Debating Calvinism: Five Points, Two Views


Dave Hunt - 2004
    James White, author of The Potter's Freedom, takes the Calvinist position. Dave Hunt, author of What Love Is This, opposes him. The exchange is lively and at times intense as these two articulate men wrestle over what the Scriptures tell us about God's sovereignty and man's free will. This thought-provoking, challenging book provides potent responses to the most frequently asked questions about Calvinism.Is God free to love anyone He wants?Do you have any choice in your own salvation? It’s time to find out. Calvinism has been a topic of intense discussion for centuries. In this lively debate, two passionate thinkers take opposing sides, providing valuable responses to the most frequently asked questions about Calvinism. Only you can decide where you stand on questions that determine how you think about your salvation. Story Behind the BookThe subject of Calvinism has been hotly debated for many years, and now two prominent authors and researchers will debate this controversial topic in a book debate. This project came about when Mr. Hunt wrote What Love is This- Calvinism’s Misrepresentation of God. Mr. Hunt was challenged by many on the Calvinist bench and he eventually agreed to do a debate in a book format. The books purpose is to get you to think and come to your own conclusions.

On Secular Education


Robert Lewis Dabney - 1996
    It is the one business for which the earth exists. To it all politics, all war, all literature, all money-making, ought to be subordinated; and every parent especially ought to feel, every hour of the day, that, next to making his own calling and election sure, this is the end for which he is kept alive by God—this is his task on earth." -R.L. Dabney

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling


Andy Crouch - 2008
    Nor is it sufficient merely to critique culture or to copy culture. Most of the time, we just consume culture. But the only way to change culture is to create culture. Andy Crouch unleashes a stirring manifesto calling Christians to be culture makers. For too long, Christians have had an insufficient view of culture and have waged misguided "culture wars." But we must reclaim the cultural mandate to be the creative cultivators that God designed us to be. Culture is what we make of the world, both in creating cultural artifacts as well as in making sense of the world around us. By making chairs and omelets, languages and laws, we participate in the good work of culture making. Crouch unpacks the complexities of how culture works and gives us tools for cultivating and creating culture. He navigates the dynamics of cultural change and probes the role and efficacy of our various cultural gestures and postures. Keen biblical exposition demonstrates that creating culture is central to the whole scriptural narrative, the ministry of Jesus and the call to the church. He guards against naive assumptions about "changing the world," but points us to hopeful examples from church history and contemporary society of how culture is made and shaped. Ultimately, our culture making is done in partnership with God's own making and transforming of culture. A model of his premise, this landmark book is sure to be a rallying cry for a new generation of culturally creative Christians. Discover your calling and join the culture makers.

The Pocket Thomas Merton


Thomas Merton - 2005
    This pocket-sized treasury of wisdom from the influential Christian contemplative, political activist, social visionary, and literary figure is abridged from the larger collection Seeds by Robert Inchausti (Shambhala, 2002).

The End of America: The Role of Islam in the End Times and Biblical Warnings to Flee America


John Richard Price - 2009
    The book details 30 prophetic "mystery" clues identifying a rich, powerful and influential end times nation that will betray Israel and is therefore destroyed in one day/hour/moment. Radical Jihadists' plans to conquer the world for Allah by bringing "Death to America" are analyzed, comparing Muslim prophecies to Biblical last days verses. Prophecies warning God's people to flee from this "mystery" nation are studied in depth. WHEN should one flee? WHERE should God's people flee? THE END OF AMERICA lists nations that will be safe in the latter days, as Jihadists exert political and religious control across the globe. Also studied are the major world events that God's people should watch for, as Jesus advised. If you know in your spirit that America is in trouble, that national trends are just not right and that we are headed for a devastating future, this book may provide the answers from Biblical prophecy to confirm those leadings.

The End of Christendom


Malcolm Muggeridge - 1980
    Christendom, according to Malcolm Muggeridge, is something quite different than Christianity. Christ said his kingdom was not of this world; Christendom, on the other hand, is of this world and, like every other human creation, subject to decay and eventual desolation. In this book, Muggeridge perceptively explores the downfall of Christendom, indicating some of the contributing factors to its collapse.

What's So Amazing About Grace?


Philip Yancey - 1997
    Gordon alone survived. And forgave. He said of the bombers, ' I have lost my daughter, but I bear no grudge . . . I shall pray, tonight and every night, that God will forgive them.' His words caught the media's ears — and out of one man's grief, the world got a glimpse of grace. Grace is the church's great distinctive. It's the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else — for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world. In What's So Amazing About Grace? award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level. If grace is God's love for the undeserving, he asks, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a world that knows far more of cruelty and unforgiveness than it does of mercy? Yancey sets grace in the midst of life's stark images, tests its mettle against horrific 'ungrace.' Can grace survive in the midst of such atrocities as the Nazi holocaust? Can it triumph over the brutality of the Ku Klux Klan? Should any grace at all be shown to the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed and cannibalized seventeen young men? Grace does not excuse sin, says Yancey, but it treasures the sinner. True grace is shocking, scandalous. It shakes our conventions with its insistence on getting close to sinners and touching them with mercy and hope. It forgives the unfaithful spouse, the racist, the child abuser. It loves today's AIDS-ridden addict as much as the tax collector of Jesus' day. In his most personal and provocative book ever, Yancey offers compelling, true portraits of grace's life-changing power. He searches for its presence in his own life and in the church. He asks, How can Christians contend graciously with moral issues that threaten all they hold dear? And he challenges us to become living answers to a world that desperately wants to know, What's So Amazing About Grace?

