Social Ministry

The Good Book collects new pieces by writers from many different faiths and ethnicities, including literary fiction writers (Colm Tóibín, Edwidge Danticat, Tobias Wolff, and Rick Moody); best-selling nonfiction writers (A. J. Jacobs, Ian Frazier, Adam Gopnik, and Thomas Lynch); notable figures in the media (Charles McGrath, Cokie Roberts, and Steven V. Roberts); and social activists (Al Sharpton and Kerry Kennedy).

In The Courage to Stand, best-selling and award-winning author Russell Moore calls listeners to a Christ-empowered courage by pointing the way to real freedom from fear - the way of the cross. That way means integrity through brokenness, community through loneliness, power through weakness, and a future through irrelevance. On the other side of fear is freedom: the freedom to stand.

We know that in a fallen and broken world there will always be pain and poverty, sickness and sadness. Yet as followers of Christ, we are called to bring hope and healing to those who hurt. What, then, is our responsibility to alleviate human suffering this side of eternity? With so many needs everywhere we look, where do we start? The Least of These brings together a collection of respected Christian thought leaders to provide a multifaceted look at the body of Christ’s relationship and responsibility―both individual and corporate―to the marginalized of our society.

In a world fractured by racial, ethnic, class and political division, God's people need to pursue their unity in Christ. Jesus not only reconciles us to God but unites us in a new family. As we experience more of the fullness of being God’s reconciled people, we know more of the fullness of God.

As never before in American history, Christians are witnessing biblical values being replaced by laws that impose a godless, immoral, oppressive social agenda on their country. The overall disdain political and religious liberal activists have toward conservative values in general and authentic Christianity in particular has produced an ideological civil war that is raging out of control. But many people sense there’s something more sinister going on.

In the Washington McBride Series, each book stands alone as a complete novel. The final book of the trilogy The Savage Surrogate is the ultimate in story-telling. If you cry at happy/sad movies, have your Kleenex ready. Lady Dog with Juliette and Mike McBride are involved in separate, seemingly unrelated crime-solving capers, which all come together in one grand finale. In this novel, the author cleverly weaves four threads in and out of danger and into a common joyous blanket.

In A Time for Action, Rafael Cruz presents a simple underlying message: For Christians, Jesus Christ should be the foundation of the lives they build, and they should be active in making a difference in the world around them. In practical terms, that means that we should strive for a free society that respects each of God's children; we should embrace the Judeo-Christian values of love, joy, and peace; and we should seek relationships with the living God.

Is it possible to be both a Catholic and a feminist? Claire Swinarski, writer and creator of The Catholic Feminist podcast, believes it is: "I'm a feminist for the same reason I'm bold and honest and sometimes ragey: because Jesus was all of those things." In Girl, Arise!, Swinarski reconciles the two identities by demonstrating the strength and abilities women have to share with the Body of Christ, the importance of women throughout the history of the faith, and how the love you experience through Christ and the Church can change you and the world around you.

Every Christian isn't called to adopt, but everyone is called to care for orphans. The evangelical adoption movement is but one strand in a long cord of Christian care for orphans. While adoption trends have fluctuated over time in different contexts, the Bible has not changed its position. The gospel is decidedly pro-adoption and on the side of the orphan. Yet many obstacles stand in the way of the Christian's mission to provide care to the least of these. So, what now?

How Would Jesus Vote? isn't intended to tell you which candidates to support; rather it offers you a Christ-centered understanding of the world to help you draw your own political conclusions. This election, don't cast an uninformed vote that fails to reflect your values. Instead, learn how to apply your faith and obedience to God to your ballot. This timely, helpful, and hopeful book will enable you to do just that.

Judge Not! is a book that tackles the controversial "judge not" topic head-on! Do those two words spoken by Jesus mean what they seem to say? What does it mean to judge, anyway? Is it always wrong to judge? Is there ever a case where judging could be a good thing? Is God the only one who can rightly judge? These questions and many more are answered in Judge Not!

"I don't care for vocational books written in the United States; they're too American." When Susan Maros heard this comment from a Malaysian colleague, she was initially taken aback. Isn't the concept of calling universal? Why wouldn't resources with a biblical perspective on vocation apply to everyone? The reality is that each of us encounters our questions of calling from within a particular context.

In the 1970s, many campus radicals raised in Christian homes brought neo-Marxist ideas from college back to church with them. At first, figures like Jim Wallis, Ron Sider, and Richard Mouw made great gains for their progressive evangelical cause. But, after the defeat of Jimmy Carter, the religious right stole the headlines. Today, a new crop of mainstream evangelicals has taken up the cause of the New Left, whether they know it or not.

Walk out your front door and you’ll find our “new Samaria”―a land of immigrants, refugees, and people of countless cultures and backgrounds longing for us to welcome them and to share the good news. Dr. Alejandro Mandes has dedicated his life to helping bridge cultural gaps in the church. He shares his vision for the church “to see, love, reach, and ultimately be the new Samaria in a way that brings true transformation to our churches and communities.”

The Bible has been hijacked. We’ve all seen examples of sacred scripture being used to justify racism, sexism, reactionary politics, and violence. If you have ever found yourself wondering what Bible some of your fellow believers are reading, then you are not alone. With a foreword from Brian McLaren, Who Stole My Bible?: Reclaiming Scripture as a Handbook for Resisting Tyranny shows how the Bible is an inspiring handbook for finding your voice for speaking truth.

Pastor Kevin Wiebe grew up below the poverty line, with his mother hunting for change in the couch to buy food for the baby. Wiebe now pastors a “low resource” church of mostly immigrants - a congregation that transcends definitions of the helper and the helped and that doesn’t fit neatly into any stereotype of poverty. In Faithful in Small Things, Wiebe shows listeners that writing big checks isn’t the only - or even the best - way to alleviate poverty.

Using the incredible story of how Pastor Choco chose to “love them anyway” to transform the crime-ridden community of Humboldt Park in Chicago, Love Them Anyway will inspire you to love in a way you never have. This book will pave a compelling path for you to both express and experience a truly transformative love on a deep level. It will tap into your deepest desires, expose your hesitations, connect you deeper with God's love, and help you take bold steps to love the people around you - and your love will change lives.

Modern man has a problem with knowledge. He cannot accept God's word about the world or anything else, so anything that points to God must be called into question. Man, once he makes himself ultimate, is unable to know anything but himself. Because of this impasse, modern thinking has become progressively pragmatic. This book will lead the listener to understand that this problem of knowledge underlies the isolation and self-torment of modern man.

After a dramatic election amid a raging pandemic, racial violence, economic collapse, and historic national divisions that have threatened our democracy, Joe Biden succeeds Donald Trump as the 46th president of the United States. For Catholics, this is a momentous occasion in US public life, as he is the second Catholic to be elected to the nation’s highest office, joining John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

In arguably one of the most divisive and polarizing eras, evangelicals are faced with a profound crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that has many dimensions - political, biblical, and theological - as well as a crisis of spiritual formation and discipleship. What ultimately is at the root of this crisis? Mark Galli encourages us to turn our attention away from the politics of the moment, the social issues being discussed online, and the debate du jour among Christians. He asks us instead to take a long and hard look at what’s missing in our spirituality.