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Making Room in Advent

scraft@ivpress.com — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 21:50:14 +0000

Making Room in Advent

Bette Dickinson

25 Devotions for a Season of Wonder

Preparation for the Christmas season can often feel busy and frantic, but it doesn't have to be this way. What if we stopped and listened to the movement and unfolding of God's plan around us? Making Room in Advent is an invitation away from the chaos and into the space where God is at work.

The unfolding of God's plan often happens in unlikely spaces, both in Scripture and in our own lives. Join Bette Dickinson as she moves through the story of Jesus' birth and the stories of the many people that were part of the journey. Each page is filled with an original painting that will fill you with hope and wonder during the Advent season. The twenty-five devotionals offer spiritual practices, breath prayers, and reflection questions that allow you to truly make room for God's work in your life, your community, and the world.

"Indeed, there is no room. No room at the inn. No room in my soul. No room left in our world for God, given how much space is taken up by the traumas of our lives. But be of good cheer. For surely, Bette Dickinson has delivered unto us an offering of such beauty and goodness that we cannot help but allow it as much room as possible. With Making Room in Advent, our artist and guide creates images in color and word that open our eyes and hearts to the new creation that God longs for us to become. If spaciousness for God and the flourishing he promises is what you desire, I cannot think of a better place to start."

Curt Thompson, MD, author of The Soul of Desire and The Soul of Shame

"I have long been an admirer of Bette Dickinson's soul-stirring, prophetic art. Her written reflections are equally stunning and evocative as she leads us into a prayerful journey through the birth narratives in Luke's Gospel. Written and painted with profound wisdom and insight, Making Room in Advent is an invitation for us to meditate on art, the Word, and the unfolding narratives of our own lives, individually and in community. There is so much to see and savor here."

Sharon Garlough Brown, author of Feathers of Hope and the Sensible Shoes series

"Making Room in Advent is an invitation to engage in that thin space of our souls where our heart and mind become one. Through breath prayers, Scripture engagement, and Bette's transcendent artwork, the reader is engaged with an immersive devotional unlike any other. This is transformational devotional reading because it creates that nexus between left and right brain, between our longing for beauty and for knowledge, and between our desire of being known and knowing our Creator!"

R. York Moore, national evangelist with ��Ƶ and author of Making All Things New

"Bette is a deeply prayerful person with the hands of an artist, the heart of a pastor, and the soul of a prophet. She braids together biblical teaching, spiritual formation, and prophetic painting into experiences that are as beautiful as they are substantial. Now, through Making Room in Advent, Bette's ministry is widely available. What a gift!"

Lindsay Olesberg, author of The Bible Study Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to an Essential Practice

"Bette Dickinson's book Making Room in Advent is a welcome contemplative offering birthed from her own experiences. She offers artistic depth combined with theological breadth and personal application. From her paintbrush and her words, she presents twenty-five works of art, one for each portion of the story of when Creator called Mary to be the mother of Jesus. I am not often a reader of daily devotionals, but I was taken in from my first reading, not only by her paintings on canvas but by the way she paints words. As a storyteller myself, I got caught up in each day's story and found myself wanting more."

Terry M. Wildman, lead translator of the First Nations Version New Testament

Making Room in Advent

The Power of Group Prayer

scraft@ivpress.com — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 21:44:34 +0000

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The Power of Group Prayer

Carolyn Carney

How Intercession Transforms Us and the World

Revival starts when people pray together.

Christians often dream about the possibility of revival. But revival doesn't come because we wish or plan for it. Revival occurs when groups of people pray together. However, praying together effectively doesn't come easily, and we're often left wondering how to best engage in the work of intercession.

Carolyn Carney offers a practical guide for those who want something more than "just another prayer meeting." Drawing from decades of ministry experience, The Power of Group Prayer includes stories and practices for corporate prayer, reflection questions, and supplemental resources to help build powerful intercession groups. Pastors, small group leaders, and campus ministry leaders—or anyone who wants a deeper prayer life—will be equipped to lead others in the kind of prayer that is necessary for effective, resilient ministry.

