Tracing the rise of evangelicalism and the decline of mainline Protestantism in American religious and cultural life How did American Christianity become synonymous with conservative white evangelicalism? This sweeping work by a leading historian of modern America traces the rise of the evangelical movement and the decline of mainline Protestantism's influence on American life. In Christianity's American Fate, David Hollinger shows how the Protestant establishment, adopting progressive ideas about race, gender, sexuality, empire, and divinity, liberalized too quickly for some and not quickly enough for others. After 1960, mainline Protestantism lost members from both camps-conservatives to evangelicalism and progressives to secular activism. A Protestant evangelicalism that was comfortable with patriarchy and white supremacy soon became the country's dominant Christian cultural force. Hollinger explains the origins of what he calls Protestantism's "two-party system" in the United States, finding its roots in America's religious culture of dissent, as established by seventeenth-century colonists who broke away from Europe's religious traditions; the constitutional separation of church and state, which enabled religious diversity; and the constant influx of immigrants, who found solidarity in churches. Hollinger argues that the United States became not only overwhelmingly Protestant but Protestant on steroids. By the 1960s, Jews and other non-Christians had diversified the nation ethnoreligiously, inspiring more inclusive notions of community. But by embracing a socially diverse and scientifically engaged modernity, Hollinger tells us, ecumenical Protestants also set the terms by which evangelicals became reactionary.

Christians Under Covers shifts how scholars and popular media talk about religious conservatives and sex. Moving away from debates over homosexuality, premarital sex, and other perceived sexual sins, Kelsy Burke examines Christian sexuality websites to show how some evangelical Christians use digital media to promote the idea that God wants married, heterosexual couples to have satisfying sex lives. These evangelicals maintain their religious beliefs while incorporating feminist and queer language into their talk of sexuality-encouraging sexual knowledge, emphasizing women's pleasure, and justifying marginal sexual practices within Christian marriages. This illuminating ethnography complicates the boundaries between normal and subversive, empowered and oppressed, and sacred and profane.

In this outline Kenneth E. Hagin says, He leads the believer into a knowledge of intercessions, encour-ageing him to experience all that God has for him in this area. The Word to become keen interrcessor

The Sound of Gravel is Ruth Wariner's unforgettable and deeply moving story of growing up in a polygamist Mormon doomsday community. The thirty-ninth of her father's forty-one children, Ruth is raised on a farm in the hills of Mexico, where polygamy is practiced without fear of legal persecution. There, Ruth's family lives in a home without indoor plumbing or electricity and attends a church where preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world. In need of government assistance and supplemental income, Ruth and her siblings are carted back and forth between Mexico and the United States, where her mother collects welfare and her father works a variety of odd jobs. Ruth comes to love the time she spends in the States, realising that perhaps the belief system into which she was born is not the one for her. As she enters her teen years, she becomes a victim of abuse in a community in which opposition toward men is tantamount to arguing with God. Finally, and only after devastating tragedy, Ruth finds an opportunity to escape. Recounted from the innocent and hopeful perspective of a child, The Sound of Gravel is the remarkable true story of a girl forced to define a place for herself within a community of misguided believers. This is a gripping tale of triumph, courage, resilience, and love.

By the election year of 1844, Joseph Smith, the controversial founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had amassed a national following of some 25,000 believers. Nearly half of them lived in the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, where Smith was not only their religious leader but also the mayor and the commander-in-chief of a militia of some 2,500 men. In less than twenty years, Smith had helped transform the American religious landscape and grown his own political power substantially. Yet the standing of the Mormon people in American society remained unstable. Unable to garner federal protection, and having failed to win the support of former president Martin Van Buren or any of the other candidates in the race, Smith decided to take matters into his own hands, launching his own bid for the presidency. While many scoffed at the notion that Smith could come anywhere close to the White House, others regarded his run-and his religion-as a threat to the stability of the young nation. Hounded by mobs throughout the campaign, Smith was ultimately killed by one-the first presidential candidate to be assassinated. Though Joseph Smith's run for president is now best remembered-when it is remembered at all-for its gruesome end, the renegade campaign was revolutionary. Smith called for the total abolition of slavery, the closure of the country's penitentiaries, and the reestablishment of a national bank to stabilize the economy. But Smith's most important proposal was for an expansion of protections for religious minorities. At a time when the Bill of Rights did not apply to individual states, Smith sought to empower the federal government to protect minorities when states failed to do so. Spencer W. McBride tells the story of Joseph Smith's quixotic but consequential run for the White House and shows how his calls for religious freedom helped to shape the American political system we know today.

