Download or read book Saving Jesus from the Church written by Robin R. Meyers and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-02-24 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Countless thoughtful people are now so disgusted with the marriage of bad theology and hypocritical behavior by the church that a new Reformation is required in which the purpose of religion itself is reimagined. Meyers takes the best of biblical scholarship and recasts these core Christian concepts to exhort the church to pursue an alternative vision of the Christian life: Jesus as Teacher, not Savior Christianity as Compassion, not Condemnation Prosperity as Dangerous, not Divine Discipleship as Obedience, not Control Religion as Relationship, not Righteousness This is not a call to the church to move to the far left or to try something brand new. Rather, it is the recovery of something very old. Saving Jesus from the Church shows us what it means to be a Christian and how to follow Jesus' teachings today.

Download or read book Jesus Wants to Save Christians written by Rob Bell and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2009-03-17 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a church not too far from us that recently added a $25 million addition to their building. Our local newspaper ran a front-page story not too long ago about a study revealing that one in five people in our city lives in poverty. This is a book about those two numbers. Jesus Wants to save Christians is a book about faith and fear, wealth and war, poverty, power, safety, terror, Bibles, bombs, and homeland insecurity. It's about empty empires and the truth that everybody's a priest. It's about oppression, occupation, and what happens when Christians support, animate and participate in the very things Jesus came to set people free from. It's about what it means to be a part of the church of Jesus in a world where some people fly planes into buildings while others pick up groceries in Hummers.

Download or read book Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart written by J. D. Greear and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “If there were a Guinness Book of World Records entry for ‘amount of times having prayed the sinner’s prayer,’ I’m pretty sure I’d be a top contender,” says pastor and author J. D. Greear. He struggled for many years to gain an assurance of salvation and eventually learned he was not alone. “Lack of assurance” is epidemic among evangelical Christians. In Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, J. D. shows that faulty ways of present- ing the gospel are a leading source of the confusion. Our presentations may not be heretical, but they are sometimes misleading. The idea of “asking Jesus into your heart” or “giving your life to Jesus” often gives false assurance to those who are not saved—and keeps those who genuinely are saved from fully embracing that reality. Greear unpacks the doctrine of assurance, showing that salvation is a posture we take to the promise of God in Christ, a posture that begins at a certain point and is maintained for the rest of our lives. He also answers the tough questions about assurance: What exactly is faith? What is repentance? Why are there so many warnings that seem to imply we can lose our salvation? Such issues are handled with respect to the theological rigors they require, but Greear never loses his pastoral sensitivity or a communication technique that makes this message teachable to a wide audience from teens to adults.

Download or read book Saving Jesus from Those who are Right written by Carter Heyward and published by Augsburg Fortress Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this theological resource for spiritual transformation and social change, Carter Heyward rethinks the figure and import of Jesus for church, academy, and society. Rather than focus on the endlessly variable pictures of Jesus in contemporary biblical scholarship, and in radical opposition to the Jesus of the Christian Right, Heyward presents Jesus as our brother, infused with a sacred power and passion for embodying right (mutual) relation, and ourselves with him in this commitment. She goes on to explore, concretely, how we might live this way.Wonderfully clear-sighted, this brief, faithful, and intelligent Christology offers reconstructions of incarnation, atonement, evil, suffering, and fear. It also sheds light on the significance of Jesus for ecological, racial, economic, and gender justice. Heyward's book envisions a mighty counter-cultural force, which she names christic power, that can help save American culture from its greed and domination and save the figure of Jesus from culture-generated distortions. In short, Heyward's book will help people come to terms with the life-changing implications of Jesus' person and ethic. To a generation in search of the transforming potential of Christian commitment, Heyward's most important work offers both spiritual depth and unwavering commitment to the human good. A study guide to this book is available here on fortresspress.com. Click on the tab Letter from the Author.

Download or read book Jesus the Only Way to God written by John Piper and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2010-08-01 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If the evangelical church at large was ever too confrontational in its evangelism, those days are gone. In our shrinking, pluralistic world, the belief that Jesus is the only way of salvation is increasingly called arrogant and even hateful. In the face of this criticism, many shrink back from affirming the global necessity of knowing and believing in Jesus. In Jesus, the Only Way to God, John Piper offers a timely plea for the evangelical church to consider what is at stake in surrendering the unique, universal place of Jesus in salvation.

