The evolution of church culture has been something that has needed to happen for a long time. Culture, traditions, oral laws, and the status quo can be a good thing... but it can also be a bad thing. Do you remember what was happening in Israel around the time that Christ came on to the scene? Israel started to live by their own set of oral laws and traditions, or what we might refer to today as "culture." The "culture" in Israel when Christ showed up was one of the most judgmental and hypocritical cultures the world had ever seen. It was a very isolated and unaccepting culture. But Christ showed up and cast a net over all types of people. The Greeks, the Romans, the Samaritans, and every other nation across the globe. His net covered even the worst of repentant sinners. The only people that were excluded or "damned" were the unrepentant elite, the "scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites" who "strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel" (Matthew 23:23-24). Christ took the existing covenants and commandments and simplified them. He brought an evolution of love, empathy, and compassion. He built a culture that was geared toward the lowly of heart and revolted against those who spent their lives pointing out the flaws in others. "For ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness" (Matthew 23:27). The bulk of Israel was living according to their culture and their superstition instead of their religion. This has been the bane of each and every covenant society, which caused Joseph Smith to say, "What many people call sin is not sin; I do many things to break down superstition, and I will break it down." The doctrine of the LDS church doesn't lose people. It's the culture and superstition that causes unnecessary strife. This book, The Cultural Evolution Inside of Mormonism addresses the changing culture, the unprecedented changes that are taking place in the church, and the historical transparency. The Table of Contents explains where this book will take you: 1. More Extended Hands 2. Fewer Wrecking Balls 3. The Cultural Evolution 4. Not Customizing Christ 5. The Three Types of Mormons 6. A Place Where Doubters Are Welcome 7. The Kindness of Christ 8. Embracing Intellectuals and Scholars 9. Change in The Church Comes Slowly For A Reason 10. The Humble Few 11. Millennial Mormons 12. Making Rash Decisions 13. Giving Volunteers A Break 14. Logical Evidence For The Church Is Mounting 15. From Which All Others Are Derived 16. Temple Workers Galore 17. No Other Religion Provides A Better Hope 18. People Throwing The Book of Mormon Out The Window 19. The Bible That Needed To Be Rescued 20. Looking For Just One Reason To Believe 21. Liberal Conservatives 22. Pageantry In The Church 23. Peeling Back Polygamy 24. Looking At Tithing A Little Differently 25. Not Judging Others Sabbath Day Worship 26. The Place For Gays Inside The Church 27. What I Really Believe 28. Why I Love The Church

    With honest and vulnerable storytelling from her own in betweens, Kaitlyn encourages you to say - no matter what page of the story you find yourself on - that although you believe God could come through how you're asking, you'll trust Him... even if not."Even If Not is a sweet, grace-filled read to help you fill in the blanks that fall after life's question marks." -- Kayla Aimee, author of Anchored: Finding Hope in the Unexpected"We live in a world where the story doesn't always unfold the way we expected. In those moments we need to know we're going to be okay. We need to know we can trust the Author. We need to know whatever happens we are not done yet. That is what Kaitlyn Bouchillon beautifully, honestly and powerfully offers our hearts in this book. When I got to the final page it didn't feel like the end; it felt like a new chapter of hope in my life was ready to begin" -- Holley Gerth, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of You're Already Amazing"Even If Not is a tender, gracious read that will not only help you more fully receive the love and care of your tender, gracious Savior, it will help you settle into your own spectacular life story. With wisdom beyond her years, Kaitlyn's words moved Gospel truth from my head to my heart." -- Kristen Strong, author of Girl Meets Change: Truths to Carry You through Life's Transitions

    William D. Romanowski provides affectionate yet astute analysis of familiar, well-loved movies and television characters from Indiana Jones to Homer Simpson, and he speaks with historical depth and expertise on films from Casablanca to Crash and music from Bruce Springsteen to U2.Romanowski's confessional approach affirms a role for popular culture in faithful living. Practical, analytical approaches to content, meaning, and artistic style offer the tools to participate responsibly and imaginatively in popular cultural activities. An engaging read, this new edition introduces students and thoughtful readers to popular culture--one of the most influential forces in contemporary society.

