Social Issues
Showing 201–300 of 1132 results
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Redeeming Power : Understanding Authority And Abuse In The Church
$21.99Add to cartPower has a God-given role in human relationships and institutions, but it can lead to abuse when used in unhealthy ways. Speaking into current #metoo and #churchtoo conversations, this book shows that the body of Christ desperately needs to understand the forms power takes, how it is abused, and how to respond to abuses of power.
Although many Christians want to prevent abuse in their churches and organizations, they lack a deep and clear-eyed understanding of how power actually works. Internationally recognized psychologist Diane Langberg offers a clinical and theological framework for understanding how power operates, the effects of the abuse of power, and how power can be redeemed and restored to its proper God-given place in relationships and institutions. This book not only helps Christian leaders identify and resist abusive systems but also shows how they can use power to protect the vulnerable in their midst.
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Impossible Marriage : What Our Mixed-Orientation Marriage Has Taught Us Abo
$18.99Add to cart“People say our marriage is impossible.” Laurie and Matt Krieg are in a mixed-orientation marriage: a marriage in which at least one partner’s primary attraction isn’t toward the gender of their spouse. In the Kriegs’ case, Laurie is primarily attracted to women-and so is Matt. Some find the idea of mixed-orientation marriage bewildering or even offensive. But as the Kriegs have learned, nothing is impossible with God-and that’s as true of their marriage as anyone else’s. In An Impossible Marriage, the Kriegs tell their story: how they met and got married, the challenges and breakthroughs of their journey, and what they’ve learned about marriage along the way. Christianity teaches us that marriage is a picture of Jesus’ love for the church-and that’s just as true in a mixed-orientation marriage as in a straight one. With vulnerability and wisdom, this book lays out an engaging picture of marriage in all its pain and beauty. It’s a picture that points us, over and over again, to the love and grace of Jesus-as marriage was always meant to do.
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Future Of Christian Marriage
$34.99Add to cartMarriage has come a long way since biblical times. Women are no longer property, and practices like polygamy have long been rejected. The world is wealthier, healthier, and more able to find and form relationships than ever. So why are Christian congregations doing more burying than marrying today? Explanations for the recession in marriage range from the mathematical–more women in church than men–to the economic, and from the availability of sex to progressive politics. But perhaps marriage hasn’t really changed at all. Instead, there is simply less interest in marriage in an era marked by technology, gender equality, and secularization.
Mark Regnerus explores how today’s Christians find a mate within a faith that esteems marriage but in a world that increasingly yawns at it. This book draws on in-depth interviews with nearly two hundred young-adult Christians from the United States, Mexico, Spain, Poland, Russia, Lebanon, and Nigeria, in order to understand the state of matrimony in global Christian circles today. Regnerus finds that marriage has become less of a foundation for a couple to build upon and more of a capstone. Meeting increasingly high expectations of marriage is difficult, though, in a free market whose logic reaches deep into the home today. The result is endemic uncertainty, slowing relationship maturation, and stalling marriage. But plenty of Christians innovate, resist, and wed, and this book argues that the future of marriage will be a religious one.
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Liberation Is Here
$25.99Add to cartAs a freelance filmmaker, Nikole Lim’s career allowed her to step in and out of the lives of marginalized people around the world. But when confronted with the prevalence of sexual violence in Kenyan and Zambian communities, she committed to advocating alongside the courageous survivors whose lives have intersected with her own. These women’s powerful stories inspired her to embark on a new vocation. Partnering with her Kenyan and Zambian sisters, Lim launched Freely in Hope, an organization focused on equipping survivors to end the cycle of sexual violence throughout Africa through faith, education, and self-empowerment. As Lim sought to provide liberation for her African sisters, her perspective was altered. Exhausted and deathly ill, she witnessed her friends becoming her healers-the once oppressed become her liberators. Illustrated with dramatic full-color photography from Lim’s own camera, Liberation Is Here transports readers to forgotten corners of the world. From the slums of Nairobi, hospitals of Lusaka, killing fields of Kigali, and back alleys of Barcelona, Lim weaves together stories in a narrative of God’s grace and healing amid fear and trauma. Her journey proves that liberation is not just near, but it is here-in the eyes of the broken, the hearts of the oppressed, and the untold stories of our global community.
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Who Will Be A Witness
$18.99Add to cartChurches have begun awakening to social and political injustices, often carried out in the name of Christianity. But once awakened, how will we respond?
Who Will Be a Witness offers a vision for communities of faith to organize for deliverance and justice in their neighborhoods, states, and nation as an essential part of living out the call of Jesus.
Author Drew G. I. Hart provides incisive insights into Scripture and history, along with illuminating personal stories, to help us identify how the witness of the church has become mangled by Christendom, white supremacy, and religious nationalism. Hart provides a wide range of options for congregations seeking to give witness to Jesus’ ethic of love for and solidarity with the vulnerable.
At a time when many feel disillusioned and distressed, Hart calls the church to action, offering a way forward that is deeply rooted in the life and witness of Jesus. Dr. Hart’s testimony is powerful, personal, and profound, serving as a compass that points the church to the future and offers us a path toward meaningful social change and a more faithful witness to the way of Jesus.
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Discernment For The Ages
$5.99Add to cartHow often the evangelical church of our time has been willing to re-evaluate what she has long believed, because of social consciousness, the moral outrage, of a world that has already demonstrated that it has no conscience, and has no respect for what is truly moral according to Scripture! The church is often found speaking the same language, using the same jargon, and spouting the same perspectives, as a world in darkness.
Proverbs 2:1-15 is a timeless guide to discernment for all time.
To enjoy the fruits of discernment, we must first desire discernment – as a treasure far more valuable than anything the world has to offer. We must seek the Giver of discernment and meet the requirements of discernment. The life that flows from such discernment is truly blessed.
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Might From The Margins
$16.99Add to cartGod has empowered marginalized Christians to transform the church.
The power of the gospel is often most visible among those who have been the least respected, including racial or ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, women, and people who have been displaced from their homeland. Yet in many faith communities, these are the same people whose leadership gifts are least likely to be recognized. But the power of the gospel comes from God, not from other humans. This book is a passionate affirmation of the power already present among marginalized Christians and a call to recognize and embrace this power for the sake of helping the church become more like Christ.
Marginalized Christians are already changing the face of the church. Will we embrace their power to change the church’s heart?
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Reading While Black
$22.99Add to cartGrowing up in the American South, Esau McCaulley knew firsthand the ongoing struggle between despair and hope that marks the lives of some in the African American context. A key element in the fight for hope, he discovered, has long been the practice of Bible reading and interpretation that comes out of traditional Black churches. This ecclesial tradition is often disregarded or viewed with suspicion by much of the wider church and academy, but it has something vital to say. Reading While Black is a personal and scholarly testament to the power and hope of Black biblical interpretation. At a time in which some within the African American community are questioning the place of the Christian faith in the struggle for justice, New Testament scholar McCaulley argues that reading Scripture from the perspective of Black church tradition is invaluable for connecting with a rich faith history and addressing the urgent issues of our times. He advocates for a model of interpretation that involves an ongoing conversation between the collective Black experience and the Bible, in which the particular questions coming out of Black communities are given pride of place and the Bible is given space to respond by affirming, challenging, and, at times, reshaping Black concerns. McCaulley demonstrates this model with studies on how Scripture speaks to topics often overlooked by white interpreters, such as ethnicity, political protest, policing, and slavery. Ultimately McCaulley calls the church to a dynamic theological engagement with Scripture, in which Christians of diverse backgrounds dialogue with their own social location as well as the cultures of others. Reading While Black moves the conversation forward.
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Messy Truth : How To Foster Community Without Sacrificing Conviction
$17.00Add to cartFrom the author of Messy Grace, a former pastor raised by gay parents, comes a compassionate playbook to help Christians, church staff, and ministry leaders create a culture of belonging without sacrificing theological convictions.
What should we do? This is a question many Christians are asking as they face shifting societal norms, conflicting opinions, and often inaccurate scriptural interpretations regarding those who identify as LGBTQ+.
Caleb Kaltenbach believes there’s a more helpful question: What am I willing to do to keep and build influence with ______________?
Caleb knows our love for others is best measured by the lengths we’ll go to help them. He also recognizes that people find and follow Jesus better in community than in isolation. As a child raised by three activist gay parents, Caleb experienced firsthand the outrage of some Christians. That’s why he is committed to creating a sense of belonging for all people.
True community can happen only when Christians are intentional in infusing their attitudes, systems, and values with grace and truth. This hopeful, practical book offers tools for encouraging church involvement, strengthening personal relationships, increasing empathy, and engaging in pivotal conversations about grace and truth with our whole community.
Fostering a culture of belonging is a messy process, but it holds a massive possibility for everyone involved: a growing relationship with Jesus.
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Liturgy Of Politics
$18.99Add to cartA generation of young Christians are weary of the political legacy they’ve inherited and are hungry for a better approach. They’re tired of seeing their faith tied to political battles they didn’t start, and they’re frustrated with leaders they thought they could trust. Kaitlyn Schiess grew up in this landscape, and understands it from the inside. In The Liturgy of Politics, Schiess shows that the church’s politics are shaped by its habits and practices, even when it’s unaware of them. Spiritual formation, and particularly a focus on formative practices, are experiencing a renaissance in Christian thinking-but these ideas are not often applied to the political sphere. Schiess insists that the way out of our political morass is first to recognize the formative power of the political forces all around us, and then to recover historic Christian practices that shape us according to the truth of the gospel.
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Reconstructing The Gospel
$20.99Add to cartJonathan Wilson-Hartgrove grew up in the Bible Belt in the American South as a faithful church-going Christian. But he gradually came to realize that the gospel his Christianity proclaimed was not good news for everybody. The same Christianity that sang, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound” also perpetuated racial injustice and white supremacy in the name of Jesus. His Christianity, he discovered, was the religion of the slaveholder. Just as Reconstruction after the Civil War worked to repair a desperately broken society, our compromised Christianity requires a spiritual reconstruction that undoes the injustices of the past. Wilson-Hartgrove traces his journey from the religion of the slaveholder to the Christianity of Christ. Reconstructing the gospel requires facing the pain of the past and present, from racial blindness to systemic abuses of power. Grappling seriously with troubling history and theology, Wilson-Hartgrove recovers the subversiveness of the gospel that sustained the church through centuries of slavery and oppression, from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement and beyond. When the gospel is reconstructed, freedom rings for both individuals and society as a whole. Discover how Jesus continues to save us from ourselves and each other, to repair the breach and heal our land.
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Collision Course : The Fight To Reclaim Our Moral Compass Before It Is Too
$19.95Add to cartCollision Course demonstrates that the United States was founded by Christians seeking religious freedom and economic opportunity – a grand experiment that made the common man “king.” Those new world immigrants brought with them a Christian worldview marked by a robust Protestant work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit that prospered in the wilds of America’s unchartered capitalistic economy that eventually made the European franchise the envy of the world. The backbone of that exceptional success was her Christian foundation that nourished critical institutions – family, religion, government, education and economy. However, as the history of past empires demonstrates, most often the founding ingredients wear thin and now, two and a half centuries later, America finds herself at a moral tipping point having abandoned much of her original Christian influence. Collision Course tracks America’s approaching moral tipping point which demands a call for an emergency renewal – a true repentance – to change course in order to avoid being relegated to the dust bin of history and end times irrelevancy.
