Social Ministry

America's two greatest strengths - her liberal democratic culture and her free market economy - have made her a global superpower. But left unchecked, these two strengths can become great cultural weaknesses, sowing selfishness, recklessness, and apathy. In Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society, theologian R. R. Reno argues that America needs a renewal of Christian ideals - ideals that encourage self-sacrifice, responsibility, and solidarity.

A curious thing happens when Jesus comes into his ministry: He touches. Jesus touches the sick and the outcast, the bleeding and the unclean. What could it mean for families, singles, marriages, churches, communities, and the world to have healthy, pure, faithful, ministering touch? Somewhere in the mess of our assumptions and fears about touch, there is something beautiful and good and God-given. As Jesus can show us, there is ministry in touching.

The #MeToo movement has revealed sexual abuse and assault in every sphere of society, including the church. But victims are routinely ignored by fellow Christians who deny their accounts and fail to bring accountability to the perpetrators. All too often, churches have been complicit in protecting abusers, reinforcing patriarchal power dynamics, and creating cultures of secrecy, shame, and silence.

There are other people whose sicknesses are deeper than the physical dimension. They are crippled by fear, bitterness, jealousy and the like. Psychologists are doing the best that they can to provide answers for these people. However, Jesus is God's answer to all of man's need of healing and health. He is the right answer for these people. He has provided in his death, resurrection, and enthronement, all that man needs for total healing at all levels.

So much is at stake in the abortion debate. If pro-choicers are right, precious freedoms are in jeopardy. If pro-lifers are right, innocent children are being robbed of their most basic freedom life. Though bumpersticker slogans prevail, the facts are rarely presented. We need clear and credible answers to the central questions of the abortion debate.

There is no more room in our lives. Yet every new day brings more commitments demanding to be squeezed in. Overcoming Overload helps frenzied men and women weed out wrong ideas about life and rediscover God's essential principles of balanced living. This biblical way of life promises rest, satisfaction, and contentment amid daily responsibilities. Leave the overwhelmed life, and discover the abundant life!

When you possess a confident outlook, you perform at your highest level. When you believe in yourself, the people you rely on, and something ultimately greater than yourself, you will be able to do what you once thought was impossible. Confidence is a function of lifestyle, driven by a guiding set of principles. Listen to this audiobook and discover what Tim learned from his grandmother Billye - concepts handed down from the masters of motivation.

In this sequel to his best seller, The Myth of a Christian Nation, Dr. Gregory Boyd issues a clear call to manifest God’s beauty and revolt against evil—with Jesus’ life as our example. Passionate theology and practical insight combine to create a guidebook for simple, radical, Christlike living.

If forgiveness is possible after genocide, then perhaps there is hope for the comparably smaller rifts that plague our relationships, our communities, and our nation. As We Forgive explores the pain, the mystery, and the hope through seven compelling stories of those who have made this journey toward reconciliation.

Stop caring what others think. Stressing over other people's opinions of you? You are not alone. Many of us struggle with worrying about what others think. Life-changing transformation cannot take place unless we choose to stop worrying about what other people think of us.

In The Treasured Woman, Christa Bryant brings to life the qualities of the Proverbs 31 woman as she examines them and relates them back to some of the most honored, beloved women in scripture. This book goes beyond the lofty expectations that Proverbs 31 tends to place upon women, digging deeper into the word of God to reveal that these "unattainable" qualities can actually be achieved.

In 40 Unstoppable Women Who Changed the World, author Harold Sala paints portraits of 40 Christian women who were used by God to change the lives of the people around them. This book will inspire Christians and help them discover the path for their own lives. Stories told in this book include: Joni Eareckson Tada, Corrie ten Boom, Susanna Wesley, Mother Theresa, Elisabeth Elliot, Amy Carmichael, Rosa Parks, and many more.

New research finds that Christians are less involved in spiritual conversations today than we were twenty-five years ago. As society has changed, it seems we have become more uncomfortable talking with people about our faith. We are reluctant conversationalists. As a result, many of our churches and communities are shrinking instead of growing. What can we do about this?

We know that in a fallen and broken world there will always be pain and poverty, sickness and sadness. Yet as followers of Christ, we are called to bring hope and healing to those who hurt. What, then, is our responsibility to alleviate human suffering this side of eternity? With so many needs everywhere we look, where do we start? The Least of These brings together a collection of respected Christian thought leaders to provide a multifaceted look at the body of Christ’s relationship and responsibility―both individual and corporate―to the marginalized of our society.

It is a question at the center of many arguments against the existence of God and a conundrum that stumps even the most devout worshipers. What do we make of pain and suffering? What does it cost us? What is its value? How can an all-loving God allow for world catastrophe, grave illness, and devastating carnage?

After the Berlin Wall fell, a group of Christian colleges in the US seized the opportunity to begin strategic faculty and student exchanges with universities inside the Soviet Union. They could not have foreseen the doors that would open next. During a 1990 visit to Russia, John Bernbaum and his colleagues received a surprising invitation from a Russian government official: come help build a faith-based university in Moscow. Thus, after 70 years of fierce religious persecution under communism, the Russian-American Christian University (RACU) was born.

From colonial times into the 20th century, our laws and court cases ignored atheism, assuming that all good Americans were religious. Only in the 20th century, with the passage of laws allowing for conscientious objection to war, did nonbelief enter debates about religious liberty. Still, today every one of the 20 states has God written into its constitution. God is everywhere in American public life. R. Laurence Moore and Isaac Kramnick explore both God's omnipresence and the dramatic rise in nonbelievers that has led to an "atheist awakening" intent on holding the country to its secular principles.

How did The Simpsons, one of the most popular television shows in history, go from being attacked by many religious leaders for its lack of family values to being called one of the most theologically relevant programs in prime time? Religion journalist Mark Pinsky explores the individual characters, interviews several of the show's writers and producers, and concludes with a theological discussion.

American Millennials - the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s - have been leaving organized religion in unprecedented numbers. For a long time, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was an exception: Nearly three-quarters of people who grew up Mormon stayed that way into adulthood. In The Next Mormons, Jana Riess demonstrates that things are starting to change.

We all need help navigating the politics of ministry. In The Politics of Ministry, Bob Burns, Tasha Chapman, and Donald Guthrie combine their long ministry experience with sociological research on the topic. Filled with real-life stories taken from a variety of ministry settings, this book sets out wise principles and practices that help us see more clearly the political dynamics at play in our churches and parachurch ministries.