What if God Meant What He Said?


Book Description

What if God meant what He said? was written to address questions that have come up time and time again in evangelism and Bible discussions. Is there really only one God? Is he concerned with our day to day lives and sympathetic or is he distant and overbearing? What does he want with us? Do we have any obligation to him? Answering questions like these are the building blocks to our faith and our walk with God. Our actions are affected by our beliefs, so identifying what we believe is not only helpful but also essential as we navigate life. God's love for us invites us to come to him and be part of His work here on earth. Come on a journey as we look at challenging questions and what God says in His Word about each topic. My prayer for each of you is that you grow in knowledge and love for your creator.




Red Letter Revolution


Book Description

Expounds the ideas of Red Letter Christianity, or, following Jesus' words exactly in order to live a better and more faithful life.




If God Meant to Interfere


Book Description

The rise of the Christian Right took many writers and literary critics by surprise, trained as we were to think that religions waned as societies became modern. In If God Meant to Interfere, Christopher Douglas shows that American writers struggled to understand and respond to this new social and political force. Religiously inflected literature since the 1970s must be understood in the context of this unforeseen resurgence of conservative Christianity, he argues, a resurgence that realigned the literary and cultural fields. Among the writers Douglas considers are Marilynne Robinson, Barbara Kingsolver, Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, Ishmael Reed, N. Scott Momaday, Gloria Anzaldúa, Philip Roth, Carl Sagan, and Dan Brown. Their fictions engaged a wide range of topics: religious conspiracies, faith and wonder, slavery and imperialism, evolution and extraterrestrial contact, alternate histories and ancestral spiritualities. But this is only part of the story. Liberal-leaning literary writers responding to the resurgence were sometimes confused by the Christian Right’s strange entanglement with the contemporary paradigms of multiculturalism and postmodernism —leading to complex emergent phenomena that Douglas terms "Christian multiculturalism" and "Christian postmodernism." Ultimately, If God Meant to Interfere shows the value of listening to our literature for its sometimes subterranean attention to the religious and social upheavals going on around it.




What If Jesus Meant What He Said?


Book Description

What if Jesus words were never intended to fit into your existing lifestyle? What if they were meant to change everything? What if Jesus never wanted merely part of your life? What if He wants everything? Instead of offering easy answers, these pages ask difficult questions, leading the reader on a journey with life-altering implications. If Jesus meant what He said, how might His words affect our relationships, investments, speech, perspectives, discipleship, spiritual disciplines, and every other aspect of life? What if the only balanced Christian life is all-out surrender to Jesus Christ?




What Jesus Demands from the World


Book Description

for every healthy tree bears good fruit --; Demand #28 : love your enemies--lead them to the truth --; Demand #29 : love your enemies--pray for those who abuse you --; Demand #30 : love your enemies--do good to those who hate you, give to the one who asks --; Demand #31 : love your enemies to show that you are children of God --; Demand #32 : love your neighbor as yourself,







No More Faking Fine


Book Description

Scripture reveals a God who meets us where we are, not where we pretend to be. No More Faking Fine is your invitation to get honest with God through the life-giving language of lament. If you've ever been given empty clichés during challenging times, you know how painful it is to be misunderstood by well-meaning people. When life hurts, we often feel pressure--from others and ourselves--to keep it together, suck it up, or pray it away. But Scripture reveals a God who lovingly invites us to give honest voice to our emotions when life hits hard. For most of her life, Esther Fleece Allen believed she could bypass the painful emotions of her broken past by shutting them down altogether. She was known as an achiever and an overcomer on the fast track to success. But in silencing her pain, she robbed herself of the opportunity to be healed. Maybe you've done the same. Esther's journey into healing began when she discovered that God has given us a real-world way to deal with raw emotions and an alternative to the coping mechanisms that end up causing more pain. It's called lament--the gut-level, honest prayer that God never ignores, never silences, and never wastes. No More Faking Fine is your permission to lament, taking you on a journey down the unexpected pathway to true intimacy with God. Drawing from careful biblical study and hard-won insight, Esther reveals how to use God's own language to come closer to him as he leads us through our pain to the light on the other side, teaching you that: We are robbing ourselves of a divine mystery and a divine intimacy when we pretend to have it all together God does not expect us to be perfect; instead, he meets us where we are There is hope beyond your heartache, disappointment, and grief Like Esther, you'll soon find that when one person stops faking fine, it gives everyone else permission to do the same.




Speaking of Jesus


Book Description

Some of us fear moments when we need to defend our theology. Some of us seek them out. But we are seldom ready the way Jesus seemed to be ready. So how do we draw others to God in the midst of these ordinary conversations the way Jesus did? In Speaking of Jesus, Carl Medearis draws on his experience of international reconciliation between Muslims and Christians to remind us of the heart of the matter: Jesus. Here he gives us tools, stories, and the foundation we need to move beyond “us” and “them” and simply talk about the One who changes it all. As Carl writes, “While others are explaining and defending various isms and ologies we’re simply pointing people to our friend. The one who uncovers and disarms. Who leads people right to himself. The beginning and the end of the story. A good story indeed.”




God Means What He Says


Book Description

Have you ever heard anyone ask, "Does God really mean what He says"? That sounds like a silly question, doesn't it, especially if you claim to be a Christian? But even as a Christian, have you ever thought, "Well, I know this is what God said I'm supposed to do, but it doesn't seem that He would mind if I did it my way"? If so, did you realize you may be putting your own will above God's will, that you could be defying and disobeying God's direct commands? The ultimate question is, Are you expressing obedience to God and His desires through your words, actions, and thoughts? Do His commands guide your life, causing you to flee from sinful activities and live in purity and holiness? The objective of this book and the impact it should have on each of our lives can be simply stated in the question: "Does God really mean what He says?" From the Christian perspective, we would quickly say that we do believe God means what He says. But again, does our life reflect that profession? You see, how we live our lives is an undeniable demonstration of whether or not we believe that God means what He says. Have you truly died to sin, which is an expectation God has for His followers? If not, can you truly say that you believe God means what He says? Does your life reflect a purity and holiness that is consistent with the pattern found in God's word? If not, can you truly say that you believe God means what He says? These and other related issues which are vital to all of us will be explored in this book. Most importantly, throughout the course of our study together, we will rely upon the only source of divine authority for our answers: the word of God. Once we have completed this journey, my fervent prayer is that each of us will not hesitate even one moment to answer the question, "Does God really mean what He says?" with a resounding yes! This is critical because, as we shall see, God does mean what He says.




Created in God's Image


Book Description

ccording to Scripture, humankind was created in the image of God. Hoekema discusses the implications of this theme, devoting several chapters to the biblical teaching on God's image, the teaching of philosophers and theologians through the ages, and his own theological analysis. Suitable for seminary-level anthropology courses, yet accessible to educated laypeople. Extensive bibliography, fully indexed.