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| how to reach secular people: How to Reach Secular People George G. Hunter, 1992 Should be required reading for everyone who wants to communicate the gospel effectively to unchurched persons. --Robert H. Schuller, Founder, the Crystal Cathedral |
| how to reach secular people: Preaching Timothy Keller, 2015-06-09 Pastor, preacher, and New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet Timothy Keller shares his wisdom on communicating the Christian faith from the pulpit as well as from the coffee shop. Most Christians—including pastors—struggle to talk about their faith in a way that applies the power of the Christian gospel to change people’s lives. Timothy Keller is known for his insightful, down-to-earth sermons and talks that help people understand themselves, encounter Jesus, and apply the Bible to their lives. In this accessible guide for pastors and laypeople alike, Keller helps readers learn to present the Christian message of grace in a more engaging, passionate, and compassionate way. |
| how to reach secular people: Jesus in the Secular World Ben Pierce, 2018-11-17 The Church is irrelevant to my day-to-day life! It's just a dead, empty tradition of the past. This is the overwhelming consensus among young people today, and it has resulted in an ever-widening cultural divide between the secular youth culture and the Church. Much of what was formerly regarded as the Christian world is leaving its roots behind and is dominated by secularism and relativism. The Bible is no longer considered the moral compass, but rather everyone is free to decide for themselves what is right and wrong. As followers of Jesus, it's clear that we need to respond to this - but how? Jesus in the Secular World combines vivid illustrations from over a decade of front-line ministry with practical principles that will encourage and equip any follower of Jesus to relevantly reach those who would not come to the Church for answers. |
| how to reach secular people: Seculosity David Zahl, 2019-04-02 At the heart of our current moment lies a universal yearning, writes David Zahl, not to be happy or respected so much as enough--what religions call righteous. To fill the void left by religion, we look to all sorts of everyday activities--from eating and parenting to dating and voting--for the identity, purpose, and meaning once provided on Sunday morning. In our striving, we are chasing a sense of enoughness. But it remains ever out of reach, and the effort and anxiety are burning us out. Seculosity takes a thoughtful yet entertaining tour of American performancism and its cousins, highlighting both their ingenuity and mercilessness, all while challenging the conventional narrative of religious decline. Zahl unmasks the competing pieties around which so much of our lives revolve, and he does so in a way that's at points playful, personal, and incisive. Ultimately he brings us to a fresh appreciation for the grace of God in all its countercultural wonder. |
| how to reach secular people: Living the Secular Life Phil Zuckerman, 2015-10-27 “A humane and sensible guide to and for the many kinds of Americans leading secular lives in what remains one of the most religious nations in the developed world.” —The New York Times Book Review Over the last twenty-five years, “no religion” has become the fastest-growing religious preference in the United States. Around the world, hundreds of millions of people have turned away from the traditional faiths of the past and embraced a moral yet nonreligious—or secular—life, generating societies vastly less religious than at any other time in human history. Revealing the inspiring beliefs that empower secular culture—alongside real stories of nonreligious men and women based on extensive in-depth interviews from across the country—Living the Secular Life will be indispensable for millions of secular Americans. Drawing on innovative sociological research, Living the Secular Life illuminates this demographic shift with the moral convictions that govern secular individuals, offering crucial information for the religious and nonreligious alike. Living the Secular Life reveals that, despite opinions to the contrary, nonreligious Americans possess a unique moral code that allows them to effectively navigate the complexities of modern life. Spiritual self-reliance, clear-eyed pragmatism, and an abiding faith in the Golden Rule to adjudicate moral decisions: these common principles are shared across secular society. Living the Secular Life demonstrates these principles in action and points to their usage throughout daily life. Phil Zuckerman is a sociology professor at Pitzer College, where he studied the lives of the nonreligious for years before founding a Department of Secular Studies, the first academic program in the nation dedicated to exclusively studying secular culture and the sociological consequences of America’s fastest-growing “faith.” Zuckerman discovered that despite the entrenched negative beliefs about nonreligious people, American secular culture is grounded in deep morality and proactive citizenship—indeed, some of the very best that the