Early Church

Early Christians were called "heretics" and "atheists" when they denied the gods of Rome, in particular the divinity of the emperor and the statism he embodied in his personality cult. These Christians knew that Jesus Christ, not the state, was their Lord and that this faith required a different kind of relationship to the state than the state demanded. Because Jesus Christ was their acknowledged sovereign, they consciously denied such esteem to all other claimants. Today, the church must take a similar stand before the modern state.

In vivid detail, author Jay Lampart lays out several reasons why the Internet pornography crisis Christian males are facing today is so unique and dire. He then presents five very simple but highly effective weapons that are available to us as Christians to combat it.

In Faithful Witness, Phil Baker explains the theology of martyrdom that developed over the first 300 years of Christianity, and why that theology proved so powerful in the early years of the faith. Why did they choose faithfulness over fear? Why did they choose dying over killing? Why did they choose self-sacrifice over revenge? Why did they have such peace and joy in the midst of unimaginable torture? By AD 313, why had roughly 10 percent of the Roman Empire’s population embraced Christianity, when it was both illegal and incredibly dangerous to do so?

What can we learn about leadership and influence from Paul? Most Christians know something of the Apostle Paul's life and ministry, but what about the incredible team of influencers he assembled and mobilized? Who were they, and how did Paul lead this team to accomplish God's purposes? Even more, what can we learn from their successes and failures, and how can we imitate their qualities?

Many pastors feel isolated and helpless, especially those beginning pastoral ministry. Phil Newton and Rich Shadden know what this road is like, and they want to share what they have gained from pastoral mentoring—Rich, a young pastor receiving support and guidance from Phil, an older, more experienced shepherd.

Every missionary matters to our heavenly father. After becoming ill with a life-threatening parasite and being sent home after serving for only six months, Kristen Danner Reber has experienced firsthand the struggles that come with being released from a mission early. Perfect for returned missionaries, their family, and their leaders, this audiobook will help you navigate through the mixed emotions of an early release for any reason and press forward with faith.

The Foundations of Social Order was, and remains, the most unique book ever written in the history of Christendom. Nothing like it has been written before, and nothing like it has been written since.

Studying the views and lifestyles of your forerunners in the faith can provide incredible guidance for how you live out your spiritual convictions today. In Wisdom from the Ancients, author and scholar Bryan Litfin paints a vivid portrait of the first five centuries of the Christian church, packed with fascinating history and applicable insights for modern believers.

When Jesus sent 70 disciples on ahead of him, part of their mission was to heal the sick. In fact, they were supposed to heal the sick before they preached the Gospel. Best-selling author Mike Aquilina calls this command the healing imperative. And it's an imperative that ushered in the world of modern medicine. In The Healing Imperative: The Early Church and the Invention of Medicine as We Know It, Aquilina reconstructs the fascinating history of a uniquely Christian institution: the hospital.

Putting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit from the Early Church is an invitation to a life of joy. Phoebe Farag Mikhail explains what joy is and how to experience it through seven spiritual practices that cultivate our inner lives and connect us to our communities. These seven practices, which include giving thanks, hospitality, praise, and more, take us on a journey that leads to joy through the giving and receiving of sacrificial love.

Church has become boring, religious, and/or irrelevant for many people; while God is none of the above. Why is there such a difference between the perceived church and the real God that the church proclaims? The early church was unscripted, alive, powerful, unpredictable, life-changing, and world-shaking. Our church services today are usually scripted, predictable, polished performances that seem to be making little impact in our society. Why? The answer may surprise you.

Starting with the birth of Jesus Christ and ending with the Eastern Orthodox/Roman Catholic split, Catholicism: Nine Events That Shaped the Early Catholic Church takes a vast subject and breaks it down into easy-to-understand pieces that form a whole. By focusing on just nine events, we are able to dive deeply into relevant history and politics while still bringing you a short history that covers the major occurrences in the early period of an important institution.

This particular volume (Volume One) begins with the period in the early 1600s when two very different English societies were established in the New World, one in Virginia and one in New England. The Virginia society simply re-created the rigidly class-based feudal society of the times. The New England society was a most unusual democracy of social equals, covenanted to live under God's—not man's—personal rule. These two American social types would find themselves in rather constant struggle....

Who would have thought that from its humble beginnings as a small group of followers of a Jewish man called Jesus that Christianity would become, less than 2,000 years later, the most widespread religion on Earth? Christianity’s birth and development is a vast, complex story filled with setbacks and contradictions but also with triumphs.

Marilynn Hughes' Out-Of-Body Travel Magazine: Dionysius - Forgotten Christian Mystic of the Early Church (For more info - www.outofbodytravel.org)

María Magdalena es probablemente la figura más célebre del cristianismo popular, una mujer de nuestro tiempo, la que los medios de comunicación y las sensibilidades modernas pueden abrazar con mayor convicción.