Holy Disunity

Holy Disunity
Author: Layton E. Williams
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2019-10-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 161164965X

These days, there’s no dirtier word than “divisive,” especially in religious and political circles. Claiming a controversial opinion, talking about our differences, even sharing our doubts can be seen as threatening to the goal of unity. But what if unity shouldn’t be our goal? In Holy Disunity: How What Separates Us Can Save Us, Layton E. Williams proposes that our primary calling as humans is not to create unity but rather to seek authentic relationship with God, ourselves, one another, and the world around us. And that means actively engaging those with whom we disagree. Our religious, political, social, and cultural differences can create doubt and tension, but disunity also provides surprising gifts of perspective and grace. By analyzing conflict and rifts in both modern culture and Scripture, Williams explores how our disagreements and differences—our disunity—can ultimately redeem us.

Uncomfortable

Uncomfortable
Author: Brett McCracken
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2017-09-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433554283

Does your church make you uncomfortable? It’s easy to dream about the “perfect” church—a church that sings just the right songs set to just the right music before the pastor preaches just the right sermon to a room filled with just the right mix of people who happen to agree with you on just about everything. Chances are your church doesn’t quite look like that. But what if instead of searching for a church that makes us comfortable, we learned to love our church, even when it’s challenging? What if some of the discomfort that we often experience is actually good for us? This book is a call to embrace the uncomfortable aspects of Christian community, whether that means believing difficult truths, pursuing difficult holiness, or loving difficult people—all for the sake of the gospel, God’s glory, and our joy.

Multiply

Multiply
Author: Francis Chan
Publisher: David C Cook
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2012-11-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1434705862

Jesus gave his followers a command: “Follow me.” And a promise: “And I will equip you to find others to follow me.” We were made to make disciples. Designed for use in discipleship relationships and other focused settings, Multiply will equip you to carry out Jesus’s ministry. Each of the twenty-four sessions in the book corresponds with an online video at www.multiplymovement.com, where New York Times bestselling author David Platt joins Francis in guiding you through each part of Multiply. One plus one plus one. Every copy of Multiply is designed to do what Jesus did: make disciples who make disciples who make disciples…. Until the world knows the truth of Jesus Christ.

Core Christianity

Core Christianity
Author: Michael Horton
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2016-04-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310525071

What beliefs are core to the Christian faith? This book is here to help you understand the reason for your hope as a Christian so that you can see it with fresh sight and invite others into the conversation. A lot of Christians take their story—the narratives that give rise to their beliefs—for granted. They pray, go to church, perhaps even read their Bible. But they might be stuck if a stranger asked them to explain what they believe and why they believe it. Author, pastor, and theologian Mike Horton unpacks the essential and basic beliefs that all Christians share in a way that is easy to understand and applicable to our lives today. And in a way that will make you excited to be a Christian! Core Christianity covers topics like: Jesus as both fully God and fully man. The doctrine of the Trinity. The goodness of God despite a broken world. The ways God speaks. The meaning of salvation. What is the Christian calling? Includes discussion questions for individual or group use. This introduction to the basic doctrines of Christianity is perfect for those who are new to the faith, as well as those who have an interest in deepening their understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

The Unstuck Church

The Unstuck Church
Author: Tony Morgan
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2017-05-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0718094476

Acclaimed church leader, blogger, founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan unpacks the lifecycle of a typical church, identifies characteristics of each phase, and provides practical next steps a church can take to move towards sustained health. Think about your church for a moment. Is it growing? Is it diminishing? Is it somewhere in between? Acclaimed church leader, blogger, and founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan has identified the seven stages of a church's lifecycle that range from the hopeful and optimistic days of launch, to the stagnating last stages of life support. Regardless of the stage in which you find your church, it carries with it the world's greatest mission—to "go and make disciples of all the nations . . ." With eternity at stake the Church should be doing most everything within its power to see lives changed forever. The Church should strive for the pinnacle of the lifecycle, where they are continually making new disciples and experiencing what Morgan refers to as "sustained health." In The Unstuck Church, Morgan unpacks each phase of the church lifecycle, and offers specific and strategic next steps the church leader can take to find it's way to sustained health . . . and finally become unstuck. The Unstuck Church is a call for honest an assessment of where your church sits on the lifecycle, and a challenge to move beyond it.

Disunity in Christ

Disunity in Christ
Author: Christena Cleveland
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2013-10-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830864954

Despite Jesus' prayer that all Christians "be one," divisions have been epidemic in the body of Christ. Though we may think we know why this happens, Christena Cleveland says we probably don't. Learn the hidden reasons behind conflict and divisions, the unseen dynamics at work that tend to separate us from others. Here are the tools we need to build bridges.

Resonate

Resonate
Author: Mark Beuving
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2014-04-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310516498

It’s no secret that Christians can be ambivalent about music, both popular music and music in the church. In Resonate, author and Eternity Bible College professor Mark Beuving shows Christians how to better appreciate all kinds of music to the glory and pleasure of God. Beuving carefully examines music in the Bible and looks at the various and powerful ways in which music influences our world and our personal lives. He devotes the first section of the book to understanding music, both sacred and secular, exploring biblically why human beings make music and how it affects us. In the second section he highlights some of the many ways we engage with music, from writing songs to discussing artists with our neighbors to worshiping God with fellow believers. Wise and winsome, Beuving writes with an ear for recapturing the wonder of a beautiful part of God’s creation. Readers will be inspired to contemplate more deeply and appreciate more fully God’s good gift of music.

The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind

The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind
Author: Mark A. Noll
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2022-03-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1467464627

Winner of the Christianity Today Book of the Year Award (1995) “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.” So begins this award-winning intellectual history and critique of the evangelical movement by one of evangelicalism’s most respected historians. Unsparing in his indictment, Mark Noll asks why the largest single group of religious Americans—who enjoy increasing wealth, status, and political influence—have contributed so little to rigorous intellectual scholarship. While nourishing believers in the simple truths of the gospel, why have so many evangelicals failed to sustain a serious intellectual life and abandoned the universities, the arts, and other realms of “high” culture? Over twenty-five years since its original publication, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind has turned out to be prescient and perennially relevant. In a new preface, Noll lays out his ongoing personal frustrations with this situation, and in a new afterword he assesses the state of the scandal—showing how white evangelicals’ embrace of Trumpism, their deepening distrust of science, and their frequent forays into conspiratorial thinking have coexisted with surprisingly robust scholarship from many with strong evangelical connections.

The Mark of the Christian

The Mark of the Christian
Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 65
Release: 2013-04-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830895361

Christians have not always presented an inviting picture to the world. Too often we have failed to show the beauty of authentic Christian love. And the world has disregarded Christianity as a result. Francis A. Schaeffer challenges Christians to respond compassionately to a needy world and to show the mark of Christ in all their actions.

The Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies

The Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies
Author: Geoffrey Wainwright
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 705
Release: 2021
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199600848

This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note that the online publication date for this handbook is the date that the first article in the title was published online. For more information, please read the site FAQs.