Social Ministry

There's been huge cultural change in the last few decades. Same-sex marriage would have been unthinkable 20 or 30 years ago. Now it's almost universally accepted in the Western world. Now suddenly the issue of transgender is the next big social, cultural issue that has dominated the headlines. Vaughan Roberts surveys the Christian worldview and seeks to apply these principles to the many complex questions surrounding gender identity.

The future is now. Philip Jenkins has chronicled how the next Christendom has shifted away from the Western church toward the global South and East. Likewise, changing demographics mean that North American society will accelerate its diversity in terms of race, ethnicity and culture. But evangelicalism has long been held captive by its predominantly white cultural identity and history. In this book professor and pastor Soong-Chan Rah calls the North American church to escape its captivity to Western cultural trappings and to embrace a new evangelicalism that is diverse and multiethnic.

Jimmy Creech, a United Methodist pastor in North Carolina, was visited one morning in 1984 by Adam, a longtime parishioner whom he liked and respected. Adam said that he was gay, and that he was leaving The United Methodist Church, which had just pronounced that "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" could not be ordained. He would not be part of a community that excluded him. Creech found himself instinctively supporting Adam, telling him that he was sure that God loved and accepted him as he was.

National tensions are at a record high. People on all points in the political spectrum care deeply about their country, although they differ wildly in their opinions about what it looks like to serve that country well. As Christians, we love God and seek to follow him. At the same time, nothing shapes us and tugs at our loyalties quite like the place we live. And of course we are regularly encouraged to pledge our allegiance to our country―or particular understandings of it. Who wins when the priorities of God and our country clash?

Millennials. It seems the very mention of the word draws equally passionate—and polarized—responses from society members of all ages. With labels such as "The Unreachable Generation," "The Me Me Me Generation," and "The Worst Generation," it is no wonder that our young people are the most notorious this world has ever seen. But beneath the surface, crises linger which drive an individual to wonder what is really going on within the minds of our youth.

I Am N reminds us that we are each “n”, or ن ― the Arabic letter radical Muslims use to identify followers of Jesus the Nazarene. Wherever we live, we have fellowship with those persecuted for their Christian witness — just like the individuals found in this book. So come meet their families. Hear their stories. And deepen your faith in a God who calls us to follow Christ's example of enduring suffering in order to fulfill God's redemptive mission.

With the troubling and painful events of the last several years - from the shooting of numerous unarmed black men at the hands of police to the rallying of white supremacists in Charlottesville - it is clearer than ever that the reconciliation paradigm, long favored by white Christians, has failed to heal the deep racial wounds in the church and American society. In this provocative audiobook, originally published in 2014, Jennifer Harvey argues for a radical shift away from the well-meaning but feeble longing for reconciliation toward a robustly biblical call for reparations.

High on God gives the first robust and plausible explanation for why megachurches have conquered the churchgoing market of America. Without condescension or exaggeration, the authors show the genius of megachurches: the power of charisma, the design of facilities, the training of leaders, the emotional dynamics, and the strategies that bring people together and lead them to serve and help others.

Believers is a scientist's answer to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers. It is a firm rebuke of the "Four Horsemen" - Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens - known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Anthropologist Melvin Konner explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we experience as a species.

The least of these have the most to give. In Wherever the River Runs, Kelly Minter invites us on a journey down a river teeming with piranhas and caimans, as well as machete-wielding mothers, heroic jungle pastors, faith-filled children, and miracles too seldom experienced in our part of the world. Kelly's honest and engaging narrative pulls back the curtain on one of the most captivating places on earth as well as on parts of the gospel we may be able to recite but have never fully believed.

For much of American history, evangelicalism was aligned with progressive political causes: nineteenth-century evangelicals fought for the abolition of slavery, universal suffrage, and public education. But contemporary conservative activists have defaulted on this majestic legacy, embracing instead an agenda virtually indistinguishable from the Republican Party platform.

Every follower of Jesus Christ should be able to answer two simple questions: Who is investing in me?Whom am I investing in? God desires to pour an abundance of spiritual and emotional capital into your life - directly and through older and wiser believers. And he wants to use you to pour spiritual and emotional capital into the lives of others. Along the way, you’ll be changed. Others will change. God calls this process of spiritual investing "making disciples". It’s the heart of the Great Commission.

Deep Conviction features four ordinary Americans who put their reputations and livelihoods at risk as they fought to protect their first amendment right to live their personal beliefs. Though these individuals couldn’t be more different, they share a similar conviction and determination, and the principles of religious freedom apply equally to all of them.

Colleges, universities, and seminaries do more than just transfer knowledge to students. They sell themselves as "experiences" that transform young people in unique ways. The conservative evangelical Protestant network of higher education has been no different. In Fundamentalist U, Adam Laats shows that these colleges have always been more than just schools; they have been vital intellectual citadels in America's culture wars. These unique institutions have defined what it has meant to be an evangelical and have reshaped the landscape of American higher education.

California wildfires and mudslides, a false ballistic-missile alert, record-shattering hurricanes hammer the East Coast, vehicles plow into crowds, mass shootings, the opiate drug crisis, over 60 million babies aborted, the fatherlessness epidemic, the sexual-identity crisis. The list of alarming headlines goes on and on. The hour is late. Darkness is blatant. The American norm has changed. Lisa Bickle Stribling's audiobook is an urgent call to know the hour we live in. To understand the signs of Jesus' majestic return.

Powerful sermons from Washington National Cathedral in the midst of the pandemic. Through their sermons, Cathedral clergy and guest preachers such as Jon Meacham, Kelly Brown Douglas, and Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry share inspiring words. Collectively, they offer lasting guidance for difficult times, reinforcing that even in the midst of loss and chaos, God is at work among us, lifting us up and giving us hope for the future.

Lockdown is a terrifying story of not only the chaotic freefall of American freedoms during the opening stages of the COVID pandemic, but the dangerous growth of government power that continues today. Lockdown is a warning that the extraordinary powers invoked by left-wing Democrats and others, justified by claims of public health and safety, have begun the unravelling of America’s constitutional order and our most cherished freedoms. Using COVID-19 as a cover, Democrat leaders and their bureaucratic health advisers seized powers the Constitution never gave them.

Today's youth face immense challenges, and their role within church communities is often undervalued. Don't Despise Our Youth by David A. Washington offers a powerful call to action to transform youth ministry into a platform where young people are empowered to lead, thrive, and serve alongside their church.

It is a question at the center of many arguments against the existence of God and a conundrum that stumps even the most devout worshipers. What do we make of pain and suffering? What does it cost us? What is its value? How can an all-loving God allow for world catastrophe, grave illness, and devastating carnage?

Everyone living on the planet today has a front-row seat to the failure of communism, socialism, and immorality. People are sick to death of the fabrications, lies, control, and tyranny. Mario Murillo draws on his recent experiences in California, where his ministry is experiencing souls being saved at a rate that surpasses even what was seen during the Jesus movement of the 1960s and '70s. It's accelerating, and Murillo believes it's a worldwide trend that has us poised for an unprecedented opportunity as the body of Christ. We must seize this moment!