In 2007, Janet Belsky's "Experiencing the Lifespan" was published to widespread instructor and student acclaim, ultimately winning the 2008 Textbook Excellence Award from the Text and Academic Authors Association. Now that breakthrough text returns in a rigorously updated edition that explores the lifespan by combining the latest research with a practicing psychologist's understanding of people, and a teacher's understanding of students and classroom dynamics. And again, all of this in the right number of pages to fit comfortably in a single term course.

    In this new and substantially expanded second edition, Jenkins continues to illuminate the remarkable expanion of Christianity in the global South--in Africa, Asia, and Latin America--as well as the clash betwen Islam and Christianity since September 11. Among the major topics covered are the growing schism between Northern and Southern churches over issues of gender and sexuality, immigrant and ethnic churches in North America, and a special section on the split within the Anglican Communion. The first in a three-book trilogy on the changes besetting modern Christianity, this award-winning book will be welcomed by all of those who have come to recognize Philip Jenkins as one of our leading commentators on religion and world affairs.

    Todd Billings recovers the biblical theme of union with Christ for today's church, making a fresh contribution to the theological discussion with important applications for theology and ministry. Drawing on Scripture and the thought of figures such as Augustine, Calvin, Bavinck, and Barth, Billings shows how a theology of union with Christ can change the way believers approach worship, justice, mission, and the Christian life. He illuminates how union with Christ can change the theological conversation about thorny topics such as total depravity and the mystery of God. Billings also provides a critique and alternative to the widely accepted paradigm of incarnational ministry and explores a gospel-centered approach to social justice. Throughout, he offers a unique and lively exploration of what is so amazing about being united to the living Christ.

    Author Elyse Fitzpatrick and several contributors are all qualified biblical counselors skilled at interweaving the perfect wisdom of God’s Word with heartfelt compassion and concern for those who need help. Among the topics are…emotions, worry, and depressioneating disorders and habitual struggles and sinsverbal abuse and pornographysingleness, marriage, and parentinggrief and caregivingDesigned for both self-use and as a guide for counseling others, Women Counseling Women offers answers that will encourage and endure because God’s Word is timeless and full of wisdom for the problems women face.-------------------------------------------------------Introduction: Women who teach what is good / Elyse Fitzpatrick --Part 1. A woman and the word. --Biblical counseling : real help for real women / Elyse Fitzpatrick --Do God's promises apply to you? / Janet Rickett --Interpreting God's word accurately / Barbara Enter --Spiritual discernment : how can I know what is true? / Karen Avinelis --Establishing a biblical ministry to women / Maureen Bonner --Part 2. A woman and her emotions. --Dealing with your emotions God's way / Mary Wilkin --Christ, God's answer to your fear / Janie Street --Help for overcoming anger / Martha Peace --The difficult road through depression / Mary Sommerville --About medicines : finding a balance / Laura Hendrickson --Part 3. A woman and her relationships. --Single women and the test of loneliness / Joan Kulper --Way beyond the man of your dreams : help for single moms / Lynn Denby --Does anyone hear me? : facing loneliness in marriage / Vanessa Ellen --Healing for the hidden wounds from verbal abuse / Debra Gentry --The gospel for the beginning of life / Vonna Struck --Faithful parenting : reaching your child's heart / Barbara Scroggins --The perfect-mom syndrome / Connie Larson --Raising children who are challenged / Laura Hendrickson --Training teens in the true faith / Jan Steenback --Hope for caregivers of the elderly / Holly Drew --Part 4. A woman and specific problems. --Help for habitual overeaters / Shannon McCoy --Breaking the chain of generational sin / Nanci McMannis --The taboo topic : pornography and women / Rachel Coyle --Women struggling with same-sex attraction / Karrie Hahn.

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    Combining biblical, historical, and cultural analysis, this comprehensive text explores the church as a Trinitarian, eschatological, worshiping, sacramental, serving, ordered, cultural, and missional community. It also offers practical application, addressing contemporary church life issues such as women in ministry, evangelism, social action, consumerism in church growth trends, ecumenism, and the church in postmodern culture. The book will appeal to all who are interested in church doctrine, particularly undergraduates and seminarians.

    It provides readers with a clear analysis of key biblical passages, succinct answers (4-8 pages each), and discussion questions. The unique format of the book allows the reader to pick and choose what issues are most pertinent to their interests and needs.

