Faith Lessons in a Changing World


Book Description

As a successful businesswoman with a fashionable wardrobe, expense account, and a new car every year, Linda Baker thought she had it all. But when her success cost her something far more valuable, her relationship with God, she realized she needed to slow down and stop living life in the fast lane. In Faith Lessons in a Changing World, Linda shares her desire to escape a world of glamour, affluence, and ultimately emptiness to live a life of significance and purpose. She shares personal experiences and Scripture to raise the spirits of the downhearted and encourage the faithless to look to Faith Lessons in a Changing World to survive. 'Linda Baker provides us with an abundance of examples where real people have faced intense and frightening situations, often including heartbreak and loss yet increased faith in God. These true stories provide real witness (and yes, proof) that when we are weak, He is strong. Faith Lessons in a Changing World offers us evidence that when we lose ourselves and surrender what we think is most important, then we finally know we are truly embraced and held by the Lord through it all.' —Dr. Peggy Bolcoa PhD, Bristol Cove Counseling Center




The Episcopal Way


Book Description

Explores seismic shifts in American life and the opportunities and challenges each presents to the church today. And calls for a return to Episcopal basics and insist that faithfully engaging a changing world might be the most truly Anglican practice of all.




A Faith for the Future


Book Description

Ponders how the good news of Jesus Christ is made known in our world today.







Life and Ministry of the Messiah


Book Description

What would it be like to haul in a miraculous draft of fish at the command of the Master . . . or hear the ram's horn sound from Herod's temple at the very moment when Jesus is breathing his last breath? What would you think? How would you think? What meanings would the places and events in the life of Jesus hold for you as a person of a different time and culture? Thanks to Ray Vander Laan and That the World May Know Ministries, you can understand their significance in a way that transforms your faith today. Filmed in Israel by Focus on the Family, Faith Lessons on the Life and Ministry of the Messiah helps small groups understand Jesus from the mindset of a citizen of those times. Using the new, proven ZondervanGroupWare approach, this powerful curriculum provides a dynamic way for participants to engage with biblical truths in a life-changing, group-interactive format. Faith Lessons on the Life and Ministry of the Messiah includes an all-new Leader's Guide and Participant's Guide designed for maximum clarity, relevance, and ease of use. Drawing on Ray Vander Laan's video presentations, participants will enjoy spirited discussions and find practical applications that turn faith lessons learned from past millennia into faith lessons lived today.




Truth Plus Love


Book Description

Imagine what our world might look like if Christians became known for remarkable love, as well as life-giving truth. The stakes are high and the need is great for Christians to represent Jesus to a watching world. And today, we have more influence than ever before--for better and for worse. We are among the first generations to have access to a global megaphone through social media. But it's not enough to speak truth louder to a noisy culture. To counter the reputation Christians have earned, our love must be just as loud. Ask evangelist Matt Brown, and he will tell you Christians today are facing a crisis of influence. In our rush to speak truth to today's tensions, cultural issues, and trending controversies, it becomes all too easy to focus on proving our points rather than extending God's grace. Conversely, when we seek only to love yet never proclaim a better way, we short-circuit God's plan. Truth Plus Love invites you to rediscover the biblical framework for engaging culture as ambassadors of Christ. Through biblical insight, cultural analysis, and practical principles, Matt Brown outlines how to champion truth without compromise, how to love unconditionally, and ultimately, how to step into this great adventure of representing God to the world. It's hard, it's messy, and it's the unfinished project of a lifetime, yet here we find our great adventure: representing God to a watching world.




77 Fairly Safe Science Activities for Illustrating Bible Lessons


Book Description

Nothing captures the attention of young people (and adults) like a creative object lesson. This hands-on book gives pastors, teachers, speakers, and homeschoolers 77 exciting science activities that reveal the order and grandeur of creation and encourage an appreciation of all God has made. These easy experiments illustrate the laws of nature, teach Bible principles, and affirm God's power as Creator. With catchy or unexpected results, the demonstrations make Bible truth unforgettable. The clearly explained experiments use common household objects, require little setup, and are illustrated with pictures and diagrams.




