Dr. Aaron McNair Sr., an acclaimed author, teacher, and pastor, focuses on how to succeed as a preacher and leader in this step-by-step guidebook. Whether you have just assumed a leadership role or are seeking to hone your skills so you can rise up through the ranks, you can learn how to become an effective preacher. Discover how to embrace the pain and joy of the assignment; lead your church with integrity; preach even when you're having problems; and maximize your effectiveness at the pulpit.

Although written for religious leaders, the guidebook provides lessons for business leaders as well. Dr. McNair shares how he has applied best practices so that you can apply effective leadership techniques in a variety of settings.

Accept the premise that "failure is never an option" and develop the mental and physical stamina to become the best preacher and leader possible. It starts with learning to be confident, tactful, and selfless so you can start "Preaching with a Problem."

What will the future of work, social freedom, and employment look like? In an era of increased job insecurity and social dislocation, is it possible to reshape economics along democratic lines in a way that genuinely serves the interests of the community? Of Labour and Liberty arises from Race Mathews's half-century and more of political and public policy involvement. It responds to evidence of a precipitous decline in active citizenship, resulting from a loss of confidence in politics, politicians, parties, and parliamentary democracy; the rise of "lying for hire" lobbyism; increasing concentration of capital in the hands of a wealthy few; and corporate wrongdoing and criminality. It also questions whether political democracy can survive indefinitely in the absence of economic democracy-of labor hiring capital rather than capital labor. It highlights the potential of the social teachings of the Catholic Church and the now largely forgotten Distributist political philosophy and program that originated from them as a means of bringing about a more equal, just, and genuinely democratic social order. It describes and evaluates Australian attempts to give effect to Distributism, with special reference to Victoria. And with an optimistic view to future possibilities it documents the support and advocacy of Pope Francis, and ownership by some 83,000 workers of the Mondragon cooperatives in Spain. This book will interest scholars and students of Catholic social teaching, history, economics, industrial relations, and business and management.

Against the Stream? offers a timeless selection of some of Karl Barth's most important shorter essays and sermons from the period immediately following the Second World War.

In today's postmodern world many widely held liberal myths continue to thrive unchecked. When young students go off to college they will inevitably face a barrage of Marxist leaning professors, with a fanatical hatred towards God and country. Lacking solid knowledge of the facts, our teens are quickly falling prey to these intellectual and political fads. In UNVEILING THE LEFT Why Christian Conservatism Works Where Liberalism Fails author Alex Locay challenges the assumptions found in thirty six of today's most popular left leaning topics. With clear and accessible logic the author exposes the many fallacies advocated by our intellectual establishments, which include: * Relativism is intellectually tenable * Modern feminism advances womens rights * The scientific evidence supports Darwinian evolution * Our Founding Fathers were deist * Secular humanism is rational and harmless The Constitution is a secular document * The sexual revolution liberated Americans * Christians are bigots, liberals are tolerant * Religion is the cause of most wars * The Bible discriminates against women * The United Nations furthers our interests * Welfare reduces poverty * The Bible is a book of myths * Gays dont have equal rights * Rap music is artistic and harmless * Our courts always uphold the Constitution * Republicans favor the rich, Democrats the poor * The trade deficit hurts American jobs * Our public schools need more funding * The First Amendment limits religious speech. Using extensive research the author anticipates the liberal argument and subsequently exposes its inherent flaws. From Atheism to Socialism and everything in between, Locay methodically takes them all apart. Divided into six chapters which include; Culture, Politics, Economics, American History, Science and The Bible, this book was designed to unveil common misconceptions and thus help readers understand the broad spectrum of the conservative worldview. Families, activists, teachers and students will find it an essential resource and a first step in reestablishing our Christian heritage.

The 2014 Christianity Today Book Award Winner (Christianity and Culture) 2014 Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year (Compassion) We want to save the world--and we have a dizzying array of worthy causes to pursue. But passionate enthusiasm can quickly give way to disillusionment, compassion fatigue or empty slacktivism. As we move from awareness to mobilization, we bump up against the complexities of global problems--and liking Facebook pages only goes so far. Veteran activist Tyler Wigg-Stevenson identifies the practical and spiritual pitfalls that threaten much of today's cause-driven Christianity. He casts an alternate vision for doing good based on the liberating truth that only God can save the world. Wigg-Stevenson's own pilgrimage from causes to calling shows how to ground an enduring, kingdom-oriented activism in the stillness of vocation rather than in the anxiety of the world's brokenness. The world is not ours to save. And that's okay. Discover why.

From a Church that once enjoyed devotional loyalty, political influence, and institutional power unrivaled in Europe, the Catholic Church in Ireland now faces collapse. Devastated by a series of reports on clerical sexual abuse, challenged publicly during several political battles, and painfully aware of plunging Mass attendance, the Irish Church today is confronted with the loss of its institutional legitimacy. This study is the first international and interdisciplinary attempt to consider the scope of the problem, analyze issues that are crucial to the Irish context, and identify signs of both resilience and renewal. In addition to an overview of the current status and future directions of Irish Catholicism, The Catholic Church in Ireland Today examines specific issues such as growing secularism, the changing image of Irish bishops, generational divides, Catholic migrants to Ireland, the abuse crisis and responses in Ireland and the United States, Irish missionaries, the political role of Irish priests, the 2012 Dublin Eucharistic Congress, and contemplative strands in Irish identity. This book identifies the key issues that students of Irish society and others interested in Catholic culture must examine in order to understand the changing roles of religion in the contemporary world.

