Jim Elliot was a missionary--and then a martyr at the hands of the Auca Indians to whom he was witnessing. At the age of 28, he left behind a young wife, a baby daughter, and an incredible legacy of faith. Jim's volumes of personal journals, written over many years, reveal the inner struggles and victories that he experienced before his untimely death. In The Journals of Jim Elliot, you'll come to know this intelligent and articulate man who yearns to know God's plan for his life, details his fascinating missions work, and reveals his love for Elisabeth--first as a single man, then as a happily married one. Edited by his widow, Jim's personal yet universal musings about faith, love, and work will show you how to apply the Bible to the situations you face every day. They will inspire you to lead a life of obedience, regardless of the cost, and delight you with an amazing story of courage and determination.

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aA thorough ethnography that sweeps the reader into the world of Marian visionary Estela Ruiz, her family and followers, and the evangelizing ministries they have created in South Phoenix. . . . Fascinating.a
--Timothy Matovina, Director, Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, University of Notre Dame

"This wonderfully written study, one of the most comprehensive and insightful books about modern Marian apparitions in North America, takes the story from the Virgin's first appearance to a feminist professional woman distressed by family burdens, through the widening sphere of the apparitions' impact on family and community, to the cult's ultimate role as a national and international vehicle for Catholic evangelizing, especially among Hispanics."
--"CHOICE," highly recommended

"This book stands as an intimate portrait of the visionary; 'a woman torn between the individualism she enjoyed in the 'Anglo world' and her familial commitments in her Mexican-American home.'"
--"Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion"

"This is a respectful, sensitive, clearly written book in which the author seeks to resolve the alien ethnographer's dilemma by 'writing like a relative.' The reader's reward is a rich sense of the circumstances and struggles of at least some Mexican Americans in South Phoenix to make a good life in the contemporary United States that balances faith and family with education, material strivings, professional growth, discrimination, and personal suffering in ways that begin to bridge the conceptual divide between offical and popular religion."
--"American Ethnologist"

aA compellingaccount of Marian devotion as alived religionaa
--"Sociology of Religion"

In 1998, a Mexican American woman named Estela Ruiz began seeing visions of the Virgin Mary in south Phoenix. The apparitions and messages spurred the creation of Maryas Ministries, a Catholic evangelizing group, and its sister organization, ESPIRITU, which focuses on community-based initiatives and social justice for Latinos/as.

Based on ten years of participant observation and in-depth interviews, The Virgin of El Barrio traces the spiritual transformation of Ruiz, the development of the community that has sprung up around her, and the international expansion of their message. Their organizations blend popular and official Catholicism as well as evangelical Protestant styles of praise and worship, shedding light on Catholic responses to the tensions between popular and official piety and the needs of Mexican Americans.

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® 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
• Satin ribbon marker
• 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.

This book provides a compelling narrative history of the experiences and achievements of female British missionaries in China, India, and Africa during the 19th century and first half of the 20th century-the first such account available. Despite the fact that by the early 20th century female missionaries began to outnumber their male counterparts, there are few publications that document the contributions of women to the missionary movement against a backdrop of civil unrest, famine, and war. Western Daughters in Eastern Lands: British Missionary Women in Asia provides accurate and insightful information to rectify this glaring omission. In this book, author Rosemary Seton draws upon memoirs, letters, diaries, and mission records to create a unique and fascinating history of the British women whose sense of vocation took them to the East. As most British missionary women of this period were Anglicans, Baptists, Congregationalists, and Methodists, the focus is upon Protestant missionaries; Catholics are also included, however. Through these sources, a clear picture of women missionaries emerges: their social background and motivation; their lives on the mission-field and their place in mission hierarchies; their selection and training; and their educational, evangelical, and medical work. The book concludes with an assessment of their achievements and impact on foreign societies. Original documents include materials extracted from letters, diaries, and memoirs of and about British women missionaries Photographs from the rich archives of British missionary societies and from private collections

This is a progressive Christian approach to soteriology and missiology in a global, postcolonial context. Much of the history of mission has been interlaced with imperial structures. Often the colonial and economic impulses of the colonial powers overshadow some of the counter-imperial tendencies of biblical texts and ecclesial communities. Evangelical missionary theologies have led to cultural genocide. These missionary practices have been heavily critiqued in the last few decades. Christian progressives have been in the forefront of the critique of mission, but have often responded in ways that reject the of mission of the word, instead highlighting a mission focused on developmental concerns that obscures the Christian content but continues to push Western capitalist structures into 'developing' postcolonial societies. Instead, this book proposes an integration of gospel and culture. It aims to steer a third course towards an integration of the knowledge and treasures, the losses and laments of Christianities forged in colonizing and colonized societies. Proposing that these Christianities are more alike than different, and in need of each other for reconciliation of communities facing the ecological and economic collapse at the limits of what the planet can carry.

