Social Issues
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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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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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Myth Of Equality (Expanded)
$18.99Add to cartIs privilege real or imagined? Ken Wytsma, founder of the Justice Conference, unpacks what we need to know to be grounded in conversations about today’s race-related issues. And he helps us come to a deeper understanding of both the origins of these issues and the reconciling role we are called to play as witnesses of the gospel.
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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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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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Scoot Over And Make Some Room
$17.99Add to cartAuthor and Instagram star Heather Avis has made it her mission to introduce the world to the unique gifts and real-life challenges of those who have been pushed to the edges of society. Mama to three adopted kids – two with Down Syndrome – Heather encourages us all to take a breath, whisper a prayer, laugh a little, and make room for the wildflowers.In a world of divisions and margins, those who act, look, and grow a little differently are all too often shoved aside. Scoot Over and Make Some Room is part inspiring narrative and part encouraging challenge for us all to listen and learn from those we’re prone to ignore.Heather tells hilarious stories of her growing kids, spontaneous dance parties, forgotten pants, and navigating the challenges and joys of parenthood. She shares heartbreaking moments when her kids were denied a place at the table and when she had to fight for their voices to be heard. With beautiful wisdom and profound convictions, this manifesto will empower you to notice who’s missing in the spaces you live in, to make room for your own kids and for those others who need you and your open heart.This is your invitation to a table where space is unlimited and every voice can be heard. Because when you open your life to the wild beauty of every unique individual, you’ll discover your own colorful soul and the extraordinary, abundant heart of God.
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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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Fight Forward : Reclaim The Real You
$19.99Add to cartI’m not good enough. It’s my fault. I am alone. I am worthless. The voices and lies you give power to shape who you are and attempt to hijack your identity, twisting your perspective on God, family, career, church, and other relationships. Whose voice are you listening to?
You are a champion by God’s design. In Fight Forward, Brenda Crouch bravely shares her story of overcoming the abuse she suffered as a child and an adult. She offers practical solutions that will help you – find courage to dismantle the faade and embrace your true identity.
– break the cycle of a victim mindset and trust the power of God to set you free.
– discover the strength to say no to users and learn to recognize authentic love.
– ditch self-ambition and explore the wealth of your divine purpose.
– find your voice and help others heal.Be propelled into favor and fulfillment as you listen to God’s voice. He wants you to know the relevance of your authentic value and the unique purpose for which you were born.
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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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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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Joy In Suffering
$14.99Add to cartHigh school sweethearts, Bobby and Rosemary Pope, were young and newly married when they found out they were going to be parents. What they did not know is they would experience multiple tragic pregnancy losses. After the sudden shock of their first child, a still born son, they were anxiously expecting again. Around twenty weeks pregnant, they were faced with devastating news. Their precious baby girl had horrifying conditions that made her “incompatible with life.” Due to this diagnosis, they were faced with the struggling decision to terminate the pregnancy. Rosemary and her husband decided to continue carrying their baby in hopes for a miraculous healing.
Though things did not work out as they hoped, they had already pledged to God in trusting Him no matter the outcome. They chose to live in joy and know that God had a plan to fulfill the desires of their hearts. Read along to witness their rollercoaster ride to parenthood and how they relied on God to get them through.
Bobby and Rosemary found Joy In Suffering. It is through Rosemary’s raw, fervent, accounts of these events that you can too- The Joy of the Lord is our strength!
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Americas Unholy Ghosts
$50.00Add 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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Gender Violence And Justice
$64.00Add 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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Tough Gynes : Violent Women In Film As Honorary Men
$22.00Add 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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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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Cristianismo Y Posmodernidad – (Spanish)
$14.99Add to cartEn palabras del autor, debemos enfrentarnos a la conciencia de saber que todo entendimiento es frágil.Nos toca presenciar de cerca la debacle de instituciones, ideas, personalidades y proyectos. La posmodernidad vino para desestabilizar buena parte de las soluciones que funcionaron para nuestros padres y abuelos; hoy sus respuestas ya no resultan tan útiles para entender el mundo que nos rodea.Toda nuestra historia está simbolizada en esas dos escenas de los evangelios: el reconocimiento y la negación. Por gracia de Dios, nos unimos a Pedro en la afirmación más grande de todas: que el profeta Jesús es el Hijo del Dios viviente. Por cobardía, nos unimos a Pedro y seguimos diciendo «yo no conozco a ese hombre». La iglesia reconoce y niega, afirma y traiciona, acepta y rechaza. Veinte siglos de historia son testigos de esa dualidad.
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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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Europe And The Refugee Crisis
$160.00Add to cartAn I. B. Tauris And Company Title
Since 2014, more than 60 million people have been displaced from their homes across the Middle East and Africa. The European Refugee Crisis, as it has come to be known, is now the largest such crisis since the aftermath of World War II. How have local communities reacted to the influx of asylum seekers? And what can we learn from their responses?
Frances Trix here offers a wide-ranging ethnographical and anthropological study of local, individual responses to refugees, from Macedonia to Germany. Based on extensive interviews and field work in Europe, Trix focuses for the first time on the ways that refugees have been welcomed – or not, as the case may be – by various individuals and communities. Her work ranges from Macedonians who established an NGO and lobbied to allow the refugees to use the train, to the police charged with border management; from a German organic food store owner who by her actions set the positive tone in her village, a retired IT manager who coordinates refugee volunteers for his entire town, to the district work organisation director who deems refugees unsuitable for multiple reasons. The material is measured throughout against Trix’s anthropological experience, as well as reference to the historical and political contexts in which events are unfolding. This book is essential reading for all those working on the refugee crisis and the prospects – both local and global – for the future.
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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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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. -
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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Spiritual Practices In Community
$20.99Add to cartNtroduction: Going Deeper Together
1. Leading Spiritual Practices
2. Practicing Silence With Others
3. Exploring Scripture Together
4. Simple Prayers That Transform Community
5. Processing Life Together
6. Active Prayer With One Another
7. Sharing Life On Life
8. The Rhythm Of Life In Community
9. Corporate Discernment
Conclusion: Getting Started
Acknowledgments
Helpful BooksAdditional Info
Spiritual practices don’t have to be scary.Diana Shiflett has been leading groups of all descriptions in spiritual practices for many years, and she understands the difficulties involved: the potential for awkwardness and self-doubt, the nagging question of whether anyone’s getting anything out of this at all. But more than that, she understands the value of spiritual practices: their deep roots in the history and worship of God’s people, and their ability to calm our distracted minds and hearts so we are ready to hear the voice of Jesus.
