In today's deeply divided world where discussions can quickly become heated and uncivil, churches need to learn how to talk about sensitive issues. Our society needs brave churches where people can talk about the real struggles they are experiencing without fear of being dismissed, shamed, or judged. Brave Church helps congregations talk about controversial topics with sensitivity to those who see the world and have experienced life differently from themselves. It guides readers to think through how they can foster conversations about such challenging topics as infertility/miscarriage, mental health, domestic violence, racism, and sexuality. In this 6-week small-group study, pastor Elizabeth Hagan weaves personal and theological reflections with scripture, discussion questions, and real-world examples to move readers from exploration to action. Brave Church includes a Leader's Guide and suggests resources for further reading and action.

Learn from the book of Daniel how to live confidently for Christ today. What does it look like to live with joy in a society that does not like what Christians believe, say or do? It’s tempting to grow angry, keep our heads down, retreat or just give up altogether. But this isn’t the first time that God’s people have had to learn how to live in a pagan world that opposes God’s rule. In this realistic yet positive book, renowned Bible teacher Alistair Begg examines the first seven chapters of Daniel to show us how to live bravely, confidently and obediently in an increasingly secular society. Readers will see that God is powerful and God is sovereign, and even in the face of circumstances that appear to be prevailing against his people, we may trust him entirely. We can be as brave as Daniel if we have faith in Daniel’s God! "The message of Daniel is incredibly relevant for us in our generation. Not because it maps out a strategy for how to deal with our new lack of status ... or because Daniel was a great man and we need to follow his example. The reason is that it will help us to believe in Daniel’s God." Alistair Begg, author.

Foreword INDIES 2020 Book of the Year Award (BRONZE Winner for Religion) "[A] powerful work. . . . Provides a road map for any Christian seeking greater racial justice."--Publishers Weekly Reconciliation is not true reconciliation without justice! Brenda Salter McNeil has come to this conviction as she has led the church in pursuing reconciliation efforts over the past three decades. McNeil calls the church to repair the old reconciliation paradigm by moving beyond individual racism to address systemic injustice, both historical and present. It's time for the church to go beyond individual reconciliation and "heart change" and to boldly mature in its response to racial division. Looking through the lens of the biblical narrative of Esther, McNeil challenges Christian reconcilers to recognize the particular pain in our world so they can work together to repair what is broken while maintaining a deep hope in God's ongoing work for justice. This book provides education and prophetic inspiration for every person who wants to take reconciliation seriously. Becoming Brave offers a distinctly Christian framework for addressing systemic injustice. It challenges Christians to be everyday activists who become brave enough to break the silence and work with others to dismantle systems of injustice and inequality.

Discover your place in the pro-life movement. What if we lived in a world where every woman with an unplanned pregnancy always felt empowered to choose life for her unborn baby? To create that kind of change, it will take all of us. As the church, we can play a powerful role in making abortion unthinkable. With Help Her Be Brave, you can discover your part in saving lives and find your pro-life passion. This includes how to: Learn practical ways to get involved using your unique gifts and talents Find women with unexpected pregnancies and connect them to support Use your influence and be a voice for the voiceless Make your church a refuge for abortion vulnerable women If abortion became illegal today, the church isn’t ready to help women practically, spiritually and emotionally. It’s time to change that. We can’t look away any longer. This is our moment for us to stand up and help her be brave.

On September 11, 2001, Ann Kansfield, a successful Wall Street broker who had spent years laying a path of achievements, stood on the doorstep of profound change. The city she loved was in turmoil, and a calling to help others was emerging from deep within her. Part memoir and part spiritual formation guide, Kansfield's Be the Brave One relays her stunning transformation from a "run-of-the-mill capitalist jerk" into a wife, mother, and pastor committed to feeding the poor at her church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The first female and openly gay chaplain at the New York Fire Department, and voted the inaugural New York Times New Yorker of the Year, Kansfield uses her characteristic wit and knack for accessible storytelling to reveal how an adventurous faith rooted in living out your convictions can bring about radical change in the world. From authenticity and courage, to perseverance and gratitude, in Kansfield's journey you will find the insight and tools to name and claim your own core spiritual values. Ultimately, Kansfield's story will leave readers both comforted and challenged to discover and live out their own faith rooted in open-hearted conviction.

This visionary book from one of the most intriguing and unsettling new voices to have emerged from the churches in recent years finds life and growth in surprising places.Barbara Glasson’s widely discussed first book, I Am Somewhere Else, described ‘the bread church’, the inclusive faith community in Liverpool where people gathered to bake bread and worship God together. She has since worked with lesbian, gay and transgendered Christians, with survivors of childhood sexual abuse, with a group of disabled ministers and with other individuals and groups dealing with trauma and displacement. It is in these ‘prophetic communities’ that she has discovered new ways of understanding the transforming power of the love of God.The ‘Exuberant Church is not a church on a ‘journey’, not an ‘emerging church’, but something more explosive and unpredictable and messy, a church undergoing the strange, frightening but liberating process of ‘coming out’. In The Exuberant Church we are invited to a new way of understanding mission and the church. At a time of meltdown, reorientation and confusion, Barbara Glasson sees hope for the churches in communities sometimes seen as threatening and troubling, and in the process of ‘coming out’ something both profoundly human and deeply of God.

The activist and TED speaker Megan Phelps-Roper reveals her life growing up in the most hated family in America At the age of five, Megan Phelps-Roper began protesting homosexuality and other alleged vices alongside fellow members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. Founded by her grandfather and consisting almost entirely of her extended family, the tiny group would gain worldwide notoriety for its pickets at military funerals and celebrations of death and tragedy. As Phelps-Roper grew up, she saw that church members were close companions and accomplished debaters, applying the logic of predestination and the language of the King James Bible to everyday life with aplomb—which, as the church’s Twitter spokeswoman, she learned to do with great skill. Soon, however, dialogue on Twitter caused her to begin doubting the church’s leaders and message: If humans were sinful and fallible, how could the church itself be so confident about its beliefs? As she digitally jousted with critics, she started to wonder if sometimes they had a point—and then she began exchanging messages with a man who would help change her life. A gripping memoir of escaping extremism and falling in love, Unfollow relates Phelps-Roper’s moral awakening, her departure from the church, and how she exchanged the absolutes she grew up with for new forms of warmth and community. Rich with suspense and thoughtful reflection, Phelps-Roper’s life story exposes the dangers of black-and-white thinking and the need for true humility in a time of angry polarization.