Download or read book Douglas and the Reluctant Pastor written by Roy D Perkins and published by Page Publishing Inc. This book was released on 2022-12-14 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of Pastor Micah Whitfield and his omnipotent and omniscient treeing walker coonhound named Douglas. Micah will gradually discover that Douglas has supernatural powers as endowed to him by the Almighty. Douglas is on a mission from the Almighty. He is to guide and mold Pastor Micah into a fit hellfire-and-brimstone pastor. Douglas has his work cut out for him as Micah is very reluctant to perform his pastoral duties. Douglas is the real pastor of the church. Douglas writes the sermons, leads communion services, leads Bible studies, and does most of all the Christian counseling as Micah is inept at all of them. In exchange, Douglas is rewarded with porterhouse steaks and cheesecake. Eventually, Douglas becomes known as the Hell Dog. He frequently gives guided tours of hell. Occasionally, he gives a tour of the heavenly realm or Reprobate City. As Douglas and Micah become inseparable, the reader discovers that this "perfect canine" has some flaws. He frequently gets Micah into trouble in the church, on vacation, and during their demonstrations and marches on the capital city and Washington City. Micah is always getting arrested. Douglas is always there to break him out of jail. They frequently become fugitives from injustice. On the other hand, Douglas sometimes does some pro bono work for the police department. He wears a badge that says, "Deputized Outlaw." Just before vacation, Micah is impeached by the congregation. Douglas gives a long-winded dissertation about salvation and the Almighty. He even takes the entire congregation on a tour of hell. When he is done, Micah has the congregation on his side. This lays the groundwork for putting words into action. The entire congregation is in a "demonstration mode."

Download or read book The Community of God written by Douglas Bursch and published by . This book was released on 2017-05-19 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We were created for community. So why do we want to be alone? The Bible tells the story of the immense power of human relationships and God's love for the church. Douglas Bursch presents a timely, insightful and practical theology of community. He examines the relational implications of human existence, sin, salvation, discipleship, evangelism and other key biblical concepts. Doug also shares unfiltered stories concerning his personal weaknesses and the relational struggles he has faced as a pastor. Each chapter contains thought-provoking questions that can be used by individuals, pastors, small groups and college classes for further in-depth discussions. Doug's writing cuts to the heart of why community is so valuable but so costly. The Community of God: A Theology of the Church From a Reluctant Pastor is an indispensable resource for creating healthy Christian community in an increasingly individualistic world. "Doug Bursch is one of the best thinkers of our day. He artfully mixes a sound theology with a practical application in a complex, combustible 21st Century culture that desperately needs a clarion voice." - Glenn Burris Jr., President of The Foursquare Church "Doug is unafraid to question the deep things of our faith but always does so as a committed believer. He's interesting, passionate and practical all at the same time." - Dr. Steve Schell, Senior Pastor of Northwest Church; host of Life Lessons and author of Preaching Through Romans

Download or read book Evangellyfish written by Douglas Wilson and published by Canon Press & Book Service. This book was released on 2012-01-31 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BEST FICTION AWARD - Christianity Today 2012 Evangellyfish is a ruthless, grimly amused, and above all honest look at one of the darkest corners in the western world. Douglas Wilson, a pastor of more than thirty years, paints a vivid and painful picture of evangelical boomchurch leadership. . . in bed. Chad Lester's kingdom is found in the Midwest. His voice crawls over the airwaves, his books are read by millions (before he reads them), and thousands ride the escalators into the sanctuary every Sunday. And Saturday. And Wednesday, too. He is the head pastor of Camel Creek--a CEO of Soul. And souls come cheap, so he has no overhead. When Lester is (falsely) accused of molesting a young male counselee, his universe begins to crumble. He is a sexual predator, yes. But strictly straight (and deeply offended that anyone would suggest otherwise). Detectives, reporters, assistant pastors, and old lovers and pay-offs all come out to play. John Mitchell is also a pastor, but he has no kingdom to speak of--only smalltime choir feuds. He is thrilled at the great man's fall, but his joy quickly fades when the imploding Lester calls him--and a lover or two--for help. How low can grace go? Whores, thieves, and junkies, sure. But pastors?

Download or read book Posting Peace written by Douglas S. Bursch and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2021-04-20 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is everyone so angry online? The internet seems to have brought the world together only so we can tear each other apart. Social media platforms have become toxic and polarizing environments. Many of us are overwhelmed and disillusioned by endless online conflict and negativity. How did we get here, and what can we do about it? The internet changes not only how we communicate but also what we communicate. Pastor and former radio host Douglas Bursch provides a spiritual examination of why social media divides people and how Christians can address polarization through a ministry of peacemaking. Digital media dehumanizes and disembodies us, dulling our ability to know when to speak and when to remain silent. But healthy online communication is possible through a constructive posture of reconciliation. Bursch offers practical examples of how to proactively manage social media and handle online conflict in redemptive ways. Together we can change the discourse of online Christian communication. Discover how we can use social media in a positive, Christ-like manner.