We all want to be tolerant. No one wants to be intolerant. But does that mean we have to accept all truth claims as true? Does this virtue rule out having any strongly held moral convictions? In this book Brad Stetson and Joseph G. Conti explore the use and misuse of this important value in academic circles and popular media. They note that the pursuit of truth and the pursuit of tolerance are often taken to be mutually exclusive, and it ends with truth having to give way to tolerance. Stetson and Conti argue just the opposite: that true tolerance requires the pursuit of truth. In the end they demonstrate that Christian conviction about religious truth provides the only secure basis for a tolerant society which promotes truth seeking. Christians can contribute to civil debate without compromising their moral and spiritual convictions.

Voted one of Christianity Today's 1997 Books of the Year Christians feel increasingly useless, argues Rodney Clapp, not because we have nothing to offer a post-Christian society, but because we are trying to serve as "sponsoring chaplains" to a civilization that no longer sees Christianity as necessary to its existence. In our individualistic, technologically oriented, consumer-based culture, Christianity has become largely irrelevant. The solution is not to sentimentally capitulate to the way things are. Nor is it to retrench in an effort to regain power and influence as the sponsor of Western civilization. What is needed is for Christians to reclaim our heritage as a peculiar people, as unapologetic followers of the Way. Within the larger pluralistic world, we need to become a sanctified, subversive culture that develops Christian community as a truly alternative way of life. Christians must learn to live the story and not just to restate it. Writing inclusively with considerable verve, Clapp offers a keen analysis of the church and its ministry as we face a new millennium.

Charles E. Curran offers the first comprehensive analysis and criticism of the development of modern Catholic social teaching from the perspective of theology, ethics, and church history. Curran studies the methodology and content of the documents of Catholic social teaching, generally understood as comprising twelve papal letters beginning with Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical "Rerum novarum," two documents from Vatican II, and two pastoral letters of the U.S. bishops.

He contends that the fundamental basis for this body of teaching comes from an anthropological perspective that recognizes both the inherent dignity and the social nature of the human person -- thus do the church's teachings on political and economic matters chart a middle course between the two extremes of individualism and collectivism. The documents themselves tend to downplay any discontinuities with previous documents, but Curran's systematic analysis reveals the significant historical developments that have occurred over the course of more than a century. Although greatly appreciative of the many strengths of this teaching, Curran also points out the weaknesses and continuing tensions in Catholic social teaching today.

Intended for scholars and students of Catholic social ethics, as well as those involved in Catholic social ministry, this volume will also appeal to non-Catholic readers interested in an understanding and evaluation of Catholic social teaching.

WHAT NOW?

When the World Stops is a timely yet timeless message for God’s people that provides
practical tools for not only weathering this current crisis, but emerging from it with a
strengthened faith and deeper appreciation for the things that matter most. Like a
reassuring hand on your shoulder, Dr. Michael L. Brown helps point the way forward
for those seeking answers to questions like:

• Is this pandemic the final plague talked about in the Book of Revelation?
• Are we indeed in the final days before Jesus’ return?
• Who or what sent the virus?
• How do I balance my family’s needs with the faith to live for Christ in crisis?
• Should we submit to the government’s guidelines?
• How can I steward my health in a biblical way?

Dr. Brown brings biblically sound and clear answers for staying healthy, living with
wisdom, and maintaining your faith. As we move forward with wisdom in the power of
the Holy Spirit, we must understand that "the darkness is the divine setup for the
light. The sickness is the divine setup for the healing. The current crisis is the divine
setup for the church to arise and shine and make a difference. We must seize this
moment before it passes. We must milk it to the full, for the glory of God. Does your
heart bear witness to my words?"

This book will help you see how you can be the hands and feet of Jesus during
this world's dark hour. It provides a God-calibrated compass for the turbulent
uncharted waters we find ourselves in and sifts through the dizzying array of
information regarding this current crisis, separating fact from fiction, prudence
from pandemonium and faith from fear.

Antoinette Bosco's heart was crushed when Shadow Clark murdered her son John and his wife Nancy. In time her grief transformed into forgiveness. Toni felt that to want one more unnatural death would be wrong. "I could say that the 18-year -old who ended the lives of my children with an 8mm semiautomatic must be punished for life but I could not say, kill this killer". Toni chose mercy over vengeance, and again her life changed forever.

Today she is widely known as an opponent of capital punishment in this the only modern Western nation that retains executions. In telling her dramatic journey she presents compelling arguments why the death penalty does not work and is morally wrong. She also shares unforgettable true stories form parents such as Dominick Dunne who suffered through similar experiences but also learned to choose love over fear.

Choosing Mercy is timely, gut-honest, and inspiring. It may not change some people's minds but it will begin to change their hearts.

It is widely recognized that American culture is both exceptionally religious and exceptionally violent. Americans participate in religious communities in high numbers, yet American citizens also own guns at rates far beyond those of citizens in other industrialized nations. Since 9/11, United States scholars have understandably discussed religious violence in terms of terrorist acts, a focus that follows United States policy. Yet, according to Jon Pahl, to identify religious violence only with terrorism fails to address the long history of American violence rooted in religion throughout the country's history. In essence, Americans have found ways to consider blessed some very brutal attitudes and behaviors both domestically and globally.

In Empire of Sacrifice, Pahl explains how both of these distinctive features of American culture work together by exploring how constructions along the lines of age, race, and gender have operated to centralize cultural power across American civil or cultural religions in ways that don't always appear to be "religious" at all. Pahl traces the development of these forms of systemic violence throughout American history, using evidence from popular culture, including movies such as Rebel without a Cause and Reefer Madness and works of literature such as The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and The Handmaid's Tale, to illuminate historical events. Throughout, Pahl focuses an intense light on the complex and durable interactions between religion and violence in American history, from Puritan Boston to George W. Bush's Baghdad.