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Dismissals such as "boys will be boys" and "not all men" are ingrained in our world. And the purity culture of our youth sold the same excuses with a spiritual spin. Can we break the toxic cycle and recover a healthy identity for men?In Non-Toxic Masculinity, Zachary Wagner tells men, "If you are in Christ, this is your problem--and you should be part of the solution."Reflecting on his own coming of age in the purity culture movement and ongoing recovery from sexual shame, Wagner confronts harmful teaching from the American church that has distorted desire, sex, relationships, and responsibility. For those--both men and women--who feel disillusioned and adrift, this book offers a renewed vision for Christian male sexuality founded in empathy and selflessness.

The God of the Bible is emotional. Many Christians don't want to associate emotions with God. Emotions feel irrational, and the idea of God experiencing hate, anger, and jealousy can be confusing and problematic. And yet the Bible is full of stories where God expresses deep emotion. Christians are often left wondering how to reconcile the tension of an all-powerful God expressing seemingly uncontrollable feelings. If God is hateful and angry at humanity, is he a God worth believing in?In The Emotions of God, biblical scholar David Lamb examines seven divine emotions--hate, anger, jealousy, sorrow, joy, compassion, and love--and argues that it is not only good that God is emotional but also that we as his image-bearers can express emotions in such a way that reflects his goodness to the world. With discussion questions and suggestions for application, Lamb challenges his readers to journey with him into a rich study of the stories surrounding God's emotions so that we might better know God and reflect the beauty of emotion to the world.

Life is difficult, and daily we must decide whether to life cautiously or courageously. God calls us to live at our best, to pursue righteousness, and to sustain a drive toward excellence. This guide will help you discover your destiny--and show you the resources God has given you to fullfill it.

Habits form us more than we form them. Though we yearn for the freedom of the gospel, we remain anxious people shackled by our screens and exhausted by our routines. The answer is a rule of life that aligns our habits with our beliefs. Justin Earley provides doable, life-giving practices to find freedom and rest for your soul.

In these stormy times, voices from all fronts call for change. But what kind of revolution brings true freedom to both society and the human soul?Cultural observer Os Guinness explores the nature of revolutionary faith, contrasting between secular revolutions such as the French Revolution and the faith-led revolution of ancient Israel. He argues that the story of Exodus is the highest, richest, and deepest vision for freedom in human history. It serves as the master story of human freedom and provides the greatest sustained critique of the abuse of power. His contrast between "Paris" and "Sinai" offers a framework for discerning between two kinds of revolution and their different views of human nature, equality, and liberty. Drawing on the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, Guinness develops Exodus as the Magna Carta of humanity, with a constructive vision of a morally responsible society of independent free people who are covenanted to each other and to justice, peace, stability, and the common good of the community. This is the model from the past that charts our path to the future."There are two revolutionary faiths bidding to take the world forward," Guinness writes. "There is no choice facing America and the West that is more urgent and consequential than the choice between Sinai and Paris. Will the coming generation return to faith in God and to humility, or continue to trust in the all sufficiency of Enlightenment reason, punditry, and technocracy? Will its politics be led by principles or by power?" While Guinness cannot predict our ultimate fate, he warns that we must recognize the crisis of our time and debate the issues openly. As individuals and as a people, we must choose between the revolutions, between faith in God and faith in Reason alone, between freedom and despotism, and between life and death.

Reconnect Your Church provides a practical, road-tested vision and process to equip church leaders to reinvigorate their churchHow can churches stay healthy and dynamic over the long-term? What's needed to avoid or reverse church stagnation and decline?While some churches are vibrant and growing, many more are struggling, especially after Covid. The congregation might be declining and ageing, there's little success in reaching out to with the gospel, and more time is spent on inward facing problems than loving God and loving others. But the potential that could be released is huge.David Brown draws on his experience revitalising a church in central Paris to offer a vision and a process for church revitalisation, with a focus on UK and European contexts. Whether you are church planting, in a well-established and thriving church, or looking to turn around a church in decline, Brown provides biblically grounded wisdom along with change management principles for long-term health.When we reapply God's priorities to the church, we unleash new life and energy in following Christ in community.

