Church Theology

Many Christians know they should be passionate about evangelism, but in reality they often find it daunting. In this concise version of God Shines Forth, Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves urge Christians to grow in their knowledge and enjoyment of God—as they know God more, they will be spurred on to authentic service through missions and evangelism. To illustrate how the nature of God influences evangelism and missions, Hames and Reeves address biblical themes such as the glory of God, Christ's sacrifice, the fallenness of man, and the church's future hope.

Is it time for your church to go multisite? How do you know if it's the right solution for your congregation? MultiChurch brings clarity to the multisite movement and assembles the lessons it has learned over the past 15 years. Combining insights from multisite church pastor Brad House and...

In this short audiobook, Matt Smethurst makes the case that deacons are model servants called to meet tangible needs, organize and mobilize acts of service, preserve the unity of the flock, and support the ministry of the elders. Clearing away common misconceptions, Smethurst offers practical guidance for deploying deacons and helping churches to flourish.

“I’m deconstructing.” Yet another social-media post announces departure from the Christian faith. The cause could be sex, race, politics, social justice, science, hell - or all of the above. For many, Christianity is becoming implausible, even impossible to believe. While it might be tempting to leave the church in order to find answers, Before You Lose Your Faith argues that church should be the best place to deal with doubts.

The letters from Jesus to the Revelation churches must be the most misunderstood chapters in the Bible. Many people dismiss them as too hard, too strange, or too scary. “Did Jesus really say that?” Contrary to what you may have heard, these letters are good news from start to finish. They are love letters from Jesus to all of us, and they reveal the extreme goodness and favor of God. In Letters from Jesus, Paul Ellis unpacks the astonishing good news found in these ancient letters. In them he finds answers to tough questions.

Critical theory and its expression in fields such as critical race theory, critical pedagogy, and queer theory are having a profound impact on our culture. Contemporary critical theory's ideas about race, class, gender, identity, and justice have dramatically shaped how people think, act, and view one another—in Christian and secular spheres alike. In Critical Dilemma, authors Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer illuminate the origins and influences of contemporary critical theory, considering it in the light of clear reason and biblical orthodoxy.

A biblical defense of egalitarianism that relies on Scripture to affirm gender equality in the eyes of God. "Biblical womanhood" is the idea that the Bible teaches God-ordained male leadership and female submission in the home and subordination in the church. Some say this hierarchy of authority...

From an award-winning biblical scholar, the untold story of how enslaved people created, gave meaning to, and spread the message of the New Testament, shaping the very foundations of Christianity in ways both subtle and profound. For the past two thousand years, Christian tradition, scholarship...

Walter Brueggemann is one of the most highly regarded Old Testament scholars of our time; talk-show host Krista Tippett has even called him "a kind of theological rock star." In this new book Brueggemann incisively probes our society-in-crisis from the ground up. Pointing out striking correlations between the catastrophe of 9/11 and the destruction of ancient Jerusalem, Brueggemann shows how the prophetic biblical response to that crisis was truth-telling in the face of ideology, grief in the face of denial, and hope in the face of despair.

A journey of the soul through the map of Christian time. The liturgical year, beginning on the first Sunday of Advent and carrying through the following November, is the year that sets out to attune the life of the Christian to the life of Jesus, the Christ. What may at first seem to be simply...

What are the spiritual dynamics of leadership? How can you be more a person of God, aflame for God, anointed and empowered by God -- truly a Spirit-filled leader? Here are answers that you will read again and again...

From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus called and equipped individuals who would serve his community of followers. These "shepherds" are called to preach, pray, and care for the needs of God's people. But what does it mean to be a pastor? And what is the nature of this ministry, according to...

Spiritual writer, theologian, and philosopher Jesuit Fr. Robert Spitzer tackles the topic of recognizing and overcoming spiritual evil. His focus is the human heart. His goal: our moral and spiritual transformation, which leads to true peace and genuine happiness. The book is divided into two main parts: the realities of God's goodness and of spiritual evil, and recognizing and overcoming diabolical tactics, which range from temptation and deception to the Deadly Sins.

Praxeology, the science of human action, is a lens through which truthfulness of the world is revealed. Truth goggles, if you will. Praxeology teaches us that everything going on in our society is rooted in the wills and desires of individuals. Starting from an irrefutable set of statements about human beings, we can come to conclusions about human behavior that are true regardless of what any political ideology might assert.

The purpose of Law and Society, this second of three volumes of The Institutes of Biblical Law, is to show how God’s law applies to every aspect of our lives and world. There are in God’s word specified consequences, curses and blessings, for disobedience and obedience. We cannot understand history apart from that fact.

Early Christianity was subversive and dangerous - dangerous for Christians, and a threat to the keepers of the old order. Most of all Christianity was countercultural. But what about contemporary American Christianity? Is it the countercultural way of Jesus or merely a religious endorsement of Americanism? In his provocative audiobook, Postcards From Babylon, Brian Zahnd challenges the listener to see and embrace a daring Jesus-centered Christianity that can again turn the world upside down.

Hollywood, the music industry, and large corporations promise happiness, pleasure, popularity, and power if we would just buy what they are selling. But their tactics are smoke and mirrors, and their promises are hollow. From photoshop to misleading advertising to the use of paid celebrities, a cocktail of lies tell us how we are supposed to look and feel about ourselves.

Daughter Zion avoids the extremes of ignoring the biblical foundation for Marian doctrine on the one hand and fundamentalistic proof-texting on the other. Instead, the author beautifully and lucidly develops key biblical themes to help listeners understand and appreciate the mother of God.

The “modern Jesus” of progressives—supposedly friendlier and more accepting than the Savior we know from the Gospels—is gaining popularity and acceptance among self-identified Christians. But they don’t realize that progressive Christianity rejects the biblical revelation of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Hijacking Jesus addresses perennial questions about the nature of Christ and his teaching, testing the historical and theological accuracy of progressive Christians.

The Zondervan Biblical and Theological Lectures series provides a unique audio learning experience. Unlike a traditional audiobook's direct narration of a book's text, Faith Alone: Audio Lectures include high quality live-recordings of college-level lectures that cover the important points from...