In this personal, hands-on guide, Shiflett walks us through a wide array of spiritual practices, from communal silence and Scripture meditation to active prayer and corporate discernment. She proves a reliable guide, offering step-by-step instructions, pointing out hazards and pitfalls, and sharing her own experiences with honesty and humor.
With this book as a guide, these spiritual practices can become life-giving resources in your ministry setting for years to come.
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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.
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Braving The Future
$16.99Add to cartHumanity is nearing a technological tipping point. Futurists tell us that the blistering pace of technological, scientific, and social change is ushering in an era in which human bodies merge with devices, corporations know everything about us, and artificial intelligence develops human and even godlike potential. In possession of the most powerful tools history has ever seen, we will be faced with questions about wisdom, authority, faith, desire, and what it means to be human.
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Reciprocal Church : Becoming A Community Where Faith Flourishes Beyond High
$20.99Add to cartIntroduction: Reciprocal Church
Part 1: A Theological Vision For The Reciprocal Church
1. Eating Melon On Tuesdays: Young People And Faith
2. Galloping Mares: The Gospel Without Christ’s Church
3. A Vital Identity: God Gathers A People
4. A Vital Purpose: Christ Is Reconciling Relationships
5. A Vital Avenue: The Spirit Transforms You, Me, And UsPart 2: Values And Practices For Flourishing Communities
6. Tetherballs And Floodlights: Valuing Memory
7. The Oxpecker’s Gift: Valuing Mutuality
8. Seeing Beyond The Epidemic: Recognizing Potential
9. Moving Beyond The Epidemic: Valuing Contribution
10. Windmills Of Hope: Valuing MaturityEpilogue: Faith Flourishes With Practice
Acknowledgments
Discussion Questions
NotesAdditional Info
The church faces an unprecedented loss of rising generations. Young adults who were active and engaged in the local church are leaving the community behind after high school. What can we do? Responding to these concerning statistics, Sharon Galgay Ketcham reflects theologically on the church community and its role in forming faith. She exposes problems in the way leaders conceive of and teach about the relationship between individual faith and the local church, and offers fresh solutions in the form of values and practices that can shape a community into a place where faith will flourish in those both young and old. -
Welcoming Justice : Gods Movement Toward Beloved Community (Expanded)
$18.99Add to cartWe have seen progress in recent decades toward Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of beloved community. But this is not only because of the activism and sacrifice of a generation of civil rights leaders. It happened because God was on the move.
Historian and theologian Charles Marsh partners with veteran activist John Perkins to chronicle God’s vision for a more equitable and just world. Perkins reflects on his long ministry and identifies key themes and lessons he has learned, and Marsh highlights the legacy of Perkins’s work in American society. Together they show how abandoned places are being restored, divisions are being reconciled, and what individuals and communities are now doing to welcome peace and justice.
Now updated with a new preface to reflect on current social realities, this book reveals ongoing lessons for the continuing struggle for a just society. Come, discover your part in the beloved community. There is unfinished work still to do.
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Church Forsaken : Practicing Presence In Neglected Neighborhoods
$22.99Add to cart“There are no God-forsaken places, just church-forsaken places.” -Jon Fuller, OMF International
Jonathan Brooks was raised in the Englewood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. As soon as he was able, he left the community and moved as far away as he could. But through a remarkable turn of events, he reluctantly returned and found himself not only back in Englewood but also serving as a pastor (“Pastah J”) and community leader.
In Church Forsaken, Brooks challenges local churches to rediscover that loving our neighbors means loving our neighborhoods. Unpacking the themes of Jeremiah 29, he shows how Christians can be fully present in local communities, building homes and planting gardens for the common good. His holistic vision and practical work offers good news for forgotten people and places. And community stakeholders and civic leaders will rediscover that churches are viable partners in community transformation in ways that they may never have considered.
God has always been at work in neglected neighborhoods. Join Pastah J on this journey and discover new hope for your community.
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1 By One
$24.99Add to cartApollo Publishers
A passionate and heartrending memoir of tragedy and perseverance from a former opioid addict in an opioid addicted community, and an up-close look at America’s new health crisis.
Behind closed doors, thirty-six million people around the world abuse opioids, three million of them are in the US. Nick Bush was one of them. Forty-five thousand people in the US die annually from the disease, two lives lost to it were Nick’s sister and brother, five were his friends. Opioid addiction is recognized as the nation’s worst health crisis. Because of it, the average American lifespan is decreasing.
Incredibly, the stories of the people suffering from opioid addiction rarely get told. In One by One, Nick steps out of the opioid shadows to share his page-turning true story. He is remarkably candid about how he became an addict, as well as the stories of those around him, in a community ravaged by the disease. Nick, though, is a survivor. Here he tells how, and inspires us to know that the war against opioid addiction is one that we can win if only we are willing to bring humanity to the disease, faces to the addiction.
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Insider Outsider : My Journey As A Stranger In White Evangelicalism And My
$17.99Add to cartGod boldly proclaims throughout the book of Acts, “There is no ethnic home team when it comes to Christianity.” But the minority experience in America today–and throughout history–too often tells a different story.
When Pastor Bryan Loritts wrote an op-ed piece in Christianity Today about this “evangelical gentrification” in the American church, he received an overwhelming response of more than one million views and sparked a provocative national conversation. In Insider Outsider, Loritts dives deeper into what it’s like to be a person of color in predominantly white evangelical spaces today and where we go from here. Drawing on insightful snapshots through history, eye-opening personal experiences, and biblical exposition, Loritts awakens both our minds and hearts to the painful reality of racial divides as well as the hope of forgiveness.
As Loritts writes, “It is impossible to do theology devoid of cultural lenses and expressions. Like an American unaware of their own accent, most whites are unaware of the ethnic theological accent they carry.” Insider Outsider bears witness to the true stories that often go untold–stories that will startle, enlighten, and herald a brighter way forward for all seeking belonging in the family of God.
