Best of
Christianity
2022
Faithfully Different: Regaining Biblical Clarity in a Secular Culture
Natasha Crain - 2022
As mainstream culture grows more hostile toward the Bible’s truths and those who embrace them, you’ll face mounting pressures—from family, friends, media, academia, and government—to change and even abandon your beliefs. But these challenges also create abundant opportunities to stand strong for Christ and shine light to those hurt by the darkness of our day. In Faithfully Different, author and apologist Natasha Crain shares how you can live out your faith with conviction, discernment, and courage. You’ll be equipped toidentify and respond to today’s most significant worldview pressures, such as cancel culture, secular social justice, progressive Christianity, deconstruction, virtue signaling, and moreengage effectively with a world that ridicules biblical truthsdefend your faith from misguided influences and live as a bold witness for the LordAs the standards of our day mutate and devolve, Faithfully Different will give you the insight and encouragement you need to believe, think, and live biblically no matter what you face in these turbulent times.
We Go On: Finding Purpose in All of Life’s Sorrows and Joys
John Onwuchekwa - 2022
This hope-filled exploration of this biblical book of wisdom turns our attention to what our true purpose is and how to let that purpose shape our relationships, career, and life choices. Along with biblical insights, John Onwuchekwa weaves together meaningful challenges that even from difficult beginnings, we can continue to trust God's path.In this book, you'll discover a more meaningful, fulfilling life as you explore themes such as:work, wealth, and powersexuality, social relationships, and justicereligion and familyInspiring black-and-white photography paired with a modern cover make this a perfect gift to give to men and women for holidays, graduations, birthdays, new jobs, or to anyone seeking a deeper relationship with God. We Go On will help men and women:experience deeper peace in a changing worldsee biblical imagery in a fresh waypersevere through difficult circumstancesfind new motivation for living with intentionThis unique book reminds you that deeper purpose is available as you look beyond your circumstances and find meaning in the God who never changes.
Talking about Race: Gospel Hope for Hard Conversations
Isaac Adams - 2022
Why is that the case? Why does it matter? Can things get better, or are we permanently divided?In this honest and hopeful book, pastor Isaac Adams doesn't just show you how to have the race conversation, he begins it for you. By offering a fictional, racially charged tragedy in order to understand varying perspectives and responses, he examines what is at stake if we ignore this conversation, and why there's just as much at stake in how we have that discussion, especially across color lines--that is, with people of another ethnicity. This unique approach offers insight into how to listen to one another well and seek unity in Christ. Looking to God's Word, Christians can find wisdom to speak gracefully and truthfully about racism for the glory of God, the good of their neighbors, and the building up of the church.Some feel that the time for talking is over, and that we've heard all this before. But given how polarized American society is becoming--its churches not exempt--fresh attention on the dysfunctional communication between ethnicities is more than warranted. Adams offers an invitation to faithfully combat the racism so many of us say we hate and maintain the unity so many of us say we want. Together we can learn to speak in such a way that we show a divided world a different world.Talking About Race points to the starting line, not the finish line, when it comes to following Jesus amid race relations. It’s high time to begin running.
WayMaker: Finding the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed Of
Ann Voskamp - 2022
And those dreams for our lives? They can still happen—in ways only He perfectly dreamed of. It is true: heartache, grief, suffering, obstacles, they all come in waves. There is no controlling life’s storms; there is only learning the way to walk through the waves. In WayMaker, bestselling author Ann Voskamp hands us a map that makes meaning of life, that shows the way through to the places we’ve only dreamed of reaching, by a way we never expected. Voskamp reveals how God is present in the totality of our lives, making a wayfor the marriage that seems impossible,for the woman who longs for a child of her own,for the parents who ache for the return of their prodigal,for the sojourner caught between a rock and a hard place, andfor the wayfarer who feels as though there is no way through to her dreams. We can encounter the WayMaker in surprising ways and begin to see Him not only making poetry out of pain but working in every miraculous detail of our lives. Even now, the Way is making the way to walk through waves and into a life more deeply fulfilling than our wildest dreams.
