What are the questions that are really on the minds of Christians as they try to live out their faith? Author Tom Ehrich challenged readers of his weekly newspaper column and his daily e-mail meditations to pose the questions that they would like to ask Jesus "from the roadside," as blind Bartimaeus did in the gospel. He received hundreds of responses-- not one of them about matters of liturgy, church politics, or canon law. Instead, the questions these ordinary Christians longed to ask Jesus were deeper and more basic: Will I see my late husband in heaven? How can I make my marriage more joyful? Will we ever find peace? What do you want of me? In Just Wondering, Jesus, Ehrich takes 100 of these questions and answers each in the form of a brief meditation/essay, and provides a fascinating glimpse of what is truly on people's minds and in their hearts. The meditations, based on gospel readings, are valuable for personal devotion and small-group study.
In a world where atheism is a growing movement, especially in the university setting, it’s typical for students today to face doubts about the Christian faith. In fact, many have wondered at one time or another if the Bible stories about Jesus could possibly be true. Is there any way to back up what we’ve heard with real evidence? Can false information be discredited with historical proof? Now students can join Greg Monette as he explores the fascinating basis for belief in the biblical Jesus. Readers can trek through the ancient historical sources, biblical archaeology, and recent discoveries to uncover the facts about what Jesus really said and did—His birth, His miracles, His claims, and His resurrection. Written for believers, skeptics, and the non-expert, this book will help readers discover where history and faith collide— and it just might change everything.
Until his death in 2012, Walter Wink was one of the most influential Christian intellectuals of our time. He was a pastor and theologian, a political activist and a writer. He first becme a practitioner of active nonviolence during the Civil Rights Movement in Selma Alabama, and continued to seek social justice for all under dictatorships in Chile and the apartheid in South Africa. Always through the lens of Jesus, Wink's life and work demonstrate just how important the need to understand "the Son of the Man" is in today's modern world. Wink shows us that inspiration and insight can come from any source: a Pentecostal Church in Oklahoma, dreams, Buddhist meditation centers, childhood traumas, an empty forest, illness, and the Gospels. Wink's work in social justice and his life as a theologian are inextricably entwined, finding evidence for nonviolent resistance in the Bible and seeing the need for Jesus in daily struggles. "An autobiography of my interest in Jesus, perhaps that is too ambitious," writes Wink. "What I have done here is far less grand. I have simply written down vignettes, or excerpts of my life's story that I find interesting. These autobiographical reflections are in no way exceptional. Everyone has a life story. My story may, at the very least, show why I theologically think the way that I do." Just Jesus is the jubilant autobiography of the man who sought justice in all walks of life, including his own.
In this searing meditation on the bonds of family and the allure of extremist faith, one of today’s most celebrated Christian writers recounts his unexpected journey from a strict fundamentalist upbringing to a life of compassion and grace—a revelatory memoir that “invites comparison to Hillbilly Elegy” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). “Searing, heartrending . . . This stunning tale reminds us that the only way to keep living is to ask God for the impossible: love, forgiveness, and hope.”—Kate Bowler, New York Times bestselling author of Everything Happens for a Reason Raised by an impoverished widow who earned room and board as a Bible teacher in 1950s Atlanta, Philip Yancey and his brother, Marshall, found ways to venture out beyond the confines of their eight-foot-wide trailer. But when Yancey was in college, he uncovered a shocking secret about his father’s death—a secret that began to illuminate the motivations that drove his mother to extreme, often hostile religious convictions and a belief that her sons had been ordained for a divine cause. Searching for answers, Yancey dives into his family origins, taking us on an evocative journey from the backwoods of the Bible Belt to the bustling streets of Philadelphia; from trailer parks to church sanctuaries; from family oddballs to fire-and-brimstone preachers and childhood awakenings through nature, music, and literature. In time, the weight of religious and family pressure sent both sons on opposite paths—one toward healing from the impact of what he calls a “toxic faith,” the other into a self-destructive spiral. Where the Light Fell is a gripping family narrative set against a turbulent time in post–World War II America, shaped by the collision of Southern fundamentalism with the mounting pressures of the civil rights movement and Sixties-era forces of social change. In piecing together his fragmented personal history and his search for redemption, Yancey gives testament to the enduring power of our hunger for truth and the possibility of faith rooted in grace instead of fear. “I truly believe this is the one book I was put on earth to write,” says Yancey. “So many of the strands from my childhood—racial hostility, political division, culture wars—have resurfaced in modern form. Looking back points me forward.”