This seminal book on race and the church will help Christians discover how they can learn the art of listening to stories unlike their own, identify the problems and pitfalls that keep Sunday morning the most segregated hour of the week, and participate in an active movement with God toward a holy vision of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls “life together.”
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Lens Of Love
$22.00Add to cartIn order to engage the Bible in the spirit of justice, compassion, and love, Jonathan L. Walton suggests reading the Bible in its world for our world. Perfect for individual or group study, A Lens of Love helps Christians to read and interpret the Bible morally and confidently as they engage society’s pressing issues. Walton provides interpretive tools to help understand the context of the Scriptures along with the Scriptures themselves in order to engage the richness of the Bible as they strive to live in the world in a biblically grounded, theologically sound, and socially responsible way.
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Finding Holy In The Suburbs
$16.99Add to cartIntroduction
1. Worshiping Granite Countertops
2. When Your Worth Is Measured In Square Footage
3. Circling The Suburbs In My Minivan
4. Beyond The Gated Community
5. Where The Sidewalk Ends
6. You’re Not A Barbie, You Belong
7. This Isn’t Pinterest-Worth Entertaining
8. Open Hearts And Open Hands
9. The Opportunity Of Cul-De-Sacs
10. Paper Birds And Human Flourishing
Conclusion
Discussion QuestionsAdditional Info
Commuters. Tract homes. Strip malls.Is this what you think of when you think of the suburbs? Or do you think of safety, beauty, comfort, and ease?
More than half of Americans live in the suburbs. Ashley Hales writes that for many Christians, however: “The suburbs are ignored (‘Your place doesn’t matter, we’re all going to heaven anyway’), denigrated and demeaned (‘You’re selfish if you live in a suburb; you only care about your own safety and advancement’), or seen as a cop-out from a faithful Christian life (‘If you really loved God, you’d move to Africa or work in an impoverished area’). In everything from books to Hollywood jokes, the suburbs aren’t supposed to be good for our souls.”
What does it look like to live a full Christian life in the suburbs? Suburbs reflect our good, God-given desire for a place to call home. And suburbs also reflect our own brokenness. This book is an invitation to look deeply into your soul as a suburbanite and discover what it means to live holy there.
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Amazing Grace Abounding Love
$19.99Add to cartFeeling alone and afraid, six-year-old Darlene hides under the porch, crying. When her sister finds her, Darlene is unable to explain the fear she faces at nighttime.
Later, as a wife and a mother, she processes the impact of the sexual abuse while struggling with depression. Through this deep emotional pain, she recognizes that Christ has already won the victory over Satan. But can she forgive her father? And can she find peace as she sets out to learn the truth about her biological mother?
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Placemaking And The Arts
$32.99Add to cartWe are, each one of us, situated in a particular place.As embodied creatures, as members of local communities and churches, as people who live in a specific location in the world, we all experience the importance of place. But what role does place play in the Christian life and how might our theology of place be cultivated?In this Studies in Theology and the Arts volume, Jennifer Allen Craft argues that the arts are a significant form of placemaking in the Christian life. The arts, she contends, place us in time, space, and community in ways that encourage us to be fully and imaginatively present in a variety of contexts: the natural world, our homes, our worshiping communities, and society. In so doing, the arts call us to pay attention to the world around us and invite us to engage in responsible practices in those places.Through this practical theology of the arts, Craft shows how the arts can help us by cultivating our theological imagination, giving shape to the Christian life, and forming us more and more into the image of Christ.
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Not Your White Jesus
$20.00Add to cartJesus is not white. Jesus is not American. Jesus does not want to make America great. While many of us grew up looking at gleaming portraits of Jesus with blond, flowing hair and hearing sermons reaffirming that we have the answers to save a fallen world, the real Jesus-a Middle Eastern Jew preaching radical, humble, self-emptying love-calls us to a different life.
As we see oppression and hate run rampant in our nation, it’s as if Christianity has lost sight of the red letters altogether. Sheri Faye Rosendahl takes a look at important social issues in our society, the responses of American Christians, and the true ways behind the red letters. Not Your White Jesus addresses the need to reexamine the true ways of Jesus that we find clearly in the red letters, enabling readers to discover what it truly means to follow the ways of Jesus in contrast to following the ways of the American Christian elite.
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Gay Girl Good God
$16.99Add to cart“I used to be a lesbian.”
In Gay Girl, Good God, author Jackie Hill Perry shares her own story, offering practical tools that helped her in the process of finding wholeness. Jackie grew up fatherless and experienced gender confusion. She abused marijuana, loved pornography, and embraced both masculinity and homosexuality with every fiber of her being. She knew that Christians had a lot to say about all of the above. But was she supposed to change herself? How was she supposed to stop loving women, when homosexuality felt more natural to her than heterosexuality ever could?
At age 19, Jackie came face-to-face with what it meant to be made new. And not in a church, or through contact with Christians–God broke in and turned her heart towards Him right in her own bedroom in light of His gospel.
Read in order to understand. Read in order to hope. Or read in order, like Jackie, to be made new.
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Opening The Doors 2nd Edition Enhanced
$29.95Add to cartWaterside Press
Ideal for outsiders, volunteers and others helping out with prisoners, Opening the Doors contains wise advice based on years of experience. It places imprisonment in a Christian context and captures the essence of why some people end up in prison. -
Jericho Unmasked : An Entrapped Lesbian’s Journey To Freedom
$12.99Add to cartGod’s word never returns void.
Before she was six years old, Cari Gintz found salvation in Christ, but childhood abuse, trauma sustained through legalistic religion, and an ongoing struggle with her sexual identity took a steep toll on her relationship with God. A wall of brokenness surrounded her life, encasing her within a fortress where depravity and darkness reigned.
But even as Cari struggled through decades of pain and searching, a scarlet cord tethered her to God, leading to one miraculous moment that would collapse the walled fortress that kept her from realizing His full purpose for her life.
Tracing her journey through darkness and back into the light of God’s never-ceasing love, Cari’s memoir showcases the redemptive power of the God who never lets his children go. Sensitively told, this story offers encouragement to those with family members or friends struggling with issues of sexual identity, by underscoring the power of divine possibility, the necessity of showing love to the broken, and the importance of relational, believing prayer.