Rembrandt Is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith
Russ Ramsey - 2022
The lives of the artists in this book illustrate the struggle of living in this world and point to the beauty of the redemption available to us in Christ. Each story is different. Some conclude with resounding triumph while others end in struggle. But all of them raise important questions about humanity's hunger and capacity for glory, and all of them teach us to love and see beauty.
Mysterion: The Revelatory Power of the Sacramental Worldview
Harrison Ayre - 2022
The Coming Tsunami: Why Christians Are Labeled Intolerant, Irrelevant, Oppressive, and Dangerous—and How We Can Turn the Tide
Jim Denison - 2022
Jim Denison addresses the gravest threat Christians in America have ever faced—four cultural tidal waves threatening to submerge Christians in America and the biblical morality they proclaim. Through proactive, biblical steps, he helps us redeem these challenges so that we can live the way Jesus calls us to live. This book is a warning sign. The coming cultural tsunami is the gravest threat Christians in America have ever faced. Caused by four cultural “earthquakes,” the cultural acceptance of four specific ideologies has seismically shifted our world. With the rise of a “post-truth” culture, the expansion of the sexual revolution, the attraction of Critical Theory, and the advance of secular religion, Christians are increasingly labeled as intolerant, irrelevant, oppressive, and dangerous—the antithesis of the life Jesus calls Christians to live. These tidal waves are threatening to submerge Christians in America and the biblical morality they proclaim. And the ultimate repercussions of these issues—the coming tsunami—have yet to be fully experienced. In The Coming Tsunami, pastor and cultural scholar Dr. Jim Denison of the Denison Forum: assesses how our current culture came to be, identifies the enormous danger these cultural quakes represent, explores their consequences for evangelicals and our larger culture, and offers proactive, biblical steps to redeem these challenges as opportunities for God's word and grace. The coming cultural tsunami will greatly impact Christians in the coming years. It will undoubtedly influence and affect your children and grandchildren. However, unlike tsunamis in nature, which cannot be stopped once they have been created, it's not too late to stop the moral tsunamis of our day. But Christians must act now. The rain is falling.
A Dozen Things God Did with Your Sin (and Three Things He'll Never Do)
Sam Storms - 2022
This often happens when believers fixate on their sins while forgetting what Christ has already done on their behalf at the cross. Sam Storms explains it this way: "What consumes us is what we have done by sinning. What ought to consume us is grateful meditation on what God has done with our sinning."In his latest book, Storms addresses this anxiety over sin by reminding believers of the good news of the gospel. Beginning with an explanation of the glory of penal substitution, he walks through 12 things God did with their sin, including forgiving it, passing over it, and casting it into the depths of the sea. He also explains 3 things God will never do with their sin, such as counting it against them. Walking through the Bible's teaching, Storms helps believers find freedom, joy, and peace in knowing what God has done (and will never do) with their sin through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus.
Called to Preach: Fulfilling the High Calling of Expository Preaching
Steven J. Lawson - 2022
Preachers who will not replace sound theology with culturally palatable soundbites. Preachers who will clearly and faithfully share the gospel and inspire those in their churches to live godly lives.Through in-depth biblical analysis and inspiring examples from church history, Steven J. Lawson paints a picture of God's glory magnified through faithful preaching, reclaiming the high ground of biblical preaching for the next generation. With helpful advice and practical guidance gleaned from 50 years in ministry, Lawson helps aspiring preachers know if they are called to preach; understand the qualifications for ministry; and develop, improve, and deliver strong expository sermons that illuminate the Word of God in a dark world.
Authentic Ministry: Serving from the Heart
Michael Reeves - 2022
Demystifying Decision-Making: A Practical Guide
Aimee Joseph - 2022
As Christians living in an increasingly individualistic society, what’s the best strategy for making decisions that honor God while becoming more like him in the process?Writing from her own experience and pointing to biblical examples, Aimee Joseph offers a biblical and theological framework for decision-making. She explains God’s design for humans as decision-makers, the biblical model for making choices, common wrong approaches, practical tips, and what to do when you’ve made a poor decision. With the philosophy that “as we shape our decisions, our decisions shape us,” Joseph teaches readers how to worship and draw closer to Christ through their daily decisions.
