Showing titles in Church & Church Leadership

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was the most important Catholic event in the past five hundred years. Yet sixty years after its opening on October 11, 1962, its meaning remains sharply contested and its promise unfulfilled. In To Sanctify the World, George Weigel explains the necessity of Vatican II and explores the continuing relevance of its teaching in a world seeking a deeper experience of freedom than personal willfulness.

Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. But it doesn’t need to be. God has a purpose and a plan for all those entrepreneurial dreams and creative gifts he gave you. The work you do today - the company you’ve built, the employees you work with, the customers you serve, the shareholders you report to, all of it - serves as an active part of what God wants to accomplish on earth.

Drawing on the wisdom gleaned from thriving mega-churches and innovative business leaders while anchoring their vision in the Eucharistic center of Catholic faith, Fr. Michael White and lay associate Tom Corcoran present the compelling and inspiring story to how they brought their parish back to life. Rebuilt is a story of stopping everything and changing focus. When their parish reached a breaking point, Fr. Michael White and lay associate Tom Corcoran asked themselves how they could make the Church matter to Catholics.

What is the true nature and mission of the church? Is its proper Christian purpose to save souls, or to transform the social order? This question is especially fraught when the church is one built by an enslaved people and formed, from its beginning, at the center of an oppressed community's fight for personhood and freedom. Such is the central tension in the identity and mission of the Black church in the United States.

God’s people are called to a togetherness and commitment that transcends all natural boundaries ― whether ethnic, generational, or economic. But such a community can be enjoyed only when it relies on the power of God in the gospel. In The Compelling Community, pastors Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop cast a captivating vision for authentic fellowship in the local church that goes beyond small groups.

Holy Rebel invites the listener to not merely admire Christ’s rebellion against the kingdom of darkness, but to duplicate that same rebellion. Drawing on references from the Old and New Testaments, Todd and Kelly challenge the listener to forsake passive Christianity for a bold lifestyle that threatens hell’s agenda.

At the end of World War I, young C. S. Lewis was a devout atheist about to begin his studies at Oxford. In the three decades that followed, he would establish himself as one of the most influential writers and scholars of modern times, undergoing a radical conversion to Christianity that would transform his life and his work. Harry Lee Poe unfolds these watershed years in Lewis’s life, offering a unique perspective on his conversion, his friendships with Christians such as J. R. R. Tolkien, and his development from an opponent of Christianity to one of its most ardent defenders.

In Baptists in America, Thomas S. Kidd and Barry Hankins explore the long-running tensions between church, state, and culture that Baptists have shaped and navigated. Despite the moment of unity that their early persecution provided, their history has been marked by internal battles and schisms that were microcosms of national events, from the conflict over slavery that divided North from South to the conservative revolution of the 1970s and '80s.

To truly grasp Bible prophecy, we must first understand how God’s promises to Israel complement his vision for the church. While some believe God has forsaken Israel for the church, this goes against the nature of the faithful Lord we find in Scripture. In his latest book, native Israeli and best-selling author Amir Tsarfati makes clear what the Bible says about God’s unique master plans for his two chosen groups, Israel and the church.

For more than 25 years John Thavis held one of the most fascinating journalistic jobs in the world: reporting on the inner workings of the Vatican. His daily exposure to the power, politics, and personalities in the seat of Roman Catholicism gave him a unique, behind-the-scenes perspective on an institution that is far less monolithic and unified than it first appears. Thavis reveals Vatican City as a place where Curia cardinals fight private wars, scandals threaten to undermine papal authority, and reverence for the past is continually upended by the practical considerations of modern life.

This is a story of a God who relentlessly pursues. This is a story that reveals what the church does not often do well regarding sexual sin or identity struggles. More importantly, it’s a story of how the church can be far better—equipped to live in love and truth through strength and compassion; inviting broken people into genuine and growing relationships with Jesus and His authentic community. The church can become a vibrant, well-prepared “teaching hospital” for all the issues and brokenness embraced today by hurting people craving belonging and purpose–love and meaning.

The sex-abuse scandal, which erupted anew in 2018, poses the greatest challenge that the Catholic Church has faced since the Reformation. In The Smoke of Satan, veteran Catholic journalist Philip Lawler explains why the crisis is even more severe than when it first commanded headlines in 2002, and how the failure of Church leaders goes all the way to the Vatican. In this unflinching look at the crisis threatening the Church and her members, Lawler: shows how the sex-abuse scandal is not a question of pedophilia, but of homosexual activity within the clergy and much more.

The first comprehensive history of modern American evangelicalism to appear in a generation, American Apocalypse shows how a group of radical Protestants, anticipating the end of the world, paradoxically transformed it.

Author John C. Preiss describes in clear detail the Virgin Mary's appearances to Lucia dos Santos and Francisco and Jacinta Marto (now the Church's youngest canonized saints) and shares the background, sights, and sounds that draw you into the events as they unfolded over the course of the 20th century. More than just a history lesson about the apparitions, The Miracle and the Message shows us how to claim the message in our own lives and fully embrace what Mary offers the Church and the world.

This book is for any woman who has ever been overwhelmed with indecision, paralyzed with fear, or just plain stuck. With no-nonsense biblical truth, Fear Is Not the Boss of You is a loving kick in the backside that will catapult you into action. Successful entrepreneur, business coach, and girl next door Jennifer Allwood is your guide to show you why you can't stay stuck, teaching you how to get out of your own way and get on the road to fulfilling the life of your dreams - even if you're afraid.

What is the gospel? Bryan Chapell explains that the gospel is the message that God sent a savior to rescue broken people, restore creation’s glory, and rule over all with compassion and justice. This new booklet from the Gospel Coalition examines the gospel’s proclamation that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ provides for those who believe all that God requires and leads to eternal life. But this ancient, unfolding story of salvation is not limited to personal spiritual realities.

We often wonder what Jesus will ask us when we meet Him face to face. We believe that some of his first questions will be about discipleship. How have we followed His Great Commission to make disciples? How many disciples did we raise up to do greater things than we ourselves achieved? Who "imitates our lives as we imitate Christ"? Jesus did not command us to build the church; He called us to make disciples.

The greatest revolution of all time was about to begin.... When Pontius Pilate ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, he thought he was putting an end to the Jewish uprising that had been threatening the authority of the Roman Empire. What Pilate didn't realize, however, was that the real revolution was just getting started.

Every generation has an uncanny tendency to view themselves as more enlightened than those that have gone before. The Church certainly has made mistakes all through history - and yet, no insights which we possess would be possible without the efforts, and even some of the mistakes, of our ancestors. The first volume of 2,000 Years of Christ's Power covers the period from the 1st Century AD to the start of the Middle Ages.

Roberts Liardon chronicles compelling spiritual biographies of some of the most powerful preachers ever to ignite the fires of revival. Follow the faith journeys and lives of the great generals of God, including George Whitefield, Charles Finney, and many others. Let these revivalists inspire your life and revitalize your ministry!