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Minority Experience : Navigating Emotional And Organizational Realities
$20.99Add to cartPreface
Introduction: What Is A Minority?Part 1: Understanding The Minority Experience
1. Self-Doubt: Understanding Pain
2. Pain, Power, And The Past: Three Distinctives Of The Minority Experience
3. Domestication: Understanding Power
4. Weariness: Understanding The PastPart 2: Redeeming The Minority Experience
5. Challenges In Organizational Development: How To Diversify Your Organization
6. Seeing Pain With Eyes Of Compassion
7. Stewarding Power With Hands Of Advocacy
8. Reframing The Past With A Heart Of Wisdom
9. The Challenge And The OpportunityAcknowledgments
Study Guide
Notes
Author Index
Subject Index
Scripture IndexAdditional Info
It’s hard to be in the minority.If you’re the only person from your ethnic or cultural background in your organization or team, you probably know the challenges of being misunderstood or marginalized. You might find yourself inadvertently overlooked or actively silenced. Even when a work environment is not blatantly racist or hostile, people of color often struggle to thrive-and may end up leaving the organization.Being a minority is not just about numbers. It’s about understanding pain, power, and the impact of the past. Organizational consultant Adrian Pei describes key challenges ethnic minorities face in majority-culture organizations. He unpacks how historical forces shape contemporary realities, and what both minority and majority cultures need to know in order to work together fruitfully. If you’re a cultural minority working in a majority culture organization, or if you’re a majority culture supervisor of people from other backgrounds, learn the dynamics at work. And be encouraged that you can help make things better so that all can flourish. -
Love The World
$15.99Add to cartThis beautifully written book aims to increase our love for the world through reflecting on what we have discovered about it, and using this as a basis for further meditation and spiritual enrichment. It opens by looking at the beginning of the universe and the mystery of being, then moves on to our world, its atmosphere, the miracle of water and things we often take for granted but are essential to our health and happiness. Finally, it focuses on our relationship to the earth. Each section offers a short introduction, based on scientific discovery, a meditation, and an exercise in awareness and sensitivity.
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Urban Ministry Reconsidered
$50.00Add to cartChristian ministries often struggle to account for urbanization’s growing force, complexities, and reach-and to formulate theologically and sociologically appropriate responses. Urban Ministry Reconsidered features a collection of original essays by leading scholars and practitioners that explores current issues and challenges in urban communities.
Together these articles consider how cultural and structural frameworks have led to new conceptualizations and configurations of urban ministry. In addition, they examine the degree to which the social, spiritual, and organizational priorities of urban ministries have been reconceived in response to these shifts.
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Thing With Feathers
$9.99Add to cartEmilie Day believes in playing it safe: she’s homeschooled, her best friend is her seizure dog, and she’s probably the only girl on the Outer Banks of North Carolina who can’t swim
Then Emilie’s mom enrolls her in public school, and Emilie goes from studying at home in her pj’s to halls full of strangers. To make matters worse, Emilie is paired with starting point guard Chatham York for a major research project on Emily Dickinson. She should be ecstatic when Chatham shows interest, but she has a problem. She hasn’t told anyone about her epilepsy.
Emilie lives in fear her recently adjusted meds will fail and she’ll seize at school. Eventually, the worst happens, and she must decide whether to withdraw to safety or follow a dead poet’s advice and “dwell in possibility.”
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Healing Our Broken Humanity
$24.99Add to cartForeword By Willie James Jennings
Introduction: Nine Practices That Heal Our Broken Humanity
1. Reimagine Church
2. Renew Lament
3. Repent Together
4. Relinquish Power
5. Restore Justice
6. Reactivate Hospitality
7. Reinforce Agency
8. Reconcile Relationships
9. Recover Life Together
Epilogue: A Benediction And Prayer
Acknowledgments
Appendix One: Questions For Discussion And Engagement
Appendix Two: The Nine Transforming Practices Accountability Form
Appendix Three: Resources For Healing Our Broken Humanity
Notes
IndexAdditional Info
We live in conflicted times. Our newsfeeds are filled with inequality, division, and fear. We want to make a difference and see justice restored because Jesus calls us to be a peacemaking and reconciling people. But how do we do this?Based on their work with diverse churches, colleges, and other organizations, Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Graham Hill offer Christian practices that can bring healing and hope to a broken world. They provide ten ways to transform society, from lament and repentance to relinquishing power, reinforcing agency, and more. Embodying these practices enables us to be the new humanity in Jesus Christ, so the church and world can experience reconciliation, justice, unity, peace, and love.
With small group activities, discussion questions, and exercises in each chapter, this book is ideal to read together in community. Discover here how to bring real change to a dehumanized world.
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Woke Church : An Urgent Call For Christians In America To Confront Racism A
$14.99Add to cartWe sometimes forget that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor.
Woke Church will not only help Christians understand the times they live in, but also how to take their place in it. Those who marched with King had to sign a commitment to non-violence which included 10 promises. The first: to “Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.” The Civil Rights Movement was led by the church. And today with escalating racial tensions and fresh examples of injustice in nearly every news cycle, the world needs the church now more than ever. But the church in America seems to be sleeping rather than leading.
Eric Mason offers a penetrating commentary on our cultural moment and gives tangible suggestions for how we can walk forward together and be the church in a country of segregated Sunday mornings and widening racial divides.
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Cry For Help
$15.00Add to cartHuman hurt, abuse, and neglect are as real as the next breath that you will take. Rape, molestation, and sexual predators that strike from close range are often possessed with spirits of evil that can do damage that last a lifetime. But God, will always hear and respond to the cry of His people.
The transparency of NaTausha Clark is a blessing to the body of Christ. Her willingness to couple her personal pain with the truth of the printed promises of scripture are nothing short of amazing. This book is a must read for every Pastor who seeks to do effective ministry to those who have been wounded by sexual abuse; it is a healing balm for those who have suffered the indignity of being violated yet refuse to be victims but, have decided to be victors!
