The New Adapters


Book Description

Learn how new and young pastors from across the country are translating eight time-tested principles of church leadership. Adam Hamilton and Mike Slaughter introduce each principle and discuss its importance in their ministries. Author Jacob Armstrong then shows how the principle works in new contexts today. The New Adapters is full of energy, wisdom, and stories of hope. “If you have wondered what adaptive leadership looks like in practice, here it is. Jacob Armstrong offers a road map for reaching the mission field, writing with honesty, clarity, humility, and a heart attuned to the gospel. He invites us into a conversation with Adam Hamilton and Mike Slaughter that is both substantial and practical. Gather a team around you and let this book guide you to become New Adapters!” —Bishop Bill McAlilly, Nashville Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church “The New Adapters is a fantastic read — a clarion call for what is needed in congregations today. It will immediately start to shift the way you think about ministry.” —F. Douglas Powe Jr., Professor and Associate Director of the Center for the Missional Church, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC “A wonderful, hopeful, and practical volume for pastors, laity, and judicatory leaders who want to facilitate and participate in adaptive change. Armstrong draws wisdom from practitioners while refusing to offer a cookie cutter for the church.” —Elaine A. Heath, McCreless Professor of Evangelism, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX “This practical book should be in every church leader’s library. Armstrong invites us to reclaim our love for the church, practice Holy Spirit dependence, and become New Adapters in living the mission of Jesus Christ. Jacob is calling us toward a new kind of church, one that gives me hope for the future!” —Bishop Mark J. Webb, Upper New York Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church




Esoteric Christianity Made Simple


Book Description

Esoteric Christianity Made Simple is a thought-provoking, inspiring look at the Christian Bible, presenting ideas and context that are not what typical Christians usually hear or read. Those who are open-minded will find this book to be entirely different from their concept of Christianity, but any reader can understand and appreciate the explanations and insights. Esoteric Christianity Made Simple challenges long-held beliefs about topics from the Creation of Man to the Last Supper, focusing on the deeper, metaphorical meanings of the parables and stories in the Bible. Whether or not you consider yourself to be religious or a Christian, this compelling examination of what the Bible is really saying can awaken any reader to a new spiritual reality.




Who Created Christianity?


Book Description

"This collection of essays proposes a complementary work to the work of David Wenham and his thesis that Paul was indeed, not the founder of Christianity or the creator of Christian dogma, as such, but instead the faithful disciple and conveyer of a prior Jesus tradition"--Publisher.







The Contradictory Christ


Book Description

In this ground-breaking study, Jc Beall shows that the fundamental "problem" of Christology is simple to see from the role that Christ occupies: the Christ figure is to have the divine and essentially limitless properties of the one and only God but Christ is equally to have the human, essentially limit-imposing properties involved in human nature, limits essentially involved in being human. The role that Christ occupies thereby appears to demand a contradiction: all of the limitlessness of God, and all of the limits of humans. This book lays out Beall's contradictory account of Jesus Christ — and thereby a contradictory Christian theology.




Rethinking Hell


Book Description

Most evangelical Christians believe that those people who are not saved before they die will be punished in hell forever. But is this what the Bible truly teaches? Do Christians need to rethink their understanding of hell? In the late twentieth century, a growing number of evangelical theologians, biblical scholars, and philosophers began to reject the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell in favor of a minority theological perspective called conditional immortality. This view contends that the unsaved are resurrected to face divine judgment, just as Christians have always believed, but due to the fact that immortality is only given to those who are in Christ, the unsaved do not exist forever in hell. Instead, they face the punishment of the "second death"--an end to their conscious existence. This volume brings together excerpts from a variety of well-respected evangelical thinkers, including John Stott, John Wenham, and E. Earl Ellis, as they articulate the biblical, theological, and philosophical arguments for conditionalism. These readings will give thoughtful Christians strong evidence that there are indeed compelling reasons for rethinking hell.




God


Book Description

What words come to mind when we think of God? Merciful? Just? Compassionate? Delving deep into the Bible, former evangelical preacher Dan Barker uncovers God's negative qualities: jealous, petty, unforgiving, bloodthirsty, vindictive--and worse! Witty and well researched, this unique atheist book explains exactly why the Scripture shouldn't govern our everyday lives. It makes a powerful argument for the separation of church and state.




The Genealogical Adam and Eve


Book Description

What if the biblical creation account is true, with the origins of Adam and Eve taking place alongside evolution? Building on well-established but overlooked science, S. Joshua Swamidass explains how it's possible for Adam and Eve to be rightly identified as the ancestors of everyone, opening up new possibilities for understanding Adam and Eve consistent both with current scientific consensus and with traditional readings of Scripture.




Finding Quiet


Book Description

Bracing and honest, Finding Quiet will validate the experiences of believers with mental illness, remind them they are not alone, and provide reassurance they can not only survive but thrive again. In May 2003 prominent philosopher, author, and professor J. P. Moreland awoke in the middle of the night to a severe panic attack. Though often anxious by temperament and upbringing, Moreland had never experienced such an incident before. Thus began an extended battle with debilitating anxiety and depression. More than a decade later, Moreland continues to manage mental illness. Yet along the way he's moved from shame and despair to vulnerability and hope. In Finding Quiet Moreland comes alongside fellow sufferers with encouragement and practical, hard-won advice. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly 20 percent of Americans suffer from mental illness, and people in the pews are not immune. Moreland explores the spiritual and physical aspects of mental illness, pointing readers toward sound sources of information, treatment, and recovery.




Communion


Book Description