In this prophetic call to the evangelical church, Wells stresses that Christians need to confess Christ as the center in a society lacking a center, as the sovereign in a world seemingly ruled by chance, and as the one who can give meaning in a nihilistic culture.

Evangelicals, argues Wells, have largely lost the truth that God also stands outside all human experience, that he still summons sinners to repentance and belief regardless of their self-image, and that he calls his church to stand fast in his truth against the blandishments of the modern world.

At the book's center are two twentieth-century men who represent different kinds of power: Kenneth Toomey, eminent novelist, a man who has outlived his contemporaries to survive into, bitter, luxurious old age as a celebrity of dubious notoriety, and Don Carlo Campanati, a man of God, eventually beloved Pope, who rises through the Vatican as a shrewd manipulator to become the architect of church revolution and a candidate for sainthood.

Everyone is being discipled. The question is: what is discipling us? The majority of Christians today are being discipled by popular media, flashy events, and folk theology because churches have neglected their responsibility to make disciples. But the church is not a secondary platform in the mission of God; it is the primary platform God uses to grow people into the image of Jesus. Therefore, as church leaders, it is our primary responsibility to establish environments and relationships where people can be trained, grow, and be sent as disciples. There are three indispensable elements of discipleship: Learning to participate in the biblical story (the Bible) Growing in our confession of who God is and who we are (theology) Regularly participating in private and corporate intentional action (spiritual disciplines) Deep Discipleship equips churches to reclaim the responsibility of discipling people at any point on their journey.

5 Ways the Lord's Supper Is Important for the Local Church Church Questions is a series that seeks to provide ordinary Christians with sound and accessible biblical teaching by answering common questions about church life. Each volume offers biblical answers and practical applications with the goal of nurturing healthy church practice and commitment. Have you taken the Lord's Supper without understanding what it means? Do you wonder about its relevance to your Christian life? This ordinance doesn't have to be mysterious. Pastor Aubrey Sequeira shares five ways the Lord's Supper enriches the church as it invites believers to look backward (remembrance), outward (togetherness), upward (spiritual nourishment), inward (reflection), and forward (anticipation).

Is gospel Christianity dead? Pundits are writing the obituary of historic, orthodox Christianity, but pastor and author J. D. Greear (Gospel, Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart) believes the postmortems are premature. Jesus promised to build his church. He said that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. The church is not going away. Along with this promise, Jesus gave clear instructions for how the church would prevail. He promised to build it on the rock of the gospel. The most pressing need for Christianity today is not a new strategy. It is not an updated message. It is a return to keeping the gospel above all.

Continuing his series begun with No Place for Truth and God in the Wasteland, David Wells here offers a bold new critique focused this time on the fractured moral vision of society at large and its reflection in today's evangelical church.