Clark is a victor and the journey that you will take in this text will prove to be life changing as she reveals her pain for the benefit of those who lack empathy, seek apathy and have refused pity to those that have been wounded but have seen the hand of God grant restoration like never before. Thank you Minister NaTausha Clark for allowing God to use your bruises to heal the brokenness of others.
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Reclaim Restore And Rebuild Includes Leaders Guide
$19.99Add to cartIf sexual brokenness–homosexuality or transgenderism–has touched your family, you’re on a painful and challenging journey. But you’re not alone.
Although Nehemiah lived more than two thousand years ago, he would have understood what you’re going through. He dealt with brokenness, weakness, and powerlessness in the face of his circumstances. His heart was broken over unfulfilled dreams. He is a role model for the challenges you face because he endured so much, yet he obeyed God and fulfilled God’s purposes for his life. His life reminds us that we often do not choose the circumstances God allows in our lives, but we can learn to make the best of them.
As you study portions of Nehemiah and the armor of God, you’ll learn to apply principles from these passages to help you reclaim and rebuild your relationship with a sexually broken family member or friend.
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Disabling Mission Enabling Witness
$24.99Add to cartIn recent decades churches have accommodated disabled people in various ways. Through access ramps and elevators and sign language, disabled persons are invited in to worship. But are they actually enfolded into the church’s mission? Have the able-bodied come to recognize and appreciate the potential contributions of people with disabilities in the ministry and witness of the church?Benjamin Conner wants to stimulate a new conversation between disability studies and Christian theology and missiology. How can we shape a new vision of the entire body of Christ sharing in the witness of the church? How would it look if we “disabled” Christian theology, discipleship, and theological education? Conner argues that it would in fact enable congregational witness. He has seen it happen and he shows us how.Imagine a church that fully incorporates persons with disabilities into its mission and witness. In this vision, people with disabilities contribute to the church’s pluriform witness, and the congregation embodies a robust hermeneutic of the gospel. Picture the entire body of Christ functioning beyond distinctions of dis/ability, promoting mutual flourishing and growing into fullness. Here is an enlargement of the church’s witness as a sign, agent, and foretaste of the kingdom of God.Here is a fresh and inspiring look at the mission of the church when it enfolds people with disabilities as full members.
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Raise Your Voice
$17.99Add to cartIntroduction: The Risk Of Silence Versus The Risk Of Raising Your Voice
Part I: Why We Stay Silent
1. Seen But Not Heard
2. Who Am I? How Imago Dei Gives Us Agency And A Voice
3. Learning To Speak
4. Fear And FailurePart II: How To Speak Up
5. IRL (In Real Life)
6. When You Post It: Everyone And No One Will Care
7. Everyone Has A PartEpilogue
Acknowledgments
Discussion Questions
NotesAdditional Info
You have a voice. And you have God’s permission to use it.In some communities, certain voices are amplified and elevated while others are erased and suppressed. It can be hard to speak up, especially in the ugliness of social media. Power dynamics keep us silent and marginalized, especially when race, ethnicity, and gender are factors. What can we do about it?Activist Kathy Khang roots our voice and identity in the image of God. Because God created us in our ethnicity and gender, our voice is uniquely expressed through the totality of who we are. We are created to speak, and we can both speak up for ourselves and speak out on behalf of others. Khang offers insights from faithful heroes who raised their voices for the sake of God’s justice, and she shows how we can do the same today, in person, in social media, in organizations, and in the public square.Be silent no more. If you have wondered when and how to speak, hear God’s invitation to you to find and steward your authentic voice, whether in word or deed, to communicate the good news in a messed-up world. As you discern God’s voice calling you to speak, you will discover how your voice sounds as you express God’s heart to others. And the world will hear you loud and clear. -
Sacred Look Becoming Cultural Mystics
$23.00Add to cartHow should a follower of Christ engage the popular media culture? By becoming a mystic! Sr. Nancy challenges Christians today to delve deep into the rich theological tradition of the church as the root and foundation for recognizing the beauty of God present in all that is truly human. The artists of popular culture sometimes unwittingly seek transcendence while grappling with some of humanity’s most profound existential longings. The cultural mystics of today point out those needs of humanity in the culture’s artifacts in order to enter into dialogue with those who seek something beyond what this world satisfies. The anthropological-sacramental-incarnational paradigm presented gives us this ability to take a sacred look of the culture and offer the joy of the Gospel, Christ who is the answer of all humanity’s yearnings!
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In 27 Days
$10.99Add to cartFrom award-winning Wattpad author Alison Gervais comes In 27 Days, a story of redemption, first love, and the strength it takes to change the future.
Hadley Jamison is shocked when she hears that her classmate, Archer Morales, has committed suicide. She didn’t know the quiet, reserved guy very well, but that doesn’t stop her from feeling there was something she could have done to help him. Hoping to find some sense of closure, Hadley attends Archer’s funeral. There, Hadley is approached by a man who calls himself Death and offers her a deal. If Hadley accepts, she will be sent back twenty-seven days in time to prevent Archer from killing himself. But when Hadley agrees to Death’s terms and goes back to right the past, she quickly learns her mission is harder than she ever could have known.
Hadley soon discovers Archer’s reasons for being alone, and Archer realizes that having someone to confide in isn’t as bad as he’d always thought. But when a series of dangerous accidents starts pushing them apart, Hadley must decide whether she is ready to risk everything–including her life–to keep Archer safe.
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Welcoming The Stranger
$22.99Add to cartForeword By Leith Anderson
1. The Immigration Dilemma
2. “Aliens” Among You: Who Are Undocumented Immigrants?
