In the sixty years following the Spanish conquest, indigenous communities in central Mexico suffered the equivalent of three Black Deaths, a demographic catastrophe that prompted them to rebuild under the aegis of Spanish missions. Where previous histories have framed this process as an epochal spiritual conversion, The Mexican Mission widens the lens to examine its political and economic history, revealing a worldly enterprise that both remade and colonized Mesoamerica. The mission exerted immense temporal power in struggles over indigenous jurisdictions, resources, and people. Competing communities adapted the mission to their own designs; most notably, they drafted labor to raise ostentatious monastery complexes in the midst of mass death. While the mission fostered indigenous recovery, it also grounded Spanish imperial authority in the legitimacy of local native rule. The Mexican mission became one of the most extensive in early modern history, with influences reverberating on Spanish frontiers from New Mexico to Mindanao.

"Reforming the World" offers a sophisticated account of how and why, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, American missionaries and moral reformers undertook work abroad at an unprecedented rate and scale. Looking at various organizations such as the Young Men's Christian Association and the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, Ian Tyrrell describes the influence that the export of American values had back home, and explores the methods and networks used by reformers to fashion a global and nonterritorial empire. He follows the transnational American response to internal pressures, the European colonies, and dynamic changes in global society.

Examining the cultural context of American expansionism from the 1870s to the 1920s, Tyrrell provides a new interpretation of Christian and evangelical missionary work, and he addresses America's use of "soft power." He describes evangelical reform's influence on American colonial and diplomatic policy, emphasizes the limits of that impact, and documents the often idiosyncratic personal histories, aspirations, and cultural heritage of moral reformers such as Margaret and Mary Leitch, Louis Klopsch, Clara Barton, and Ida Wells. The book illustrates that moral reform influenced the United States as much as it did the colonial and quasi-colonial peoples Americans came in contact with, and shaped the architecture of American dealings with the larger world of empires through to the era of Woodrow Wilson.

Investigating the wide-reaching and diverse influence of evangelical reform movements, "Reforming the World" establishes how transnational organizing played a vital role in America's political and economic expansion.

"Find the sick, the suffering and the lonely right there where you are. . . . You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see." --Mother Teresa Lifelong educator Mary Poplin, after experiencing a newfound awakening to faith, sent a letter to Calcutta asking if she could visit Mother Teresa and volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity. She received a response saying, "You are welcome to share in our works of love for the poorest of the poor." So in the spring of 1996, Poplin spent two months in Calcutta as a volunteer. There she observed Mother Teresa's life of work and service to the poor, participating in the community's commitments to simplicity and mercy. Mother Teresa's unabashedly religious work stands in countercultural contrast to the limitations of our secular age. Poplin's journey gives us an inside glimpse into one of the most influential lives of the twentieth century and the lessons Mother Teresa continues to offer. Upon Poplin's return, she soon discovered that God was calling her to serve the university world with the same kind of holistic service with which Mother Teresa served Calcutta. Not everyone can go to Calcutta. But all of us can find our own meaningful work and service. Come and answer the call to findyour Calcutta

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.

One minute after you die you will either be enjoying a personal welcome from Christ or catching your first glimpse of gloom as you have never known it. Either way, your future will be irrevocably fixed and eternally unchangeable. Those who find themselves in heaven will be surrounded with many friends they have known on earth. Every description of heaven they have ever heard will pale in light of reality. But others will find themselves shrouded in darkness in a region of deprivation and unending regret. For them, death will be far worse than they ever imagined. So while relatives and friends plan your funeral, you will be more alive than you have ever been. You will either see God on His throne surrounded by angels and redeemed humanity, or you will feel an indescribable weight of guilt and abandonment. There is no destination midway between these extremes. Unaware of Danger I once read a tragic account about people enjoying themselves on the top stories of a tall apartment building not knowing that there was a fire burning on the lower floors. In a similar way, many people are enjoying life now, comfortably ignoring the fact that their death is not only inevitable, but much nearer than they think. Indeed, this world and all we have accumulated will eventually be burned up (2 Peter 3:10). Don't imagine for a moment that you will get to heaven without the right credentials. You will not be there because your wife has a right to enter. You will not be there because you have a child who is already there. No, this is an individual matter, and only those with the right credentials will be allowed entry. Our problem, of course, is that God will not accept us on our terms. We cannot arrive at heaven's gates hoping for leniency. "It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). We cannot come pleading for special favors once we have slipped from this life into eternity. Our Only Hope Our only hope is for God to give us credit for righteous perfection we could never attain on our own. Once such righteousness is credited to our account we can enter heaven immediately at death without so much as an intermediate stop. As the Bible says, "away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). Here's how that's possible: When Christ died on the cross, He offered himself as a sacrifice for sinners, which God accepted. "For our sake he [God] made him [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Though Christ was perfect, God made Him legally guilty of all of our sins. In turn, those who believe that Christ did this for them receive credit for his righteousness before God. Christ was considered to be a sinner when he took our sins on himself. In turn God considers us to be saints when we receive Christ's righteousness. God has exceedingly high standards, but thanks to him, he meets them for us through this amazing exchange. It's the only way we could ever enter God's heaven! A New Nature When we receive Christ's righteousness, God also changes our whole perspective. Christ said, "Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). So, how can we receive the gift of righteousness and be "born again"? The answer is to admit our helplessness and sinfulness to God, and to acknowledge that we are dependent on his mercy. We must have a complete change of mind about whatever we were believing would make us acceptable to God. Instead we must transfer all of our trust to Christ as our sin-bearer. We must believe in Him as the One who did all that we will ever need to stand in God's holy presence. To "believe in Christ" means that as best we know, we trust Him alone for all that we need to please God in this life and to live with him forever in heaven. Here is a prayer that you may want to use if you desire to transfer your trust to Christ alone for your eternal salvation. And if you pray in faith, God will receive you. Dear God, I know I'm a sinner and there is nothing that I can do to save myself. I confess my complete helplessness to forgive my own sin or to work my way to heaven. At this moment I trust Christ alone as the One who took on all my sins when he died on the cross. I believe that he did everything necessary for me to live someday in your holy presence. I thank you that Christ was raised from the dead. As best as I know how, I transfer my trust to him. I am grateful that you have promised to receive me despite my many sins and failures. Father, I take you at your word. I thank You that I can face death now that Christ is my Savior. Thank you for the assurance that you will walk with me through death's door. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In Jesus' name, amen." Where will you be...one minute after you die?

