Illuminating Advent Through Diverse Voices from Early Christianity In Candles in the Darkness, historian Lynneth Miller Renberg and theologian Adam R. Renberg invite us to travel back in time and encounter faithful voices from many walks of life, including bishops and mothers, monks and nuns, priests, pastors, and noblewomen.For each day of Advent and the Christmastide, this thoughtful devotional will connect you to the global and historical body of Christ, offering a new, deeper experience of the season through rediscovering treasures from Christians of long ago.The writers featured in Candles in the Darkness lived throughout the early Christian world, from Scandinavia and the British Isles to Ethiopia and China. They include well-known leaders such as Augustine of Hippo and Francis of Assisi, as well as many largely forgotten figures. With a variety of sermons, poems, theological meditations, and more, these selections draw you into the wonders of Christs first and second comings. Through biographical sketches at the end of the book, youll learn more about each historical believer.Each daily reading for Advent and the twelve days of Christmas includes a Scripture text, an excerpt from an author from the second through thirteenth centuries, a devotional reflection, and a prayer. By reflecting on the perspectives of women and men from different chronological, geographic, and theological traditions in the ancient and medieval church, your readings of familiar Scripture passages will be enriched with new perspectives and insights from past brothers and sisters in Christ. As you worship and learn together with them, youll be reoriented toward Christ, our light in the darkness.When your spiritual life feels stagnant, the world feels too noisy, or Advent feels like just another repetitive season, Candles in the Darkness can help you know God more fully by seeing him through the eyes of past believers.

"When we interact with our LGBTQ+ neighbors we are not interacting with an ideology, a political movement, a social media post, a caricature from a movie, or a law being debated in Congress. We are interacting with people made in the image of God, who our Savior bled and died to redeem. We are interacting with someone God literally loved to the point of his own death."Cultivate Community With LGBTQ+ Neighbors Too often, fear and suspicion have characterized churches response to LGTBQ+ people. As we remain committed to the historic Christian teachings about marriage and sexuality, American evangelical churches have also harmed a community we have not understood. Our default has been to keep LGBTQ+ people at arms length.But there is another way, one that resists both culture wars and the pressure to revise scriptural teaching; one that embraces people and clings to historic witness.In Love All Our Neighbors, Tony Scarcello shows how holding a traditional sexual ethic does not have to lead toward the exclusion of LGBTQ+ people from church. Drawing from biblical theology, cultural data, and the authors personal experience as a same-sex-attracted pastor, this book teaches traditional Christians and churches how to truly care for LGBTQ+ people. Scarcello explains how churches can and should be places of conviction, humility, and radical love for everyone.In Love All Our Neighbors, youll learn how Jesus loves LGBTQ+ people and desires to know them, how churches have built unbiblical barriers between LGBTQ+ people and Jesus, and how to dismantle these barriers and minister with care, without compromising orthodox theology. If youre a church leader who upholds a traditional sexual ethic and seeks to genuinely care for LGBTQ+ individuals, youll find this book both challenging and transformative. With thoughtful guidance, Love All Our Neighbors equips churches committed to historic Christian teaching to overcome barriers, fostering a Jesus-centered, life-giving community that embraces everyone with grace and love. Our churches can become environments where LGBTQ+ people can find and follow Jesus in life-giving community.

Paco Arango, director de cine y presidente de Fundación Aladina, presenta unas memorias muy personales en las que relata su historia de fe y esperanzaDurante más de veinticinco años, Paco Arango ha acompañado a niños y adolescentes con cancer, compartiendo risas, confidencias y tambien el instante mas duro, cuando alguno de esos pequeños guerreros llegaba al final de su camino. De esas vivencias nacio la Fundacion Aladina, hoy una de las mas importantes de España y reconocida internacionalmente, con mejoras hospitalarias pioneras y un apoyo integral a miles de familias.Cineasta internacional que dona todo lo que gana a esta causa, Paco ha sido testigo de milagros sorprendentes dentro y fuera del hospital y guarda relatos que parecen imposibles. Dudo durante años en contarlos, temiendo no ser creido, hasta que comprendio que no eran solo para el: son señales al alcance de quien se atreva a abrir la puerta de la fe.Si no crees en Dios, te doy su telefono reune esas historias reales y conmovedoras para mostrar que el cielo responde cuando lo llamamos. Un testimonio unico que supera cualquier ficcion y nos invita a creer que cualquiera puede tener una relacion personal e intima con Dios el Mister, como Paco lo llama y a descubrir la magia inesperada que ocurre cuando te atreves a marcar su numero.