3. Nation Of Immigrants: A Historical Perspective On Immigration To The United States
4. Immigrating The Legal Way: Our Immigration System Today
5. Thinking Biblically About Immigration
6. Concerns About Immigration
7. The Value Of Immigrants To The United States
8. Immigration Policies And Politics
9. Immigration And The Church Today
10. A Christian Response To The Immigration Dilemma
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: Discussion Questions
Appendix 2: Evangelical Statement Of Principles For Immigration Reform
Appendix 3: Ministries And Organizations Serving Refugees And Other Immigrants In The United States
Appendix 4: Ministries And Organizations Addressing The Root Causes Of Immigration
Appendix 5: Selected Resources For Learning More About The Immigration Issue
Appendix 6: Tools For Political Advocacy
Notes
IndexAdditional Info
Immigration is one of the most complicated issues of our time. Voices on all sides argue strongly for action and change. Christians find themselves torn between the desire to uphold laws and the call to minister to the vulnerable.In this book World Relief immigration experts Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang move beyond the rhetoric to offer a Christian response to immigration. They put a human face on the issue and tell stories of immigrants’ experiences in and out of the system. With careful historical understanding and thoughtful policy analysis, they debunk myths and misconceptions about immigration and show the limitations of the current immigration system. Ultimately they point toward immigration reform that is compassionate, sensible, and just as they offer concrete ways for you and your church to welcome and minister to your immigrant neighbors.This revised edition includes new material on refugees and updates in light of changes in political realities. -
When Darkness Seems My Closest Friend
$18.99Add to cart1. The Mask
2. The Volcano
3. The Cave
4. The Weight
5. The Invisibility Cloak
6. The Closing
7. The Way
8. The Fellow-traveller
9. The GiftAppendix 1: Managing The Symptoms
Appendix 2: Unexpected Friends In The Cave
Appendix 3: Some Words From Inside The CaveAdditional Info
When Mark Meynell spoke in a central London church, more than 1,500 people hung on to his every word. What they couldn’t have known was that their minister was terrified of being laid bare in public.Fear of shame and exposure is crippling, even if, as in Mark’s case, the sufferer is innocent. And it’s one of the most devastating elements of depression, although certainly not the only one.
Mark invites us into the darkness of his cave. We relive significant moments from boarding school, Uganda, Berli, and London. We visit the Psalms, Job, and The Pilgrim’s Progress.
If you’re after neat conclusions and a fair-weather faith, this is not for you. This book serves up gritty reality and raw honesty, but also the heartfelt hope that the author’s brokenness “can somehow contribute to another person’s integration” and “inspire their clinging while beset by darkness or fog or blizzards.”
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Ecologies Of Faith In A Digital Age
$30.99Add to cartTechnological innovation has changed nearly everything about human life, including how we teach and learn.
Many Christian professors and institutions have embraced new technologies, especially online education. But as followers of Jesus Christ, we face the same call to grow in our faith. So how should we think about and approach Christian education in light of new technologies? Is it possible for us to grow spiritually through our digital communities?
Steve Lowe and Mary Lowe, longtime proponents of online education, trace the motif of spiritual growth through Scripture and consider how students and professors alike might foster digital ecologies in which spiritual growth-even transformation-can take place.
IVP Instructor Resources forthcoming.
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Who Is My Neighbour
$15.99Add to cartFollowing Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, and with increasing division, xenophobia, and confusion over future national and international relationships, this thought- and action-provoking book considers the crucial question: Who is my neighbor?
What does the Christian injunction to “love your neighbor as yourself” actually mean in practice today? Contributions by renowned theologians and practitioners reflect on this subject in relation to issues of poverty, ecology, immigration, fear, and discrimination, and the recent political upheavals both in Europe and the United States.
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Walking With Domestic Abuse Sufferers
$11.99Add to cartTragically, the police receive a call about domestic abuse every minute. This is a hidden and terrifying phenomenon, sadly prevalent in churches as well as the wider community. Spouses, partners, parents, and (older) children are the perpetrators. The aim of this book is to bring victims to a place of freedom, peace, and hope. There is a way out, and they can find real hope in Christ.
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Free At Last
$10.99Add to cartGods Life Publishing
What is one of the most stubborn problems permeating America churches today? Racism! It divides Christian’s brothers and sisters and hinders the spreading of the gospel. Free at Last! Is a concise, in-depth study that reveals the malignancy hampering the Body and gives a biblical antidote to address this spiritual hindrance.
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Faith Among The Faithless
$18.99Add to cartAcclaimed writer and pastor Mike Cosper provides Christians with a surprising guide for living in a secular culture by looking at the story of Esther–a tale of evil, awakened faith, and hope of good in a world where God seems absent.
How can Christianity survive in a secular world? How can Christians live without compromise in an increasingly hostile society? And what if we have already been shaped by the culture around us in harmful, soul-destroying ways?
Faith Among the Faithless provides answers by drawing parallels between our world and the story of Esther. Far from the gentle cartoon stories we heard in Sunday school, the book of Esther is a brutal tale of people assimilated into a pluralistic, pagan society who discover its murderous underbelly and turn to God in a moment of courage and crisis. A story of sex, ego, and revenge, the book of Esther reveals a world where God seems absent from everyday life–a world not unlike our own.
Faith Among the Faithless helps readers see themselves in the very human character of Esther, discovering that like her we have an enemy who plots against us. A call to spiritual awakening and to faith and courage in an age of malaise and apathy, Faith Among the Faithless is an invitation to remembrance and presence, knowing that in our dark times God may be hidden, but he is never absent.
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31 Days Of Prayer For My Nation
$16.99Add to cartJesus is praying for this country and He invites you to join Him!
Recall an image of Jesus you’ve likely seen–Jesus, on His knees, praying. Imagine leaning in to listen to what He is praying and you hear Jesus speaking our country’s name.
Experience Jesus’ heart for America and:
– Declare freedom and passion to love the Lord.
– Claim Bible promises for the country’s future.
– Intercede for spiritual growth and witness.
– Become an answer to your own prayers.31 Days of Prayer for My Country provides:
– True stories from people praying for their country to help you understand common challenges and opportunities.
– A powerful, Scripture-based prayer strategy for better loving the Lord, living God’s Word, loving people, and living His mission.
– Scriptures, prayers, and promises to declare over your country.
– A practical resource for personal devotions, small group studies, and other ministries.God has given put you in this country for a purpose. Support it through prayer and see the benefits in your own life.
