Today we interview Sola Panellist Gavin Perkins.

Gavin, how did you come to Christ?

From my point of view, although I attended Sunday school as a kid, by the middle of high school I had managed to wangle my way out of that. At the age of about 14, a group of my surfing friends were slowly infiltrated by people who not only went to church but actually seemed to believe that Jesus was alive and that he mattered. Slowly that group of friends—including me—came to believe the same thing.

From God's point of view, my Christian grandparents had been praying for me since before I was born.

How do you occupy your time?

Apart from being the husband of Amy and the father of three pre-school children, with all the rest of my time I am part of the ministry team at Christ Church St Ives Anglican in Sydney. I have two main roles on the staff: I planted and now pastor St Ives Family Church, a family congregation that meets in a local primary school hall, and I also oversee the recruitment and training of ministry apprentices at Christ Church.

What about your other interests?

I love playing and watching sport. I played rugby until my mid-20s, but have now switched to the more leisurely pursuit of bowling gentle off-spinners on the cricket field. I grew up near the beach and spent way too much time in the water. However, for honesty's sake, my wife now insists that I call myself a surfer in the past tense.

What are you reading now?

• David Wells, The Courage to be Protestant
• James Gilmore & David Pine, Authenticity
• DA Carson, Christ and Culture
• Brian Rosner (ed.), The Consolations of Theology
• Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

What are five books that really helped you grow as a Christian?

• Broughton Knox, The Everlasting God—now found in The Selected Works of Broughton Knox (Volume 1)
• JI Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
• R Kent Hughes, Disciplines of a Godly Man
• Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield (SG: Note that I've linked to Crossway's paperback abridged version of this huge two volume biography)
• Henri Blocher, Evil and the Cross

What are three books you'd recommend as must-reads right now?

• DA Carson, Christ and Culture
• Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment
• Paul Barnett, Paul: Missionary of Jesus

What would your friends say are your hobby horses?

• The conviction that the ‘emerging church’ is simply a rebadged liberalism propagated by people with cool hair cuts.
• The conviction that if the men are discipled, then the battle is won.

What is something that makes you angry?

• The cruelty of heresy
• Christian men who fail to take responsibility

Who is someone that inspires you?

Charles H Spurgeon: “he being dead yet speaketh”.

What is your ideal day off?

Sleep in past 7.30. Have a great home-made shot of espresso. Go out with my family for brunch at somewhere like Mona Vale, Bronte or Balmoral, and get a plate of Eggs Benedict where the yolks are just perfectly runny. Sit on the sand and make sandcastles with my girls. Get the kids to help make pizza from scratch. Have nowhere in particular to be that night. Watch a movie at home with Amy, followed by cheering on Chelsea FC as they beat Manchester United 1-0 in the English Premier League. Go to bed with a smile on my face.

Give us your top five surf spots in New South Wales

1. Fairy Bower (Manly)
2. Black Rock (Jarvis Bay)
3. Copacabana Point (Central Coast)
4. Bluey's Beach (south of Forster)
5. Angourie (near Yamba on the North Coast)

Thanks Gavin!

SG: P.S. A note on links for the books mentioned in these interviews: I make the links in the following order of preference:

1. to Matthias Media's webstore, if it's published by them
2. to Moore College's bookshop Moorebooks for Christian books (if they have stock) (however readers outside Australia should generally look closer to home)
3. to Amazon (USA) for other books
4. very occasionally, to an Australian bookshop, if a title is not available via Amazon.

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