"Why I Am a Lutheran explores the foundational teachings of the Christian church. In each chapter, Daniel Preus calls upon more than 20 years of pastoral experience to reveal Jesus as the center of the Christian faith. As he addresses central doctrines such as sin and grace, Law and Gospel, the person and work of Jesus Christ, worship, the Sacraments, and the office of the ministry, Preus keeps the focus on Jesus Christ--who is "always and only at the center of all Christian teaching."

    

    Beginning with the first Christians and continuing in our present day, the Church has been planted in every nation on earth.The Catholic Church claims Jesus Christ himself as her founder, and in spite of heresy from within and hostility from without, she remains in the twenty-first century the steadfast guardian of belief in his life, death, and resurrection. The teachings and redemptive works of Jesus as told in the Gospels are expressed by the Church in a coherent and consistent body of doctrine, the likes of which cannot be found in any other Christian body.The history of the Catholic Church is long, complicated, and fascinating, and in this book it is expertly and ably told by historian James Hitchcock. As in the parable of Christ about the weeds that were sown in a field of wheat, evil and good have grown together in the Church from the start, as Hitchcock honestly records. He brings before us the many characterssome noble, some notoriouswho have left an indelible mark on the Church, while never losing sight of the saints, who have given living testimony to the salvific power of Christ in every age.This ambitious work is comprehensive in its scope and in incisive in its understanding, a valuable addition to any school or home library.

      No less significant than the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement.  Just like the Romans, the Arabs came from nowhere to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion—except that they achieved their conquests not over the course of centuries as the Romans did but in a matter of decades. Just like the Greeks during the Persian wars, they overcame seemingly insuperable odds to emerge triumphant against the greatest empire of the day—not by standing on the defensive, however, but by hurling themselves against all who lay in their path.

    What has kept him willing to see the best? Every time he returns to Iraq he may be saying goodbye to his family for the last time. What do they think? He suffers from MS. How does he remain cheerful despite his physical weakness, and its progression? What does he say to God, alone in his study, late at night? He has been caught up in momentous events. Can he see the hand of God? Looking ahead, can he be optimistic about the future? Where are his sources of spiritual energy? He solicits prayer: why? 'Not everything God calls us to do is painless, ' he comments. 'Much of my work is simply about showing love to the unlovely.'

    All religions ask, in one way or another, where suffering comes from, why it exists, and what it means. They ask where we can find the strength to endure. They ask for deliverance from it. This is no less true today. The twentieth century saw brutal totalitarian regimes; two world wars; as well as the genocide, concentration camps, and gulags all resulting in the death of tens of millions of people. In the twenty-first century we have the threat of ruthless terrorism, outrageous injustice, abused and starving children, millions of people in flight, increasing persecution of Christians, and devastating natural catastrophes. With this in mind, it is difficult for many people to speak of an all-powerful and simultaneously just and merciful God. Why does God permit all of this? In Mercy, the important new book praised by Pope Francis, Cardinal Walter Kasper examines God's mercy while holding these devastating facts and questions in hand. He looks at empathy and compassion as a starting point for theological reflection on the topic. He continues by reflecting upon the following: What does it mean to believe in a merciful God? How are divine mercy and divine justice related? How can we speak of a sympathetic--that is, a compassionate--God? Can undeserved woe and divine mercy be brought into harmony with one another? He likewise seeks to address the ethical questions that similarly arise: How can we measure up to the standard of divine mercy in our own actions? What does the message of mercy mean for the practice of the church and how can we cause the central message of God's mercy to shine in the life of Christians and the church? What does this message mean for a new culture of mercy in our society? These considerations of mercy lead to the fundamental questions of theology. In this work, Kasper combines theological reflection with spiritual, pastoral, and social considerations on this essential topic at a crucial time. +

    H. C. Fritz and C. F. W. Walther of fine works on practical ministry- Shows pastors how to carry out ministry on the basis of confessionally Lutheran theological principles- Stories and personal experience lend immediacy to the discussion- Unique in its presentation and content

