Spiritual Theology

It's Good Friday. The Son of God is giving up his life. What does he want to say to us in his final hours? What does he tell the people standing at the foot of the cross to pass down to the ages? He speaks only seven short statements. Words of forgiveness, salvation, relationship, abandonment, distress, triumph, and reunion. Seven statements that mean everything.

What would happen if you admitted you weren't a good person? It's a seemingly crazy question. From priests to prisoners, nearly everyone thinks they're morally better than average. Why change our minds? In his conversational and delightfully self-effacing style, Brant Hansen shows us why we should fight our drive to be self-righteous: it's breathtakingly freeing. What's more, just admitting that we're profoundly biased toward ourselves and want desperately to preserve our rightness at all costs even helps us improve our relationships with God and others.

Do you ever feel like you don't pray enough, read your Bible enough, share your faith enough, love God enough...and ultimately that you're not a very good Christian? Welcome to the club. Messy Spirituality was written for the silent majority of us who are convinced we just don't do Christianity right. Mike Yaconelli dares to suggest that imperfection, unfinishedness, and messiness are, in fact, the earmarks of true Christianity; that real Christianity is messy, erratic, lopsided...and gloriously liberating.

This book will teach you how to battle your spiritual struggles from the winning side so that you can be victorious both in your life and in the issues happening in today’s world. Many Christians limp through their lives feeling beat up by the enemy, their circumstances, and internal strife. They look at the pattern of world events with a sense of hopelessness. Too often they simply accept these as the natural trials and challenges of life. However, other Christians acknowledge that there is a war happening, a battle between angels and demons.

Who is Jesus? And why does the church He started matter today? The answers to these questions are practical, profound, and liberating - and also inextricably connected. The closer you get to Jesus, the more you love people; and the more you love people, the more you become like Jesus. Drawing on biblical teaching and over 45 years of ministry experience, Pastor Mel Mullen brings clear, practical understanding to Jesus’ message and the community of Jesus-followers we call the church.

Deeply rooted in Christian tradition, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius are poignant meditations on spirituality, often used in retreats to facilitate spiritual growth. Since its inception in 1524, countless Christians have been invigorated and challenged by these exercises, as their heads, and minds, have been opened to God's will.

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.

N. T. Wright argues that every world view must explain seven “signposts”, indicators inherent to humanity. Using the Gospel of John as his source, Wright shows how Christianity defines each signpost and illuminates why we so often see them as being "broken" and unattainable. Drawing on the wisdom of the Gospels, Wright explains why these signposts are fractured and damaged and how Christianity provides the vision, guidance, and hope for making them whole once again, ultimately healing ourselves and our world.

Reaching for the Invisible God offers deep, satisfying insights to the questions you are sometimes afraid to ask. Honest and deeply personal, here is straight talk on Christian living for the listener who wants more than pat answers to life's imponderables. Ultimately, Yancey shifts the focus from your questions to the One who offers himself in answer.

Best-selling author John Ortberg dispels the myth that eternal life is something way out in outer space that we can only hope to experience after we die - and that being saved is merely about meeting the minimal entrance requirements for getting into heaven. Instead, John unpacks the reality that the moment we trust Christ, we are initiated into “eternal living” with God as a here and now reality, one that will continue beyond our life on this earth.

In Stunned by Grace, you’ll find real, lasting peace of mind so that you’re no longer walking on eggshells, trying to do more, and be enough. The precious gems of truth contained within this book are an absolute rarity. You'll be convinced that Father God likes you and is for you!

Are we living in the end-times? Is it possible the players depicted in the book of Revelation could be out in force today? And if they are, would you know how to recognize them? In Agents of the Apocalypse, noted prophecy expert Dr. David Jeremiah does what no prophecy expert has done before. He explores the book of Revelation through the lens of its major players—the exiled, the martyrs, the elders, the victor, the king, the judge, the 144,000, the witnesses, the false prophet, and the beast.

How can we believe and be transformed by the gospel? Once we understand that the gospel is not merely good news but explosive, life-changing news, we will never be the same again. And in response to God's work in our lives, what part can we play in recreating the world for his good plan? In this powerful audiobook, Fr. John Riccardo helps us to see the world through God's lens, with a clear vision of the future.

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.

Helping listeners walk the line between idolatry and ingratitude, this audiobook emphasizes our responsibility to glorify God by joyfully embracing his good gifts without letting them become worldly distractions that steal our affection.

The second part of Peterson's momentous five-volume work on spiritual theology, Eat This Book challenges us to read the Scriptures on their own terms, as God's revelation, and to live them as we read them. With warmth and wisdom Peterson offers greatly needed, down-to-earth counsel on spiritual reading. In these pages he draws readers into a fascinating conversation on the nature of language, the ancient practice of lectio divina, and the role of Scripture translations.

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.

Many young African Americans are disinterested in Christianity and others are leaving the church in search of what these false religious ideas appear to offer, a spirituality more indigenous to their history and ethnicity. Edited by Dr. Eric Mason and featuring a top-notch lineup of contributors, Urban Apologetics is the first book focused entirely on cults, religious groups, and ethnocentric ideologies prevalent in the black community.

Bad theology nearly took Kevin's life. They believed that God could never love them because they were queer, leading to a deadly shame that nearly took Kevin's life. Kevin felt trapped by fear. Fear of losing their community, their family, and even their connection to God.

Many Christians believe the only way to fight sin is to grit our teeth, strengthen our resolve, and rise above the onslaught of temptation. But in reality, we have a far better weapon in our struggle with sin than the willpower mantras associated with diet and exercise. This weapon is not saying "no" to sin, but saying "yes" to God. In Rewire Your Heart, David Bowden helps us discover God's plan to overcoming sin by rewiring our desires with the Gospel.