A Study Guide and a Teacher’s Manual Gospel Principles was written both as a personal study guide and as a teacher’s manual. As you study it, seeking the Spirit of the Lord, you can grow in your understanding and testimony of God the Father, Jesus Christand His Atonement, and the Restoration of the gospel. You can find answers to life’s questions, gain an assurance of your purpose and self-worth, and face personal and family challenges with faith.
Jake Colsen, an overworked and disillusioned pastor, happens into a stranger who bears an uncanny resemblance (in manner) to the apostle John. A number of encounters with John as well as a family crisis lead Jake to a new understanding of what his life should be like: one filled with faith bolstered by a steady, close relationship with the God of the universe. Facing his own disappointment with Christianity, Jake must forsake the habits that have made his faith rote and rediscover the love that captured his heart when he first believed. Compelling and intensely personal, So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anything relates a man's rebirth from performance-based Christianity to a loving friendship with Christ that affects all he does, thinks, and says. As John tells Jake, "There is nothing the Father desires for you more than that you fall squarely in the lap of his love and never move from that place for the rest of your life."
Christianity Today Book Award Winner Friendship is a relationship like no other. Unlike the relationships we are born into, we choose our friends. It is also tenuous--we can end a friendship at any time. But should friendship be so free and unconstrained? Although our culture tends to pay more attention to romantic love, marriage, family, and other forms of community, friendship is a genuine love in its own right. This eloquent book reminds us that Scripture and tradition have a high view of friendship. Single Christians, particularly those who are gay and celibate, may find it is a form of love to which they are especially called. Writing with deep empathy and with fidelity to historic Christian teaching, Wesley Hill retrieves a rich understanding of friendship as a spiritual vocation and explains how the church can foster friendship as a basic component of Christian discipleship. He helps us reimagine friendship as a robust form of love that is worthy of honor and attention in communities of faith. This book sets forth a positive calling for celibate gay Christians and suggests practical ways for all Christians to cultivate stronger friendships.
"A Christian without a church is a Christian in trouble." Since a global pandemic abruptly closed places of worship, many Christians have skipped church life, even neglecting virtual services. But this was a trend even before COVID-19. Polarizing issues, including political and racial strife, convinced some people to pull away from the church and one another. Now it's time to recommit to gathering as brothers and sisters in Christ. In Rediscover Church, Collin Hansen and Jonathan Leeman discuss why church is essential for believers and God's mission. Through biblical references and personal stories, they show readers God's true intention for corporate gathering: to spiritually strengthen members as individuals and the body of Christ. In an age of church-shopping and livestreamed services, rediscover why the future of the church relies on believers gathering regularly as the family of God. Published in partnership with the Gospel Coalition and 9Marks.
After she met Graham Pulkingham, the spellbinding priest who had led Redeemer into a powerful renewal starting in 1964, Duin became convinced the world needed to know the story of this gifted man and his church. As she began investigating the story, many warned her there was a darker history behind Pulkingham. Now the journalist who first broke that story reveals the details of the scandal that rocked the charismatic and Christian community movements, and the Episcopal Church.--Books in Print
"Closer Than a Sister" explores what the Bible means when it speaks about friendship. Built on our unity with Christ, these are real life, flesh and blood relationships. They are there as a means of grace, bringing with them the opportunity for help, comfort, love - the opportunity to to grow and to give of ourselves
Childbirth is more than an event that makes a woman a mother. This journey was designed to be a spiritual milestone that draws every woman's heart back to the only Deliverer. "Angie Tolpin has honored all of us by giving the world a book that guides, inspires, explores and reconsiders that there is a Grand Design in childbirth. Redeeming Childbirth honors God's Word and speaks truth that families can and should remember His presence in the birth room." ~Barbara Harper, RN, CLD, CCE, Founder of Waterbirth International and author of Gentle Birth Choices "Angie casts a beautiful vision for making Christ the center of your pregnancy and childbirth. Shedding light on areas of frequent idolatry in our own birth plans, Angie calls out the disunity amongst Christian sisters over birth methods. Through her own birth stories and those of others, Angie shows how God can be glorified in hospital rooms and birthing centers as well as home-births. ~Gretchen Louise, editor at Young Ladies Christian Fellowship "Redeeming Childbirth is a much-needed blessing for families and churches. I long for the day when I can buy a stack of this book, ready to bless each new expectant mother with what she really needs: encouragement from a sweet friend, spiritual wisdom, and guidance to trust in God." ~Ann Dunagan, Co-founder of Harvest Ministry, Director of Daring Daughters, Author of The Mission Minded Family and The Mission Minded Child
