What beliefs are core to the Christian faith? This book is here to help you understand the reason for your hope as a Christian so that you can see it with fresh sight and invite others into the conversation. A lot of Christians take their story—the narratives that give rise to their beliefs—for granted. They pray, go to church, perhaps even read their Bible. But they might be stuck if a stranger asked them to explain what they believe and why they believe it. Author, pastor, and theologian Mike Horton unpacks the essential and basic beliefs that all Christians share in a way that is easy to understand and applicable to our lives today. And in a way that will make you excited to be a Christian! Core Christianity covers topics like: Jesus as both fully God and fully man. The doctrine of the Trinity. The goodness of God despite a broken world. The ways God speaks. The meaning of salvation. What is the Christian calling? Includes discussion questions for individual or group use. This introduction to the basic doctrines of Christianity is perfect for those who are new to the faith, as well as those who have an interest in deepening their understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Freed in Christ to engage our neighbors in a multi-religious world, Christians live and work in an increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-religious context. How does this affect their calling to serve their neighbors and their community? What resources does the Lutheran Christian tradition offer? Woven into this book are more than fifty stories of ELCA inter-religious engagement. These examples from local ministry settings are supplemented by practical tips, theological reflection, and historical analysis. The result is a guide for study, discussion, and action as a contribution toward the 500th observance of the Reformation in 2017 and beyond.

At seventeen, Mary Johnson saw a photo of Mother Teresa on the cover of TIME magazine, and experienced her calling. Eighteen months later she entered a convent in the South Bronx, to begin her religious training. Not without difficulty, this boisterous, independent-minded teenager eventually adapted to the sisters' austere life of poverty and devotion, but beneath the white-and-blue sari an ordinary woman faced the struggles we all share, with the desires of love and connection, meaning and identity. During her years as a Missionary of Charity, Mary Johnson rose quickly through the ranks and came to work alongside Mother Teresa. Mary grapped with her faith, her desires for intimacy, the politics of the order and her complicated relationship with Mother Teresa. Finally, she made the hard, life-changing decision to leave the order to find her own path, and eventually to leave the Church altogether. The story of this compellingly honest woman will speak to anyone who has ever grappled with the mysteries and wonders of life and faith.

Practices for well-being, based in neuroscience and geared toward kindness. Skills for people to learn to be with themselves in the healthiest way possible. When we experience trauma or need to find a way to protect ourselves from interpersonal hurt, we make unconscious contracts with ourselves, such as: “I will never let myself get treated that way again” or “I will never forgive myself for that.” But these contracts often result in harmful behaviors like self-criticism, lack of trust, and procrastination. Until we recognize and free ourselves from these damaging contracts, we can never truly heal. Your Resonant Self Workbook: From Self-sabotage to Self-care takes us through the world of relational neuroscience and, using the lens of unconscious contracts, explores how our brains, nervous systems, and bodies react to the brains, nervous systems, and bodies of others. Case studies, resonant-language practice, questionnaires, mediations, and journaling provide readers with healing strategies for uncovering and rewriting these contracts. Following Your Resonant Self, this workbook provides the tools to turn inward with kindness, warmth, and curiosity and create opportunities for self-healing.

This book offers a critical analysis of the use of language in mission studies. Language and Christian missionary activity intersect in complicated ways to objectify the other in cross-cultural situations. Rethinking missiological language is both urgent and necessary to subvert narratives that continue to fetishize the other as cultural stereotypes. The project takes a step forward to reconceptualize otherness as gift, and such an affirmation should create a pathway for human flourishing and furthermore, open new avenues for missiological exploration to address issues arising from a world dominated by bigoted discourses, lies, and hate speech.