Praying together has the power to transform you and the world around you. Come to a place of deep intimacy with God as you learn ways to pray in community.

"Carolyn Carney has given us a beautiful book with a rich theological and historical context on leading prayer. Carolyn embodies what she teaches as a transformational leader journeying for decades among students. Nothing is more powerful than a well-lead prayer meeting in this our fragile twenty-first century."

Mac Pier, founder of Movement.org and author of The Power of a City at Prayer

"Do you know there are gifted intercessors hiding in plain sight in your churches and fellowships? Maybe you are one of them. The wise and practical teaching offered here will unlock God's good gifts and ignite renewal and transformation in the church. Don't let this book sit on the shelf. Put The Power of Group Prayer into practice and watch the revival begin!"

Connie Anderson, national director of intercessory prayer, ��Ƶ

"Prayer meetings don't have to be boring! In a day of increasing spiritual isolation, this book delightfully expands our imagination for what praying together could be, while offering practical, experience-birthed insight to help others connect with God in old and new ways. Read and be lifted up!"

James Choung, coauthor of Longing for Revival

"Prayer is an intimate invitation to commune with an infinite God whose love and power is unlimited. Carolyn Carney has accepted that invitation and invites us to do the same as those bearing faithful witness to our God. She boldly reminds us that what we pray for may not change, but we will be unrecognizably transformed."

Jonathan Walton, author of Twelve Lies That Hold America Captive and creator of the Emotionally Healthy Activist course

"Churches are often busy, but they are not often prayerful. And without prayerful people surrounding our work, our ministry is often powerless. For over a decade, I watched Carolyn Carney inspire and equip generations of students to intercede with power, joy, boldness, and humility. In The Power of Group Prayer, Carolyn shares what she's learned about how to mobilize and equip intercessors: the pathway and the pitfalls, the joys and the dangers, the opportunities and the costs. The students Carolyn trained heard God's voice and experienced his pleasure as they prayed. You will too, if you read this book and put it into action."

Greg Jao, executive vice president of communications and mobilization at ��Ƶ and author of Your Mind's Mission

The Power of Group Prayer

Single, Just Because

scraft@ivpress.com — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 22:31:10 +0000

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Single, Just Because

Bridget Gee

A Pilgrimage into Holy Aloneness

"Why are you single?"

"Just because."

However we answer that question, what's more important than why we are single is how we live as singles. Regardless of our relationship status, all of us are called to a life of vital discipleship. And walking with God can reshape singleness into a pilgrimage of transformation.

Pilgrim and podcaster Bridget Gee shares her singular journey of vibrant life in the kingdom of God. Her travels have become a personal pilgrimage of walking with God and others, experiencing spiritual formation in the ups and downs of literal mountains and valleys. She explores her longings and hopes in vulnerable narratives, navigating issues of identity, community, mental health, dating, sexuality, and more.

Gee invites us into a purposeful story of following Jesus in life not as we think it might be, but as it really is. The pilgrim journey takes us places we did not expect to become people we did not know we could be.

Single, Just Because

Reading the Bible Around the World

scraft@ivpress.com — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 22:17:56 +0000

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Reading the Bible Around the World

Federico Alfredo Roth, Justin Marc Smith, Kirsten Oh, Alice Yafeh-Deigh, and Kay Higuera Smith

A Student’s Guide to Global Hermeneutics

It's an exciting time to be reading the Bible. As we increasingly encounter readers with perspectives, experiences, and cultures different from our own, we can incorporate new ideas and approaches to interpreting Scripture. When diverse interpretations from various social locations are gathered together, we gain new vistas and a fuller image of the text.

In Reading the Bible Around the World, a crosscultural team of scholars describes and workshops global readings in biblical interpretation, focusing on passages in both the Old and New Testaments. By presenting a range of readings from different regions and people groups, with particular attention to marginalized groups, the authors demonstrate the importance of contextually sensitive approaches. They help us build up key values for reading Scripture in the twenty-first century: self-awareness, other-awareness, and true dialogue.

