Does the Bible really condemn same-sex relationships? Many Christians wrestle with this question. Here, in his compassionate, cogent book, David Runcorn outlines how someone can support same-sex relationships on the basis of the Bible, not in spite of it. The Church, in every time and place, finds itself working out the shock and surprise of God’s unfolding ways – often scandalized by where holiness, goodness and the life of God are to be found. Runcorn’s insightful and moving reflections show how speaking in gospel friendship will help to dispel the anxiety and division that have tended to mark the Church’s response to homosexuality. Covering sexual abstinence and celibacy, sexuality and the sacred, he leads us to one powerful conclusion: love means love. ‘Brim-full of gentle and clear wisdom. Highly recommended!’ PAUL BAYES, Bishop of Liverpool ‘Joyful, truthful, scandalously inclusive . . . This book will literally save lives. It opens the door of grace and beckons you in.’ NICK BUNDOCK, Rector of St James and Emmanuel, Didsbury ‘Liberates us to read our beloved Bible with faithfulness, both to the text and to the fruit of Christ we often see in LGBT+ lives. For a good number of us, it will be met with a cry of “at last!”’. JODY STOWELL, Vicar of St Michael’s Harrow and Chair of London Clergy

Explore the many facets of our most valued emotion Cardiologist and professor Armin Zadeh revisits psychologist Erich Fromm’s The Art of Loving, a book that has fascinated him for decades. The Forgotten Art of Love examines love in its complex entirety — through the lenses of biology, philosophy, history, religion, sociology, and economics — to fill in critical voids in Fromm’s classic work and to provide a contemporary understanding of love. This unique and wide-ranging book looks at love’s crucial role in every aspect of human existence, exploring what love has to do with sex, spirituality, society, and the meaning of life; different kinds of love (for our children, for our neighbors); and whether love is a matter of luck or an art that can be mastered. Dr. Zadeh provides a fascinating, empowering guide to enhancing relationships and happiness — concluding with a provocative vision for firmly anchoring love in our society.

A Love Means... Story Geoff is in the city, living the gay life to the hilt, when his father's death convinces him to return to the family farm. Discovering a young Amish man asleep in his barn, Geoff learns that Eli is spending a year away from the community before accepting baptism into the church. Despite their mutual attraction, Geoff is determined not to become involved with him, but Eli has discovered that Geoff shares his feelings and begins to court him, neatly capturing first Geoff's attention and then his heart. Their budding relationship is threatened by closed-minded, gossipy relatives and the society at large, a whole new world to Eli, and he must decide whether to return to the community, his family, and the world and future he knows or to stay with Geoff and have faith in the power of love.

A Love Means... Story Joey Sutherland has found a home with Geoff Laughton and his partner, Eli, living and working at the farm that has become a refuge after a motorcycle accident left him with a scarred face and a lot of insecurities. When Geoff’s aunt Mari convinces them to take in a musician from the National Youth Symphony, Joey is reluctantly roped into picking him up, already anticipating the disgust he’ll see on the man’s face. But Robert Edward Jameson surprises him: he’s outgoing and friendly, he’s willing to try just about anything around the farm, and he’s blind, which goes a long way toward easing Joey’s nerves. Joey and Robbie become inseparable and discover the beginnings of love. But summer is coming to an end, and Robbie will return to his home in Mississippi, where his family and servants see to everything he could want or need. Joey can only hope Robbie will take a chance on love and escape the boundaries that have shaped his sightless life.

A Love Means... Story Len Parker is laid off during the recession in the early eighties and decides to go back to college at home in rural Michigan, where he reconnects with his best friend from high school, Ruby. He's overjoyed when she marries Cliff Laughton and overcome with sorrow when she dies an untimely death, leaving behind her husband and two-year-old son. Out of work again, Len finds a job at Cliff Laughton's sorely neglected farm. Cliff is still mourning his wife, struggling to raise his son, and has little enthusiasm or energy left for work. Len immediately begins to whip the farm--including the two Laughtons--into shape. Working side by side, Len and Cliff grow ever closer, but loving another man takes a lot of courage. They'll have to stand together as they face faltering business, threatening drought, misguided family, and Midwestern prejudices to protect what might be a lifelong love.

Raine Baumer is living the party life in Chicago, indulging in short relationships with little emotional commitment. But after he’s severely injured in a gay bashing, close friend Geoff arrives to take him to the country to recuperate. There Geoff and his partner Eli treat him like part of the family, and Raine meets Jonah, Eli’s brother, who is exploring life in the world outside his Amish community. Jonah and Raine’s mutual attraction draws them together, but they may not have a chance to explore it. Jonah’s father is making ultimatums, and the police believe that the attack on Raine may not have been as random as it initially appeared. Raine and Jonah will have to face what they fear most in order to have any chance at a life together.

Charity Means Love lives up to every word of its title, a remarkable call to action for anyone who cares deeply about a cause. It was written with everyone who gives a damn in mind. Each paragraph takes you on a journey that leads to a solution. The pages will cause you to feel the pain described and smell the dust on the floor. When you are done, you'll be ready to pick up a broom and get to work!No matter whether you are just beginning in the world of nonprofit work or you are a veteran service provider, this book will sing to your heart and help you not feel so alone. Masterfully written to highlight every corner of the nonprofit world, Charity Means Love looks to be a unique call to action as our world faces new and unique challenges in the face of the postmodern age.Nathan Monk brings a fresh perspective for how to care in a way that is compassionate, loving, and wise. His first book, Chasing the Mouse, was designed to shine a light on the harsh realities of the daily struggles for those experiencing homelessness and poverty. This bold new book seeks to answer the question of how we can make an impactful difference in how we respond and give in crisis situations.Set within the framework of evaluating all charity work in the confines of the "Love Verse" First Corinthians 13, it poses the challenge to our outreach, asking us to self-examine if we are truly being patient, kind, slow to anger, and keeping no records of wrongs in how we reach out to others in their time of need.This is a manifesto that tells a unifying story: love is the answer to all the questions.