Your Gifts Reveal God's Presence and Power The apostle Paul wrote, "There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. . . . To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (1 Cor. 12:4,7). But what are these spiritual gifts? How do you know if you possess them? And, if you do, how do you use them? In The Beginner's Guide to Spiritual Gifts, Sam Storms will help you answer basic and foundational questions about the what, why, and how of the unique gifts God gives to each of His children. You will discover the purpose of spiritual gifts in the Church and learn how to identify your special mix of gifting. In addition, you will find out how the Holy Spirit uses the supernatural manifestation of gifts to demonstrate God's presence and power among His people. God has gifted you . . . now learn how to use His good gifts for His glory!

The specter of polygamy haunts Mormonism. More than a century after the practice was banned, it casts a long shadow that obscures people's perceptions of the lives of today's Latter-day Saint women. Many still see them as second-class citizens, oppressed by the church and their husbands, and forced to stay home and take care of their many children. Sister Saints offers a history of modern Mormon women that takes aim at these stereotypes, showing that their stories are much more complex than previously thought. Women in the Utah territory received the right to vote in 1870-fifty years before the nineteenth amendment-only to have it taken away by the same federal legislation that forced the end of polygamy. Progressive and politically active, Mormon women had a profound impact on public life in the first few decades of the twentieth century. They then turned inward, creating a domestic ideal that shaped Mormon culture for generations. The women's movement of the 1970s sparked a new, vigorous-and hotly contested-Mormon feminism that divided Latter-day Saint women. By the twenty-first century more than half of all Mormons lived outside the United States, and what had once been a small community of pioneer women had grown into a diverse global sisterhood. Colleen McDannell argues that we are on the verge of an era in which women are likely to play a greater role in the Mormon church. Well-educated, outspoken, and deeply committed to their faith, these women are defying labels like liberal and conservative, traditional and modern. This deeply researched and eye-opening book ranges over more than a century of history to tell the stories of extraordinary-and ordinary-Latter-day Saint women with empathy and narrative flair.

The spiritual exercise of making decrees finds its precedent in both Old and New Testaments--the practice means simply quoting God's promises back to him, "reminding" him of what he has said. This kind of prayer is one of the most vital forms of intercession. In fact, the practice of decreeing God's Word not only builds our faith but transforms our lives. In this powerful and enlightening book, bestselling author and entrepreneur Patricia King helps readers grasp the power of inspired and finely tuned prayer. King explains how to * find specific texts of Scripture for your need * counter problems with God's Word * speak truth into reality * understand the difference between confessing the Word, proclaiming the Word, and decreeing the Word * and more Join countless believers who love the Word of God and honor its authority through their prayers. Accept the challenge to pray the words of Scripture boldly--in God's timing, for his will and purposes.

Good-bye, I Love You is the true story of a wife, her homosexual husband, and a love that transcended tragedy when he came home to die.

First released in hardcover in 1986, Good-bye, I Love You was the first widely acclaimed memoir of what was to become a continuing tragedy: death resulting from the AIDS virus. Since problems related to AIDS take an ever-increasing toll, the continuing popularity of Pearson's book is no surprise. It may be that no one has documented the heart-wrenching effects of homosexuality and the AIDS epidemic on the American family better than Ms. Pearson.

From the Preface:

"My name is Flora Jessop. I've been called apostate, vigilante, and crazy bitch, and maybe I am. But some people call me a hero, and I'd like to think they're right too. If I am a hero, maybe it's because every time I can play a part in saving a child or a woman from a life of servitude and degradation, I'm saving a little piece of me, too.

I was one of twenty-eight children born to my dad and his three wives. Indoctrinated to believe that the outside world was evil, and that I resided among the righteous, I was destined to marry a man chosen for me by the Prophet. I would then live in harmony with my sister-wives, bear many children, and obey and serve my future husband in this life and throughout eternity. But my innocence didn't last long. While still a child, I understood that the church of the righteous was nothing but a church of lies.

When I was eight years old my father sexually molested me for the first time, raping me when I was twelve. I tried to kill myself. Beaten, molested, taunted, and abused by family members alleging they only wanted to save my soul became a daily routine, I ran from this abuse more than once in my early teens--even attempting to cross the desert on foot. My family hunted me down. I thought government agencies would provide me safety if I reported my father. Instead, police and social services colluded with the FLDS to return me to my family and I ended up back inside polygamy, right where I started."

Flora goes on from there to tell the dramatic true story of how she ultimately escaped and has been fighting against frustrating obstacles with hard fought successes in rescuing women and children from the FLDS. It's a story you can't put down.

The Lord Jesus Christ declared . . . I will build My church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18). Throughout the past two thousand years, the church has proclaimed a variety of methods for people to follow in Jesus' steps. Yet, few have followed His instructions and built the church according to Christ's teachings which were entrusted to the ministers in His church. The first church was rooted and grounded in the Apostles' Doctrine (Acts 2:42) and as such the church was built on the sure foundation. Sadly, it has not always contended for the faith but designed and adopted methods that are not in accordance with Christ's teachings. Now is the appropriate time for the church to return to the biblical structure and conform to tenets found in the Bible. This book contains all the tenets of the Apostles' Doctrine in one volume. It expounds the deep truths within the Holy Writ and leads ministers to once again conform to the perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2).