    Unlike the so-called mainstream Protestant denominations, Southern Baptists have remained stubbornly conservative, refusing to adapt their beliefs and practices to modernity's individualist and populist values. Instead, they have held fast to traditional orthodoxy in such fundamental areas as biblical inspiration, creation, conversion, and miracles. Gregory Wills argues that Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has played a fundamental role in the persistence of conservatism, not entirely intentionally. Tracing the history of the seminary from the beginning to the present, Wills shows how its foundational commitment to preserving orthodoxy was implanted in denominational memory in ways that strengthened the denomination's conservatism and limited the seminary's ability to stray from it. In a set of circumstances in which the seminary played a central part, Southern Baptists' populist values bolstered traditional orthodoxy rather than diminishing it. In the end, says Wills, their populism privileged orthodoxy over individualism. The story of Southern Seminary is fundamental to understanding Southern Baptist controversy and identity. Wills's study sheds important new light on the denomination that has played - and continues to play - such a central role in our national history.

    In The Way, Clark Carlton turns his attention to the fundamental differences between Orthodoxy and Protestantism. In a clear, well-written style, Clark Carlton articulates a broad vision of the Historic Church and gently explains how Protestants may embrace the fullness of the Christian faith.The Way is the perfect sequel to Carlton's best selling The Faith.The Way is a book that every Protestant interested in Orthodoxy must read. The Way is an invaluable resource for Orthodox who want to understand the Protestant culture in which we live.The Way is the perfect gift for Orthodox to give to Protestant friend or family.

    To the one who filled life with his wisdom, and hugged the minds, the minds of his companions, and delivered them to the wider upper fields, I mean knowledge. To the one who enriched the Arabic language with his eloquent speech. To the master of eloquent ones and the prince of the wise men. To the prince of believers To him... I raise this little of what was collected from the pearls of his wisdom and the magnificent of his sermons.

    

    Janell Carroll clearly conveys foundational biological and health issues, extensively cites both current and classic research, and addresses all material in a fresh and fun way; her book helps teach students what they need, and want, to know about sexuality. Her focus takes into account the social, religious, ethnic, racial, and cultural contexts of today's students. Dr. Carroll has used feedback from the first edition to add even further value to this popular title-streamlining student pedagogy and providing dynamic learning opportunities through Active Summaries at the end of chapters, a new online student tutorial, new video components, and content for Classroom Response Systems. This continues to be the text most representative of today's students, incorporating new sexual position art, a new pronunciation guide, and (for instructors) a new cross-cultural Slang Guide.

    Designed as an introduction to the history of Catholicism, this convenient resource offers more than just names, dates, and places, Most importantly, it brings to life the people of God in each century who have faithfully loved and served the Church, often at the cost of great personal sacrifice and persecution. This convenient guide will inspire, instruct, and enlighten the general reader.

    Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman, becomes the wife of the Persian king, Ahasuerus, but when the king is tricked into persecuting the Jews by his minister she feels she must reveal the truth about her identity and save her people.

    She had the world to choose from: she chose Afghanistan. She went to witness the final humiliation of a superpower in terminal decline as the Soviet Union was defeated by the mujahedeen. What she didn't know then was that Afghanistan would remain her focus for the next eighteen years. Gannon, uniquely among Western journalists, witnessed Afghanistan's tragic opera: the final collapse of communism followed by bitterly feuding warlords being driven from power by an Islamicist organization called the Taliban; the subsequent arrival of Arabs and exiles, among them Osama bin Laden; and the transformation of the country into the staging post for a global jihad. Gannon observed something else as well: the terrible, unforeseen consequences of Western intervention, the ongoing suffering of ordinary Afghans, and the ability of the most corrupt and depraved of the warlords to reinvent and reinsert themselves into successive governments. I is for Infidel is the story of a country told by a writer with a uniquely intimate knowledge of its people and recent history. It will transform readers' understanding of Afghanistan, and inspire awe at the resilience of its people in the face of the monstrous warmongers we have to some extent created there.