In this book, pastor and author Tri Robinson clearly shows the biblical mandate for environmental stewardship—and how doing so will change the world around us. Unfortunately, many evangelical Christians have decided caring for life, for creation, has too much political baggage attached to it and have forsaken it. Through biblical examples, everyday stories, and practical know-how, Robinson delivers a powerful message that cannot be ignored. His insights into how to move people from the idea of stewarding Gods creation to actually participating will show leaders in the evangelical Christian community how to raise this value.
As chief of the medical staff at a large hospital, Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth was living the dream—until he realized that something was terribly wrong. As he saw his patients suffering from cancer, asthma, and other chronic diseases, he began to understand that we all are in trouble. In Serve God, Save the Planet, Sleeth draws on science and religion to build a bridge between environmentalists and mainstream Christians. Sleeth shares how material downscaling leads to healthier lifestyles, stronger relationships, and richer spiritual lives. This book is a prescription for taking personal responsibility for global survival.
The world's most exciting, fastest-growing new market? It's where you least expect it: at the bottom of the pyramid. Collectively, the world's billions of poor people have immense entrepreneurial capabilities and buying power. You can learn how to serve them and help millions of the world's poor escape poverty. It is being done—profitably.Pyramid offers a blueprint for driving the radical innovation you'll need to profit in emerging markets—and using those innovations to become more competitive everywhere. This new paperback edition includes eleven concise, fast-paced success stories from around the world, ranging from salt to soap, banking to cellphones, healthcare to housing. [Review from Amazon.com] Recommended by GlobeServe Business Network
Business entrepreneurs have always played a key role in America's financial growth. Now social entrepreneurs are also being recognized for their significant contributions. Giving Back includes the stories of practical idealists who use modern tools and technology to share the age-old love of God with the disadvantaged—from at-risk kids to dysfunctional families to impoverished minorities to the homeless. Throughout this book, Oster and Hamel highlight practical principles that will help you use your resources, abilities, and influence to create positive social change and improve the world your grandchildren will inherit. [Review from Amazon.com]
Some of the world's top minds help us respond with appropriate biblical passion to the plague of our time. This book is a compilation of the power presentations of the 2003 Global Missions Health Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. (Recommended by World Vision)
This book is considered the most thorough, biblical case against poverty. In it Ronald Sider examines the complex causes of poverty and offers concrete, practical proposals for social and individual change. Conservatives blame sinful individual choices and laziness. Liberals condemn economic and social structures. Sider believes both are right. He explains that poverty is the result of complex causes, and then presents practical, workable proposals for change, proposals that should be taken up by every person who seeks to deserve the title "Christian" and to apply and follow the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth in the modern world.
AIDS is the biggest public health problem the world has ever faced. There are thousands of books Web sites and professional documents about AIDS, but it takes time to search them to find the simple facts and information that dispel the myths about this pandemic. Despite the volumes of information available, most of us know little about AIDS. Motivated by the obvious need for a manageable tool, Burke answers the questions the "average" person asks in this easy-to-understand full color guide. She presents this pandemic in social, political, and scientific views without losing the reader in advanced biochemical terms. (Recommended by World Vision)
Death by Suburb is a wake-up call to suburbanites who have put their spiritual life on cruise control and let the caffeine-driven culture wreak havoc on their relationship with God. Combining witty anecdotes and a suburban insider's sometimes surreal experience, Goetz offers eight spiritual disciplines that can help you create what he calls a "thicker spiritual life." Whether it means creating room for the ancient traditions of stillness and silent meditation or battling the competition that breeds in the suburbs, Goetz spells out concrete methods for nurturing the spiritual life amidst the noise and routine of daily suburban experience. [Review by Christian book]
In this exciting book, Wallis shows us how we can enrich our own lives by serving our communities. His anecdotal, exhilarating, and engaging book is part memoir, part inspirational game plan for transforming our own lives and our society, and part primer on how faith communities are changing neighborhoods. It is filled with dramatic human stories of men and women who will move and inspire us. Faith Works will appeal to religious people looking to bring more meaning to their faith and to spiritually hungry people looking for direction in their lives.
God's Politics has struck a chord with contemporary Americans who, according to bestseller lists, are buying Wallis's book in droves. Regardless of how critics feel about the author's religious beliefs (evangelical Christian) and political leanings (traditional on family values; progressive on issues like poverty and social justice), they are hard-pressed to argue with his central tenets: God belongs to no single political party and true faith transcends political categorization. Wallis writes that liberals and conservatives alike should work for a "new spiritual revival … that could transform our society." [Review by Bookmarks Magazine]
Lift the Label starts with a call to be a good neighbor to the global poor—particularly those who supply our food and clothes. It tells the stories of some of our neighbors who work in the garment and food industries for our benefit but at great personal cost to themselves. Written to inspire and empower, this contains creative and practical ways to shop differently. It explains fair trade and provides a much-needed directory of ethically-minded shops to help you to "stop shopping quietly." [Review from Authentic Media]
This provocative book from author, consultant, and leadership developer Reggie McNeal debunks assumptions made by church leaders and provides an overarching strategy for guiding the church into the future in new and effective ways. McNeal identifies key issues Christian leaders will have to approach including: recapturing the spirit of Christianity; replacing "church growth" with kingdom growth; developing disciples not church goers; fostering apostolic leadership; focusing on spiritual formation; and discovering how to prepare for the challenges of an uncertain world. The Present Future argues that by changing the questions church leaders ask about their congregations and their strategies, they can approach the future with a new purpose and a healthy perspective.
America is on the brink of a new renaissance, but too many media outlets and corporations still see the U.S. as the cultural wasteland of Golden Arches and MTV. In this innovative book, cultural specialist Patricia Martin argues that America is on the verge of a cultural revolution, where the assumptions and values of our culture will be changed forever. This shift is fueled by many economic and social factors, including: aesthetic expression, internet learning, a desire for order amid complexity, interest in personal reinvention, and a heightened social/environmental awareness. This book paints a telling picture of the future and is a must read for organizations preparing to meet the challenges of the next generation; the Ren Gen.
Ron Sider asserts that "by their daily activity, most 'Christians' regularly commit treason." In this candid and challenging book, Sider addresses an embarrassing reality: most Christians' lives are no different from the lives of their secular neighbors. Hedonism, materialism, racism, egotism, and many other undesirable traits are commonplace among Christians. Rather than simply a book bemoaning the state of American Christianity today, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience offers readers solutions to repair the disconnect between belief and practice. While it's not easy medicine to take, this book is a much-needed prophetic call to transformed living. [Review by Amazon.com]
Al Hsu unpacks the spiritual significance of suburbia and explores how suburban culture shapes how we live and practice our faith. With broad historical background and sociological analysis, Hsu offers practical insights for Christians living in a suburban context. Probing such dynamics as commuting and consuming, he offers Christian alternatives that nurture authentic spirituality, genuine community, and relevant ministry. And he challenges suburban Christians to look beyond suburbia and marshal their resources toward urban and global justice. Here is guidance and hope for all who would seek the welfare of the suburbs. [Review by Amazon.com]
David Kinnaman (The Barna Group) Gabe Lyons (Fermi Project) (2006)
Kinnaman was inspired to write this book when Lyons commissioned him to do extensive research on what young Americans think about Christianity. The New Generation believes Christians are judgmental, antihomosexual, hypocritical, too political, and sheltered. Rather than simply try to do a PR face-lift, Kinnaman looks at ways in which churches' activities actually may have been unchristian and encourages a return to a more biblical Christianity, a faith that not only focuses on holiness but also loves, accepts, and works to understand the world around it. (An excerpt is available at www.barna.org.) [Review from Publishers Weekly]
In Bridges to Islam Parshall explains that the most promising bridges to people in the Muslim world can be found not in orthodox Islam, but in "folk Islam," which is less well known in the West but which influences about 70% of the world's Muslims. The mystical Sufis (in contrast to Popular Muslims) press for a more satisfying personal relationship with Allah. These teachings and aspirations have immense potential as bridges. This thorough study of ways to bridge folk Islam will be invaluable to missionaries, students, and those interested in reaching Muslims for Christ. [Review by Authentic Media]
Through personal stories, proven experience, and a thorough analysis of the biblical text, Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church illustrates both the biblical mandate for the multi-ethnic church as well as the seven core commitments required to bring it about. Mark DeYmaz, pastor of one of the most proven multi-ethnic churches, writes both from his experience and his extensive study of how to plant, grow, and encourage more ethnically diverse churches. He argues that the "homogenous unit principle" will soon become irrelevant and that the most effective way to spread the Gospel in an increasingly diverse world is through strong and vital multi-ethnic churches. [Review from Amazon.com]
"Why should an essentially 'benign' religion turn some into 'demons'?" asked a Muslim journalist. It is a question that is at the heart of the Islamic debate. Alarmist claims are made about these 'demons,' while the possibility of a peaceful Islam is dismissed. Many are confused about the religion's contradictory faces. Is it possible for Christians to relate to Muslims without being politically naïve or theologically liberal? Steve believes it is. He shares his own journey and reflects upon how he arrived at the crucial ingredient—grace. [Review by Authentic Media]
At the center of Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Dr. Farmer found his life's calling in medical school: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This magnificent book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer—brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti—blasts through convention to get results. [Review from Amazon.com]
In Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Christians live in settings very much like the New Testament. For this reason they read Scriptures with freshness and authenticity impossible in the prosperous societies of North America and Europe. These new Christians draw conclusions from Scripture that are innovative, creative, and socially liberating in their impact on social structures and gender relations. Fundamentalism in the South does not deny or defy modernity; instead the Bible supplies a tool to cope with modernity, and to assist the most marginalized members of society. [Review from Oxford University Press]
Advances in technology are pushing back the boundaries of the possible. Even the question of what it means to be humans is open to change. Can the ethical debate keep pace with technology's rapid progress, or are matters of right and wrong being left behind? How can Christians find a way through this moral mine field? How can we talk about these things in a way that helps rather than browbeats our friends? Playing God: Talking About Ethics in Medicine and Technology is an exciting introduction to thinking about these issues. [Review by Authentic Media.]
