How should Christians approach important contemporary issues like war, race, creation care, gender, and politics? Christians in every culture are confronted with social trends and moral questions that can be difficult to navigate. But, the Bible often doesn't speak directly to such issues. Even when it does, it can be confusing to know how best to apply the biblical teaching. In Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues authors Joshua D. Chatraw and Karen Swallow Prior first offer a broadly accessible framework for cultural engagement and then explore specific hot topics in current Western culture including: Sexuality Gender Roles Human Life and Reproduction Technology Immigration and Race Creation and Creature Care Politics Work Arts War, Weapons, and Capital Punishment Featuring contributions from over forty top thinkers, proponents of various views on the specific topics present their approaches in their own words, providing readers an opportunity to fairly consider options. Unique in how it addresses both big-picture questions about cultural engagement and pressing current issues, Cultural Engagement provides a thorough and broad introduction useful for students, professors, pastors, college ministers, and any believer wanting to more effectively exercise their faith in the public square.

Star of A&E's Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson exposes the ten lies the devil has used to destroy America's soul and offers ten counter-truths to put God back into culture and turn the country around.

In April of 1966, Time magazine raised a ruckus when the cover of the magazine featured in red block-letters a now-infamous question: "Is God Dead?" It marked a turning point for the country, revealing the cultural acceptability of questioning whether God was active and alive in our world. Circumstances have not improved. In his new book,Phil Robertson exposes the 10 essential deceptions and schemes the devil has used in an attempt to steal, kill, and destroy America's soul.

With personal narrative and folksy wisdom, Phil shares the ten counter-truths that, if believed and acted on, would put God back into the culture and might just turn our country around. His most prophetic work to date, the new book is deeply rooted in Phil's desire that all might come into the life-giving, peace-filling, wholly-transforming experience of God's great love.

"Cause us trouble Keith, but not too much trouble," these were final words of advice from a bishop to a new curate the day before his ordination. This book is the result of much reflection on that advice. Keith Hebden, parish priest and spiritual activist brings action and theory together with ideas that are as practical, accessible and exciting as the activism they underwrite. Beginning with the conviction that Jesus was an activist who was deeply committed to community, this book seeks to explore ways in which each of us can challenge the unjust structures that keep us from realising our full and common humanity. Seeking Justice is a timely reminder of our need to face up to our personal ability to change the world we live in and the urgency of the task ahead.

Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year Foreword INDIES Award Finalist For a generation or so, society has tried to be colorblind. People say they don't see race. But this approach has limitations. In our broken world, ethnicity and racial identity are often points of pain and injustice. We can't ignore that God created us with our ethnic identities. We bring all of who we are, including our ethnicity and cultural background, to our identity and work as God's ambassadors. Ethnicity and evangelism specialist Sarah Shin reveals how our brokenness around ethnicity can be restored and redeemed, for our own wholeness and also for the good of others. When we experience internal transformation in our ethnic journeys, God propels us outward in a reconciling witness to the world. Ethnic healing can demonstrate God's power and goodness and bring good news to others. Showing us how to make space for God's healing of our ethnic stories, Shin helps us grow in our crosscultural skills, manage crosscultural conflict, pursue reconciliation and justice, and share the gospel as ethnicity-aware Christians. Jesus offers hope for healing, both for ourselves and for society. Discover how your ethnic story can be transformed for compelling witness and mission.

This book calls for reconciliation in society that is radical, that goes to the roots. Too many initiatives for reconciliation, fail to remove the weeds of injustice at the roots, and thus stop short of completing the work required. Such political arrangements usually favor the rich and powerful, but deprive the powerless of justice and dignity. This is a form of "political pietism," and when Christians refuse to name this situation for what it is, they are practicing "Christian quietism." True reconciliation is radical.