Download or read book How Jesus Runs the Church written by Guy Prentiss Waters and published by P & R Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are many fine books available on the offices of church leadership. Few, if any, address for a contemporary audience the biblical foundations of the government of the church. But this should be a priority for us, because God emphasizes the government of his church throughout Scripture. Why should we be church members? How do church officers reflect Jesus' reign over us? Where do the church's responsibilities begin and end? Where do ours? These, and other important questions, are answered in Guy Prentiss Water's vital examination of How Jesus Runs the Church. At a time when church authority is treated with contempt, it's important that we honor God in our churches more than ever.

Download or read book From Jesus to the Church written by Craig A. Evans and published by Presbyterian Publishing Corp. This book was released on 2014-02-07 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did Jesus intend to found a church separate from Judaism? Who were the very first followers of Jesus? And how did a clash between two families--the family of Jesus on one hand and the family of high priest Annas and their aristocratic allies on the other--eventually lead to the formation of Christianity? In this study, best-selling author Craig A. Evans looks at how a tumultuous chain of events from 30-70 CE--beginning with Jesus's entry into Jerusalem and subsequent crucifixion and ending with the destruction of the temple--led to the separation between the followers of Jesus and other Jews. Topics include the following: 1) whether Jesus actually intended to found the Christian Church; 2) the ways in which Jesus's proclamation of the “Kingdom of God†relate to the Christian Church; 3) the role of James, brother of Jesus, in the new movement in Jerusalem; 4) the tension between James and Paul in the matter of law and works; 5) the conflict between the families and followers of Jesus and those of the high priest Annas before the destruction of the temple; and 6) the aftermath of the Jewish rebellion, whereby the Church moved away from its Jewish roots. An appendix further explores the reasons behind the rift between the Jesus movement and the synagogue. This fascinating volume is suitable for historical Jesus and early church studies, along with anyone else interested in learning about the very first followers of Jesus.

Download or read book Saving the Saved written by Bryan Loritts and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2016-10-11 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: White-knuckling can never get you where you want to go. But grace can. You already know because you’ve tried: repeated attempts to earn God’s love and approval get you nowhere and leave you exhausted. When performance taints our relationship with him, the Christian life can turn into an unholy hustle. It was never meant to be like this. In Saving the Saved, Pastor Bryan Loritts reveals the astonishing truth that God doesn’t want your spiritual scorekeeping. He simply wants your surrender. The punchline of the gospel of Matthew is just that—a message of grace and performance-free love to do-good, try-harder Jews who thought they had to earn their way into God’s favor. It’s an ancient message, yet it can be a lifeline to us today as we live in a world of performance metrics. Just as Matthew wrote to the Jews in his gospel, we were never meant to flounder under the pressures and anxieties of show Christianity. Make no mistake: we are called to live in obedience, but Jesus wants us to save us from the illusion that our actions can ever earn God’s acceptance of us. In Pastor Bryan’s relevant, uncompromising style, Saving the Saved proclaims the good news that once the pressure is off to perform, we are free to abide. Beyond the man-made rules and the red tape, there is a God who knows you by name. Come and meet him as you’ve never known him before.

Download or read book How Jesus Saves the World from Us written by Morgan Guyton and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity has always been about being saved. But today what Christians need saving from most is the toxic understanding of salvation we've received through bad theology. The loudest voices in Christianity today sound exactly like the religious authorities who crucified Jesus. This is a book for Christians who are troubled by what we've become and who want Jesus to save us from the toxic behaviors and attitudes we've embraced. Each of the 12 chapters proposes an antidote for the toxicity that has infiltrated Christian culture, such as "Worship not Performance, "Temple not Program," and "Solidarity not Sanctimony." Each chapter includes thought-provoking discussion questions, perfect for individual or group study. There are many reasons to lose hope about the state of our world and our church, but Guyton offers one piece of good news: Jesus is saving the world from us, one Christian at a time.

Download or read book Saving Paradise written by Rita Nakashima Brock and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Saving Paradise" offers a fascinating new lens on the history of Christianity, asking how its early vision of beauty evolved into a vision of torture, and what changes in society and theology marked that evolution.

Download or read book Only Jesus written by John F. MacArthur and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does it mean to be a Christian? What did Jesus mean when He said, "Follow me"? Based on his classic bestseller, The Gospel According to Jesus, pastor and author John MacArthur explores the gospel Jesus himself preached--the radical message his followers risked everything to live out. Only Jesus helps readers gain a thorough and proper understanding of the true way to salvation by examining questions like these: What does it mean to be saved? What is saving grace? Why do Christians call Jesus "Lord"? Why does the Cross matter? What does it mean to be born again? What did Jesus teach about eternal life? What do "sin" and "repentance" mean? What is the role of the Holy Spirit in salvation? Only Jesus is perfect for Christians who want a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ or seekers who want to know who Jesus is and what he taught. John MacArthur will guide you in discovering how Jesus' actual words and teachings call us to salvation and new life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Drastic changes will result in our hearts and lives when we truly answer Christ's call to discipleship.

