When I felt God leading me out of journalism toward missions, I reflected on the following: By evening, the newspapers we worked so hard to produce were being used to wrap garbage. We had to go back and do the whole thing again the next day. Winning a person to the Lord lasts for eternity. That contrast weighed heavily in my decision to trade journalism for church-planting. --Dick Buck
Satan’s Playground chronicles the rise and fall of the tumultuous and lucrative gambling industry that developed just south of the U.S.-Mexico border in the early twentieth century. As prohibitions against liquor, horse racing, gambling, and prostitution swept the United States, the vice industry flourished in and around Tijuana, to the extent that reformers came to call the town “Satan’s Playground,” unintentionally increasing its licentious allure. The area was dominated by Agua Caliente, a large, elegant gaming resort opened by four entrepreneurial Border Barons (three Americans and one Mexican) in 1928. Diplomats, royalty, film stars, sports celebrities, politicians, patricians, and nouveau-riche capitalists flocked to Agua Caliente’s luxurious complex of casinos, hotels, cabarets, and sports extravaganzas, and to its world-renowned thoroughbred racetrack. Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Louis B. Mayer, the Marx Brothers, Bing Crosby, Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, and the boxer Jack Dempsey were among the regular visitors. So were mobsters such as Bugsy Siegel, who later cited Agua Caliente as his inspiration for building the first such resort on what became the Las Vegas Strip. Less than a year after Agua Caliente opened, gangsters held up its money-car in transit to a bank in San Diego, killing the courier and a guard and stealing the company money pouch. Paul J. Vanderwood weaves the story of this heist gone wrong, the search for the killers, and their sensational trial into the overall history of the often-chaotic development of Agua Caliente, Tijuana, and Southern California. Drawing on newspaper accounts, police files, court records, personal memoirs, oral histories, and “true detective” magazines, he presents a fascinating portrait of vice and society in the Jazz Age, and he makes a significant contribution to the history of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The confidence, courage, and resolve in many of the greatest Bible heroes and world-changers are the result of a single, powerful, biblical principle. It's a principle woven into the very foundation of creation that, when applied, has the power to calm chaos, overcome obstacles, and win every battle. The secret? Activating the power of God's spoken Word.
The Birth of the Church is Volume 2 of a continuing curriculum series highlighting New Testament characters responsible for leading the early church in its formation. Already adopted for use on the mission fields of North India, The Birth of the Church has proven to be a valuable tool in equipping the emerging churches and the training of its leaders. This curriculum which offers several weeks of study, is designed to deepen one's understanding of the Biblical characters God used to impact His Kingdom and establish His church. This book will equip present day readers to become the servants of the Most High God in today's world. Mary Ann Bishop is a Bible teacher, recording artist and conference speaker. Because of her heart for the lost, in 2000 she and her husband, David, founded White Harvest Trading Company and White Harvest Foundation, (www.whiteharvesttradingco.com) a ministry bringing hope to the unreached people of Southeast Asia. Presently David and Mary Ann work in China, Vietnam and Turkey providing business platforms for their partners who target people groups in these areas. Products from these groups are imported and sold in their store located in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. David and Mary Ann reside in Pawleys Island and are the parents of two children, Wesley and Elizabeth. Bruce Chandler teaches art classes, paints commissions as well as local and historical landmarks for prints. Bruce also paints murals for residences, churches and businesses, the largest of which is 79 feet long and located in Douglas Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina. The highest paintings are located in numerous Super Wal-Mart stores, and the most humorous can be found in a Litchfield, SC beach house. Bruce has illustrated four books, been featured in Craft and Design Magazine, and designed a painting for the cover of Seabreeze Magazine.
This collection contains fourteen of Lewis's theological papers on subjects such as Christianity and literature, Christianity and culture, ethics, futility, church music, modern theology and biblical criticism, the Psalms, and petitionary prayer. Common to all of these varied essays are Lewis's uniquely effective style and his tireless concern to relate basic Christianity to all of life.
A Fresh Look at Contextualization Positive cross-cultural communication is an essential skill when sharing the gospel. Unfortunately, many common Western biblical constructs create stumbling blocks for people of different backgrounds, causing them to reject the gospel. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Join Dr. Mary Lou Codman-Wilson and Alex Zhou as they dialogue about Alex’s experience becoming a believer in the US and his struggle to share his faith when he returned to China. They model a process of examining our cultural worldview to overcome the tensions associated with living out our faith in a context dominated by different religious or secular systems. Supracultural Gospel presents: seven principles to adapt the gospel to bridge East and West; essential attitudes and practices of emotionally healthy and spiritually discerning discipleship; and key gospel concepts in non-Western terms, while retaining biblical accuracy Written in a highly conversational tone and validated with personal stories from many Asian internationals, Supracultural Gospel is a powerful and practical tool for those who are passionate about cross-cultural discipleship. Are you ready to unpack your worldview and embrace a supracultural gospel?
Could CERN, the creator and birthplace of the World Wide Web, be involved and even be behind the most ultimate conspiracy in all of history with their science, symmetry, Satanism, paganism, and rituals? This book is designed as a brief introduction into how CERN is deeply and darkly connected to many world leaders, the Vatican, the Hollywood elites, the deep state, the Illuminati, and the New World Order. My book takes the reader on a journey through what is easily one of the most secretive organizations in all of times and is an accessible and very carefully structured introduction into how it all started, how everything was created with the big bang, almost fourteen billion years ago, and CERN's burning desire to recreate those conditions through physics and by colliding particles together at almost the speed of light and attempting to be like God almighty. They have created the largest machine in the world and even discovered the god particle, the glue that holds the entire universe together. Why would they build their nuclear research facility upon the burial grounds of Apollyon the Destroyer? Could CERN be responsible for releasing the devil from the bottomless pit, from his prison, hell, as written in the Bible in Revelation 9? CERN has long been accused of opening up black holes that could very well swallow the entire universe, and they even admitted to this Armageddon-like possibility on several occasions. Behind the scenes, CERN's insidious plans are to open up wormholes, Stargates, and portals to other dimensions, not to enter through, but more so to let something evil into our world. What or who they intend to welcome is known to have many names, such as the horned god, Abaddon, Apollyon, the Beast, Lucifer, Satan, or as many of us would know to be, the devil. Will CERN share its dangerous dark matter with a government or military that is dead set on war, world domination, and destruction? Will CERN create a black hole that swallows the world, or will they release Satan and his legion of demons, locusts, and armies upon the world as the last days predict and approach?
