New books - Christian manga books, Serenity series, Part 1

A generous church member recently donated books from the Serenity series to the library. Come by and visit us to see these Christian themed manga stories

Title: Bad Girl in Town
Call number: F MIN

Trouble comes in small packages. This one is five feet tall and weights 98 pounds.
Her name is Serenity Harper and she’s one obnoxious little bundle of attitude, anger, and animosity. Can the care and concern of Derek, Kimberly, and the rest of the Prayer Club break through Serenity’s tough shell – and prove to her that true love does exist?

Title: Stepping Out
Call number: F MIN

Prayer Club kids are nice. That doesn’t mean they can’t be tough.  Serenity is warming up to the Christian kids who made her their “project” by showing her an unconditional love she’s never experienced before.  But when she tries ducking responsibility for wrecking Kimberly’s car, that unconditional love turns tough.  Can Serenity understand it’s for her own good?

Title: Basket Case
Call number: F MIN

Serenity laughs at responsibility. But there’s nothing funny about this job…
The Prayer Club’s pet project is at her flaky best, dissing a health class assignment tht has teens caring for chicken eggs 24/7 to simulate the round-the-clock nurturing a baby requires. But when an overwhelming responsibility falls in Sereniy’s lap, where can she get help – from the friends she’s mocked, or the God she doesn’t quite believe in?

Title: Rave-n-rant
Call number: F MIN

Prayer makes a difference, they say.  Try convincing Serenity of that…
Serenity begins to share her soul with her Prayer Club friends – and is angered to find that, while they say they love Serenity, they don’t always like her. The teen with the blue hair and attitude takes her frustrations to God, but soon decides He isn’t listening… until a surprise ending makes Serenity realize there may be something to prayer after all.

Christianity Today: May 2011 issue now available in the library

Christianity Today May 2011 issue












This month's issue includes articles on:

• Me and Thee and the KJV: Mark Noll tells the story of the world's most popular English Bible - and where we would be without it.
• Roger Olson on Calvinist Myths
• Tim Challies on Reforming Tech
• A cursed foot disease
• Lying is bad - always
• Ghana's fake pastors 

Christianity Today: April 2011 issue now available in the library

Christianity Today April 2011 issue












This month's issue includes articles on:

• Proselytizing in a Multi-Faith World: Why mutual respect and tolerance require us to witness for Christ
• Miroslav Volf: Whom Do Muslims Worship/
• Mark Galli Review Rob Bell's Love Wins
• Me and my schizophrenia
• God's beautiful anger
• What's your Church worth?

KKMC Library - Social Hall branch on May 15 and May 22

 

We were in the Kampong Kapor Methodist Church Social Hall on May 15 with a selection of books, magazines, DVDs and CDs which were available for loan. In addition, we also helped several people to sign up as library members.

We will be in the Social Hall again on May 22, 2011 from 9.00am to 11.30am, so come by and visit us if you're there. You can make a loan there, sign up as a member or even volunteer to be a librarian.

New book - The Befuddled Stork: Helping Persons of Faith Debate Beginning-of-Life Issues

Title: The Befuddled Stork: Helping Persons of Faith Debate Beginning-of-Life Issues
Call number: 202 GEI










Should people who face difficult decisions about conceiving and bearing children play the games new technology make possible? A growing number of men and women of faith face these questions. This book is for them, their children and extended families, their communities of faith, their clergy. The goal is not to tell people what to think but to clarify the quandaries that cause an increasing sense of urgency

New book - Cherishing Life & Love: Reflections of Paul Murphy

Title: Cherishing Life & Love: Reflections of Paul Murphy
Call number: 267.2 MES










This book is a collection of the writings of Paul Murphy, a United Methodist pastor who served numerous local churches in Colorado and Wyoming as well as serving as a campus minister and district superintendent. In retirement he had lovingly served as a pastor of Denver’s Park Hill United Methodist Church, until his untimely death at the age of 71 from cancer.


