Whether you're a regular attender, a leader, or have yet to step foot in a church, you may have questions about church that aren't being answered. How can the church remain relevant while communicating the unchanging integrity of God's truth? Author Tim Stevens makes an inspiring case for leveraging pop culture to reach out to people in the language of their lives. He offers a new perspective that gives relevance and impact to the church by using pop culture, meeting people in the real world with words, sounds and images that speak to them. He encourages us to get out of our comfort zones and look people in the eyes, meeting them wherever they are, relating to their problems and society's challenges, even celebrating pop culture, where there are exciting signs of spiritual seeking. Pop Goes the Church will open your mind to church in a way that breaks down walls, engages the culture and speaks to a generation that needs to hear good news.

Johnny Cash, Harry Potter, the Simpsons, and John Grisham. What do all of these icons in pop culture have to do with faith? Find the answer in Pop Goes Religion; relevant insight into the world of today's entertainment. In this collection of essays, popular American journalist, Terry Mattingly teaches readers how to identify elements of faith in today's pop culture. Topics include: God & Popular Music Faith & the Big Screen God on TV Ink, Paper, and God Politics and Current Events From music to movies, politics to the pope, Mattingly explores the matters of the heart with a fresh and relevant perspective.

"Abiding in the Place of Worship" is based on Jesus' "Parable of the Good Samaritan" (Luke 10:25-37), however, the Parable finds life application for the worshiper through its foundational message of love and kindness. The illustration is further expanded to show that worshipers are most effective when they abide in the place, position and posture of worship. It is in the "presence" of God that the worshiper finds strength, safety and sustenance.

Fiona Horne—bestselling author and popular media personality—has compiled the ultimate insight into modern Witchcraft. Continuing the successful, oversize Disinformation Guide anthology format, an all-star cast of Witches and Wiccans cover an amazing array of topics.

I was scared to death. I had just told God I would do WHATEVER HE ASKED. Now I waited to hear what He wanted me to do, and where He wanted me to go. Would I be able to do what He asked? Would I like it? Would I hate it? Would it be too hard? Where would He send me? What if I failed? All these questions were running through my head, but I knew that once I made a commitment, I would keep it. Eventually God did unveil His plan. I was supposed to go to Bible School, then get a degree in Elementary Education, and go to Africa to teach the children of missionaries. This involved language study in Switzerland. WOW! That sounded like fun! Join me as I describe what it was like to live in a Swiss Pension, to study French, and to visit Dr. Francis Schaeffer. While in Europe, I had to go to Paris to get a visa. I was scared of traveling alone, but read how God provided a traveling companion at the very last minute and gave us a great weekend in Paris. I was originally scheduled to teach in the Congo, but due to a serious rebellion there, I was sent to the Central African Republic where I taught five students in a little thatched roof schoolhouse. Between the bats in the attic, the army ants, the red ants, the flying termites, and the huge flying roaches, I slowly began to adjust to African life and actually enjoyed it. A year later I was sent to the Congo. The rebellion was over (or so we thought) but during our five day trip to my mission station, we were met by rebels with machine guns demanding our truck. As I slept on the floor in a bullet-ridden room with no food or water, I thought to myself that I should be afraid. But I was calm and peaceful, for in spite of the circumstances, I knew that I was in the center of Gods will, the safest place in the world. The rest of the book describes the joy of teaching at Rethy Academy, the frustration of learning Swahili, the excitement of village evangelism, the seasons of loneliness, the experience of visiting a Pygmy village, the trials and joys of starting youth camps, and the MANY, MANY lessons that I learned about God and how you can trust Him completely, for what He has planned for your life will be good, acceptable, and perfect, and you cant improve on that!

How music makes worship and how worship makes music in Evangelical churches Music is a nearly universal feature of congregational worship in American churches. Congregational singing is so ingrained in the experience of being at church that it is often misunderstood to be synonymous with worship. For those who assume responsibility for making music for congregational use, the relationship between music and worship is both promising and perilous – promise in the power of musical style and collective singing to facilitate worship, peril in the possibility that the experience of the music might eclipse the worship it was written to facilitate. As a result, those committed to making music for worship are constantly reminded of the paradox that they are writing songs for people who wish to express themselves, as directly as possible, to God. This book shines a new light on how people who make music for worship also make worship from music. Based on interviews with more than 75 songwriters, worship leaders, and music industry executives, Shout to the Lord maps the social dimensions of sacred practice, illuminating how the producers of worship music understand the role of songs as both vehicles for, and practices of, faith and identity. This book accounts for the human qualities of religious experience and the practice of worship, and it makes a compelling case for how – sometimes – faith comes by hearing.