage
conversations!
Again, the main source of Christian videos and DVDs is in the
United States. I admit that I have not investigated fully the
sources of Christian videos and DVDs. However, it should be possible
to look up various Christian ministries that you are familiar
with to see what multi-media resources they have available.
| Genre | Where to obtain | Comments |
| Debates/ Talks | William Lane Craig's Virtual Office http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/ | William Lane Craig sets aside a portion of his time for debates. Do watch out for them, especially the debate he had with Peter Atkins of Oxford. |
| Debates/ Talks | Ravi Zacharias Ministry www.rzim.org | Another source of talks generally given by Ravi Zacharias or members of the ministry. |
| Debates/ Talks | Veritas Forum | Started by a group of students from Harvard. It has now started supporting forums at various universities internationally. It also has recordings of some of the forums |
| Debates/ Talks | Faith and Science lecture Forumhttp://fslf.addr.com/home.html | It organises forums mainly in the United States and although most of its resources are available from the ministries above, it might have other additions. |
| Talks/ General | L'Abri Fellowship http://www.labri.org | There are two primary videos by Francis Schaeffer: · How should we then live?· Whatever happened to the human race? |
| Talks/ Ministries | Soundwordhttp://www.soundword.com/ | This ministry has a large collection of recordings from various ministries, including the more well-known ministries e.g. C. S. Lewis Institute, L'Abri and Banner of Truth. |
| Multi-media in General |
Christian Cinema http://www.christiancinema.com/catalog/default.php | I have just found out about this. It seems to have a reasonably large catalogue. |
There are also other multi-media titles on more serious issues,
such as science and Christianity, e.g. Icons of Evolution, Unlocking
the Mysteries of life. They should be available from the Discovery
Institute or just a search on Google.
Audio
| Ministry | Place to get them | Comments |
| Ravi Zacharias Ministry | www.rzim.org | RZIM has helpfully put its recordings online. Updated weekly. |
| L'Abri | www.labri.org | L'Abri has a large tape catalogue although you would have to contact its branches to order them. |
| Mars Hill Audio | As mentioned in my earlier issue, I have not really heard Mars Hill Audio but it was highly recommended by trusted Christian friends. | |
| Oneplace.com | www.oneplace.com | This website links to many Internet ministries of major Christian leaders in the US. |
While many of the resources above are excellent, they should
not displace your reading habit.
Goh Mui Pong, a member of Paya Lebar Chinese Methodist Church,
is pursuing his PhD in Politics at the University of Cambridge.