English Church

Studying the views and lifestyles of your forerunners in the faith can provide incredible guidance for how you live out your spiritual convictions today. In Wisdom from the Ancients, author and scholar Bryan Litfin paints a vivid portrait of the first five centuries of the Christian church, packed with fascinating history and applicable insights for modern believers.

Eli has managed to carve out a place for himself, buying a two unit duplex before he even graduated from college. After some poor experiences with tenants, however, he lets a rental agency take over. What he gets is a new neighbor that practices diaper discipline on her 23-year-old stepson, David. When the boys become friends, Eli is witness to Corinne's form of domestic discipline. He begins to enjoy the sight of David's embarrasing and humiliating punishments. One day, after Eli gets David in trouble, Corinne gives Eli the choice of submitting to discipline himself, or no longer being ...

This analysis recounts the effect of Nazi propaganda on the German Lutheran Church. Key religious scholars referred to Martin Luther, the founder of the Lutheran Church, as the “spiritual predecessor of Adolf Hitler.” Hitler used this association to frame the anti-Semitic pronunciations of Luther, which propagated a cognitive dissonance and eventual silence among parishioners. The Nazi message of marginalizing and eradicating Jews was embraced by leading German Lutheran leaders and theologians, who formed an Aryan interpretation of biblical texts. Hitler’s recounting of Luther’s ...

A novel based on the life of Ellen Breakell Neibaur, a Victorian-era pioneer who, despite unending trials, kept trekking forward. Ellen has made the most reprehensible choice of her life and must abide by the consequences. But when strange dreams lead her and Alexander, the Prussian dentist, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she wonders if there might be a measure of hope for her—if she works hard enough. Persecution, sacrifice, and loss flood her life like the River Ribble in a squall, and Ellen must decide if love and faith are worth losing everything she’s ever ...

In Jezebel Unhinged Tamura Lomax traces the use of the jezebel trope in the Black church and in Black popular culture, showing how it is pivotal to reinforcing men's cultural and institutional power to discipline and define Black girlhood and womanhood. Drawing on writing by medieval thinkers and travelers, Enlightenment theories of race, the commodification of women's bodies under slavery, and the work of Tyler Perry and Bishop T. D. Jakes, Lomax shows how Black women are written into religious and cultural history as sites of sexual deviation.

Countless people are losing their faith in God, Jesus, Church, and Christianity. Many feel deeply damaged and led astray by their experiences within church and the Christian faith. The duplicity, the judgementalism, the allegiance to politics, and the bullying of the vulnerable and the different have isolated many. Every Sunday, it seems, there is a new chorus of condemnation, shame, and religious elitism. God is portrayed as a hating, violent, temperamental, murderous, codependent, and exclusive deity. The Christian faith is pimped as a performance-driven, privileged-laden, fear-focused, ...

April 18th, 1521. Martin Luther was on trial for believing the Scriptures were the ultimate authority for the Christian, rather than dogma developed by men. He is quoted as having said, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God” when asked to recant his writings. I’ve taken part of Luther’s statement as my title because while I am thankful to God for myriad men in the Reformed Baptist world that have taught me much, I cannot claim full allegiance to a document written in the 17th century; it beingmostly right. The Word of God – alone! – demands and warrants our full ...

Becoming a Future-Ready Church is a blueprint to guide you through eight critical shifts to help lead your church into the future with wisdom and hope. It describes several major converging trends that will greatly impact the church in America over the next few decades: the Great Resignation of Boomer leaders from churches, the shrinking percentage of Christians in America, and the change in felt needs among rising generations shaped heavily by anxiety, skepticism, and fragmentation.

What does a scrappy church look like? Let's take a look together.

Church History, Volume Two chronicles the events, the triumphs, and the struggles of the Christian movement from the years leading up to the Reformation through the next five centuries to the present-day.

In this second volume of the Called Out of Darkness trilogy, Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., draws together some of the best advice given by Catholic spiritual masters across the ages and brings it into harmony with modern scientific research, offering practical ways to live out the gospel in our busy days. It is a road map to a deeper relationship with the Lord and to authentic transformation through the imitation of Christ. Giving evidence that Jesus established just one Church, with Peter as its head, Spitzer shows that the Catholic Church continues to be fertile ground for conversion.

If you're not reaching the future of the church, your church has no future. As much sting as that statement has, it's hard to argue with. Yet many churches have no idea how to attract and retain younger generations. If you want to understand how to reach, teach, and empower young adults in your church, Jonathan "JP" Pokluda is ready to show you how.

In a community built on tradition and religion, Chloe Rhodes struggles to reconcile her identity with the expectations of her church and family. The fortifying walls guarding her most intimate life story are about to be torn down by a single message that will shake her world to its core. Chloe, a spirited and fiercely independent young woman, has always known she was different. Yet, the mere thought of revealing her truth to her conservative community fills her with fear and trepidation. Determined to live an authentic life, she embarks on a journey to convince her loved ones to accept her ...

Ever feel lost in translation? With the NET Full-notes Edition of the Holy Bible, you don’t need to be. Modern listeners can find it challenging to connect with the ancient words and cultural contexts of the biblical writers. The NET offers a completely new solution: pairing a listenable, everyday English translation with the largest set of translators’ notes ever created for a Bible. It is an indispensable resource for every Bible listener.

This collection includes The Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of latter-day divine revelations and inspired declarations, and the Pearl of Great Price, the name given to one of four volumes of scripture called the “standard works” of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Budgeting for a Healthy Church examines each section of the budget in light of Biblical principles to show how a church budget can lock in healthy approaches to ministry. Whereas most books on church budgeting are "how" books, explaining how the budgeting process should work, this is a "what" book, helping church leaders determine the pastoral implications of what they choose to fund in their budgets.

The Treasures of Psalm 119: Exploring God’s Word as a Family by John O’Malley Unlock the treasures of God’s Word with The Treasures of Psalm 119, a powerful family devotional designed to help children, tweens, and teens fall in love with Scripture. This unique devotional explores the richness of Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, focusing on the 20 most-used words that reveal the heart of God’s commandments, statutes, and promises. Perfect for Christian parents, homeschool families, and Sunday School teachers, this book offers age-appropriate Bible lessons, practical ...

It is 1845, and Nauvoo is a bustling city of Latter-day Saints. But an exodus is on the horizon. Mobs riddle Nauvoo and threaten to burn the city if the Saints don’t leave. As the risk of mob violence increases, so does Lucy Parker’s fear for her daughters' welfare. When she experiences the death of a loved one, she must come to terms with Heavenly Father’s plan for his children and submit herself to His will. Lydia Leonard thought she lost everything when her husband Danny died. Forced to give up his farm, she meets Worthy Clark, a handsome land appraiser who has also experienced ...

In the picturesque English village of Briarwych, Father David Perkins tends to his work at the local church. The shadow of war has fallen across England, and the local airbase provides a constant reminder of the horrors that have been unleashed. For Father Perkins, the struggle to provide guidance for his parishioners is an everyday battle. And then Judith Prendergast starts hearing voices in the church. A faithful and devoted woman, struggling to raise her daughter, Elizabeth, Judith takes a dim view of the happenings in Briarwych.

Love, when shown the right way, is a beautiful and rare occurrence. However, when one isn't honest with yourself or the people around you love seems to go on the back-burner and chaos ensues. Carmon Wells has finally gotten her much-deserved happily ever after, or so it seems but with enemies lurking around every corner, Carmon will soon learn nothing is what it seems. Growing up in the church prepared her for a lot of things, but never anything like this. Will she make it out with her life and her love, or will she lose both in the process?