Giving Tuesday is 3 December 2024, a chance to join with thousands of others across the world in supporting your favourite causes and celebrating the impact of giving.
Your Impact
Your giving is making a difference through Solas by enabling us to work with Christian Unions across the UK. Just last month our speaking team was up north in Aberdeen at Robert Gordon University and down south at the University of Southampton, as well as Glasgow, Dundee and York! We are helping seeking students work through the big questions of life and training student leaders in sharing their faith. Young Christians are eager to have an impact on their campuses, and Solas is coming alongside them to speak, train and equip with tools like Have You Ever Wondered? and Short Answers.
We want to take this opportunity to say a big ‘thank-you’ to the hundreds of individuals who have already given financially to Solas this year. As well, Giving Tuesday isn’t just about money – those who offer prayers are so important to us, along with many partners who give their time and hard work to put on events up and down the country. If that’s you – then thanks!
Your Opportunity
If you can, please join with us this Giving Tuesday by making a special gift in support of our work sharing the gospel on university campuses, in workplaces, online and with local churches in pubs, cafes and community venues. Choose a one-off gift, or commit to monthly giving, it’s your choice.
The Giving Tuesday campaign began in the USA in 2012 as a way to give back after the well-known shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Since then it has been promoted by the likes of Michelle Obama, Stephen Fry and Harry Kane. The campaign is coordinated in the UK by the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.
Top photo: Andy Bannister speaks with Sharon Dirckx at an outreach event in Lancaster, January 2024. Photo courtesy of Lancaster University Christian Union.
Why does it hurt so much when Christians fall short? Could it be because, deep down, we know the church should be different—a reflection of Jesus in some way? In this thought-provoking Short Answers video filmed live at the Cairngorms Convention in Scotland, Andy Bannister explores the reasons Christians aren’t perfect, the messy truth of transformation, and how Christianity offers hope even when we fail.
Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose a free book as a thank-you gift!
An easy and fun way for your church to reach out is to set up a table or stall at a fete, market—or even the local car boot sale. Events like these often draw big crowds and the even your very presence can help raise the profile of the church in your village, town, or suburb.
We spoke to Geoff Naylor from Discovery Church in Wroughton. For several years they have had a stall in the annual village carnival. We asked Geoff about their vision in this: he explained that the main goal was quite low key; the first priority was that people in the community would know the church existed. Taking part in and being in the midst of this key event in village life was a great step toward that.
The practicalities were really simple, Geoff explained. You simply book a space, turn up with a collapsible gazebo, some folding seats, and a mixture of leaflets, gospel books and resources, along with some free snacks and see what happens! Activities like face painting are also a huge draw—you can offer that for free and whilst youngsters get painted you get to talk to the parents. The free drinks and face painting really draw people.
We asked Geoff about the fruit of this and he replied that as a relatively new church plant in the village, what Discovery Church wanted was presence, profile, and relationships. Having a stall did all of this so Geoff would strongly encourage other churches to try it!
Another church we spoke to was using the annual town fete to reach out, in their case using puppets. Every 30 minutes, they would put on a puppet show, telling a story from the Bible. Kids love puppets, parents love a free cold drink and as the pastor said, “The puppets can say things quite directly about faith, God, and Jesus and there’s no pushback, because ‘the puppet said it’.” After each performance, they give out Bible booklets with the story that was in the show. There have been some amazing conversations over the years, along with opportunities to pray with people.
So, give it a try—take a stand!
Pray: Lord, please lead us to those local community events where we can be a presence; and help us use them to build connections and sow gospel seeds. Amen.
__________
“You say there’s a God, so where was he when my unborn child died?”
This was the heartfelt question I was asked in a recent Q & A session. Sarah had been sharing her faith with a friend, only for her friend to then suffer a miscarriage. Suddenly all of her talk about a loving God rang hollow with her friend. Why had she been allowed to suffer in such a devastating way? Sarah wanted to know how to respond to her friend’s deep anguish.
I began by encouraging Sarah to support her friend at this time. I shared how my wife and I had experienced three miscarriages on our way to having our first child. What we valued as much as answers was the presence of Christians standing beside us, loving us and praying with us.