A fervant millennial hope has often existed at the heart of Protestant evangelicalism. Varieties of eschatology have exercised a profound impact on the movement's theology and history. Although millennialism had a respected lineage within conservative Protestantism, it flourished with enormous energy in the early nineteenth century as evangelicals responded to the threat of the American and European revolutions and the cultural pessimism of the Romantic movement. By mid-century, the millennialism which had first been articulated for the defence of Protestant conservatism had paved the way for the subversion of historic theology and church practice, as a growing confidence in biblical inerrancy and the 'literal' hermeneutic challenged many of the historical assumptions of the evangelical faith. This volume of essays expands on neglected aspects of the impact of the evangelical millennialism in Britain and Ireland between 1800 and 1880 and includes an essay charting recent trends in the study of millennialism.

This comprehensive guide will facilitate scholarly research concerning the history of Christianity in China as well as the wider Sino-Western cultural encounter. It will assist scholars in their search for material on the anthropological, educational, medical, scientific, social, political, and religious dimensions of the missionary presence in China prior to 1950.The guide contains nearly five hundred entries identifying both Roman Catholic and Protestant missionary sending agencies and related religious congregations. Each entry includes the organization's name in English, followed by its Chinese name, country of origin, and denominational affiliation. Special attention has been paid to identifying the many small, lesser-known groups that arrived in China during the early decades of the twentieth century. In addition, a special category of the as yet little-studied indigenous communities of Chinese women has also been included. Multiple indexes enhance the guide's accessibility.

Revered for years as a saint, David Livingstone was an interesting character--difficult, demanding, and unsympathetic but also single-minded, determined, patient, and brave. The first European to cross Africa, he discovered the Victoria Falls and survived a shipwreck, attacks by natives, and being mauled by a lion.

In this wide-ranging book, the author weaves a tale of the Franciscan missionary theatre in early colonial Mexico and indigenous dramatizations on the theme of conquest in modern Mexico. The book tells the story of a Jewish playwright in 17th-century Spain who dramatized Christian evangelism in the New World, offering fresh readings of representations of the conquest of Mexico by Dryden and Artaud, and engages in a lively dialogue with Bakhtin's insistence that drama is a monological genre.;This study of the theatre develops into an original meditation on the ethics of cross-cultural encounter offering a new, dialogical model for human and religious encounter in a pluralistic world. By the author of "Theatre and Incarnation". Max Harris has also published articles on literature and religion in "Bulletin of the Comediantes", "Journal of the American Academy of Religion", "Medium Aevum", "Modern Drama", "Radical History Review" and "Restoration".

Displaying God's love in today's world. When it comes to talking about Jesus with our family members, friends, classmates, and coworkers, many of us aren't sure how to go about doing it. We don't want to come off as awkward, pushy, or weird. We wonder if we have the right answers or if we'll say the wrong thing. As a result, we sometimes give up on sharing about Jesus altogether. In this five-session study, bestselling author and spoken-word artist Hosanna Wong crushes the lies that hold us back from sharing the most important story in the world. Join Hosanna in discovering what God's Word actually says about revealing His love to the people right next us, and how we are already equipped to reach those who don't know how much God loves them (yet). With honesty and humor, Hosanna will help you: Embrace your unique story to naturally talk about Jesus without being weird or pushy. Discover the three most effective steps to take when fighting for a loved one who is in a tough place. Overcome the lies that hold you back so you can step into your calling and empower people to encounter God. Heal from past hurts in the church and learn how to create the community you've longed for. This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including: The study guide itself - video teaching notes, group discussion questions, and in-between gatherings personal Bible study sections. An individual access code to stream all five video sessions online (you don't need to buy a DVD!). Watch on any device! Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2027. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.

Out of the generation that grew up in the Great Depression and World War II, thousands of young Christians felt called by God to the ends of the earth. Pauline A. Brown, with her husband Ralph, and two other families, went to the Sindh Province in southern Pakistan in 1954 -- their goal, to share God's message love with Muslim Sindhis. This book is not just about North Americans abroad, but about a fellowship of ordinary people crossing cultural and linguistic barriers to take on the extraordinary challenge of establishing the Church in the Sindh desert. Jars of Clay is a story of laughter and tears, of danger and deliverance, of despair and hope, of victory and defeat. Above all, it is a story of perseverance in the face of great odds. The story of how the Church of Jesus Christ, small and fragile as it is, is taking root in the barren desert soil of Sindh in Pakistan, an Islamic Republic, is relevant more than ever in our post 9/11 world.

