Christianity for the Rest of Us

Author: Diana Butler Bass
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061741280
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Book Description
For decades the accepted wisdom has been that America's mainline Protestant churches are in decline, eclipsed by evangelical mega-churches. Church and religion expert Diana Butler Bass wondered if this was true, and this book is the result of her extensive, three-year study of centrist and progressive churches across the country. Her surprising findings reveal just the opposite—that many of the churches are flourishing, and they are doing so without resorting to mimicking the mega-church, evangelical style. Christianity for the Rest of Us describes this phenomenon and offers a how-to approach for Protestants eager to remain faithful to their tradition while becoming a vital spiritual community. As Butler Bass delved into the rich spiritual life of various Episcopal, United Methodist, Disciples of Christ, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, and Lutheran churches, certain consistent practices—such as hospitality, contemplation, diversity, justice, discernment, and worship—emerged as core expressions of congregations seeking to rediscover authentic Christian faith and witness today. This hopeful book, which includes a study guide for groups and individuals, reveals the practical steps that leaders and laypeople alike are taking to proclaim an alternative message about an emerging Christianity that strives for greater spiritual depth and proactively engages the needs of the world.

Christianity After Religion

Author: Diana Butler Bass
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062098284
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
Diana Butler Bass, one of contemporary Christianity’s leading trend-spotters, exposes how the failings of the church today are giving rise to a new “spiritual but not religious” movement. Using evidence from the latest national polls and from her own cutting-edge research, Bass, the visionary author of A People’s History of Christianity, continues the conversation began in books like Brian D. McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity and Harvey Cox’s The Future of Faith, examining the connections—and the divisions—between theology, practice, and community that Christians experience today. Bass’s clearly worded, powerful, and probing Christianity After Religion is required reading for anyone invested in the future of Christianity.

A People's History of Christianity

Author: Diana Butler Bass
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061448702
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 374

Book Description
For too long, the history of Christianity has been told as the triumph of orthodox doctrine imposed through power and hierarchy. In A People's History of Christianity, historian and religion expert Diana Butler Bass reveals an alternate history that includes a deep social ethic and far-reaching inclusivity: "the other side of the story" is not a modern phenomenon, but has always been practiced within the church. Butler Bass persuasively argues that corrective—even subversive—beliefs and practices have always been hallmarks of Christianity and are necessary to nourish communities of faith. In the same spirit as Howard Zinn's groundbreaking work The People's History of the United States, Butler Bass's A People's History of Christianity brings to life the movements, personalities, and spiritual disciplines that have always informed and ignited Christian worship and social activism. A People's History of Christianity authenticates the vital, emerging Christian movements of our time, providing the historical evidence that celebrates these movements as thoroughly Christian and faithful to the mission and message of Jesus.

Almost Christian

Author: Kenda Creasy Dean
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199758662
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 266

Book Description
Based on the National Study of Youth and Religion--the same invaluable data as its predecessor, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers--Kenda Creasy Dean's compelling new book, Almost Christian, investigates why American teenagers are at once so positive about Christianity and at the same time so apathetic about genuine religious practice. In Soul Searching, Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton found that American teenagers have embraced a "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism"--a hodgepodge of banal, self-serving, feel-good beliefs that bears little resemblance to traditional Christianity. But far from faulting teens, Dean places the blame for this theological watering down squarely on the churches themselves. Instead of proclaiming a God who calls believers to lives of love, service and sacrifice, churches offer instead a bargain religion, easy to use, easy to forget, offering little and demanding less. But what is to be done? In order to produce ardent young Christians, Dean argues, churches must rediscover their sense of mission and model an understanding of being Christian as not something you do for yourself, but something that calls you to share God's love, in word and deed, with others. Dean found that the most committed young Christians shared four important traits: they could tell a personal and powerful story about God; they belonged to a significant faith community; they exhibited a sense of vocation; and they possessed a profound sense of hope. Based on these findings, Dean proposes an approach to Christian education that places the idea of mission at its core and offers a wealth of concrete suggestions for inspiring teens to live more authentically engaged Christian lives. Persuasively and accessibly written, Almost Christian is a wake up call no one concerned about the future of Christianity in America can afford to ignore.

