All 13 episodes from the second series of the award-winning political drama starring Kevin Spacey. Based on the novel by Michael Dobbs and the subsequent BBC adaptation of the book, the series follows Francis Underwood (Spacey), a politician whose sense of ambition is matched and encouraged by his wife Claire (Robin Wright). Armed with an arsenal of political secrets to equal anyone in Washington, Francis is more than willing to scheme and blackmail his way to the top. In this series, Underwood is appointed Vice President of the USA. However, never one to rest on his laurels, he soon has his eye on the top job...

All 13 episodes from the first series of the award-winning political drama starring Kevin Spacey. Based on the novel by Michael Dobbs and the subsequent BBC adaptation of the book, the series follows Francis Underwood (Spacey), the House Majority Whip who, despite his position of authority, is gravely dissatisfied. Fuelled by a sense of ambition matched and encouraged by his wife Claire (Robin Wright), Francis ultimately wants to be president and is embittered by the fact that he has recently been denied a promotion. Armed with an arsenal of political secrets to equal anyone in Washington, Francis sets out to scheme and blackmail his way to the top.

PASTOR You've been trained to preach and to teach and to do outreach. How's it going now that you're in the trenches? How are you doing professionally? Do you still have the big picture of your call and your vision in view? Are you finding time and resources to nurture your congregation? Are you controlling the administration of your church, or is it controlling you? How are you doing personally? Is your family life in shape? Are you taking care of yourself physically and emotionally? Are your personal finances in order? Larry Burkett, Dallas Willard, William Willimon, Dale Galloway and other well-known church leaders provide solid advice for your personal and professional development. Keep The Pastor's Guide to Effective Ministry on top of your desk as you face the day-to-day challenges of ministry.

Secure, content, competent, reasonably happy and fulfilled, such persons of strength go their own way without any apparent discomfort at having missed the benefits of the Christian faith. . . . What do you say to the person who says, through his or her neglect of the faith, "Thanks, but I don't need it"? -from the book Bishop William Willimon brings the Gospel of Jesus Christ to life for the person who has everything - happy, fulfilled human beings, who don't feel the same level of need expressed by the downcast, the outcast, the brokenhearted, and the miserable. Willimon says that the church's message to the wretched and sad must not exclude the strong and the joyous. In nine concise, inspired chapters, he discusses these ideas: * Must one be sad, depressed, wallowing in sin and degradation, immature, and childishly dependent in order truly to hear the Good News? (See chapters 1 and 2.) * "What do we say to the strong?" (See chapters 3 and 4.) * Speaking to the strong and to the people who are weak and want to be stronger: a particular kind of evangelistic message. They have their sins, but these sins are not the sins of the weak (chapter 5). * Worship which takes God's strong love seriously (chapter 6) * Ethics which arise out of our response to that love (chapter 7) * Church as a place of continual growth and widening responsibility (chapters 8 and 9)

All 13 episodes from the third season of the award-winning political drama starring Kevin Spacey. Based on the novel by Michael Dobbs and the subsequent BBC adaptation of the book, the show follows Francis Underwood (Spacey), a politician whose sense of ambition is matched and encouraged by his wife Claire (Robin Wright). Armed with an arsenal of political secrets to equal anyone in Washington, Francis is more than willing to scheme and blackmail his way to the top. In this season, Francis's approval ratings plummet, a devastating hurricane hits the East Coast and Claire makes plans to run for Ambassador to the U.N.

All 13 episodes from the second series of the award-winning political drama starring Kevin Spacey. Based on the novel by Michael Dobbs and the subsequent BBC adaptation of the book, the series follows Francis Underwood (Spacey), a politician whose sense of ambition is matched and encouraged by his wife Claire (Robin Wright). Armed with an arsenal of political secrets to equal anyone in Washington, Francis is more than willing to scheme and blackmail his way to the top. In this series, Underwood is appointed Vice President of the USA. However, never one to rest on his laurels, he soon has his eye on the top job...

Nationally recognized speaker and church leader Jay Augustine demonstrates that the church is called and equipped to model reconciliation, justice, diversity, and inclusion. This book develops three uses of the term "reconciliation": salvific, social, and civil. Augustine examines the intersection of the salvific and social forms of reconciliation through an engagement with Paul's letters and uses the Black church as an exemplar to connect the concept of salvation to social and political movements that seek justice for those marginalized by racism, class structures, and unjust legal systems. He then traces the reaction to racial progress in the form of white backlash as he explores the fate of civil reconciliation from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement. This book argues that the church's work in reconciliation can serve as a model for society at large and that secular diversity and inclusion practices can benefit the church. It offers a prophetic call to pastors, church leaders, and students to recover reconciliation as the heart of the church's message to a divided world. Foreword by William H. Willimon and afterword by Michael B. Curry.