Download or read book Blackthorn Winter written by Douglas Wilson and published by Veritas Press. This book was released on 2009-11 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Treasure, financial hardship, and pirate mistique [sic] all add to a cleverly woven tale of uncommon honor in the face of insideous treachery that stretches from the days of cutlasses and muskets to our own."--Page 4 of cover.

Download or read book Christ and His Rivals written by Douglas Wilson and published by . This book was released on 2008-06-03 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his Through New Eyes commentary on Hebrews, Douglas Wilson reviews the epistle writer's use of typology in describing the new covenant under the new high priest, Jesus Christ.

Download or read book The Soul in Cyberspace written by Doug Groothuis and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 1999-03-08 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While most Christians are content with a superficial and pragmatic assessment of the new information technologies, Douglas Groothuis probes more deeply. He wisely recognizes the symbolic power of technology: machines don't just do things, they shape us by equipping our imaginations and language with powerful new images, metaphors, and assumptions. Groothuis has done a great service in alerting us to the temptations that will challenge the twenty-first century church, and in providing the tools to discern what is real, what is true, and what is to be treasured." --Ken Myers

Download or read book Every Moment Holy Volume Two written by Douglas Kaine McKelvey and published by Every Moment Holy. This book was released on 2021-02-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: EVERY MOMENT HOLY, Vol. 2: DEATH, GRIEF, & HOPE, is a book of liturgies for seasons of dying and grieving--liturgies such as "A Liturgy for the Scattering of Ashes" or "A Liturgy for the Loss of a Spouse" or "A Liturgy for the Wake of a National Tragedy" or "A Liturgy for the Weighing of Last-Stage Medical Options." These are ways of reminding us that our lives are shot through with sacred purpose and eternal hopes even when, especially when, suffering and pain threaten to overwhelm us. -over 100 liturgies for seasons of dying and grieving -beautiful leather-bound hardcover -over 20 illustrations by Ned Bustard -silk bookmark -gilded edges

Download or read book For a Glory and a Covering written by Douglas Wilson and published by Canon Press & Book Service. This book was released on 2009-08-28 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Lord, here am I. Change him." "God, I'm trying. She started it." Common claims but they're so far from Trinitarian life. We invoke Christ at the wedding then seem to default to an alien theology afterward. In this simple and practical book, Doug Wilson offers a richer and more comprehensive theology of marriage than in his prior works. Here he grounds marriage in the life of the Trinity and in the life of the church. Marriage is intended to be a glorious picture of the gospel, and marriages grounded elsewhere regularly create a small hell on earth. Don't miss the riches of marriage.

Download or read book Hipster Christianity written by Brett McCracken and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2010-08-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Insider twentysomething Christian journalist Brett McCracken has grown up in the evangelical Christian subculture and observed the recent shift away from the "stained glass and steeples" old guard of traditional Christianity to a more unorthodox, stylized 21st-century church. This change raises a big issue for the church in our postmodern world: the question of cool. The question is whether or not Christianity can be, should be, or is, in fact, cool. This probing book is about an emerging category of Christians McCracken calls "Christian hipsters"--the unlikely fusion of the American obsessions with worldly "cool" and otherworldly religion--an analysis of what they're about, why they exist, and what it all means for Christianity and the church's relevancy and hipness in today's youth-oriented culture.

Download or read book The Family written by Jeff Sharlet and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2008-05-20 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A journalist's penetrating look at the untold story of christian fundamentalism's most elite organization, a self-described invisible network dedicated to a religion of power for the powerful They are the Family—fundamentalism's avant-garde, waging spiritual war in the halls of American power and around the globe. They consider themselves the new chosen—congressmen, generals, and foreign dictators who meet in confidential cells, to pray and plan for a "leadership led by God," to be won not by force but through "quiet diplomacy." Their base is a leafy estate overlooking the Potomac in Arlington, Virginia, and Jeff Sharlet is the only journalist to have reported from inside its walls. The Family is about the other half of American fundamentalist power—not its angry masses, but its sophisticated elites. Sharlet follows the story back to Abraham Vereide, an immigrant preacher who in 1935 organized a small group of businessmen sympathetic to European fascism, fusing the far right with his own polite but authoritarian faith. From that core, Vereide built an international network of fundamentalists who spoke the language of establishment power, a "family" that thrives to this day. In public, they host Prayer Breakfasts; in private, they preach a gospel of "biblical capitalism," military might, and American empire. Citing Hitler, Lenin, and Mao as leadership models, the Family's current leader, Doug Coe, declares, "We work with power where we can, build new power where we can't." Sharlet's discoveries dramatically challenge conventional wisdom about American fundamentalism, revealing its crucial role in the unraveling of the New Deal, the waging of the cold war, and the no-holds-barred economics of globalization. The question Sharlet believes we must ask is not "What do fundamentalists want?" but "What have they already done?" Part history, part investigative journalism, The Family is a compelling account of how fundamentalism came to be interwoven with American power, a story that stretches from the religious revivals that have shaken this nation from its beginning to fundamentalism's new frontiers. No other book about the right has exposed the Family or revealed its far-reaching impact on democracy, and no future reckoning of American fundamentalism will be able to ignore it.