    One will learn communion's origin deepen his relationship with God and be challenged in discipleship.

    Walvoord's classic work on the Rapture! The Rapture Question examines the four views of the church's role in the tribulation: Partial Rapturism, Pretribulationism, Midtribulationism, and Posttribulationism, with the revised edition particularly discussing the current debate between pretribulationism and posttribulationism. In updating his work, the author also added treatments on the Rapture in the Gospels, in 1 Thessalonians 4, in 1 Thessalonians 5, in 2 Thessalonians, in 1 Corinthians, and in Revelation. A bibliography of current literature plus general and Scripture indexes are included.

    In Complement, you'll learn how you can too, as they walk you through the keys to building a satisfying and lasting marriage. With funny, real-life stories and key insights from Scripture, the Iveys can help you unite with your spouse, cheer each other on, respond the right way when you fail each other, and serve one another well—even in conflict or tough times! If you want a strong marriage (or simply to be a better better-half!), the Iveys will show you the way in Complement.

    Her narrative, along with Root’s insights, help you uncover the action of God as it pertains to your own youth ministry, and encourage you to discover how you can participate in that action. As you join this theological journey, you’ll find yourself exploring how theology can and should influence the way you do youth ministry.

    . . cheating, pride, and greed? This book is for the avid sports fan who loves Jesus. Let’s face it: Sports—with the scandals, cheating, arrogance, and more that often accompany them—are complicated to watch. How should Christian sports fans enjoy the good in the game amidst all the bad?There are books on how to worship God with our marriages, our money, and our sex lives. Books on how to “think biblically” about movies, television, and the arts. Books on how to vote and how not to vote as a Christian. But there is little thoughtful, Christ-centered writing on the subject that drives most of men’s banter with each other and consumes the bulk of their free time: sports.Learn from a Pro.Author Ted Kluck understands these complications with being a Christian sports fan—and a Christian athlete. He played professional indoor football, coached high school football, and trained as a professional wrestler.He knows how to write well about sports because of these experiences and also because he watches them (dedicatedly), and has written about them. Ted’s award-winning writing has appeared in ESPN The Magazine, Sports Spectrum magazine, and on ESPN.com’s Page 2.Written in the vein of Rick Reilly (Sports Illustrated), Chuck Klosterman (Spin, Esquire), and David Foster Wallace (A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again), The Reason for Sports will both entertain and shed light on some of today’s most pertinent sports issues (race, drugs, hero worship, and more) all through a biblical lens.Enjoy His Expert and Humorous Articles.In twelve articles, Ted humorously and honestly investigates the world of sports from a Christian perspective. Through a Biblical lens, he examines topics such as:Jock ApologiesSteroidsStories about famous athletes such as Mike Tyson and Tom BradyFantasy FootballSports, film, sexuality, and humilityRacial reconciliationNot only will you be entertained as you read this book, but also you will be trained to think Christianly about many of today’s most pertinent issues in sports.“There are plenty of books about Christian athletes, and plenty of books by Christian superstars. But there is precious little writing on sports from a Christian perspective. It’s amazing really. Americans are obsessed with sports, especially men, and yet Christians haven’t done much to reflect on the good and bad of sports. That’s why I love Ted’s writing. He knows sports. He’s played sports. He’s done real sports reporting. And he’s a strong Christian who knows how to write.”Book review by Kevin DeYoung on TheGospelCoalition.comA Short Excerpt from Ted’s Introduction: Sports are a huge part of the lives of American men, including church men. Our churches have informal basketball, golf, and softball leagues. Guys talk about sports in the church lobby. Yet with all the books teaching us how to worship with our marriage, our money, our “quiet times,” and our sex lives, little is written about the subject that drives most of our banter with each other and around which much of our free time revolves.How do we worship God with this part of our lives? How do sports help us to grow in sanctification? How do we think theologically about the myriad of moral dilemmas in sports?On the pages that follow, hopefully, you’ll be able to enjoy sports with me as I try to find the good in a sports world that at times has gone bad. I’m not going to try to convince you that Mike Tyson or Ricky Williams should be your spiritual guide, or that you shouldn’t cheer for Mike Vick because he drowns puppies, or that you should cheer for all American QB Tim Tebow because he etches a Bible verse on his eye-black before every game. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about all of these people. But I’ll invite you to begin formulating your own theology of sports with me.

