Christianity Today Book of the Year award of Merit We generally assume that those sitting around us in church share our beliefs. But when our personal convictions are contested by fellow Christians, everything changes. We feel attacked from behind. When other Christians doubt or deny our convictions, we don't experience it as a mere difference of opinion, but as a violation of an unspoken agreement. Tim Muehlhoff and Rick Langer offer a guide to help Christians navigate disagreements with one another. In today's polarized context, Christians often have committed, biblical rationales for very different positions. How do we discern between core biblical convictions and secondary issues? How do we cultivate better understanding and compassion for those we disagree with? Muehlhoff and Langer provide lessons from conflict theory and church history on how to avoid the dangers of groupthink and how to negotiate differing biblical convictions to avoid church splits and repair interpersonal ruptures. Christian unity is possible. Discover how we can navigate differences by speaking in both truth and love.

When we encounter human suffering or personal tragedy, Christians and non-Christians alike utter the same refrain: Where is God? If God exists, then where in the world is he? Why doesn't he show himself? And how can we tell if God is really working or not? Tim Muehlhoff gives us insight into recognizing how God is at work in the world. He unpacks the doctrine of common grace to uncover how God works in ways that we don't always realize. If we have a limited idea of what divine action looks like-dramatic answers to prayer, healings with no medical explanation, financial needs being met unexpectedly-then we miss seeing how God acts through common grace in ordinary, everyday ways such as antibiotics, financial planners, and thoughtful friends. Muehlhoff offers dozens of illustrations from contemporary culture to help us understand and communicate how God is present and acting in the world today. Discover how God cares for our troubled world as he gives you the eyes to see.

Christianity Today's 2018 Book of the Year Award of Merit - Apologetics/Evangelism How are Christians viewed in the broader culture? We blush at the possibilities. Brainwashed fanatics? Out-of-touch dogmatists? Buffoons? The task of bearing faithful witness to Jesus is complicated by persistent-and not altogether baseless-cultural stereotypes. In our post-Christian society, thoughtful Christians are considering again how to engage the dominant culture as a minority, a counterpublic, amid varying perceptions and misperceptions. In this timely book, Timothy Muehlhoff and Rick Langer ask what our interactions with the dominant cultural ethos should look like. How might we be persuasive and civil at the same time? How should we respond to those who ridicule and caricature us? How can we challenge the beliefs of other communities with love and respect? Muehlhoff and Langer present a model for cultural engagement that integrates communication theory, theology, and Scripture. Penetrating, wise, and relentlessly practical, it includes test cases and examples from history, such as William Wilberforce and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Now more than ever, Christians need what Winsome Persuasion offers: a compelling vision of public engagement that is both shrewd and gracious.

How do we communicate with people who disagree with us? In today's polarized world, friends and strangers clash with each other over issues large and small. Coworkers have conflicts in the office. Married couples fight over finances. And online commenters demonize one another's political and religious perspectives. Is there any hope for restoring civil discourse? Communications expert Tim Muehlhoff provides a strategy for having difficult conversations, helping us move from contentious debate to constructive dialogue. By acknowledging and entering into the other person's story, we are more likely to understand where they're coming from and to cultivate common ground. Insights from Scripture and communication theory provide practical ways to manage disagreements and resolve conflicts. We can disagree without being disagreeable. And we can even help another see different points of view and learn from one another. Find out how.

Think of it this way . . . Our beliefs are challenged from many directions. Every day it seems more difficult to explain to our friends, families, and neighbors what we believe and why. When our ideas and arguments fail to persuade them, what then? Is there another approach we can take? Veteran apologists and communicators J. P. Moreland and Tim Muehlhoff say that the best way to win over others is with a good story. Stories have the ability to get behind our preconceptions and defenses. They appeal to the whole person rather than just to the mind. This expanded edition includes new chapters and updated stories and illustrations throughout. In these pages the authors enhance the logic and evidence found in other books defending the faith with things that your friends, relatives, or coworkers will ponder long after a conversation is over. Here is sound, empathetic coaching for those of us who long to communicate our faith more effectively.

What's the forecast for your marriage? Marriages are as variable as the weather, and every marriage has a climate. Some are chilly and lack intimacy. Others are stormy and filled with conflict. But while the weather outdoors is beyond our control, the communication climates within our homes can be changed--for the better. Communication specialist Tim Muehlhoff offers simple strategies for improving the climate of a marriage. Our individual words and actions always take place within an overall atmosphere of expectations. Without a healthy climate of trust, we are prone to miscommunication and misunderstanding. Muehlhoff shows how to take an accurate climate reading of a relationship and explains what causes climates of poor communication. With current research on marital communication, listening skills, empathy and conflict resolution, Marriage Forecasting provides practical ways for couples to rebuild a warm relational climate. Don't just talk about the weather. Break the cold front, clear the fog, and change the extended outlook for your marriage.

Is your marriage under attack? Sometimes it can feel like the world is trying to tear your marriage apart. Internal conflicts or external pressures might make you wonder if something sinister is going on. How can you tell if you're facing spiritual opposition? And what can you do about it? Tim Muehlhoff provides a straightforward resource for protecting your marriage from the threats of the evil one. He looks at what Scripture says about spiritual warfare and how our everyday struggles have deeper spiritual realities. And he provides practical steps for guarding our marriages with the whole armor of God. In our marital challenges, we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities that try to separate us from God and each other. But fear not. Learn to stand firm in Christ and trust in the Lord to deliver us from evil.

Part of the Christian Worldview Integration Series Whether setting about to love our neighbor, to settle a dispute, to share in the suffering of others or to speak up on behalf of the marginalized, we inevitably must engage in communication. And what could be more natural, more human, than communication? But we all learn quickly enough that good communication is not always natural. There is much to learn from Scripture and from the academic study of human communication. Tim Muehlhoff and Todd Lewis are able guides, aiding us in understanding the broad field of human communication in Christian perspective. Here they offer readers a vital assessment of the power of words, perspective-taking, persuasion and conflict management--all in an effort to improve our abilities to communicate forgiveness and shape the world we live in for the good. Special attention is focused on the place of Christians as counterpublics--those who offer alternative perspectives to the dominant voices in society. The Christian Worldview Integration Series, edited by J. P. Moreland and Francis J. Beckwith, seeks to promote a robust personal and conceptual integration of Christian faith and learning, with textbooks focused on disciplines such as education, psychology, literature, politics, science, communications, biology, philosophy, and history.