In this book the authors a South African prominent in the struggle against apartheid, and a white U.S. theologian who has served in pastoral roles in multi-racial congregations offer a vision of reconciliation and social justice grounded in the biblical story and their own experience of activism. After re-examining the meaning of reconciliation in the biblical context, the authors examine Jesus' role as a radical reconciler and prophet of social justice. They go on to examine the role of reconciliation in religious communities and in the wider society.

The outlines for this book have been chosen from some of the most respected preachers in history. Each book in the Bryant Sermon Outlines Series contains thirty or more outlines focusing on one theme. These outlines on the life of Christ are designed to spark an idea, provide an initial structure, and/or furnish a fitting illustration.

With dramatic artwork and colorful detail, "The Story of Jesus" tells the story of Jesus in a fresh, biblical way--from the angelic appearance to Zechariah through Joseph and Mary's escape to Egypt. Available in packs of 25, "The Story of Jesus" is ideal for church programs, community outreach, family devotions, and as an outreach tool for children or adults.

2012 Reprint of 1906 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "The Star Book for Ministers" has been a trusted companion and reference for many generations of evangelical pastors, and as such it may accurately be described by the term classic, for it has stood the test of time as true classics do. A timeless treasure---you won't want to leave your office without it This reprint of the 1906 original is loaded with practical helps and information. Topics range from pastoral care and church administration to weddings and funerals. Dr. Edward Thurston Hiscox (1814-1901) was a distinguished Baptist theologian and the author of the "Standard Manual for Baptist Churches" (published 1890) and the "New Directory for Baptist Churches" (1894) - both of which were considered two of the foundational works of the modern Baptist church.

Popular blogger Shannan Martin offers Christians who are longing for a more meaningful life a simple starting point: learn what it is to love and be loved right where God has placed you.

For Christ-followers living in an increasingly complicated world, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and unsure of how to live a life of intention and meaning. Where do we even begin?

Shannan Martin offers a surprisingly simple answer: uncover the hidden corners of our cities and neighborhoods and invest deeply in the lives of people around us. She walks us through her own discoveries about the vital importance of paying attention, as well as the hard but rewarding truth about showing up and committing for the long haul, despite the inevitable encounters with brokenness and uncertainty. With transparency, humor, heart-tugging storytelling, and more than a little personal confession, Martin shows us that no matter where we live or how much we have, as we learn what it is to be with people as Jesus was, we'll find our very lives. The details will look quiet and ordinary, and the call will both exhaust and exhilarate us.

But it will be the most worth-it adventure we will ever take.

2018 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award Finalists - Multicultural Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove grew up in the Bible Belt in the American South as a faithful church-going Christian. But he gradually came to realize that the gospel his Christianity proclaimed was not good news for everybody. The same Christianity that sang, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound" also perpetuated racial injustice and white supremacy in the name of Jesus. His Christianity, he discovered, was the religion of the slaveholder. Just as Reconstruction after the Civil War worked to repair a desperately broken society, our compromised Christianity requires a spiritual reconstruction that undoes the injustices of the past. Wilson-Hartgrove traces his journey from the religion of the slaveholder to the Christianity of Christ. Reconstructing the gospel requires facing the pain of the past and present, from racial blindness to systemic abuses of power. Grappling seriously with troubling history and theology, Wilson-Hartgrove recovers the subversiveness of the gospel that sustained the church through centuries of slavery and oppression, from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement and beyond. When the gospel is reconstructed, freedom rings for both individuals and society as a whole. Discover how Jesus continues to save us from ourselves and each other, to repair the breach and heal our land.

The first centuries of Christianity are like a far country. But despite their foreignness, they hold a treasury of wisdom for living. Early Christians struggled and flourished in a culture that was in love with empire and military power, infatuated with sex and entertainment, tolerant of all gods but hostile to the One. And from this crucible of discipleship they extracted lessons of virtue, faithfulness, and joy in Christ. Christopher Hall takes us to the ancient Mediterranean world, inquiring Christian leaders how to live a good life as a Christ follower. The menu of topics wends its way through wealth and poverty, war and violence, marriage and sexuality, theater and the arena, as well as the harsh realities of persecution and martyrdom. Gathering around Basil or Chrysostom or Augustine, we are instructed anew in the way of discipleship. And as they grapple with issues surprisingly resonant with our own, this cloud of ancient witnesses both surprises and challenges us in the life of faith.

