Spiritual Theology

Something is stirring inside of you, but it has been silenced, gravely undermined, and misunderstood. You must believe that God has not forgotten you. He has not sidelined you. You are not crazy. Prophet, arise! Come out of your cave and be encouraged to speak forth the word of the Lord. God is calling you to be his trumpet and to sound the alarm.

Best-selling author John Ortberg shares how Jesus' influence has swept over history and how his vision of life continues to impact humanity today. Jesus' impact on our world is highly unlikely, widely inescapable, largely unknown, and decidedly double-edged. It is unlikely in light of the severe limitations of his earthly life; it is inescapable because of the range of impact; it is unknown because history doesn't connect dots; and it is doubled-edged because his followers have wreaked so much havoc, often in his name.

The role of women in positions of worship and church leadership is one of the most divisive and inconclusive biblical debates. Two Views on Women in Ministry furnishes you with a clear and thorough presentation of the two primary exegetical arguments so you can better understand each one's strengths, weaknesses, and complexities. This revised edition brings the exchange of ideas and perspectives into the traditional Counterpoints format. Each author states his or her case and is then critiqued by the other contributors.

Not every lie sounds untrue. Some lies are repeated so often they seem to be common sense. That's why lies about God are so dangerous. The Gospel According to Satan examines eight lies the enemy wants us to believe and provides eight lines of counterattack against them. Jared C. Wilson reveals why these lies appeal to us, shows how they harm us, and provides ways to counteract them. We can renounce Satan's counterfeit gospel, but first we must see it for what it is.

When you think of a son trudging uphill, carrying wood for his own sacrifice because his father has decided to give him up to death, what biblical event does this bring to mind? Is it Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22, or is it Christ's passion in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? The kinship between these two stories is deeper than mere coincidence, and the similarities don't end there. In fact, Murray argues that Christ isn't just present in the story of Abraham and Isaac - he's present on every page of the Old Testament.

Grace is more story than doctrine. It's more than forgiveness or compassion. It's undeserved by definition, essential to salvation. And it turns out that God's grace—though it's the only thing we stand on and the only thing we should stand for—is the very thing that we consistently distort and hesitate to extend to others. Why is that? To understand the story of grace—what it means and how it's misunderstood, why we need it and how it was given to us—we have to begin at the beginning.

In Accidental Saints, New York Times best-selling au­thor Nadia Bolz-Weber invites readers into a surprising encounter with what she calls "a religious but not-so-spiritual life." Tattooed, angry and profane, this former standup comic turned pastor stubbornly, sometimes hilariously, resists the God she feels called to serve. But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people - a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, a felonious Bishop and a gun-toting member of the NRA.

Dallas Willard was a personal mentor and inspiration to hundreds of pastors, philosophers, and average churchgoers. His presence and ideas rippled through the lives of many prominent leaders and authors, such as John Ortberg, Richard Foster, James Bryan Smith, Paula Huston, and J. P. Moreland. As a result of these relationships and the books he wrote, he fundamentally altered the way tens of thousands of Christians have understood and experienced the spiritual life.

Philip Yancey investigates the natural world and discovers the supernatural hiding in plain view. He grapples with why God made the world and what our role truly is, and seeks to answer the question, "How do I live in the natural world while expressing the values of the supernatural?"

Evangelism in a Skeptical World is a textbook on evangelism that is ideal for the church or the classroom to equip Christians with the principles and skills they need to tell the unbelievable news about Jesus to friends in a skeptical world.

In his acclaimed books, renowned writer, speaker, and philosophy professor Dallas Willard explored the nature of Christian life in God's Kingdom. Yet one topic remained undisclosed: Willard's understanding of heaven and eternal life. In the months before his death, Willard engaged in moving and insightful conversations about the meaning of life and the life to come with close friend and theologian Gary Black, Jr. These inspiring dialogues were steeped in biblical theology as well as practical wisdom grounded in the here-and-now.

When Christians share their faith, they often appeal to reason, logic, and the truth of doctrine. But these tactics often are not effective. A better approach to spread Christ's word, Dallas Willard suggests, is to use the example of our own lives. To demonstrate Jesus's message, we must be transformed people living out a life reflective of Jesus himself, a life of love, humility, and gentleness.

For decades, Kathie Lee has had deep conversations about her faith with anyone who is interested in talking about it. What she discovered early on is most people are very willing to talk about Jesus: atheists, agnostics, Scientologists, Jews, broken-hearted Catholics, confused Baptists, Pentecostals, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Hindus alike. While some of the people Kathie Lee has spoken with do not share her belief that Jesus is the Messiah - as prophesied for centuries by prophets in the Hebrew scriptures - they nonetheless have a universal fascination with him.

World-renowned Jesus scholar Marcus J. Borg shows how we can live passionately as Christians in today's world by practicing the vital elements of Christian faith. For the millions of people who have turned away from many traditional beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible, but still long for a relevant, nourishing faith, Borg shows why the Christian life can remain a transforming relationship with God. Emphasizing the critical role of daily practice in living the Christian life, he explores how prayer, worship, Sabbath, pilgrimage, and more can be experienced as authentically life-giving practices.

Contemporary evangelicals have built a 'salvation culture' but not a 'gospel culture.' Evangelicals have reduced the gospel to the message of personal salvation. This book makes a plea for us to recover the old gospel as that which is still new and still fresh. The book stands on four arguments: that the gospel is defined by the apostles in 1 Corinthians 15 as the completion of the Story of Israel in the saving Story of Jesus; that the gospel is found in the Four Gospels; that the gospel was preached by Jesus; and that the sermons in the Book of Acts are the best example of gospeling in the New Testament.

Forgive and forget. It should be easy to do—so why don’t we do it? The father who wasn’t always there for us. The mother who punished us. The spouse who betrayed us. The children who will leave us behind. Whoever and whatever the source of hurt, there is always a path to forgiveness. But too often, instead of forgiving, too many of us live with resentments and grudges that keep us stuck, robbing us of joy, peace, and purpose.

How does Jesus live in my heart? What does it look like to have a personal relationship with Jesus? Can I actually do what Jesus did when He walked the Earth? In Michael Koulianos' landmark book, prepare to experience Jesus Christ at a whole new dimension - through the person, presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

In Jesus in Me, Anne Graham Lotz draws on her rich biblical knowledge as well as her personal story - including her recent cancer diagnosis - to help us understand that the Holy Spirit is not a magic genie, a flame of fire, or a vague feeling. He is a person who prays for us, guides us in our relationships and decisions, comforts us in pain, and stays by our side at all times. In this seminal teaching, she explores seven key aspects of the Holy Spirit that will revolutionize how you understand and relate to this vital third person in the Trinity.

The gospel is under attack today—not only from outside cultural forces but also from within the church. In Misled, popular YouTuber and Bible teacher Allen Parr equips listeners to identify and withstand seven of the most common false teachings that undermine the gospel and lead many well-meaning Christians astray.

"There are some Learned Men, who have never read these Matters, and some Spiritual Men that hitherto have hardly relished them and therefore both condemn them, the one out of Ignorance, and the other for want of Experience." -MIGUEL DE MOLINOS