It’s easy to talk about changing your life.Here’s how to actually do it.If you long to experience transformation in the most significant areas of life, this book will become your road map. Seismic Shifts is about change—positive, quality change that can help you? experience deep and lasting joy ? engage in a growing and dynamic relationship with God ? feel healthy, rested, and peaceful ? build intimate relationships marked by honest communication ? attain financial security and contentment ? enjoy sharing your faith naturally and consistentlyBy making small adjustments in just the right places, you can set off a chain reaction that will redefine the landscape of your life. Dreams really do come true when you learn how to take little steps that make a big difference.Small changes can yield huge transformations in the most important areas of your life. My friend Kevin Harney shows you how in his inspiring and practical book. —Lee Strobel, author, The Case for Christ and The Case for a CreatorKevin Harney is both a gifted communicator and a seasoned pastor. Seismic Shifts will be a gift to individuals and churches alike.—John Ortberg, Teaching Pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church and author of God Is Closer Than You Think and The Life You’ve Always WantedKevin Harney is totally on track with Seismic Shifts. With skillful pen, Kevin teaches us how to create powerful movement in our lives.—Randy Frazee, Teaching Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church and author of The Connecting Church and Making Room for Life

What are we to make of those occasional yet illuminating experiences of God's presence that occur outside both church and Scripture? We may encounter God's revelatory presence as we experience a beautiful sunset, the birth of a child, or a work of art, music, or literature. While theologians have tended to describe such experiences abstractly as mere traces or echoes, those involved often recognize such moments of transcendence as transformative. Here senior theologian Robert Johnston explores how Christians should think theologically about God's wider revelatory presence that is mediated outside the church through creation, conscience, and culture. The book offers a robust, constructive biblical theology of general revelation, rooting its insights in the broader Trinitarian work of the Spirit. Drawing in part from the author's theological engagement with film and the arts, the book helps Christians understand personal moments of experiencing God's transcendence and accounts for revelatory experiences of those outside the believing community. It also shows how God's revelatory presence can impact our interaction with nonbelievers and those of other faiths.

Outreach Magazine’s 2021 Resource of the Year in the Church Category Christianity tends to focus on beliefs and choices as the keys for personal growth. But biblical evidence and modern brain science tell a different story. Combining faith with the latest developments in neuroscience and psychology, Renovated offers a groundbreaking and refreshing perspective of how our attachment to God impacts our minds and hearts. You’ll find that our spiritual growth is about more than just what we believe—it’s about who we love. Drawing from conversations he had with Dallas Willard shortly before Dallas’s death, Jim Wilder shows how we can train our brains to relate to God. Transformative and encouraging, this book offers practical insight for deepening your relationship with God through the wondrous brain and soul that He has given you. “Elegant, clear and bountiful in hope . . . if transformation for yourself and your community is what you seek, I can think of no better place to start.” —Curt Thompson, author of Anatomy of the Soul “Jim Wilder offers genuine hope. He uniquely combines the truth of Scripture with the truth in developing brain science to give us a path of renewal and restoration.” —Dudley Hall, president of Kerygma Ventures “A breakthrough on so many levels. Renovated is a must-read for everyone who is serious about discipling people and seeing life transformation.” —Bob Roberts, pastor and founder of GlocalNet

Are meaning and purpose still possible in life? The age of philosophy and its pursuit of the good of happiness came to an end with nihilism. The philosophers equated the good with intellect, which led to divided descriptions of this value. Philosophy is divided by divided loves--Plato's love of pure intellect and Aristotle's love of nature and constructs of value--which is why it led to nihilism in the end. But it is possible to go beyond the ravages of nihilism by setting aside these divided loves for the sake of love itself, the power that makes itself known through the desirability of life. At Smith's House examines the possibilities of Òlove itself in twelve informal, entertaining conversations between two old friends. It begins by dissecting the divided concepts of value produced by philosophy and its infatuation with intellect. Then it describes the difference between Òlove itself and the divided loves seen in philosophy as well as in institutional doctrine. Finally it discusses the restoration of unity to the church and goodness to culture through the formulation Deus caritas est, which provides a means of going beyond nihilism and the demise of philosophy.

When tough times hit, we often find ourselves vulnerable—to doubt, fear, worry, even depression. We ask, “Does God care? Has He forgotten me?” So why does God allow suffering? Author Mike Fabarez—who is well acquainted with deep pain himself as the father of a special-needs child and as a pastor who has counseled many through life’s hurts—looks to the truths of Scripture for answers. Along the way, he shares... how complete trust in God alone can restore your confidence and hope the power of focusing on God’s eternal goals for you in life’s temporary setbacks God’s promises to love and protect you no matter what happens This book will not only help you understand why God allows suffering—it will provide you with the resources to stand strong, rest in God’s care, and endure!

A powerful call to step into your full potential that biblically affirms the need for women to rise up and work together to make a better world. "Jo is one of my most trusted voices in Christian leadership. . . . She leads auditoriums full of people, and she leads me one-on-one."—Jen Hatmaker Have you ever questioned the roles you find yourself in, wondering if you were made for more but unsure of the rocky path before you? Have you had a clear vision for your life, but along the way, insecurity and fear weighted your dreams and silenced the voice within you? You’re not alone. Many amazing women like you have experienced the same struggles. Whether you’re moving into leadership, discovering your calling, fighting for change, or doing all three, leadership coach and speaker Jo Saxton affirms that God designed women for influence and impact. But are you living up to your full potential? Ready to Rise tackles the real-life issues—from harassment and sexism to self-doubt and loneliness—that can discourage and derail women from leading in the areas God has called them to. With insights from her own journey and powerful biblical examples, Jo offers practical advice to empower and equip women to transform their communities. If you’ve ever longed to uncover your true potential, own your voice, and boldly advance God’s goodness in the world, now is the time to start. Get ready to rise!

Most scholars of Reformed orthodoxy devote little attention to the nineteenth century, and most students of nineteenth century Reformed thought bypass the influence of Reformed orthodox ideas on their subjects. Aligning himself with Reformed theology in nineteenth century America, Charles Hodge's writings are an ideal place to bring such studies together. Hodge's American context and Reformed identity illustrate the persistence and change of Reformed ideas in a post-Enlightenment context. Encompassing philosophy, science, and theology, Ryan M. McGraw traces the development of Hodge's ideas with an eye both to Reformed orthodoxy and to American thought.

"Clergy-perpetrated child sexual abuse is addressed through theology, scripture, ethics, and psychology"--

As recovering Fundamentalists we often find ourselves unknowingly remaining within the Fundamentalist worldview. We think that if we enter into Progressive Christianity we’re leaving behind the irrational, hurtful, racist, and untrue theological worldview we were brought up in. But what if Fundamentalism is really a kind of Progressive Christianity? And both of these twin children of modernity are inherently racist, anti-Jewish, and colonial, and therefore antithetical to the brown Jewish Incarnation of the God of Israel? What if instead of leaving Fundamentalism we’ve really just changed the garbs of the Northern European Enlightenment rather than truly reorientating our whole lives towards the True, Good, and Beautiful? In this book we will examine a need for former Fundamentalists to be reintroduced to the Christian faith. One that looks backwards towards Christianity as it existed before the Enlightenment and even the Reformation. One that de-centers Christian traditions which originated out of Northern Europe by centering Christian traditions rooted in such places as Southwest Asia and North and East Africa. By criticizing modernist white Christianity the reader is guided into a Christianity that isn’t merely the other side of the same coin but looks radically different.