John Paul Lederach's work in the field of conciliation and mediation is internationally recognized. As founding Director of the Conflict Transformation Program and Institute of Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, he has provided consultation and direct mediation in a range of situations from the Miskito/Sandinista conflict in Nicaragua to Somalia, Northern Ireland, the Basque Country, and the Philippines. His influential 1997 book Building Peace has become a classic in the discipline. This new book represents his thinking and learning over the past several years. He explores the evolution of his understanding of peacebuilding by reflecting on his own experiences in the field. Peacebuilding, in his view, is both a learned skill and an art. Finding this art, he says, requires a worldview shift. Conflict professionals must envision their work as a creative act - an exercise of what Lederach terms the "moral imagination."

Working with clay, paint, crayons, or pencils, artists have long known that the act of creating art can help people explore the deepest recesses of their hearts - and bring about real change in their lives. Michael Sullivan discovered the power of art for himself in the midst of grieving the loss of a young parishioner. Ever since, he has been using simple art projects as a form of prayer and a way of helping others explore what God may be saying to them. "Windows into the Soul" is a practical, hands-on resource for those who want to explore this means of prayer and contemplation for themselves, approaching the process not as an artist but as a spiritual seeker. Readers will find projects in various media, including clay, charcoal, and acrylic, including not only technical directions, but a gentle guide to the spiritual gold to be mined from the experience.

From the creator of the bestseller Simpler Living, Compassionate Life: A Christian Perspective comes Food & Faith. Food is itself a joyful gift recall how the gift of food so often mediates the sanctity and preciousness of life. This new collection of reflections by Wendell Berry, Bill McKibben, Elizabeth Johnson, Alan Durning and others helps you start thinking about the moral, spiritual and economic implications of eating. Readings focus on the enjoyment and spirituality of good food, ways in which eating connects us to the land and to each other, and on the economic, environmental and cultural impacts of daily food choices. Food & Faith includes an eight-week study guide for groups or individuals, which leads to action: setting a table that is healthy, joyful and just. "

The damage done by hatred and prejudice -- based on race, sexual orientation, religion, or gender -- runs very deep. The damage is often invisible, but it simmers beneath the surface anyway. In Race and Prayer, Malcolm Boyd and Chester Talton have collected poems, prayers, and prose that bring the anger and frustration to light, and ultimately, they hope, to a place of reconciliation and healing.

Race and Prayer is divided into five sections: Suffering and Anger; Prejudice and Hatred; Diversity; Reconciliation and Healing; and Growth in Understanding and Sharing. Contributors to this collection range in age from teenagers to the elderly, and include men and women from a wide variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, all of whom speak honestly of their own experiences, heartbreaks, and hopes. Twelve cartoons from three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Conrad, editorial cartoonist at the Los Angeles Times, add to the power of this collection.

Affection is often a neglected theme in our generation of Bible believing Christians. It has not always been so. Previous generations thought a great deal about the centrality of the heart in the Christian life and the need to preach to it. This book will prove a valuable resource as we learn about the place of the affections in our walk with Christ and in preaching Him to ourselves and others.

Drawing on Wesleyan themes of grace and responsibility, Watching Over One Another In Love provides step-by-step guidance for creating a covenant-based ministry assessment process that holds persons accountable for fruit-bearing faith. At the same time, it enables the experience of ministry assessment to be edifying for both the church and the pastor.

There is no better introduction to the Puritans than the writings of Richard Sibbes, who is, in many ways, a typical Puritan. Sibbes never wastes the student's time, ' he scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands.' (C. H. Spurgeon) Richard Sibbes was known in London in the early 17th century as "the Heavenly Doctor Sibbes." The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax; is a masterful exposition of Matthew 12:20. In this the author explains what the reed refers to, then he explains what is to be "a bruised reed."

