Social Ministry

Consumerism is everywhere. It shapes the way we eat, shop, rest, think, love and believe. We can't escape it, but how can we live well in the midst of it? We are daily seduced by a 250 billion dollar marketing machine. But how often do we consider how this might influence us? The current prevailing orthodoxy is that life should be lived to the max. By contrast, Jesus modeled a life of joyful limitation - free to do; free not to do. Consumer Detox, complete with the Detox Diary in the back of the book with suggestions for each chapter, encouraging stories, and space for writing personal reflections....

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?

Filled with vivid details and little-known facts, this work of Christian nonfiction literature is filled with inspiration and deep knowledge. It gives the listener a sense of inner peace and spiritual respite as it's being read that is unmatched with any other Christian nonfiction that one may have listened to before. The book is written from the theme of the Social Gospel.

Christians love to fight, and most of the time we fight unnecessary battles. We fight over worship styles, building programs, carpet color, governance structures, use of alcohol, and a thousand other debatable matters of theology or culture. The fuel that feeds the fire are gray issues. What is a gray issue? A gray issue is an area of theology or culture that is either not addressed in the Bible, or while addressed, leaves room for legitimate differences of opinions. Come and join a new movement of biblically sound, theologically solid, and beautifully unified Gray Churches.

People Skills for Youth Pastors is filled with practical tips and techniques that will help you take your ministry and relationships to the next level.

When Daniel Darling was fired as spokesperson for the National Religious Broadcasters Association, it wasn't his exit that made national news—it was the way he handled it. Daniel's charitable response to those he had worked with was so radical that it made headlines. But why has kindness among Christians become so startling? In Agents of Grace, Daniel explores practical ways we can follow the Bible's command to "strive actively for peace" even in a painfully divided church, country, and world.

What's your story? Believe it or not, millions of people have already read it-and it's a best seller! In fact, every bit of drama in your life has happened in the Bible, and those ancient stories mirror your own. Could Abraham, Esther, and Solomon relate to dorm-room pranks or shiny new sports cars? Do ancient Biblical characters have something to say to teenagers today? Join Mark Witas as he finds these answers from Genesis to Revelation.

The Theme is Freedom presents a new reading of the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, the constitutional founding, and the religious clauses of the First Amendment. Evans draws the conclusion that our liberties have always been dependent of the religious traditions of the West - directly contrary to accepted theory.

The Devil Wins uncovers the complicated history of lying from the early days of the Catholic Church to the Enlightenment, revealing the diversity of attitudes about lying by considering the question from the perspectives of five representative voices - the Devil, God, theologians, courtiers, and women.

What Brian McLaren sets forth in this provocative, unsettling work is a "form of Christian faith that is holistic, integral, balanced, that offers good news for both the living and the dying, that speaks of God's grace at work both in this life and the life to come, both to individuals and to societies and the planet as a whole."

Michelle Sanchez has discovered through her own journey that it’s impossible to separate racial discipleship from our relationship with God. In fact, deeper racial discipleship catalyzes a deeper relationship with God. Whenever we choose to courageously resist racism, we will discover new opportunities to encounter Christ in fresh and exciting ways. Color-Courageous Discipleship is our guidebook to a deeper connection with God through the adventure of racial discipleship.

God Breathed will help you understand and courageously doubt the popular dogma that God cannot speak, that the Bible is not only inaccurate but impossible. It will help you break out of the soul-suffocating confines of self-made truth. Within the pages of God's book is the true you, just waiting for you to arrive. God Breathed will help you get there.

The world is not as God intends it to be. God's heart is to make things right, and for the world to be just. But complex problems warrant more sustained attention than quick posts on social media. How can we actually make a difference? Activist Mae Elise Cannon takes us beyond the hashtags to serious engagement with real issues. God calls the church to respond substantively to the needs of the poor, the realities of racial inequity, and the mistreatment of women and the marginalized.

The 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, an African American teenager in Florida, and the subsequent acquittal of his killer, brought public attention to controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws. The verdict, as much as the killing, sent shock waves through the African American community, recalling a history of similar deaths, and the long struggle for justice. On the Sunday morning following the verdict, black preachers around the country addressed the question, "Where is the justice of God? What are we to hope for?"

Like the ancient Israelites, the African American community has survived a 400-year collective trauma. What will it take for them to reach the promised land that King foresaw - to be truly free at last? In this classic historical and cultural study, Carl Ellis offers an in-depth assessment of the state of African American freedom and dignity. Stressing how important it is for African Americans to reflect on their roots, he traces the growth of Black consciousness from the days of slavery to the 1990s, noting especially the contributions of King and Malcolm X.

Eating Disorders, depression, gender confusion - these sound like problems for other people, but the reality is your students are dealing with them every day. The issues that girls face are growing in complexity and number. Written with the end user in mind, this resource will be one that won't leave a youth worker's hands.

In this heart-wrenching yet stubbornly hopeful narrative, Evangelical Lutheran pastor Kenneth Wheeler exposes white supremacy as America's greatest threat. Transcending the boundaries of memoir, scholarship, theology, and sharp political critique, Pastor Wheeler takes readers on his own seven-decade-long journey that lays bare the terror of being Black in America. From his childhood in Jackson, Mississippi under the trauma of Jim Crow segregation to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, Wheeler steadily holds a mirror up to a nation drowning in a rising tide of white supremacy.

Powerful sermons from Washington National Cathedral in the midst of the pandemic. Through their sermons, Cathedral clergy and guest preachers such as Jon Meacham, Kelly Brown Douglas, and Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry share inspiring words. Collectively, they offer lasting guidance for difficult times, reinforcing that even in the midst of loss and chaos, God is at work among us, lifting us up and giving us hope for the future.

Confissões é uma das principais obras de Agostinho de Hipona, que inaugurou o gênero da autobiografia com esse título. Neste audiolivro que intercala orações, reflexões profundas e diálogos com Deus, o autor descreve seus pensamentos, seu processo de conversão, suas angústias e suas experiências de vida. Agostinho elaborou uma nova forma de fazer filosofia baseada, não só em conceitos abstratos, mas principalmente na observação de movimentos psicológicos, motivações interiores e significados de pequenos gestos cotidianos.

If God designed us to experience true happiness and abundant life, why do so many Christians feel dissatisfied and purposeless? We try to make our lives better by chasing our own dreams, but that only makes the problem worse. Instead, the path to a just life that’s satisfying and permeated with meaning leads us alongside the orphan, the widow, and the powerless. Using clear evangelical theology and compelling narratives drawn from two decades of global ministry and travel, Ken Wytsma, the founder of The Justice Conference, shows God's unchanging love for all His children.