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Plantation Jesus : Race Faith And A New Way Forward
$29.99Add to cartNot long ago, most white American Christians believed that Jesus blessed slavery. God wasn’t bothered by Jim Crow. Baby Jesus had white skin. Meet Plantation Jesus: a god who is comfortable with bigotry, and an idol that distorts the message of the real Savior. That false image of God is dead, right? Wrong, argue the authors of Plantation Jesus, an authoritative new book on one of the most urgent issues of our day. Through their shared passion for Jesus Christ and with an unblinking look at history, church, and pop culture, authors Skot Welch and Rick Wilson detail the manifold ways that racism damages the church’s witness. Together Welch and Wilson take on common responses by white Christians to racial injustice, such as “I never owned a slave,” “I don’t see color; only people,” and “We just need to get over it and move on.” Together they call out the church’s denials and dodges and evasions of race, and they invite readers to encounter the Christ of the disenfranchised. With practical resources and Spirit-filled stories, Plantation Jesus nudges readers to learn the history, acknowledge the injury, and face the truth. Only then can the church lead the way toward true reconciliation. Only then can the legacy of Plantation Jesus be replaced with the true way of Jesus Christ.
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Hillbilly Elegy : A Memoir Of A Family And Culture In Crisis
$16.99Add to cartFrom a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class.
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis–that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.
The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love,” and moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually their grandchild (the author) would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving generational upward mobility.
But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that this is only the short, superficial version. Vance’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother, struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, and were never able to fully escape the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. Vance piercingly shows how he himself still carries around the demons of their chaotic family history.
A deeply moving memoir with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.
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Plantation Jesus : Race, Faith, And A New Way Forward
$16.99Add to cartNot long ago, most white American Christians believed that Jesus blessed slavery. God wasn’t bothered by Jim Crow. Baby Jesus had white skin. Meet Plantation Jesus: a god who is comfortable with bigotry, and an idol that distorts the message of the real Savior.
That false image of God is dead, right? Wrong, argue the authors of Plantation Jesus, an authoritative new book on one of the most urgent issues of our day.
Through their shared passion for Jesus Christ and with an unblinking look at history, church, and pop culture, authors Skot Welch and Rick Wilson detail the manifold ways that racism damages the church’s witness. Together Welch and Wilson take on common responses by white Christians to racial injustice, such as “I never owned a slave,” “I don’t see color; only people,” and “We just need to get over it and move on.” Together they call out the church’s denials and dodges and evasions of race, and they invite readers to encounter the Christ of the disenfranchised.
With practical resources and Spirit-filled stories, Plantation Jesus nudges readers to learn the history, acknowledge the injury, and face the truth. Only then can the church lead the way toward true reconciliation. Only then can the legacy of Plantation Jesus be replaced with the true way of Jesus Christ.
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Soul Force : Seven Pivots Toward Courage, Community, And Change
$16.99Add to cartHow can we harness the energy for change that lives in each of us? How can we maximize our power to pivot from fear to freedom and from hurt to hope? How can we bring fullness of life to our communities and our souls?
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Resist And Persist
$20.00Add to cartOver the past few decades, the roles women play in public life have evolved significantly, as have the pressures that come with needing to do it all, have it all, and be all things to all people. And with this progress, misogyny has evolved as well. Today’s discrimination is more subtle and indirect, expressed in double standards, microaggressions, and impossible expectations. In other ways, sexism has gotten more brash and repulsive as women have gained power and voice in the mainstream culture.
Patriarchy is still sanctioned by every institution: capitalism, government, and even-maybe especially-the church itself. This is perhaps the ultimate irony-that a religion based on the radical justice and liberation of Jesus’ teachings has been the most complicit part of the narrative against women’s equality. If we are going to dial back the harmful rhetoric against women and their bodies, the community of faith is going to have to be a big part of the solution.
Pastor and author Erin Wathen navigates the complex layers of what it means to be a woman in our time and place-from the language we use to the clothes that we wear to the unseen and unspoken assumptions that challenge our full personhood at every turn. Resist and Persist reframes the challenges to women’s equality in light of our current culture and political climate, providing a new language of resistance that can free women and men from the pernicious power of patriarchy.
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Disarming The Church
$42.00Add to cartIf Christians follow the Prince of Peace, why do they often behave so violently? What can be done to transform the church so that it looks more like Jesus? Eric Seibert explores these questions in this important and timely study. He builds a biblical and practical case for living nonviolently in all areas of life and urges Christians to reexamine their most fundamental attitudes toward violence, warfare, and killing. Through true stories and careful analysis, Seibert demonstrates that it is possible to resolve conflict, correct injustice, and stop oppression without resorting to violence. Many nonviolent alternatives are discussed throughout the book, alternatives that can be used in a wide range of situations, from dealing with an unwanted intruder at home to removing a dictator from power. In a world filled with so much violence, hate, and fear, alternatives like these are desperately needed. This book offers hope that a better way is possible, one that has the potential to transform the church and change the world. So read on and join in!
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House United : How The Church Can Save The World
$27.99Add to cartIntroduction
1 The Divided States Of America
2 A Tale Of Two Prayers
3 Righteous Minds
4 The Perils Of Echo Chambers
5 The Dividends Of Difference
6 Meeting Through Mission
7 Christian Mingle
8 Courageous Conversations
9 Mission 4.0: How The Church Can Save The WorldAdditional Info
By entering the culture wars, churchgoers in the United States have ushered the Left and the Right to even greater extremes. Battles over moral issues like abortion rights and homosexuality have now widened to include taxation and size of government, so that specific church affiliation has become an accurate predictor of political party affiliation. The extremists in American politics rely on Christians to be the engine that pushes the culture farther right or left.Allen Hilton believes that religion isn’t inherently divisive, and he suggests a new role for Christianity. Jesus prayed that his disciples might all be one, and this book imagines a proper answer to that prayer in the context of American polarization.
Rather than asking people to leave their political and theological beliefs at the church door, Hilton promotes a Christianity that brings people together with their differences. Through God’s transforming work, he writes, we can create a house united that will help our nation come back together.
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Disarming The Church
$67.00Add to cartIf Christians follow the Prince of Peace, why do they often behave so violently? What can be done to transform the church so that it looks more like Jesus? Eric Seibert explores these questions in this important and timely study. He builds a biblical and practical case for living nonviolently in all areas of life and urges Christians to reexamine their most fundamental attitudes toward violence, warfare, and killing. Through true stories and careful analysis, Seibert demonstrates that it is possible to resolve conflict, correct injustice, and stop oppression without resorting to violence. Many nonviolent alternatives are discussed throughout the book, alternatives that can be used in a wide range of situations, from dealing with an unwanted intruder at home to removing a dictator from power. In a world filled with so much violence, hate, and fear, alternatives like these are desperately needed. This book offers hope that a better way is possible, one that has the potential to transform the church and change the world. So read on and join in!