Fundraising can be one of the most stressful parts of ministry. Budget needs are daunting, prospects seem limited, and the cycle is unending. How do we get off of the treadmill of crisis-driven fundraising to more sustainable ministry funding?Professional fundraiser Brad Layland revolutionizes fundraising and transforms it into a relational process where donors truly become partners in ministry. With decades of expertise in leading multimillion-dollar capital campaigns and working with major donors, he offers a more strategic and personalized yet less labor-intensive approach. Practical insights include ten essential elements of a case and four key steps that lead up to making an ask. Ultimately, fundraising is best done in community, and this book will help you develop a community of people who enjoy giving and want your organization to succeed.Fundraising can become a life-giving, energizing experience of developing partners who fuel your ministry's vision. Discover how you can become fully funded and accomplish the work that God has given you to do.

As we make our way through life, we find ourselves in times of transition where we need to reassess who we are and what we do.Living well doesn't happen automatically for followers of Christ-it happens when we have planned ahead by reviewing and recalibrating our lives on a regular basis, and when we transition from one stage of life to the next. Times of transition, especially in midlife or later life, are ideal moments for recalibrating our priorities and habits.Ken Boa and Jenny Abel give us the perspective and practical tools needed to evaluate our God-given gifts, talents, skills, wisdom, knowledge, resources, and opportunities so we can use them to the full extent God desires. It involves an intentional recalibration and envisioning of one's life based on God's universal and unique purposes for each person as we move from the demands of our careers into a deeper sense of calling. This eternal perspective allows us to live meaningfully now and into the future so that the best is yet to come.

Recognising veiled allusions to the Old Testament in the four Gospels has long contributed to our understanding of the Gospels message.Nicholas Lunn takes the investigation of allusion a significant step further in The Gospels Through Old Testament Eyes. He explores allusions not just in isolated verses, but rather occurring throughout whole passages, demonstrating that many Gospel episodes interact with specific Old Testament accounts through an extended sequence of allusions. Furthermore, his examination is not restricted to episodes presented by a single Gospel, but includes allusions distributed across two or more Gospel treatments of the same event.In The Gospels Through Old Testament Eyes, Lunn offers a series of self-contained studies that bring to light allusions, many of them previously unnoted, that affirm the intricate interweaving of New Testament texts with those of the Old. This volume will greatly enhance your appreciation of the Gospels' presentation of Jesus's life and ministry. It will inform and equip scholars, pastors, preachers, Bible teachers and readers to appreciate new depths in the Gospels.

An exposition of the prophet Amos, in which his call to relevant faith is championed.

The Next Mile resources are designed to assist local churches and agencies plan and conduct effective ministry. Participants in the short-term mission experience include the goer, sender, local church, goer's family, mentor, host, and those to whom the STMer ministers. The mission experience that is well-planned and carried out will affect the life of each participant in their continuing journey to become more like Christ. These devotionals are designed to keep the passion and joy of service alive long after the experience is over.

How can Christians effectively engage today's world while staying true to Scripture? Calling us to listen well to both the Word and the world, John Stott shows how Christianity can preserve its authentic identity and remain relevant to current realities. With the God's Word for Today series, pastor Tim Chester has updated Stott's classic book The Contemporary Christian and made it accessible to new generations of readers. In The World, Stott presents four major aspects of the church's mission-God's assignment to infiltrate the world and share the good news. How do we understand the uniqueness of Christ in a pluralistic world? What is the biblical basis for mission? What is the relationship between evangelism and social responsibility? And what can we learn about mission from the life and work of Jesus? Each chapter includes questions for reflection or discussion. The Christianity of the Bible is not a safe, escapist religion but an explosive force pulling us into the world to witness and serve. This book equips individuals and churches to join the mission that flows from the heart of God.

Chocolate bunnies, colored eggs, and baskets are a lot of fun, but is that really what this season is all about? Messy Easter offers your church a tool to bring together people of all ages and stages of faith for a unique come-as-you-are experience of creativity, celebration, and hospitality. These three once-a-month sessions help us learn more about Lent, Holy Week, and Easter in an excitedly messy way!

What are Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany really about? This complete church resource brings together people of all ages and stages of faith, allowing them to experience a creative and fun-filled Christian community. Three once-a-month sessions include unique Christmas activities like global action suggestions, games and competitions, prayers, Christmas food crafts, and more.

Spoiler alert: Talking about Jesus is awkward. We love to share good news with the world. We tweet about a great new restaurant, we share pictures of our newborn child and we celebrate about receiving that sought-after promotion. We are evangelists for many great things. So why don't we do the same with Jesus? It's not hard to see that we bring our own anxieties and awkwardness into every evangelistic conversation. Not to mention the often vast differences between our experiences of God and religion and those of the people around us. And then there's the inner awkwardness of our conversation partners, who are actively contending, even unconsciously, with the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Evangelism is awkward, yes. But on the other side of that awkwardness is something amazing: transformed lives, healed relationships, new vision, eternal life. After spending years working with college students and churchgoers, Beau Crosetto hasn't solved the problem of awkwardness in evangelism. But he's learned how to push through it and how we can set ourselves and those we love at ease as we enter into conversations of eternal consequence. Read this book and move beyond awkward into the most awesome privilege of God's people: proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.

All over the world, women and girls face troubles such as starvation, displacement, illiteracy, sexual exploitation and abuse. Kay Marshall Strom and Michele Rickett traveled to interview girls and to partner with ministries helping females in the most difficult places in the world. These pages hold those girls' stories of deep pain and suffering, inspiring courage, and incredible hope.

Alister McGrath argues that Christian thought has a vital role to play in the survival of the Christian vision of reality. By setting the gospel in the great tradition of Christian theological reflection, we have the makings of a robust engagement in the public sphere of ideas.

"I don't want to look back someday and realize I wasted my time. I want my life to count for something important." "This world is a very needy place. If my Christian faith means anything at all, I've got to figure out what I can do about it." Have you ever asked yourself, What difference am I making with my life? On some level, we all struggle to find our own answer to that fundamental question. The search for significance is the underlying motivation for virtually all human activity. It's what drives us. Whitney T. Kuniholm, president of Scripture Union/USA, addresses these core questions by taking you on a fast-paced journey through the book of Acts. He draws on the question the apostle Paul asked Jesus: "What shall I do, Lord?" (Acts 22:10). The experiences of the first Christians show us that God has a mission, an essential mission, for all of his people-whether it is to serve him faithfully in the marketplace, in the home, in school, in the military or someplace else. The Essential Question is perfect for groups and churches that want to read the book of Acts together and then make a difference for God in their community and the world. Are you ready to answer the essential question?

Opening our eyes to the persistence of the controversies that followed Jesus throughout his public ministry, John Stott explains why the tension-filled social exchanges depicted in the Gospels provide us with a key to the heart of Christian doctrine.

Grow your brain! James Emery White presents a well-written, accessible approach to the importance of the mind in a Christian framework and the use of the Christian mind in the world. This accessible approach will help you put your mind to use in the world as it was intended by our Creator and includes reading lists and resources for learning.

Christianity Today Book Award Winner Outreach Magazine Resource of the YearWe want to save the world-and we have a dizzying array of worthy causes to pursue.But passionate enthusiasm can quickly give way to disillusionment, compassion fatigue or empty slacktivism. As we move from awareness to mobilization, we bump up against the complexities of global problems-and liking Facebook pages only goes so far.Veteran activist Tyler Wigg-Stevenson identifies the practical and spiritual pitfalls that threaten much of today's cause-driven Christianity. He casts an alternate vision for doing good based on the liberating truth that only God can save the world. Wigg-Stevenson's own pilgrimage from causes to calling shows how to ground an enduring, kingdom-oriented activism in the stillness of vocation rather than in the anxiety of the world's brokenness.The world is not ours to save. And that's okay. Discover why.