country has to offer. Living the Secular Life journeys through some of the most essential components of human existence—child rearing and morality, death and ritual, community and beauty—and offers secular readers inspiration for leading their own lives. Zuckerman shares eye-opening research that reveals the enduring moral strength of children raised without religion, as well as the hardships experienced by secular mothers in the rural South, where church attendance defines the public space. Despite the real sorrows of mortality, Zuckerman conveys the deep psychological health of secular individuals in their attitudes toward illness, death, and dying. Tracking the efforts of nonreligious groups to construct their own communities, Zuckerman shows how Americans are building institutions and cultivating relationships without religious influence. Most of all, Living the Secular Life infuses the sociological data and groundbreaking research with the moral convictions that govern secular individuals and demonstrates how readers can integrate these beliefs into their own lives. A manifesto for a booming social movement—and a revelatory survey of this overlooked community—Living the Secular Life offers essential and long-awaited information for anyone building a life based on his or her own principles. |
| how to reach secular people: Pilgrims and Priests Stefan Paas, 2019-11-30 What does “missional” mean for small Christian communities in a deeply secular society? Leading missiologist Stefan Paas asks what missional spirituality could possibly mean for today’s local church. This fully revised new international edition will make this an important introduction to contemporary thinking on mission and the church. |
| how to reach secular people: How to Reach the West Again Timothy J Keller, 2020-03-10 Christianity is declining in the West. Churches in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe are closing their doors at an accelerating rate. How will the church respond? In this short but sweeping manifesto, New York Times bestselling author and pastor Timothy Keller argues that this decline should prompt us to rethink evangelism from the ground up. Using the early church as our guide, churches and individual Christians must examine ourselves, our culture, and Scripture to work toward a new missionary encounter with Western culture that will make the gospel both attractive and credible to a new generation. |
| how to reach secular people: At Your Best Carey Nieuwhof, 2021-09-14 “A perceptive and practical book about why our calendars so rarely reflect our priorities and what we can do to regain control.”—ADAM GRANT “Carey’s book will help you reorganize your life. And then you can share a copy with someone you care about.”—SETH GODIN You deserve to stop living at an unsustainable pace. An influential podcaster and thought leader shows you how. Overwhelmed. Overcommitted. Overworked. That’s the false script an inordinate number of people adopt to be successful. Does this sound familiar: ● Slammed is normal. ● Distractions are everywhere. ● Life gets reduced to going through the motions. Tired of living that way? At Your Best gives you the strategies you need to win at work and at home by living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow. Influential podcast host and thought leader Carey Nieuwhof understands the challenges of constant pressure. After a season of burnout almost took him out, he discovered how to get time, energy, and priorities working in his favor. This approach freed up more than one thousand productive hours a year for him and can do the same for you. At Your Best will help you ● replace chronic exhaustion with deep productivity ● break the pattern of overpromising and never accomplishing enough ● clarify what matters most by restructuring your day ● master the art of saying no, without losing friends or influence ● discover why vacations and sabbaticals don’t really solve your problems ● develop a personalized plan to recapture each day so you can break free from the trap of endless to-dos Start thriving at work and at home as you discover how to be at your best. |
| how to reach secular people: A Secular Age Charles Taylor, 2018-09-17 A New York Times Notable Book of the Year A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year A Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year A Tablet Best Book of the Year Winner of a Christianity Today Book Award One finds big nuggets of insight, useful to almost anybody with an interest in the progress of human society. --The Economist Taylor takes on the broad phenomenon of secularization in its full complexity... A] voluminous, impressively researched and often fascinating social and intellectual history. --Jack Miles, Los Angeles Times A Secular Age is a work of stupendous breadth and erudition. --John Patrick Diggins, New York Times Book Review A culminating dispatch from the philosophical frontlines. It is at once encyclopedic and incisive, a sweeping overview that is no less analytically rigorous for its breadth. --Steven Hayward, Cleveland Plain Dealer A] thumping great volume. --Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian Very occasionally there appears a book destined to endure. A Secular Age is such a book. --Edward Skidelsky, Daily Telegraph It is refreshing to read an inquiry into the condition of religion that is exploratory in its approach. --John Gray, Harper's A Secular Age represents a singular achievement. --Christopher J. Insole, Times Literary Supplement A determinedly brilliant new book. --London Review of Books |
