The third book in the Following God for Young Adults series, Redefining Normal turns us upside down as we examine the kind of people God wants us to become. This eight-week study challenges the norm of our culture and Christianity and urges young adults to live under grace and grow in holiness. The challenge presented is not only to live within God's moral boundaries but also to become people of greater faith, hope, and love.
Growing up, they didn't believe they had a future. Together, they are building forever. Alexis Black persevered through her mother's death and her father's imprisonment. And after escaping a long and abusive relationship, the college junior promised her foster parents not to date for at least a year. But when she meets an incoming freshman on the first day of their scholarship program, she feels the world melt away, as though it were only the two of them in the room. Justin Black lived in the poorest section of Detroit before his parents surrendered him to the foster care system at the age of nine. But when he grabs the chance for better opportunities by pursuing higher education, he can't help but be drawn to a beautiful third-year student. At first, their past traumas--and their age difference--conspired to complicate their attraction. But the joy each took in the other and eventually conquered those obstacles, and these two survivors journeyed together toward healing. In a stark and wholehearted true story that shares how two individuals on separate paths found each other, Alexis and Justin merge their course into one full of hope and purpose. And hand-in-hand, with a desire to help others, they learned to reject the abusive patterns of their past, thereby intentionally breaking the cycle of generational violence and unhealthy behaviors. Written in an engaging novelistic style, the authors put forward a thoughtful exchange of ideas and personal experiences illustrating how anybody, no matter their backgrounds, can have a life of self-empowerment and joy. Broken down into four sections that cover crucial topics such as "Worthiness" and "Mental Health," this compelling narrative will help any who are learning to love themselves and want to end the line of toxic relationships. Redefining Normal: How Two Foster Kids Beat The Odds and Discovered Healing, Happiness, and Love is a page-turning memoir that will open your eyes to possibilities and dreams. If you like honest tales of triumph, refreshing transparency, and resilient faith in God, then you'll adore Justin and Alexis' inspirational story. This story contains mentions of domestic violence, trauma, sexual assault, and other difficult issues faced on the road to healing. Buy Redefining Normal to claim victory over harmful pasts today!
"In this Young Adult memoir, a transgender girl shares her personal journey of growing up as a boy and then undergoing gender reassignment during her teens"--
The Emerging Church Movement, an eclectic conversation about how Christianity needs to evolve for our postmodern world, has been breaking traditional bounds and stirring up controversy for more than two decades. This volume is the first academic work to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to understanding this complex and boundary-crossing phenomenon. Containing contributions by researchers from a diverse set of disciplines, this book brings together historical, sociological, ethnographic, anthropological, and theological approaches to offer the most thorough and multifaceted description of the Emerging Church Movement to date. Contributors: Juan Jose Barreda Toscano Dee Yaccino Gerardo Marti Lloyd Chia Jason Wollschleger James S. Bielo Jon Bialecki Heather Josselyn-Cranson Xochitl Alviso Chris James Tim Snyder
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.
Discover how understanding God’s purpose and design can empower you to be the mother you long to be. No calling is greater, nobler, or more fulfilling than that motherhood. Every day, as we nurture our children, mothers influence eternal destiny as no one else can. Tragically, today’s culture minimizes the vital importance of a mother’s role. In The Mission of Motherhood, Sally Clarkson helps you rediscover the joy and fulfillment to be found in the strategic role to which God in all his wisdom has called you, for a purpose far greater than you can ever imagine.
More teens are turning away from the faith than ever before: it is estimated that 75 to 88% of Christian teens walk away from Christianity by the end of their freshman year of college. Something must be done. Family Driven Faith equips Christian parents with the tools they need to raise children biblically in a post-Christian, anti-family society. Voddie Baucham, who with his wife has overcome a multi-generational legacy of broken and dysfunctional homes, shows that God has not left us alone in raising godly children. He has given us timeless precepts and principles for multi-generational faithfulness, especially in Deuteronomy 6. God's simple command to Moses to teach the Word diligently to the children of Israel serves as the foundation of Family Driven Faith. - Publisher.
Twenty years ago, not one nation on earth had legal same-sex marriage. Now, access to same-sex marriage is increasingly seen as a basic human right. In a matter of less than a generation, western cultures have experienced a moral revolution. Dr. R. Albert Mohler examines how this transformation occurred, revealing the underlying cultural shifts behind this revolution: the acceptance of divorce culture, liberation of sex from reproduction, the prevalence of heterosexual cohabitation, the normalization of homosexuality, and the rise of the transgender movement. He then offers a deep look at how the Bible and Christian moral tradition provide a comprehensive understanding upon which Christians can build their personal lives, their marriages, church ministry, and cultural engagement. Dr. Mohler helps Christians in their understanding of the underlying issues of this significant cultural shift and how to face the challenge of believing faithfully, living faithfully, and engaging the culture faithfully in light of this massive change.
Walk in the Power of Your New Covenant Inheritance! Even though many Christ followers claim to have received the New Covenantsalvation in Jesusthey are not yet experiencing the fullness of their New Covenant identity. In New Covenant Culture, Jonathan Welton presents a Kingdom manifesto, calling every follower of Jesus into the deeply fulfilling and supernaturally empowered Christian life that the Bible makes available. Jonathan Welton calls all believers to embrace their full New Covenant identity: Stop waiting for revival. Experience the signs, wonders and miracles of Scripture right now! Stand firm in your identity. Fully embrace your unconditional acceptance into Gods family! Walk in total freedom. Discover the liberating truth of how completely Jesus has set you free! Pray bold prayers. Make powerful declarations that bring circumstances into alignment with Heavens perfect will! Live with radical hope. Receive an optimistic vision of the future that overcomes fear associated with the end-times. Discover what this supernatural lifestyle looks like and access your inheritance today! (Previously published as Normal Christianity)