After a teaching career of more than thirty years, having taught across all grade levels and a broad range of subject areas, Friendship and Fellowship in the Local Church: a 21st Century Perspective is a product of an encompassing ministry experience in the local church for both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking congregations as a teacher, deacon, and pianist—a research-based study with a pragmatic and practical view on the needs of one of the most unrecognized and misunderstood populations: those of the inmate believers. The Gospel message is clear, and the members of the body of Christ have a responsibility to “encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV). The message of our Lord Jesus Christ is as real today as it was centuries ago: “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest (John 4:35 NIV). Believer inmates are members of the body of Christ; their conversions are real, their transformations are evident, and their faith is strong. Yet they, too, need the support of other members of the body of Christ, for the Holy Spirit works through each member, as he or she is gifted in order to address and attend to the unique needs of the incarcerated believer inmates. Hear their silent cries as they are revealed in the Friendship and Fellowship in the Local Church: a 21st Century Perspective. The Gospel of John states the reason Jesus visited Samaria: “Now he had to go through Samaria” (John 4:4 NIV). And in NKJV, it states, “He needed to go through Samaria.” For Jesus, it was a need. Jesus knew the importance of reaching out to those who were marginalized, who were ostracized, and who were highly criticized and judged. They had been abandoned, but Jesus had other plans. Later he met the Samaritan woman, and through her, her village and her town received the Good News about the Messiah: “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony” (John 4:39 NIV). His own disciples were blind to this need; they were subject to the day’s misconceptions and misinterpretations and biases. Later, Jesus pronounces one of the most significant statements of the Gospel message: “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35 NIV). Friendship and Fellowship in the Local Church: a 21st Century Perspective is a call to reach a group of people that have been abandoned and rejected: to address their needs—spiritual, social, emotional, and psychological. It is like Jesus said, “A field ripe for the harvest.” It is an eye-opener—a pioneer research study addressing the needs of one of the most deserted and neglected populations, considering it covers a topic difficult to discuss and is of much controversy. Paul said, “Remember my chains” (Colossians 4:18 NIV). When Jesus was accused of associating with those that were outcasts, his reply was, “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13 NIV).
After a teaching career of more than thirty years, having taught across all grade levels and a broad range of subject areas, Friendship and Fellowship in the Local Church: a 21st Century Perspective is a product of an encompassing ministry experience in the local church for both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking congregations as a teacher, deacon, and pianist--a research-based study with a pragmatic and practical view on the needs of one of the most unrecognized and misunderstood populations: those of the inmate believers. The Gospel message is clear, and the members of the body of Christ have a responsibility to "encourage one another and build each other up" (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV). The message of our Lord Jesus Christ is as real today as it was centuries ago: "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest (John 4:35 NIV). Believer inmates are members of the body of Christ; their conversions are real, their transformations are evident, and their faith is strong. Yet they, too, need the support of other members of the body of Christ, for the Holy Spirit works through each member, as he or she is gifted in order to address and attend to the unique needs of the incarcerated believer inmates. Hear their silent cries as they are revealed in the Friendship and Fellowship in the Local Church: a 21st Century Perspective. The Gospel of John states the reason Jesus visited Samaria: "Now he had to go through Samaria" (John 4:4 NIV). And in NKJV, it states, "He needed to go through Samaria." For Jesus, it was a need. Jesus knew the importance of reaching out to those who were marginalized, who were ostracized, and who were highly criticized and judged. They had been abandoned, but Jesus had other plans. Later he met the Samaritan woman, and through her, her village and her town received the Good News about the Messiah: "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony" (John 4:39 NIV). His own disciples were blind to this need; they were subject to the day's misconceptions and misinterpretations and biases. Later, Jesus pronounces one of the most significant statements of the Gospel message: "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest" (John 4:35 NIV). Friendship and Fellowship in the Local Church: a 21st Century Perspective is a call to reach a group of people that have been abandoned and rejected: to address their needs--spiritual, social, emotional, and psychological. It is like Jesus said, "A field ripe for the harvest." It is an eye-opener--a pioneer research study addressing the needs of one of the most deserted and neglected populations, considering it covers a topic difficult to discuss and is of much controversy. Paul said, "Remember my chains" (Colossians 4:18 NIV). When Jesus was accused of associating with those that were outcasts, his reply was, "For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:13 NIV).
During the past two decades, the Science of Congregation Studies has blossomed significantly in the UK, as well as within the USA and Australia. In this illuminating and thought-provoking volume, Leslie J. Francis’ research group draws on the Signs of Growth Survey conducted throughout the Anglican Diocese of Southwark to illustrate how the strength of combined qualitative and quantitative research methods can draw on the insights of psychological theory, sociological theory, and empirical theology to illuminate pressing questions of relevance to the sociology of religion, psychology of religion, practical theology and pastoral studies. Individual chapters discuss the missing generation of young people, the greying generation aged seventy and over, how occasional churchgoers express belonging and commitment, connections between psychological type and religious motivation, and the distinctive characteristics of growing congregations.