Download or read book Pastrix written by Nadia Bolz-Weber and published by Jericho Books. This book was released on 2013-09-10 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now a New York Times bestselling author, Nadia Bolz-Weber takes no prisoners as she reclaims the term "pastrix"(pronounced "pas-triks," a term used by some Christians who refuse to recognize female pastors) in her messy, beautiful, prayer-and-profanity laden narrative about an unconventional life of faith. ​ Heavily tattooed and loud-mouthed, Nadia, a former stand-up comic, sure as hell didn't consider herself to be religious leader material—until the day she ended up leading a friend's funeral in a smoky downtown comedy club. Surrounded by fellow alcoholics, depressives, and cynics, she realized: These were her people. Maybe she was meant to be their pastor. Using life stories—from living in a hopeful-but-haggard commune of slackers and her unusual but undeniable spiritual calling to her experiences pastoring people from all walks of life—and poignant honesty, Nadia portrays a woman who is both deeply faithful and deeply flawed, giving hope to the rest of us along the way. Wildly entertaining and deeply resonant, this is the book for people who hunger for a bit of hope that doesn't come from vapid consumerism; for women who talk too loud and guys who love chick flicks; and for the gay person who loves Jesus and won't be shunned by the church. In short, this book is for every misfit suspicious of institutionalized religion but who is still seeking transcendence and mystery.

Download or read book Survival and Resistance in Evangelical America written by Crawford Gribben and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-02-23 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last thirty years, conservative evangelicals have been moving to the Northwest of the United States, where they hope to resist the impact of secular modernity and to survive the breakdown of society that they anticipate. These believers have often given up on the politics of the Christian Right, adopting strategies of hibernation while developing the communities and institutions from which a new America might one day emerge. Their activity coincides with the promotion by prominent survivalist authors of a program of migration to the "American Redoubt," a region encompassing Idaho, Montana, parts of eastern Washington and Oregon, and Wyoming, as a haven in which to endure hostile social change or natural disaster and in which to build a new social order. These migration movements have independent origins, but they overlap in their influences and aspirations, working in tandem to offer a vision of the present in which Christian values must be defended as American society is rebuilt according to biblical law. This book examines the origins, evolution, and cultural reach of this little-noted migration and considers what it might tell us about the future of American evangelicalism. Drawing on Calvinist theology, the social theory of Christian Reconstruction, and libertarian politics, these believers are projecting significant soft power. Their books are promoted by leading mainstream publishers and listed as New York Times bestsellers. Their strategy is gaining momentum, making an impact in local political and economic life, while being repackaged for a wider audience in publications by a broader coalition of conservative commentators and in American mass culture. This survivalist evangelical subculture recognizes that they have lost the culture war - but another kind of conflict is beginning.

Download or read book Lady Father written by Susan Bowman and published by Lady Father. This book was released on 2011-05 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Lady Father" is a narrative account of my journey through the ordination process in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia of the 1980's and the subsequent years of ordained ministry. As the first female admitted to the ordination process by the Rt. Rev. C. Charles Vach , 7th Bishop of Southern Virginia, who was then a strong and vocal opponent of the ordination of women, I was a "reluctant pioneer." Dubbed "the Lady Father," I have served the church for 25 years and I am now offering my experiences and the insights I learned from them to others who feel a similar call and who may find themselves on a similar journey "against the flow." "Lady Father" is filled with anecdotes that will ring true with many clergy, bring hope to those aspiring to ordination, and shed light on the continuing debate in the Church over who should be ordained. "The Process" described in the book is a journey most clergy have traveled, but my story is a unique blend of the obstacles, denials, and rejections I faced and overcame, along with the uplifting moments and spiritual growth that came out of the struggle. It is truthful and so, at times, it is painful; it is often light-hearted, even humorous; it is moving as it deals with real people, real events, and real emotions; and, most of all, it is mine - my story, my journey, my life.

Download or read book The Vulnerable Pastor written by Mandy Smith and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2015-09-25 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sometimes pastors fear that if people knew who we really are, we'd be disqualified from ministry. Not so, says pastor Mandy Smith. Transparently describing her pastoral journey, Smith shows how vulnerability shapes ministry, unpacking the biblical paradox that God's strength is revealed in our weakness. God has called you to lead just as the human you are.

Download or read book The Praying Church Handbook written by Carol Madison and published by PrayerShop Publishing. This book was released on 2024-07-16 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A complete guide to growing prayer in a local church, The Praying Church Handbook includes practical ideas and advice on becoming a praying church. The resource includes 30 chapters under 6 sections, all written by local and national prayer leaders who understand the dynamic of prayer in a church setting. The content, which originally appeared in the "Prayer Leader" column of Prayer Connect magazine, is divided into these sections: "Establishing Your Church as a House of Prayer," "Leadership and Prayer Relationships," "Enhancing Corporate Prayer," "Engaging the Family and Generations," "Creating Special Prayer Emphases," and "Special interest Prayer." Carol Madison is the editor of Prayer Connect magazine and the author of Prayer That's Caught and Taught.

Download or read book The Codex written by Douglas Preston and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2005-04 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Greetings from the dead, declares Maxwell on the videotape he left behind after his mysterious disappearance.