Throughout the age of Western colonial expansion, Christian missionaries were important participants in the encounter between the West and peoples throughout the rest of the world. Mission schools, health services, and other cultural technologies helped secure Western colonialism, and in some cases transformed or even undermined colonialism's effect. The very breadth of missionaries's focus, however, made the involvement of women in missionary work both possible and necessary.
Missionary groups thus faced more immediately the destabilizing challenges that colonial experience posed to their own ways of organizing relations between women and men. Examining the changing prospects for professional women in the missions, the contributors to "Gendered Missions" ask how these shaped, and were shaped by, crucial practical, political, and religious developments at home and abroad. While the focus is on the tumultuous period that historian Eric Hobsbawm calls "The Age of Empire" (1875-1914), attention also is paid to how gender has been debated in later colonial and post-colonial missions.
Scholars from any field concerned with colonial and postcolonial societies or with gender and women's history should find this book of special interest. In addition, "Gendered Missions" should appeal to readers in church history, mission studies, and the sociology of religion.
Mary Taylor Huber is Senior Scholar, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Nancy C. Lutkehaus is Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Southern California.

It's no secret that the evangelism methods of yesterday are not yielding the kinds of results they did in the 1970s and 1980s. So how are new Christians hearing the Gospel today? How are they finding churches? And what makes them stay at a church? The answers to these questions have the power to dramatically alter the way we do outreach. And Dr. McIntosh has them. Based on ten years of scientific research, Growing God's Church shows pastors and church leaders how people are actually coming to faith in the 21st century. It covers factors such as our motive for ministry, the priorities churches set for themselves, the reality of churchless Christians, generational and gender-based differences in evangelism effectiveness, the name of your church, the influence of pastors, and much more. The appendix includes a copy of the survey that provides the basis for McIntosh's arguments and an overview of the study is provided in the first chapter.

"Das messianische Judentum ist die Religion judischer Menschen, die an Jesus (Yeshua) als den verheissenen Messias glauben. Es ist eine judische Form des Christentums und eine christliche Form des Judentums, welche die Abgrenzungen und die Glaubensvorstellungen beider herausfordert." (Dr. Richard Harvey). Diese Forschungsarbeit will dazu beitragen, messianisch-judische Theologie und Praxis bekannt zu machen und verstehen zu lernen. Von ihr profitieren nicht nur Juden, die an Jesus als Messias glauben, sondern auch Christen und Juden, sofern diese sich darauf einlassen, eine Bewegung verstehen zu wollen, die aus beiden Traditionsgutern "schoepft", die mitunter kontrovers diskutierte Ergebnisse liefert, die aber gerade darin zugleich hilfreiche Impulse fur das theologische Gesprach zwischen Juden und Christen offeriert.

This book explores the technological innovations and management practices of evangelical Christian religions. Beginning from the late 19th century, the author examines the evangelical church's increasing appropriation of business practices from the secular world as solutions to organizational problems. He notes especially the importance of the church growth movement and the formation of church networks. Particular attention is paid to the history of evangelical uses of computer technology, including connections the Christian Right has made within Silicon Valley. Most significantly, this book offers one of the first academic explorations of the use of cybernetics, systems theory and complexity theory by evangelical leaders and management theorists.

Drawing on more than two years of participant observation in the American Midwest and in Madagascar among Lutheran clinicians, volunteer laborers, healers, evangelists, and former missionaries, Conversionary Sites investigates the role of religion in the globalization of medicine. Based on immersive research of a transnational Christian medical aid program, Britt Halvorson tells the story of a thirty-year-old initiative that aimed to professionalize and modernize colonial-era evangelism. Creatively blending perspectives on humanitarianism, global medicine, and the anthropology of Christianity, she argues that the cultural spaces created by these programs operate as multistranded "conversionary sites," where questions of global inequality, transnational religious fellowship, and postcolonial cultural and economic forces are negotiated. A nuanced critique of the ambivalent relationships among religion, capitalism, and humanitarian aid, Conversionary Sites draws important connections between religion and science, capitalism and charity, and the US and the Global South.

It can no longer be assumed that most people--or even most Christians--have a basic understanding of the Bible. Many don't know the difference between the Old and New Testament, and even the more well-known biblical figures are often misunderstood. It is getting harder to talk about Jesus accurately and compellingly because listeners have no proper context with which to understand God's story of redemption.
In this basic introduction to faith, D. A. Carson takes seekers, new Christians, and small groups through the big story of Scripture. He helps readers to know what they believe and why they believe it. The companion leader's guide helps evangelistic study groups, small groups, and Sunday school classes make the best use of this book in group settings.

