Interpreting Your World


Book Description

Whether we interpret Scripture or culture, it matters what we do, not just what we think or feel. How do we live with our interpretation, and how do we live it out? This book helps us understand how culture forms us as political actors, moves us aesthetically, shapes the rhythms of our lives, and connects (or disconnects) us from God and neighbors we are called to love. The goal is to be equipped to engage culture with greater fluency and fidelity in response to the triune God. This short, accessible introduction to the conversation between theology and culture offers a patient, thoughtful, and theologically attuned approach to cultural discernment. It helps us grow our interpretive skill by training our intuition and giving us a slower, more deliberate approach that accounts for as much of the complexity of culture as possible. The book explores 5 dimensions of culture--meaning, power, morality, religion, and aesthetic--and shows how each needs the others and all need theology. Each chapter includes distinctive practices for spiritual formation and practical application. Foreword by Kevin J. Vanhoozer.




Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition


Book Description

The author explores what the Bible and other early religious texts have to say about homosexuality.




Why Didn't We Riot?


Book Description

In these impassioned, powerful essays, an award-winning journalist deals forthrightly with what it means to be Black in an America that still supports Trump. South Carolina–based journalist Issac J. Bailey reflects on a wide range of complex, divisive topics—from police brutality and Confederate symbols to respectability politics and white discomfort—which have taken on a fresh urgency with the protest movement sparked by George Floyd’s killing. Bailey has been honing his views on these issues for the past quarter of a century in his professional and private life, which included an eighteen-year stint as a member of a mostly white Evangelical Christian church. Why Didn’t We Riot? speaks to and for the millions of Black and Brown people throughout the United States who were effectively pushed back to the back of the bus in the Trump era by a media that prioritized the concerns and feelings of the white working class and an administration that made white supremacists giddy, and explains why the country’s fate in 2020 and beyond is largely in their hands. It will be an invaluable resource for the everyday reader, as well as political analysts, college professors and students, and political consultants and campaigns vying for high office.




Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes


Book Description

Beginning with Jesus' birth, Ken Bailey leads you on a kaleidoscopic study of Jesus throughout the four Gospels, examining the life and ministry of Jesus with attention to the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, Jesus' relationship to women, and especially Jesus' parables. The work dispels the obscurity of Western interpretations with a stark vision of Jesus in his original context.




Civilizing Emotions


Book Description

Traces the history of the concepts of civility and civilization in nineteenth-century Europe and Asia and explores why and how emotions were an asset in civilizing peoples and societies - their control and management, but also their creation and their ascription to different societies and social groups.




Newlywed Couple's Devotional


Book Description

52 Weeks of Newlywed Devotionals for Navigating a God-Centered Marriage Marriage is a journey of both hills and valleys, and newlyweds are just beginning this great adventure. By following God's way and making him the center of their marriage from the start, couples can avoid rockier paths and create stronger foundations. In this spiritual and practical devotional, marriage coaches Chris and Jamie Bailey speak to the particular challenges that every newlywed couple faces and provide both inspiration and guidance. Newlywed Couple's Devotional features: • 52 Weekly Devotionals that explore common issues and themes every couple experiences, such as intimacy, love, commitment, household duties, finances, and more • Everyday Scripture and Reflective Bible Studies that provide practical solutions to bringing marriages closer to God • Action-Oriented Discussion Prompts that hold couples accountable for maintaining their God-anchored vows • Weekly Prayers that are specific and relevant to the topics discussed Whether couples are just getting back from their honeymoons or renewing their vows, this timeless devotional offers essential navigation tools for finding God's purpose in marriage.




Together Is a Beautiful Place


Book Description

Are you lonely? Do you struggle to find the real friends you long for? Here is your invitation to build lasting friendship through meaningful and intentional practices that anyone can do. The older we get, the less we find ourselves spending time in the company of good friends. Organic friendship becomes nearly impossible—after all, there are all sorts of obligations tugging at our attention. Or we find ourselves getting frustrated with shallow, draining conversations. Or, most painful of all, we feel like no one wants us—and who wants to be rejected? If you have found yourself desperately wanting connection but confused about why you are not experiencing it, you are not alone. And you don’t have to stay there. As Christian women, our faith calls us to support one another on the path of growing as a follower of Jesus—a call that will connect us, create a solid foundation for trust, and bind us together in Jesus’ love, no matter what struggles we face on the road of friendship. Together Is a Beautiful Place offers practical habits that are sustainable, deep, and valuable. You will identify what makes a godly, lasting friendship; tackle lies and false expectations about what it takes to build lasting friendship; and learn to tackle the barriers to friendship and invite healthy friendship rhythms. You will find that it is possible to grow healthy friendships, starting now.




biography


Book Description




Loving


Book Description

Bailey Flanigan is making decisions that will shape her future, and is trying to decide if she will spend her life with Brandon Paul in Los Angeles, or if her heart will draw her back to Bloomington, Indiana, and Cody Coleman, her first love.




Painting with God


Book Description