Benedict XVI: Defender of the Faith
Joseph Pearce - 2022
In this heartfelt defense of Pope Benedict’s words and works, a tribute to his life and legacy and a homage to his sanity and sanctity, Joseph Pearce’s biography provides an unforgettable encounter with this great historical figure. As the defender of the Faith, Pope Benedict XVI fought tirelessly and largely successfully against the forces of secularism first as the indomitable Ratzinger and then as the incomparable supreme pontiff. As an uncompromising defender of the dignity of the human person, he fought the wickedness of the world in his unremitting battle against the dictatorship of relativism and its culture of death. Within the Church, he fought against the spirit of the world in his war on modernism and its worship of the spirit of the age, restoring the splendor of truth in his defense of orthodoxy and the splendor of the liturgy in his defense of tradition. Years from now, Catholics will still look back on Pope Benedict’s enduring legacy with enormous gratitude. For he successfully steered the barque of Peter in charity and truth against the evil tides that sought to engulf the Church.
The Good News of Our Limits: Find Greater Peace, Joy, and Effectiveness through God’s Gift of Inadequacy
Sean McGever - 2022
We think that following God will bring peace, but instead find ourselves anxious. We expect a life of joy, but end up feeling stressed, living under the heavy load of new expectations. It's a spiritual and emotional rollercoaster.We search for solutions using optimization techniques, attempting to fit more and more into our already full days. We try to craft efficiently maximized lives, but these methods always fail, not because they are ill-intentioned, but because they do not go far enough. They fail to understand how God made us--as people with inherent limitations--and they fail to accept that as good.In The Good News of Our Limits, professor and longtime ministry leader Sean McGever reveals the wonderful news that we cannot do, be, or know all of the things that others expect of us--and that we often expect from ourselves. Nor should we. As it turns out, these expectations are not God's expectations. The freeing truth is that God created us with limitations, and he did it for a reason. God is the only all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing person, and we are not. We can only know and do some things, and we can only be in one place at a time. And that is enough. Accepting this truth frees us to find greater peace and joy, and somewhat surprisingly, greater effectiveness in life.The Good News of Our Limits helps readers answer questions like:What are our God-given human limits?How do I find peace when I can't control the circumstances, tragedies, and difficulties that surround my life?How do I choose what is best when my time, focus, and abilities are limited?How many people can I realistically know personally?What can I do to deepen key relationships when I feel relationally maxed-out?How do I navigate all the information that comes my way each day?Through personal stories and fascinating cultural insights, The Good News of Our Limits calls readers to embrace the blessedness of their limitations and adopt a few key practices to better balance their lives. Biblical and practical, it points to a better way forward for us all.
Knowing Sin: Seeing a Neglected Doctrine Through the Eyes of the Puritans
Mark Jones - 2022
But maybe we should. The Puritans sure did—because they understood sin’s deceptive power and wanted to root it out of their lives. Shouldn’t we want the same?Though many books have been written on the “doctrine of sin,” few are as practical and applicable as this one. In Knowing Sin, Mark Jones puts his expertise in the Puritans to work by distilling the vast wisdom of our Christian forebears into a single volume that summarizes their thought on this vital subject. The result isn’t a theological tome to sit on your shelf and gather dust, but a surprisingly relevant book to keep by your bedside and refer to again and again. You’ll come to understand topics like:Sin’s OriginSin’s GriefSin’s ThoughtsSin’s TemptationsSin’s MiserySin’s Secrecyand of course . . . Sin’s Defeat!None of us is free from the struggle with sin. The question isn’t whether we’re sinful, it’s what we’re doing about it. Thanks be to God, there is a path to overcoming sin. And the first step on that path to victory is knowing what we’re up against. Start Knowing Sin today!
Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution
Carl R. Trueman - 2022
Trueman shows how influences ranging from traditional institutions to technology and pornography moved modern culture toward an era of "expressive individualism." Investigating philosophies from the Romantics, Nietzsche, Marx, Wilde, Freud, and the New Left, he outlines the history of Western thought to the distinctly sexual direction of present-day identity politics, providing readers with a clearer understanding of the modern implications of these ideas on religion, free speech, and issues related to personal identity. For fans of Trueman's The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, this new book offers a more concise presentation and application of some of the most critical topics of our day.