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God And The Pandemic
$11.99Add to cartDiscover a different way of seeing and responding to the Coronavirus pandemic, an approach drawing on Scripture, Christian history, and the way of living, thinking, and praying revealed to us by Jesus.
What are we supposed to think about the Coronavirus crisis?
Some people think they know: “This is a sign of the End,” they say. “It’s all predicted in the book of Revelation.”
Others disagree but are equally clear: “This is a call to repent. God is judging the world and through this disease he’s telling us to change.”
Some join in the chorus of blame and condemnation: “It’s the fault of the Chinese, the government, the World Health Organization…”
N. T. Wright examines these reactions to the virus and finds them wanting. Instead, he shows that a careful reading of the Bible and Christian history offers simple though profound answers to our many questions, including:
*What should be the Christian response?
*How should we think about God?
*How do we live in the present?
*Why should we lament?
*What should we learn about ourselves?
*How do we recover?Written by one of the world’s foremost New Testament scholars, God and the Pandemic will serve as your guide to read the events of today through the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
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Rekindling Democracy : A Professional s Guide To Working In Citizen Space
$36.00Add to cartFinally, a book that offers a practical yet well-researched guide for practitioners seeking to hone the way they show up in citizen space.
At a time when public trust in institutions is at its lowest, expectations of those institutions to make people well, knowledgeable, and secure are rapidly increasing. These expectations are unrealistic, causing disenchantment and disengagement among citizens and increasing levels of burnout among many professionals. Rekindling Democracy is not just a practical guide; it goes further in setting out a manifesto for a more equitable social contract to address these issues.
Rekindling Democracy argues convincingly that industrialized countries are suffering through a democratic inversion, where the doctor is assumed to be the primary producer of health, the teacher of education, the police officer of safety, and the politician of democracy. Through just the right blend of storytelling, research, and original ideas, Russell argues instead that in a functioning democracy the role of the professionals ought to be defined as that which happens after the important work of citizens is done. The primary role of the twenty-first-century practitioner therefore is not a deliverer of top-down services, but a precipitator of more active citizenship and community building.
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Praying For America
$34.00Add to cartPRAYING FOR AMERICA encourages readers to spend 40 days asking God to do His will in and to bless America.
Each chapter includes an inspiring story demonstrating the power of faith in the life of our nation, a prayer, and a relevant passage of Scripture to biblically ground those prayers. In these increasingly divided times leading up to the 2020 election, PRAYING FOR AMERICA will serve as a very necessary resource to Christian readers. Dr. Jeffress, with his wide platform, is the perfect author to lead this charge.
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Is Christianity The White Mans Religion
$22.99Add to cartAmong many young people of color, there is a growing wariness about organized religion and Christianity in particular.
If Christianity is for everyone, why does the Bible seem to endorse slavery? Why do most popular images of Jesus feature a man with white skin and blue eyes? Is evangelical Christianity “good news” or a tool of white supremacy? As our society increases in ethnic and religious diversity, millennials and the next generation of emerging adults harbor suspicions about traditional Christianity. They’re looking for a faith that makes sense for the world they see around them. They want to know how Christianity relates to race, ethnicity, and societal injustices. Many young adults have rejected the Christian faith based on what they’ve seen in churches, the media, and politics. For them, Christianity looks a lot like a “white man’s religion.” Antipas L. Harris, a theologian and community activist, believes that biblical Christianity is more affirmative of cultural diversity than many realize. In this sweeping social, theological, and historical examination of Christianity, Harris responds to a list of hot topics from young Americans who struggle with the perception that Christianity is detached from matters of justice, identity, and culture. He also looks at the ways in which American evangelicalism may have incubated the race problem. Is Christianity the White Man’s Religion? affirms that ethnic diversity has played a powerful role in the formation of the Old and New Testaments and that the Bible is a book of justice, promoting equality for all people. Contrary to popular Eurocentric conceptions, biblical Christianity is not just for white Westerners. It’s good news for all of us.
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Other Side Of The Wall
$20.99Add to cartChristians have lived in Palestine since the earliest days of the Jesus movement. The Palestinian church predates Islam. Yet Palestinian Christians find themselves marginalized and ostracized. In the heated tensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the voices of Palestinian Christians are often unheard and ignored. This book provides an opportunity to hear the realities of life on the ground from a leading Palestinian pastor and theologian. Munther Isaac gives the perspective of Palestinian Christians on the other side of the separation wall surrounding most Palestinian West Bank cities today. Isaac laments the injustices suffered by the Palestinian people but holds out hope for a just peace and ways to befriend and love his Jewish and Muslim neighbors. In contrast to the dominant religious and nationalistic ideologies and agendas for the region, he offers a theology of the land and a vision for a shared land that belongs to God, where there are no second-class citizens of any kind. “This book is my invitation to you,” Isaac writes, “to step into the other side of the wall and listen to our stories and perspective. It is my humble request to you to allow me to share how Palestinians experience God, read the Bible, and have been touched and liberated by Jesus-a fellow Bethlehemite who has challenged us to see others as neighbors and love them as ourselves. . . . This book paints a picture of our story of faith, lament, and hope. And I invite you to join and listen, on our side of the wall.”
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For Such A Time As This
$33.95Add to cartA nation that once embraced “one nation under God” as a government creed is rapidly choosing to forget its spiritual foundations.
Sadly, many in our churches today appear unaware of what the progressive agenda of the left means for American citizens who stand on principles of biblical faith.
Daniel J. Pacheco, a retired Navy commander, challenges that agenda in this political commentary, highlighting what we can expect if we allow progressive leaders to continue trampling upon principles of faith. He answers questions such as:
– How are landmarks of Christian faith being removed from the record at an alarming pace?– Why are progressives laying siege to our right to free speech and our right to bear arms?
– How have moral wrongs somehow become protected rights?
– What does real leadership look like?
Dan doesn’t just regurgitate the good and bad of today’s leadership – he takes a step back to analyze the moorings of our leadership in the light of Scripture. In doing so, he provides a blueprint to applying biblical truth to navigate times such as this.
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For Such A Time As This
$17.95Add to cartA nation that once embraced “one nation under God” as a government creed is rapidly choosing to forget its spiritual foundations.
Sadly, many in our churches today appear unaware of what the progressive agenda of the left means for American citizens who stand on principles of biblical faith.
Daniel J. Pacheco, a retired Navy commander, challenges that agenda in this political commentary, highlighting what we can expect if we allow progressive leaders to continue trampling upon principles of faith. He answers questions such as:
– How are landmarks of Christian faith being removed from the record at an alarming pace?– Why are progressives laying siege to our right to free speech and our right to bear arms?
– How have moral wrongs somehow become protected rights?
– What does real leadership look like?
Dan doesn’t just regurgitate the good and bad of today’s leadership – he takes a step back to analyze the moorings of our leadership in the light of Scripture. In doing so, he provides a blueprint to applying biblical truth to navigate times such as this.
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Jesus Of The East
$29.99Add to cartThe Jesus of the Gospels is a revolutionary who stands with the sinned against, the wounded, and the marginalized. In Jesus of the East, author Phuc Luu re-narrates the life of Jesus to show how he made it his work to topple systems that privileged the few and disregarded the many, especially the poor and lowest.
Why is there a theology for the sinner but not a theology for the sinned against?
Much of Western Christianity has subdued the narrative of Jesus as a Palestinian Jewish healer and liberator who served the sick and oppressed. But the Jesus of the Gospels is a revolutionary who stands with the sinned against, the wounded, and the marginalized. In Jesus of the East, author Phuc Luu re-narrates the life of Jesus to show how he made it his work to topple systems that privileged the few and disregarded the many, especially the poor and lowest.
In this provocative book, Luu offers a counter-narrative to Western Christianity, which for centuries has legitimized colonization and violence to prop up the powerful at the expense of the masses. Pulling from the tradition of the early Eastern church, the present work of theologians of the oppressed, and Luu’s own experiences as a Vietnamese immigrant, Jesus of the East offers a transformative vision of healing for the world.
For those living in the land between pain and hope, Luu’s prophetic words will renew our imaginations and draw us closer to the heart of God.
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Roadmap To Reconciliation 2.0
$22.99Add to cartWe can see the injustice and inequality in our lives and in the world.
We are ready to rise up. But how, exactly, do we do this? How does one reconcile? What we need is a clear sense of direction. Based on her extensive consulting experience with churches, colleges and organizations, Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil has created a roadmap to show us the way. She guides us through the common topics of discussion and past the bumpy social terrain and political boundaries that will arise. In this revised and expanded edition, McNeil has updated her signature roadmap to incorporate insights from her more recent work. Roadmap to Reconciliation 2.0 includes a new preface and a new chapter on restoration, which address the high costs for people of color who work in reconciliation and their need for continual renewal. With reflection questions and exercises at the end of each chapter, this book is ideal to read together with your church or organization. If you are ready to take the next step into unity, wholeness and justice, then this is the book for you.
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Free At Last
$24.99Add to cartThe words of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech have become enshrined in US history. But after the end of King’s generation of leadership, what happened to the African American struggle for freedom?
Like the ancient Israelites, the African American community has survived a four-hundred-year collective trauma. What will it take for them to reach the promised land that King foresaw–to be truly free at last? In this classic historical and cultural study, Carl Ellis offers an in-depth assessment of the state of African American freedom and dignity. Stressing how important it is for African Americans to reflect on their roots, he traces the growth of Black consciousness from the days of slavery to the 1990s, noting especially the contributions of King and Malcolm X. Ellis examines elements of Black culture and offers a distinct perspective on how God is active in culture more broadly. Free at Last? concludes with a call for new generations of “jazz theologians” and cultural prophets to revitalize the African American church and expand its cultural range. The book also includes a helpful glossary of people, events, and terms. Ellis writes, “It is my prayer that the principles contained in this book will play a role in building bridges of understanding and facilitating reconciliation where there has been alienation.” With a new preface by the author, this groundbreaking book is now available as part of the IVP Signature Collection.
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Headship Of Men And The Abuse Of Women
$21.00Add to cartIn recent years the issue of domestic abuse and violence has gained a lot of attention as the extent of it has become known. Domestic abuse and violence is now of high concern to most churches because it is evident that domestic abuse figures are much the same in our churches, and possibly higher in evangelical churches where the headship of men and the submission of women is made the God-given ideal. In this book, Kevin Giles surveys competently the scientific information on this matter now available and notes that the consensus is that the most sure indicator of higher incidences of abuse are found in communities where men are privileged and expected to be in charge and women are subordinated. This, he argues, should make complementarians consider afresh if in fact the subordination of women is the God-given ideal, established in creation before the fall.
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Headship Of Men And The Abuse Of Women
$41.00Add to cartIn recent years the issue of domestic abuse and violence has gained a lot of attention as the extent of it has become known. Domestic abuse and violence is now of high concern to most churches because it is evident that domestic abuse figures are much the same in our churches, and possibly higher in evangelical churches where the headship of men and the submission of women is made the God-given ideal. In this book, Kevin Giles surveys competently the scientific information on this matter now available and notes that the consensus is that the most sure indicator of higher incidences of abuse are found in communities where men are privileged and expected to be in charge and women are subordinated. This, he argues, should make complementarians consider afresh if in fact the subordination of women is the God-given ideal, established in creation before the fall.
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Jesus Of The East
$16.99Add to cartThe Jesus of the Gospels is a revolutionary who stands with the sinned against, the wounded, and the marginalized. In Jesus of the East, author Phuc Luu re-narrates the life of Jesus to show how he made it his work to topple systems that privileged the few and disregarded the many, especially the poor and lowest.
