With its relentless insistence that there is no reality beyond that which we construct, postmodern thought questions the presuppositions of many disciplines, including homiletics. Offering a lively description of the postmodern worldview and its implications for Christian faith, Confessing Jesus Christ by David Lose teaches preachers how to rise to the challenges posed by our postmodern world. Few if any books on preaching offer such a comprehensive investigation of postmodern thought or yield such a wealth of insights for relevant Christian proclamation. Significantly, Lose sees postmodernism not primarily as an obstacle to the church but as an opportunity for it to stand once again on faith alone rather than on attempts to prove the faith. According to Lose, preaching that seeks to be both faithful to the Christian tradition and responsive to our pluralistic, postmodern context is best understood as the public practice of confessing faith in Jesus Christ. He explores the practical implications of a confessional homiletic for preaching and also provides concrete methods for preparing sermons that meaningfully bridge biblical texts and contemporary congregations.

A collaboration of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's Praesidium, The Gates of Hell gives practical advice to confessional leaders, showing them how to encourage God's people to keep confessing and retain hope as society degrates and becomes even more hostile to the Gospel.

Experience Freedom from Sexual Sin through the Power of the Savior Many women and men trapped in sexual sin believe willpower is the key to overcoming temptation, but your shaky self-discipline doesn't have to be the source of your strength. Sharing from his personal struggles, J. Garrett Kell explains that life-long transformation rests in the supernatural power of the Savior and the support of a local church. He offers profound insights into Jesus's teachings on purity and provides you with long-term strategies for your own pathway to freedom. Written for both men and women struggling with temptation, this book is a vital resource for the church, encouraging a healthy, empathetic community to help brothers and sisters in Christ resist sin. The goal isn't purity for purity's sake, but delighting in God and trusting him for ultimate victory.

“If there were a Guinness Book of World Records entry for ‘amount of times having prayed the sinner’s prayer,’ I’m pretty sure I’d be a top contender,” says pastor and author J. D. Greear. He struggled for many years to gain an assurance of salvation and eventually learned he was not alone. “Lack of assurance” is epidemic among evangelical Christians. In Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, J. D. shows that faulty ways of present- ing the gospel are a leading source of the confusion. Our presentations may not be heretical, but they are sometimes misleading. The idea of “asking Jesus into your heart” or “giving your life to Jesus” often gives false assurance to those who are not saved—and keeps those who genuinely are saved from fully embracing that reality. Greear unpacks the doctrine of assurance, showing that salvation is a posture we take to the promise of God in Christ, a posture that begins at a certain point and is maintained for the rest of our lives. He also answers the tough questions about assurance: What exactly is faith? What is repentance? Why are there so many warnings that seem to imply we can lose our salvation? Such issues are handled with respect to the theological rigors they require, but Greear never loses his pastoral sensitivity or a communication technique that makes this message teachable to a wide audience from teens to adults.

Confessing Christ in the Twenty-First Century, written for the layperson and for those who lead and teach them, challenges the readers to think about how their confession is the basis for claiming not only a relationship to a savior, but a way of living in the world--a politics--that is countercultural in the literal sense of that term. At the same time, it comforts them by reminding that the Lord they proclaim is one who opens up a way of living in genuine freedom and equality with others. Douglas probes essential issues in philosophy, theology, worship, ethics, and politics in a way that offers understanding and a comprehensive view, even as it stimulates readers to explore the meaning of their faith in vigorous conversation.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was just thirty-nine years old when he was executed by the Nazis in 1945, yet his influence on Christian theology and life has been enormous. "A testament to freedom" takes readers along a biographical-historical journey that follows Bonhoeffer through the various stages of his life and career, including his final years in the underground resistance against the Nazi government and his subsequent martyrdom. This book features previously untranslated writings, sermons, and selections from his letters spanning his entire pastoral-theological career, including his prison letters

God wants you to succeed in every area of your life! And with His presence in your life, you can. His grace or unmerited favor can swing open doors of opportunities and place you at the right place at the right time for His blessings. Even if you lack the necessary qualifications, His unmerited favor can propel you forward. Discover in Unmerit...

In this book, author Bendangjungshi brings into dialogue the three leading Northeast Indian tribal theologians - Renthy Keitzar, K. Thanzauva, and Wati Longchar - with the Western theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who suffered martyrdom under the Nazi dictatorship in Germany. Negotiating between Bonhoeffer's political approach and Naga cultural identity, Bendangjungshi develops a liberating ecclesiology for Naga Christians, who have been suffering under Indian military occupation since the withdrawal of the British colonizers from Nagaland. (Series: ContactZone. Explorations in Intercultural Theology - Vol. 8)