Any body there? we may wonder as we watch people engage with their smart phones while being oblivious to what is going on around them. Anybody there? is the question facing the church as it wrestles with declining religious affiliation. Craig Mueller considers this contemporary context, and offers a response based in an incarnational spirituality accentuating the body and finding expression in corporate, multisensory liturgy. Mueller creatively weaves together topics from our digital lives with personal and congregational stories and theological, liturgical, and spiritual reflections. Concepts such as virtuality, the analog, 24/7 connectivity, access, design, and GPS are juxtaposed with themes of embodiment, mortality, sabbath, mystery, beauty, and vocation. Drawing on his experience as a pastor to millennials, his studies in liturgical theology, and his work on the effects of technology on daily life, Mueller proposes that corporate worship is an antidote to the distraction, fragmentation, and spiritual hunger in society today. As humans continue to merge with machines, participation in the Sunday liturgy reminds us of what it means to be human: a deeper connection to our bodies and the earth and a clear sense of purpose and mission for our everyday lives.

You don't need to memorize evangelical formulas or answers. You just have to be willing to ask questions. There was something different about the way Jesus communicated with the lost: He didn't force answers upon people; He asked questions. So why don't we? Campus ministry veteran Randy Newman has been using a questioning style of evangelism for years. In this thought-provoking book, he provides practical insights to help Christians engage others in meaningful spiritual conversations. To Newman, asking questions challenges how we think about unbelievers, their questions, and our message, instead of telling unbelievers what to think. A perennial best-seller, this third edition includes both revisions of current chapters, such as an expanded discussion on LGBTQ+ issues and the debate on transgenderism, and new chapters that ponder issues such as science and suffering. "Distilled out of twenty years of personal evangelism, this book reflects both a deep grasp of biblical theology and a penetrating compassion for people--and finds a way forward in wise, probing questions. How very much like the Master Himself!" --D. A. Carson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School "Questioning Evangelism steps outside the boundaries of evangelism as usual and tackles the tougher issues of our modern day." --Mitch Glaser, Chosen People Ministries

Articulating the basic metaphysical framework common to Buddhist traditions, this book explores questions in metaphysics, the philosophy of mind, phenomenology, epistemology, the philosophy of language, and ethics as they are addressed in a variety of Asian Buddhist traditions. Focusing on philosophical problems, in each case the connections between Buddhist and contemporary Western debates are examined, as are the distinctive contributions the Buddhist tradition can make to Western discussions.

Throughout its history, America has been confronted with two alternative views of its identity. Is it, according to one argument, a deeply Christian nation called to purity and uniformity in the face of a challenging world? Or is it, according to the other argument, a beacon of hope and openness, a land in which a variety of people can work side by side in justice and for a common good? In this timely and needed book, the authors challenge readers--especially readers in Christian communities--to step up to the promise of an America that works for the good of everyone who calls this nation home. Certainly, part of that challenge is recognizing where America has failed, and the authors do not step back from that challenge. But a tone of hope prevails throughout as a gracious and compelling case is made that America's better angels exist and can motivate us to create a more just society

“Each chapter is a gem of insight into the human experience, cut and polished to perfection by the renowned psychologist David Myers. Better than any book I can recall, this book answers questions about why we think, feel, and act as we do—but also makes us curious to learn more.” —Angela Duckworth A delightful tour of the wonders of our humanity from David G. Myers, the award-winning professor and author of psychology’s bestselling textbook. Over the past three decades, millions of students have learned about psychology from textbooks by David G. Myers. To create these books and to satisfy his own endless curiosity about the human mind, Myers monitors the leading journals to discover the most extraordinary developments in psychological science. How Do We Know Ourselves? is a compendium of the most wondrous verities that Myers has found, revealing thought-provoking insights into our everyday lives. His astute observations and sharp-witted wisdom enable readers to think smarter and live happier. Myers’s subjects range from why we so often fear the wrong things to how simply going for a walk with someone can increase rapport and empathy. He reveals why we repeatedly mishear song lyrics and how the color of President Obama’s suits aided in his decision-making. Myers also explores the powers and perils of our intuition, explaining why anything can seem obvious once it happens. These forty essays offer fresh insight into our sometimes bewildering but ever-fascinating lives. Myers is engaging and intellectually provocative, and he brings a wealth of knowledge from more than fifty years of teaching and writing about psychology to this lively and informative collection. He inspires us to ponder timeless questions, including what might be the most intriguing one of all: How do we know ourselves?