Why is there a theology for the sinner but not a theology for the sinned against?
Much of Western Christianity has subdued the narrative of Jesus as a Palestinian Jewish healer and liberator who served the sick and oppressed. But the Jesus of the Gospels is a revolutionary who stands with the sinned against, the wounded, and the marginalized. In Jesus of the East, author Phuc Luu re-narrates the life of Jesus to show how he made it his work to topple systems that privileged the few and disregarded the many, especially the poor and lowest.
In this provocative book, Luu offers a counter-narrative to Western Christianity, which for centuries has legitimized colonization and violence to prop up the powerful at the expense of the masses. Pulling from the tradition of the early Eastern church, the present work of theologians of the oppressed, and Luu’s own experiences as a Vietnamese immigrant, Jesus of the East offers a transformative vision of healing for the world.
For those living in the land between pain and hope, Luu’s prophetic words will renew our imaginations and draw us closer to the heart of God.
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Bible And Borders
$20.00Add to cartWith so many people around the globe migrating, how should Christians and the church respond? Leading Latino-American biblical scholar M. Daniel Carroll R. (Rodas) helps readers understand what the Bible says about immigration, offering accessible, nuanced, and sympathetic guidance for the church.
After two successful editions of Christians at the Border, and having talked and written about immigration over the past decade, Carroll has sharpened his focus and refined his argument to make sure we hear clearly what the Bible says about one of the most pressing issues of our day. He has reworked the biblical material, adding insights and broadening the frame of reference beyond the US. As Carroll explores the surprising amount of material in the Old and New Testaments that deals with migration, he shows how this topic is fundamental to the message of the Bible and how it affects our understanding of God and the mission of the church.
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Christianity And The New Eugenics
$18.99Add to cartCalum MacKellar offers an accessible, inter-disciplinary analysis, blending science, history and Christian theology, enabling readers to develop an informed opinion about the topics encountered. To some degree, all members of society are affected by these new scientific developments in human reproduction, regardless of background, and will thus benefit from such a survey.
As the science of selection develops in the context of human reproduction, features such as the genetic improvement of health, athletic prowess or intelligence may become accepted grounds for choosing future children. Thus, the biological enhancement of the human race, so central to the discredited eugenic regimes of the twentieth century, may now be resurfacing under a new guise. Unnerving similarities between earlier eugenic selection programmes and those now being proposed in the context of twenty-first century human reproduction, with the development of procedures such as gene editing, suggest that a more ‘sanitised’ era of a new eugenics has dawned. There is, therefore, an urgent need to consider and evaluate both current and future selection practices from a Christian perspective based on Scripture. Calum MacKellar offers an accessible, inter-disciplinary analysis, blending science, history and Christian theology, enabling readers to develop an informed opinion about the topics encountered. To some degree, all members of society are affected by these new scientific developments in human reproduction, regardless of background, and will thus benefit from such a survey.
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God Trump And COVID 19
$15.99Add to cartFrom the best-selling author of God and Donald Trump, which was brandished by the president at the World Economic Forum in Davos
How the Pandemic Has Affected the World, America, and the 2020 Election
This book is a timely follow up to God, Trump and the 2020 Election that reveals insider information about China, the virus, and the ever-increasing stakes of the upcoming election. It will answer the question for the Christian believers (and seekers) of where God is in all this? It provides a little known prophecy by the late David Wilkerson about a plague coming that would shut down the government as well as churches and bars, including shaking New York City as it’s never been shaken. Wilkerson said this plague would force believers into radical prayer that will spark an awakening–something echoed by Christian leaders and prophets.
Just as the economy was booming and Donald Trump was fixing long-term problems and beating back attacks from his opponents, a brand-new virus shakes up everything including the outcome of this election. The author has inside information about what happened in China early in the pandemic and what went wrong. He even documents how Donald Trump has led the nation in this time of crisis.
In 2016, God raised up Donald Trump to lead America at a pivotal time. Evangelicals who recognized this backed him more than any other presidential candidate in history. Heading into Election Day 2020, the stakes are even higher, especially with the uncertainty and upheaval caused by COVID-19. This book is really “part two” of God, Trump and the 2020 Election which details the fight for the soul of America. Strang believes readers need both books to understand and explain what’s at stake. With the shutdown caused by the pandemic, serious anti-Christian trends surfaced, such as some states closing “non-essential” churches but allowing liquor stores to provide curbside service. Or ceasing all elective surgeries except abortion, which is the taking of a life while the purpose in shutting down the economy was to save lives from this dreaded virus.
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I Am Not Your Enemy
$29.99Add to cartIn a time of heightened alienation and fear, McRay offers true, sacred stories of reconciliation and justice, asking what they can teach us about our own divided states.
Are you my enemy? Am I yours?
Violent stories surround us. Brutal beginnings, horror-filled middles, despair-inducing endings. We need better stories: stories forged in the furnace of conflict, narratives that kindle compassion and ignite hope. In the pages of I Am Not Your Enemy, writer Michael T. McRay visits divided regions of the world and interviews activists, peacebuilders, former combatants, and clergy members about their personal stories of conflict, justice, and reconciliation. In Israel and Palestine, Northern Ireland, and South Africa, he hears from grieving parents who comfort each other across enemy lines, a woman who meets her father’s killer, and a young man who uses theater to counter the oppression of his people.In a time of heightened alienation and fear, McRay offers true, sacred stories of reconciliation and justice, asking what they can teach us about our own divided states. Must violence be met with violence? Is my belonging complete only when I take away yours? Will more guns, more walls, more weapons keep us safe?
We need stories that cultivate empathy and tell the truth. We need stories to save us from our fear.
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Myth Of The American Dream
$22.99Add to cartAffluence, autonomy, safety, and power.
These are the central values of the American dream. But are they actually compatible with Jesus’ command to love our neighbor as ourselves? In essays grouped around these four values, D. L. Mayfield asks us to pay attention to the ways they shape our own choices, and the ways those choices affect our neighbors. Where did these values come from? How have they failed those on the edges of our society? And how can we disentangle ourselves from our culture’s headlong pursuit of these values and live faithful lives of service to God and our neighbors?
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More Than Conquerors In Cultural Clashes
$14.99Add to cartWARNING! Don’t read this book–if you are satisfied with the status quo and don’t like to be challenged! However, if you yearn to expand your knowledge, to deepen your faith, and to strengthen your ability to answer tough questions from skeptical friends and family, keep turning these pages, absorbing the truths, and pondering the questions at the end of each chapter. If you understand and apply what you read, you are in for the thrill of your life! Especially, remember to pray daily, “Lord, please fill me with your Holy Spirit and put me in the right place at the right time with the right words to honor you.” You will be amazed how God answers this prayer and uses you!
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I Am Not Your Enemy
$16.99Add to cartIn a time of heightened alienation and fear, McRay offers true, sacred stories of reconciliation and justice, asking what they can teach us about our own divided states.
Are you my enemy? Am I yours?
Violent stories surround us. Brutal beginnings, horror-filled middles, despair-inducing endings. We need better stories: stories forged in the furnace of conflict, narratives that kindle compassion and ignite hope. In the pages of I Am Not Your Enemy, writer Michael T. McRay visits divided regions of the world and interviews activists, peacebuilders, former combatants, and clergy members about their personal stories of conflict, justice, and reconciliation. In Israel and Palestine, Northern Ireland, and South Africa, he hears from grieving parents who comfort each other across enemy lines, a woman who meets her father’s killer, and a young man who uses theater to counter the oppression of his people.In a time of heightened alienation and fear, McRay offers true, sacred stories of reconciliation and justice, asking what they can teach us about our own divided states. Must violence be met with violence? Is my belonging complete only when I take away yours? Will more guns, more walls, more weapons keep us safe?
We need stories that cultivate empathy and tell the truth. We need stories to save us from our fear.
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Finding Jesus At The Border
$22.00Add to cartImmigration is an issue of major concern within the Christian community. As Christians, how should we respond to the current crisis?
Interweaving biblical narratives of border-crossing and recent stories of immigrants at the US-Mexico border, this accessibly written book invites Christians to reconsider the plight of their neighbors and respond with compassion to the present immigration crisis. Julia Lambert Fogg, a pastor and New Testament scholar who is actively serving immigrant families in Southern California, interprets well-known biblical stories in a fresh way and puts a human face on the immigration debate.
Fogg argues that Christians must step out of their comfort zones and learn to cross social, ethnic, and religious borders–just as Jesus did–to become the body of Christ in the world. She encourages readers to welcome Christ by embracing DREAMers, the undocumented, asylum seekers, and immigrants, and she inspires Christians to advocate for immigrant justice in their communities.
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5 Loaves Two Fish 12 Volunteers
$14.99Add to cartSixty-two percent of food pantries and meal programs in the United States are faith-based. Most of these ministries are transactional; people needing food interact with church volunteers to earn access to direct service.
Elizabeth Magill advocates relational ministry as a better model for food ministry. People donating food or money eat with the people who need food and get to know them as they serve alongside them. Those needing food share all aspects of the ministry, including planning, setting up, leading, serving, and cleaning. As volunteers become better acquainted, they can form deep, meaningful relationships, creating a new way to be the church.
Five Loaves, Two Fish, Twelve Volunteers tells the stories of 8 churches that share food ministry with people who need their services. Full of practical advice, this book emphasizes that building relationships and offering radical welcome is more important work for churches than efficiency or order.
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Good White Racist
$20.00Add to cartWhen it comes to race, most White Americans are obsessed with two things: defending our own inherent goodness and maintaining our own comfort levels. Too often, this means white people assume that to be racist, one has to be openly hateful and willfully discriminatory–you know, a bad person. And we know we’re good, Christian people, right? But you don’t have to be wearing a white hood or shouting racial epithets to be complicit in America’s racist history and its ongoing systemic inequality.
In Good* White Racist, Kerry Connelly exposes the ways white people participate in, benefit from, and unknowingly perpetuate racism–despite their best “good person” intentions. Good* White Racist unpacks the systems that maintain the status quo, keep white people comfortable and complicit, and perpetuate racism in the United States and elsewhere. Combining scholarly research with her trademark New Jersey snark, Connelly shows us that even though it may not be our fault or choice to participate in a racist system, we all do, and it’s our responsibility to do something about it.
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After Trump : Achieving A New Social Gospel
$45.00Add to cartA black social gospel movement arose after the Civil War to mitigate the broken promises of reparations and the reestablishment of white supremacy. After the Gilded Age, a new social gospel arose in the early twentieth century that brought together Christian proclamation and an ethic of social justice that became liberal Protestantism’s distinctive contribution to world Christianity, leaving residues in the New Deal and the Great Society. In the face of poverty and bondage in the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. led a second wave of the black social gospel movement and died for it, as prophets do. It birthed new liberation movements on many fronts. Again things fell apart as the Reagan Revolution massively redistributed wealth and social benefits upward and “”late capitalism”” flourished. In this environment tax cuts for the wealthy and massive inequalities grew, and President Trump inherited the resentments of the Christian Right and the opportunism of economic conservatives. Would a recurring social gospel have made a difference? After Trump, American Christianity faces another crisis of decision. Will the strange God of the Bible be re-called, will the churches re-live as social movements that bring good news to all the people, will American Christianity re-contest the public square and proclaim a new social gospel for our times? This book is an invitation and a manifesto.
