The power to witness effectively in these troubled times is the basis for this book in which Speaks challenges today's church to offer more than pep pills of personal piety, laxatives of racial tolerance, and the surgery of social revolution. Speaks dares the church to build temples of love on the dung hills of hate, to build a new community of brotherhood upon the shifting sands of racism, and to build a new society of peace upon the wastelands of human strife.

The Worship Sourcebook is a collection of more than 2,500 prayers, litanies, and spoken texts for every element of traditional worship services held throughout the seasons of the church year. This indispensable resource for worship planners and pastors includes texts that can be read aloud as well as outlines that can be adapted for your situation. Teaching notes offer guidance for planning each element of the service. Thought-provoking perspectives on the meaning and purpose of worship help stimulate discussion and reflection. This second edition includes new and revised liturgies, additional prayers for challenging situations facing today's church, and new appendices.

How did Pentecostalism become the fastest growing movement within Christendom in the twentieth century? Faupel contends that Pentecostalism was propelled onto the world stage when early adherents felt commissioned by God to announce that Christ would soon return to establish his kingdom on earth. The gift of tongues would equip them supernaturally to proclaim this message to the nations in the language of the people. Although this expectation was soon disproved, the eschatological hope nevertheless remained the motivating force for Pentecostalism’s rapid growth. This book has been prescribed reading on the Pentecostal hope for many years. This edition makes it available once again to a worldwide readership.

Turning water into wine took Jesus a few minutes. Changing a reed (which 'Simon' means) into a rock ('Peter') took quite a few years. Which is the greater miracle, transmuting nature or transforming human nature? Many identify with Simon Peter's weaknesses, not least his knack of opening his mouth and putting his foot in it! On one occasion he even swore that he didn't know his best friend, just to save his own skin. Jesus taught this fisherman how to catch more fish, then how to catch people. He used that unruly tongue to preach the good news of his death and resurrection for the very first time, netting thousands for the kingdom of God. In this book David Pawson draws some unexpected lessons from Peter's failures and successes for both our individual and corporate lives as part of the Church of which Peter was the original pastor.

Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James

What does the Wesleyan message have to say to the greater theological world? This is a question that Laurence Wood has taken up as his concern throughout his career. In order to honor his work, this collection takes up this question through a series of essays designed to show how Wesleyan Theology, while distinctive, has a continued relevance to the wider world of theological scholarship. This collection does this in two ways. First, by showing how the Wesleyan distinctives have been present throughout the history of theology. And secondly, the collection brings the Wesleyan distinctives into conversation with various contemporary theological conversations, ranging from theological hermeneutics and the science-religion dialogue to the practice of preaching and spirituality. The result is a volume that puts Wesleyan theology into continued dialogue with the broader theological world, showing its vitality and importance for the contemporary situation.