This book studies a number of Victorians who were deeply troubled by religious doubts, including Tennyson, Carlyle, J A Froude, Francis Newman, George Elliot, Colenso and Jowett. One of the book's principal concerns is to investagate the causes of their misgivings. Many Victorians blamed Darwin for unsettling their faith. In doing so, they ignored the fact that doubts about Christianity preceded the publication of "On the Origin of Species" by some eighteen hundred years. Modern scepticism has its roots in the Renaissance and Reformation and more recently in the eighteenth century Deism. Darwin marked the end of the process rather than its beginning. It is worth pointing out that the issues with which "Souls in Torment" is chiefly concerned are just as relevant today as they were to the Victorians who feature in its pages.

We Carry the Fire describes a social and political spirituality defined by actions that save families, civilization, and the planet. These actions, based on values articulated in religious congregations, result in tangible outcomes in the real world: people live instead of die, democracy is strengthened, nature is restored, and the human spirit flourishes. The author shows how an action-spirituality is different from me- and escapist-spiritualities. Spiritual meaning is found by working in solidarity with people around the world to love our neighbors, as well as those who aren't our neighbors, as ourselves. As congregations are struggling to adjust to contemporary realities, Hoehn brings the passion and knowledge of a pastor, academic, author, activist, and grassroots organizer down to earth in real time.

The Clapham Sect was a group of evangelical Christians, prominent in England from about 1790 to 1830, who campaigned for the abolition of slavery and promoted missionary work at home and abroad. The group centred on the church of John Venn, rector of Clapham in south London. Its members included William Wilberforce, Henry Thornton, James Stephen, Zachary Macaulay and others. Stephen Tomkins tells the fascinating story of the group as one of a web of family relations - father and son, aunt and nephew, husband and wife, daughter and father, cousins, etc. Within the story of the people are the stories of their famous campaigns against the slave trade, then slavery, the Sierra Leone colony, Indian mission, home mission, charity and politics. The book ends by assessing the long term influence of the Clapham Sect on Victorian Britain and the Empire.

'This book is unique in setting the question of homosexuality in its historical, legal, political, and religious contexts in North America. It is no longer possible in Catholic ethics to address sexual morality with a model of absolute moral norms, immune from the ambiguities and complexities social justice issues introduce. Peddicord looks at the personal and social sides of homosexuality, and fairly examines all sides of the Roman Catholic response.' --Lisa Sowle Cahill, Boston College

In the first century of Islam, most of the former Christian Roman Empire, from Syria to Spain, was brought under Muslim control in a conquest of unprecedented proportions. Confronted by the world of Islam, countless medieval Christians experienced a profound ambivalence, awed by its opulence, they were also troubled by its rival claims to the spiritual inheritance of Abraham and Jesus and humiliated by its social subjugation of non-Muslim minorities. Some converted. Others took up arms. Still others, the subjects of John Tolan's study of anti-Muslim polemics in medieval Europe, undertook to attack Islam and its most vivid avatar, the saracen, with words.

In an effort to make sense of God's apparent abandonment of Christendom in favor of a dynamic and expanding Muslim civilization, European writers distorted the teachings of Islam and caricatured its believers in a variety of ways. What ideological purposes did these portrayals serve? And how, in turn, did Muslims view Christianity? Feelings of rivalry, contempt, and superiority existed on both sides, tinged or tempered at times with feelings of doubt, inferiority, curiosity, or admiration. Tolan shows how Christian responses to Islam changed from the seventh to thirteenth centuries, through fast-charging crusades and spirit-crushing defeats, crystallizing into polemical images later drawn upon by Western authors in the fourteenth to twentieth centuries. Saracens explores the social and ideological uses of contempt, explaining how the denigration of the other can be used to defend one's own intellectual construction of the world.