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Speak Your Peace
$16.99Add to cartFrom one of the most respected and prophetic voices in Christianity today comes Speak Your Peace. Ronald J. Sider, author of the influential Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, plumbs Scripture, building a persuasive case that Jesus meant what he said when he commanded us to love our enemies.
Is nonviolence irresponsible? Is peacemaking naive?
From one of the most respected and prophetic voices in Christianity today comes Speak Your Peace. Ronald J. Sider, author of the influential Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, plumbs Scripture, building a persuasive case that Jesus meant what he said when he commanded us to love our enemies.With candor and logic, Sider takes on enduring questions about violence and nonviolence, showing how the contemporary church in a warring world has largely set aside Jesus’ call to love our enemies and traded its birthright in Christ for a stew of nationalism and militarism. But ignoring what Jesus said about killing is a huge theological mistake. Returning us to the inescapable call of the Son of God, Sider reminds the church of its true vocation in a world of hatred and war.
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Every Mans Battle Revised And Updated 20th Anniversary Edition (Anniversary)
$18.00Add to cartThe groundbreaking guide to winning the battle with sexual temptation–now revised and updated to help men navigate the realities of technology and other contemporary challenges.
From movies and television to print media and the Internet, men are continually bombarded with sensual images and content. It is impossible to avoid temptation, but this book offers a clear and tested strategy for victory.
Millions have found Every Man’s Battle an invaluable guide to overcoming the struggle and remaining strong in the face of temptation. With extensive updates for a new generation, including the latest data on the intersection between brain science and sexuality, this bestseller shares the stories of dozens who have escaped the trap of sexual immorality and presents a practical, detailed plan for living with sexual integrity and a godly view of women. A comprehensive workbook makes this an ideal resource for small groups as well as personal use.
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Materiality As Resistance
$18.00Add to cartWhat is materiality?
Jesus practiced materiality when he healed the bodies of the sick, proclaimed Jubilee to the poor, and fed the five thousand. He practiced materiality over materialism. In Materiality as Resistance, Walter Brueggemann defines materiality as the use of the material aspects of the Christian faith, as opposed to materialism, which places possessions and physical comfort over spiritual values. In this concise volume, Brueggemann lays out how we as Christians may reengage our materiality for the common good. How does materiality inform our faith when it comes to food, money, the body, time, and place? How does it force us to act? Likewise, how is the church obligated to use its time, money, abundance of food, the care and use of our bodies, observance of Sabbath, and stewardship of our world and those with whom we share it? With a foreword from Jim Wallis, Materiality as Resistance serves as a manifesto of Walter Brueggemann’s most important work and as an engaging call to action. It is suited for group or individual study.
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Speak Your Peace
$29.99Add to cartFrom one of the most respected and prophetic voices in Christianity today comes Speak Your Peace. Ronald J. Sider, author of the influential Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, plumbs Scripture, building a persuasive case that Jesus meant what he said when he commanded us to love our enemies.
Is nonviolence irresponsible? Is peacemaking naive?
From one of the most respected and prophetic voices in Christianity today comes Speak Your Peace. Ronald J. Sider, author of the influential Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, plumbs Scripture, building a persuasive case that Jesus meant what he said when he commanded us to love our enemies.With candor and logic, Sider takes on enduring questions about violence and nonviolence, showing how the contemporary church in a warring world has largely set aside Jesus’ call to love our enemies and traded its birthright in Christ for a stew of nationalism and militarism. But ignoring what Jesus said about killing is a huge theological mistake. Returning us to the inescapable call of the Son of God, Sider reminds the church of its true vocation in a world of hatred and war.
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3rd Option : Hope For A Racially Divided Nation
$16.99Add to cartMiles McPherson, founder of The Rock Church in San Diego, presents “a discussion about race that we desperately need…a must read” (Bishop T.D. Jakes, Senior Pastor, The Potter’s House) and argues that we must learn to see people not by the color of their skin, but as God sees them-humans created in the image of God.
Pastor Miles McPherson, senior pastor of The Rock Church in San Diego, addresses racial division, a topic many have shied away from, for fear of asking the wrong question or saying the wrong thing. Some are oblivious to the impact racism has, while others pretend it doesn’t exist.
Even the church has been affected by racial division, with Sunday now being the most segregated day of each week. Christians, who are called to love and honor their neighbors, have fallen into culture’s trap by siding with one group against another: us vs. them. Cops vs. protestors. Blacks vs. whites. Racists vs. the “woke.” The lure of choosing one option over another threatens God’s plan for unity among His people.
Instead of going along with the culture, Pastor Miles directs us to choose the Third Option: honoring the priceless value of God’s image in every person we meet. He exposes common misconceptions that keep people from engaging with those of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, and identifies the privileges and pitfalls that we all face.
The Third Option challenges us to fully embrace God’s creativity and beauty, as expressed in the diversity of His people. By following the steps and praying the prayers outlined in his book, Pastor Miles teaches us how we can all become leaders in unifying our communities, our churches, and the nation.
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Bible And The Ballot
$34.99Add to cartHow to read the Bible on matters of public policy
Christians affirm the Bible as our standard of faith and practice. We turn to it to hear God’s voice. But what relevance does the Bible have for the contentious public policy issues we face today? Although the Bible does not always speak explicitly to modern issues, it does give us guiding principles as we think about how we might vote or act as political figures ourselves.
The Bible and the Ballot demonstrates the proper use of Scripture in contemporary political discussions. Christians regularly invoke the Bible to support their positions on many controversial political topics–gay marriage, poverty, war, religious liberty, immigration, the environment, taxes, etc.–and this book will help facilitate those conversations. Tremper Longman provides a hermeneutical approach to using the Bible in this manner, then proceeds topic by topic, citing important Scriptures to be taken into consideration in each case and offering an evangelical interpretation.
Longman is careful to suggest levels of confidence in interpretation and acknowledges that often there are a range of possible applications. Each chapter includes questions to provoke further thought in individuals’ minds or for group discussion.
The Bible and the Ballot is a ready guide to understanding the Bible on issues that American Christians face today as we live within a pluralistic society.
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MeToo Reckoning : Facing The Church’s Complicity In Sexual Abuse And Miscon
$17.99Add to cartThe #MeToo movement has revealed sexual abuse in every sphere of society, including the church. But all too often, churches have been complicit in protecting abusers, reinforcing patriarchal power dynamics, and creating cultures of secrecy, shame, and silence. Disclosing candid stories of abuse, pastor and survivor Ruth Everhart offers God’s hope to survivors while shining a light on the prevalence of sexual misconduct within faith communities.
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Our Bodies Tell Gods Story
$21.99Add to cartIn response to a world awash in sexual chaos and gender confusion, this book offers a bold and thoroughly biblical look at the meaning of the body, sex, gender, and marriage.
Bestselling author, cultural commentator, and popular theologian Christopher West is one of the world’s most recognized teachers of John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. He specializes in making this teaching accessible to all Christians, with particular attention to evangelicals. As West explains, from beginning to end the Bible tells a story of marriage. It begins with the marriage of man and woman in an earthly paradise and ends with the marriage of Christ and the church in an eternal paradise.
In our post-sexual-revolution world, we need to remember that our bodies tell a divine story and proclaim the gospel itself. As male and female and in the call to become “one flesh,” our bodies reveal a “great mystery” that mirrors Christ’s love for the church (Eph. 5:31-32). This book provides a redemptive rather than repressive approach to sexual purity, explores the true meaning of sex and marriage, and offers a compelling vision of what it means to be created male and female. Foreword by Eric Metaxas.
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Healing Racial Trauma
$18.99Add to cartPeople of color have endured traumatic histories and almost daily assaults on their dignity. Professional counselor Sheila Wise Rowe exposes the symptoms of racial trauma to lead readers to a place of freedom from the past and new life for the future. With Rowe as a reliable guide who has both been on the journey and shown others the way forward, you will find a safe pathway to resilience.
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Color Of Compromise
$19.99Add to cartAn acclaimed, timely narrative of how people of faith have historically–up to the present day–worked against racial justice. And a call for urgent action by all Christians today in response.
The Color of Compromise is both enlightening and compelling, telling a history we either ignore or just don’t know. Equal parts painful and inspirational, it details how the American church has helped create and maintain racist ideas and practices. You will be guided in thinking through concrete solutions for improved race relations and a racially inclusive church.
The Color of Compromise
*Takes you on a historical, sociological, and religious journey: from America’s early colonial days through slavery and the Civil War
*Covers the tragedy of Jim Crow laws, the victories of the Civil Rights era, and the strides of today’s Black Lives Matter movement
*Reveals the cultural and institutional tables we have to flip in order to bring about meaningful integration
*Charts a path forward to replace established patterns and systems of complicity with bold, courageous, immediate action
*Is a perfect book for pastors and other faith leaders, students, non-students, book clubs, small group studies, history lovers, and all lifelong learnersThe Color of Compromise is not a call to shame or a platform to blame white evangelical Christians. It is a call from a place of love and desire to fight for a more racially unified church that no longer compromises what the Bible teaches about human dignity and equality. A call that challenges black and white Christians alike to standup now and begin implementing the concrete ways Tisby outlines, all for a more equitable and inclusive environment among God’s people. Starting today.
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Earthkeeping And Character
$27.00Add to cartAddressing a topic of growing and vital concern, this book asks us to reconsider how we think about the natural world and our place in it. Steven Bouma-Prediger brings ecotheology into conversation with the emerging field of environmental virtue ethics, exploring the character traits and virtues required for Christians to be responsible keepers of the earth and to flourish in the challenging decades to come. He shows how virtue ethics can enrich Christian environmentalism, helping readers think and act in ways that rightly value creation.
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Collateral Damage : Changing The Conversation About Firearms And Faith
$16.99Add to cartOne hundred people die from gun violence every day in the United States. Some fifty children and teens are shot. There are more than 35,000 gun-related deaths every year. Yet many Christians say gun violence shouldn’t be talked about in church.
In Collateral Damage, pastor and activist James E. Atwood issues an urgent call to action to Christians to work together to stop gun violence. An avid hunter for many years, Atwood enumerates the tragic and far-reaching costs that accrue in a country with more guns than people. Collateral damage includes a generalized fear and loss of trust. Suicides and homicides. Trauma for children in neighborhoods plagued by gun violence and in schools with frequent lockdown drills. A toxic machismo that shapes our boys and men in unhealthy ways. Economic costs that exceed $229 billion per year. Atwood also considers the deeper story of racism, inequality, and mass incarceration in which the conversation about gun violence is lodged.
Gun violence has been called the theological emergency of our time. The church has a moral and spiritual obligation to side with life against death. Will we rise to the occasion?
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Spirit Of Hope
$34.00Add to cartFamous theologian Jurgen Moltmann returns here to the theme that he so powerfully addressed in his groundbreaking work, Theology of Hope. In the twenty-first century, he tells us, hope is challenged by ideologies and global trends that would deny hope and even life itself. Terrorist violence, social and economic inequality, and most especially the looming crisis of climate change all contribute to a cultural moment of profound despair. Moltmann reminds us that Christian faith has much to say in response to a despairing world. In “the eternal yes of the living God,” we affirm the goodness and ongoing purpose of our fragile humanity. Likewise, God’s love empowers us to love life and resist a culture of death.