The Hand of God: A Journey from Death to Life by the Abortion Doctor Who Changed His Mind


Bernard Nathanson - 1996
    Nathanson's deeply personal memoir of what led a lifelong atheist and abortion crusader first to the pro-life cause, and finally to Christianity.

Buddhism for Beginners: All you need to start your journey


Richard Johnson - 2017
    Written in a style that is simple and engaging, it explores the history of Buddhism, its philosophies, and its relevance in today’s society. The book provides numerous meditative exercises that will allow you to experience the wondrous teachings of this ancient wisdom. Inside you will read about... ✓ A Brief History of Buddhism ✓ The Spread of Buddhism ✓ The Servant or the Master: Which One are You? ✓ Self-Identification with the Mind and Body ✓ Meditation ✓ The Presence of Mindfulness ✓ The Principle of Karma ✓ Dualistic versus Non-Dualistic Perspectives ✓ The Principle of Non-Substantiality ✓ One’s Life and the Environment ✓ Sentient and Non-Sentient Beings ✓ Attachment ✓ The Ten Worlds The author explains how Buddhism is more than a religion; it’s an internal science. Rather than relying on dogma or sacred texts, Buddhism teaches us to look inward and challenge our most deep-seated beliefs for the purpose liberating ourselves from our minds.

Holy Smoke: How Christianity Smothered the American Dream


Rick Snedeker - 2020
    This is completely contrary to the Founding Fathers’ original vision of America; it was designed by them to be a secular democratic republic built on evidence-based Enlightenment values, emphatically not religious faith.Indeed, the Founders purposefully intended that a high, strong “wall of separation” keep church and state apart in the new nation, while allowing individual religious freedom untrammeled by government—and vice versa. But Christians with theocratic dreams keep trying to breach the wall. Through their efforts, God is now in evidence everywhere in the country—on our money, in our schools, even in high-level-government officials’ speeches. Freedom of — and from — religion is the American promise to all its people whatever their belief—or disbelief. This is how the Founding Fathers wanted it to be, not the undemocratic theocracy zealous evangelicals are trying to force on American society.

Just Thinking: About the State


Darrell Harrison - 2021
    

How Christianity Changed the World


Alvin J. Schmidt - 2004
    Many people today have little sense of how their lives have benefited from Christianity’s influence, often viewing the church with hostility or resentment. How Christianity Changed the World is a topically arranged Christian history for Christians and non-Christians. Grounded in solid research and written in a popular style, this book is both a helpful apologetic tool in talking with unbelievers and a source of evidence for why Christianity deserves credit for many of the humane, social, scientific, and cultural advances in the Western world in the last two thousand years. Photographs, timelines, and charts enhance each chapter. This edition features questions for reflection and discussion for each chapter.

A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward


Ralph Martin - 2020
    While much has been done to counter false teaching over the last four decades, today the Church faces even more insidious threatsƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚€ƒƒ‚ƒƒ‚‚‚ƒƒ‚‚ƒ‚‚"from outside and within. In A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward, Martin offers a detailed look at the growing hostility to the Catholic Church and its teaching. With copious evidence, Martin uncovers the forces working to undermine the Body of Christ and offers hope to those looking for clarity.A Church in Crisis covers:-polarization in the Church caused by ambiguous teachings-initiatives that accommodate the culture without calling for conversion-Vatican-sponsored partnerships with organizations that actively contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church-and the recycling of theological errors long settled by V

The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke


Elizabeth Warren - 2003
    Although this social revolution created a firestorm of controversy, no one questioned the idea that women's involvement in the workforce was certain to improve families' financial lot. Until now.In this brilliantly argued book, Harvard Law School bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and business consultant Amelia Tyagi show that today's middle-class parents are suffering from an unprecedented and totally unexpected economic meltdown. Astonishingly, sending mothers to work has made families more vulnerable than ever before. Today's two-income family earns 75% more money than its single-income counterpart of a generation ago, but actually has less discretionary income once their fixed monthly bills are paid.How did this happen? Warren and Tyagi provide convincing evidence that the culprit is not "overconsumption," as many critics have charged. Instead, they point to the ferocious bidding war for housing and education that has quietly engulfed America's suburbs. Stay-at-home mothers once provided a financial safety net if disaster struck; their move into the workforce has left today's families chillingly at risk. The authors show why the usual remedies--child-support enforcement, subsidized daycare, and higher salaries for women--won't solve the problem, and propose a set of innovative solutions, from rate caps on credit cards to open-access public schools, to restore security to the middle class.

Moral, Believing Animals: Human Personhood and Culture


Christian Smith - 2003
    Despite the vast differences in humanity between cultures and across history, no matter how differently people narrate their lives and histories, there remains an underlying structure of human personhood that helps to order human culture, history, and narration. Drawing on important recent insights in moral philosophy, epistemology, and narrative studies, Smith argues that humans are animals who have an inescapable moral and spiritual dimension. They cannot avoid a fundamental moral orientation in life and this, says Smith, has profound consequences for how sociology must study human beings.