El cambio es inevitable. Y a veces es confuso y difícil, incluso cuando es bueno. No podemos evitar que el cambio llegue, pero podemos permitir que nos transforme en lugar de descarrilarnos enfrentándolo y abrazandolo a traves del lente de las promesas inmutables de Dios para nosotros.Todos hemos escuchado el dicho: "La unica constante es el cambio". A veces, los cambios que enfrentamos, tanto esperados como inesperados, pueden hacer que nuestras vidas se sientan sin fundamento e inestables. Y cuando reaccionamos al cambio con miedo, una oportunidad de crecimiento puede convertirse en una ansiedad abrumadora que nos encierra en situaciones, relaciones y formas de pensar y ser que nos impiden vivir en la plenitud de quienes realmente somos en Cristo. La querida maestra de la Biblia y autora numero uno en ventas del New York Times, Joyce Meyer, quiere que sepamos que incluso cuando sentimos que el suelo bajo nuestros pies se esta moviendo, podemos mantenernos firmes en la promesa de la Palabra de Dios de que El nos vera a traves de todo. Con su perspicacia caracteristica y sabiduria atemporal, Joyce nos muestra como alinear nuestras reacciones emocionales a los cambios con la verdad de la promesa de Dios de que El trabajara todos los cambios para bien en nuestras vidas, incluso los mas dolorosos y dificiles.En El Valor para cambiar, aprenderas a: Abrazar el cambio como una parte necesaria del crecimiento Reemplazar una mentalidad de miedo con una mentalidad de oportunidad Y vivir plenamente dentro de la incertidumbre del cambio mientras mantienes la paz.Todos enfrentaremos cambios una y otra vez a lo largo de nuestras vidas. No tenemos que vivir temiendo los desafios que estos cambios traen. Podemos equiparnos para convertirnos en personas de valentia, optimismo y esperanza en un mundo en constante cambio, porque tenemos la seguridad de Dios de que Su caracter y Sus promesas nunca cambiaran. Conviertete en un guerrero del cambio y abraza el valor para cambiar. El Valor para Cambiar tambien contiene preguntas de estudio al final de cada capitulo para la reflexion individual o grupal

"This book is a gift to all parents trying to navigate the complexity of raising children in todays world. ... I wish I could make this book required reading for every parent." - Christine Caine, founder of A21 and Propel WomenHow can you raise your children to not just to survive but to thrive in a world filled with complex and confusing conversations about gender, sexuality, and relationships? Navigating the birds and bees is challenging enough for parents. Kids today are faced with all sorts of complex issues, and often at a very early age. When is it too early to talk about sex? How can we begin to view the gender conversation? How do we help our kids not to approach the world fearfully but to walk into it confidently--even in the worlds most controversial spaces?Laurie and Matt Krieg believe that, as a Christian parent, you can approach sexual topics with confidence and grace by laying a solid gospel-centered foundation from early childhood onward. Raising Wise Kids in a Sexually Broken World offers you theological guidance, parenting principles, and age-appropriate insights for addressing complex issues in healthy ways: issues like marriage and singleness, Gods design for sex, same-sex attraction and sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual abuse, and pornography.In Raising Wise Kids in a Sexually Broken World, youll learn to: Present Gods purpose for both marriage and singleness Explain Gods design for sex with clarity Discuss gender identity from a biblical perspective Protect your children from sexual abuse Prevent porn addiction Promote online safeguards Raising Wise Kids in a Sexually Broken World is a timely and essential resource for todays Christian parents. Rather than retreating in fear, you can respond to the brokenness of the world with the goodness, truth, and beauty of the gospel and help your kids to do the same. Cast a gospel vision for your kids so that no matter how they experience sexual brokenness within them or around them, they have the tools they need to choose the way of Jesus no matter what.

Nenhum cristão pode negligenciar o estudo da Palavra, pois ela é o nosso alimento e um dos pilares do relacionamento com Cristo. Contudo, por uma série de motivos diferentes, muitos se sentem intimid

Em meio à correria da vida e às pressões diárias, muitas vezes sentimos que o ar nos falta e que Deus está distante. Mas, e se, nesses momentos de turbulência interna, recorrêssemos à oração? E se, e

"ESTE LIVRO NASCEU DA CONVICÇÃO DE QUE TANTO O MUNDO QUANTO A IGREJA PRECISAM URGENTEMENTE OUVIR E LEVAR A SÉRIO A MENSAGEM DA IGUALDADE BÍBLICA."Ao longo da história da igreja, a visão de que homens

Há duas frases que costumamos ouvir (e falar) com frequência na infância: "Foi sem querer!" e "foi de propósito!". Quando algo era feito "sem querer" significava que não havia uma intenção por trás d

This monograph places young people at its core, treating them as the focus of research conducted by scholars in sociology, theology, pedagogy and psychology. These inquiries address religious education conceived as the sum of interventions aimed at cultivating an individuals life skills within a religious framework. Religious education is orientated towards the development of personal awareness and competencies, as well as ones engagement with the wider world. Its aim is to enable young people to interpret human existence independently and rationally, and to support their understanding of themselves and the world in light of their professed faith. A thorough and rigorous study of the current state of youth religious education in Poland may facilitate questions for future discussion concerning the objectives, content and forms of religious instruction. The research findings elucidate the reasons underpinning both participation in and withdrawal from religious education classes, and they offer reflections and recommendations for work in the field of youth religious education and for enhancing the competencies of religious education teachers.