"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.

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.

They were not professionals. They were not celebrities. We don't even know their names. We know very little about them, except that they were everyday people who were drawn to Jesus. When Jesus asked them to join him in his mission, they stepped up, answered the call, and went out in his name. And amazing things happened as a result. They were the 72. Pastor and evangelist John Teter explains how Jesus trains ordinary people to accomplish an extraordinary mission. He unpacks the story of the sending of the 72 to reveal how they were equipped in evangelism and discovered opportunities to herald God's kingdom in concrete and tangible ways. Filled with vivid stories of Teter's remarkable experiences in ministry and church planting, this book shows how we can live out God's call and witness the transformation of those around us. You too have been called by Jesus. Discover how God empowers you to play your part. Welcome to the 72.

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.

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.

This hand sized NKJV edition is the perfect travel companion for readers who like to take their Bibles with them throughout the day. Though it fits easily into backpacks and purses, you won't have to sacrifice readability or study resources. The exclusive Thomas Nelson NKJV Comfort Print (R) typeface was designed to be easy to read at any size, so you can experience deeper engagement in God's Word. This edition also includes over 73,000 cross-references, a concordance, and full-color maps so you have everything you need for serious study at your fingertips. Features include: Presentation page Red letter words of Christ 73,000+ cross-references trace the connections in Scripture Concordance Full-color maps Clear and readable 7-point NKJV Comfort Print Commissioned in 1975 by Thomas Nelson, 130 international and multi-denominational Bible scholars, church leaders, and lay Christians worked for seven years to create a completely new, modern translation of Scripture that retained the purity and stylistic beauty of the King James Version. The New King James Version is faithful to the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic text, and provides transparency to the recent research in archaeology, linguistics, and textual studies in the footnotes. The result is a Bible translation that is both beautiful and uncompromising-perfect for serious study, devotional use, and reading aloud.

Go and do. Jesus commands it, and the world needs it. Word and deed go together. One without the other is not enough. We follow Jesus into all the world, and we follow his example in all we do. Mission mobilizer Paul Borthwick shows how proclamation and demonstration of the gospel go hand in hand. God gives us the Great Commission, Matthew 28's call to go wherever Jesus sends us, making disciples and proclaiming good news to all nations. And we become people of his Great Compassion, Matthew 25's vision for treating others as we would treat Jesus himself, caring for the needy and living justly. Borthwick offers practical ways for us to live out the Great Commission and Great Compassion in every sphere of our lives. Holistic discipleship means learning and looking, praying and giving, welcoming the stranger, simplifying our lives and standing with and for others on God's behalf. Small steps can make a big difference in the mission of God. Will you answer the call?

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.

God's mission needs movement leaders. Jesus pioneered something completely new in human history-a dynamic missionary movement intent on reaching the world. His mission is as clear and as relevant today as in the days of the early church: to make disciples everywhere, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded. But the potential of the church remains untapped. What does it take to lead movements that successfully carry out this mission? In Pioneering Movements, Steve Addison identifies what it takes to follow Jesus' example. Building on his previous books Movements That Change the World and What Jesus Started, he reveals the apostolic qualities and behaviors of biblical, historical, and contemporary pioneers who can guide church and ministry leaders today. This is a book for those who are called to embrace the mission-driven work that Jesus and his disciples began-making disciples of all nations, in all places.

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."

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.

All of us have someone else to thank for receiving the good news of salvation. Mission is a means to a greater goal - God's name being glorified in the salvation of sinners. We should long to see God's fame being spread as far as possible. Throughout the Bible God chose to reach the nations through the preaching of His own people. Emilio Garofalo Neto helps us think through mission, the place it has in our world today, and our role in the mission of Christ.

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.