    The contributors, all respected scholars in their respective fields, suggest that classic premillennialism offers believers a more coherent and viable approach to understanding eschatology. Their studies, which examine eschatology from biblical, theological, historical, and missiological approaches, provide a broadly accessible argument for returning to the perspectives of historic premillennial eschatology.

    In this easy to read booklet, you'll find 37 one-minute teachings on how to explain and defend Catholic teaching.

    . . you’re cleaning and setting tables, and preparing for the lunch rush. The front door swings open—and four men quickly stumble in as if taking refuge.Taken aback, you study their faces. One is a kind-faced Asian man with a shaved head, another looks as ancient as the hills with shocking white hair and beard, and the other two, well, they look awfully familiar. If you were a betting person, you would put down money that they were Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Mohammed . . . but then again, this is Sunset Strip, so it could just be reality TV.Meet Crystal—a waitress who ends up in just this predicament. What seems like the beginning of an old joke turns into the conversation of a lifetime.THE GIRL WITH THE DOVE TATTOO—a tale about religion, violence, peace, and identity. A new story by Brian D. McLaren.

    Society was so dependent on it, abolition was unthinkable.In 'Amazing Grace', Eric Mextas's gripping narrative paints a detailed portrait, not just of William Wilberforce himself and the Abolition Movement but also other contemporary concerns of the social reformers. Together with entries from Wilberforce's own diaries documenting his travels and the people he meets - from the paupers of Cheddar to Marie Antoinette - this age is brought vividly to life. From the author of the New York Times #1 Bestseller 'Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy'.

    The scene opens with several small vessels drifting about on the ocean. There had been a fire, followed by an explosion aboard a vessel carrying slaves. Most of the crew were pretty nasty people, but there were two pairs of people who become the heroes of this story. One of these is Ben Brace and a sixteen year old boy seaman, whom he had rescued from being eaten by the thirty or so crew members who had found enough spars, timber, sails, ropes and barrels to construct a large raft, though rather badly made, because these men were consoling themselves with a rum-barrel. At a distance floated the ship's gig, with the captain, the mate, the carpenter and three other men. Finally, there is a construction, hardly more than a large barrel, containing Snowball, an African ship's cook of the Coromantee tribe, together with a little girl of eight or ten. Luckily these get together with Ben Brace and the boy William, and it is their adventures that the story is mainly about. The author is a natural historian, and he tells us lots of interesting things about the fish and other denizens of the deep. Naturally the whole thing comes right in the end, with the wicked perishing, and the good being picked up by a whale-ship.

    Grounded in a centuries-old mystical approach, this movement is powerful yet highly deceptive, and it draws its energy from practices and experiences that are foreign to biblical Christianity. The path the emerging church is taking is leading right into the arms of an interfaith perspective that has prophetically profound ramifications. It is indeed a new way of being Christians, and in every conceivable manner, it is striving to bring about a new reformation. Without a doubt, it will have an impact on all churches in the Western world and far beyond. For behind this new kind of church is a well-designed strategy and maneuver by the prince of this world, the enemy of our souls, to literally take apart the faith of millions-it will be nothing less than faith undone.

    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 book, Fr. John Riccardo helps us to see the world through God's lens, with a clear vision of the future.