Practical Help for Recognizing and Listening to God's Voice Bestselling author James Goll takes readers on an adventure into the heart of what it means to hear God, and how to do it. Over the course of this journey, both beginners and those who have been listening to God for years will explore biblical principles about prayer, starting from square one. Real-life illustrations inspire and excite readers to have expectant hearts by learning to: * draw near to God * trust that he wants to speak * overcome obstacles that block his voice * avoid being misled by words not coming from him * cultivate a lifestyle of hearing him God is speaking to you--today. Grow in assurance that he wants you to hear.

Religious Peacebuilding in the Democratic Republic of Congo analyzes the contributions of three churches at both the leadership and the grassroots levels to conflict transformation in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. While states have long been considered main actors in addressing domestic conflicts, this book demonstrates that religious actors can play a significant role in peacebuilding efforts. In addition, rather than focusing exclusively on top-down approaches to conflict resolution, Religious Peacebuilding in the Democratic Republic of Congo incorporates viewpoints from both leaders of the Catholic, 3eme Communaute Baptiste au Centre de l'Afrique and Arche de l'Alliance in Goma and grassroots members of these three churches.

Mormon founder Joseph Smith is one of the most controversial figures of nineteenth-century American history, and a virtually inexhaustible subject for analysis. In this volume, fifteen scholars offer essays on how to interpret and understand Smith and his legacy. Including essays by both Mormons and non-Mormons, this wide-ranging collection is the only available survey of contemporary scholarly opinion on the extraordinary man who started one of the fastest growing religious traditions in the modern world.

aAn exceptional book in that it tells the story of the failure of a faith-based movement rather than its success. In a richly textured narrative, the authors describe the limitations of religious charisma when it confronts the harsh reality of a business-minded board that requires accountability. This book is fascinating reading for anyone who wants to understand the interplay between spirit and flesh, vision and economic reality.a
--Donald E. Miller, Executive Director, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California

What does it mean to live out the theology presented in the Great Commandment to alove God above all and to love your neighbor as yourselfa? In Blood and Fire, Poloma and Hood explore how understandings of godly love function to empower believers. Though godly love may begin as a perceived relationship between God and a person, it is made manifest as social behavior among people.

Blood and Fire offers a deep ethnographic portrait of a charismatic church and its faith-based ministry, illuminating how religiously motivated social service makes use of beliefs about the nature of Godas love. It traces the triumphs and travails associated with living a set of rigorous religious ideals, providing a richly textured analysis of a faith community affiliated with the aemerging churcha movement in Pentecostalism, one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic religious movements of our day.

Based on more than four years of interviews and surveys with people from all levels of the organization, from the leader to core and marginal members to the poor and addicts they are seeking to serve, Blood and Fire sheds light on the differing worldviews andreligious perceptions between those who "served in" as well as those who were "served by" this ministry.

Blood and Fire argues that godly love -- the relationship between perceived divine love and human response -- is at the heart of the vision of emerging churches, and that it is essential to understand this dynamic if one is to understand the ongoing reinvention of American Protestantism in the twenty-first century.

Across Africa, Christianity is thriving in all shapes and sizes. But one particular strain of Christianity prospers more than most-Pentecostalism. Pentecostals believe that everyone can personally receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as prophecy or the ability to speak in tongues. In Africa, this kind of faith, in which the supernatural is a daily presence, is sweeping the continent. Today, about 107 million Africans are Pentecostals-and the numbers continue to rise. In this book, Ogbu Kalu provides the first ever overview of Pentecostalism in Africa. He shows the amazing diversity of the faith, which flourishes in many different forms in diverse local contexts. While most people believe that Pentecostalism was brought to Africa and imposed on its people by missionaries, Kalu argues emphatically that this is not the case. Throughout the book, he demonstrates that African Pentecostalism is distinctly African in character, not imported from the West. With an even-handed approach, Kalu presents the religion's many functions in African life. Rather than shying away from controversial issues like the role of money and prosperity in the movement, Kalu describes malpractice when he sees it. The only book to offer a comprehensive look at African Pentecostalism, this study touches upon the movement's identity, the role of missionaries, media and popular culture, women, ethics, Islam, and immigration. The resulting work will prove invaluable to anyone interested in Christianity outside the West.