Das Deuteronomium unterscheidet sich in seiner Sprache und literarischen Gestaltung deutlich von den anderen alttestamentlichen Buchern. Es ist "deuteronomisch". Andere Bucher und Texte ahneln ihm, sie sind "deuteronomistisch". Man spricht von "deuteronomistischer Literatur" und von "deuteronomistischer Bewegung". Dahinter stehen inhaltliche Beziehungen, aber zugleich gemeinsame Sprache und literarische Technik. Unsere Kenntnis der Welt des alten Orients ist inzwischen immens gewachsen, die Sprachwissenschaft bluht auf, die Fragestellungen verandern sich, der Computer ermoeglicht neue Zugriffsmoeglichkeiten. Auch in Bezug auf Deuteronomium und Deuteronomismus ist es an der Zeit, die alten Basisfragen neu zu stellen und neu zu tasten nach Bestatigung, Abwandlung, Neukonzeption. Dieses Buch will dazu einen Beitrag leisten.

When Sarah applied to the Yale physicians assistant program and the admissions panel asked why they should admit her, she replied, "Because I'm going to change the world some day." After more than a decade of practicing medicine and encountering the medical world herself as a cancer patient, she still wanted to change the world through medicine. She optimistically raised funds to serve without pay in a mission hospital in one of the world's poorest countries, only to struggle daily with death and shocking diseases, many of which had simple, but unavailable cures. And, in a harrowing bout with malaria, she nearly succumbed herself. As she explores both her motivation and the mission, she ponders how to make the world "well."

This major statement by a leading missiologist represents a lifetime of wrestling with a topic every cross-cultural leader must address: how to adapt the universal gospel to particular settings. This comprehensive yet accessible textbook organizes contextualization, which includes "everything the church is and does," into seven dimensions. Filled with examples, case studies, and diagrams and conversant with contemporary arguments and debates, it offers the author's unique take on the challenge of adapting the faith in local cultures.

"All will find here much reality, much wisdom, much encouragement, and much to praise God for."--J.I. Packer
This popular book from respected leader Charles H. Kraft shows believers how to exercise the authority they have from God through Jesus Christ. When Christians recognize and use the amazing gift of spiritual authority, they position themselves to provide protection and bring transformation, not only in their lives but in the lives of family members, friends, even coworkers. Now fully revised and updated.

Move over Boomers, Xers, and Millennials; there's a new generation--making up more than 25 percent of the US population--that represents a seismic cultural shift. Born approximately between 1993 and 2012, Generation Z is the first truly post-Christian generation, and they are poised to challenge every church to rethink its role in light of a rapidly changing culture. From the award-winning author of The Rise of the Nones comes this enlightening introduction to the youngest generation. James Emery White explains who this generation is, how it came to be, and the impact it is likely to have on the nation and the faith. Then he reintroduces us to the ancient countercultural model of the early church, arguing that this is the model Christian leaders must adopt and adapt if we are to reach members of Generation Z with the gospel. He helps readers rethink evangelistic and apologetic methods, cultivate a culture of invitation, and communicate with this connected generation where they are. Pastors, ministry leaders, youth workers, and parents will find this an essential and hopeful resource.

ECPA Bronze Milestone Sales Award for more than 100,000 sold. Let the words of Jesus speak to you each day. If anything in this life deserves our undivided attention, it's the powerful words of Jesus. Jesus in Red is a daily devotional, including: Jesus' words highlighted in red short meditations soul-searching questions inspiring prayers Experience God's peace and presence as you reflect on the awe-inspiring teachings of Christ.

Sir James Emerson Tennent (1804-69) combined the roles of traveller, politician and civil servant, publishing accounts of Greece during the war of independence, and several books on Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where he was civil secretary to the colonial government from 1845 to 1850. His other major achievement was as promoter of the Copyright of Designs Act of 1842, which secured the same protection for applied arts designs as existed for inventions and written works. This 1850 book describes the various missionary activities of the Portuguese, Dutch, British and Americans among the peoples of Ceylon since its first discovery by Europeans. The first Portuguese explorers observed that the inhabitants of the north of the island were Hindus, and those in the south were Buddhists, and the different approaches over time to these two belief groups form the core of this prejudiced but interesting book.