Uprooted

Author: Grace Olmstead
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593084039
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
"A superior exploration of the consequences of the hollowing out of our agricultural heartlands."—Kirkus Reviews In the tradition of Wendell Berry, a young writer wrestles with what we owe the places we’ve left behind. In the tiny farm town of Emmett, Idaho, there are two kinds of people: those who leave and those who stay. Those who leave go in search of greener pastures, better jobs, and college. Those who stay are left to contend with thinning communities, punishing government farm policy, and environmental decay. Grace Olmstead, now a journalist in Washington, DC, is one who left, and in Uprooted, she examines the heartbreaking consequences of uprooting—for Emmett, and for the greater heartland America. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Uprooted wrestles with the questions of what we owe the places we come from and what we are willing to sacrifice for profit and progress. As part of her own quest to decide whether or not to return to her roots, Olmstead revisits the stories of those who, like her great-grandparents and grandparents, made Emmett a strong community and her childhood idyllic. She looks at the stark realities of farming life today, identifying the government policies and big agriculture practices that make it almost impossible for such towns to survive. And she explores the ranks of Emmett’s newcomers and what growth means for the area’s farming tradition. Avoiding both sentimental devotion to the past and blind faith in progress, Olmstead uncovers ways modern life attacks all of our roots, both metaphorical and literal. She brings readers face to face with the damage and brain drain left in the wake of our pursuit of self-improvement, economic opportunity, and so-called growth. Ultimately, she comes to an uneasy conclusion for herself: one can cultivate habits and practices that promote rootedness wherever one may be, but: some things, once lost, cannot be recovered.

Subversive Sabbath

Author: A. J. Swoboda
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1493412906
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Book Description
We live in a 24/7 culture of endless productivity, workaholism, distraction, burnout, and anxiety--a way of life to which we've sadly grown accustomed. This tired system of "life" ultimately destroys our souls, our bodies, our relationships, our society, and the rest of God's creation. The whole world grows exhausted because humanity has forgotten to enter into God's rest. This book pioneers a creative path to an alternative way of existing. Combining creative storytelling, pastoral sensitivity, practical insight, and relevant academic research, Subversive Sabbath offers a unique invitation to personal Sabbath-keeping that leads to fuller and more joyful lives. A. J. Swoboda demonstrates that Sabbath is both a spiritual discipline and a form of social justice, connects Sabbath-keeping to local communities, and explains how God may actually do more when we do less. He shows that the biblical practice of Sabbath-keeping is God's plan for the restoration and healing of all creation. The book includes a foreword by Matthew Sleeth.

Irresistible

Author: Andy Stanley
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310536995
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Book Description
A fresh look at the earliest Christian movement reveals what made the new faith so compelling...and what we need to change today to make it so again. Once upon a time there was a version of the Christian faith that was practically irresistible. After all, what could be more so than the gospel that Jesus ushered in? Why, then, isn't it the same with Christianity today? Author and pastor Andy Stanley is deeply concerned with the present-day church and its future. He believes that many of the solutions to our issues can be found by investigating our roots. In Irresistible, Andy chronicles what made the early Jesus Movement so compelling, resilient, and irresistible by answering these questions: What did first-century Christians know that we don't—about God's Word, about their lives, about love? What did they do that we're not doing? What makes Christianity so resistible in today's culture? What needs to change in order to repeat the growth our faith had at its beginning? Many people who leave or disparage the faith cite reasons that have less to do with Jesus than with the conduct of his followers. It's time to hit pause and consider the faith modeled by our first-century brothers and sisters who had no official Bible, no status, and little chance of survival. It's time to embrace the version of faith that initiated—against all human odds—a chain of events resulting in the most significant and extensive cultural transformation the world has ever seen. This is a version of Christianity we must remember and re-embrace if we want to be salt and light in an increasingly savorless and dark world.

