In Nothing Gained Is Eternal, Anne Carpenter argues for a theory of tradition firmly moored to the ambiguities, contradictions, and varied fruits of the past. She challenges readers to wrestle with whether tradition can persist despite its colonialist practices. In asking this question, she offers hope for transforming tradition in its wake.
From the day Cobb and Mary meet kayaking on Maine's Allagash River and fall deeply in love, the two approach life with the same sense of adventure they use to conquer the river's treacherous rapids. But rivers do not let go so easily...and neither does their love. So when Mary's life takes the cruelest turn, she vows to face those rough waters on her own terms and asks Cobb to promise, when the time comes, to help her return to their beloved river for one final journey. Set against the rugged wilderness of Maine, the exotic islands of Indonesia, the sweeping panoramas of Yellowstone National Park, and the tranquil villages of rural New England, Eternal on the Wateris at once heartbreaking and uplifting -- a timeless, beautifully rendered story of true love's power.
Most evangelical Christians believe that those people who are not saved before they die will be punished in hell forever. But is this what the Bible truly teaches? Do Christians need to rethink their understanding of hell? In the late twentieth century, a growing number of evangelical theologians, biblical scholars, and philosophers began to reject the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell in favor of a minority theological perspective called conditional immortality. This view contends that the unsaved are resurrected to face divine judgment, just as Christians have always believed, but due to the fact that immortality is only given to those who are in Christ, the unsaved do not exist forever in hell. Instead, they face the punishment of the "second death"--an end to their conscious existence. This volume brings together excerpts from a variety of well-respected evangelical thinkers, including John Stott, John Wenham, and E. Earl Ellis, as they articulate the biblical, theological, and philosophical arguments for conditionalism. These readings will give thoughtful Christians strong evidence that there are indeed compelling reasons for rethinking hell.
Here you’ll read the eye-opening, often heartrending life stories of ten people who struggled with some of the most difficult issues human beings face – and who, as they struggled – were drawn out of pain and darkness by the beauty of Catholic teachings about life, marriage, and human sexuality. Dramatic and thought-provoking, these intensely personal stories address virtually every controversial issue surrounding life, including in vitro fertilization, abortion, contraception, and more. Gathered by popular Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid, they turn on its head the oft-heard charge that Catholics embrace the Church’s teachings on life only “because they are Catholics.” These good folks show the opposite: they are Catholics because of the Church’s pro-life teachings. In these pages you’ll meet, among others: AnneMarie S., one of San Francisco’s highest paid call girls, made pro-life – and then Catholic – by a Catholic radio talk show. Leticia A., the sexually-abused Texas Baptist teenager, whose life of wild promiscuity was brought abruptly to an end by her need for true marriage, which she found only in the Church. Heather S., the pregnant teenager whose soul was awakened to the Faith by ten pro-life words from Pope John Paul II. Jewels G., the post-abortion pro-abortion crusader, whose failed suicide left her alive long enough to meet good Catholic women who explained the Church’s teachings, turned her pro-life, and won her to the Faith. Leila M., the contracepting, pro-sterilization wife whose views were overthrown by the stark contrast between Planned Parenthood and the sweet memory of the wise pro-life teachings of her college ethics teacher, good Father Ryan. Chris A., the sexually profligate Jewish lawyer, who too late came to see the evil of the abortions he enabled, and now works as a Catholic apologist seeking to end this American holocaust. Plus others, who came into the Church after being “Surprised by Life.”
ORPHEUS — To most he’s an enigma, a devil-may-care rogue who does whatever he pleases whenever he wants. Now this loose cannon is part of the Eternal Guardians—elite warriors assigned to protect the human realm—whether he likes it or not. Orpheus has but one goal: to locate a magical medallion with supernatural powers. He’s just not expecting a woman to get in the way, especially not a Siren as gorgeous as Skyla. Unable to resist her, the two become unlikely allies. He simply has no idea she’s an assassin sent to seduce, entrap, then ultimately destroy him. Yet Skyla herself might have the most to lose. There’s a reason Orpheus feels so familiar, a reason her body seems to crave him. Perhaps he’s not the man everyone thinks… Then again…maybe he’s exactly that man. The truth could reveal a deadly secret as old as the Eternal Guardians themselves. *** All books in the Eternal Guardians series can be read in order or as stand-alones: MARKED - Book 1 ENTWINED - Book 2 TEMPTED - Book 3 ENRAPTURED - Book 4 ENSLAVED - Book 5 BOUND - Book 6 TWISTED - Book 7 RAVAGED - Novella, Book 7.5 AWAKENED - Book 8 UNCHAINED - Novella, Book 8.25 HUNTED - Novella, Book 8.5 ENSNARED - Novella, Book 8.75 and coming soon... WICKED - Book 9
It's so easy to forget what the Christian faith is all about. We struggle so much, work so hard, and fail so often that we frequently sense something in the equation of life must be missing.Tullian Tchividjian argues that what we are missing is the gospel-a fuller, more powerful understanding of what the finished work of Jesus means for everyday life.During a year of great turmoil, Pastor Tchividjian discovered the power of the gospel in his own life. Sharing his story of how Jesus became more real to him, Tchividjian delves deeply into the fundamentals of the faith, explaining the implications of Christ's sufficiency, a revelation that sets us free and keeps us anchored through life's storms.Ultimately, Tchividjian reminds us that Jesus is the whole of the equation as he boldly proclaims that Jesus plus nothing really is everything.
Many sincere, Bible-believing Christians are Calvinists only by default. Thinking that the only choice is between Calvinism (with its presumed doctrine of eternal security) and Arminianism (with its teaching that salvation can be lost), and confident of Christ's promise to keep eternally those who believe in Him, they therefore consider themselves to be Calvinists. It takes only a few simple questions to discover that most Christians are largely unaware of what John Calvin and his early followers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries actually believed and practiced. Nor do they fully understand what most of today's leading Calvinists believe. Although there are disputed variations of the Calvinist doctrine, among its chief proponents (whom we quote extensively in context) there is general agreement on certain core beliefs. Many evangelicals who think they are Calvinists will be surprised to learn of Calvin's belief in salvation through infant baptism and of his grossly un-Christian behavior, at times, as the "Protestant Pope" of Geneva, Switzerland. Most shocking of all, however, is Calvinism's misrepresentation of God, who "is love." It is our prayer that this volume will enable readers to examine more carefully the vital issues involved and to follow God's holy Word--not man's teachings. "The first edition of this book was greeted by fervent opposition and criticism from Calvinists. In this enlarged and revised edition I have endeavored to respond to the critics." --Dave Hunt
