English Church

In the past few decades, the church has experienced rapid and distressing change. Hard-working pastors and leaders often know they need to embrace diversity, creatively engage younger generations, and equip their people to love their neighbors. But since they don't know how to make the changes needed, they feel stuck and wonder, "What do I do now? For these dedicated yet drained church leaders, this research-informed resource from the team at the Fuller Youth Institute offers a clear roadmap to faithfully and effectively navigate change that will revitalize your church.

Inspector Sebastian Bell arrives at Paddington station through thick Victorian mist, hoping to reconcile with his estranged brother. Instead, he discovers a young woman’s body in an abandoned trunk, stabbed with a peculiar bone-handled knife. But with no clues to her identity and his new boss dismissing the case, Sebastian’s investigation seems doomed.

When I was called to pastor my first church, I was certain of only one thing—I was in over my head! This small church had nearly closed its doors. They were running about 35 on a Sunday, were steeped in tradition, and I was bi-vocational. I had a dream of revitalizing our church to become a healthy, evangelistically effective church that was fulfilling the Great Commandment and the Great Commission but wasn’t sure how to do it. The D.R.E.A.M. Church shares the strategies that our church and thousands of others have used to experience healthy, long-term growth.

After experiencing the shock of hypocrisy, legalism, infidelity, and many other soul-crushing experiences, Leah chose to leave the confines of the traditional church to find fulfillment and define true worship, spirituality, and love. Just when things appear to turn in her favor, Leah experiences yet another painful blow. Both Leah and her sister Rebbie are blindsided by a terrible heart-wrenching secret that leaves both women dejected and in despair. Will these unfavorable events trigger an even greater attempt for Leah to detach from her former responsibilities to the church? Will she ...

My wedding was the perfect whirlwind of a day. The happiest I’d ever been. That was until I discovered my beloved husband, Ryan, tucked away in a compromising summer house clinch with Liza, his best friend’s wife. Reeling with this ultimate betrayal, my world in freefall, with nowhere to turn, I flee my own wedding unable to face anyone, not even my family. I just want to escape this nightmare. With our flight, to our luxury honeymoon leaving in a matter of hours, could ten blissful days of Cretan Island life, minus my cheating husband help me figure out my future?

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church's double standards and their own needs and passions.

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.

For five hundred years, Latina/o culture and identity have been shaped by their challenges to the religious, socio-economic, and political status quo, whether in opposition to Spanish colonialism, Latin American dictatorships, US imperialism in Central America, the oppression of farmworkers, or the current exploitation of undocumented immigrants. Christianity has played a significant role in that movement at every stage. Robert Chao Romero, the son of a Mexican father and a Chinese immigrant mother, explores the history and theology of what he terms the "Brown Church."

God means to fulfill the Great Commission through local churches. How did the apostles and the churches of the New Testament obey the Great Commission? By gathering Christians together in churches. The church is God's plan for evangelism, discipleship, and the Great Commission. This connection between the Great Commission and the church dramatically impacts how both leaders and members should think about their work of making disciples. We do it together.

The debate between science and religion is never out of the news: Emotions run high, fueled by polemical best sellers like The God Delusion and, at the other end of the spectrum, high-profile campaigns to teach "Intelligent Design" in schools. Yet there is much more to the debate than the clash of these extremes. As Thomas Dixon shows in this balanced and thought-provoking introduction, many have seen harmony rather than conflict between faith and science.

Based on case studies of 400 American churches, authors Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger prove that the process for making disciples has quite often become too complex. Simple churches are thriving, and they are doing so by taking these four ideas to heart: Clarity. Movement. Alignment. Focus. Each idea is examined here, simply showing why it is time to simplify.

Every church is driven by some controlling force: tradition, finances, programs, events, personalities, or even the building itself. But author and pastor Dr. Rick Warren, the founder of Saddleback Valley Community Church in California, believes that a church can only be truly healthy if it becomes "purpose-driven," built around the 5 goals Jesus stated in the New Testament.

There seems to be a lot of people that got bit by the love bug this season,” she ribbed him with her elbow. Torch Lake Lodge is a single-parent paradise, as it boasts activities for children while allowing parents downtime to enjoy life from a different angle. From lakeside activities to sunset dinners, Torch Lake Lodge is the perfect getaway with counselors on hand to watch the kids, and staff to provide engaging activities for every adult guest. The staff have one single purpose in mind…make every guest, young or old, feel like this reprieve from real life, will be one that they will ...

Quinn has just survived yet another bloody run-in with the murderous clown Frendo, but somehow still she knows this won’t be the last. Tired of being hunted and seeing innocent people hurt, Quinn believes the only way to beat the horror is to take justice into her own hands—and stop the Frendo followers herself. Little does she know that this path will take her across cornfields and state lines, to where she will have to face the most dangerous and bloody menace yet: True believers.

The commentaries on the four Gospels of the Catena Aurea were compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) in a genius way as if coming from a single source. They were written by over eighty Church fathers who were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers and who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The commentaries are presented here according to daily readings of the Mass. Excerpts of the writings of the servant of God Luisa Piccarreta attached to each Gospel passage and commentary help to illuminate both, and not least show the ...

Many scholars have come to think of the European Christian mission to the Americas as an inevitable success. But in its early period it was very much on the brink of failure. In 1576, Indigenous Mexican communities suffered a catastrophic epidemic that took almost two million lives and simultaneously left the colonial church in ruins. In the crisis and its immediate aftermath, Spanish missionaries and surviving pueblos de indios held radically different visions for the future of Christianity in the Americas.

A clear, concise introduction to the holy book that guides the lives of 1.6 billion people on our planet, this brief volume opens the world of the Qur'an to interested listeners who want to know where this scripture came from and how it has achieved a profound influence in today's world. Writing in an accessible question-and-answer format, Jane McAuliffe, one of the world's foremost scholars of the Qur'an, introduces listeners to this important text by discussing its origins, structure, themes, interpretations, and what it has to say about a host of critical contemporary issues.

Since he was a small boy, Mosab Hassan Yousef has had an inside view of the deadly terrorist group Hamas. The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status...and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence and embraced instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader.

The warmth, love, and closeness in this moment were wreaking havoc on his insides. Living River Ranch, a beacon of love and commitment nurtured by Margaret, Mathew, and their devoted families, has been a haven for countless visitors over the years. Now, as the ranch evolves, it embarks on a purpose-driven expansion, responding to a higher calling to support the burgeoning aspirations of the community's next generation. The ranch's compassionate reach extends to both animals and humans in need, as well as neighboring ranches, embodying a steadfast commitment to rising up whenever there's a ...

This book tells the story of life with my mother, the flamboyant Jewell DiAnne "Lady" Walker, who rose to be an interesting personality in the Houston social scene shortly before her sudden and mysterious death in 1991. Her companion for close to ten years, the rich Texas oilman, J.Howard Marshall II, would go on to marry Anna Nicole Smith. God intervened in my mother's life at just the right time through the ministry of Pastor John Osteen of Lakewood Church, now the biggest church in America. In this book, I tell people how we went from rags to true riches: an intimate and personal ...