Groundbreaking Book Now Revised and Updated A witch's coven in Argentina became a lighthouse of prayer in less than 60 minutes. A prodigal son returned to the Lord in California. An adopted son and the father who had cast him out years before were reunited in Christ. These are real stories of real lives and cities being transformed through the power of prayer evangelism. In this revised and updated edition of a watershed book, bestselling author Ed Silvoso shows that when you change a city's spiritual climate, everything--and everybody--is transformed. It was something the early church knew innately, and here Ed shares a proven, biblical, and practical plan to help you change the spiritual climate of your city. Fulfilling the Great Commission is no longer a distant hope; it is a fast-approaching reality that we may see in our own lifetime. What better time to join the effort?

Perfectionist Politics is the story of an important, but overlooked, antebellum reform movement: ecclesiastical abolitionism. Douglas M. Strong examines those radical evangelical Protestants who seceded from proslavery denominations and reorganized themselves into independent antislavery congregations.

Mirroring political abolitionist activity -- particularly in the "burned-over district" of New York State -- the ecclesiastical abolitionists formed a network of abolition churches and became the primary focus of Liberty Party electioneering strategy.

Ecclesiastical abolitionists justified this clear connection between church and state through the ethical experience of evangelical perfectionism. A vote for the Liberty Party became a mark of one's holiness. Perfectionist concepts also provided ecclesiastical abolitionists with a theological compass that enabled them to steer a middle course between two poles of U.S. democratic society -- the need for institutional structure on one hand and the desire for greater individual liberty on the other.

Strong contends that Liberty Party politics can be understood only as part of a broader perfectionist religious culture and specifically as an antebellum reflection of the popularized theological principle of "entire sanctification".

Feminized hymns are the focus of this text where the author argues that the evangelical tradition is an oral-tradition - that it is not anti-intellectual but anti-print. The author goes on to show how women utilized the only oral communication allowed to them in public worship.

This volume is made up of the autobiographical writings of thirty of the women who lived in the major North American Moravian settlement of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, at varying points in the eighteenth century. What follows are their memoirs, fascinating documents that contain insights into the lives of the women and men who lived in the Moravian communities in North America.

This unique new book records and celebrates the extraordinary wisdom and genius of Frederick William Dwelly, the first Dean of Liverpool. His creativity in the use of poetry, of music, of the commissioning of art, and in the use of the Great Space of Liverpool Cathedral set him apart from his peers and won huge admiration from all quarters. Above all, his liturgy was always centred around the value of the human being and he fostered worship that was dignified, imaginative and relevant for the thousands of people who attended services. Peter Kennerley's lively account of the work of a true master of liturgy is set in the context of the story of the cathedral itself, to create this highly readable, beautifully illustrated and fascinating volume.

John Henry Newman was one of the most eminent of Victorians and an intellectual pioneer for an age of doubt and unsettlement. His teaching transformed the Victorian Church of England, yet many still want to know more of Newman's personal life. Newman's printed correspondence runs to 32 volumes, and John Henry Newman: A Portrait in Letters offers a way through the maze. Roderick Strange has chosen letters that illustrate not only the well-known aspects of Newman's personality, but also those in which elements that may be less familiar are on display. There are letters to family and friends, and also terse letters laced with anger and sarcasm. The portrait has not been airbrushed. This selection of letters presents a rounded picture, one in which readers will meet Newman as he really was and enjoy the pleasure of his company. As Newman himself noted, 'the true life of a man is in his letters'. Please note, earlier versions of this edition misattributed a review quote from Etudes newmaniennes to the Newman Studies Journal. This has now been corrected.

Lutheran theology and religious practice re-shaped traditions from the ritual heritage of the Medieval Latin Church. Throughout the cultural history of European Lutheran areas, what came to be seen as 'the arts' may be discussed in the light of (changing) Lutheran traditions: the cultural heritage of Martin Luther. This volume presents a collection of nine essays on Lutheran traditions and the arts within the 500 years since the Reformation, as a special issue of the journal 'Transfiguration' in connection with the Tenth International Congress for Luther Research hosted at the Department of Church History, University of Copenhagen.