It is possible to find true love through dating. In True Love Dates, Debra Fileta encourages singles not to "kiss dating goodbye" but instead to experience a season of dating as a way to find real love. Through powerful, real-life stories and Fileta's personal journey, this book offers profound insights from the expertise of a professional counselor. Christians are looking for answers to finding true love. They are disillusioned with the church that has provided little practical application in the area of love and relationships. They're bombarded by Christian books that shun dating, idolize courting, fixate on spirituality, and in the end, offer little real relationship help. True Love Dates provides honest help for dating by providing a guide into vital relationship essentials. Debra is a professional Christian counselor who reaches millions with her popular blog, Truelovedates.com, and her book offers sound advice grounded in Christian spirituality. She delivers insight, direction, and counsel when it comes to entering the world of dating and learning to do it right the first time around. Drawing on the stories and struggles of hundreds of young men and women who have pursued the search for true love, Fileta helps readers bypass unnecessary pain while focusing on the things that really matter in the world of dating.
Sarah remembers the exact moment when the relationship between her faith and her entire life came into clear focus. Sitting in her favorite red chair with a comfy blanket and a cup of hot tea, she snuggled in with her Bible and a new book. The book was huge, several hundred pages long, and yet it didn’t intimidate her. Written by the beloved Chuck Colson, How Now Shall We Live? focused the lens of Sarah’s life and spelled out a segregation that she had unknowingly been living with—a segregation between her faith and the rest of her life. She has since come to understand that The Lord designed each and every one of us uniquely and put a dream in our heart that is attached to His agenda for this world. Many of us have felt the stirring in our heart to make a difference with our life, yet we don’t always know how. The key, she found, was to surrender to God’s leading, seek him first, and allow him to do the big things He has planned with our life. In the end, God’s agenda and our dreams and passions will intersect around one very important phrase – a battle cry, if you will – “Make Jesus Famous!” Based on Psalm 145, this invigorating study motivates women to do life differently by making Jesus famous in all aspects of life. Just RISE UP! is a call to get off the couch of complacency, live a life of praise with a humble posture and Kingdom perspective, and step into a life of true purpose. Features include: Verse by verse study of Psalm 145 Snippets of conversations with Sarah’s readers Journaling prompts to help the reader dig deeper Conversation guide for small groups
“If there were a Guinness Book of World Records entry for ‘amount of times having prayed the sinner’s prayer,’ I’m pretty sure I’d be a top contender,” says pastor and author J. D. Greear. He struggled for many years to gain an assurance of salvation and eventually learned he was not alone. “Lack of assurance” is epidemic among evangelical Christians. In Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, J. D. shows that faulty ways of present- ing the gospel are a leading source of the confusion. Our presentations may not be heretical, but they are sometimes misleading. The idea of “asking Jesus into your heart” or “giving your life to Jesus” often gives false assurance to those who are not saved—and keeps those who genuinely are saved from fully embracing that reality. Greear unpacks the doctrine of assurance, showing that salvation is a posture we take to the promise of God in Christ, a posture that begins at a certain point and is maintained for the rest of our lives. He also answers the tough questions about assurance: What exactly is faith? What is repentance? Why are there so many warnings that seem to imply we can lose our salvation? Such issues are handled with respect to the theological rigors they require, but Greear never loses his pastoral sensitivity or a communication technique that makes this message teachable to a wide audience from teens to adults.
You cannot make it without God’s mercy. Do we just need God’s grace in dark and shameful moments? Are prayers for mercy only for those times when we really mess up? Jonathan Parnell says we need God’s mercy all the time. In fact, contrary to many church cultures, Parnell shows that asking God for mercy should be as regular as asking God for our daily bread. There’s no doubt that David was in a terrible predicament when he first prayed the words of Psalm 51. It was a dark and shameful moment in the Bible, and one so dark and shameful it seldom feels relevant to us today. But David’s most desperate prayer is really a prayer for all of us—and not just for our worst moments, but for our every moment. In these pages, you'll discover: how to pray a daily, memorable prayer derived from Psalm 51 how to practice daily repentance and soul care how to pursue God and experience his joy in the Christian life This is God’s mercy, and it’s Mercy for Today.
Did you know that of the 183 questions Jesus was asked, he answered only four of them directly? The other 179 he answered with questions (or sometimes a story). Questions are not the enemy of faith; they are the way Jesus most often helped people not just say the right things, but live the right ways. The joy, creativity, and the adventure we were created to live begin with asking the right questions and then living into the answers with God’s help. If you are wondering how to draw closer to Jesus and live your unique adventure with him, Curious will help you, question by question, step into the future God has for you. If you are a leader who wonders how to lead well without burning out, Curious will show you how, by asking the right questions, you can help empower those you influence to greater motivation and creativity as they live out their answers to these questions with God’s help. As Jesus demonstrated, asking the right questions at the right time, and communicating them in the right spirit, can transform hearts and change the world. Let Tom Hughes thread together stories that will lead you into a new sense of confidence, not in yourself but in the God who loves you and calls you according to his good purpose.