In People of Paradox, Terryl Givens traces the rise and development of Mormon culture from the days of Joseph Smith in upstate New York, through Brigham Young's founding of the Territory of Deseret on the shores of Great Salt Lake, to the spread of the Latter-Day Saints around the globe.
Throughout the last century and a half, Givens notes, distinctive traditions have emerged among the Latter-Day Saints, shaped by dynamic tensions--or paradoxes--that give Mormon cultural expression much of its vitality. Here is a religion shaped by a rigid authoritarian hierarchy and radical individualism; by prophetic certainty and a celebration of learning and intellectual investigation; by existence in exile and a yearning for integration and acceptance by the larger world. Givens divides Mormon history into two periods, separated by the renunciation of polygamy in 1890. In each, he explores the life of the mind, the emphasis on education, the importance of architecture and urban planning (so apparent in Salt Lake City and Mormon temples around the world), and Mormon accomplishments in music and dance, theater, film, literature, and the visual arts. He situates such cultural practices in the context of the society of the larger nation and, in more recent years, the world. Today, he observes, only fourteen percent of Mormon believers live in the United States.
Mormonism has never been more prominent in public life. But there is a rich inner life beneath the public surface, one deftly captured in this sympathetic, nuanced account by a leading authority on Mormon history and thought.

Jon Krakauer's literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. He now shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders, taking readers inside isolated American communities where some 40,000 Mormon Fundamentalists still practice polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God.
At the core of Krakauer's book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America's fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

How is it that some conservative groups are viscerally antigovernment even while enjoying the benefits of government funding? In "Piety and Public Funding" historian Axel R. Schafer offers a compelling answer to this question by chronicling how, in the first half century since World War II, conservative evangelical groups became increasingly adept at accommodating their hostility to the state with federal support.Though holding to the ideals of church-state separation, evangelicals gradually took advantage of expanded public funding opportunities for religious foreign aid, health care, education, and social welfare. This was especially the case during the Cold War, when groups such as the National Association of Evangelicals were at the forefront of battling communism at home and abroad. It was evident, too, in the Sunbelt, where the military-industrial complex grew exponentially after World War II and where the postwar right would achieve its earliest success. Contrary to evangelicals' own claims, liberal public policies were a boon for, not a threat to, their own institutions and values. The welfare state, forged during the New Deal and renewed by the Great Society, hastened--not hindered--the ascendancy of a conservative political movement that would, in turn, use its resurgence as leverage against the very system that helped create it.By showing that the liberal state's dependence on private and nonprofit social services made it vulnerable to assaults from the right, "Piety and Public Funding" brings a much needed historical perspective to a hotly debated contemporary issue: the efforts of both Republican and Democratic administrations to channel federal money to "faith-based" organizations. It suggests a major reevaluation of the religious right, which grew to dominate evangelicalism by exploiting institutional ties to the state while simultaneously brandishing a message of free enterprise and moral awakening.

What were the beliefs of the Branch Davidians? This is the first full scholarly account of their history. Kenneth G. C. Newport argues that, far from being an act of unfathomable religious insanity, the calamitous fire at Waco in 1993 was the culmination of a long theological and historical tradition that goes back many decades. The Branch Davidians under David Koresh were an eschatologically confident community that had long expected that the American government, whom they identified as the Lamb-like Beast of the book of Revelation, would one day arrive to seek to destroy God's remnant people. The end result, the fire, must be seen in this context.

When you talk to God, do you ever feel as if you are not getting through? You're not alone. At some point, most believers find themselves grappling with difficult questions like Would God really talk to me personally? and How do I know it's truly God talking, and not my own thoughts? But here's the good news: Hearing God is simpler than you think. It's possible to have a relationship with God that involves both speaking and listening. In fact, it's God's desire; He wants to talk to you. In this revised and expanded edition of a classic work, author and teacher Steve Sampson shows you how to pray not just wishing you'd hear God's voice--but expecting to hear it. Sampson's uncomplicated, practical perspective will help you cultivate the two-way conversation with God you've always longed for. Before long, you'll hear Him speaking into your circumstances and relationships, expressing His love for you and showing you the next steps to take in your life. Don't settle for a one-sided conversation with God. Break through this barrier and develop a sensitive heart that hears--and responds to--God's still, small voice. "With clarity and humor, Steve takes you on a journey to the place of profound simplicity in Christ where hearing Him is as natural as breathing."--Bishop Mark J. Chironna, M.A., Ph.D., Church on the Living Edge, Orlando, Florida

Revised and expanded version of the best seller.

