Showing results by narrator "Trevor Thompson" in All Categories

For Christian parents, there is no greater joy than seeing their children learn to walk with the Lord. And there is no greater fear than that their children will walk away from God. After serving together in pastoral ministry for 40 years, Phil and Diane Comer know those hopes and fears well. Thirty-seven years ago, they became parents themselves. And like all new parents, they were intimidated and unsure about how to take on the task of spiritually training their young children.

How (Not) to Be Secular is what Jamie Smith calls "your hitchhiker's guide to the present" - it is both a reading guide to Charles Taylor's monumental work, A Secular Age, and philosophical guidance on how we might learn to live in our times. Taylor's landmark book, A Secular Age (2007), provides a monumental, incisive analysis of what it means to live in the post-Christian present - a pluralist world of competing beliefs and growing unbelief. Jamie Smith's book is a compact field guide to Taylor's insightful study of the secular.

Since it was first published in 1995, The Wounded Storyteller has occupied a unique place in the body of work on illness. Both the collective portrait of a so-called "remission society" of those who suffer from some type of illness or disability and a cogent analysis of their stories within a larger framework of narrative theory, Frank's book has reached a large and diverse following, including the ill, medical professionals, and scholars of literary theory. In this new edition, Frank adds a preface describing the personal and cultural times when the first edition was written.

People living with mental health challenges are not excluded from God’s love or even the fullness of life promised by Jesus. Unfortunately, this hope is often lost amid the well-meaning labels and medical treatments that dominate the world of mental health today. In Finding Jesus in the Storm, John Swinton makes the case for reclaiming that hope by changing the way we talk about mental health and remembering that, above all, people are people, regardless of how unconventionally they experience life. This means accepting the reality and ramifications of suffering while also affirming that there is more to humanity than cells and synapses.

"The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind." So begins this award-winning intellectual history and critique of the evangelical movement by one of evangelicalism's most respected historians.

Reading the Bible doesn't need to be a difficult journey through strange and bewildering territory. How to Read the Bible Book by Book walks you through the Scriptures like an experienced tour guide, helping you understand each of its 66 books. For each book of the Bible, the authors start with a quick snapshot, then expand the view to help you better understand its message and how it fits into the grand narrative of the Bible. Written by two top evangelical scholars, this survey is designed to get you actually reading the Bible knowledgeably and understanding it accurately.

Did you know that Jesus made puns? Did you know that Paul never calls himself or the churches he writes to “Christian?” Did you know that we don’t know who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews, or if it’s even really a letter? James F. McGrath sheds light on these and many other surprising realities of Scripture in The A to Z of the New Testament. Cutting through common myths and misunderstandings of problematic bible passages, James F. McGrath opens up expert knowledge to laypeople in his friendly introduction to New Testament studies.

As Christians, we often ask what the gospel is, when we should be asking why it is. Matthew W. Bates has previously demonstrated that the “good news” of the gospel is that Jesus is King. But in his latest book, he explores God’s intentions: why has God issued this royal proclamation? And what role can it play in our everyday lives? As Bates observes, we find the answer in a simple but challenging realization: “I am a horrible king of my own life."

On January 6, 2021, hundreds of Americans stormed the Capitol to prevent the certification of their political opponent’s election. At the forefront were Christians claiming to act in the name of Jesus Christ and his supposed representative on earth, Donald Trump. How can this have happened? David P. Gushee tackles the question in this timely work of Christian political ethics. Gushee calls us to preserve democratic norms, including constitutional government, the rule of law, and equal rights for all, even as many Christians take a reactionary and antidemocratic stance.

People Operations explains how leaders at small- and medium-sized businesses can stop spending time on HR administration - "paperwork" - and start focusing on the "peoplework" that truly fuels employee growth and productivity. Authors Jay Fulcher, Kevin Marasco, and Tracy Cote provide listeners with a playbook for creating a massive competitive advantage by eliminating antiquated approaches to HR. The book takes a look at how work has changed and what companies need to do about it, and the new approach they must take to processes, systems, and best practices.

Grounded in cutting-edge polyvagal theory, Staying Connected with Your Teen shines a light on why teens are so easily triggered, and offers nerve-calming strategies to minimize reactivity, nurture a stronger connection, and help you lovingly guide your teen on the path to adulthood.

Christian identity is in moral and political crisis. Lee Camp writes “that one major reason Christianity in America has been made into a bad public joke is our failure to rightly understand what Christianity is.” Scandalous Witness provides a way forward. Although refusing to reduce Christianity to any partisan agenda, he reminds us that the gospel is inherently political and that we are called to be political witnesses.

With decades of leadership experience in business, nonprofits, and Christian higher education, Uli Chi helps listeners build this foundational virtue. Looking to Scripture as well as art and literature, Chi illuminates the nature of wisdom as fundamentally relational and other-centered. In the context of leadership, biblical wisdom shows us the importance of wielding power with humility. Chi also provides a framework for the formation of character and vision in the lifelong journey of gaining wisdom.

How should Christians think and act with respect to guns and gun ownership? God and Guns in America provides a thoughtful, measured, robust, and articulate biblical treatment of an issue that is too often treated with more heat than light. Ethicist Michael Austin ultimately defends the view - from a Christian but non-pacifist perspective - that (1) the right to own and use a gun is a conditional right, (2) using a gun to harm another person is only morally permissible as a last resort, and (3) more legal restrictions are needed in the United States.

Scott Coley exposes the inner workings of the religious right’s propaganda—and how Christians can resist it. Good evangelical Christians are Republican. It seems like it’s always been this way. That means the propaganda is working. Scott Coley trains a critical eye on the fusion of evangelicalism and right-wing politics in Ministers of Propaganda.

Douglas Campbell has made a name for himself as one of Paul’s most insightful and provocative interpreters. In this short and spirited book, Campbell introduces listeners to the apostle he has studied in depth over his scholarly career. Enter with Campbell into Paul’s world, relive the story of Paul’s action-packed ministry, and follow the development of Paul’s thought throughout both his physical and his spiritual travels.

Paul and the Gift changed the landscape of Pauline studies forever upon its publication in 2015. Paul and the Power of Grace offers all of the most significant contributions from Paul and the Gift in a package several hundred pages lighter and more accessible. Additionally, John Barclay adds further analysis of the theme of gift and grace in Paul’s other letters and explores contemporary implications for this new view of grace.

The author describes the progress of his grief from the shock of learning of his son's accidental death to his final resignation a year later.

Over more than five decades, legendary architect Moshe Safdie has built some of the world's most influential and memorable structures. Safdie always refers to the "silent client" an architect must ultimately serve: the people who live in, work in, or experience a building. If Walls Could Speak takes listeners behind the veil of an essential yet mysterious profession to explain through Safdie's own experiences how an architect thinks and works.

Mark Young believes a revitalization of the evangelical movement must happen in our seminaries, where the shepherds of the next evangelicalism are being formed. Young argues that if these leaders of tomorrow are instilled with true gospel values, they will go on to form churches and missional organizations that offer a credible and compelling Christlike witness for the sake of the world. The Hope of the Gospel takes listeners through the history of evangelicalism and back to the present to make the case for how this can happen through a renewed vision of theological education.