The book’s two sections equally promote these affirmations, yet in different ways. The first section looks at the challenges to hope in our current world, most especially the environmental crisis. It argues that Christian faith–and indeed all the world’s religions–must orient themselves toward the wholeness of the human family and the physical environment necessary to that wholeness. The second section draws on resources from the early church, the Reformation, and the contemporary theological conversation to undergird efforts to address the deficit of hope he describes in the first section.
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10 Commandments Of Progressive Christianity
$7.99Add to cartA cautionary look at ten dangerously appealing half-truths.
In 1923, J. Gresham Machen, then a professor at Princeton Seminary, wrote his classic text, Christianity and Liberalism. The book was a response to the rise of liberalism in the mainline denominations of his own day. Machen argued that the liberal understanding of Christianity was, in fact, not just a variant version of the faith, nor did it represent simply a different denominational perspective, but was an entirely different religion. Put simply, liberal Christianity is not Christianity.
What is remarkable about Machen’s book is how prescient it was. His description of liberal Christianity–a moralistic, therapeutic version of the faith that values questions over answers and being “good” over being “right”–is still around today in basically the same form. For this reason alone the book should be required reading, certainly for all seminary students, pastors, and Christian leaders.
Although its modern advocates present liberal Christianity as something new and revolutionary, it is nothing of the sort. It may have new names (e.g., “emerging” or “progressive” Christianity), but it is simply a rehash of the same well-worn system that has been around for generations.
The abiding presence of liberal Christianity struck me not long ago when I came across a daily devotional from Richard Rohr that listed ten principles he thinks modern Christianity needs to embody. These ten principles are actually drawn from Philip Gulley’s book, If the Church Were Christian: Rediscovering the Values of Jesus. In that devotional series, ironically titled “Returning to Essentials,” Rohr sets forth the ten principles as a kind of confessional statement of modern liberalism (while at the same time pretending to deplore confessional statements). They are, in effect, a Ten Commandments for progressive Christianity.
Indeed, these ten sound like they were gathered not so much on the mountaintop as in the university classroom. They are less about God revealing his desires and more about man expressing his own–less Moses, more Oprah.
But take note: each of these commandments is partially true. Indeed, that is what makes this list, and progressive Christianity as a whole, so challenging. It is a master class in half-truths that sound appealing on the surface until you dig down deeper and really explore their foundations and implications. Benjamin Franklin was right when he quipped, “Half the truth is often a
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No Avatars Allowed
$21.95Add to cartReaches across generations to explore divinity, humanity, and technology through the lens of video games
Challenges readers to look theologically at how they play Since the advent of video games in the 1960s, they have become the common experience of everyone from Gen-X to the Millennial and post-Millennial generations. While many of today’s clergy, parishioners, and theologians grew up gaming, the church’s stance regarding video games is one of, at best, bemusement. This book takes seriously the idea that video games can challenge us to think more deeply about our reality, divinity, faith, and each other. It draws readers into a small, but growing, conversation about models of incarnation and what it means to distinguish between the virtual and the real. This book will introduce readers to concepts and questions from the perspective of a Christian systematic theologian who has been playing games since he was four years old, and who has been writing, speaking, and podcasting about this topic since 2010. It is an invitation into a relatively new conversation about divinity, humanity, and technology.
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End Of Hunger
$17.99Add to cartJesus’ command is clear: we are called to feed all of God’s children. But is that possible? Bringing together activists, politicians, scientists, pastors, theologians, and artists, this is a comprehensive picture of the current situation with the latest facts and figures, compelling stories both from those fighting against hunger and from the hungry themselves, and clear steps for action by individuals, families, churches, and communities.
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Separated By The Border
$18.99Add to cartIn 2017 five-year-old Julia traveled with her mother, Guadalupe, from Honduras to the United States.
Her harrowing journey took her through Mexico in the cargo section of a tractor trailer. Then she was separated from her mother, who was held hostage by smugglers who exploited her physically and financially. At the United States border, Julia came through the processing center as an unaccompanied minor after being separated from her stepdad who was deported. Gena Thomas tells the story of how Julia came to the United States, what she experienced in the system, and what it took to reunite her with her family. A Spanish-speaking former missionary, Gena became Julia’s foster mother and witnessed firsthand the ways migrant children experience trauma. Weaving together the stories of birth mother and foster mother, this book shows the human face of the immigrant and refugee, the challenges of the immigration and foster care systems, and the tenacious power of motherly love.
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Bread For The Resistance
$17.99Add to cartSometimes you get tired, doing this thing we call justice. You feel burned out or disillusioned. Sometimes you just need a word from the Lord. In these daily devotions, Donna Barber offers life-giving words of renewal and hope for those engaged in the resistance to injustice. When your legs are tired from marching and your knees bruised from kneeling, you can experience rest and healing.
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Carpe Diem Redeemed
$22.99Add to cartHow do we make the most of life and the time we have? In the midst of our harried modern world, Os Guinness calls us to consequential living, reorienting our notion of history not as cyclical nor as meaningless, but as linear and purposeful. We can seek to serve God’s purpose for our generation, read the times, and discern our call for this moment in history.
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Unborn Untold : True Stories Of Abortion And God’s Healing Grace
$14.99Add to cartConfused. Scared. Pressured. Alone. That’s what so many of the women and men in these true stories felt when faced with an unexpected pregnancy. Many believed they had no alternative but to abort their child, while others made the difficult decision to choose life. All live with the consequences of that decision. And all have experienced the healing grace and mercy of God.
Their stories will touch your heart, expand your ability to offer compassion to all affected by abortion, and provide practical tools and guidance through the healing process.
The global abortion epidemic demands a response of support, encouragement, and grace from those on all sides of the issue. Only then will those in crisis pregnancy situations feel equipped and empowered to choose life. And only then can every person affected by abortion let go of the past and move forward into a future filled with healing and hope.
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Different Shade Of Green
$15.95Add to cartWe have been shockingly bad at using our Bibles and our brains when it comes to conservation and the environment. Unhinged environmentalism is not the answer, but neither are ignorance and apathy. It’s time for something different.
Christian responsibility for the natural world goes back to the very beginning, when God commanded us to “fill the earth and subdue it.” This Dominion Mandate is an authoritative alternative to both environmental activists and to those who think “conservation” is a word progressives made up.
So what does “dominion” mean for us, living in a world of constant reports about impending global meltdown; of oils spills, pollution, and strip-mining; of extinction threats both real and imagined? A Different Shade of Green contains a compelling Christian approach to biodiversity, life cycles, and the environment, offering solutions and correcting errors while teaching us how to give thanks for-and rule over-all of creation.
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Invited : The Power Of Hospitality In An Age Of Loneliness
$29.99Add to cartJust come on over.
Many people today feel lonely, isolated, and disconnected from God and others. We crave authentic community, but we have no idea where to start. We’d be glad to cultivate friendships; but honestly, who’s got the time?
In Invited, writer Leslie Verner says real hospitality is not having a Pinterest-perfect table or well-appointed living room. True hospitality is not clean, comfortable, or controlled. It is an invitation to enter a sacred space together with friends and strangers. Through vivid accounts from her life and travels in Uganda, China, and Tajikistan, and stories of visiting congregations in the United States, Verner shares stories of life around the table and how hospitality is at the heart of Christian community. What if we in the West learned about hospitality from people around the globe? What if our homes became laboratories of belonging?
Invited will empower you to open your home, get to know your neighbors, and prioritize people over tasks. Holy hospitality requires more of Jesus and less of us. It leads not only to loving the stranger but to becoming the stranger. Welcome to a new kind of hospitality.
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Invited : The Power Of Hospitality In An Age Of Loneliness
$16.99Add to cartJust come on over.
Many people today feel lonely, isolated, and disconnected from God and others. We crave authentic community, but we have no idea where to start. We’d be glad to cultivate friendships; but honestly, who’s got the time?
In Invited, writer Leslie Verner says real hospitality is not having a Pinterest-perfect table or well-appointed living room. True hospitality is not clean, comfortable, or controlled. It is an invitation to enter a sacred space together with friends and strangers. Through vivid accounts from her life and travels in Uganda, China, and Tajikistan, and stories of visiting congregations in the United States, Verner shares stories of life around the table and how hospitality is at the heart of Christian community. What if we in the West learned about hospitality from people around the globe? What if our homes became laboratories of belonging?
Invited will empower you to open your home, get to know your neighbors, and prioritize people over tasks. Holy hospitality requires more of Jesus and less of us. It leads not only to loving the stranger but to becoming the stranger. Welcome to a new kind of hospitality.
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Protecting Your Child From Predators
$17.00Add to cartEven good parents often underestimate the dangers their children face. Research indicates that one in four females and one in six males are sexually abused before age 18. In most cases, the enemy is not a faceless stranger; it’s someone you know and trust–a neighbor, a coach, or even a family member.This book provides practical steps to ensure you’re doing all you can to reduce the risks of abuse. But since you cannot be with your children 24/7, it goes beyond what you can do as a parent to teach you how to increase your child’s own awareness and strategies in the face of potential dangers–without making them fearful.Dr. Robinson, whose decades-long practice focuses on abused and endangered children, calls on her own case studies to show age-appropriate conversation starters for parents, teaching them how to ask the right questions and provide the right boundaries.This book will help you move from fear to confidence on this heavy topic that is just too important to ignore.
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From Risk To Resilience
$16.99Add to cartGirls and women are transforming the world. Will the church support them?
Educating women is the most effective way to combat extreme poverty, slash child mortality rates, and build healthy communities. But first a girl must navigate the minefields of childhood and adolescence. Will she get pregnant or finish her education? Will she be trafficked or taught a trade? Will she be abused by authority figures or equipped for leadership?
From Risk to Resilience weaves the stories of young women between the ages of twelve and twenty-one into a tapestry of hope. Author and gender justice advocate Jenny Rae Armstrong illuminates dangers common to women and girls around the world: gender-based violence, child marriage, healthcare gaps, and damaging social attitudes. She also delves into narratives of women in Scripture, examining theologies of oppression that contain and crush women’s potential, and theologies of shalom that lift women up.
Drawing on resources from the gender justice movement and from heroines of the Bible, Armstrong offers a stirring call to action, with practical ways that churches and individuals can help girls around the globe thrive.
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If Jesus Is Lord
$28.00Add to cartWhat does Jesus have to say about violence, just war, and killing? Does Jesus ever want his disciples to kill in order to resist evil and promote peace and justice?This book by noted theologian and bestselling author Ronald J. Sider provides a career capstone statement on biblical peacemaking. Sider makes a strong case for the view that Jesus calls his disciples to love, and never kill, their enemies. He explains that there are never only two options: to kill or to do nothing in the face of tyranny and brutality. There is always a third possibility: vigorous, nonviolent resistance. If we believe that Jesus is Lord, then we disobey him when we set aside what he taught about killing and ignore his command to love our enemies.
This thorough, comprehensive treatment of a topic of perennial concern vigorously engages with the just war tradition and issues a challenge to all Christians, especially evangelicals, to engage in biblical peacemaking.
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In Search Of The Common Good
$24.99Add to cartCommon life in our society is in decline–our communities are disintegrating, our public discourse is hateful, and economic inequalities are widening. In this book, Jake Meador reclaims a vision of common life for our fractured times: a vision that doesn’t depend on the destinies of our economies or our political institutions, but on our citizenship in a heavenly city. Only through that vision can we truly work together for the common good.
