About this item
Why bother with the Christian faith? In the post-Christian world, doubt and skepticism come naturally to us. Many have given up on faith of any kind, finding it shallow and unsatisfying. But still we yearn for more. We hope for our children's futures. We long for lives that are meaningful, even eternal. Grappling with his own questions, Jim Belcher set out on a quest to see how the Christian faith faces the challenges of the modern world and answers the cries of the human soul. Seeking renewal after a draining season of life, he and his family spent a year traveling through Europe, exploring the faith that has shaped civilizations throughout the centuries. They rediscovered key figures, places and events in the history of Christianity, from C. S. Lewis's life at Oxford to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's death in a concentration camp.
About the Author
Jim is best known for his widely acclaimed, award-winning book, Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional (InterVarsity Press, 2009), which won Christianity Today's 2010 Best Book Award and Leadership Journal's 2010 The Golden Canon Award. His forthcoming book (October, 2013), In Search of Deep Faith: A Pilgrimage into the beauty, goodness and heart of Christianity (IVP) takes the reader on the year-long pilgrimage that Jim and his family took through England and Europe, pursuing a dozen heroes of the faith and weaving his family's journey throughout the book. Steve Garber of the Washington Institute calls it "A Pilgrims Progress for the 21st Century" and author Will Vaus calls it a "great theological adventure story and Christian travel guide to Europe all rolled into one."Jim is the former founding and lead pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Newport Beach, California, where he served from 2000-2010 and led a period of steady growth. He was the co-founder of the Restoring Community Conference: Integrating Social Interaction, Sacred Space and Beauty in the 21st Century, a conference for city officials, planners, builders and architects.Jim was an adjunct professor of political science at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Ca from 1993-1996 teaching classes on American government, international relations, and political philosophy.In 1996 he earned a Ph.D. in Political Philosophy from Georgetown University.He and his wife, Michelle, and four children live in south Florida, where they are raising four children--Jordan (14); Jonathan (12); Lindsay (9); Meghan (7). Michelle, a former elementary school teacher, home schools their son Jonathan, while the other three children attend a more formal school.Most afternoons, Jim can be found on the field or rink coaching his kids' Little League and ice hockey teams. Along with raising their kid's in the faith, their family is integrated into the community of City Church/Forth Lauderdale, where Jim is an associate pastor and where Michelle teaches in the Sunday school.