While atheists such as Richard Dawkins have now become public figures, there is another and perhaps darker strain of religious rebellion that has remained out of sight--people who hate God. In this revealing book, Bernard Schweizer looks at men and women who do not question God's existence, but deny that He is merciful, competent, or good. Sifting through a wide range of literary and historical works, Schweizer finds that people hate God for a variety of reasons. Some are motivated by social injustice, human suffering, or natural catastrophes that God does not prevent. Some blame God for their personal tragedies. Schweizer concludes that, despite their blasphemous thoughts, these people tend to be creative and moral individuals, and include such literary lights as Friedrich Nietzsche, Mark Twain, Zora Neale Hurston, Rebecca West, Elie Wiesel, and Philip Pullman. Schweizer shows that literature is a fertile ground for God haters. Many authors, who dare not voice their negative attitude to God openly, turn to fiction to give vent to it. Indeed, Schweizer provides many new and startling readings of literary masterpieces, highlighting the undercurrent of hatred for God. Moreover, by probing the deeper mainsprings that cause sensible, rational, and moral beings to turn against God, Schweizer offers answers to some of the most vexing questions that beset human relationships with the divine.
The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context. John weaves together themes of light and darkness, falsehood and truth, and what it means to be children of God in community. He explores the theme of love as central to God's nature and thus as the defining characteristic of those who follow him. The Letters of John teach us about handling conflict, discerning orthodox belief, and measuring Christian conduct. Gary Burge shares perspectives on John's letters that reveal their enduring relevance for our twenty-first-century lives. To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's context, each passage is treated in three sections: Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context. Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, built by discerning what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible. Contemporary Significance. This section identifies comparable situations to those faced in the Bible and explores relevant application of the biblical messages. The author alerts the readers of problems they may encounter when seeking to apply the passage and helps them think through the issues involved. This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.
Hurting people ask heart-felt questions about God and suffering. Some "answers" they receive appeal to mystery: “God’s ways are not our ways”. Some answers say God allows evil for a greater purpose. Some say evil is God's punishment. The usual answers fail. They don't support the truth that God loves everyone all the time. God Can't gives a believable answer to why a good and powerful God doesn't prevent evil. Author Thomas Jay Oord says God’s love is inherently uncontrolling. God loves everyone and everything, so God can't control anyone or anything. This means God cannot prevent evil singlehandedly. God can’t stop evildoers, whether human, animal, organism, or inanimate objects and forces. In God Can't, Oord gives a plausible reason why some are healed, but many others are not. God always works to heal everyone, but sometimes our bodies, organisms, or other creatures do not cooperate with God's healing work. Or the conditions of creation are not right for the healing God wants to do. Some people think God causes or allows suffering to teach us lessons or build our character. God Can't disagrees. Oord says God squeezes good from the evil God didn’t want in the first place. God uses pain and suffering without willing or even allowing it. Most people think God can overcome evil singlehandedly. In God Can't, Oord says God needs cooperation for love to reign now and later. This leads to a better view of the afterlife called “relentless love.” It rejects traditional ideas of heaven, hell, and annihilation. Relentless love holds to the possibility all creatures and all creation will respond to God’s love. God Can't is written in understandable language. As a world-renown theologian, Thomas Jay Oord brings credibility to the book’s radical ideas. He explains these ideas through true stories, illustrations, and scripture. God Can't is for those who want answers to tragedy, abuse, and other evils that make sense! What They're Saying... “If conventional notions of God make less and less sense to you, you’ll find Thomas Jay Oord’s new book a breath of fresh air. Simply put, “God Can’t” presents an understanding of God that thoughtful, ethical people can believe in.” -- Brian D. McLaren, author of The Great Spiritual Migration "I did not want this book to end. I wish Dr. Oord had written it 100 years ago, or 1000 years ago... To find your understanding of life and your love for God renewed, read this book." -- Dr. Karen Strand Winslow, Ph.D., Biblical and Jewish Studies Professor of Bible, Azusa Pacific University "As a clinical psychologist working with people in trauma, I owe Thomas Jay Oord an enormous debt of gratitude for recasting the so-called problem of evil in terms that are conceptually satisfying, theologically consistent, and pastorally liberating.” -- Dr Roger Bretherton- Principal Lecturer at the University of Lincoln (UK), Chair of the British Association of Christians in Psychology “Victims of trauma sometimes hear theological responses that imply their suffering is somehow “God’s will." A more careful theological reflection on the nature of the power of a God who is love can help. Oord gives us a clear and compelling alternative in this profoundly insightful and admirably concrete and accessible book.” -- Dr. Anna Case-Winters, Professor of Theology at McCormick Theological Seminary “I know of no book that speaks to suffering with the depth of theological sophistication and psychological sensitivity as God Can’t. This book is a rare combination of depth and accessibility, truly written for the wounded. I recommend it to my students, parishioners, and therapy clients.” -- Dr. Brad D. Strawn, Professor of the Integration of Psychology and Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary
