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The United States is in the middle of an unprecedented spiritual, technological, demographic, political and social transformation—moving from an older, mostly white, mostly Protestant, religion-friendly society to a younger diverse, multiethnic, pluralistic culture, where no one faith group will have the advantage. At the same time, millions of Americans are abandoning organized religion altogether in favor of disorganized disbelief. Reorganized Religion is an in-depth and critical look at why people are leaving American churches and what we lose as a society as it continues.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was the most important Catholic event in the past five hundred years. Yet sixty years after its opening on October 11, 1962, its meaning remains sharply contested and its promise unfulfilled. In To Sanctify the World, George Weigel explains the necessity of Vatican II and explores the continuing relevance of its teaching in a world seeking a deeper experience of freedom than personal willfulness.

During his youth, the boy who would become C. S. Lewis formed his most basic impressions and tastes regarding music, art, literature, religion, sports, friendship, imagination, education, war, and more. The issues young "Jack" Lewis wrestled with drove him toward the foundation on which his life would be built. His childhood interests, influences, longings, struggles, and even failures prepared him to engage his gifts as a writer, teacher, and friend. Lewis expert Harry Lee Poe unfolds young Jack's key relationships, hobbies, spiritual conflicts, decisions, desires, and dreams.

Like everyone else, preachers long to be understood. Unfortunately, the rules first learned in seminary, if misapplied, can quickly turn homiletic precision into listener boredom. To capture heart and mind, authors Mark Galli and Craig Larson suggest preachers turn to the lessons of journalism. Within this book, they show how the same keys used to create effective, captivating communication in the media can transform a sermon.

Church leaders know that volunteers are the church’s most vital work force; in The Volunteer Church, Leith Anderson and Jill Fox offer guidance to church leaders on how best to minister to these essential workers, and provide a complete handbook for them to recruit, inspire, train, and maintain volunteers in congregations large or small.

Many ministry leaders serving in churches find themselves overwhelmed, disillusioned, and depressed by the enormous and challenging task of leading and ministering in a congregation. As a result, the ministry suffers, the leaders suffer, and the result is often an unhealthy church existent with little or no Gospel influence. Scott Thomas and Tom Wood help pastors and other Christian leaders to lovingly lead God’s flock to Jesus Christ and into God’s mission through a process of coaching and shepherding that is rooted in the patterns of the Good Shepherd himself.

In The Lost Discipline of Conversation, spiritual formation professor and author Joanne Jung walks listeners through the Puritan practice of "conference," or focused, spiritual conversations intended to promote ongoing transformation. An antidote to privatized faith, conference calls believers to biblical literacy and soul care in a context of transparency and accountability.

Writing to a friend who was disillusioned by religion, minister and theologian Henry Scougal created what would become a classic text on Christian living. Compassionately explaining what true religion is and isn't, Scougal shares biblical practices that lead to real spiritual transformation. In The Life of God in the Soul of Man, Scougal cuts through false ideas about religion and demonstrates how to pursue true unity with God. He explains that religion shouldn't be primarily focused on restraining or dictating outward behavior, but living a divine life characterized by faith.

When student Tim Journeyman first wrote to family friend Dr. Paul Woodson, he didn't know it would start a fifteen-year mentorship that would shape his life and Christian faith. Within their candid letters are words of real-world wisdom—from a "senior saint" to a "junior saint"—covering various areas of living, from the theological to the everyday. Written as fictional correspondence between two men at different stages of life and faith, the novel Letters Along the Way provides important biblical perspectives.

Seldom in history has the clamor of anti-Christian sentiment grown more vocal than today as followers of Christ are often characterized as hypocrites, legalists, and zealots. D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe speak out on the tremendously positive impact Christ has made upon humanity. Arranged topically and presenting compelling, little-known historical facts, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? demonstrates the massive impact to humankind—from economics to art to government, science to civil liberties, morality to health, and beyond—would never have occurred had Jesus Christ not lived.

You joined your church because of its intensity for God. Like no other place, it’s helped you discover the meaning of obedience. If there’s one problem, it’s the confusion that sometimes comes from your own carnal thinking. But God has given you leaders who can lovingly correct a doubting, independent spirit and help you choose God’s best for your life. How can you go wrong with a church like that? Easily, because it fits the profile of many abusive churches.

Following the example of Jeremiah, our people often have a burning fire shut up in their bones because the church asks them to serve in areas outside of their ministry passions. The gifts and talents of the church ache to be released and set free to minister within the local church. Release the Burning Fire provides a template for changing the culture of the local congregation to allow people to serve with joy. They are liberated to use the gifts given to them to accomplish the work of the church.

In his inaugural book, GW Stark provides a unique and interesting set of inspirational discussions based on the life's work of his dad, Rev. Wallace Stark. GW provides an innovative look at sermons from the 1950s to the 1980s, with a fresh look at what was said then and how it relates to the 2020s. GW has given us a must-listen for anyone looking for a wonderfully relaxed presentation. More serious scholars will be intrigued by the comparison of the impact of the sermons from 50 to 60 years ago when compared to the manner in which sermons are presented today.

Lamar Hardwick was thirty-six years old when he found out he was on the autism spectrum. While this revelation helped him understand and process his own experience, it also prompted a difficult re-evaluation of who he was as a person. And as a pastor, it started him on a new path of considering the way disabled people are treated in the church. Disability and the Church is a practical and theological reconsideration of the church's responsibilities to the disabled community.

The Foundations of Social Order was, and remains, the most unique book ever written in the history of Christendom. Nothing like it has been written before, and nothing like it has been written since.

El autor fue durante 20 años presidente de World Vision, donde descubrió que lo que más alegría y propósito le entregaba a su carrera no eran los éxitos empresariales o los reconocimientos profesionales, sino la oportunidad de ayudar a otros a mejorar su calidad de vida. En este libro comparte los principios que aprendió en el transcurso de una notable carrera al frente de algunas de las mayores organizaciones tanto seculares como ministeriales.

Think about an incredibly joyful event in your life. Do you remember how you couldn’t wait to talk about it? You were willing and eager to have a conversation about it with anyone who would listen! Why doesn’t our excitement for Jesus overflow from our lives in a similar and natural way? In this book, Thom Rainer explores what makes so many Christians hesitant to talk about the greatest news the world has ever heard. There are real obstacles, challenges, and fears, but God is bigger and stronger than these hurdles.

In Fan the Flame, best-selling author and pastor Jim Cymbala looks at the pressing need for spiritual leadership by focusing our attention on Acts 20—Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian church. Along the way, Jim includes stories from his own experience at The Brooklyn Tabernacle, a church he has led for more than forty years.

Jim Cymbala—New York Times best-selling author and long-time pastor of The Brooklyn Tabernacle—has been watching the pressing need for back-to-the-basics spiritual leadership among Christians, and he's seen so many churches come to defeat because so many leaders forget this one truth: Your church is not your church. It's Christ's church. In order for his church to flourish, we have to minister his way.

For five hundred years, Latina/o culture and identity have been shaped by their challenges to the religious, socio-economic, and political status quo, whether in opposition to Spanish colonialism, Latin American dictatorships, US imperialism in Central America, the oppression of farmworkers, or the current exploitation of undocumented immigrants. Christianity has played a significant role in that movement at every stage. Robert Chao Romero, the son of a Mexican father and a Chinese immigrant mother, explores the history and theology of what he terms the "Brown Church."