Who we are shapes how we read. Guided by these expert teachers, readers will gain a deeper understanding of the influence of their own social location and how to keep growing in biblical wisdom by reading alongside the global Christian community.

Reading the Bible Around the World

Having the Mind of Christ

scraft@ivpress.com — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 23:43:43 +0000

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Having the Mind of Christ

Matt Tebbe and Bill Sternke

Eight Axioms to Cultivate a Robust Faith

While we often start with good intentions, it feels like real transformation is elusive at best, and maybe even impossible. We deeply want to live in the freedom that Christ offers, but we are acutely aware of the gap between a transformed life and our reality. Having the Mind of Christ tackles the issues of lasting life change.

When we feel some kind of inspiration or need to seek change in our lives, we start with behaviors: new to-dos, tactics, techniques, or spiritual disciplines that we hope will bring about the transformation we desire. While these behavioral changes can bear good results, they just as often fail to produce the lasting change we deeply desire. That's because transformation requires more than a change in practice – it requires a change in paradigm.

Pastors Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke share eight axioms that help reframe the way that we see God, ourselves, and others. By seeing through new lenses, we can open ourselves to the transformational change that God wants for our lives.

"The work of formation into the image of Christ entails new practices, but unless the deeper assumptions we hold about God are addressed, we will be rich in practices but poor in transformation. It's for this reason that I'm grateful this book exists. Ben Sternke and Matt Tebbe have done a remarkable job excavating some of the most important questions, mindsets, and beliefs that get in the way of new life in Christ. This book is a great gift to the church."

Rich Villodas, lead pastor of New Life Fellowship Church and author of The Deeply Formed Life

"Christians young and old are realizing that their current paradigms and frameworks for their faith are no longer working. Ben Sternke and Matt Tebbe pastorally remind us that this paradigm crisis is necessary in order to discover the ways old patterns have (de)formed us and to embrace new wineskins. We don't have to stay in crisis, and as Ben and Matt have carefully written in this beautiful book, there's hope for a new way of living and seeing that is discovered in the mind of Christ. As a pastor, I will be sure to have a stack of these books available to give to those who are experiencing a faith crisis."

Tara Beth Leach, author of Emboldened and Radiant Church

"As we pass through a time when certain expressions of Christianity are no longer tenable for millions of people living in late modernity, a door of discovery is opening for new expressions of Christian faith. Ben Sternke and Matt Tebbe are among those who have discovered that from the ashes of deconstruction something beautiful can be born. In Having the Mind of Christ their eight axioms serve as signposts to lead the disenchanted into a faith centered in the love of Christ. I hope many people will read this timely book."

Brian Zahnd, pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, and author of When Everything's on Fire

Having the Mind of Christ

Learning Our Names

scraft@ivpress.com — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 23:23:33 +0000

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Learning Our Names

Sabrina S. Chan, Linson Daniel, E. David de Leon, and La Thao

Asian American Christians on Identity, Relationships, and Vocation

Asian Americans know the pain of being called names that deny our humanity. We may toggle back and forth between different names as a survival strategy. But it's a challenge to discern what names reflect our true identities as Asian Americans and as Christians. In an era when Asians face ongoing discrimination and marginalization, it can be hard to live into God's calling for our lives.

Asian American Christians need to hear and own our diverse stories beyond the cultural expectations of the model minority or perpetual foreigner. A team from East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian backgrounds explores what it means to learn our names and be seen by God. They encourage us to know our history, telling diverse stories of the Asian diaspora in America who have been shaped and misshaped by migration, culture, and faith. As we live in the multiple tensions of being Asian American Christians, we can discover who we are and what God may have in store for us and our communities.

