Meet Jesus and Sam. Evangelist and teacher Brenda Salter McNeil thinks evangelism that only introduces people to Jesus is incomplete. The picture is much larger than that, she claims: Christ's death and resurrection reconcile us to God and to each other across gender, race and social lines. Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman, introduced here as Brenda's friend Sam, gives you the full picture of gospel reconciliation--reconciliation to God and to each other. In her powerful, prophetic way, Brenda expounds their interaction recorded in John 4 and shares her own story of coming to Christ and learning to relate to other Christians. A Credible Witness tells you why both types of reconciliation are necessary, and moves you to be a person whose evangelism happens through a right relationship with God and others. "In today's world," Brenda writes, "we too are called to embody more than one type of reconciliation. The good news brings us to God, and it also brings life and healing to a broken, dying and divided world. Anything less is not the gospel."

The history of HVJ, Vatican Radio, is discussed in this work along with its role in propagating church policies in all areas. Central to the discussion is the interrelation between leadership and social change as well as the necessity of creating a propaganda machine to maintain the existing system or to create a new order. Vatican Radio has served as one of the major media instruments of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church since its beginning in 1931. Scholars in either media or religion will be interested in this ground-breaking work.

Receiving 'The Nature and Mission of the Church' is a collection of essays and assessments in which scholars from a variety of denominational, geographical and ecclesiological backgrounds attempt to discern the significance of the 2006 document 'Nature and Mission of the Church' from the World Council of Churches-thereby offering doctrinal, theological and hermeneutical perspectives and analysis on its formation and content. The essays also seek to discern the potential ecumenical ramifications of the document. Contributions also address futures for ecumenical dialogue and the development of an ecumenical ecclesiology in general. This is an apposite and timely collection of responses which includes contributions from those who witnessed its launch in the context of the WCC in 2006 at Porte Allegre. While so many books on the church already exist, the focused nature of the proposed volume, as well as the international and broad denominational range of the contributors, makes this proposed volume unique. Bear in mind, also, that the proposed volume is not, primarily, a historical study, but rather an ecclesiological study, and its original form is further accentuated.

In the acclaimed book Muslim Evangelism, Phil Parshall devotes one chapter to "bridges" which can assist in facilitating understanding between Islam and Christianity. In Bridges to Islam he expands that key chapter into a book. The most promising bridges can be found not in orthodox Islam, contends the author, but in "folk Islam," which is less well known in the West but which influences about 70 percent of the world's Muslims. "Popular Islam consists largely of people who desire to know God and to be accepted by him," writes the author. "They have a high view of one God who is . . . all-powerful and merciful." The mystical Sufis press for a more satisfying personal relationship with Allah. These teachings and aspirations, argues the author, have immense potential as bridges, which he has personally witnessed spending many years ministering among Muslims. This thorough and in depth study of ways to bridge folk Islam will be invaluable to missionaries, students, and those interested in reaching Muslims for Christ.

This is a valuable scholarly analysis of the ways that the practices of three members of the Basel Mission (Evangelische Missionsgesellschaft Basel)-Andreas Riis (1804-1854), Rosine Widmann (1828-1909), and Carl Christian Reindorf (1834-1917)-informed the nineteenth-century mission field of the Gold Coast between the years 1832-1895. This study is based upon the original handwritten documents of these three missionaries, which are housed in the Basel Mission Archive in Basel, Switzerland. The book is located within the larger discipline of postcolonial studies, and more particularly within the framework of Tzvetan Todorov's discussion of 'signs' in his 1984 work The Conquest of America. The study also is set against the backdrop of the important theories on missions in the writings of Schleiermacher, Fabri, and Warneck. A significant contribution made by this study is that it contains the first discussion of the female German missionary Rosine Widmann, who serves as a kind of example of the then current Missionsfrauen. This book leads to a better understanding of the Gold Coast, and makes important contributions to scholarship in the fields of mission studies, German historical theology, German studies, and African studies.

As the world around us is changing, our methods also need to adapt in order to fulfill the unchanging vision of reaching the lost. Innovations in Missions provides outstanding opportunities to solve the great challenges of ministry in this new Century. This book is not an all-or-nothing approach to being innovative in ministry. It offers what has worked in other areas and lets the reader choose what might be a possibility for their church or ministry. It will provide insight, encouragement and hope to those who are critically looking at the world and considering the problems that must be addressed. Missionaries, mission executives, mission pastors and mission committees wanting to adapt effective strategies in order to stay current with global changes will benefit greatly from this book.

