Church Culture

Is it possible to disagree politically and love unconditionally? The reaction of evangelicals to political and cultural shifts in recent years revealed what they value most. Lurking beneath our Bible-laced rhetoric, faith claims, books, and sermons is a relentless drive to WIN! But the church is not here to win. By every human measure, our Savior lost. On purpose. With a purpose. And we are his body. We are not in it to win anything. We are in it for something else entirely. That something else is what this book is about.

The Bible is the central book in Western culture, yet extraordinarily there is no proper history of it. This exceptional work, by one of the world's leading Biblical scholars, provides a full account of how the different parts of the Bible came to be written; how some writings which were regarded as holy became canonical and were included in the Bible, and others were not; what the relationship is of the different parts of the Bible to each other; and how, once it became a stable text, the Bible has been disseminated and interpreted around the world.

Robert Henderson started to explore the question, "what would the seven mountains of culture look like in a reformed state?" There is much talk in the apostolic and prophetic community about reformation and transformation, but sometimes, we don't have a clear vision of what it would actually look like for these spheres of influence to be modeled, shaped, and impacted by believers who carry the kingdom of God into their everyday places of assignment.

Letters from Jesus: Studies from the Seven Churches of Revelation explores Christ’s warnings to the seven most prominent churches in Asia Minor in the book of Revelation. These letters date back to 95 AD, but they help us make a fascinating discovery about civilization: Life hasn’t changed that much over the last two millennia. Author Chris Palmer illustrates the truths contained in the Letters from Jesus using modern, everyday examples.

Two Cultures. One God. Who Do You Serve? Today’s church is struggling. We attend services on Sunday and live our busy lives the rest of the week. We praise God with our words, yet our hearts are far from him. Unfortunately, it shows in our strained relationship with Jesus and with others. Jealousy. Vanity. Pride. Gluttony. Exclusion. Criticalness. Gossip. The church has become so blessed and accustomed to the good life that our fervor for the things of God has diminished, and we have let sin slip into our lives and onto our church pews. In Worldly Culture in a Holy Church, author Janice ...

A primary barrier to revival is the church’s reluctance to honestly analyze the dark, negative condition of our culture. It is necessary to awaken men to a sense of guilt and danger. ~Charles Finney (Lectures on Revival of Religion) There is increasing pressure from the church in our nation to reject any negative analysis or any call to reformation that reveals what is out of order yet still valued by the people. The spirit of the age is quite brilliant and crafty, and the resulting seduction is overwhelming for many a Christian. The desire for positive, happy experiences is so strong ...

Following the example of John the Baptist and with a careful look at the teaching of Scripture, Tim Suttle dares church leaders to risk failure by chasing the vision God has given them - no matter how small it might seem - instead of pursuing the broad path of pragmatism that leads to fame and numerical success.

In the valley of the Upper Nile, on the bank of the river, is the town of Akhmim, once called Panopolis. In ancient times, Panoplis was the capital of the district. In the town stood remnants of a monastery. The ruins of the temple marked the intellectual life of ancient days. On the lands of the monastery was a graveyard wherein were interred the monks and priests who served there long ago.

If you're brave enough to take an honest look at the issues facing the culture-controlled church - and the issues in your own life - read on.

Do you ever look at how the Christian faith is being lived out in the new millennium and wonder if we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing? That we still haven't quite 'gotten it'? That we've missed the point regarding many important issues? It's understandable if we've relied on what we've been told to believe or what's widely accepted by the Christian community. But if we truly turned a constructive, critical eye toward our beliefs and vigorously questioned them....

God has called you to be an agent of cultural change! America is experiencing a cultural revolution. Against the onslaught of conflicting political agendas, powerful media pressures, and radical ideologies, what should Christians think? How should we respond? In Counterculture, Pastor Duane Sheriff reveals how the "woke" movement has a form of godliness but denies the power of the cross. Instead of aligning with the dominant cultural trends, believers must rise up and forge a kingdom culture, countering critical race theory with "critical grace theory".

