Church Theology

What is the true nature and mission of the church? Is its proper Christian purpose to save souls, or to transform the social order? This question is especially fraught when the church is one built by an enslaved people and formed, from its beginning, at the center of an oppressed community's fight for personhood and freedom. Such is the central tension in the identity and mission of the Black church in the United States.

Believers display the greatness of God’s kingdom to a hostile world when we selflessly serve each other and those around us. In this short audiobook, Matthew Emadi explains the vital roles we play within the church. Through acts of service including hospitality, ministry, and evangelism, we bless our communities and long to hear Jesus one day say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

This Christian devotional book contains more than 100 thoughtful quotes and proverbs of wisdom, prayer, thanksgiving, trust, praise, and worship hymns from Old Testament’s Biblical book of Psalms that can be great for anyone interested in living wisely.

Despite Jesus' prayer that all Christians "be one", divisions have been epidemic in the body of Christ from the beginning to the present. We cluster in theological groups, gender groups, age groups, ethnic groups, educational, and economic groups. We criticize freely those who disagree with us, don't look like us, don't act like us, and don't even like what we like. With a personal touch and the trained eye of a social psychologist, Cleveland brings to bear the latest studies and research on the unseen dynamics at work that tend to separate us from others.

Researchers have uncovered the following three trends: First, distrust of institutions, including the church, is at an all-time high. Second, young people raised in the church are leaving at alarming rates and not returning. Third, loneliness and social isolation are at pandemic levels. What’s the connection? It appears that an entire generation is starving for the very thing the church is called to provide but has chosen to look for it elsewhere. Why is this happening?

For five hundred years, Latina/o culture and identity have been shaped by their challenges to the religious, socio-economic, and political status quo, whether in opposition to Spanish colonialism, Latin American dictatorships, US imperialism in Central America, the oppression of farmworkers, or the current exploitation of undocumented immigrants. Christianity has played a significant role in that movement at every stage. Robert Chao Romero, the son of a Mexican father and a Chinese immigrant mother, explores the history and theology of what he terms the "Brown Church."

Here is a perceptive evaluation of the new “emerging church” movement showing how we must not only interact with a fast-changing culture but also have our vision and practice of ministry shaped by biblical theology with Scripture as the norm.

In which the author gives a concise account of, together with sundry caustic animadversions on, the very fantastic theology of the sect. This treatise is professedly taken from the writings of Justin, Miltiades, Irenæus, and Proculus.

In this insightful, nonpartisan roadmap toward faithful political engagement and ultimate allegiance to Jesus, pastor Joshua Ryan Butler diagnoses the roots of political conflict tearing apart the church and prescribes a practical and prophetic way forward.

For years, we have learned principles of individual spiritual warfare. Yet, as the end times are upon us, the forces of darkness are intensifying their attacks around the world. For this next season, says renowned prophetic leader Dr. Bill Hamon, we as the church must up the ante and learn to fight on a higher level than we ever have, in corporate spiritual warfare. With wisdom, urgency, and keen prophetic insight, Hamon lays the biblical foundation for this final level of warfare and tells how we, as the church, can prepare to work in unity to become the army of the Lord.

This book will take you on a fascinating journey through the history of Christian thought. The journey includes surprising twists and turns as we navigate the three major views of hell in church history: (1) eternal conscious torment, (2) annihilationism (sinners will cease to exist), and (3) ultimate restoration (hell is an afterlife refinery leading all to repentance and faith in Christ). But this is much more than a tour through the underworld. This topic drives us to take a closer look at the Bible, Christian theology, and the character of God.

Throughout much of the 19th century, both secular and Catholic leaders assumed that the Church and the modern world were locked in a battle to the death. The triumph of modernity would not only finish the Church as a consequential player in world history; it would also lead to the death of religious conviction. But today, the Catholic Church is far more vital and consequential than it was 150 years ago.

In Islam and World Peace, the message is that oneness is the most important aspect of Islam. Protecting our neighbors from danger is primary, and then embracing them—that is Islam. Sufi teacher M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen—revered by thousands from all social, religious, and ethnic backgrounds—demonstrates that Islam teaches us we must not kill each other. Instead, we must wage war against evil qualities within ourselves. He emphasizes that Islam is equality, peacefulness, and unity—and seeks to join us together as one, accepting of all.

In a series of personal letters to his sons, Omar Saif Ghobash offers a short and highly listenable manifesto that tackles our current global crisis with the training of an experienced diplomat and the personal responsibility of a father. Today's young Muslims will be tomorrow's leaders, and yet too many are vulnerable to extremist propaganda that seems omnipresent in our technological age.

An increasing number of Americans know a person that belongs to our faith. This leads them to ask themselves, "How could an intelligent person believe such things?" This book is an attempt to get you to understand the mind and heart of a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I’m deconstructing.” Yet another social-media post announces departure from the Christian faith. The cause could be sex, race, politics, social justice, science, hell - or all of the above. For many, Christianity is becoming implausible, even impossible to believe. While it might be tempting to leave the church in order to find answers, Before You Lose Your Faith argues that church should be the best place to deal with doubts.

In this groundbreaking, inspiring book, Robin R. Meyers, the senior minister of Oklahoma City’s Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ, shows how listeners can move from a theology of obedience to one of consequence. He argues that we need to stop seeing our actions as a means for pleasing a distant God and rediscover how God has empowered us to care for ourselves and the world. Drawing on stories from his decades of active ministry, Meyers captures how the struggles of ordinary people hint at how we can approach faith as a radical act of trust in a God who is all around us.

From one of Italy’s most renowned historians of religion, an exciting new portrait of one of Christianity’s most complex - and most misunderstood - figures: Mary Magdalene.

Seasoned pastor and church leader Will Willimon excels at creating thought-provoking, accessible books for working pastors and seminarians. In Aging, he takes a theologically rich look at numerous aspects of growing old. Drawing on scripture, literature, current research, and his experiences as an aging adult, Willimon reflects on aging as a spiritual journey. He explores the challenging realties as well as the rewarding joys of growing old and shows pastors how to help their congregants grow old gracefully and in good Christian hope.

Reaching out to listeners of all religious backgrounds, Desmond Tutu shows us how to transform suffering into joy both in our lives and in our world. He tells us that God dreams of a world where laughter, love, and peace reign, and where we realize that we are all members of one family, God's family. In this extremely personal and liberating message, Father Tutu helps us "see with the eyes of the heart" and cultivate the qualities of forgiveness, humility, generosity, and courage.