"Learning Our Names is written by seasoned and talented ministers who address issues facing this generation of young Asian Americans: self-identity, dealing with anti-Asian racialization, family relationships, vocation, and more. I know and respect these writers. They communicate with deep understanding and compassion but don't pull punches on the hard stuff most Asian American Christians face. It's one that deserves a slow, thoughtful read . . . and re-read."

Paul Tokunaga, Following Jesus Without Dishonoring Your Parents writing team

"This book was so encouraging to me as an Asian American continuing to explore how my identity shapes my faith. May we continue to find who we are and how much our unique voices add to the body of Christ. Sabrina, Linson, David, and La share honestly and thoughtfully about what this could look like."

Jeremy Lin, professional basketball player for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association

"Many people have both a public and an intimate relationship with their names. This book, through the lens of names, invites us into the particular experiences of a diverse Asian American community. Learning Our Names provides a thoughtful investigation of the intersection of culture and race that mixes careful biblical engagement with vivid stories. It's a timely and expansive exploration for both Asian Americans and those who want to learn by entering into the stories and experiences of Asian Americans."

Nikki Toyama-Szeto, executive director of Christians for Social Action

"Warning: this book will awaken you to better understand a dynamic and growing population of Jesus followers. You may end up longing to participate in the good work that God is doing in the AAPI community. Learning Our Names provides inside stories that evoke both laughter and tears and give insight into the unique identity and social-cultural reality of AAPI Christians. You will need this book for impactful ministry in the twenty-first-century North American context."

Soong-Chan Rah, Robert Munger Professor of Evangelism at Fuller Theological Seminary and author of The Next Evangelicalism

"Whether you're Asian American or not, Learning Our Names will helpfully guide you through an insightful and redemptive journey of our names, our histories, our families, our backgrounds, and our gifts in light of God's larger story. It's a great primer that shows how Asian Americans can embrace where we've come from and who we're made to be in faith, life, and love."

James Choung, author of True Story and Real Life

Learning Our Names

A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers

scraft@ivpress.com — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 23:27:26 +0000

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A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers

Ethan J. Brue, Derek C. Schuurman, and Steven H. VanderLeest

Our technology shapes the way we live, interact, work, play, and even worship.Technology and its power are both old and new—as is the wisdom we need to envision, design, build, and use it well. For Christians passionate about developing technology, it's not always clear how their faith and work intersect. How can designing and using technology actually be a way of loving God and our neighbors?

Veteran engineers and teachers Ethan Brue, Derek Schuurman, and Steve VanderLeest provide a field guide for fellow explorers working with technology. Using numerous case studies, historical examples, and personal stories, they explore issues such as:

biblical themes and passages that relate to technology
the ethics and norms involved in technology design
how engineering and technology tap into human dreams for a better world

Along the way they acknowledge the challenges arising from technology but also point to the wonderful possibilities it offers us and its ability to contribute to the common good.

For Christians studying and working in engineering, computer science, technical design, architecture, and related fields, this book is packed with wisdom and practical guidance. By sharing what they have learned, the authors encourage readers to ask harder questions, aspire to more noble purposes, and live a life consistent with their faith as they engage with technology.

"I believe that Christians are called to make the world a better place. Engineers and designers have a unique opportunity to pursue that calling. A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designersprovides a helpful framework to experience appropriate pride in pursuing the meaningful field of engineering and design while also acknowledging the humility associated with human limitations."

Jason Andringa, president and CEO, Vermeer Corporation

"A beautifully and clearly written book on technology! After a long history and a recent spurt in development, the wonders of technology have left an all-controlling mark on our culture, so that we speak of the technological society. Thinking about that culture fills us with awe as well as anxiety. Technology knows the waywardness of Babel's tower as well as the blessing of salvation through Noah's ark. Responsible technology is rightly given much attention in this book: it is a technology in harmony with nature, in the service of all that lives, and above all subordinate to our neighbor and in praise of the Creator. The book makes it clear that it is not enough for an engineer to be just an engineer."

