Showing titles in Social Issues

For years, Elle Dowd considered herself an advocate for justice, but her well-meaning support always took a back burner to what Martin Luther King Jr. called the tension-free, ordered "negative peace" of white moderates. Then Michael Brown, a Black man, was murdered by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and the subsequent uprising changed everything.

Christian Book Award - Finalist 2022 (print)!! What does the Bible tell us about ethnic diversity? How far do we need to travel to fulfill the Great Commission? Walk out your front door and you’ll find our “new Samaria”―a land of immigrants, refugees, and people of countless cultures and...

Activists can only go so far for so long before burning out. Including extended spiritual practices in this revised edition, Phileena Heuertz offers her story and helps us see that contemplation is not just a luxury, it is essential - not only to a life of sustained commitment to justice, but to the fully human life in the Holy Spirit. 

Christian Book Award Finalist - Audio - 2022!!! Do recent changes in the Middle East signal peace? One Arab country after another is signing historic, game-changing peace, trade, investment, and tourism deals with Israel. At the same time, Russia, Iran, and Turkey are forming a highly dangerous...

Things are chaotic in America. Liberal policies are advancing. A rash of executive orders appears to be moving the nation closer to socialism and a one-world government. And conservatives, including many Christians, are being censored as never before. In some ways, Christians cancel each other in debates over non-essentials. There is no going backward if we want to remain effective and engaged. We can take the initiative and move forward from where we are. This book will assess and affirm the different approaches playing out.

Tension in our personal relationships are at an all-time high. Dialogue - when it happens at all - is heated. It isn't that we've lost hope in what faith and politics can accomplish in our world. It's that in our polarizing times, faith and politics seem to be leading more to rage than actual change. It's discouraging, disheartening, and disappointing. But it doesn't have to stay that way. Civility is not a pipe dream. Nuance is not unrecoverable. Peace is possible. And it can all start right here, right now, with us.  

On December 10, 1953, tragedy was visited on a family when Nathaniel Allen was murdered on the Sampit River by his White employer, who lured him into the meeting under the false promise of reconciliation. Allen's death was recorded as an accidental drowning, a deliberate cover-up of the bullet hole seen by more than one witness. Three generations later, Phil Allen Jr. revisits this harrowing story and recounts the "baton of bitterness" that this murder passed down in his family.

Addressing the hard issue of suicide simply and pastorally, Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, and Jason Lewis, MIC, draw from the teaching of the church, the message of divine mercy, and their own experience of losing a loved one to offer listeners two key forms of hope: hope for the salvation and for the healing of those left behind. This book is a must-listen for all those trying to make sense out of such a difficult subject. Remarkably, the spiritual principles of healing and redemption apply not only to a loss from suicide, but by any cause of death.  

Poverty is much more than simply a lack of material resources, and it takes much more than donations and handouts to solve it. When Helping Hurts shows how some alleviation efforts, failing to consider the complexities of poverty, have actually (and unintentionally) done more harm than good. But it looks ahead. It encourages us to see the dignity in everyone, to empower the materially poor, and to know that we are all uniquely needy - and that God in the gospel is reconciling all things to himself.

Christians are often thought of as defending only their own religious interests in the public square. They are viewed as worrying exclusively about the erosion of their freedom to assemble and to follow their convictions, while not seeming as concerned about publicly defending the rights of Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and atheists to do the same. Andrew T. Walker, an emerging Southern Baptist public theologian, argues for a robust Christian ethic of religious liberty that helps the church defend religious freedom for everyone in a pluralistic society. 

The internet seems to have brought the world together only so we can tear each other apart. Social media platforms have become toxic and polarizing environments. Many of us are overwhelmed and disillusioned by the endless online conflict and negativity. How did we get here, and what can we do about it? The internet is changing not only how we communicate but also what we communicate. Pastor and former radio host Douglas Bursch provides a spiritual examination of why social media divides people and how Christians can address polarization through a ministry of peacemaking. 

You hold truths about sensitive issues like gender, sexuality, and salvation to be biblically evident. You know friends, family members, and coworkers who hold opposing views to be self-evident. So where do you go from here? If you’re struggling to speak wisdom about controversial and personal subjects with compassion, conviction, and Christlike grace, Christians in a Cancel Culture is the guide you need.

Money is a fact of everyday life. We earn it, spend it and save it. We’re tempted to worship it and to trust it to provide for our needs. While much has been written about the power, danger, and stewardship of money, little has been written about what money actually is and whether or not money itself is moral. That information gap has been exploited to enrich a privileged few, enslave millions, and reap confusion and division throughout the world. How did this happen and what can we do about it?

The church needs a new perspective on its responsibility for the deep racial brokenness at the heart of American culture. This book makes a compelling historical and theological case for the church's obligation to provide reparations for the oppression of African Americans. Duke Kwon and Gregory Thompson articulate the church's responsibility for its promotion and preservation of white supremacy throughout history, investigate the Bible's call to repent and make restitution, and offer concrete examples of the work of reparation at the local level. 

In Reclaiming Church, J. J. Warren continues his call to reaffirm the Church be welcoming to all, including young people like those he led at Sarah Lawrence College who "didn't know God could love them because their churches said God didn't." 

Throughout American history, Black people were not given the freedom to acknowledge their suffering. A. D. Thomason believes that the Holy Spirit brings freedom and liberation as we're able to name our pain, recognize its roots in history and society, and seek healing. 

Help and direction to understand and enjoy intimacy in Christian marriage. Sexual intimacy in marriage is a great gift from a good God that cements couples together and brings unity and happiness. Nevertheless, in our broken and messed-up world we often need help and direction to understand and...

In We Will Not Be Silenced, Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer prepares you to live out your convictions against a growing tide of hostility. Gain a better understanding of nonbelievers' legitimate hurts and concerns regarding issues like racism, sexism, and poverty - and identify the toxic responses secular culture disguises as solutions. In the process, you'll see how you can show compassion and gentleness to those outside of the faith without affirming their beliefs. 

Here is a riveting story of seeking safety in another land. Here is a gripping journey of loss, alienation, and belonging. In The God Who Sees, immigration advocate Karen González recounts her family's migration from the instability of Guatemala to making a new life in Los Angeles and the suburbs of south Florida. In the midst of language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and the tremendous pressure to assimilate, González encounters Christ through a campus ministry program and begins to follow him.

More than 90 people die from gun violence every day in the United States. Some 50 children and teens are shot. There are more than 35,000 gun-related deaths every year. Yet many Christians say gun violence shouldn't be talked about in church. In Collateral Damage, pastor and activist James E. Atwood issues an urgent call to action to Christians to work together to stop gun violence. An avid hunter for many years, Atwood enumerates the tragic and far-reaching costs that accrue in a country with more guns than people.