How do we start to share our faith? Are we really sure that we know what our message is? What about those objections that people always come up with? And it's not just what we say. Does our whole way of life fit in with what we believe? These are some of the questions which Paul Little discusses in his book in a fresh, lively way. No wonder that this practical, challenging and enjoyable book has now been printed well over a million times.

Rebecca's Revival is the remarkable story of a Caribbean woman--a slave turned evangelist--who helped inspire the rise of black Christianity in the Atlantic world. All but unknown today, Rebecca Protten left an enduring influence on African-American religion and society. Born in 1718, Protten had a childhood conversion experience, gained her freedom from bondage, and joined a group of German proselytizers from the Moravian Church. She embarked on an itinerant mission, preaching to hundreds of the enslaved Africans of St. Thomas, a Danish sugar colony in the West Indies. Laboring in obscurity and weathering persecution from hostile planters, Protten and other black preachers created the earliest African Protestant congregation in the Americas. Protten's eventful life--the recruiting of converts, an interracial marriage, a trial on charges of blasphemy and inciting of slaves, travels to Germany and West Africa--placed her on the cusp of an emerging international Afro-Atlantic evangelicalism. Her career provides a unique lens on this prophetic movement that would soon sweep through the slave quarters of the Caribbean and North America, radically transforming African-American culture. Jon Sensbach has pieced together this forgotten life of a black visionary from German, Danish, and Dutch records, including letters in Protten's own hand, to create an astounding tale of one woman's freedom amidst the slave trade. Protten's life, with its evangelical efforts on three continents, reveals the dynamic relations of the Atlantic world and affords great insight into the ways black Christianity developed in the New World.

Wie kam es zu der kirchlichen Gemeinschaft zwischen den altkatholischen Kirchen der Utrechter Union in Europa und Nordamerika und der Iglesia Filipina Independiente auf den Philippinen? Die Aufsatze geben einen Einblick in die Entwicklung der oekumenischen Beziehungen am Anfang und in der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Aufgrund der Korrespondenz der beteiligten kirchlichen und politischen Persoenlichkeiten zeigen die Autoren auf, wie die beiden Kirchen sich von der Jahrhundertwende bis zum Zweiten Weltkrieg zuerst auseinander entwickelten und sich nach einer Kehrtwende auf der Seite der Iglesia Filipina Independiente und dank Vermittlung der amerikanischen Episkopalkirche wiederfanden. Wo heutzutage die OEkumene ins Stocken geraten zu sein scheint, ruft dieser Band in Erinnerung, wie viel schon erreicht wurde und auf welche Weise.

When a perfect storm of personal, professional, and natural disaster threw Mike Mantel into a dark night of the soul, he embarked on a journey through his own life and around the world to rediscover God's presence through the diverse body of Christ. In Thirsting for Living Water, Mantel invites readers to join him on this adventure and open their eyes to their own stories of God's faithfulness. It's an invitation to see where God is already at work: at home, among neighbors, and to the ends of the earth. Here is a story of the holistic gospel, driven by compassion, justice, and mercy, with Jesus at the center. Here is an inspiring vision of a unified, global church-in which each of us has a vital role to play.

In his bestselling book The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel retraced his spiritual journey from atheism to faith by showing how the evidence he obtained from experts in the field of history, archaeology, and ancient manuscripts led him to the verdict that Jesus truly was the Son of God. Now, in this six-week training course, Lee and coauthor Mark Mittelberg will equip you with practical tools to equip you articulate this same message to your unsaved friends and present evidence that backs up Jesus' claims and credentials. As you go through the course, you will discover how to: Help your unsaved friends and family members open up to consider the case for Christ Describe your own personal journey with Christ and how it has impacted you Share with confidence about the biblical record of Christ-that Jesus was real Present the evidence for the resurrection of Christ-that Jesus died and was raised to life Explain the central message of Christ in an authentic and compelling way Help your unsaved friends and family members respond to the truth of Jesus Sessions include: Helping Friends Consider the Case for Christ Describing Your Own Journey with Christ Backing Up the Biblical Record of Christ Presenting Evidence for the Resurrection of Christ Explaining the Central Message of Christ Encouraging Friends to Follow Christ Designed for use with Making Your Case for Christ Video Study (9780310095156), sold separately.