What Difference Does Knowing God Make? with Brian Bird & Alister McGrath
This week, we’ll hear from writer and producer Brian Bird, whose decades-long career in film and television includes When Calls the Heart and Touched by an Angel. Brian shares how he discovered his gift for writing through others who championed for him and how he uses his ability for storytelling to bring positive change to the world.
Next, we’ll hear from Alister McGrath, a former atheist who became an Oxford trained scientist and theologian, who tries to bridge the divide between faith and science and desires to show the world that belief in God is more than just a set of ideas; it’s about a relationship.
Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:
Past interview: Josh McDowell
Upcoming interview: Josiah and Jaccob Slavin
Jesus Calling: Harvest of Blessings
Interview Quotes:
“When I mentor young people, one of the things that I tell them is that they have to identify the one thing that God made them to do. Find three people like me to identify what you’re good at. Get into the symphony, don’t just be in a garage band.” - Brian Bird
“I found that just by being a friend maker as a Christian—and not trying to preach at people, but just loving people—they want to know why I am the way I am. They want to know why I have peace in my life, why I am content. You have to earn the right to share your faith with people. It’s not handing them a tract, it’s handing them a life, it’s handing them a relationship.” - Brian Bird
“I think in the world today, there’s so much cynical content out there that people are starved to death for content that is not cynical; content that is even idealistic, that inspires them to reach for their higher selves, that helps them feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves.” - Brian Bird
“I found myself at a turning point in my life where I loved science and still believed my future might lie in science, but at the same time, I was having this real longing to immerse myself deeply in Christian thinking, deeply in the Bible, in really understanding what this was all about.” - Alister McGrath
“I loved studying Christianity and I wanted to make connections with science, but I also began to realize there was a need to be able to connect up with people beyond the church, to be able to deal with the questions that they had about faith, as indeed I had as an atheist.” - Alister McGrath
“What I’m finding in my many conversations with people is this growing realization that Christianity has this ability to really set out a worldview that is not going to disappear tomorrow. And it also seems to have this deep ability to make sense of life and give us a sense of personal identity and personal stability.” - Alister McGrath
“Apologetics, I think, is moving in a new direction. We need to be able to reassure people Christianity is true, but we also need to show them it really transforms life. It’s a trustworthy truth that transforms us.” - Alister McGrath
“I think one of the things I didn’t really fully appreciate was that Christianity was giving me more than just a kind of intellectual framework. It was strongly relational. This is about a friendship, a relationship with a living God who journeys with you as your Shepherd through life wherever you are going.” - Alister McGrath
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Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel!
Audio Interviews: https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7
Video Interviews: https://bit.ly/4f79RAW
Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer: https://bit.ly/4q5iTCx
Scripture Series: https://bit.ly/4wAVGKU
Celebrity Readings: https://bit.ly/4bIS5BJ
Video Devotionals: https://bit.ly/4fG1kFb
Sleep Meditations: https://bit.ly/4w0xu37
Shorts: https://bit.ly/3RHFubh
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