Tags:
christianity,
culture,
evangelism,
Faith,
Jesus,
wilberforce,
worldview
DOES GOD WANT US TO CHANGE THE WORLD? And if so, how? If you’re in a hurry, let me cut to the chase: a.) yes – and b.) by doing what the Clapham Circle did: proving their faith through works, mostly among the poor and powerless, and working among the rich and powerful. There’s a little more to it, but if you must run, there’s the nuance-free answer which, like a sack lunch, you may take with you. If you can stay, I’ll begin by telling you about the night talkshow host Dick Cavett and I went to see Mickey Rooney perform. This is not a joke. [To continue click here. To download this essay as a pdf file, click here.]
Tags:
Camp-of-the-Woods,
Dallas,
faith and culture,
Michael Craven,
speaking,
wilberforce,
Wingmen
Published by Eric Metaxas on 10/16/09 under Blog
I met Michael and his family this past summer at Camp-of-the-Woods. (below), which, by the way, was absolutely fantastic! In 
fact, I’ll be back there to speak next July. But the best part of it all was meeting amazing people, and Michael is at the top of that list. He heads the Center for Christ & Culture in Dallas, which you must visit immediately, by clicking here. (Do yourself a big favor and sign up for his weekly commentaries! If ten more people sign up, I’ll win a ten-speed bike!) Ahem. I’ll be speaking at Michael’s church in Dallas this week — Oct. 22nd. If you know anyone in the area, please let them know! For info, click here. I’ll also be speaking the next morning in Grapevine at the Wingmen’s Fellowship. For details, click here. Hope to see you there! For Michael’s latest commentary, click here.
Tags:
amazing grace,
biography,
culture,
eric metaxas,
Faith,
faith&culture,
wilberforce
Published by Eric Metaxas on 08/23/09 under Blog
TODAY IS THE 250th BIRTHDAY OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE!!!
If you are unfamiliar with the extraordinary life of this man, born August 24th, 1759, please CLICK HERE. It’s the introduction to my biography, AMAZING GRACE: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery, published two years ago to commemorate the bicentennial of his historic 1807 achievement, the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire.
To see me talking about Wilberforce on BookTV, click here. To see me talking about him on Hannity & Colmes, click here. And to hear me on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation”, talking with Michael Apted, the director of the AMAZING GRACE movie, also released two years ago, click here.
DO SOMETHING TODAY TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF ONE OF THE TRUE HEROES OF HISTORY! At the very least tell your friends about it, so they can join you in shouting:
. . . H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y , M R . W I L B E R F O R C E ! ! !
Tags:
apologetics,
bonhoeffer,
christianity,
Humor,
wilberforce
Published by Eric Metaxas on 04/26/09 under Blog
A few months ago my new friend, Dr. Greg Clarke of Sydney, Australia brought his family to the U.S. for a visit, and just before catching a cab to the airport for the long ride home, he interviewed me for his Centre for Public Christianity website. CPX is “an independent research and media organization seeking to promote the public understanding of the Christian faith in Australia and beyond, employing the best of scholarship via the best of media.” What they are doing is hugely impressive. Click here for the audio file. Or click here for the video versions. I talk about Christianity and humor, about William Wilberforce, and about Dietrich Bonhoeffer — the usual. There’s much worth checking out at their website; I recommend it with enthusiasm. G’DAY!
Tags:
amazing grace,
giuliani,
new york city,
wilberforce
Published by Eric Metaxas on 01/11/09 under Blog
I was having a very tough day the other day (details withheld for your benefit) when a friend asked me if I’d like to meet Rudy Giuliani. I thought I could use the distraction and so I got to meet “America’s Mayor” in the MetLife building that afternoon. When I handed him a signed copy of my bio of William Wilberforce (no politician should be unfamiliar with the greatest politician who ever lived!) Giuliani told me that he’d already read the book — on Kindle! I confess I was entirely thrilled. (Note: Kindle is the e-book device that Amazon.com sells so you can download books directly on to it. No one had ever told me he’d read my book on a Kindle before. That honor goes to Hizzoner!). Then, a few minutes later, in front of the assembled throng, and with no prompting from the completely nonplussed author, he lifted up his copy of my book and declared it was “better than the movie!” — and said that everyone should buy a copy! Well, I have to say I was seriously touched and encouraged. Who wouldn’t be?
Tags:
abolition,
amazing grace,
bestseller,
British,
eric metaxas,
ericmetaxas.com,
Korean,
slave trade,
translation,
wilberforce,
William Wilberforce
If you’re one of the millions of people on the planet whose principal language is not English, but Korean, and you’ve had a powerful yen (or perhaps a chon) to read my AMAZING GRACE book in your native tongue, your wait is finally over. The Korean version of my book is now available. Click here to order your copies!
Tags:
berlinski,
bestseller,
Blog,
emceeing,
eric metaxas,
ericmetaxas,
ericmetaxas.com,
frank sinatra,
gerald schroeder,
jonathan edwards,
kim alexis,
mako fujimura,
Metaxas,
mills brothers,
moderating,
princeton,
sinus,
socrates,
Socrates in the City,
socratesinthecity.com,
speaking,
tim raglin,
wethersfield,
wilberforce
Published by Eric Metaxas on 11/02/08 under Blog
It’s been quite a few days, folks… We had another absolutely extraordinary Socrates in the City event on Oct. 22nd, with Dr. Gerald Schroeder — Israeli physicist, Talmud scholar and author of Genesis and the Big Bang. He was everything we had hoped — a kind of Professor Irwin Corey with substance, if such can be imagined. Before Dr. Schroeder launched into his talk he regaled the audience by offering yours truly a gift of skin lotion made near the Dead Sea. A good time was had by all. Of course you may order a cd of the evening from socratesinthecity.com. They make great Christmas and Hannukah presents, as do Professor Schroeder’s fantastic books.
On Saturday I spoke about William Wilberforce at a benefit for the Wilberforce School in Princeton, NJ, and on Sunday I spoke about Mr. Wilberforce at the august Jonathan Edwards Forum in Wethersfield, Connecticut. The event took place at the venerable First Church of Christ there; the history in that building is enough to scare anyone off. The steeple is about as gorgeous and quintessential a New England church steeple as you are likely to find in existence, and the interior of the 1761 church has been gloriously restored. The pulpit, from which I dared speak, is so far above the congregation that one feels one had better have something important to say. Ahem.
On Wednesday I moderated a luncheon panel on publishing at the Dillon Art Gallery in SoHo, which exhibits the virtuoso works of Mako Fujimura, who — along with the supermodel Kim Alexis and the incomparable belletrist and polymathic mathematician David Berlinksi — was in attendance. It was, like, a scene, man.
On Thursday night I was the emcee at a First Annual Young Supporters event for the MPSC (Midtown Pregnancy Support Center) of Manhattan, an exceedingly worthy organization whose capable executive director turns out to be related to me by marriage, and rather directly, too. Because the youngish crowd was at one point slightly unruly I struck back by singing — The Mills Brothers’ “Dinah” and Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” — to the inestimable accompaniment of Matt Veligdan and his Band. Yowza yowza yowza…
On Friday morning I had sinus surgery and am now in mending mode, prone and prone to crankiness. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, you’ve been a terrific readership.