| how to reach secular people: The Pastor in a Secular Age Andrew Root, 2019-06-18 Academy of Parish Clergy 2020 Top Ten Book for Parish Ministry In Faith Formation in a Secular Age, the first book in his Ministry in a Secular Age trilogy, Andrew Root offered an alternative take on the issue of youth drifting away from the church and articulated how faith can be formed in our secular age. In The Pastor in a Secular Age, Root explores how this secular age has impacted the identity and practice of the pastor, obscuring his or her core vocation: to call and assist others into the experience of ministry. Using examples of pastors throughout history--from Augustine and Jonathan Edwards to Martin Luther King Jr. and Nadia Bolz-Weber--Root shows how pastors have both perpetuated and responded to our secular age. Root turns to Old Testament texts and to the theology of Robert Jenson to explain how pastors can regain the important role of attending to people's experiences of divine action, offering a new vision for pastoral ministry today. This is the second book in Root's Ministry in a Secular Age series. |
| how to reach secular people: Why Won't They Listen? Ken Ham, 2002-07-01 A lot of time and money is spent by Christians who have a passion to spread the gospel. Across the globe, this effort is paying off as seekers find Christ, the source of truth and peace. In many cultures, though, appeals made on behalf of the Christian faith are met with blank stares, indifference, even mocking hostility. Ken Ham, one of Christendom's most astute observers of evangelism, is convinced that compromise with evolutionary world views has virtually crippled preaching and teaching efforts, especially in Western societies. In this truly bold book, Ham presents an ambitious plan to fulfill the Great Commission. A compelling writer and speaker, Ham deftly exposes the great flaws of Darwinism, and shows how compromise with this philosophy of death is killing the Church. By the jungle of tangled views of reality, and helps committed Christians see the path to effective evangelism. |
| how to reach secular people: How (Not) to Be Secular James K. A. Smith, 2014-05-01 How (Not) to Be Secular is what Jamie Smith calls your hitchhiker's guide to the present -- it is both a reading guide to Charles Taylor's monumental work A Secular Age and philosophical guidance on how we might learn to live in our times. Taylor's landmark book A Secular Age (2007) provides a monumental, incisive analysis of what it means to live in the post-Christian present -- a pluralist world of competing beliefs and growing unbelief. Jamie Smith's book is a compact field guide to Taylor's insightful study of the secular, making that very significant but daunting work accessible to a wide array of readers. Even more, though, Smith's How (Not) to Be Secular is a practical philosophical guidebook, a kind of how-to manual on how to live in our secular age. It ultimately offers us an adventure in self-understanding and maps out a way to get our bearings in today's secular culture, no matter who we are -- whether believers or skeptics, devout or doubting, self-assured or puzzled and confused. This is a book for any thinking person to chew on. |
| how to reach secular people: Cultural Engagement Joshua D. Chatraw, Karen Swallow Prior, 2019-07-09 How should Christians approach important contemporary issues like war, race, creation care, gender, and politics? Christians in every culture are confronted with social trends and moral questions that can be difficult to navigate. But, the Bible often doesn't speak directly to such issues. Even when it does, it can be confusing to know how best to apply the biblical teaching. In Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues authors Joshua D. Chatraw and Karen Swallow Prior first offer a broadly accessible framework for cultural engagement and then explore specific hot topics in current Western culture including: Sexuality Gender Roles Human Life and Reproduction Technology Immigration and Race Creation and Creature Care Politics Work Arts War, Weapons, and Capital Punishment Featuring contributions from over forty top thinkers, proponents of various views on the specific topics present their approaches in their own words, providing readers an opportunity to fairly consider options. Unique in how it addresses both big-picture questions about cultural engagement and pressing current issues, Cultural Engagement provides a thorough and broad introduction useful for students, professors, pastors, college ministers, and any believer wanting to more effectively exercise their faith in the public square. |