The third book in The Mission and Marginal Series looks at the lessons we can learn from the testimonies of people living and working on the margins of society. If you look hard enough you will find groups of Christians deeply embedded in the life of every city - serving faithfully, innovating in extraordinarily creative ways and living sacrificially. This book is the third in a six-volume series specifically exploring the theologies and practices that are arising as groups seek to follow Jesus in these challenging situations. At the heart of the series are the core convictions that such involvement must prioritise the marginalised and socially excluded; that theology must be liveable and practical; and that mission studies benefit from engagement with insights from contemporary social science.

'You don't honestly believe all that stuff in the Bible!' Challenged by her friends, and later as a student by theological teachers, Amy Orr-Ewing was determined to leave no stone unturned in her eagerness to prove that the Bible was unique and wholly reliable. Her passion drove her to complete an in-depth study of the answers to ten of the most frequently raised objections she encountered, including: * Isn't it all a matter of interpretation? * Can we know anything about history? * Are the original manuscripts reliable? * What about the canon? * What about other holy books? * Isn't the Bible sexist? * What about all the wars? * Isn't the Bible out of date on sex? * How can I know? Sensitively yet convincingly, the author addresses the issues and the arguments, showing that we have every reason to trust the Bible today.

Be Equipped to Prepare and Deliver Engaging, Biblical, and Effective Topical Sermons Sooner or later, every preacher will come upon a situation where they need to preach a topical sermon. Yet few are taught to preach topically. Even preachers who are gifted in expositing the Scriptures may struggle to deliver a topical sermon that is engaging, culturally relevant, and true to the biblical text. Worse, many pastors worry these messages undermine confidence in the Bible or its authority, leading to a human-centered rather than a God-focused sermon. But that doesn't have to be the case. In Topical Preaching in a Complex World, Sam Chan and Malcolm Gill answer these objections and chart a path for how preachers can deliver faithful and effective topical messages. First, they address the biblical, theological, and cultural reasons pastors should add topical sermons to their preaching repertoire. Then, they introduce a straightforward, four-fold approach for preaching a topical message and answer important questions like these: How do you approach a topic with the proper interpretative lens? How can you speak to two or more audiences with the same sermon? What should you consider theologically, culturally, and pastorally in your preparation? How do you trace the topic back to Christ? How can you better connect with your audience? Best of all, they help readers craft a message that says something people truly need (and want) to hear! Filled with wit, humor, and wisdom from decades of preaching, this book will equip preachers, pastors, ministry leaders, and students to preach relevant, biblical, and engaging topical sermons. Author Sam Chan says, "Just over a decade ago, I was asked by an organization to speak at their end-of-year dinner. They wanted me to address the topic of being a Christian single, but I had no idea how to prepare and deliver a topical talk. When the night arrived, I preached an old three-point expository sermon and merely changed the ending to include some application on singleness. At best, I got some polite comments afterwards. At worst, people's looks indicated that my biblical talk had little relevance for them. They could not have been less fooled by my disingenuous workaround. I went home vowing never to repeat that poor performance. I felt like the unfaithful servant who had not adequately used what talents had been given to him. As a result, I have dedicated the last decade of my preaching ministry to overcoming and mastering the art of topical preaching. This book is a product of that journey."

This book examines how in defending Asian rights and their own version of Christian idealism against scientific racism, missionaries developed a complex theology of race that prefigured modern ideologies of multiculturalism and reached its final, belated culmination in the liberal Protestant support of the civil rights movements in the 1960s

John Stott's definitive and passionate plea to the church to listen both to God's Word and to his world (double listening)

An analysis of African American televangelists as cultural icons Through their constant television broadcasts, mass video distributions, and printed publications, African American religious broadcasters have a seemingly ubiquitous presence in popular culture. They are on par with popular entertainers and athletes in the African American community as cultural icons even as they are criticized by others for taking advantage of the devout in order to subsidize their lavish lifestyles. For these reasons questions abound. Do televangelists proclaim the message of the gospel or a message of greed? Do they represent the "authentic" voice of the black church or the Christian Right in blackface? Does the phenomenon reflect orthodox "Christianity" or ethnocentric "Americaninity" wrapped in religious language? Watch This! seeks to move beyond such polarizing debates by critically delving into the dominant messages and aesthetic styles of African American televangelists and evaluating their ethical implications.

First published in 1926.
'These documents are full of intimate interest' Times Literary Supplement
'A serious and intensely interesting piece of work' The Guardian
The Jesuit missionaries were some of the earliest Europeans to find their way into the Mogul empire in the sixteenth century. Spending more years at Akbar's court than others did months, and traversing his dominions from Lahore to Kabul, and from Kashmir to the Deccan, they undoubtedly sowed the seeds of British influence in the East.
Reproducing, or summarizing the most valuable of the missionaries' letters written prior to 1610, this volume makes available the illegible and scattered primary sources on the reign of the Emperor Akbar, and as such, forms the earliest European description of the Mogul Empire.