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Reading Romans With Eastern Eyes
$28.99Add to cartIntroduction
1. How To Read With Eastern Eyes
2. Paul’s Mission Frames His Message (Rom 1, 15)
3. Dishonoring God And Ourselves (Rom 1-2)
4. Distinguishing “Us” And “Them” (Rom 2)
5. Christ Saves God’s Face (Rom 3)
6. Who Is Worthy Of Honor? (Rom 4)
7. Faith In The Filial Christ (Rom 5-6)
8. The Hope Of Glory Through Shame (Rom 5-8)
9. Shamed From Birth? (Rom 7)
10. They Will Not Be Put To Shame (Rom 9-11)
11. Honor One Another (Rom 12-13)
12. The Church As “Harmonious Society” (Rom 14-16)
Discussion Guide
Bibliography
Author Index
Subject Index
Scripture IndexAdditional Info
What does it mean to “read with Eastern eyes”? According to Jackson Wu, an Eastern perspective is in many ways culturally closer to that of the first-century world. Cultural values of honor and shame, social status, tradition, hierarchy, and relationships are similar in both East Asia and the New Testament.As readers, we bring our cultural understanding and values to the text. Our biases and background influence what we observe-and what we overlook. Wu aims to help us develop our “Eastern lenses” in order to interpret Scripture well and gain insights we might have missed.
In Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes, Wu demonstrates how an Eastern perspective sheds light on Paul’s most complex letter. When read this way, we see how honor and shame shape so much of Paul’s message and mission.
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Addiction Nation : What The Opioid Crisis Reveals About Us
$30.99Add to cart“Opioids claim the lives of 115 people per day. One of them could have been me.”
When a near-fatal illness led his doctors to prescribe narcotics, media consultant Timothy McMahan King ended up where millions of others have: addicted. Eventually King learned to manage pain without opioids–but not before he began asking profound questions about the spiritual and moral nature of addiction, the companies complicit in creating the opioid epidemic, and the paths toward healing and recovery.
We have become a society not only damaged by addiction but fueled by it. In Addiction Nation, King investigates the ways that addiction robs us of freedom and holds us back from being fully human. Through stories, theology, philosophy, and cultural analysis, King examines today’s most common addictions and their destructive consequences. In stark yet intimate prose, he looks not only at the rise of opioid abuse but at policy, pain, virtue, and habit. He also unpacks research showing patterns of addiction to technology, stress, and even political partisanship.
Addiction of any kind dims the image of God and corrupts who we were created to be. Addiction Nation nudges us toward healing from the ravages of addiction and draws us toward a spirituality sturdy enough to sate our deepest longings.
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Addiction Nation : What The Opioid Crisis Reveals About Us
$17.99Add to cart“Opioids claim the lives of 115 people per day. One of them could have been me.”
When a near-fatal illness led his doctors to prescribe narcotics, media consultant Timothy McMahan King ended up where millions of others have: addicted. Eventually King learned to manage pain without opioids–but not before he began asking profound questions about the spiritual and moral nature of addiction, the companies complicit in creating the opioid epidemic, and the paths toward healing and recovery.
We have become a society not only damaged by addiction but fueled by it. In Addiction Nation, King investigates the ways that addiction robs us of freedom and holds us back from being fully human. Through stories, theology, philosophy, and cultural analysis, King examines today’s most common addictions and their destructive consequences. In stark yet intimate prose, he looks not only at the rise of opioid abuse but at policy, pain, virtue, and habit. He also unpacks research showing patterns of addiction to technology, stress, and even political partisanship.
Addiction of any kind dims the image of God and corrupts who we were created to be. Addiction Nation nudges us toward healing from the ravages of addiction and draws us toward a spirituality sturdy enough to sate our deepest longings.
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Love Thy Body
$19.99Add to cartWhy the call to Love Thy Body? To counter a pervasive hostility toward the body and biology that drives today’s headline stories:
Transgenderism: Activists detach gender from biology. Kids down to kindergarten are being taught their bodies are irrelevant. Is this affirming–or does it demean the body?
Homosexuality: Advocates disconnect sexuality from biological identity. Is this liberating–or does it denigrate biology?
Abortion: Supporters deny the fetus is a person, though it is biologically human. Does this mean equality for women–or does it threaten the intrinsic value of all humans?
Euthanasia: Those who lack certain cognitive abilities are said to be no longer persons. Is this compassionate–or does it ultimately put everyone at risk?
In Love Thy Body, bestselling author Nancy Pearcey goes beyond politically correct slogans with a riveting expose of the dehumanizing worldview that shapes current watershed moral issues.
Pearcey then turns the tables on media boilerplate that misportrays Christianity as harsh or hateful. A former agnostic, she makes a surprising and persuasive case that Christianity is holistic, sustaining the dignity of the body and biology.
Throughout she entrances readers with compassionate stories of people wrestling with hard questions in their own lives–their pain, their struggles, their triumphs. -
Love Anyway : An Invitation Beyond A World That’s Scary As Hell
$17.99Add to cartWith almost two decades of working in conflict zones like Iraq and Syria, Jeremy Courtney has come face-to-face with ISIS, suffered U.S. airstrikes, spent jail time in Iraq, and had fatwas calling for his death. And yet, he’s learned to love anyway.Nowadays it seems we are all afraid. We fear wars and injustice, government policies and economic ruin, tragedies and the loss of those we love. Our hearts tell us a better world is possible. We can imagine it – and almost taste it – but do we dare reach beyond our fear for it? Could it be that the extraordinary, meaningful lives we dream of aren’t found in clinging to what we have, but in walking toward the very things that scare us most?Founder of Preemptive Love Coalition Jeremy Courtney knows better than most that the world can be scary as hell. With almost two decades of working in conflict zones like Iraq and Syria, Jeremy and his team have come face-to-face with ISIS, suffered U.S. airstrikes targeting the team, spent jail time in Iraq, had fatwas calling for Jeremy’s death, and yet learned to love anyway – despite being afraid. Gut honest, Jeremy shares his own journey, taking readers inside the heartbreak – and the joy – he and his family have experienced along the way.With raw accounts of living with real people amid bombings, war, and terrorism, Jeremy opens the door on what he has experienced and his struggle to understand what it all means. Love Anyway will inspire you to confront your deepest fears and live the courageous life open to you on the other side of fear. By finding ways to respond to our scary world with the kind of love that may seem a little crazy, we can become agents of hope who unmake violence itself and unfurl the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.
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Mama Bear Apologetics
$16.99Add to cart#RoarLikeAMother
The problem with lies is they don’t often sound like lies. Their attraction is their appeal. They seem harmless, and even sound right. So what’s a Mama Bear to do to protect her children and raise them in the truth?
Mama Bear Apologetics is the book you’ve been looking for. This mom-to-mom guide will equip you to teach your kids how to form their own beliefs about what is true and what is false. Through honest storytelling and practical application, this band of Mama Bears offers tools to train your kids how to spot the lie traps intended to trip them up and the steps to take to stand strong on God’s Word.
Are you ready to answer the rallying cry, “When you mess with our kids, we will demolish your arguments”? Join the Mama Bear movement and raise your voice to protect your kids.
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God Who Sees
$16.99Add to cartMeet people who have fled their homelands.
Hagar. Joseph. Ruth. Jesus.Here is a riveting story of seeking safety in another land. Here is a gripping journey of loss, alienation, and belonging. In The God Who Sees, immigration advocate Karen Gonzalez recounts her family’s migration from the instability of Guatemala to making a new life in Los Angeles and the suburbs of south Florida. In the midst of language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and the tremendous pressure to assimilate, Gonzalez encounters Christ through a campus ministry program and begins to follow him.
Here, too, is the sweeping epic of immigrants and refugees in Scripture. Abraham, Hagar, Joseph, Ruth: these intrepid heroes of the faith cross borders and seek refuge. As witnesses to God’s liberating power, they name the God they see at work, and they become grafted onto God’s family tree.
Find resources for welcoming immigrants in your community and speaking out about an outdated immigration system. Find the power of Jesus, a refugee Savior who calls us to become citizens in a country not of this world.
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God Who Sees
$29.99Add to cartMeet people who have fled their homelands.
Hagar. Joseph. Ruth. Jesus.Here is a riveting story of seeking safety in another land. Here is a gripping journey of loss, alienation, and belonging. In The God Who Sees, immigration advocate Karen Gonzalez recounts her family’s migration from the instability of Guatemala to making a new life in Los Angeles and the suburbs of south Florida. In the midst of language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and the tremendous pressure to assimilate, Gonzalez encounters Christ through a campus ministry program and begins to follow him.
Here, too, is the sweeping epic of immigrants and refugees in Scripture. Abraham, Hagar, Joseph, Ruth: these intrepid heroes of the faith cross borders and seek refuge. As witnesses to God’s liberating power, they name the God they see at work, and they become grafted onto God’s family tree.
Find resources for welcoming immigrants in your community and speaking out about an outdated immigration system. Find the power of Jesus, a refugee Savior who calls us to become citizens in a country not of this world.
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In Search Of Christ In Latin America
$45.99Add to cartNoted theologian Samuel Escobar offers a magisterial survey and study of Christology in Latin America. Starting with the first Spanish influence and moving through popular religiosity and liberationist themes in Catholic and Protestant thought of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, In Search of Christ in Latin America culminates in an important description of the work of the Latin American Theological Fraternity (FTL). Escobar chronologically traces the journey of Latin American Christology and describes the milestones along the way toward a rich understanding of the spiritual reality and powerful message of Jesus.
IVP Academic is pleased to release this important work, originally published in Spanish as En busca de Cristo en America Latina, for the first time in English.
*Offers theological, historical, and cultural analysis of Latin American understandings of Christ
*Discusses the sixteenth-century Spanish Christ, popular religiosity, and developed theological reflection
*Covers the full spectrum of theological traditions in Latin America
*Examines the figure of Jesus Christ in the context of Latin American culture of the twentieth century
*Places liberation theology within its social and revolutionary context -
Political Visions And Illusions
$35.99Add to cartWhat you believe about politics matters. The decades since the Cold War, with new alignments of post-9/11 global politics and the chaos of the late 2010s, are swirling with alternative visions of political life, ranging from ethnic nationalism to individualistic liberalism.
Political ideologies are not merely a matter of governmental efficacy, but are intrinsically and inescapably religious: each carries certain assumptions about the nature of reality, individuals and society, as well as a particular vision for the common good. These fundamental beliefs transcend the political sphere, and the astute Christian observer can discern the ways-sometimes subtle, sometimes not-in which ideologies are rooted in idolatrous worldviews.
In this freshly updated, comprehensive study, political scientist David Koyzis surveys the key political ideologies of our era, including liberalism, conservatism, nationalism, democracy, and socialism. Koyzis gives each philosophy careful analysis and fair critique, unpacking the worldview issues inherent to each and pointing out essential strengths and weaknesses, as well as revealing the “narrative structure” of each-the stories they tell to make sense of public life and the direction of history. Koyzis concludes by proposing alternative models that flow out of Christianity’s historic engagement with the public square, retrieving approaches for both individuals and the global, institutional church that hold promise for the complex political realities of the twenty-first century.
Writing with broad international perspective and keen analytical insight, Koyzis is a sane and sensible guide for Christians working in the public square, culture watchers, political pundits, and all students of modern political thought.
