An eye-opening look at the sin of gossip and what to do about it.

Expert Communication Advice from a Pastor and Teacher Communication expert Dr. Michael D. Sedler offers groundbreaking, practical strategies for identifying, counteracting, and responding biblically to gossip, criticism, and negative words, and learning to speak words that bring life. Through both biblical and modern-day examples, Sedler reveals how profoundly words can hurt--or heal. This book offers multiple tools to reveal, step by step, the impact of verbal contamination; how to identify and counteract it; why silence in the face of negativity isn't enough; and how parents, leaders, teachers, spouses, and friends can build one another up by choosing life-giving words. He also shows how to •discern why people relay destructive gossip •identify a negative conversation and counteract it •experience cleansing from conversational pollution •find freedom and reconciliation with those who have spoken harm

Readers of the Gospels are typically attuned to the words of Jesus while paying comparatively little attention to what other characters in the narratives say about him. This innovative study of John's Gospel looks at the text through the lens of a routinely misunderstood mode of speech, namely, gossip. Focusing on talk about Jesus in John, the author unpacks the intricate relationship between gossip and various social dynamics of Jesus' world, demonstrating how they collude to construct Jesus' identity. Ultimately, it is suggested that John presents a Jesus whose identity is elusive to both outsiders like the Pharisees and insiders like his disciples, and thus models the importance, if not the sheer necessity, of the ongoing public discourse around the question "Who is Jesus?"

This book suggests that gossip can be used as an interpretive key to understand more of early Christian identity and theology. Insights from the multi disciplinary field of gossip studies help to interpret what role gossip plays, especially in relation to how power and authority are distributed and promoted. A presentation of various texts in Greek, Hebrew and Latin shows that the relation between gossip and gender is complex: to gossip was typical for all women and risky for elite men who constantly had to defend their masculinity. Frequently the Pastoral Epistles connect gossip to false teaching, as an expression of deviance. On several occasions it is argued that various categories of women have to avoid gossip to be entrusted duties or responsibilities. "Old wives' tales" are associated with heresy, contrasted to godliness in which one had to train one self. Other passages clearly suggest that the false teaching resembles feminine gossip by use of metaphorical language: profane words will spread fast and uncontrolled like cancer; what the false teachers say is tickling in the ear, and their mouth must be stopped or silenced. The Pastoral Epistles employ terms drawn from the stereotype of gossip as rhetorical devices in order to undermine the masculinity and hence the authority, of the opponents.

Cocktail Conversations is one of the most relevant books coming out since the Bible. You will be hard pressed to find a book that everyone can identify with when it involves relationships, friendships, family, work, health, education, loyalty, mistrust, child drama, and the dating game. This book will address seventy-seven scenarios and much feedback given back from followers of Cocktail Conversations; these perspectives are very diverse, and they force you to see different viewpoints to the same situation. You are able to identify how individuals relate their perceptions based on their experiences. This book will open up opportunities for discussions, which will lead to growth and learning.

At last—a resource for librarians who wish to build or develop their nonfiction collection and use it to better serve the needs of adult Christian readers. Covering the three major branches of Christianity (Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox), the author organizes more than 600 titles into subject categories ranging from biography, the arts, and education, to theology, devotion, and spiritual warfare. Award-winning classics are noted. Introductory narrative frames the literature, and helps librarians better understand Christian literature; and learn how to establish selection criteria for building a Christian nonfiction collection.

Twenty-five years after the release of his ground-breaking book The Elijah Task, co-authored with his wife, Paula, a sequel comes from the powerful pen of John Sandford. In Elijah Among Us, he outlines a biblically rooted discussion of prophetic history and functioning, both how to instruct prophets and commission their office and how to inform the church about prophetic ministry. Sandford wrote this follow-up book because he sees a strong and even dangerous overemphasis in the church on the "giving of personal words," which is only one role of the prophetic office. The first section of this book develops a history of the prophetic office, how the office metamorphosed from one of warning into proclaiming God's gentle and merciful side, and becoming burden-bearers. Second, Sandford sets forth the working functions of prophets, explaining how they serve in twelve major roles, including bringing blessings, healing, warning of impending judgment, giving protection from tragedies, and offering direction, guidance, or confirmation. Readers will gain crucial knowledge of a widely misunderstood topic, helping them be discerning in these strategic end times. Authoritative and compelling, Elijah Among Us is a timely and vital work for the Body of Christ.