What do Hobby Lobby, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Wheaton College, World Vision, the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the University of Notre Dame have in common? All are faith-based organizations that have faced pressure to act in ways contrary to their religious beliefs. In this book, two policy experts show how faith-based groups--those active in the educational, healthcare, international aid and development, and social service fields--can defend their ability to follow their religiously based beliefs without having to jettison the very faith and faith-based practices that led them to provide services to those in need. They present a pluralist vision for religious freedom for faith-based organizations of all religious traditions. The book includes case studies that document the challenges faith-based organizations face to freely follow the practices of their religious traditions and analyzes these threats as originating in a common, yet erroneous, set of assumptions and attitudes prevalent in American society. The book also includes responses by diverse voices--an Orthodox Jew, a Roman Catholic, two evangelicals, two Islamic leaders, and an unbeliever who is a religious-freedom advocate--underscoring the importance of religious freedom for faith-based organizations.

Jake Wilson once sought to replace the loss of his father with many vices including alcohol, drugs, and women. But Jake eventually turns his life around and becomes the man God always wanted him to be. Now, he and his wife, Terry, have formed a family centered on faith, love, and, most importantly, hope. As he opens his heart and home to his two daughters through a custody agreement, Jake has no idea that he is about to discover the answers to the challenges that still plague him from his past. As Jakes daughters slowly acclimate to living with a new family, Jake finds solace in his Bible study group. With his family of six packed in a three-bedroom apartment, Jake has no choice but to push his financial misgivings aside and begin searching for a larger home. Soon after he places his trust in the Lord through prayer, Jake stumbles onto an old farmhouse in desperate need of renovation and secretly wonders if the ramshackle dwelling is the answer to his prayers. In this inspirational tale, a man embarks on an emotional journey through his past, present, and futureand soon discovers that God always has a plan.

Grace is supposed to be amazing, but all too often the Christian life can be more about keeping stuffy rules than enjoying a relationship with Christ. The tendency to add works to salvation has been a thorny problem since the gospel was first preached. Legalism--the doctrine of salvation by works--robs the Christian of the grace-filled life. The book of Galatians is like an emancipation proclamation that says, "If the Son has set you free, then you are free at last!" The liberating message of Galatians says believers are free from sin, regulations, and guilt. Free from the need to measure up. Free to be loved by Christ and changed by his grace. Galatians is a guide for recovering Pharisees, and in Free at Last , Derrick McCarson takes us on a verse-by-verse journey through Paul's bondage-busting manifesto. You may be surprised to learn that Paul's message of grace is still as relevant today as it was centuries ago. While the culture has changed much in those intervening years, mankind's inherent desire for performance-based religion has not. This book is a timely reminder to Christians everywhere that if we aren't living by grace, then we have succumbed to spiritual slavery.