    She brought up a past mistake. He walked out angry. She left without saying good-bye. An ordinary day in an ordinary marriage. But what if things could be different? What if the moments that seem the most ordinary moments of annoyance, conflict, pain, or cold indifference could become moments in which you're able to understand God's incredible agenda for love and begin to do something new?Winston T. Smith, drawing on his extensive experience as a marriage counselor, offers a simple yet powerful prescription for changing your marriage. He shows how examining the everyday disappointments and irritations in your marriage will help you understand yourself, your spouse, and your need for God's love. Change begins with seeing day-to-day interactions from a different perspective, taking simple steps to love one another more effectively, and then learning how to take those steps over and over again. Interactions that used to devolve into pointless annoyances and fights can become an opportunity for God's activity and love to become increasingly evident and powerful.The principles in this book will take your marriage to extraordinary places and lead you into a deeper relationship with an extraordinary God. Don't settle for an ordinary marriage, learn to live out God's extraordinary love in your most intimate relationship.

    I. Packer's classic has been an important tool to help Christians around the world discover the wonder, the glory and the joy of knowing God. In 2006, Christianity Today voted this title one of the top 50 books that have shaped evangelicals. This edition is updated with Americanized language and spelling and a new preface by the author. Stemming from Packer's profound theological knowledge, Knowing God brings together two important facets of the Christian faith: 1. Knowing about God and 2. Knowing God through the context of a close relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. Written in an engaging and practical tone, this thought-provoking work seeks to transform and enrich the Christian understanding of God. Explaining both who God is and how we can relate to him, Packer divides his book into three sections: The first directs our attention to how and why we know God, the second to the attributes of God and the third to the benefits enjoyed by a those who know him intimately. This guide leads readers into a greater understanding of God while providing advice to gaining a closer relationship with him as a result.

    In some cases these ideas were once peculiarly Baptists, though they are now more widely held among other groups. For Stan Norman, healthy Baptist churches intentionally and diligently adhere to their Baptist distinctives.

    He takes cues from preachers and teachers down through the ages, setting key doctrines of creation, the person and work of Christ, and life in the Spirit into a simple framework of the Christian life. A rich and enjoyable read on the basic beliefs of Christianity that avoids dumbing down its profound and life changing truths.

    Benedict has for centuries been the guide of religious communities. St. Benedict's rules of obedience, humility, and contemplation are not only prerequisites for formal religious societies, they also provide an invaluable model for anyone desiring to live more simply. While they presuppose a certain detachment from the world, they provide guidance and inspiration for anyone seeking peace and fulfillment in their home and work communities. As prepared by the Benedictine monk and priest Timothy Fry, this translation of The Rule of St. Benedict can be a life-transforming book. With a new Preface by Thomas Moore, author of The Care of the Soul."God is our home but many of us have strayed from our native land. The venerable authors of these Spiritual Classics are expert guides--may we follow their directions home."--Archbishop Desmond Tutu

    Reviewed by 27 of the field's leading experts, Corey's Seventh Edition covers the major concepts of counseling theories, shows students how to apply those theories in practice, and helps them learn to integrate the theories into an individualized counseling style. Incorporating the thinking, feeling, and behaving dimensions of human experience, Corey offers an easy-to-understand text that helps students compare and contrast the therapeutic models. This book is the center of a suite of products that include a revised student manual, a revised casebook, a companion text, and an all-new CD-ROM.

    It takes the student from the beginning assignment of a paper through the research phase to the finished paper. This second edition gives improvements and added material for such things as the expanding field of online research and doing church-related research in a professional manner. Resources for doing research are updated throughout the book.

    What a gift!”—John Ortberg, bestselling author Every church is driven by something. Tradition, finances, programs, personalities, events, seekers, and even buildings can each be the controlling force in a church. But Rick Warren believes that in order for a church to be healthy it must become a purpose-driven church, built around the five New Testament purposes given to the church by Jesus. “The issue is church health, not church growth!” declares Warren. “If your church is healthy, growth will occur naturally. Healthy, consistent growth is the result of balancing the five biblical purposes of the church.” Rick Warren shares a proven five-part strategy that will enable your church to grow • warmer through fellowship • deeper through discipleship • stronger through worship • broader through ministry • larger through evangelism The Purpose Driven® Church shifts the focus away from church building programs to emphasizing a people-building process. Warren says, “If you will concentrate on building people, God will build the church.”