Though they may seem to be dividing the country irreparably, today's heated cultural and political battles between right and left, progressives and the Tea Party, religious and secular are far from unprecedented. In this engaging and important work, Stephen Prothero reframes the current debate, viewing it as the latest in a number of flashpoints that have shaped our national identity.

There is a church not too far from us that recently added a $25 million addition to their building. Our local newspaper ran a front-page story not too long ago about a study revealing that one in five people in our city lives in poverty. This is a book about those two numbers. It's a book about faith and fear, wealth and war, poverty, power, safety, terror, Bibles, bombs, and homeland insecurity, It's about what happens when Christians support, animate, and participate in the very things Jesus came to set people free from.

Warm, insightful, even at times amusing, Teems's depiction of King James has all the elements of a grand tale - conspiracy, kidnapping, witchcraft, murder, love, despair, loss. Majestie offers an engaging new look at the world's most cherished, revered, and influential translation of Sacred Writ and the king behind it.

This illuminating and insightful audiobook analyzes problems with the culture's underlying worldviews and suggests how Christians can offer solutions to current problems as a way to rebuild culture and faith.

Don’t Try to Ride the Wave of 20th-Century Ministry Leaders, are you called to a place where Jesus’ name is most often spouted as a curse word? Because in the 21st-century, the culture is shifting. The “easy places” are increasingly post-Christian—even pre-Christian. If you want to minister successfully right now, you must: • Learn the mind-shifts necessary to make disciples in the world as it exists today • Rethink outmoded ideas of funding, metrics, and team-building • Find out how to model a faith community that’s relevant to the needs of the culture where God’s ...

Leading Bible scholar John Dominic Crossan, the author of the pioneering work The Historical Jesus, provides new insight into the Christian culture wars which began in the New Testament and persist strongly today. For decades, Americans have been divided on how Christians should relate to government and lawmakers, a dispute that has impacted every area of society and grown more rancorous over the past forty years. But as Crossan makes clear, this debate isn’t new; it can be found in the New Testament itself, most notably in the tensions between Luke-Acts and Revelations.

Embark on a captivating exploration of African theology in this evocative tale of ancestral wisdom and spiritual awakening. Deep within the heart of the African savannah, beneath a canopy of stars, Panyim, a revered elder, is called upon by his ancestors in a vivid dream. Guided by their ethereal voices, Panyim is tasked with a sacred mission: to seek the wisdom hidden within the legendary Baobab tree, where the earth meets the sky. But Panyim is not alone. Nyakor, a young woman with a thirst for knowledge, also receives the ancestors' call. Together, they embark on a transformative journey...

Institutions remain essential to human flourishing. They are the means by which communities thrive, individual vocations are fulfilled, and society is changed for the good. As a result, we all need to learn how to work effectively within institutions. That is just what Gordon Smith provides. He unpacks the core of institutional intelligence - the wisdom of working effectively within an organization. At the same time, he explains how team leaders, directors, executives, board members, key stakeholders, and employees can avoid what is often their greatest source of stress on the job,

Is Western civilization in an accelerating decline? And if it continues will it eventually weaken and cause us to come to the end of cultured civilization as we now know it? "Yes," says David Jeremiah in his audiobook I Never Thought I'd See the Day! Can this downward spiral be reversed? Yes, but only if, one person at a time, we return to God with our hearts, our manner of life, our dedication to genuine worship of God, and by serving God in helping others, in our giving, and in prayer.

Gain a whole new perspective on your favorite Hollywood films! Do you want to discover God’s truth in your favorite movies? Do you want to be inspired by spiritual themes in recent blockbusters? Do you want to increase your faith and draw closer to God by watching movies? Absolutely! And this book will show you how. We live in a culture that is obsessed with Hollywood. We go to the movies, watch them at home, talk about them with our friends, and even argue about them online. But have you ever stopped to consider the movies you watch and messages they convey through the filter of faith? ...