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Closing The Floodgates Enhanced Edition
$28.99Add to cart“In Closing the Floodgates, psychotherapist Dr. Ann Gillies has written a blockbuster of a book exposing the biased, unscientific, and corrupt methods used to promote the sexual revolution of the last sixty years. In her powerful and compelling analysis, she shows how the truth of scientific fact has been overturned in the interest of pleasure and personal feelings, and how a determined minority is using social engineering to reconstruct our social and moral worlds by redefining gender, sexuality and the family. She draws an alarming picture of the consequences: identity confusion among the youth; sexual abuse and victimization of children; soaring rates of suicide and sexually transmitted diseases; the embedding of false, unhealthy, and immoral teaching in the school curriculum; and the loss of freedom of speech and parental rights. While a few readers may find the level of detailed academic content challenging at times, Dr. Gillies is able to make professional findings understandable and real for the average person. For all the necessary research and statistical reporting, this is a gut-level book. In a time of culture wars, when the truth about gender and sexuality is under attack, this book sets the record straight. It issues a rallying cry to parents and others concerned for the future of the family and western society to be informed and take action before it is too late.”
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Connecting For A Change
$16.99Add to cartAt its simplest, Mission Strategy is about aligning the what, who, how and when with God’s why. Learn to implement Mission Strategy in your community of faith! Church and community relevance and vitality depends on leaders who see their situation through the lens of mission strategy. At its simplest, mission strategy is about aligning the what, who, how and when with God’s why. The authors have lived Mission Strategy in a variety of bold ways and have helped others do the same. In doing so, they have created vitality in existing congregations and in newly formed clusters of churches. They have helped create zones of innovation and new ministry development. The sky is the limit when pastors, church leaders and laity in local churches begin emphasizing mission strategy in their conferences, regions, neighborhoods and churches.
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Our Spiritual Compass
$19.95Add to cartAn Outskirts Press Title
Even a casual look at trends in human behavior will instantly reveal that kindness and good are on the decline, while greed and cruelty are on the rise-even as secular culture proclaims its dedication to tolerance and safety for all. In reality, the conscience is under assault, and the result is a general condemnation of the morality that society must rely upon as a guide. Those who would live a godly life are told that they are the problem. Although the conscience is not given much attention by the Church, it is very important in understanding both ethics and morality. Our Spiritual Compass: The Conscience and Morality provides an overview of man’s immaterial parts (spirit, soul, heart, flesh, will, mind, and conscience). It uses this background to provide an in-depth Biblical study of the conscience. The latter part of the book is dedicated to understanding morality from the standpoint of conscience, examining how two hundred years of worldly thought have corrupted our understanding of morality and ethics, and the ways in which modern life and philosophy are at odds with God’s guidance. Clear, accessible, and well researched, this is the book you need to assess whether you-and your loved ones-are on the right path.
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Unashamed : A Coming Out Guide For LGBTQ Christians
$20.00Add to cartOn a daily basis, author and LGBTQ advocate Amber Cantorna receives emails asking the same question: How does one reconcile their sexuality with their faith? Depression, despair, and thoughts of suicide often haunt LGBTQ Christians as they feel unable to imagine the possibility of living a happy, fulfilling life as an LGBTQ person of faith.
As the gay daughter of a thirty-plus-year executive of conservative Christian organization Focus on the Family, Amber lost everything when she came out as gay in 2012. However, her journey to embrace her authenticity brought her fulfillment and wisdom to share. Unashamed serves as a guide for Christians considering coming out, tackling tough subject matters such as demolishing internalized homophobia, finding an affirming faith community, reestablishing your worth as a child of God, navigating difficult family conversations (especially in cases where family is involved in church leadership/ministry), and healing from the pain of rejection. Unashamed encourages LGBTQ Christians to embrace their unique identities and to celebrate the diversity placed inside them by God.
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Americas Unholy Ghosts
$30.00Add to cartAmerica’s Unholy Ghosts examines the DNA of the ideologies that shape our nation, ideologies that are as American as apple pie but that too often justify and perpetuate racist ideas and racial inequalities. MLK challenged us to investigate the “ideational roots of race hate” and Ghosts does just that by examining a philosophical “trinity”–Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Adam Smith–whose works collectively helped to institutionalize, imagine, and ingrain racist ideologies into the hearts and minds of the American people.
As time passed, America’s racial imagination evolved to form people incapable of recognizing their addiction to racist ideas. Thus, Ghosts comes to a close with the brilliant faith and politics of Martin Luther King, Jr. who sought to write the conscience of the Prophetic Black Church onto American hearts, minds, and laws. If our nation’s racist instincts still haunt our land, so too do our hopes and desires for a faith and politics marked by mercy, justice, and equity–and there is no better guide to that land than the Prophetic Black Church and the one who saw such a land from the mountaintop.
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Tough Gynes : Violent Women In Film As Honorary Men
$42.00Add to cartIn Borderline, Stan Goff unpacked the association of masculinity with war. In Tough Gynes, using an incisive and often darkly humorous study of nine films featuring violent female leads, he untangles the confusion about “masculinity constructed as violence” when our popular stories feature women as violent protagonists. Whether read individually or with a group, Tough Gynes raises compelling questions about gender and violence, with a few provisional answers. Plus, you get to watch movies as you read it.
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Studying The Image
$54.00Add to cartThe field of anthropology provides rich insights into the world of people and cultures. But it also presents challenges for Christians in the areas of cultural relativism, evolutionary theory, race and ethnicity, forms of the family, governments and war, life in the global economy, the morality of art, and religious pluralism. Most significantly it raises questions regarding the truth and how we can know it. This book provides the opportunity to investigate such questions with both the informed understanding of anthropological theory and ethnography, and the larger framework and commitment of Christian biblical and theological studies. So equipped, readers are encouraged to investigate for themselves the depths and intricacies of topics in anthropology that are especially relevant for Christians.
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Studying The Image
$34.00Add to cartThe field of anthropology provides rich insights into the world of people and cultures. But it also presents challenges for Christians in the areas of cultural relativism, evolutionary theory, race and ethnicity, forms of the family, governments and war, life in the global economy, the morality of art, and religious pluralism. Most significantly it raises questions regarding the truth and how we can know it. This book provides the opportunity to investigate such questions with both the informed understanding of anthropological theory and ethnography, and the larger framework and commitment of Christian biblical and theological studies. So equipped, readers are encouraged to investigate for themselves the depths and intricacies of topics in anthropology that are especially relevant for Christians.
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Gender Violence And Justice
$39.00Add to cartGender, Violence, and Justice is a volume of collected essays by an expert in the field of violence against women and pastoral theology. It represents over three decades of research, advocacy, and pastoral theological reflection on the subject of sexual and domestic violence. Topics include intimate partner violence, sexual abuse and trauma, and clergy sexual misconduct; controversial theological issues such as forgiveness; and, as well, positive frameworks for fostering well-being in families, church, and society.
Framed by a foreword and an introduction that place this work in the context of new and contemporary challenges in theory and practice, these essays show an evolution of issues and frameworks for theology, care, and activism arising over time from the movement to end violence against women (both within and beyond religious communities)-while at the same time demonstrating an unchanging core commitment to gender justice.
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Possibility Of America
$21.00Add to cartPublished in the years following 9/11, David Dark’s book The Gospel according to America warned American Christianity about the false worship that conflates love of country with love of God. It delved deeply into the political divide that had gripped the country and the cultural captivity into which so many American churches had fallen.
In our current political season, the problems Dark identified have blossomed. The assessment he brought to these problems and the creative resources for resisting them are now more important than ever. Into this new political landscape and expanding on the analysis of The Gospel according to America, Dark offers The Possibility of America: How the Gospel Can Mend Our God-Blessed, God-Forsaken Land. Dark expands his vision of a fractured yet redeemable American Christianity, bringing his signature mix of theological, cultural, and political analysis to white supremacy, evangelical surrender, and other problems of the Trump era.
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Common Ground : Talking About Gun Violence In America
$18.00Add to cartEvery time a shooting makes national headlines, the same debates erupt: Is the problem guns or mental health? Why is the United States unique in its gun violence problem? Can we reduce this violence while protecting the right to bear arms?
Newtown, Connecticut, native and Disciples of Christ minister Donald V. Gaffney brings a calm and compassionate voice to these complex questions, offering a guide for individuals and groups to reflect on and discuss guns and gun violence. Common Ground explores the place of guns in our individual and national histories, violence in Scripture, the legal issues surrounding gun rights, and ways in which we as moral, life-valuing people can bridge the divide to help solve the problem of gun violence in the United States. To move beyond the talking points and rhetoric dominating gun violence discussions, Gaffney concludes chapters with questions for reflection and discussion to encourage self-examination, exploration, and evaluation of potential solutions to gun violence.
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Raising White Kids
$19.99Add to cartWith a foreword by Tim Wise, Raising White Kids is for families, churches, educators, and communities who want to equip their children to be active and able participants in a society that is becoming one of the most racially diverse in the world while remaining full of racial tensions. For white people who are committed to equity and justice, living in a nation that remains racially unjust and deeply segregated creates unique conundrums. These conundrums begin early in life and impact the racial development of white children in powerful ways. What can we do within our homes, communities and schools? Should we teach our children to be “colorblind”? Or, should we teach them to notice race? What roles do we want to equip them to play in addressing racism when they encounter it? What strategies will help our children learn to function well in a diverse nation? Talking about race means naming the reality of white privilege and hierarchy. How do we talk about race honestly, then, without making our children feel bad about being white? Most importantly, how do we do any of this in age-appropriate ways? While a great deal of public discussion exists in regard to the impact of race and racism on children of color, meaningful dialogue about and resources for understanding the impact of race on white children are woefully absent. Raising White Kids steps into that void.
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Terrorism In Pakistan
$110.00Add to cartAn I. B. Tauris And Company Title
Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Pakistan has faced the threat of terrorism in different forms and shapes. Yet in recent years the threat has taken on a new dimension. After 9/11 the US campaign against Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan led to a surge in unrest and violence in Pakistan. Al-Qaeda gained a foothold in tribal regions of Pakistan via their local supporters, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), currently led by Mullah Fazlullah, who unleashed a new wave of terror across Pakistan. Since then, more than 60,000 Pakistanis have been killed as the result of TTP-orchestrated insurgency and terrorist attacks and Pakistan’s society, economy and its international image have suffered at the hands of TTP and its affiliated groups. As a result of several military operations many TTP leaders have taken refuge in Afghanistan where they have joined hands with the terrorist group ISIS, the so-called Islamic State, or Daesh by its local name. Pakistan’s nascent democratic set-up, in the form of the government of Nawaz Sharif, is struggling to curb this menace. This is the first book to cover all aspects of terrorism in Pakistan and to reveal the composition, ideology, approaches and strengths of TTP and its affiliates. It is essential reading for policy-makers, strategists, security experts and students to understand the intricate contours and dimensions of insurgency and terrorism within Pakistan.
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Color Of Life
$18.99Add to cartCara Meredith grew up in a colorless world. From childhood, she didn’t think issues of race had anything to do with her. A colorblind rhetoric had been stamped across her education, world view, and Christian theology.
Then as an adult, Cara’s life took on new, colorful hues. She realized that her generation, seeking to move beyond ancestral racism, had swung so far that they tried to act as if they didn’t see race at all. But that picture neglected the unique cultural identity God gives each person. When Cara met and fell in love with the son of black icon, James Meredith, she began to listen to the stories and experiences of others in a new way, taking note of the cultures, sounds and shades of life already present around her. After she married and their little family grew to include two mixed-race sons, Cara knew she would never see the world through a colorless lens again.