Paul Murphy was a close friend of the author, Dr Donald E Messer who writes: “This is not simply a book of sermons, prayers and other writings; it is a testimony of a man who truly cherished life and love … Using ten overlapping categories, I have sought to organize his reflections, trusting that they are comprehensive of his thinking and theology."

New book - Caught in the Crossfire: Helping Christians Debate Homosexuality

Title: Caught in the Crossfire: Helping Christians Debate Homosexuality
Call number: 312 GEI










Few contemporary subjects divide persons within the Christian community more sharply than issues related to homosexuality.

In this volume, writers with divergent points of view deal with questions at the center of concern as persons of faith attempt to reconcile issues of human life and church teachings

Following each chapter, general editors Geis and Messer restate the major themes and offer questions to simulate individual thought and group discussion. This book is the ideal tool for groups that wish to discuss homosexuality and how this issue confronts and is confronted by the church.

4 new books on AIDS and world hunger by Dr Donald Messer

Dr Donald Messer, a United Methodist theologian, author, former college and seminary president, was in Singapore recently to give a talk on AIDS at Kampong Kapor Methodist Church. In support of that talk, the church library has added the following books written/co-written by him on AIDS and world hunger:

Title: Names, Not Just Numbers: Facing Global AIDS and World Hunger
Call number: 320 MES

Names, Not Just Numbers movingly presents the faces and the stories of people struggling to conquer hunger and disease, as well as explains the factual underpinning of this global crisis and what each of us can do about it. Urging all of us to stop turning a blind eye, author Donald E. Messer reveals the stark personal, statistical and political realities of the AIDS epidemic and world hunger.

Title: 52 Ways To Create An AIDS-free World
Call number: 320 MES

Using the strategy of fifty-two weeks of the year, Messer emphasizes that the creation of an AIDS-free world requires a daily commitment and engagement of persons from all walks of life. Other books help readers explore the HIV and AIDS pandemic in-depth, but this short book of basic ideas makes an urgent appeal to people of all ages who wonder what they can do to make a difference.

Title: Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence: Christian Churches and the Global AIDS Crisis
Call number: 320 MES

“This important book is a powerful cry from the heart authored by a brilliant and esteemed educator and religious leader. Dr. Messer … eloquently calls upon Christians to wake up and respond with compassion and action. To do less is to spurn the central message of the Lord and Saviour – that we care for ach other and especially the afflicted.” George McGovern, Former US Senator and first UN Global Ambassador on World Hunger

Title: Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith
Call number: 320 MCG

“For people of faith, taking action to eradicate hunger is not an option. In this important book, the authors model why people who may disagree on a while range of issues must make common cause to end hunger now, precisely because it is central to what it means to live out one’s faith.”
Rebecca Larson, Executive Director, Division for Church in Society, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Christianity Today: February 2011 issue now in the library

Christianity Today February 2011 issue












This month's issue includes articles on:

• Muslims and the ‘Son of God’ – A recent translation of the phrase is seeing dramatic success – and dividing scholars, missionaries, and local believers.
• The Year’s Best Books, Music, and Movies
• Boycotting Outrage
• The Sex Market Crash
• Headless Snake

New DVD: "By My Spirit", an inspiring story of how Methodism started in Singapore

Title: By My Spirit
Call number: DVD BYM










This DVD produced by Wesley Methodist Church's Creative Art Services team chronicles the events that led to the founding of the church and of the Methodist Church in Singapore. The title "By My Spirit" is taken from the first Singapore Methodist sermon on Zechariah 4:6 "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit saith the Lord" (incidentally the same words are on the beautiful stained-glass at the back of the Kampong Kapor Methodist Church sanctuary.)

The story of how the church was founded is wonderfully brought to life using puppets. This is a story of men who did not even have enough money to make the travel from India to Singapore to start the church here; a story of men who did not know if anyone would meet them when they got to Singapore and ultimately, a story of men who put simple faith in God.