What does good theology have to do with good entrepreneurship? In this pioneering work, Richard Goossen and R. Paul Stevens have written what many are already declaring to be the essential resource for Christian entrepreneurial leadership, based on exhaustive research, practical experience and decades of teaching marketplace theology. Entrepreneurial Leadership addresses both the "how-come" and the "how-to," not only grounding the entrepreneurial calling in its proper source in the triune God but also providing practical guides for how to be an effective leader. Be inspired to find your calling and to make a difference in the marketplace, church and beyond.

2014 Outreach Magazine Resource of the YearSlavery didn't end in 1833, when William Wilberforce's decades-long campaign finally resulted in the Slavery Abolition Act. It didn't end in 1863, when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. It didn't end in 1949, when the United Nations declared trafficking "incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person." The sad truth is, slavery never ended. It just went underground, where it continues to exploit powerless men, women and children in horrific ways throughout the world.Now for the good news: you have power.In Refuse to Do Nothing, "Abolitionist Mamas" Shayne Moore and Kimberly Yim share their stories of coming to terms with the power available to them in their normal, everyday lives toilluminate the shadows where those who traffic in people hidecompel corporations to fight slavery in how their products are mademotivate politicians to fight for human dignitymobilize friends and strangers alike to fight slavery at home and throughout the worldSlavery doesn't end without a fight. But get to know Shayne and Kimberly and their abolitionist friends, and you'll find the power God grants to all who fight for the powerless, and the joy awaiting those who refuse to do nothing.

Outreach Magazine Resource of the YearSometimes we get so caught up in the power of Jesus shouting from the cross, "It is finished!" that we forget that Jesus started something. What Jesus started was a movement that began small, with intimate conversations designed to build disciples into apostles who would go out in the world and seed it with God's kingdom vision. That movement grew rapidly and spread wide as people recognized the truth in it and gave their lives to the power of it. That movement is still happening today, and we are called to play our part in it.

What does it mean to follow Jesus? And how should we help others become more like him? Once upon a time, being a Christian seemed clear. Say these words, pray these prayers, do these things. But out in the real world, following Jesus feels more nebulous. What's the point? That's Stephen's struggle in these pages as he wonders if he has missed his calling. In this compelling narrative, James Choung explores what it means to follow Jesus in the real world. Is Christianity something you just believe in, or can it be something you actually live out? Engineer Stephen wants to encourage his younger colleague Jared in his spiritual journey, but both feel at a loss. Stephen's friend Bridget offers insights on how Boomers, Xers, Millennials and younger generations approach spiritual questions, with implications for discipleship, community and service. Together they walk through deepening stages of faith as they discern how God is calling them to live. Join Stephen, Bridget and Jared on their journey of following Jesus, as they discover what it means to move from skeptic to world-changer. And find new pathways for Christian discipleship and disciplemaking in a world yearning for hope.

Often this world seems like a nightmare. Human trafficking, young girls trapped in brothels, child soldiers forced to become killers, unchecked plagues and diseases, economic injustice and the oppression of the poor. Millions around the world are trapped in this nightmare, and we may feel helpless to do anything about it. But God has a dream. York Moore paints a vivid picture of how the dream of God is breaking into history to make all things new. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God is bringing an end to the world's nightmare of sin and death. Scripture's vision of Jesus' end-time work shows how the wrongs will be made right, and God's just judgment is good news for the world. Unpacking how the Bible describes the last things, Moore shows how we can partner with God as he brings his dream to reality. Every time a well is dug for a community, food is provided for the hungry or sex traffickers are brought to justice, the dream begins to take hold. This is no mere wishful thinking. The dream of God is more real than your dreams could ever imagine. It is what we were created for. So wake up from the nightmare and join in what God is doing in the world. And flourish as your own dreams are transformed by God's dream for all creation.