Download or read book Jesus Only Churches written by E. Calvin Beisner and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlike Jehovah's Witnesses, who deny the Trinity by demoting Jesus to a mere man, the "Jesus Only" churches deny the Trinity by claiming that there is only one God, and that Jesus is the Father and the Holy Spirit. "Jesus Only" churches not only require baptism for salvation, but also stipulate that it must be baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ only, and not in the name of the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. Thus, these churches distort the gospel and the historic, orthodox understanding of Jesus. Why this series? This is an age when countless groups and movements, old and new, mark the religious landscape in our culture, leaving many people confused or uncertain in their search for spiritual truth and meaning. Because you may not have the time or opportunity to research these movements fully, these books provide essential and reliable information and insights for their spiritual journeys. The second wave of books in this series addresses a broad range of spiritual beliefs, from non-Trinitarian Christian sects to witchcraft and neo-paganism to classic non-Christian religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. All books but the summary volume, Truth and Error, contain five sections: -A concise introduction to the group being surveyed -An overview of the group’s theology — in its own words -Tips for witnessing effectively to members of the group -A bibliography with sources for further study -A comparison chart that shows the essential differences between biblical Christianity and the group -Truth and Error, the last book in the series, consists of parallel doctrinal charts compiled from all the other volumes. Three distinctives make this series especially useful to readers: -Information is carefully distilled to bring out truly essential points, rather than requiring readers to sift their way through a sea of secondary details. -Information is presented in a clear, easy-to-follow outline form with “menu bar” running heads. This format greatly assists the reader in quickly locating topics and details of interest. -Each book meets the needs and skill levels of both nontechnical and technical readers, providing an elementary level of refutation and progressing to a more advanced level using arguments based on the biblical text. The writers of these volumes are well qualified to present clear and reliable information and help readers to discern truth from falsehood.

Download or read book They Like Jesus But Not the Church written by Dan Kimball and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2007 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kimball provides an overview of the six most common objections emerging generations have with church and Christianity along with the biblical answers to these objections and examples of how churches are facing this challenge.

Download or read book The Underground Church written by Robin Meyers and published by SPCK. This book was released on 2012-11-15 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new way to follow Jesus that draws on old ways of following him. Prominent progressive writer, speaker, and minister Robin Meyers proposes that the best way for the faithful to recapture the spirit of the early Christian church is to recognize that Jesus-following was - and must be again - subversive in the best sense of the word because the gospel taken seriously turns the world upside down. No matter how the church may organize itself or worship, the defining characteristic of the church of the future will be its Jesus-inspired countercultural witness.

Download or read book Saving Jesus written by Dr Miceal Ledwith and published by . This book was released on 2017-11-04 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jesus promised that those who truly put his teachings into practice would do all the wonders he did and greater. Why then, even after 2,000 years, has there never yet been any significant sign of these wonders happening in any of the more than 20,000 Christian Churches and Congregations that are proud to bear his name today? The Crucifixion took place on the eve of Passover. That major Jewish Festival centered on the sacrifice of a lamb on the altar of the Temple. The shedding of its blood was believed to wash our sins in the sight of God. It was almost inevitable that the earliest followers of Jesus would have tied Jesus to the Sacrificial Lamb of Passover. Over the centuries this warped belief that Jesus is a Suffering Savior, who came here to die for our sins, has dealt a crippling blow to the emergence of the spiritual power that he promised us. There is hope. This book assaults those crippling beliefs by an investigation that ranges through history, the religious mindset, and the workings of the brain. It shows how we can learn to change these deeply embedded and subconscious programs. As Jesus said: "Those who have ears to hear let them hear."

Download or read book Following Jesus written by Samuel Deuth and published by Samuel Deuth Ministries. This book was released on 2016-09-02 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do we Follow Jesus and fulfill His purpose for our lives here on earth? This book focuses on drawing from the Bible the seven essentials to following Jesus. You'll not only learn essential information about Jesus, but you'll be stirred to seek and know Him personally; discovering Jesus' heart for you and His purpose for your life. This book is great for all those who are committed to Following Jesus. Whether you're new to your relationship with God or you've been following Him for years, this book will encourage and strengthen your faith and it will equip and empower you to share your faith and disciple the people in your world! For more resources to go along with the book, visit FOLLOWINGJESUSBOOK.COM

Download or read book Revelation written by and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.