Publishers Weekly starred review Seasoned pastor and church leader Will Willimon excels at creating thought-provoking, accessible books for working pastors and seminarians. In Aging, he takes a theologically rich look at numerous aspects of growing old. Drawing on Scripture, literature, current research, and his experiences as an aging adult, Willimon reflects on aging as a spiritual journey. He explores the challenging realties as well as the rewarding joys of growing old and shows pastors how to help their congregants grow old gracefully and in good Christian hope. Willimon also offers practical advice on helping church members as they encounter retirement, aging, caring for the aging, loss, bereavement, and finding faith in the last quarter of life. This eloquent, delightfully Christian perspective on aging will be of interest to all who care for aging souls--not only pastors but also chaplains and other ministers in hospitals, hospices, and extended care facilities. About the Series Pastors are called to help people navigate the profound mysteries of being human, from birth to death and everything in between. This series, edited by leading pastoral theologian Jason Byassee, provides pastors and pastors-in-training with rich theological reflection on the various seasons that make up a human life, helping them minister with greater wisdom and joy.

Your job is not your vocation. Everyone hungers for work that has meaning and purpose. But what gives work meaning? Vocation, or "calling," is the answer Protestant Christianity offers: each person is called by God to serve the common good in a particular line of work. Your vocation, evidently, might be almost anything: as a nurse, a wilderness guide, a calligrapher, a missionary, an activist, a venture capitalist, a politician, an executioner... Yet, as Will Willimon writes in this issue, the New Testament knows only one form of vocation: discipleship. And discipleship is far more likely to mean leaving father and mother, houses and land, than it is to mean embracing one's identity as a fisherman or tax collector. This issue of Plough focuses on people who lived their lives with that sense of vocation. Such a life demands self-sacrifice and a willingness to recognize one's own supposed strengths as weaknesses, as it did for the Canadian philosopher Jean Vanier. It involves a lifelong commitment to a flesh-and-blood church, as Coptic Archbishop Angaelos describes. It may even require a readiness to give up one's life, as it did for Annalena Tonelli, an Italian humanitarian who pioneered the treatment of tuberculosis in the Horn of Africa. But as these stories also testify, it brings a gladness deeper than any self-chosen path. Also in this issue: - Scott Beauchamp on mercenaries - Nathan Schneider on cryptocurrencies - Stephanie Saldana on Syrian refugee art - Peter Biles on loneliness at college - Phil Christman on Bible translation - Michael Brendan Dougherty on fatherhood - Insights on vocation from C. S. Lewis, Therese of Lisieux, Mother Teresa, Eberhard Arnold, Dorothy Sayers, Jean Vanier, and Gerard Manley Hopkins - poetry by Devon Balwit and Carl Sandburg - reviews of books by Robert Alter, Edwidge Danticat, Matthew D. Hockenos, Amy Waldman, and Jeremy Courtney - art and photography by Pola Rader, Dean Mitchell, Mark Freear, Timothy Jones, Pawel Filipczak, Mary Pal, Harley Manifold, Sami Lalu Jahola, Marc Chagall, and Russell Bain. Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus' message into practice and find common cause with others.

He s been called a contrarian, a provocateur, and a few other things we can t say in print. He s also been called one of the twelve most effective proclaimers of the gospel in the English-speaking world. He s been a pastor, a chaplain, and a bishop. But ask William H. Willimon how he sees himself, and he ll tell you it s as a preacher and a truth-teller. He has pursued that passion for preaching the truth of God in over sixty books.

Gathered in this volume are Willimon s best writings on what it means to be a faithful Christian, and a faithful preacher of the Christian gospel, in today s world. All the themes that so enliven his writings the gospel s refusal to be co-opted by the culture, the strangeness of Christian faith, the centrality of the preached word of God are present here. Whether you re a long time Willimon reader or are encountering him for the first time, you will find inspiration and much food for thought from this, one of God s most peculiar prophets. "

When Anne Robertson asked a bunch of people on the street what came to mind when they heard the word Bible, she was met with a flood of mixed responses-words like wisdom, lies, faith, rules, ancient history, bigotry, poison, and many more. What she realized was that we all read the Bible through filtered lenses, according to our varied expectations of what the Bible is or should be. But, says Robertson, the Bible as a whole is primarily God's story-a story of relationship, community, and love. Robertson's New Vision for an Old Story gives readers the right lenses to see beyond the printed page to the God who encounters us in dynamic relationship and transforms our lives. The very nature and message of Scripture are rooted in incarnation. When we need to navigate community, truth, fear, and suffering, the Bible- God's own story-can guide us through it all.

In this addition to the new Working Preacher Books series, prolific author William H. Willimon makes the compelling case that two key pastoral tasks--preaching and leadership--complement, correct, strengthen, and inform one another. Preaching is the distinctive function of pastoral leaders. Leadership of the church, particularly during a challenging time of transition in mainline Protestantism, has become a pressing concern for pastors.This book shows how the practices, skills, and intentions of Christian preaching can be helpful to the leadership of a congregation. It will also show how leadership is an appropriate expectation for sermons. In preaching, pastoral leaders can help a congregation face its problems and coordinate its God-given resources to address those problems. Sermons can be an opportunity to articulate, motivate, and orchestrate God's people in doing God's work in the church and in the world.Leading with the Sermon includes chapters on why pastors must be leaders, why preaching is such an essential task in telling the truth about the gospel, how preaching makes better leaders, and how better leaders make better preachers.