Egbert Schuurman, emeritus professor in Christian philosophy at the Technological Universities of Delft and Eindhoven in the Netherlands, former senator of the Dutch Parliament

"Here is a rich resource for the early career engineer who needs help applying biblical truth to their technical endeavors in the workplace. Through an excellent overview of important theological concepts, thoughtful design principles, and practical vocational wisdom, Brue, Schuurman, and VanderLeest explain how integrating faith and work in practicing engineering and creating technology provides endless opportunities to both glorify God and enjoy him. If only such a book had been around when I entered the workforce with an engineering degree!"

Steven Lindsey, executive director of the Center for Faith+Work Los Angeles, retired Boeing systems engineering executive

A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers

Analog Christian

scraft@ivpress.com — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 23:14:39 +0000

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Analog Christian

Jay Y. Kim

Cultivating Contentment, Resilience, and Wisdom in the Digital Age

The digital age is in the business of commodifying our attention. The technologies of our day are determined to keep us scrolling and swiping at all costs, plugged into a feedback loop of impatience, comparison, outrage, and contempt. Blind to the dangers, we enjoy its temporary pleasures, unaware of the damage to our souls.

Jay Kim's Analog Church explored the ways the digital age and its values affect the life of the church. In Analog Christian, he asks the same question of Christian discipleship. As the digital age inclines us to discontentment, fragility, and foolishness, how are followers of Jesus to respond? What is the theological basis for living in creative resistance to the forces of our day? How can Christians cultivate the contentment, resilience, and wisdom to not only survive but to thrive as we navigate the specific challenges of our age?

"Lulled by convenience, numbed by distraction, and addicted to our devices, we have become diminished versions of ourselves. But the gift of grace is the power to become fully alive, image-bearing human beings. Far from being a polemic against technology, Analog Christian invites us to join in the Spirit's slow and life-giving work of producing fruit in us. Combining cultural analysis, theological insight, and pastoral wisdom, Jay Kim bears witness to a better way of being a human in the digital age, a way that looks like the fully and truly human one, Jesus Christ."

Glenn Packiam, lead pastor at New Life Downtown, Colorado Springs, and author of The Resilient Pastor

"Jay Kim's whole book can be summed up in this: 'May we choose, today and every day, the right thing. May we choose to continue gardening, even in the darkest and most difficult places of life.' This timely word is a call for us to return to a different way of thinking about our life and faith. In a world where everything is going fast, Jay's admonition to consider life in the Spirit as a priority is a breath of fresh air. Jay thank you for challenging me to go deeper."

Myron Pierce, pastor of Mission Church, Omaha, and author of Outrageous: Exceeding the Limits of Usual

"As we emerge out of this pandemic—when online everything has become mind-numbingly normal—Jay reminds us that the way of Jesus isn't new, flashy, or digital. And that you don't need an app for it, either! The way of Jesus is the way of contentment, resilience, and wisdom."

Daniel Im, lead pastor at Beulah Alliance Church and author of You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies about Work, Life, and Love

Analog Christian

The Religion of American Greatness

scraft@ivpress.com — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 22:07:05 +0000

��Ƶ Press Books

The Religion of American Greatness

Paul D. Miller

What's Wrong with Christian Nationalism

Long before it featured dramatically in the 2016 presidential election, Christian nationalism had sunk deep roots in the United States. From America's beginning, Christians have often merged their religious faith with national identity. But what is Christian nationalism? How is it different from patriotism? Is it an honest quirk, or something more threatening?

Paul D. Miller, a Christian scholar, political theorist, veteran, and former White House staffer, provides a detailed portrait of—and case against—Christian nationalism. Building on his practical expertise not only in the archives and classroom but also in public service, Miller unravels this ideology's historical importance, its key tenets, and its political, cultural, and spiritual implications.

Miller shows what's at stake if we misunderstand the relationship between Christianity and the American nation. Christian nationalism—the religion of American greatness—is an illiberal political theory, at odds with the genius of the American experiment, and could prove devastating to both church and state. Christians must relearn how to love our country without idolizing it and seek a healthier Christian political witness that respects our constitutional ideals and a biblical vision of justice.