| how to reach secular people: Growing God's Church Gary L. McIntosh, 2016-01-12 It's no secret that the evangelism methods of yesterday are not yielding the kinds of results they did in the 1970s and 1980s. So how are new Christians hearing the Gospel today? How are they finding churches? And what makes them stay at a church? The answers to these questions have the power to dramatically alter the way we do outreach. And Dr. McIntosh has them. Based on ten years of scientific research, Growing God's Church shows pastors and church leaders how people are actually coming to faith in the 21st century. It covers factors such as our motive for ministry, the priorities churches set for themselves, the reality of churchless Christians, generational and gender-based differences in evangelism effectiveness, the name of your church, the influence of pastors, and much more. The appendix includes a copy of the survey that provides the basis for McIntosh's arguments and an overview of the study is provided in the first chapter. |
| how to reach secular people: The Crucified King Jeremy R. Treat, 2014-05-27 The kingdom of God and the atonement are two of the most important themes in all of Scripture. Tragically, theologians have often either set the two at odds or focused on one to the complete neglect of the other. In The Crucified King, Jeremy Treat demonstrates that Scripture presents a mutually enriching relationship between the kingdom and atonement that draws significantly from the story of Israel and culminates in the crucifixion of Christ the king. As Israel’s messiah, he holds together the kingdom and the cross by bringing God’s reign on earth through his atoning death. The kingdom is the ultimate goal of the cross, and the cross is the means by which the kingdom comes. Jesus’ death is not the failure of his messianic ministry, nor simply the prelude to his royal glory, but is the apex of his kingdom mission. The cross is the throne from which he rules and establishes his kingdom. Using a holistic approach that brings together the insights of biblical and systematic theology, this book demonstrates not only that the kingdom and the cross are inseparable, but how they are integrated in Scripture and theology. |
| how to reach secular people: How to Talk about Jesus (Without Being That Guy) Sam Chan, 2020-11-03 Most Christians know they should be trying to tell their friends and family about Jesus. But in a post-Christendom world, personal evangelism is viewed negatively--it's offensive, inappropriate, and insensitive. Recent studies confirm that the majority of Christians rarely evangelize, worried they might offend their family or lose their friends. In How to Talk About Jesus (Without Being That Guy), author Sam Chan equips everyday Christians who are reluctant and nervous to tell their friends about Jesus with practical, tested ways of sharing their faith in the least awkward ways possible. Drawing from over two decades of experience as an evangelist, teacher, and pastor, Chan explains why personal evangelism feels so awkward today. And utilizing recent insights from communication theory, cross-cultural ministry, and apologetics, he helps you build confidence in sharing your faith, and teaches you how to evangelize your friends and family in socially appropriate ways. |
| how to reach secular people: Questioning Evangelism, 3rd edition Randy Newman, 2023-01-17 You don't need to memorize evangelical formulas or answers. You just have to be willing to ask questions. There was something different about the way Jesus communicated with the lost: He didn't force answers upon people; He asked questions. So why don't we? Campus ministry veteran Randy Newman has been using a questioning style of evangelism for years. In this thought-provoking book, he provides practical insights to help Christians engage others in meaningful spiritual conversations. To Newman, asking questions challenges how we think about unbelievers, their questions, and our message, instead of telling unbelievers what to think. A perennial best-seller, this third edition includes both revisions of current chapters, such as an expanded discussion on LGBTQ+ issues and the debate on transgenderism, and new chapters that ponder issues such as science and suffering. Distilled out of twenty years of personal evangelism, this book reflects both a deep grasp of biblical theology and a penetrating compassion for people--and finds a way forward in wise, probing questions. How very much like the Master Himself! --D. A. Carson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Questioning Evangelism steps outside the boundaries of evangelism as usual and tackles the tougher issues of our modern day. --Mitch Glaser, Chosen People Ministries |