"In the early twentieth century, missionary expositions were a central event in the religious life of many Americans. They also converged with the research agenda of anthropology, which was then defined by museum work. This thoughtfully researched book brings the untold history of the World in Boston of 1911 to light. Extraordinary in terms of content, geographic scope, and attendance, "America's First Great Missionary Exposition" was conceived on the model of world's fairs, and grew out of an established tradition of missionary exhibitions. This compelling history reveals how the material culture of missions shaped domestic interactions with evangelism, Christianity, and the consumption of ethnological knowledge"--

We often think stories are for children. But using the Bible as evidence, we see that God communicated His truth to men and women of all cultures, time, and places by way of many small stories forming one large story. While possessing a rich heritage of storytelling, too many evangelicals have forfeited this vital skill. Tom Steffen's aim is to help readers recapture the most natural, universal, and effective means of evangelism-discipleship that exists--storytelling. This book is not just theory--it provides practical help by identifying the roles and tasks that are necessary to become an effective storyteller in another culture. Steffen offers creative tools and introduces practical ways to increase many of the storytelling skills for evangelism-discipleship. He moves us beyond linear gospel outlines, Western logic and organization, and individual responses to traditional evangelism rituals, to a mode of communication that respects the audience, making it easy for them to grasp what they have heard and to pass it on to others with minimal loss of content. By reconnecting storytelling to ministry, readers will be more comfortable in sharing the gospel, both at home and abroad.

A thankless task or a waste of time. Two ways people use to describe the Christian training of children. You don t have to feel that way! In this book you will find encouragement, practical help and Biblical principles. King David is used as an example to follow David said Come ye children, harken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord Spurgeon says You are not ashamed to tread in the footsteps of David, are you Thus Spurgeon encourages the reader to imitate our Biblical fathers. You will also go away with a new vision of the importance of the work in which you are involved. C. H. Spurgeon shows us that telling young people about Jesus is the most important task given to anyone, be they parent, teacher or youth leader.

Finalist, Fourth Annual Outreach Resource of the Year (2006) Vows--exclusive promises or commitments--are almost unheard of these days. They're considered a quaint relic of times past when open options were not such highly regarded virtues. But many people in this commitment-averse culture are begging for someone to set the bar higher, to call them to higher levels of devotion. Across the ages God has consistently attracted a few in every crowd who would make and keep vows, and called them to stick out, act out and speak out. In The New Friars Scott Bessenecker profiles young Christians who have voluntarily removed themselves from the status quo in order to seek justice and mercy with the poorest of the world's poor. These new friars are carrying on the work of the monastic tradition, the spirit of Francis and Clare of Assisi, St. Patrick and St. Brigid, the Jesuits and Nestorians and Moravians. The New Friars will show you that with God all things--even uncommon acts of courageous faith--are possible.

You long for love and happiness. But so often you are blocked from satisfying that longing. What are the barriers? Why are they so troublesome? How does spirituality play a role? Rebecca Manley Pippert examines these persistently human questions in this thoughtful and personal book. She invites you to join her on a journey exploring the region between faith and unbelief where your hopes and doubts mingle. Calling as expert guides such thinkers as Albert Camus and C. S. Lewis, she cites freely her own experiences and sets out the questions all face--questions about significance, meaning, love, life and truth, the search for encouragement and security. Pippert offers no canned formulas or saccharine cliches. In this revised and updated edition she squarely engages your uncertainty, disappointment, longing for fulfillment, and the reality of pain and suffering. Such realism rings in the stories she tells and in the ideas she explores. In doing so she leads you beyond the search for your own significance to the reasons you have for your hope of discovering God.

God is at work in the city. And he invites his people to join him. But the city is not merely a mission field for Christians to target. The city is also the environment where Christians are discipled and lives are forged into the image of Jesus. Urban ministry veteran Randy White shows how God transforms you when you answer God's call to the city. Urban life peels away your sin and self-deception and challenges your unexamined assumptions about privilege, race, class and power. Experiential discipleship moves you from abstract theory to hands-on learning and on-the-ground action, revolutionizing your perspective and making a difference in local neighborhoods and beyond. Passionate and practical, White's vivid narratives of experiencing God in the city show you how your spiritual health is intertwined with the health of the metropolis. Seek the welfare of the city, and both you and the city will be transformed.

Winner of a 2006 Chicago Book Clinic Award of Excellence God is back on the agenda. Today people are fascinated by spirituality, and they have lots of questions. Who better to talk with them than Christians? Trouble is, many of us don't know how to talk about our faith or are uneasy about religious salesmanship and canned evangelistic formulas. We are afraid of button-holing others, being offensive or saying something wrong. We simply don't know how to express our faith naturally--in everyday language. In Holy Conversation Richard Peace teaches us how to engage in easy and comfortable conversation about the good news of Jesus--the pressure is off. Using small, easy steps, he explains the gospel in plain language and encourages us in practical ways to share our faith with friends, neighbors and colleagues. Written as a guide for small groups, Holy Conversation is designed to be completed in twelve weekly sessions (other options are provided). Not only do group members read about holy conversation, they actually engage one another in spiritual conversation. This is the ideal resource for helping laypeople to become competent and confident Christian conversationalists

In this concise version of God Shines Forth, Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves urge Christians to grow in their knowledge and enjoyment of God-as they know God more, they will be spurred on to authentic service through missions and evangelism.