Simple Theology: Theology for the Rest of Us

Author: Clay A. Kahler
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1579108873
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
Clay A. Kahler is the founder of "Sharing the Word Ministries," which includes the radio program "Sharing the Word," heard in Ray County Missouri. He is the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Orrick, Missouri. Clay is the author of Simple Theology: Theology for the Rest of Us and Against Protestant Popes. He has written for Preaching Magazine Christianity Today and To His Glory. Clay served on the faculty of the Southwest College of Biblical Studies in Pine Valley, California, and as an adjunct faculty member at the Southern California Bible College & Seminary. He now teaches Bible and Theology at Carver Baptist Bible College in Kansas City, Missouri. Prior to entering the ministry, Pastor Kahler served in the United States Army, including service during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Following his service in the Army, he began a career in Law Enforcement. He worked for 4 years with Village West Police as a Patrolman and as a trainer. He was recruited away from the Department and into corrections and became the Director of Training and CERT Team Commander in a Federal Prison in San Diego, California. Clay has earned his Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Religious Studies and a Master of Arts Degree from Southern California Bible College & Seminary.

God for the Rest of Us

Author: Vince Antonucci
Publisher: NavPress
ISBN: 1496409795
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
What does it feel like to be loved by a limitless God? God for the Rest of Us will wake you up to the outrageous, extravagant, and sometimes even scandalous love of God for the rest of us—whether you think you are unfit or a misfit, an underdog or overlooked, the least or the lost, the left behind or the left out. Vince Antonucci, a pastor who reaches out to people on the Las Vegas Strip, has seen it all—and more important, he has seen God’s love in action on each and every street corner. Vince is convinced that too many of us underestimate God and the scope of his love. God for the Rest of Us is Vince’s story of how he found God’s breathtaking love at work among the people often forgotten and disdained by this world. Is God for the people who are forgotten and left out? Is He for the guy who betrayed his wife and left his kids? Is He for the doubters? The skeptics? The atheists? The answers to these questions can be found in the lives of people Vince meets. As you read their stories of transformation, you’ll begin to imagine how your life could be changed if you truly believe that you are loved with a perfect love. You’ll catch a glimpse of God—who is greater than your wildest dreams.

The Essential Works of Christianity

Author: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 20246

Book Description
DigiCat presents the essential works of Christian faith - the scriptures, the history of Christianity, the most important philosophical works on religion & spirituality, as well as most famous Christian novels and stories: Scripture: Bible First Clement Second Clement Didache Epistle of Barnabas Shepherd of Hermas The Infancy Gospel of Thomas Apocalypse of Peter History: History of the Christian Church Creeds of Christendom Philosophy of Religion: The Confessions of St. Augustine On the Incarnation (Athanasius) On the Soul and the Resurrection (Gregory of Nyssa) On the Holy Spirit (Basil) Pastoral Care (Gregory I) An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (John of Damascus) Summa Theologica (St. Thomas Aquinas) The Imitation of Christ (Thomas à Kempis) A Treatise on Christian Liberty (Martin Luther) The Interior Castle (St. Teresa of Ávila) The Practice of the Presence of God (Brother Lawrence) The Age of Reason (Thomas Paine) The Natural History of Religion (David Hume) The Religious Affections (Jonathan Edwards) The Essence of Christianity (Ludwig Feuerbach) Beyond Good and Evil (Nietzsche) All of Grace (Charles Spurgeon) Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness (Andrew Murray) Orthodoxy (Chesterton) The Everlasting Man (Chesterton) The Sovereignty of God (Arthur Pink) The Kingdom of God Is Within You (Tolstoy) Religious Fiction: Divine Comedy (Dante) Paradise Lost (John Milton) The Pilgrim's Progress (John Bunyan) Zadig (Voltaire) Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (Lew Wallace) Quo Vadis (Henryk Sienkiewicz) In His Steps (Charles M. Sheldon) The Story of the Other Wise Man (Henry Van Dyke) The Ball and the Cross (Chesterton) The Enchanted Barn (Grace Livingston Hill) The Grand Inquisitor (Dostoevsky) Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (Goethe) Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Nietzsche) Spirituality: The Conduct of Life (Ralph Waldo Emerson) Lessons in Truth (H. Emilie Cady) As a Man Thinketh (James Allen) Thoughts are Things (Prentice Mulford) The Game of Life and How to Play It (Florence Scovel Shinn)