Religion England

Nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus told a simple parable about a family...a father and his two sons. It was a story of rebellion, repentance, and unfathomable grace. The Parable of the Prodigal Son still stands out as a crucial lesson about our struggle with sin and dependence on divine salvation. But there is a part of this story that often goes untold. It’s a message you need to hear. This powerful book provides fascinating new insight into one of the Bible’s most important stories.

Insights from Philip Yancey's personal pilgrimage away from and back to the church. Why are there so many more professing Christians than churchgoing Christians? Is it because something is wrong with the church? In his candid, thought-provoking manner, award-winning author Philip Yancey reveals the reasons behind his own journey back from skepticism to wholehearted participation in the church, and weighs the church's human failings against its compelling worth as the body of Christ.

A Practical Primer on Theological Method is a "how-to" manual for doing theology and a handbook of etiquette for doctrinal discussions with other believers. This popular-level introductory audiobook presents the proper manner, mode, and means of engaging discourse concerning God, his works, and his ways.

Scotland is a fascinating and ancient land filled with history. Not everything in Scotland is as it appears, however. Some Scots say this is a land haunted by spirits, a place of strange disappearances and unexplained phenomena. The Ghosts of Scotland: A Collection of Ghost Stories Across the Scottish Nation is a collection of such tales, just a few among the thousands of local legends and modern sightings that make Scotland one of the most haunted countries in the world.

On April 28, 2006, as he lay in his hospital bed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, visions of celestial beauty were the last thing on Marv Besteman's mind. He had just had surgery to remove a rare pancreatic tumor. It was after visiting hours and his family had left for the day. Alone and racked with pain, Marv tossed and turned, wanting more than anything else to simply sleep and escape the misery and discomfort for a while. The retired banker, father, and grandfather had no idea he was about to get a short reprieve....

If any of us learned we were going to move to a foreign country, we'd do everything we could to learn about that place so that we'd be prepared when moving day arrived. As Christians, we know some day we will leave our familiar country and be united with God in heaven. And yet many of us know very little about this place called heaven.

Join a veteran author, pastor, and Christian leader as he captures the 10 astonishing, compassionate, life-giving, joy-awakening, hope-sustaining truths that have held everything together for him.

In our instant-gratification culture, we consume a fleeting, shallow diet of media, relationships, entertainment, and spirituality. Our souls go hungry, longing for a fuller, more satisfying life. Best-selling author and beloved pastor Jack Hayford shows, in what has become a modern-day classic, how we can feed our deepest places with the sustaining Bread of Life. With warmth and wisdom, he reveals how we can link our souls to timeless practices and principles set forth in Scripture.

King David was a complicated, conflicted man of flesh. But too often he is viewed as an Americanized shepherd boy on a Sunday school felt board or a New Testament saint alongside the Virgin Mary. Not only does this neglect one of the Bible’s most complex stories of sin and redemption, it also bypasses the gritty, life lessons inherent in the amazing true story of David. Mark Rutland shreds the felt-board character, breaks down the sculpted marble statue, and unearths the real David of the Bible.

The days of cultural Christianity are fading. It's time to rethink normal. Suffering and exclusion are normal in a believer's life. At least they should be. This was certainly Jesus' experience. And it's the experience of countless Christians around the world today. No matter your social location or set of experiences, the biblical letter of 1 Peter wants to redefine your expectations and reinvigorate your hope.

You'll be enthralled by this story of a man and his lovable Labrador retriever, Hannah, and what their canine friendship can show us about life, grace, and long walks in the park. Hannah was Dave Burchett's best friend. He couldn't imagine starting a day without her tail wagging an energetic greeting, her body wiggling with sheer gratitude when her food dish was filled, and her unbridled enthusiasm for tennis balls.

Brennan Manning has been dazzingly faithful in preaching and writing variations on the ragamuffin theme, Yes, Abba is very fond of you! But today the crowds are gone and the lights are dim, the patches on his knees have faded. If he ever was a ragamuffin, truly it is now. In this his final book, Brennan roves back his past, honoring the lives of the people closest to him, family and friends who've known the saint and the sinner, the boy and the man. Far from some chronological timeline, these memories are witness to the truth of life by one who has lived it.

A Simple Guide to Experience Miracles will give you credible confidence of the supernatural realm, guiding you in how to experience more miraculous interventions in your life and ministry. Author J. P. Moreland shows how five kinds of genuine miracles can bring you comfort, strengthen your faith, and create boldness in your life.

"These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also." That was the startled cry, circa AD 50, from a hastily assembled mob in Thessalonica. These men who have turned the world upside down: their description of Paul and Silas. Holy vandals on the loose, anointed marauders running amok, men out ransacking Roman cities with the gospel. Above all, Your Church Is Too Safe is a biblical reflection and exhortation on why we should be like this.

Exploring the folk customs and magical traditions of guilds and rural fraternities such as the Shoemakers and Horsemen and the secrets guarded by the Free Gardeners, Witches, Toadmen, and Bonesmen, Nigel Pennick shows how the common working people of the Fens belonged to secret societies based on their specific trade. He details the hidden aspects of rural life most historians ignore - the magical current that flowed through the lives of working people - and describes the secret rites, ceremonies, oaths, and initiation rituals of the guilds and fraternities to which the folk belonged.

It’s time to stop valuing your reputation with people more than your reputation with God. Start living your life with eternity in mind. Respected theologian and author R. T. Kendall has created this book to help you discover the keys to living a life that truly pleases God, making you not only popular in heaven, but also famous in hell.

Is successful leadership measured simply by the outcomes a leader achieves, or is there another - more essential - yardstick for measuring success? In Redefining Leadership, author, pastor, and college president Joe Stowell shows us that the best leaders are driven by Christ-formed character, and that truly successful leadership is not defined by the standards of this world but by the counter-intuitive practices and perspectives of the Kingdom of Christ.

Everywhere we look, we see evidence that love is in short supply. Terrorists and political corruption, school shootings and troubled marriages, impatient online sniping and character assassination - all point to the fact that we do not know how to love one another as Jesus commanded and modeled. We put our own interests and happiness first, despite the fact that the greatest happiness comes through sacrificial love.

How should Christians conduct themselves in an increasingly secular society? Jesus answered this troubling question on the eve of His death with some of the most poignant, powerful teachings in His entire ministry. During those hours, Jesus taught His apostles and, consequently, all believers throughout history, How to Survive in a World of Unbelievers.

This compelling counter-narrative to the familiar story of the Puritans combines a rich understanding of the period with a close reading of early texts to bring the contentious Morton to life. This volume sheds new light on the tumultuous formative decades of the American experience.