Next, I gently suggested that the Christian faith makes far better sense of our anger and frustration when pain and suffering strike. According to atheism, a failed pregnancy is just nature shrugging its shoulders and disposing of some unwanted molecules. But we don’t respond like that. Instead we grieve, we rage, and we protest “that’s not right!”. And I believe we do that because deep down, we instinctively know that the Christian story is true. Death is not the way things should be.
Finally, I suggested some ways Sarah could draw her friend into the biblical story. We know from the Bible that death is not the last word, that God has done something about the problem of pain, that God the Father has experienced the death of a child in Jesus and the cross. And because of Jesus, whilst we grieve, we do not grieve without hope, nor do we walk through the shadow of the valley of death without God’s presence. I also recommended a book, Sheridan Voysey’s Resurrection Year, that deals honestly, powerfully, and beautifully with this issue.
Thank you so much for helping us to support people like Sarah, as we seek to share the good news of Jesus persuasively, and equip Christians for evangelism practically. If you’ve found these resources helpful, you can find more articles, short answers and the PEP Talk Podcast on our website, as well as all the latest news from Solas.
“I have never forgotten James. When he was a toddler, James had fallen down several flights of stairs in an Edinburgh tenement, and as a result he suffered irreparable brain damage…“
David Randall, former chair of Solas, takes an in-depth look at suffering, in the first ever Solas Paper (published back in 2013).
Christian reflections on an unwanted journey of grief caused by a family tragedy
Bible verses
There are many parts of scripture that we can turn to help us when we are going through pain and suffering. The Psalms have been a source of comfort for people throughout the ages with the ‘Lord is my shepherd’ being a particular favourite, while the book of Job is often explored when thinking about why bad things happen. There are lots of other verses that remind us of God’s love or comforting power, but one of the most powerful is God’s ultimate promise that there will be a time when He will put an end to all suffering:
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21: 1-7)
Other resources: Tim Keller, John Lennox and Warren Furman
Tim Keller looks at the human reaction to suffering and how the Bible informs us of a different perspective, as we walk with God through pain and trials.
On the anniversary of 9/11 John Lennox addresses students in New York about how we can begin to make sense of suffering from a Christian perspective.
A light-hearted testimony from Warren Furman (Ace from Gladiators) on rejecting God after a bereavement, and then finding fame, fortune and faith.
If you are struggling to cope with something right now, it is really important to reach out to someone for help: it could be a friend, family member, your church, or you can speak to organisations like the Samaritans anonymously. We also pray that these resources are helpful for you.
“You say there’s a God, so where was he when my unborn child died?”
This was the heartfelt question I was asked in a recent Q & A session. Sarah had been sharing her faith with a friend, only for her friend to then suffer a miscarriage. Suddenly all of her talk about a loving God rang hollow with her friend. Why had she been allowed to suffer in such a devastating way? Sarah wanted to know how to respond to her friend’s deep anguish.
I began by encouraging Sarah to support her friend at this time. I shared how my wife and I had experienced three miscarriages on our way to having our first child. What we valued as much as answers was the presence of Christians standing beside us, loving us and praying with us.
Next, I gently suggested that the Christian faith makes far better sense of our anger and frustration when pain and suffering strike. According to atheism, a failed pregnancy is just nature shrugging its shoulders and disposing of some unwanted molecules. But we don’t respond like that. Instead we grieve, we rage, and we protest “that’s not right!”. And I believe we do that because deep down, we instinctively know that the Christian story is true. Death is not the way things should be.
Finally, I suggested some ways Sarah could draw her friend into the biblical story. We know from the Bible that death is not the last word, that God has done something about the problem of pain, that God the Father has experienced the death of a child in Jesus and the cross. And because of Jesus, whilst we grieve, we do not grieve without hope, nor do we walk through the shadow of the valley of death without God’s presence. I also recommended a book, Sheridan Voysey’s Resurrection Year, that deals honestly, powerfully, and beautifully with this issue.
“I have never forgotten James. When he was a toddler, James had fallen down several flights of stairs in an Edinburgh tenement, and as a result he suffered irreparable brain damage…“
David Randall, former chair of Solas, takes an in-depth look at suffering, in the first ever Solas Paper (published back in 2013).