Is There a Way to Heaven? The great evangelist John Wesley believed there is, and he developed his theology to help people make the journey from sin to salvation. In Wesley's "order of salvation," God's grace is the keynote from start to finish. The Way to Heaven is a twentieth-anniversary revision of John Wesley's Message for Today. Dr. Steve Harper presents Wesley's writings and the ideas of Wesley scholars in language that is clear and accessible but never simplistic. Written in the spirit of Wesley, here are "plain words for plain people." The heart of this book is a thoughtful and inspiring look at Wesley's theology of grace and its power to transform. Included are two new chapters. "Vision and Means" explores Wesley's mission and methods, and "To Serve the Present Age" considers the impact and relevance of his message today. In addition, an updated reading list facilitates further study, and questions at the end of each chapter stimulate personal reflection and small group discussion. Ideal as a textbook or for personal study and reflection, this book will advance your knowledge and piety as you travel "the way to heaven."

Divine encounters with the supernatural – signs, wonders, miracles, healings and angelic experiences – should be normal among those who know and follow Jesus. Yet, many followers of the risen Messiah are tired, bored and spiritually hungry, desperate for something powerful and transformational. There is so much more to the Christian life than many are currently experiencing. The key is understanding the Code of the Supernatural! Sid Roth, host of It’s Supernatural!, has devoted his life to helping believers walk in their full inheritance: a lifestyle where miracles become commonplace, answered prayer is normal, and everyday people are supernaturally empowered to demonstrate God’s kingdom and fulfill their divine destinies.

This essential handbook for the preparation of worship presents the authorised Bible readings (references only) for the liturgical year beginning Advent Sunday 2017. It includes: - a full calendar of the Christian year - a simple code indicating whether celebrations are mandatory or optional - complete lectionary references to the Principal, Second and Third services for Sundays and Principal Feasts and Holy Days - lectionary references for Morning and Evening Prayer - the Additional Weekday Lectionary - general readings for saints days and special occasions - a guide to the liturgical colours of the day. A must-have reference guide for every vestry and parish office. This is the standard pocket-book size edition.

Originally published in 1984, this book charts the political and social consequences of Methodist expansion in the first century of its existence. While the relationship between Methodism and politics is the central subject of the book a number of other important themes are also developed. The Methodist revival is placed in the context of European pietism, enlightenment thought forms, 18th century popular culture, and Wesley's theological and political opinions. Throughout the book Methodism is treated on a national scale, although the regional, chronological and religious diversity of Methodist belief and practice is also emphasized.

The ?Nonconformist conscience? was a major force in late Victorian and Edwardian politics. The well-attended chapels of England and Wales bred a race of Christian politicians who tried to exert a moral influence on public affairs. This book analyses the political impact of the Nonconformists at the peak of their strength when they were near the centre of key debates of the time over such matters as the growth of the British Empire and state provision of social services. They had also launched campaigns of their own to disestablish the Church of England and to secure public control of the nation's schools. Based on extensive original research, this study is the first to examine these themes.

