Lee Recommends...

By Lee Strobel
7.13.06

Books

Mike Licona: Did Christianity Borrow from Other Religions? (2:57) Watch Now>

My friend Mike Licona, coauthor of The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, has written a creative new book in which he imagines a debate between the apostle Paul and Muhammad. The subject of their dialogue is the resurrection of Christ, which Muslims utterly reject, as they do his deity.

Paul Meets Muhammad presents the Islamic case fairly and accurately. Mike, who’s the top apologist of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, is thoroughly knowledgeable about Islam. He has even debated top Muslim apologist Shabir Ally. And he’s among the most articulate and skillful defenders of the historic evidence for Jesus rising from the dead

I was pleased to write the foreword for this book, and I’m enthusiastic about recommending it as an excellent resource that will deepen your knowledge of both Islam and the resurrection.

Film

The buzz is increasing for the movie Nativity, which producers hope will do for Christmas what The Passion of The Christ did for Easter. I’ve been sent the script and look forward to reading it. In the meantime, filming is proceeding in Italy and its release is planned for early December. The movie is striving to be biblically responsible and reverent. Writing the script was Mike Rich, who’s known for Finding Forrester and The Rookie. Keisha Castle-Hughes, from Whale Rider, plays Mary, while Shohreh Aghdashloo, last seen in House of Sand and Fog, portrays Elizabeth. Both are Oscar nominees. I’ll keep you updated as this project moves toward completion.

Seminars

If you've ever wanted to sharpen your skills as a public speaker, I'd encourage you to consider attending the Butterworth Communicators Institute in Southern California on November 14-16. Author and speaker Bill Butterworth keeps his seminars small so he can provide personal coaching.

Recipient of the Hal Holbrook Award as one of America’s top public speakers, Bill taught public speaking on the college level for 13 years. He speaks regularly at major churches around North America, as well as to such corporate clients as CitiBank, Allstate, The Walt Disney Company, American Express, and Verizon. He has also written over a dozen books.

Bill and I have been friends ever since I moved to California. The idea for this seminar was birthed at a lunch we had over a year ago. Since then, he has conducted three seminars – all of which have received rave reviews. I have the privilege of speaking at each closing banquet. (That’s not as easy as it sounds! Everyone in the audience has just honed their own speaking skills – and sometimes I feel like they’re going to flash a score for me like Olympic judges.)

For more information, visit www.billbutterworth.com. If you can’t attend the November session, consider a future seminar – or send Bill a videotape and he’ll provide thorough feedback on how you can improve as a communicator.