"This is the nuanced, constructive approach to Christian nationalism that I have longed for that takes this moment in our history seriously, condemns what needs to be condemned, but also offers a clear and viable vision of what Christian political participation should and could be. Paul Miller defines the problem and identifies bad actors and expressions, but he does this necessary work for a greater purpose: orienting our political vision toward the common good."

Michael Wear, author of Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America

"Paul D. Miller crafts his message with confident humility, taking an honest look at the virus of Christian nationalism plaguing our politics and our pulpits. He presents difficult truths in palatable forms that reveal his genuine love for Christ and the church. Read this treatise with an open heart and mind, with the goal of seeing God's kingdom come and will be done."

Samuel Rodriguez, lead pastor of New Season church and president and CEO of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

"Paul Miller draws from an impressive range of sources to show the theological, historical, and cultural errors of Christian nationalism while still suggesting how American Christians can pursue with each other and their neighbors a common American identity and shared aspirations for the future of the country."

John Inazu, Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion at Washington University in St. Louis

"In a political moment too often characterized by vitriol, distortion, and scorn, Paul D. Miller offers a refreshingly different approach. The Religion of American Greatness presents a careful, insightful, and charitable critique of contemporary American nationalism and points readers toward a more faithful political framework that elevates personal liberty and human dignity. A must-read for those concerned about politicized religion and its negative consequences for gospel witness."

Amy E. Black, professor of political science at Wheaton College

The Religion of American Greatness

Next Sunday

scraft@ivpress.com — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 21:54:41 +0000

��Ƶ Press Books

Next Sunday

Nancy Beach and Samantha Beach Kiley

An Honest Dialogue About the Future of the Church

Will future generations find a church worth fighting for?

A great reckoning is underway in the church today: a naming and exposing of the exclusivity, abuse, racism, patriarchy, and unchecked power that have marked evangelical Christianity for far too long. What kind of church will emerge on the other side?

Like many families, the Beaches have been wrestling with this question. Together, Nancy and Samantha represent two generations: Nancy, a boomer, was a key player in the megachurch movement that revolutionized global ministry during the '80s and '90s, while Samantha, a millennial, is willing to abandon those massive buildings and celebrity cultures and find out whether the foundation holds. Each chapter offers their individual experiences and perspectives on a challenge facing the church and considers the way forward.

Filled with deep introspection and keen insight, Next Sunday is a vulnerable conversation about what the church has been—and what it can be.

"I love everything about this book—the honesty, the truth, the stories, the insights, the cross-generational conversation, and even the tension! Especially the tension. Because here's the thing: we can't fix what we refuse to face. This work helps us face the hard stuff about the church while honoring the good stuff, and it does so in a most winsome way that points to a future with hope."

Ruth Haley Barton, founder of the Transforming Center and author of Life Together in Christ

"This is a memoir of two people, a mother and a daughter, who live in two different worlds and the same world at the same time. Reading this book is a jarring experience as each explores basic ideas, like community and Sunday morning church services, on their own from their own world. They're the same but not, at the same time. It disturbs me because I wonder if I can even know Samantha's world. I know Nancy's world, it's mostly mine. But they are siblings in Christ, and some inner-world reality transcends their two worlds. I needed this book."

Scot McKnight, professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary

Next Sunday

������Ƶ Press Books

Making Room in Advent

Making Room in Advent

The Power of Group Prayer

The Power of Group Prayer

Single, Just Because

Single, Just Because

Reading the Bible Around the World

Reading the Bible Around the World

Having the Mind of Christ

Having the Mind of Christ

Learning Our Names

Learning Our Names

A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers

A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers

Analog Christian

Analog Christian

The Religion of American Greatness

The Religion of American Greatness

Next Sunday

Next Sunday

��Ƶ Press Books