| how to reach secular people: All Things Shining Hubert Dreyfus, Sean Dorrance Kelly, 2011-01-04 An inspirational book that is “a smart, sweeping run through the history of Western philosophy. Important for the way it illuminates life today and for the controversial advice it offers on how to live” (The New York Times). “What constitutes human excellence?” and “What is the best way to live a life?” These are questions that human beings have been asking since the beginning of time. In their critically acclaimed book, All Things Shining, Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly argue that our search for meaning was once fulfilled by our responsiveness to forces greater than ourselves, whether one God or many. These forces drew us in and imbued the ordinary moments of life with wonder and gratitude. Dreyfus and Kelly argue in this thought-provoking work that as we began to rely on the power of our own independent will we lost our skill for encountering the sacred. Through their original and transformative discussion of some of the greatest works of Western literature, from Homer’s Odyssey to Melville’s Moby Dick, Dreyfus and Kelly reveal how we have lost our passionate engagement with the things that gave our lives purpose, and show how, by reading our culture’s classics anew, we can once again be drawn into intense involvement with the wonder and beauty of the world. Well on its way to becoming a classic itself, this inspirational book will change the way we understand our culture, our history, our sacred practices, and ourselves. |
| how to reach secular people: Rethinking Secularism Craig Calhoun, Mark Juergensmeyer, Jonathan VanAntwerpen, 2011-08-25 This collection of essays examines how ''the secular'' is constituted and understood, and how new understandings of secularism and religion shape analytic perspectives in the social sciences, politics, and international affairs. |
| how to reach secular people: Becoming a Contagious Christian Bill Hybels, Mark Mittelberg, 1994 Not a book of theory or speculation, here is a proven action plan to impacting the spiritual lives of friends, family members, co-workers, and others. Powerful stories and teachings help readers to gain hope that their friends' lives can change, get free from the misconceptions of evangelism, discover a natural approach to communicating their faith, and more. |
| how to reach secular people: Go Dr. George G. Hunter III, 2017-02-21 Churches and denominations often appear to settle for a primary objective that is less than what the apostles recommended. If we are honest, most church leaders acknowledge that our institutional sense of purpose is inconsistent, at best. In some places the purpose of the church is quite narrowly defined, and in others the definition is so broad that it seems meaningless. People wonder, “Is this all there is to the church?” It’s a good question, and George Hunter, a longtime keen observer of the church, demonstrates the answer. Hunter’s richly descriptive explanation of the “missional church” will convince leaders and students to recover a clear and consistent sense of purpose. As we are the stewards of “the faith once delivered to the saints,” so we are the heirs of the mission once entrusted to the apostles and their movements. The church’s mission, locally and globally, is or should be its main business. The “real church” is an “ecclesia”—God’s “called out” people whom the Lord shapes into an “apostolate”—and “sends out” to be publicly present in the world—but not of it. This mission is a serving, witnessing, inviting outreach to all people. |
| how to reach secular people: Make Disciples! Terry A. Bowland, 1999 Let us make no mistake about it. Evangelism is not simply learning Bible facts. Evangelism is not simply understanding sociological information. Evangelism is taking part in God's great work of redeeming the world through Christ. It is to reach out and allow God's power and presence to extend into the lives of people through our daily lives. When we increasingly become aware of God working within us, the result will be joy -- joy in our daily tasks and joy in the lives we touch. Wherever God's will is done, the ultimate result for us will be joy. |
| how to reach secular people: Evangelism in Europe Hannes Wiher, 2018-07-09 To think Europe represents a challenge. The gravity and extreme complexity of this challenge call for a deep awareness of the situation in Europe, an analysis of contemporary practices, and a theological reflection on the spiritual condition of Europeans. |
| how to reach secular people: Nonbeliever Nation David Niose, 2013-12-17 Today, one in five Americans are nonbelievers—a rapidly growing group at a time when traditional Christian churches are dwindling in numbers. Still we see almost none of them openly serving in elected office, while Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and many others continue to loudly proclaim the falsehood of America as a Christian nation. In Nonbeliever Nation, leading secular advocate David Niose calls for nonreligious Americans from all backgrounds to step out of the shadows and signal their opposition to the long-dominant Religious Right. Exploring all the hot-button issues that divide the country—from gay marriage to education policy to contentious church-state battles—he shows how Secular Americans—a group comprised not just of atheists and agnostics, but lapsed Catholics, secular Jews, and millions of others who have walked away from organized religion—are mobilizing and forming groups all over the country (even atheist clubs in Bible-belt high schools) to challenge the exaltation of religion in American politics and public life. This is a timely and important look at a growing demographic that is flexing its muscles for the first time. |
