Showing results by author "Russell Moore" in All Categories

American evangelical Christianity has lost its way. While the witness of the church before a watching world is diminished beyond recognition, congregations are torn apart over Donald Trump, Christian nationalism, racial injustice, sexual predation, disgraced leaders, and covered-up scandals. Left behind are millions of believers who counted on the church to be a place of belonging and hope. As greater and greater numbers of younger Americans bleed out from the church, even the most rooted evangelicals are wondering, “Can American Christianity survive?”

In a society always seeking the new and novel, Christians can become more grounded and mature through a retrieval of our common tradition. Alex Sosler sets forth the "transcendentals" of truth, goodness, and beauty—along with community—to help listeners follow the way of Jesus. Weaving together church history, theology, and devotional practice, Sosler offers a holistic introduction to spiritual formation, encompassing biblical truth, the pursuit of the good life, the contemplation of God, and communal belonging.

Family is difficult because family - every family - is an echo of the gospel. Family can be the source of some of the most transcendent human joy, and family can leave us crumpled up on the side of the road. Family can make us who we are, and family can break our hearts. Why would this social arrangement have that much power, for good or for ill, over us?

As the culture changes all around us, it is no longer possible to pretend that we are a moral majority. That may be bad news for America, but it can be good news for the church. What's needed now, in shifting times, is neither a doubling down on the status quo nor a pullback into isolation. Instead we need a church that speaks to social and political issues with a bigger vision in mind: that of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Listen in as Russell Moore, director of Christianity Today’s Public Theology Project and Editor-in-Chief, talks about the latest books, cultural conversations and pressing ethical questions that point us toward the kingdom of Christ.

Pastor and scholar Patrick Henry Reardon travels through the Gospel narratives to discover the real Jesus, to see him through the eyes of those who knew him best—the apostles, his community, believers who vividly portrayed him in stories filtered through their own faith. Through these living, breathing accounts, we contemplate who God’s Son really was and is—and we understand how he came to redeem and sanctify every aspect of every human life.

In The Courage to Stand, best-selling and award-winning author Russell Moore calls listeners to a Christ-empowered courage by pointing the way to real freedom from fear - the way of the cross. That way means integrity through brokenness, community through loneliness, power through weakness, and a future through irrelevance. On the other side of fear is freedom: the freedom to stand.

In this practical guide, seasoned pastors Ray Ortlund and Sam Allberry help weary leaders renew their love for ministry by equipping them to build a gospel-centered culture into every aspect of their churches. Emphasizing the importance of healthy doctrine, they explain that failing to also nurture a healthy culture can be frustrating, polarizing, and even unbiblical. This encouraging guide features Scripture-focused advice on honesty, honor, preaching, leadership, and mission to support leaders and help them regain a beautiful, Christ-centered vision for their ministries.

The gospel of Jesus Christ—the good news that through Jesus we have been adopted as sons and daughters into God’s family—means that Christians ought to be at the forefront of the adoption of orphans in North America and around the world. Russell D. Moore does not shy away from this call in Adopted for Life, a popular-level, practical manifesto for Christians to adopt children and to help equip other Christian families to do the same.

Your church needs orphans as much as orphans need your church. Find out why and how you can get involved in Until Every Child Is Home.

In the kingdom of God, it is not us against them. The problem of racism stretches back as far humanity's origin in the book of Genesis. Brother pitted against brother, tribe against tribe - people have warred against one another, fueled by contempt for racial differences. Yet the Gospel is a message of reconciliation. The kingdom of God is us reconciled to one another.

The pro-life moment didn't begin in the 1960s, but in the garden. Abortion has been a divisive issue in American culture since the sexual revolution. Yet the Bible is an unapologetic defender of human dignity. Moreover, Christians have always cared for the unborn, the orphan, and the least among us. The time is now for this generation to reaffirm what believers have always believed: everybody is created in the image of god. So, what now?

Are you looking for non-religious kids' Christmas stories? If so, you will enjoy our collection: Kids' Christmas Book with Santa Claus and Non-Religious Stories: Xmas Holiday Story Books for Children. Note that these are public domain works that were originally written by the indicated authors. All of the stories have been modernized and re-written for the 21st century.

The Bible is unambiguously clear about marriage's definition and purpose. So, Christians are for marriage. The Bible's witness on marriage doesn't allow for same-sex marriage, not because the Bible gives attention to same-sex marriage, but because the biblical narrative on marriage doesn't conceive of same-sex marriage as within the realm of possibility. Yet, many Christians live among neighbors and under law-makers who disagree. So, what now?

The problem isn't sex. God designed sex, and sex is good. Sex is a powerful union that brings men and women together. But when sex is distorted by sin, the misuse of our sexuality can alienate us from one another, causing immense harm and pain. Enter pornography - the most prevalent distortion of sexual sin in America. Pornography is not only a problem in terms of personal morality but a social epidemic that is making the possibility of sexually fulfilled marriages harder to achieve.

We live in a society of broken homes. Having parents in the home doesn't mean that parenting is actually happening. Parenting is a God-given task that ensures young children are protected and nurtured into maturity in the fear and admonition of the Lord. But America and the church face a crisis of parenting: detached or absentee fathers, single mothers, and grandparents raising the next generation.

While the culture has never been more confused about the definition of what marriage is, those who are married have never been more hopeless about how marriage should be lived. The times have never been more crucial for digging deeper, past the definition of marriage to the structure of marriage, the blessings of marriage, and the opportunity for living out the image of the gospel that's embodied within marriage. So, what now?

So often in America, we define who we are by what we do. We introduce ourselves by our job titles. We ask, "What do you do?" to be polite in small talk. We define others by their occupations. But there are good reasons to connect what you do with your time, whether that is 9-to-5 work or managing a household full of children. God created us to work, not as judgment but in cooperation with a mandate given to humanity long before the fall. Your work isn't who you are, but it is central to why you are here.

Religious liberty isn't a principle for Americans alone, though it certainly has played an important role in the history of the United States. Religious liberty is a matter of authority and allegiance for people of every land. To whom one owes ultimate allegiance is a matter of the conscience, and one that should be protected in every nation. But what if religious liberty gives way, and churches are faced with the difficult decision between allegiance to their country and allegiance to their conscience?

Every Christian isn't called to adopt, but everyone is called to care for orphans. The evangelical adoption movement is but one strand in a long cord of Christian care for orphans. While adoption trends have fluctuated over time in different contexts, the Bible has not changed its position. The gospel is decidedly pro-adoption and on the side of the orphan. Yet many obstacles stand in the way of the Christian's mission to provide care to the least of these. So, what now?