Deception, witchcraft, and occult practices reign worldwideem dashand these evils have even infiltrated the Christian church! So, fasten your seatbelt as you read the most provocative book of our time, in which you will learn to recognize:

• Ministers who use intimidation and fear
• Controlling power in families
• Spiritual discernment and its many uses
• Manipulative media techniques
• Distractions coming from Satan

It's time to take a stand and engage in spiritual warfare. Bishop Bloomer shows how to prevent others from unfairly taking advantage of you.

Healing Scriptures presents clear instructions on how to take God's medicine -- His Word -- so it can become healing and health to the believer's flesh!

In the mid-twentieth century, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) returned to Nauvoo, Illinois, home to the thriving religious community led by Joseph Smith before his murder in 1844. The quiet farm town became a major Mormon heritage site visited annually by tens of thousands of people. Yet Nauvoo's dramatic restoration proved fraught with conflicts. Scott C. Esplin's social history looks at how Nauvoo's different groups have sparred over heritage and historical memory. The Latter-day Saint project brought it into conflict with the Community of Christ, the Midwestern branch of Mormonism that had kept a foothold in the town and a claim on its Smith-related sites. Non-Mormon locals, meanwhile, sought to maintain the historic place of ancestors who had settled in Nauvoo after the Latter-day Saints' departure. Examining the recent and present-day struggles to define the town, Esplin probes the values of the local groups while placing Nauvoo at the center of Mormonism's attempt to carve a role for itself within the greater narrative of American history.

California, long a Mecca for eccentric cults, has also hosted more than its share of unusual and unorthodox Christian evangelists and sects. From pre-Gold Rush days to the 21st Century, visionaries seeking to revive or transform the Faith have flocked to California's shores, or have emerged from its environs as native sons and daughters. Their often-idiosyncratic crusades have influenced not only Golden State history and culture, but Christianity as a whole. California Jesus tells the little-known yet fascinating stories behind the people and groups that populate Californian Christendom, including: * The Children of God -- Born on the Huntington Beach boardwalk, this "Jesus People" hippie-ministry turned to prostituting its members and molesting its children in the name of Christ * Bebe and C. Thomas Patten -- married evangelists, these Oakland-based Pentecostal preachers scammed penniless Okie immigrants and major banks alike for millions * Joe Jeffers -- a renegade Baptist minister who started a murderous religious war between his followers and a rival's, made headlines in lurid L.A. sex scandals, and claimed that "Yahweh" had stashed several billion dollars for him in the constellation Orion * The Metropolitan Community Church -- Gay L. A. evangelist Troy Perry challenges homophobia with a hugely controversial, and much-attacked sect that ministers Christ's love to sexual "outsiders" * Church of the Holy Family -- film-star Mel Gibson's schismatic, secretive Malibu parish, which claims to be literally more Catholic than the Pope * Holy Mountain -- a huge, bizarre, ever-growing folk-art monument in the Imperial Valley desert built by an aging drifter to glorify God's love, that's now become an international tourist destination * And many, many more! Filled with captivating anecdotes about the state's most colorful and controversial Christian pastors and sects, and accompanied by many rare photos and illustrations, California Jesus illuminates this absorbing yet little-discussed aspect of both state history and culture, and the Christian experience. Believers and doubters alike, as well as anyone interested in the Golden State's unique spiritual heritage, will find this work hard to put down.

From the end of the eighteenth century, throughout western Europe, the official clergy, champions of privilege and tradition, were challenged by religious dissenters and minorities.

This book clearly maps out these polarizations and analyses the impact on religion of socialism, capitalism and the growth of cities. It examines the contrasts between the religion of the middle and working classes and between men and women. It discusses the appeal of movements like Methodism, Secularism, and Ultramontane Catholicism, and considers the crisis faced by contemporary churches in many countries.

A new concluding chapter examines the role of religion up to 1990, and how it has been affected by modern changes in society and beliefs.