| how to reach secular people: A Secular Sobriety Dale K., 2017-06-02 A Secular Sobriety will help alcoholics and addicts to understand the fellowship and program of Alcoholics Anonymous without having to accept anyone else's beliefs or having to deny their own. It includes a secular and non-sexist version of the first 164 pages of the Big Book bringing a 78 year old text into the 21st century. A Secular Sobriety brings truth to AA's claim to be spiritual, but not religious. The author offers insightful commentary regarding AA's fellowship, program, organization and its primary text. Succeeding over the misery of addiction is within the reach of any person regardless of personal beliefs. There is no reason for religious conversion to be a part of any 12 Step program. |
| how to reach secular people: Evangelism J. Mack Stiles, 2014-04-16 Christians often struggle to know where to start when it comes to telling others about God, Jesus, sin, and salvation. In this short book, J. Mack Stiles challenges us to view evangelism as something we do together instead of something we do alone, helping churches cultivate a culture of evangelism that goes beyond simply creating new programs or adopting the latest method. The seventh volume in the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series, this book will help Christians joyfully embrace evangelism as a way of life as it equips them to share their faith with those who don't yet know Jesus. Part of the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series. |
| how to reach secular people: Secular Surge David E. Campbell, Geoffrey C. Layman, John C. Green, 2020-12-03 Many Americans are turning away from religion. Will a Secular Left rise to counter the Religious Right? |
| how to reach secular people: The Secular Creed Rebecca McLaughlin, 2021-04-15 |
| how to reach secular people: A Secular Humanist Declaration Paul Kurtz, 1980 No Marketing Blurb |
| how to reach secular people: Center Church Timothy Keller, 2012-09-04 Practical and Gospel-centered thoughts on how to have a fruitful ministry by one of America's leading and most beloved pastor. Many church leaders are struggling to adapt to a culture that values individuality above loyalty to a group or institution. There have been so many church growth and effective ministry books in the past few decades that it's hard to know where to start or which ones will provide useful and honest insight. Based on over twenty years of ministry in New York City, Timothy Keller takes a unique approach that measures a ministry's success neither by numbers nor purely by the faithfulness of its leaders, but on the biblical grounds of fruitfulness. Center Church outlines a balanced theological vision for ministry organized around three core commitments: Gospel-centered: The gospel of grace in Jesus Christ changes everything, from our hearts to our community to the world. It completely reshapes the content, tone, and strategy of all that we do. City-centered: With a positive approach toward our culture, we learn to affirm that cities are wonderful, strategic, and under-served places for gospel ministry. Movement-centered: Instead of building our own tribe, we seek the prosperity and peace of our community as we are led by the Holy Spirit. Between a pastor's doctrinal beliefs and ministry practices should be a well-conceived vision for how to bring the gospel to bear on the particular cultural setting and historical moment. This is something more practical than just doctrine but much more theological than how-to steps for carrying out a ministry. Once this vision is in place, it leads church leaders to make good decisions on how to worship, disciple, evangelize, serve, and engage culture in their field of ministry—whether in a city, suburb, or small town. — Tim Keller, Core Church |
| how to reach secular people: Secular Meditation Rick Heller, 2015-10-01 Meditation is a form of mental exercise with numerous scientifically verified physical and psychological benefits. As meditation teacher Rick Heller shows, the benefits of the practice extend beyond the personal to enrich relationships with others, with one’s community, and with the world. In Secular Meditation, step-by-step instructions, personal stories, and provocative questions teach empathy for others, stress reduction, and the kind of in-the-moment living that fosters appreciation for life and resilience in the face of adversity. Heller simplifies what is often found mysterious, describing and providing detailed instructions for thirty-two different practices, ensuring that anyone can find the right one. |
| how to reach secular people: Making Sense of God Timothy Keller, 2016-09-20 We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives. |
