I had never heard of Jeff Vines, author of Dinner with Skeptics. He's spent over twenty years doing missionary work in Zimbabwe and New Zealand. In New Zealand he took part in numerous televised debates with agnostics & atheists. He is now the Sr. Pastor of Christ's Church of the Valley in San Dimas, CA.

The book is mostly a narrative. Vines was at a hotel when the hotel manager found out that he was a Christian speaker. She invited him to dinner with her staff and he accepted. What he didn't know was that the whole thing was a set-up. Within the first few moments of dinner it became apparent that the staff's plan was to ridicule him for believing in God. But Vines did not flinch and did not become defensive. He simply asked if they could engage in an intellectual conversation. What followed was a conversation that went way past midnight. The conversation included anger, humor, mocking and tears. But in the end... well, I won't tell you. But you should read it.

I've read lots of "apologetic" books (books that defend the Bible, God or Christianity), but typically their approach is to offer logic and proof in the form of "Here's why you should believe." Dinner with Skeptics was refreshing because it actually lets us read how the conversation played out. It made the book very engaging (I typically don't read books like this in 2 days).

There are "asides" in the book where Vines takes a time-out from the story to explain why he chose to say what he did, or to expound on the topic. These were helpful breaks from the story.

I would suggest this book for anyone who is struggling with understanding why there is pain, evil and suffering in this world. Vines' insights were helpful to me personally and I have already had opportunity to use some of what I've learned when talking with others.

If you are interested in the book, you can find order it at www.collegepress.com
It's pretty new & I'm not sure of any other places where you could get it.