The Resource Centre library containing thousands of books available for borrowing as well as audio tapes of sermons going back to the 70s is housed in Christ Church Centre. Videos and DVDs are available to hire. We have all the well-loved classics available: C.S. Lewis, Andrew Murray, Henri Nouwen, J.B. Phillips, Joyce Huggett, Catherine Marshall; also the latest ones from Christian bookshops, including some very popular fiction! Philip Yancey, Max Lucado, John Ortberg are well represented, also Frank Peretti, Francine Rivers and Susan Howatch and many more. Come and browse around.

Membership of the Resource Centre is only R35 per year, and is open to everyone, not just Christ Church members. Joining is quick and easy: just fill in a form with your name and address, pay the fee and you can borrow books and/or tapes right away! Tickets will be made out in your name (3 each for books and tapes) but are kept here so you do not have to carry them around. Books and tapes can be kept for 3 weeks but must be returned at the end of that time unless you renew them by phone or in person.

We are open every day, Monday to Friday, from 9am to 4.30pm and on Sunday mornings for a short time after the 8am & 10am services.

BOOK REVIEWS

Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury

Karen is best known as writing fiction in a series of books, such as Redemption and Firstborn, but this is a once-off and more powerful than her family sagas. Four-year-old Joey Campbell had been adopted with great joy by Campbells and was living an almost perfect life with his adoring new parents but his adoption had been flawed, and was therefore able to be rescinded. Unfortunately for the adoptive family, his previously violent but repentant biological father discovers the truth, and wants him back.

What makes this story particularly worthwhile are the very real characters at its heart the loving but misguided adoptive parents, the frightened but well-meaning real mother with her volatile husband and the child welfare worker trying to help sort things out legally. The Campbells faith in God undergoes severe testing before the end.

Family by Karen Kingsbury

The continuing saga of John Baxter’s eldest son, unknown to his five siblings and desperately wanting to be part of them but it could cost all of them dearly. A sensational trial involving Dayne and the girl he loves brings everything to a head but God has it all under control if only they can be patient and trust themselves to Him. Written in Karen’s usual intimate and page-turning style, it is ideal holiday reading that will bless you as well! 

The Nativity Story by Angela Hunt

The film made a brief appearance on circuit last December and will hopefully be available on DVD before next Christmas, as it makes a beautiful introduction to the wonderful age-old story. Written by a skilled author with a strong sense of history, the book tells Mary’s story in a strong, realistic style, taking into account the perils involved in being a pregnant, unmarried teenager in her particular culture. Running currently with this is the journey of the men we know as the Magi, and the extreme difficulties they faced as they followed the Star. Also included are beautiful photographs of some of the filming a really enjoyable read.

The Prophet by Francine Rivers

Amos is one of those books in the Old Testament that we are inclined to pass over as just one of the minor prophets but, like all of them, it has a gripping story to tell. God told his prophets to warn His people that they were going way off beam but they didn’t want to know!  Amos wasn’t even told to warn those he lived with, but the ones further north. He was leading a quiet but not uneventful life as a shepherd, deeply troubled by what was happening in the temple among those who were supposed to be God’s holy men then suddenly God called him to warn Israel of the wrath to come, knowing that the people would ignore the warning and attack the messenger cruelly. Francine blends the Biblical facts with what seems believable fiction as she has done with other novellas on Biblical characters, to very good effect. There is a Bible study included at the end of the short book.

Passing the Baton by Angus Buchan

Angus Buchan’s first book, Faith Like Potatoes, which has just been made into a film and is available on DVD from the Resource Centre, told the story of the conversion of this tough, hot-tempered farmer from KwaZulu-Natal into a passionate follower of Christ. He has written other books and travelled many miles to bring others into a saving knowledge of the Jesus he loves. Now he is looking ahead, not to the end of his life but to other places to which God may call him, and he will need to pass the baton to whoever is to follow him into his ministry, just as his sons have followed him into farming. This interesting book is packed full of anecdotes on how others have fared in similar positions, and how to recognise when to make way for a younger generation. Fascinating and very South African reading!

Sometimes I Prefer to Fuss by Verda Peet

Verda was the daughter of missionaries, so the trials of that calling were well known to her, but not as a young mother with growing children amongst the unreached tribes in North Thailand. This is not the tourist Thailand, with luxury hotels and sun-worshippers beaches (long before the tsunami) this is a Thailand of dozens of different tribes with different dialects a place of impossible travel and unpredictable weather, of cultural laws easily broken, strange food not easily assimilated. Verda and her husband Larry were there in the fifties to seventies and the book is amusing, encouraging and heart-warming. Her deep trust in God is evident even when not spelled out!

Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado

Max Lucado is known and loved for his ability to blend deep Biblical themes with identifiable, often amusing and moving modern anecdotes which make for easy reading while planting the depth of God’s word in our souls. This book tells the story of David, not just his encounter with Goliath but the rest of his roller-coaster existence as well. His constant hounding by a jealous Saul, the unending battle with surrounding nations, the misunderstanding and tragedy in his family the never-to-be-forgotten immoral episode with Bathsheba. David faced giants on a daily basis and Max shows how we can learn as the famous king did not by being overwhelmed by the size of the giants but by looking to One who towers over them all and then reaching for some smooth, round stones.

Hard-core Christianity by Angus Buchan

Angus is an unashamed fundamentalist; a total believer in the truth of God’s word over all other considerations, and a convinced evangelist who takes the Gospel to wherever he feels the Lord sends him. Although his views may not sit happily with everyone, there is no denying his overwhelming love of Jesus Christ, nor his desperate longing to see everyone else come to salvation before it is too late. The stories he tells to illustrate this come from his wide circle of friends and extended family. They are particularly fascinating because of being mostly rooted in this country, often in situations only South Africans can understand. Although no longer actively farming, his love of the land and all God’s creation shines through unmistakeably. In spite of its rather off-putting title it has a lot to teach and is a good, solid read.