| how to reach secular people: Seeing and savouring Jesus Christ JOHN PIPER, 2020-05-21 Who is Jesus Christ? You've never met Him in person, and you don't know anyone who has. But there is a way to know who he is. How? Jesus Christ - the divine Person revealed in the Bible - has a unique excellence and a spiritual beauty that speaks directly to our souls and says, Yes, this is truth. It's like seeing the sun and knowing that it is light, or tasting honey and knowing that it is sweet. The depth and complexity of Jesus shatter our simple mental frameworks. He baffled proud scribes with his wisdom but was understood and loved by children. He calmed a raging storm with a word but would not get himself down from the cross. Look at the Jesus of the Bible. Keep your eyes open, and fill them with the portrait of Jesus in God's Word. Jesus said, If anyone's will is to do God's will, He will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. Ask God for the grace to do His will, and you will see the truth of His Son. John Piper has written this book in the hope that all will see Jesus for who he really is and will come to enjoy him above all else. |
| how to reach secular people: How to Be a Christian without Going to Church Kelly Bean, 2014-06-24 As many--young people especially--leave the traditional church in droves, they often still long for a genuine Christian community in which to practice their faith and share their spiritual journeys with others. They want to be faithful but struggle to find a place where they flourish. Whether they've already left the church behind or are merely considering it, readers will find here both heartfelt encouragement and practical steps for finding or creating a community of faith that honors God and offers rest, love, and communion with other believers. Author Kelly Bean broadens our definition of church to include many alternative forms of Christian community. With true stories of those who have given up on church and what they're doing now, this book is also helpful for pastors and churchgoers to help them understand why people leave the church--and what might be done to help them stay. |
| how to reach secular people: The Nature of True Virtue Jonathan Edwards, 2003-10-01 A major work in moral philosophy by the Puritan who was the most modern man of his age. Edwards at his very greatest . . . he speaks with an insight into science and psychology so much ahead of his time that our own can hardly be said to have caught up with him. Perry Miller, 'Jonathan Edwards' Like the great speculators Augustine, Aquinas, and Pascal, Jonathan Edwards treated religious ideas as problems not of dogma, but of life. His exploration of self-love disguised as true virtue is grounded in the hard facts of human behavior. More than a hellfire preacher, more than a theologian, Edwards was a bold and independent philosopher. Nowhere is his force of mind more evident than in this book. He speaks as powerfully to us today as he did to the keenest minds of the eighteenth century. |
| how to reach secular people: Breaking the Missional Code Ed Stetzer, David Putman, 2006-05-01 Across North America, many pastors are excited to see churches growing as they achieve their mission to connect the message of the gospel with the community at large. Still others are equally frustrated, following the exact same model for outreach but with lesser results. Indeed, just because a missional breakthrough occurs in one place doesn’t mean it will happen the same way elsewhere. One size does not fit all, but there are cultural codes that must be broken for all churches to grow and remain effective in their specific mission context. Breaking the Missional Code provides expert insight on church culture and church vision casting, plus case studies of successful missional churches impacting their communities. We have to recognize there are cultural barriers (in addition to spiritual ones) that blind people from understanding the gospel, the authors write. Our task is to find the right way to break through those cultural barriers without removing the spiritual and theological ones. |
| how to reach secular people: Parenting Beyond Belief Dale Mcgowan, 2016 Gathering the perspectives of educators and psychologists, as well as wisdom from everyday parents, Parenting Beyond Belief offers insights and advice on a wide range of topics including instilling values, finding meaning and purpose, navigating holidays, coping with loss, finding community without religion, and more. The second edition of this secular parenting bestseller brings back reflections from such celebrated freethinkers as Richard Dawkins and Julia Sweeney, and adds new voices including journalist Wendy Thomas Russell, essayist Katherine Ozment, sociologist Phil Zuckerman, and many others -- |
| how to reach secular people: Good Without God Greg Epstein, 2010-10-26 An inspiring and provocative exploration of an alternative to traditional religion Questions about the role of God and religion in today's world have never been more relevant or felt more powerfully. Many of us are searching for a place where we can find not only facts and scientific reason but also hope and moral courage. For some, answers are found in the divine. For others, including the New Atheists, religion is an enemy. But in Good Without God, Greg Epstein presents another, more balanced and inclusive response: Humanism. He highlights humanity's potential for goodness and the ways in which Humanists lead lives of purpose and compassion. Humanism can offer the sense of community we want and often need in good times and bad—and it teaches us that we can lead good and moral lives without the supernatural, without higher powers . . . without God. |
