Many a Westerner has had a cross-cultural experience of honor and shame. First there are those stuttering moments in the new social landscape. Then after missed cues and social bruises comes the revelation that this culture—indeed much of the world—runs on an honor-shame operating system. When Western individualism and its introspective conscience fails to engage cultural gears, how can we shift and navigate this alternate code? And might we even learn to see and speak the gospel different...

Patronage governs many relationships in Majority World cultures. But regrettably, Western theologians and missionaries rarely notice this prominent cultural reality. Patronage—a reciprocal relationship between social unequals—is acentral part of global cultures and the biblical story of God's mission.Misunderstanding patronage creates problems not only for Westerners ministering in other cultures, but also for contemporary people reading the Bible. If we ignore the...

What on earth are you chasing? We are all chasing something, and always for the same reason: we want something or someone to give us the joy we yearn for at the very depths of our being. All too often we are searching for joy in all the wrong places. Pope Francis calls this the feverish pursuit of the frivolous. What brings you joy? We live busy lives and in the midst of all the chasing it is essential that we slow down from time to time, and not just slow down, but pause, to reflect of wh...

In The Catholic Way, Bishop Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington D.C., has offered up an accessible, easy-to-use blueprint to the Catholic Church's most recent catechism, a detailed summary of Catholic thought compiled by a commission of church cardinals and bishops in 1992.

When you understand it properly, the doctrine of vocation--"doing everything for God's glory"--is not a platitude or an outdated notion. This principle that we vaguely apply to our lives and our work is actually the key to Christian ethics, to influencing our culture for Christ, and to infusing our ordinary, everyday lives with the presence of God. For when we realize that the "mundane" activities that consume most of our time are "God's hiding places," our perspective changes.Cult...

A call to live a life motivated by divine love and, in turn, to experience heaven on earth—with a foreword by Robert Barron and an afterword by James Martin, SJ.“The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. . . . In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.”—Pope Francis...

"For many of the nation's 52 million Catholics, Christ Among Us has become an indispensable guide to applying Church teachings to contemporary problems." — TimeSince it was first published in 1967, Anthony Wilhelm's Christ Among Us has become America's most popular guide to modern Catholicism. This classic text presents a clear and accessible picture of Catholicism and its development in a post-Vatican II world. Perfect for both new Cathol...

Binding and loosing, baptism, eucharist, multiplicity of gifts, and open meeting; these five New Testament practices were central in the life of the early Christian community. Some of them are still echoed in the practice of the church today. But the full social, ethical, and communal meaning of the original practices has often been covered by centuries of ritual and interpretation.John Howard Yoder, in his inimitably direct and discerning style, uncovers the original meaning of th...

"The first thing to say in our exploration of priesthood is this: priesthood is a fundamental and inescapable part of being human. All human beings, knowingly or not, minister as priests to one another. All of us, knowingly or not, receive priestly ministrations from one another. Unless we begin here, we are not likely to understand the confusions and uncertainties and opportunities we have been encountering in the life of the church itself in recent years. We shall be in danger, in fact, ...

Today, as Christendom weakens, worship and mission are poised to reunite after centuries of separation. But this requires the church to rethink both “mission” and “worship.” In post-Christendom mission, God is the main actor and God calls all Christians to participate. In post-Christendom worship, the church tells and celebrates the story of God, enabling members to live in hope and attract outsiders to its many tables of hospitality.In this passionate and thoughtful study, Alan Kr...

Christians tend to polarize. Some have an intellectual faith, while others are more emotional. Some focus on structure while others focus on freedom. And some champion evangelism while others advocate for social action. John Stott's classic statement of balanced Christianity shows how we can hold these tensions together in biblical, faithful ways.Also includes an interview with John Stott with further reflections on the need for balance in contemporary evangelical Christianity.

Robert Henderson started to explore the question, "what would the seven mountains of culture look like in a reformed state?" There is much talk in the apostolic and prophetic community about reformation and transformation, but sometimes, we don't have a clear vision of what it would actually look like for these spheres of influence to be modeled, shaped, and impacted by believers who carry the Kingdom of God into their everyday places of assignment.As the bestselling teach...