From music to movies to social media, sex is everywhere. Many people think it’s the route to happiness. But Jesus tells us true contentment comes from loving God and others. In this nine 10–15 minutes-per-session study, McDowell takes teens through God’s Word to answer some of their toughest questions about love, gender, and relationships. Kit includes one DVD, a leader’s guide, and a study guide.
Romantic love: our culture is perennially obsessed with it . . . but also increasingly confused. Is love about self-fulfillment—or self-sacrifice? McDowell explores the Bible’s “radical upside-down” approach, addressing how Jesus speaks to singleness, LGBTQ issues, and sexual sin, and tackling the question “What if I’m not happy in my marriage?”
The Society of Children’s Spirituality: Christian Perspectives launched in 2003 with its first conference held at Concordia University Chicago, in River Forest, Illinois. An earlier edition of this book, composed of chapters based on presentations from that conference, was published in 2004. In 2018 a decision was made to revise this book from the inaugural conference, updating some chapters and providing a new perspective on the ongoing work of the organization, now called the Children’s Spirituality Summit. What this revised volume provides is a collection of chapters offering theological perspectives, social science research, and insights on ministry practice about the spiritual lives of children: how they relate to God, how this relationship grows, and what helps in promoting the spiritual formation and vitality of children in the home, church, and school.
Christ-Centered Spirituality leads the reader through a comprehensive pattern of catechesis distilled from the early church, the Celtic monastic communities, the medieval monks, the reformers, the Society of Jesus, the Puritans, and many other traditions of the historic Christian church. Throughout history, the Spirit of the living God has used many of these practices and insights to catalyze revivals, awaken souls, incite revolutions, birth joy and bring hope to millions. This is your map to a meaningful existence. Let it spark renewal in your life today!
What does it mean to think and live Christianly in a world of competing worldviews? Christian Contours answers this question by inviting readers to consider the understanding of reality proposed by the Bible. Though it is easy to divide life into separate compartments (religious and secular, theological and practical), faith invites us to view all of life in the light of that Biblical understanding. Presenting a clear, compelling case for unity in essential Christian tenets, the authors of Christian Contours guide the reader through developing, internalizing, and articulating a biblical worldview. This robust worldview enables the Christian to be a critically-thinking participant in culture and to be a faithful disciple of Christ with both heart and mind.
On the heels of the advance since the twentieth-century of wholly physicalist accounts of human persons, the influence of materialist ontology is increasingly evident in Christian theologizing. To date, the contemporary literature has tended to focus on anthropological issues (e.g., whether the traditional soul / body distinction is viable), with occasional articles treating physicalist accounts of such doctrines as the Incarnation and Resurrection of Jesus cropping up, as well. Interestingly, the literature to date, both for and against this influence, is dominated by philosophers. The present volume is a collection of philosophers and theologians who advance several novel criticisms of this growing trend toward physicalism in Christian theology. The present collection definitively shows that Christian physicalism has some significant philosophical and theological problems. No doubt all philosophical anthropologies have their challenges, but the present volume shows that Christian physicalism is most likely not an adequate accounting for essential theological topics within Christian theism. Christians, then, should consider alternative anthropologies.
A creative introduction to the world of the New Testament. Background becomes foreground in Moyer Hubbard’s creative introduction to the social and historical setting for the letters of the Apostle Paul to churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Hubbard begins each major section with a brief narrative featuring a fictional character in one of the great cities of that era. Then he elaborates on various aspects of the cultural setting related to each particular vignette, discussing the implications of those venues for understanding Paul’s letters and applying their message to our lives today. Teachers, students, and laypeople alike will appreciate Hubbard’s unique, illuminating, and well-researched approach to the world of the early church.
Today there are too many examples of those claiming to follow Christ being caustic, divisive, and irrational, contributing to dismissals of the Christian faith as hypocritical, self-interested, and politically co-opted. What has happened in our society? It seems one short outrageous video or pithy post can trigger an avalanche of comments on social media. In this guide, Ed Stetzer―respected columnist and popular Bible teacher―leads small groups through a deep conversation of what it would look like if Christians were at their best. How might our world and our communities be different? Spend the next six weeks discussing what it means to represent the love of Jesus Christ in this new polarized age. This discussion guide for small groups is designed to be used with the teaching videos featuring Ed Stetzer.