| how to reach secular people: The Secular Paradox Joseph Blankholm, 2022-06-07 Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2023 A radically new way of understanding secularism which explains why being secular can seem so strangely religious For much of America’s rapidly growing secular population, religion is an inescapable source of skepticism and discomfort. It shows up in politics and in holidays, but also in common events like weddings and funerals. In The Secular Paradox, Joseph Blankholm argues that, despite their desire to avoid religion, nonbelievers often seem religious because Christianity influences the culture around them so deeply. Relying on several years of ethnographic research among secular activists and organized nonbelievers in the United States, the volume explores how very secular people are ambivalent toward belief, community, ritual, conversion, and tradition. As they try to embrace what they share, secular people encounter, again and again, that they are becoming too religious. And as they reject religion, they feel they have lost too much. Trying to strike the right balance, secular people alternate between the two sides of their ambiguous condition: absolutely not religious and part of a religion-like secular tradition. Blankholm relies heavily on the voices of women and people of color to understand what it means to live with the secular paradox. The struggles of secular misfits—the people who mis-fit normative secularism in the United States—show that becoming secular means rejecting parts of life that resemble Christianity and embracing a European tradition that emphasizes reason and avoids emotion. Women, people of color, and secular people who have left non-Christian religions work against the limits and contradictions of secularism to create new ways of being secular that are transforming the American religious landscape. They are pioneering the most interesting and important forms of secular “religiosity” in America today. |
| how to reach secular people: The Old Soul's Guidebook Ainslie MacLeod, 2019-04-08 Acclaimed spiritual teacher, author, and past-life psychic Ainslie MacLeod offers a practical guide to tap into your wealth of past-life experiences to help boost your success in this lifetime. |
Understanding REACH - ECHA
REACH impacts on a wide range of companies across many sectors, even those who may not think of themselves as being involved with chemicals. In general, under REACH you may have …
REACH Regulation - European Commission - Environment
4 days ago · REACH places responsibility on industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. To that end, manufacturers and importers are …
REACH Legislation - ECHA
Consolidated version of the REACH Regulation. Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, …
Registration - ECHA
Registration applies to substances on their own, substances in mixtures and certain cases of substances in articles. Chemical substances that are already regulated by other legislations …
Guidance documents - ECHA
Reference name: Guidance on safety data sheets Description: This guidance provides information on issues to consider when compiling a Safety Data Sheet (an SDS), details of the …
Homepage - ECHA
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has updated its report on Key Areas of Regulatory Challenge with new topics in line with the European Union’s Competitiveness Compass and …
Requirements for substances in articles - ECHA
the main REACH processes or activities that may affect producers, importers and suppliers of articles. 4. What are the obligations for substances in articles under REACH? The following …
Substances restricted under REACH - ECHA
The table below is the Annex XVII to REACH and includes all the restrictions adopted in the framework of REACH and the previous legislation, Directive 76/769/EEC. Each entry shows a …
REACH - ITWelcome - Europa
The main substance identifier in REACH-IT is EC/list number. List numbers in their current format, xxx-xxx-x (where x = numerical digit), are soon running out. After external consultation and …
Getting started - ECHA
REACH. Substances of very high concern identification; Draft recommendation for inclusion in the Authorisation List and consultation; Applications for authorisation; Submitted restrictions under …
Understanding REACH - ECHA
REACH impacts on a wide range of companies across many sectors, even those who may not think of …
REACH Regulation - European Commission - Environment
4 days ago · REACH places responsibility on industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety …
REACH Legislation - ECHA
Consolidated version of the REACH Regulation. Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European …
Registration - ECHA
Registration applies to substances on their own, substances in mixtures and certain cases of substances in …
Guidance documents - ECHA
Reference name: Guidance on safety data sheets Description: This guidance provides information on issues to …
