Showing results by narrator "William Sarris" in All Categories

As well-known Christians announce a newfound loss of faith, other believers face increasing pressure or doubt. We feel let down, ashamed to question God's goodness, and in need of assurance of our faith and answers to our pain. From a leading voice on issues facing Christians today comes a frank and insightful discussion about whether it's okay to doubt God and what to do about it. 

Checkers, backgammon, chess, and Go. Poker, Scrabble, and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the arcana of their rules, and the ways their design makes them pleasurable. 

Society tells us all sorts of lies: "I've got my truth, you've got yours"; "Death is the end"; "I can't ever change"; "Jesus isn't relevant." By approaching these common-held beliefs, author and evangelist J. Mack Stiles comes alongside listeners to explain the flaw in society's thinking and shows how Jesus responds to these untruths. Each lie is held alongside an encounter that Jesus had in the Gospels and takes the listener directly to Jesus's words and actions.

From the invention of the wheel to artificial intelligence, humans have always made tools to help with our work. But what happens when we are supplanted by our tools? As our society increasingly treats tools like humans and humans like tools, how should we think about ourselves? In Irreplaceable...

You cannot discover lands already inhabited. Injustice has plagued American society for centuries. And we cannot move toward being a more just nation without understanding the root causes that have shaped our culture and institutions. In this prophetic blend of history, theology, and cultural commentary, Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah reveal the far-reaching, damaging effects of the "Doctrine of Discovery."

In a society always seeking the new and novel, Christians can become more grounded and mature through a retrieval of our common tradition. Alex Sosler sets forth the "transcendentals" of truth, goodness, and beauty—along with community—to help listeners follow the way of Jesus. Weaving together church history, theology, and devotional practice, Sosler offers a holistic introduction to spiritual formation, encompassing biblical truth, the pursuit of the good life, the contemplation of God, and communal belonging.

Much of the contemporary discussion of the Jesus tradition has focused on aspects of oral performance, storytelling, and social memory, on the premise that the practice of communal reading of written texts was a phenomenon documented no earlier than the second century CE. Brian J. Wright overturns that premise by examining evidence that demonstrates communal reading events in the first century.

Do you feel far from God? Perhaps you desire nearness, but you end up filling your calendar instead of truly communing with the Savior. Wayman Ming Jr. will show you how interruptions in your normal schedule are divine opportunities to evaluate your life and close the spiritual gap between you and God. If you have become too comfortable in the daily practice of your faith, or you can't seem to press in deeper, this book will help you draw near to your creator and pursue his heart with passion.

Are your organization's ideas growing stale? Do your employees need to refresh their thinking? We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the 10 most important ones to help you instill creativity across your organization.

In The DevSecOps Playbook: Deliver Continuous Security at Speed, the chief information and information security officer at Wiley, Sean D. Mack, delivers an insightful and practical discussion of how to keep your business secure. You'll learn how to leverage the classic triad of people, process, and technology to build strong cybersecurity infrastructure and practices. You'll also discover the shared responsibility model at the core of DevSecOps as you explore the principles and best practices that make up contemporary frameworks.

A believer's identity in Christ is both deeply comforting and highly motivational. Do you know who you are? Take ninety days to better grasp the full picture through this gospel-rich devotional.

 The Homiletical Plot, Expanded Edition follows in the same solid tradition of its predecessor. Upon its release, The Homiletical Plot quickly became a pivotal work on the art of preaching. Instead of comments on a biblical passage, Lowry suggested that the sermon follow a narrative form that moves from beginning to end, as with the plot of a story. This expanded edition continues to be an excellent teaching resource and learning tool for all preachers, from introductory students to seasoned clergy. 

In this highly anticipated book, renowned mindfulness expert and author of Calming Your Anxious Mind Jeff Brantley offers a breakthrough approach using mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and compassion practices to help you better handle the anger, fear, and hostile emotions that can wreak havoc at home, work, and in relationships. In addition, you will also learn important self-awareness skills to help you stop overreacting and improve communication with others. 

A close reading of the Gospels, taking history and archaeology into account, demolishes the myth of a socialist Jesus. 

Church growth models have often been long on promises and short on disciple-making. We continue to watch consistent church attendance shrink, and our desire to reach the lost is infected with a need for self-validation by growing our numbers at any cost. If we believe that God wants his church to grow, where do we go from here? What is the future of the church?  

Paul Sparks, Tim Soerens, and Dwight J. Friesen have seen—in cities, suburbs, and small towns all over North America—how powerful the gospel can be when it takes root in the context of a place, at the intersection of geography, demography, economy, and culture. This is not a new idea—the concept of a parish is as old as Paul's letters to the various communities of the ancient church. But in an age of dislocation and disengagement, the notion of a church that knows its place and gives itself to where it finds itself is like a breath of fresh air, like a sign of new life.

Meeting people from other religions is an incredible blessing and a unique challenge. As Christians, what do we need to know about their beliefs to effectively interact with them? And how can we share about Jesus with sensitivity for someone's relationship to their current faith? A compilation from some of today's top religion scholars, The Popular Handbook of World Religions is a clear and insightful guide to understanding and conversing with followers of the world's major belief systems. 

Spiritual transformation is not a one-size-fits-all journey. Each of us has a particular identity, gifts, values, roles, and purpose. Thus we each need distinct spiritual rhythms that are designed to help us live out that vocation and calling. In this practical book Alastair Sterne shows how we can craft a life of more intentionality, becoming Christlike in ways that fit who we are. First we discover who God made us to be, in all our distinctiveness. Then we enter into spiritual practices that flow out of that particular sense of identity.

Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) is now generally recognized as one of the most influential thinkers of the last century. This Very Short Introduction explores his extraordinary life and thought. His complex system of criticism is difficult for many, but it is coherent in its combination of a Judaic theological perspective with cultural Marxism. Benjamin's distinctive approach considered literary criticism, visual media, and the impact of cosmopolitanism. This innovative messianic understanding of history would go on to inspire countless critics and even entire schools of academia.

Escapist fantasies usually involve the open road, but Bernd Heinrich's dream was to focus on the riches of one small place—a few green acres along Alder Brook just east of the Presidential Mountains. The year begins as he settles into a cabin with no running water and no electricity, built of...