Bitter and Sweet: A Journey into Easter
Tsh Oxenreider - 2022
As we learn to turn from our vices and crave real beauty, goodness, and truth through the pursuit of virtues, we grow nearer to God and become more like who He made us to be.From Tsh Oxenreider, bestselling author of Shadow and Light: A Journey into Advent, arrives a devotional to help you meditate and rejoice in the transcendent miracle of Easter. You will…uncover what it means to participate in the liturgical traditions of Lent, from fasting to almsgivingexperience artwork and music that illuminate the impact—both personal and global—of Jesus’s death and resurrectioncontemplate the wonder of Christ’s redemption of all humankind, especially as this time of introspection reveals your human limitationsStarting on Ash Wednesday and leading you all the way through Holy Week, Bitter and Sweet is an invitation to better understand Jesus’s sacrifice as you delight in His ultimate love for you.
The Mission of the Triune God: A Theology of Acts
Patrick Schreiner - 2022
Some claim it is the spirit, others the Word, others the church, and others Jesus. This book offers a narrative and integrated account of Luke's theological emphasis"--
Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation
Miriam James Heidland SOLT - 2022
Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, as she helps you turn away from what wounds you and toward God who heals you and makes you whole.In this beautiful guided journal for prayer and meditation, Sr. Miriam invites you to meet the tenderness of God’s mercy, the power of his love, and the restoration of your heart and life as you practice prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.Restore features stunning original art by Valerie Delgado of Pax.Valerie along with daily meditations on a passage from scripture, reflection questions, guided prayer, and space for journaling and notetaking.Throughout Lent, you’ll move through four different phases of healing, focusing on traditional Lenten practices:Prayer is the means of healing our relationship with God.Fasting disciplines us in healing our relationship with ourselves.Almsgiving leads us to healing our relationships with others.Sacrifice shows us the path to heaven and union with God.If you enter into Lent with Christ, your heart will see more clearly, be pierced more easily, love more strongly, and serve more passionately. Jesus will be etched into the crevasses of your being.Restore is perfect for both individual and group use. Free companion videos and a downloadable leader’s guide are available at avemariapress.com.
How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People
Pete Greig - 2022
When life falls apart and we need God's comfort; in moments of cultural turmoil when we need his clarity; facing formidable decisions when we need his guidance; desiring a deeper faith when we need God to say something, anything, to turn the monologue we call prayer into a genuine conversation.Having addressed God's silence in God on Mute, and then How to Pray in his previous bestseller, Pete Greig is back to bring wisdom and guidance to one of the most pressing and perplexing aspects of universal Christian experience--How to Hear God. Exploring the story of Christ's playful, poignant conversation on the road to Emmaus, Pete draws deeply from the insights of a wide range of Christian traditions. He weaves together the evangelical emphasis upon hearing God in the Bible, and the charismatic commitment to hearing God in the prophetic, with the contemplative understanding of God's "still, small voice" within.
The Loveliest Place: The Beauty and Glory of the Church
Dustin W. Benge - 2022
Precious. Lovely. The Bible describes the church in extraordinary ways, even using beautiful poetry and metaphors. How does this compare to how Christians today describe the church? Unfortunately, many believers focus more on its mission, structure, or specific programs than on its inherent beauty. It's time to spark a renewed affection for the church.In The Loveliest Place, Dustin Benge urges Christians to see the holy assembly of God's redeemed people in all its eternal beauty. He explains what makes the church lovely, including the Trinitarian relationship, worship, service, and gospel proclamation. For those who have never learned to view the church as God sees it, or have become disillusioned by its flaws, this book is a reminder that the corporate gathering of believers is a reflection of God's indescribable beauty.This is the third book in the Union series, which invites readers to experience deeper enjoyment of God through four interconnected values: delighting in God, growing in Christ, serving the church, and blessing the world.