Exu do Ouro – O Guardião da Prosperidade Sagrada é uma obra que nasce da fé, da vivência e do compromisso com a verdade espiritual. Com linguagem acessível e profunda, o autor convida-nos a mergulhar

While many studies have labeled Cornelius Burgess either an Episcopalian or a Presbyterian depending on the period of his life, Hakryang Seo challenges that binary. By using his early sermon note manuscripts never before analyzed by scholars, the author reveals a more consistent and principled view of church government. Burgess believed that no single form whether Episcopacy or Presbyterianism was divinely required. Instead, he held that bishops and presbyters shared the same ministerial order, especially in preaching and spiritual authority. This view allowed him to move between systems without abandoning his core convictions. Drawing from archival sources, this work repositions Burgess as a key voice in seventeenth-century debates on how the church should be governed.

Andrew R. Johnson asks why it is the case that "believing" is centrally significant in and for Christianity. He argues that if we attend to the various implicit dimensions of explicit faith and to the holistic character of Christian believing then this central significance becomes more intelligible. The study aims to be a work of Protestant systematic theology, first and foremost, but one that is of ecumenical value. Johnson engages continental, analytic, and American pragmatic philosophers as they reflect on the human phenomenon of believing, intentional action, embodied cognition, and the relation between theory and practice. Theologically the study engages with Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians as they reflect on the nature of faith in Christ amidst the concrete realities of life and the encounter with God through those concrete realities. Key interlocutors of the study include Rudolf Bultmann, Karl Barth, Cornelius Ernst, Fergus Kerr, Ludwig Wittgenstein, H.H. Price, Robert Brandom, and Andrew Inkpin, in addition to others.

"Grand phenomena do not strike us the less when we have discovered something of their wonderful mechanism" is it a modern apology for the reunification of science and faith? Not really. The text written by St. Basil is 1,600 years old and is the golden line for the Catholic tradition from its beginnings to our days. The purpose of this book is to show the reader how to discover this in the history of Christian encounters with science. St. Paul began it, St. Augustine brought it to excellence, St. Thomas Aquinas made it visible to all. Yes, there was an outbreak of conflict in this area, culminating in the 19th century, but the future is not necessarily so dark. We have so many spiritual masters to learn from. We, the present dwarfs, can see further, sitting on the shoulders of giants... Yes, this brilliant saying also comes from the Catholic tradition.

This book is no ordinary book. It is not a novel, not a story about successes, not a self-portrayal.It is a testimony. A testimony of a man who has walked the path, from illusion to truth, from I to we, from the noise of the world to the silence of God.Onder Demir a name that may not yet be understood at this time, but whose spirit will shine in the generations to come. For what he has recognized goes deeper than words, and yet his words carry this depth within them.He fought but not against others, but against his own ego. He gave not out of abundance, but out of love. He loved not conditionally, but unconditionally.In a world where almost everyone is running, he has stopped. At a time when almost everyone is searching, he has found.And what he has found is the naked truth:That only God is real and everything else is just a game of forms.

Cuando lo sobrenatural se vuelve natural. En este libro recibirás revelaciones de diversas maneras para disfrutar de la adoración con accesorios, despertar tu creatividad, aprender sobre un hermoso proceso de redencion, sanacion y vida. E incluso recibir movimientos y sensaciones de forma visual durante la lectura a traves de los diversos CODIGOS QR distribuidos a lo largo del libro.Esta es una guia practica sobre las artes en general que te dara las herramientas para impactar a tu generacion.Descubre tesoros guardados y disfruta de la plenitud a la que Dios te ha llamado. ¡Que Dios te bendiga y disfrutes de la lectura!

NI SUMISA, NI SACRIFICADA. FEMINISTA PIONERA Teresa de Ávila, mística y reformadora del siglo XVI, desafió los límites de una España dominada por hombres y rígidas estructuras religiosas. Su entrega espiritual y la reforma del Carmelo fueron vistas como exceso o rebeldia, pero esta biografia revela su verdadera esencia: inteligencia, liderazgo y audacia. Escritora, guia y reformadora, Teresa transformo la vida conventual y creo espacios de poder y autonomia para otras mujeres, dejando un legado de pensamiento, espiritualidad y valentia que trasciende siglos.Una historia apasionante que desmonta mitos y devuelve la voz a una mujer que desafio jerarquias y eligio construir libertad en un mundo que solo esperaba silencio.

Mateando com Deus nasceu da vontade de transformar momentos simples do dia, como tomar um chimarrão, em encontros profundos com o coração de Deus.A cada página, este devocional traz um versículo, uma

Do meu jeito nasceu de um desejo simples: falar com Deus sem perfeição. Se você acha que orar é difícil, respire fundo. Orar não é sobre palavras bonitas, é sobre abrir o coração para Deus, do seu je

Em Musculatura da alma, a terapeuta integrativa Max Tovar oferece um guia prático para pensarmos o propósito da vida e mostra como entrar em sintonia com nós mesmos. Quantas vezes você já se sentiu p