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Brigham Young was one of the most influential-and controversial-Mormon leaders in American history. An early follower of the new religion, he led the cross-continental migration of the Mormon people from Illinois to Utah, where he built a vast religious empire that was both revolutionary and authoritarian, radically different from yet informed by the existing culture of the U.S. With his powerful personality and sometimes paradoxical convictions, Young left an enduring stamp on both his church and the region, and his legacy remains active today. In a lively, concise narrative bolstered by primary documents, and supplemented by a robust companion website, David Mason tells the dynamic story of Brigham Young, and in the process, illuminates the history of the LDS Church, religion in America, and the development of the American west. This book will be a vital resource for anyone seeking to understand the complex, uniquely American origins of a church that now counts over 15 million members worldwide.

Satan prowls around, ready to pounce on our every weakness, fill us with fear, and destroy our intimate relationship with Christ. But we are not defenseless. We have weapons of warfare enabling us to be spiritually aggressive and face the devil head on. Rather than lose ground in our faith, we can live armed and dangerous!

In this handbook of militant prayers, evangelist and ex-satanist John Ramirez helps you prepare for and move into advanced combat. He covers topics such as

• strengthening your position as a warrior
• opening your spiritual eyes
• releasing the thunder of God against the devil
• loosing God's blessings
• and more!

What does it cost to follow Jesus? For these men and women, the answer was clear. They were ready to give witness to Christ in the face of intense persecution, even if it cost them their lives. From the stoning of Stephen to Nigerian Christians persecuted by Boko Haram today, these stories from around the world and through the ages will inspire greater faithfulness to the way of Jesus, reminding us what costly discipleship looks like in any age. Since the birth of Christianity, the church has commemorated those who suffered for their faith in Christ. In the Anabaptist tradition especially, stories of the boldness and steadfastness of early Christian and Reformation-era martyrs have been handed down from one generation to the next through books such as Thieleman van Braght's Martyrs Mirror (1660). Yet the stories of more recent Christian witnesses are often unknown. Bearing Witness tells the stories of early Christian martyrs Stephen, Polycarp, Justin, Agathonica, Papylus, Carpus, Perpetua, Tharacus, Probus, Andronicus, and Marcellus, followed by radical reformers Jan Hus, Michael and Margaretha Sattler, Weynken Claes, William Tyndale, Jakob and Katharina Hutter, Anna Janz, Dirk Willems. But the bulk of the book focuses on little-known modern witness including Veronika Loehans, Jacob Hochstetler, Gnadenhutten, Joseph and Michael Hofer, Emanuel Swartzendruber, Regina Rosenberg, Eberhard and Emmy Arnold, Johann Kornelius Martens, Ahn Ei Sook, Jakob Rempel, Clarence Jordan, Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, Tulio Pedraza, Stanimir Katanic, Samuel Kakesa, Kasai Kapata, Meserete Kristos Church, Sarah Corson, Alexander Men, Jose Chuquin, Norman Tattersall, Katherine Wu, and Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria. This book is part of the Bearing Witness Stories Project, a collaborative story-gathering project involving Anabaptist believers from many different traditions.

Larry Hart s Truth Aflame brings together charismatic renewal and classic evangelical faith better than anything I have read. An important contribution to the contemporary renaissance in systematic theology Timothy George Dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University, Executive Editor of Christianity Today As the Pentecostal/charismatic movement continues to grow, so does the need for solid theological resources for its members. While there are many volumes of systematic theology available, very few are written from a distinctly charismatic perspective. Truth Aflame seeks to meet that need. While academically sound, Truth Aflame is written with a practical, pastoral flavor. Larry Hart defines systematic theology as the process of taking what the Bible teaches and relating it to contemporary questions and knowledge. His passion for the subject is evident: he is concerned that the reader both grasps the magnificence of the study of God and allows these great truths to be transformative. This Truth, then---liberating, enlivening, and transforming Truth---becomes central to the ongoing renewal of the church that we are seeing in our day. Dr. Hart treats each of the traditional categories---revelation, God, creation, humanity, sin, Christ, salvation, the church, and last things---from a Pentecostal/charismatic perspective. He addresses other theological viewpoints but does not get bogged down in analysis and rebuttal. Further, he seeks to build bridges of understanding to those evangelicals outside the charismatic tradition. Clear, succinct, and readable, this revised and updated edition of Truth Aflame is well-suited not only for students, but for anyone desiring a greater understanding of Pentecostal/charismatic theology."

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.