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Poverty : Responding Like Jesus
$16.99Add to cartThe poor will always be with you, Jesus said – but that doesn’t mean Christians have ever figured out how to be with the poor.
Pope Francis has emphasized a vision of a “Church that is poor and for the poor.” But growing economic inequality continues to spread across the globe. This book takes a fresh look at the role of churches, and individual Christians, in relating to poverty and the poor among them. A strong focus is placed on the biblical and theological roots of the Church’s commitment to care for the poor.
At times praised as a virtue and blessed as a condition, poverty easily confuses us, and we are often left doing little to nothing to make a difference with and for the poor. As a social evil and a burden, poverty has elicited many kinds of reactions among the followers of Christ. It is time for Christians to figure out what to do about it.
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Sacred Look Becoming Cultural Mystics
$45.00Add to cartHow should a follower of Christ engage the popular media culture? By becoming a mystic! Sr. Nancy challenges Christians today to delve deep into the rich theological tradition of the church as the root and foundation for recognizing the beauty of God present in all that is truly human. The artists of popular culture sometimes unwittingly seek transcendence while grappling with some of humanity’s most profound existential longings. The cultural mystics of today point out those needs of humanity in the culture’s artifacts in order to enter into dialogue with those who seek something beyond what this world satisfies. The anthropological-sacramental-incarnational paradigm presented gives us this ability to take a sacred look of the culture and offer the joy of the Gospel, Christ who is the answer of all humanity’s yearnings!
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Dream With Me (Reprinted)
$15.99Add to cartAccording to recent surveys and studies, race relations in the United States are the worst they’ve been since the 1990s, and many would argue that life for most minorities has not significantly improved since the civil rights era of the 1960s. For so many, the dream of true equality has dissolved into a reality of prejudice, fear, and violence as a way of life.John M. Perkins has been there from the beginning. Raised by his sharecropping grandparents, Perkins fled Mississippi in 1947 after his brother was fatally shot by a police officer. He led voter registration efforts in 1964, worked for school desegregation in 1967, and was imprisoned and tortured in 1970. Through it all, he has remained determined to seek justice and reconciliation based in Christ’s redemptive work. “Justice is something that every generation has to strive for,” he says. And despite the setbacks of recent years, Perkins finds hope in the young people he has met all across the nation who are hard at work, bringing about reconciliation in God’s name and offering acceptance to all. Dream with Me is his look back at a life devoted to seeking justice for all God’s people, as well as a look forward to what he sees as a potentially historic breakthrough for people of every race.
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Rethinking Incarceration : Advocating For Justice That Restores
$18.99Add to cartIntroduction
Part I: The Roots And Evolution Of Mass Incarceration
1. The War On Drugs
2. How Did We Get Here? From Black Codes To Neoslavery
3. Beyond Law And Order
4. Three Overlooked Pipelines: Mental Health, Private Prisons, And Immigration
5. The School-to-Prison PipelinePart II: The Church’s Witness And Testimony
6. Protestant Reformers: Prophetic Activism, Nonviolence, And God’s Wrath
7. The Prisoner’s Pastor: Chaplaincy And Theology’s Institutional Impact
8. The Spirit Of Punishment: Atonement, Penal Substitution, And The Wrath Of God
9. Atonement And Sanctifying Retribution
10. Divine Justice Is Inherently Restorative
11. Holy Interruptions: Dismantling Mass Incarceration
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
IndexAdditional Info
The United States has 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated. We have more people locked up in jails, prisons, and detention centers than any other country in the history of the world. There are more jails and prisons than degree-granting colleges and universities, and in many places more people live behind bars than on college campuses. Mass incarceration has become a lucrative industry, and the criminal justice system is plagued with bias and unjust practices. And the church has unwittingly contributed to these problems.In Rethinking Incarceration Dominique Gilliard explores the history and foundation of mass incarceration, examining Christianity’s role in its evolution and expansion. He assesses our nation’s ethic of meritocratic justice in light of Scripture and exposes the theologies that embolden mass incarceration. Gilliard then shows how Christians can pursue justice that restores and reconciles, offering creative solutions and highlighting innovative interventions.
God’s justice is ultimately restorative, not just punitive. Discover how Christians can participate in the restoration and redemption of the incarceration system.
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Secrets From A Prison Cell
$18.00Add to cartTony Vick is serving two life sentences for murder. After nearly twenty years in prison, Tony has literally taken to the pen to document firsthand what life is like behind bars. This book–handwritten by Tony and later transcribed by outside friends–indirectly challenges the reader to engage prison reform as one of the most important social issues of this generation, wondering if society can shift its emphasis from retribution to rehabilitation. Tony’s new book describes the violent, even horrific, incidents that occur in prison, incidents mostly hidden in the shadows, away from public awareness. It tells you the stories that those invested in incarceration would rather remain secret. As captivating as it is timely, Secrets from a Prison Cell shortens the distance between those outside and inside prison walls. Through personal stories, essays, and poetry, Tony Vick’s book pulls back the curtain on a world invisible to most people, dramatically revealing the realities of life in prison and the power of love to fight dehumanization.
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Upside Down Kingdom (Anniversary)
$18.99Add to cartSharing, not hoarding. Service, not status. Community, not competition. Basins, not swords. Loyalty to God, not nation.
Jesus turned everything upside down. When we follow him, we can too.This book calls readers to imagine and embody the reign of God on earth as it is in heaven. Since its publication in 1978, the Upside-Down Kingdom has become the most trusted resource on radical Christian discipleship. In this completely updated anniversary edition, author Donald R. Kraybill asks: What does it mean to follow the Christ who traded victory and power for hanging out with the poor and forgiving his enemies? How did a man in first-century Palestine threaten the established order, and what does that mean for us today? What would happen if Christians replaced force with service, violence with love, and nationalism with allegiance to Jesus?
Jesus turned expectations upside-down. The kingdom of God is still full of surprises. Are you ready?