Christian reflections on an unwanted journey of grief caused by a family tragedy
Bible verses
There are many parts of scripture that we can turn to help us when we are going through pain and suffering. The Psalms have been a source of comfort for people throughout the ages with the ‘Lord is my shepherd’ being a particular favourite, while the book of Job is often explored when thinking about why bad things happen. There are lots of other verses that remind us of God’s love or comforting power, but one of the most powerful is God’s ultimate promise that there will be a time when He will put an end to all suffering:
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21: 1-7)
Other resources: Tim Keller, John Lennox and Warren Furman
Tim Keller looks at the human reaction to suffering and how the Bible informs us of a different perspective, as we walk with God through pain and trials.
On the anniversary of 9/11 John Lennox addresses students in New York about how we can begin to make sense of suffering from a Christian perspective.
A light-hearted testimony from Warren Furman (Ace from Gladiators) on rejecting God after a bereavement, and then finding fame, fortune and faith.
If you are struggling to cope with something right now, it is really important to reach out to someone for help: it could be a friend, family member, your church, or you can speak to organisations like the Samaritans anonymously. We also hope that these resources are helpful for you.
Though we might not like to admit it, all of us struggle with doubts in our Christian walk. And for those who don’t yet have a faith, doubt can feel like an insurmountable obstacle to truly embracing Christ. So whether we are helping others on their journey, or treading the path ourselves, safely navigating the terrains of doubt can be a challenge.
Randy Newman (1956-2024) was senior fellow for apologetics and evangelism at the C. S. Lewis Institute. He was formerly on staff with Cru, ministering in and near Washington, DC. He authored several books, including Questioning Evangelism, Unlikely Converts and Mere Evangelism. He has contributed a number of articles to the Solas website. Randy went home to be with the Lord in May 2024.
About PEP Talk
The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.
We live in an increasingly pluralistic age and it can sometimes be a challenge helping people see the uniqueness of Jesus given all the religious options surrounding them. But a powerful way to explore those differences is with a dialogue event.
Solas’s Andy Bannister has been involved in many dialogue events over the years, especially between Christians and Muslims. Andy says his highlight was in Toronto a few years back where over 1,000 people attended—of which 600 were Muslims—to hear a panel with Christian and Muslim speakers discuss a number of topics, including questions like “Who was Jesus?”
More recently, Andy helped the Christian Union at Lancaster University organise a dialogue. The CU partnered with the university Islamic Society, who invited the Imam from the local mosque. On the night, he and Andy were interviewed about the differences between Christianity and Islam. It was a friendly, robust dialogue in which Andy had many opportunities to share why he believed in Jesus not Muhammad. And afterwards, Christian students got to talk over coffee with Muslim students late into the night.
Andy said: “I love dialogue events! They are are easy to invite friends to; you quickly get to the differences between belief systems and to the uniqueness of Jesus; but you also get to model Christianity by the manner in which you respond to the other speaker.” And you don’t just need to try a Muslim-Christian dialogue event; dialogues with atheists also work well.
So why not try a dialogue event in your church or CU. If you need help planning, or with topics, or in finding a speaker, do contact us at Solas: we’d love to help. And if there’s a mosque near your church, try reaching out to ask if they’d be interested in organising a dialogue event. Dialogue events are an easy way to build friendships with your local Muslim community; a bridge of friendship over which the gospel can cross.
One other tip: remember to prepare Christians so they get the most out of your dialogue event. Andy’s top tip is to ensure Christians don’t all sit next to each other, but distribute themselves among the audience and talk to the strangers they meet.
Prayer: Jesus, in the gospels we see how you reached out to those who didn’t believe in you. Give us the courage and confidence to try using dialogue as an evangelistic tool. Amen!
The St Andrews Literature Festival (rather confusingly) isn’t in St Andrews, but down in England. Unfazed by this geographical misnomer, Andy had a great trip talking books, writing, and of course specifically Christian writing. The full story is in the video above.
What is it about repair and restoration tv shows that is we find so intriguing? Why do they pull on our heart strings so much, and give us such a sense of satisfaction when we see the big reveal at the end? Whether it’s an old house or car being restored, someone getting a full makeover, or some old broken trinket getting a new lease on life – there is something about seeing something restored that makes our hearts sing. In this Short Answers video, Steve Osmond explains how God has hard-wired us for restoration, and that God Himself is in the business of restoration.
Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose a free book as a thank-you gift!
