"This book is a "tour de force." It is simply magnificent" witty, scholarly, profoundly persuasive, blunt, prophetic, and convicting this slow-to-believe disciple all over the place." " Brennan Manning, Author of "The Ragamuffin Gospel" "I'm not sure what to make of it all, but Paul Smith gives the best arguments I have ever come across for calling God Mother. For anyone struggling with how far we should go in using inclusive language, this is "must" reading. " Tony Campolo, Eastern College "With tender power and wit, Paul Smith challenges the church to biblical fidelity and justice in its worship language. How encouraging it is to hear an evangelical male voice affirm the necessity of feminine images of God! This outstanding book so clearly and convincingly demonstrates the biblical imperative for inclusive God-language that the Christian community can no longer ignore it." " Jann Aldredge-Clanton, Ph.D., Chaplain, Baylor University Medical Center, Author of "God and Gender" and "God: A Word for Girls and Boys"

"Walking into Advent can be like walking through the wardrobe." With its enchanting themes of snow and cold, light and darkness, meals and gifts, temptation and sin, forgiveness and hope—and even an appearance by Father Christmas—C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe fits naturally into the Advent season. As the reader seeks a storied king and anticipates the glorious coming of Christmas, these twenty-eight devotions alternate between Scripture and passages from the novel to prompt meditation on Advent themes. Each devotion also includes questions for reflection. The book also provides several resources for churches, including four sessions for small group discussion and ideas for creating a "Narnia Night" for families. Readers will ultimately come to know God better while journeying through Narnia.

There's no such thing as “just” a mom. Despite the routine tasks and mundane to-do lists, motherhood is anything but insignificant. God has designed motherhood as part of his greater plan to draw people to himself—instilling all women, whether called to traditional mothering or not, with an eternal purpose in nurturing others. In this book, Gloria Furman searches the Scriptures for the mission of God in motherhood. She opens our eyes to God's life-giving promises—promises intended to empower each and every woman as she makes disciples in her home, in her neighborhood, and around the world.

The God of the Bible is not a member of any class of comparable beings. Beyond and other than all gods and every creature, God is not gendered. However, Christian language for God and the pictures we use to help us talk about God are predominantly male. Among the pictures one of the most often used and appreciated is 'father'. Yet God (unlike many of the gods of the ancient world) is not only a father. The Bible and the early Christian theologians used motherly as well as fatherly language and pictures to speak of God. In this way at least their image of God was richer and deeper than ours! This book encourages readers to appropriate this wider range of pictures of what God is like, and to learn again to relate to a God who is beyond all imagining and closer than life itself. This God is not only a father!

USA Today Bestseller Christianity Today 2022 Book Award Finalist (History & Biography) "A powerful work of skillful research and personal insight."--Publishers Weekly Biblical womanhood--the belief that God designed women to be submissive wives, virtuous mothers, and joyful homemakers--pervades North American Christianity. From choices about careers to roles in local churches to relationship dynamics, this belief shapes the everyday lives of evangelical women. Yet biblical womanhood isn't biblical, says Baylor University historian Beth Allison Barr. It arose from a series of clearly definable historical moments. This book moves the conversation about biblical womanhood beyond Greek grammar and into the realm of church history--ancient, medieval, and modern--to show that this belief is not divinely ordained but a product of human civilization that continues to creep into the church. Barr's historical insights provide context for contemporary teachings about women's roles in the church and help move the conversation forward. Interweaving her story as a Baptist pastor's wife, Barr sheds light on the #ChurchToo movement and abuse scandals in Southern Baptist circles and the broader evangelical world, helping readers understand why biblical womanhood is more about human power structures than the message of Christ.

If "Who am I?" is the question you're asking, Rachel Jankovic doesn't want you to "find yourself" or "follow your heart." Those lies are nothing to the confidence, freedom, and clarity of purpose that come with knowing what is actually essential about you. And the answer to that question is at once less and more than what you are hoping for. Christians love the idea that self-expression is the essence of a beautiful person, but that's a lie, too. With trademark humor and no nonsense practicality, Rachel Jankovic explains the fake story of the Self, starting with the inventions of a supremely ugly man named Sartre (rhymes with "blart"). And we--men and women, young and old--have bought his lie of the Best Self, with terrible results. Thankfully, that's not the end of our story, You Who: Why You Matter and How to Deal with It takes the identity question into the nitty gritty details of everyday life. Here's the first clue: Stop looking inside, and start planting flags of everyday faithfulness. In Christianity, the self is always a tool and never a destination.

Most people become upset and even angry when it’s suggested that the God they know as Lord and Father might also be called God the Mother. Yet a society that reveres the feminine creates beauty, love, and equality. More importantly, the return of Mother God is needed as conferring with Her will improve our thinking to better handle the challenges of life. The future prosperity of all countries would be ensured if men and women equally shared tasks working side by side. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that humanity will benefit from a kinder gender-balanced divinity. Since God is the male/female parent of all mankind, until the Divine Mother is welcome back into our hearts, humanity cannot fulfil their potential. Mother God brings the highest awareness with limitless nurturing.