A writer and speaker in an interracial marriage and mixed-race family, Cara finds herself more and more in the middle of discussions about racial justice. In The Color of Life, she asks how do we navigate ongoing and desperately-needed conversations about race? How do we teach our children a theology of reconciliation and love? And what does it mean to live a life that makes space for seeing the imago Dei in everyone? Cara’s illuminating memoir paints a beautiful path from white privilege toward racial healing, from ignorance toward seeing the image of God in everyone she meets.
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Church And Foster Care
$16.99Add to cartWith roughly 500,000 children and growing in America’s foster care system, the new mission field for the church is clear. The Church & Foster Care shows how to simply engage in life-giving ministry to an underserved community. From real-life situations, foster care parent, educator, and advocate Dr. John DeGarmo lays out why God is calling the church to become involved. Sharing from the decades of support he received from his local church, this book is filled with practical and manageable suggestions on how to meet practical needs while planting seeds of faith.
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12 Lies That Hold America Captive
$17.99Add to cartIntroduction: The Lies That Bind
Lie 1: We Are A Christian Nation
Lie 2: We Are All Immigrants
Lie 3: We Are A Melting Pot
Lie 4: All Men Are Created Equal
Lie 5: We Are A Great Democracy
Lie 6: The American Dream Is Alive And Well
Lie 7: We Are The Most Prosperous Nation In The World
Lie 8: We Are The Most Generous People In The World
Lie 9: We Are The Land Of The Free
Lie 10: We Are The Home Of The Brave
Lie 11: America Is The Greatest Country On Earth
Lie 12: We Are One Nation
Conclusion: Leaving Our Nets To Follow Jesus
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: Poem Exercise
Appendix 2: Ethnic Identity Interview
Appendix 3: Lament, Confess, Repent, Reconcile
NotesAdditional Info
“America is a Christian nation.”“All men are created equal.”
“We are the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
Except when we’re not.
These commonly held ideas break down in the light of hard realities, the study of Scripture, and faithful Christian witness. The president is not the messiah, the Constitution is not the Bible, and the United States is not a city on a hill or the hope for the world. The proclaimed hope of America rings most hollow for Native peoples, people of color, the rural poor, and other communities pressed to the margins.
Jonathan Walton exposes the cultural myths and misconceptions about America’s identity. Focusing on its manipulation of Scripture and the person of Jesus, he redirects us to the true promises found in the gospel. Walton identifies how American ideology and way of life has become a false religion, and shows that orienting our lives around American nationalism is idolatry. Our cultural notions of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are at odds with the call to take up our cross and follow Jesus.
Ultimately, our place in America is distinct from our place in the family of Jesus. Discover how the kingdom of God offers true freedom and justice for all.
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Healing Racial Divides
$19.99Add to cartCan the church help America emerge from its racist shadows empowered to heal racial divides? Church pastor and former police officer Terrell Carter says yes.
While our faith inarguably calls Christians to unity, the hard fact remains: we’re still tragically divided when it comes to race, even – and especially, many say — in our churches. Racism pervades our faith, our relationships, and our institutions in deep, often imperceptible ways. In Healing Racial Divides, Terrell Carter, a pastor, professor and former police officer takes us on a revelatory journey into the abyss of the racial divide and shows us how we’ve arrived at this divisive place. Understanding racism’s roots – and our place in it – we surface more committed and empowered to defeat racism once and for all.
Drawing from the Bible, scholarly research, and personal experience as a both a former police officer and a black pastor serving white congregations, Carter unpacks the deep roots of racism in America, how it continues to be perpetuated today, and practical strategies for racial reconciliation. Looking forward, he shapes a bold and faithful vision for healing racial division through multicultural communities focused on relationship, listening, and learning from each other.
With a pastor’s heart and an academic’s head, Carter invites us to look at where we’ve been-and where God calls us as spiritually mature Christians, seeking healing and true unity on earth.
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Making A Difference
$18.00Add to cartThe great challenge for the Christian in a post-Christian context is how to impact this fallen world with our faith. In Making a Difference, beloved theologian R. C. Sproul shows readers how to confront today’s moral and social issues with an effective biblical response. Dr. Sproul first examines the major philosophies that affect the way Americans think and act:
–secularism, existentialism, humanism, and pragmatism–and then presents ideas on how to apply a biblical perspective to spheres of public life that need the Christian’s influence today: economics, science, art and literature, and government. -
Preaching About Racism
$24.99Add to cartHelping pastors preach about racism to white congregations.
Of all the activities that come with being a minister, sermon preparation can loom largest – especially when racism is the subject. You’ve got to address racism with your white congregation from the pulpit. But, truthfully, you can’t wrap your head around how to preach about this topic thoughtfully and sensitively.
In Preaching about Racism, preaching professor and pastor Carolyn Helsel speaks directly to other white preachers about how to address racism from the pulpit. In her first book, Anxious to Talk about It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully about Racism, Helsel addressed the anxiety white Christians experience around conversations about race. In this follow-up, Helsel provides strategies and a theoretical framework for crafting biblical and theological sermons that incorporate insights from social sciences and psychology, gleaned from more than a decade of writing and teaching about racism.
Written for the busy pastor, several chapters are quick reads – helpful reminders as you prepare a thoughtful and sensitive sermon – while others dig deeper on the theory behind the crucial work of dismantling racism.
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Resurrection Shaped Life
$17.99Add to cartCan we begin to experience the resurrection in our ordinary life on earth? Bishop Jake Owensby says yes as he re-examines the biblical concept of resurrection and how Jesus’ resurrection influences his followers every day
A resurrection-shaped life:
Finds hope through honest reflection on the past.
Discovers meaning in suffering.
Moves beyond shame and blame toward self-acceptance and compassion.
Emerges from loss and regret to find contentment and joy.
Develops forgiveness as a habitual way of life.
Transcends “us-them” divisions to form inclusive community.
Draws strength from the hope of life after life.
A Resurrection Shaped Life explains how we begin to experience resurrection in Christian practices such as repentance and forgiveness and discusses how new life emerges from our small deaths: suffering, shame, regret, and loss. -
Modern Technology And The Human Future
$30.99Add to cartPreface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Machine Technology And Human Being
2. The Momentum And Inertia Of Modern Technological Development
3. The Technological World View
4. Remembering Where We Are And Who We Are
5. What On Earth Shall We Do?
A Personal Conclusion
Epilogue: On Eucharistic Embodiment
Author Index
Subject Index
Scripture IndexAdditional Info
Technology is not neutral.From the plow to the printing press, technology has always shaped human life and informed our understanding of what it means to be human. And advances in modern technology, from computers to smartphones, have yielded tremendous benefits. But do these developments actually encourage human flourishing?
Craig Gay raises concerns about the theological implications of modern technologies and of philosophical movements such as transhumanism. In response, he turns to a classical affirmation of the Christian faith: Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God, took on human flesh. By exploring the doctrine of the incarnation and what it means for our embodiment, Gay offers a course correction to the path of modern technology without asking us to unplug completely.
The doctrine of the incarnation is not neutral either. It presents us an alternative vision for the future of humanity.
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Jesus Economy : A Biblical View Of Poverty The Currency Of Love And A Patte
$16.99Add to cartYou know people around the world are struggling. A homeless man holds a sign that reads, “Anything helps.” A poor child lives in a slum swarming with flies. A refugee mother is on the brink of starvation. You ask yourself, “But what can I do about such big problems?”
You’re looking for long-term solutions. John D. Barry shares incredible, and often shocking, stories about working among the impoverished and unchurched in the U.S. and abroad. And since Barry is a Bible scholar, Jesus’ Economy is also deeply rooted in the Scriptures. It is a personal, sometimes funny, often heartbreaking account that presents a revolutionary pattern for lasting change.
Jesus’ Economy is based on self-sacrifice. His currency is love. It’s called Jesus’ Economy because it’s about creating a spiritual and physical economy for those who need it most. Here is a thoroughly biblical and compassionate pattern for addressing issues of poverty and offering the hope of the gospel. Jesus’ Economy
– Shows how you as an individual can best encourage renewal in your community.
– Demonstrates how your church community or any group can alleviate poverty.
– Presents a unified plan for creating jobs, spreading the gospel, and meeting basic needs.
– Focuses on community development and sustainability– lasting change, globally and locally.Jesus’ Economy is a call to address our own spiritual poverty–as people who can too easily become distant from Christ–and it is a call to address the physical poverty all around us in a smart and sustainable way. Jesus’ teachings show that with simple, everyday choices, you can make the world a better place and create enduring change. Here’s how to live Jesus’ economy–a currency of love.
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Can White People Be Saved
$40.99Add to cartNo one is born white. But while there is no biological basis for a white race, whiteness is real. What’s more, whiteness as a way of being in the world has been parasitically joined to Christianity, and this is the ground of many of our problems today. It is time to redouble the efforts of the church and its institutions to muster well-informed, gospel-based initiatives to fight racialized injustice and overcome the heresy of whiteness.
Written by a world-class roster of scholars, Can “White” People Be Saved? develops language to describe the current realities of race and racism. It challenges evangelical Christianity in particular to think more critically and constructively about race, ethnicity, migration, and mission in relation to white supremacy.
Historical and contemporary perspectives from Africa and the African diaspora prompt fresh theological and missiological questions about place and identity. Native American and Latinx experiences of colonialism, migration, and hybridity inspire theologies and practices of shalom. And Asian and Asian American experiences of ethnicity and class generate transnational resources for responding to the challenge of systemic injustice. With their call for practical resistance to the Western whiteness project, the perspectives in this volume can revitalize a vision of racial justice and peace in the body of Christ.
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You Welcomed Me
$16.99Add to cart1. Are We For Or Against?
2. That Could Be Me
3. Real Concerns
4. This Is Our Story
5. Getting Practical
6. Form A Human Chain
7. Here Is Life
Acknowledgments
Appendix A: Organizations For Next Steps
Appendix B: Resources For Next Steps
NotesAdditional Info
“Wait, Dad. Are we for them or against them?”Kent Annan was talking with his eight-year-old son about the immigrant and refugee crises around the world. His son’s question, innocent enough in the moment, is writ large across our society today. How we answer it, Annan says, will reveal a lot about what kind of family, community, or country we want to be.
In You Welcomed Me, Annan explores, in his usual compelling way, how fear and misunderstanding can motivate our responses to people in need. Instead, he invites us into stories of welcome-stories that lead us to see the current refugee and immigrant crisis in a new light. He also lays out simple practices for a way forward: confessing what separates us, listening well, and partnering with, not patronizing, those in need. His stories draw us in, and the practices send us out prepared to cross social and cultural divides.
In this wise, practical book, Annan invites us to answer his son’s question with confident conviction: “We’re for them”-and to explore with him the life-giving implications of that answer.
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Uncommon Love : God’s Heart For Christian Parents Of Gay Kids
$16.99Add to cartUncommon Love is a landmark Bible study and the first of its kind. In a culture where gay rights, gay marriage, and a surplus of gender issues have recently exploded in the media, more and more kids are coming out–and many of these are from Christian homes with Christian parents who don’t know what to do, how to respond, where to draw boundaries or if they even should. Scripture, which is the foundational basis for how to live the Christian life, has even been brought into question, further confusing the hearts and minds of Christian parents. Mary Comm presents a comprehensive navigational map for Christian parents whose kids (whether minor or adult) have Same-Sex Attraction or are living the LGB lifestyle. The primary purpose of Uncommon Love is to help parents maintain a loving, mutually respectful relationship with their LGB children and shows parents how to offer compassionate understanding and unconditional love without compromising their own identity, faith, and values.