Faith Unraveled


Book Description

From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Held Evans: a must-read for anyone on the journey of doubt, deconstruction, and ultimately faith reborn. Eighty years after the Scopes Monkey Trial made a spectacle of Christian fundamentalism and brought national attention to her hometown, Rachel Held Evans faced a trial of her own when she began to have doubts about her faith. In Faith Unraveled, Rachel recounts growing up in a culture obsessed with apologetics, struggling as her own faith unraveled one unexpected question at a time. In order for her faith to survive, Rachel realizes, it must adapt to change and evolve. Using as an illustration her own spiritual journey from certainty to doubt to faith, Evans challenges you to disentangle your faith from false fundamentals and to trust in a God who is big enough to handle your tough questions. In a changing cultural environment where new ideas seem to threaten the safety and security of the faith, Faith Unraveled is a profoundly moving, fearlessly honest, and relentlessly hopeful story of survival. This book was previously titled Evolving in Monkey Town.




The Book that Made Your World


Book Description

Understand where we came from. Whether you're an avid student of the Bible or a skeptic of its relevance, The Book That Made Your World will transform your perception of its influence on virtually every facet of Western civilization. Indian philosopher Vishal Mangalwadi reveals the personal motivation that fueled his own study of the Bible and systematically illustrates how its precepts became the framework for societal structure throughout the last millennium. From politics and science, to academia and technology, the Bible's sacred copy became the key that unlocked the Western mind. Through Mangalwadi's wide-ranging and fascinating investigation, you'll discover: What triggered the West's passion for scientific, medical, and technological advancement How the biblical notion of human dignity informs the West's social structure and how it intersects with other worldviews How the Bible created a fertile ground for women to find social and economic empowerment How the Bible has uniquely equipped the West to cultivate compassion, human rights, prosperity, and strong families The role of the Bible in the transformation of education How the modern literary notion of a hero has been shaped by the Bible's archetypal protagonist Journey with Mangalwadi as he examines the origins of a civilization's greatness and the misguided beliefs that threaten to unravel its progress. Learn how the Bible transformed the social, political, and religious institutions that have sustained Western culture for the past millennium, and discover how secular corruption endangers the stability and longevity of Western civilization. Endorsements: “This is an extremely significant piece of work with huge global implications. Vishal brings a timely message.” (Ravi Zacharias, author, Walking from East to West and Beyond Opinion) “In polite society, the mere mention of the Bible often introduces a certain measure of anxiety. A serious discussion on the Bible can bring outright contempt. Therefore, it is most refreshing to encounter this engaging and informed assessment of the Bible’s profound impact on the modern world. Where Bloom laments the closing of the American mind, Mangalwadi brings a refreshing optimism.” (Stanley Mattson, founder and president, C. S. Lewis Foundation) “Vishal Mangalwadi recounts history in very broad strokes, always using his cross-cultural perspectives for highlighting the many benefits of biblical principles in shaping civilization.” (George Marsden, professor, University of Notre Dame; author, Fundamentalism and American Culture)




To Change the World


Book Description

The call to make the world a better place is inherent in the Christian belief and practice. But why have efforts to change the world by Christians so often failed or gone tragically awry? And how might Christians in the 21st century live in ways that have integrity with their traditions and are more truly transformative? In To Change the World, James Davison Hunter offers persuasive--and provocative--answers to these questions. Hunter begins with a penetrating appraisal of the most popular models of world-changing among Christians today, highlighting the ways they are inherently flawed and therefore incapable of generating the change to which they aspire. Because change implies power, all Christian eventually embrace strategies of political engagement. Hunter offers a trenchant critique of the political theologies of the Christian Right and Left and the Neo-Anabaptists, taking on many respected leaders, from Charles Colson to Jim Wallis and Stanley Hauerwas. Hunter argues that all too often these political theologies worsen the very problems they are designed to solve. What is really needed is a different paradigm of Christian engagement with the world, one that Hunter calls "faithful presence"--an ideal of Christian practice that is not only individual but institutional; a model that plays out not only in all relationships but in our work and all spheres of social life. He offers real-life examples, large and small, of what can be accomplished through the practice of "faithful presence." Such practices will be more fruitful, Hunter argues, more exemplary, and more deeply transfiguring than any more overtly ambitious attempts can ever be. Written with keen insight, deep faith, and profound historical grasp, To Change the World will forever change the way Christians view and talk about their role in the modern world.




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