In Christians in an Age of Wealth, Craig Blomberg addresses tough questions about the place and purpose of wealth and material possessions in a Christian’s life. He points to the goodness of wealth, as God originally designed it, but also surveys the Bible’s many warnings against making an idol out of money. Taking a close exegetical look at this topic as it’s discussed in Scripture, Blomberg answers the toughest questions about Christianity and wealth. Blomberg expounds upon how the sharing of goods and possessions is the key safeguard against both greed and covetousness. He expands on the concept of giving generously, even sacrificially, to those who are needier, demonstrating how Christians can participate in God’s original good design for abundance and demonstrate the world-altering gospel of Christ.
Today there are too many examples of those claiming to follow Christ being caustic, divisive, and irrational, contributing to dismissals of the Christian faith as hypocritical, self-interested, and politically co-opted. What has happened in our society? One short outrageous video, whether it is true or not, can trigger an avalanche of comments on social media. In this groundbreaking book featuring new survey research of evangelicals and their relationship to the age of outrage, Ed Stetzer offers a constructive way forward. You won’t want to miss Ed’s insightful analysis of our chaotic age, his commonsensical understanding of the cultural currents, and his compelling challenge to Christians to live in a refreshingly different way.
Today there are too many examples of those claiming to follow Christ being caustic, divisive, and irrational, contributing to dismissals of the Christian faith as hypocritical, self-interested, and politically co-opted. What has happened in our society? One short outrageous video, whether it is true or not, can trigger an avalanche of comments on social media. In this groundbreaking book featuring new survey research of evangelicals and their relationship to the age of outrage, Ed Stetzer offers a constructive way forward. You won’t want to miss Ed’s insightful analysis of our chaotic age, his commonsensical understanding of the cultural currents, and his compelling challenge to Christians to live in a refreshingly different way.
The expertise of veteran church consultant and best-selling author Gary McIntosh is now available in an easily portable format. McIntosh offers readers his invaluable insights on the church in order to help leaders make their churches more effective. It’s just like hiring your own church consultant, but at a fraction of the cost. This at-a-glance practical guidebook helps pastors and church leaders with a wide variety of issues. Short, to-the point chapters examine trends and ministry methods that can be easily adapted to fit every church’s needs.
Study the evidence. Test the witnesses. Defend the truth. In Cold-Case Christianity, detective J. Warner Wallace teaches ten investigative principles and applies them to the gospel accounts. In this 8-session video series recorded in a historic courthouse, Wallace examines the authors of the Gospels and asks four critical questions used by detectives. Each of the eight video sessions is about 10 minutes in length.
Drawing tweens into the thrill of high-stakes investigating, respected cold-case detective Wallace trains them how to think rather than telling them what to think. Showing kids how to test witnesses, examine the evidence, and more, he gives them the investigative skills they need to understand and defend the truth about Jesus. Ages 8 to 12.
Christianity, with all of its claims could easily be described as a “cold-case”; a case for which insufficient hard evidence exists to make any sound conclusions about its truth claims. However, in Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally acclaimed skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Cold-Case Christianity is a unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, and inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.
Research shows that over time, most churches plateau and then eventually decline. Typically, they start strong and experience periods of growth, then stagnate and lose members. Since 1991, the North American population has increased by 15 percent while the number of “unchurched” people has increased by 92 percent. Large church houses that were filled in the 1950s and `60s now hold a fraction of their capacity.To counter this trend, authors Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson surveyed 300 churches from across ten different denominations that recently achieved healthy evangelistic growth after a significant season of decline. What they have discovered is an exciting method of congregation reinvigoration that is shared in the new book entitled Comeback Churches.
Community Experience Jesus Alive in His People explores the truth about Christ’s body the church and Christians’ mission in life. It lays the foundation for how to experience true community.
Understand what it means to be compelled by love. In the book entitled Compelled by Love, trusted missiologist Ed Stetzer and coauthor and pastor Philip Nation challenge readers to look at love within the context of God, the church, and the lives of individual believers. Selected as the 20082009 emphasis book for WMU®, a million-member nonprofit missions organization, Compelled by Love will give readers a basic theological grounding and a platform for personal application as they understand what missional living is all aboutit is simply the calling to love others. Look at the love of God; begin to truly understand what is at the center of the churchs foundation, commission, and direction; but most importantly, understand your role within the mission of God as you integrate love into all aspects of your missional calling.
In the Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth Study Guide, Williams confronts our religious and political tribalism and challenges readers to discover what the Bible and the example of Jesus have to teach us about justice. He presents a compelling vision of justice for all God’s image-bearers that offers hopeful answers to life’s biggest questions.