Compared to the Puritans, Mormons have rarely gotten their due, treated as fringe cultists at best or marginalized as polygamists unworthy of serious examination at worst. In Kingdom of Nauvoo, the historian Benjamin E. Park excavates the brief life of a lost Mormon city, and in the process demonstrates that the Mormons are, in fact, essential to understanding American history writ large. Drawing on newly available sources from the LDS Church-sources that had been kept unseen in Church archives for 150 years-Park recreates one of the most dramatic episodes of the 19th century frontier. Founded in Western Illinois in 1839 by the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and his followers, Nauvoo initially served as a haven from mob attacks the Mormons had endured in neighboring Missouri, where, in one incident, seventeen men, women, and children were massacred, and where the governor declared that all Mormons should be exterminated. In the relative safety of Nauvoo, situated on a hill and protected on three sides by the Mississippi River, the industrious Mormons quickly built a religious empire; at its peak, the city surpassed Chicago in population, with more than 12,000 inhabitants. The Mormons founded their own army, with Smith as its general; established their own courts; and went so far as to write their own constitution, in which they declared that there could be no separation of church and state, and that the world was to be ruled by Mormon priests. This experiment in religious utopia, however, began to unravel when gentiles in the countryside around Nauvoo heard rumors of a new Mormon marital practice. More than any previous work, Kingdom of Nauvoo pieces together the haphazard and surprising emergence of Mormon polygamy, and reveals that most Mormons were not participants themselves, though they too heard the rumors, which said that Joseph Smith and other married Church officials had been "sealed" to multiple women. Evidence of polygamy soon became undeniable, and non-Mormons reacted with horror, as did many Mormons-including Joseph Smith's first wife, Emma Smith, a strong-willed woman who resisted the strictures of her deeply patriarchal community and attempted to save her Church, and family, even when it meant opposing her husband and prophet. A raucous, violent, character-driven story, Kingdom of Nauvoo raises many of the central questions of American history, and even serves as a parable for the American present. How far does religious freedom extend? Can religious and other minority groups survive in a democracy where the majority dictates the law of the land? The Mormons of Nauvoo, who initially believed in the promise of American democracy, would become its strongest critics. Throughout his absorbing chronicle, Park shows the many ways in which the Mormons were representative of their era, and in doing so elevates nineteenth century Mormon history into the American mainstream.

El Salvador has experienced a dramatic religious transformation over the past half-century.In what was once an almost exclusively Catholic nation, more than 35 percent of the people are now evangelical Protestants, mostly identified as charismatic or Pentecostal. While having some roots in Protestant missions from North America and Europe, the religious renaissance overtaking El Salvador is both homegrown and closely related to the nation's social, cultural, and economic upheavals. Since the end of the Salvadoran Civil War, the traditional social orderawhich was established in colonial times, ruled by elites, enforced by the military, and supported by the Churchahas been overturned. Once a world of haciendas, plantations, and old merchant firms, El Salvador is now home to new factories, shopping malls, fast food restaurants, and call centers. Modernization has brought new ideas tooaabout asserting individual rights and making choices, forming communities, voting in elections, consuming material goods, employing technology, and engaging with global culture. The Rise of Pentecostalism in Modern El Salvador explores how this vast social transformation has opened the gates to runaway religious creativity and competition. In weaving together the lively and complex story, author Timothy Wadkins employs the scholarly tools of historical reconstruction, theological analysis, and ethnographic interviews, as well as the results of a pioneering national religious survey. The outcome is a comprehensive and detailed picture of El Salvador's religious renaissance against the backdrop of El Salvador's fitful path toward modernization and democratization.

This Volume explores the enormous impact the ethos of Muscular Christianity has had an on modern civil society in English-speaking nations and among the peoples they colonized. First codified by British Christian Socialists in the mid-nineteenth century, explicitly religious forms of the ideology have persistently re-emerged over ensuing decades: secularized, essentialized, and normalized versions of the ethos - the public school spirit, the games ethic, moral masculinity, the strenuous life - came to dominate and to spread rapidly across class, status, and gender lines. These developments have been appropriated by the state to support imperial military and colonial projects. Late nineteenth and early twentieth century apologists and critics alike widely understood Muscular Christianity to be a key engine of British colonialism. This text demonstrates the need to re-evaluate the entire history of Muscular Christianity comes chiefly from contemporary post-colonial studies. The papers explore fascinating case materials from Canada, the U.S., India, Japan, Papua, New Guinea, the Spanish Caribbean, and in Britain in a joint effort to outline a truly international, post-colonial sport history. This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.