Practical Keys to Transforming the World around You In a world where evil dominates the headlines, we are often left wondering, Will good really triumph over evil? Or are we hurtling toward oblivion? It's here, during this very hour--when political chaos seems to reign and the media persecutes anyone who disagrees with them--that God is searching for men and women who long for an infusion of boldness that possesses their souls, who will take a stand and be a voice for the Kingdom. His vision for the future is not bleak, and he is readying a heavy rain of transformation and revival. Here is the guidance and inspiration you need to become a vessel that catches the downpour of the Spirit's rain--and helps release God's Kingdom like a flood.

2020 Christian Book Award (R) Winner (Bible Reference Works) This textbook offers students a biblically rich, creedally structured, ecumenically evangelical, and ethically engaged introduction to Christian theology. Daniel Treier, coeditor of the popular Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, discusses key Scripture passages, explains Christian theology within the structure of the Nicene Creed, explores the range of evangelical approaches to contested doctrines, acquaints evangelicals with other views (including Orthodox and Catholic), and integrates theological ethics with chapters on the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. The result is a meaty but manageable introduction to the convictions and arguments shaping contemporary evangelical theology.

On September 25, 1890, the fourth Mormon prophet, Wilford Woodruff, publicly instructed his followers to abandon polygamy. In doing so, he initiated a process that would fundamentally alter the Latter-day Saints and their faith. Trading the most integral elements of their belief system for national acceptance, the Mormons recreated themselves as model Americans. Mary Campbell tells the story of this remarkable religious transformation in Charles Ellis Johnson and the Erotic Mormon Image. One of the church's favorite photographers, Johnson (1857 1926) spent the 1890s and early 1900s taking pictures of Mormonism's most revered figures and sacred sites. At the same time, he did a brisk business in mail-order erotica, shooting and selling stereoviews that he referred to as his "spicy pictures of girls." Situating these images and more within the religious, artistic, and legal culture of turn-of-the-century America, Campbell reveals the unexpected ways in which they worked in concert to bring the Saints back into the nation's mainstream after the scandal of polygamy. ?Engaging, interdisciplinary, and deeply researched, Charles Ellis Johnson and the Erotic Mormon Image demonstrates the profound role that pictures played in the creation of both the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the modern American nation.

F. D. Maurice (1805-72) was one of the most controversial thinkers of mid-nineteenth century Britain. Born a Unitarian, he left Cambridge without a degree rather than compromise his principles. As an Anglican theologian, he uneasily combined Unitarian ideas with the teaching of the Establishment. Sacked from King's College, London, for questioning popular teaching about everlasting punishment, he led a movement to improve working men's education. Yet although Maurice came from a Unitarian family and counted leading Unitarians as his friends, their influence on his work has never been seriously examined. The purpose of this new book is to look at his life and teaching in the light of Unitarianism. Maurice's faith had a distinctly Christological emphasis, but he continued to value his Unitarian heritage. His concern with the Fatherhood of God and the dignity of the human race owes much to his family background. Dr. Young's study opens with a compact history of Unitarianism during the lifetimes of F. D. Maurice and his father, a Unitarian minister. A series of biographical sketches draws on hitherto unpublished material to set Maurice's work in its historic context. Final chapters compare the central themes of his theology with the teaching of his Unitarian contemporaries.

Redeem Your Timeline!

Haunted by your past? Anxious about the future? The omnipotent God of the Bible is not confined by the limits of time. He is not ashamed of your past or uncertain about your future. Every moment of your life is always held in the palm of His hand.

Troy Brewer – pastor of OpenDoor church, founder of Troy Brewer Ministries, and dynamic prophetic voice – shares a revolutionary teaching on your relationship to time.

As a believer, you can invite Jesus into your personal timeline to supernaturally redeem your past and miraculously prepare your future. Because past sins have been erased, the pain of trauma, abuse, and heartbreak can be redeemed. Future fears can be put to rest, as stress, anxieties, and uncertainties are surrendered to Him.

Redeeming Your Timeline guides you through a personal encounter with Jesus to…

• Overcome paralyzing guilt and shame.
• Conquer the crippling fear of failure.
• Silence the whispers of anxiety.
• Break free from the bonds of childhood trauma.
• Experience freedom from panic attacks.
• Discover deep, lasting inner peace.