Cleaning Church Toilets

There are these cave fish in Southern Mexico. Not too long ago, they were poisoned every year. To please gods. If you please the gods, you get crops, of course. But, a crazy thing happened. The fish began to evolve. They built up an immunity to the poison, so they could survive in it. We are just like those fish. Our religious waters are full of poison. To please the gods, of course. But some of us are evolving. Unfortunately, some are refusing. This is a book with 87 thoughts about that. And a little more.

'Out of Obscurity' brings the story of Mormonism since the Second World War into sharp relief, explaining the ways in which a church very much rooted in its nineteenth-century prophetic and pioneering past achieved unprecedented influence in the realms of American politics and international business.

If it is true that "everything rises and falls on leadership," we have a problem. A recent international survey revealed that 86 percent of respondents believe we are facing a global leadership crisis. The study encompassed leadership in business, government, the non-profit sector, and religion. Non-profit and business leaders ranked highest in terms of public confidence. Government leaders ranked very low. The only leaders to rank lower than government leaders were religious leaders. This leadership crisis is not driven by an absence of leaders. Leaders are everywhere, yet we still have a leadership crisis. Nor is this crisis caused by a lack of leadership training. Who can keep up with the books, seminars, and training programs offering the latest trends and best thinking on leadership? And yet, we still have a leadership crisis. While the world is looking for better leadership methods, God is looking for better leaders--leaders shaped by wisdom. What use, after all, is getting things done, or even servant leadership, without wisdom? In Proverbs we discover an ancient training regimen for leaders, guiding them in the cultivation of virtuous character. Following Wisdom, Leading Wisely is an invitation to rediscover this ancient wisdom for today's leaders.

Bestselling author Steve Sjogren untangles the complex jumble commonly known as greatness in today's megachurch, mega-everything world. As a successful pastor, he launched the servant evangelism movement, but along the way he discovered that significance was not where or what he thought it would be. Now, in a very practical book, he focuses on genuine greatness. Is it the size of the sanctuary? The number of new believers baptized each year? The youth attendance? The quantity of bestselling books the pastor has written? The list of television shows, radio shows, or podcasts the pastors appears on? Or is it something more? What is the buzz on good churches that become great in God's eyes? Sjogren argues that greatness is not a point at which you arrive; rather, it is an ongoing process of worshipping, serving, and living in God's presence. It not a slick program; rather, it is a family, a hospital, an army, and a school. When God is present, his people are empowered. When God empowers his people, a good church becomes great.

How evangelical activism in England contributes to the secularizing forces it seeks to challenge Over the past two decades, a growing number of Christians in England have gone to court to enforce their right to religious liberty. Funded by conservative lobby groups and influenced by the legal strategies of their American peers, these claimants—registrars who conscientiously object to performing the marriages of same-sex couples, say, or employees asking for exceptions to uniform policies that forbid visible crucifixes—highlight the uneasy truce between law and religion in a country that maintains an established Church but is wary of public displays of religious conviction. Representing God charts the changing place of public Christianity in England through the rise of Christian political activism and litigation. Based on two years of fieldwork split between a conservative Christian lobby group and a conservative evangelical church, Méadhbh McIvor explores the ideas and contested reception of this ostensibly American-inspired legal rhetoric. She argues that legal challenges aimed at protecting “Christian values” ultimately jeopardize those values, as moralities woven into the fabric of English national life are filtered from their quotidian context and rebranded as the niche interests of a cultural minority. By framing certain moral practices as specifically Christian, these activists present their religious convictions as something increasingly set apart from broader English culture, thereby hastening the secularization they seek to counter. Representing God offers a unique look at how Christian politico-legal activism in England simultaneously responds to and constitutes the religious life of a nation.

In a world full of half truths and outright lies, it's easy to fall victim to the Liar himself. Women believe all sorts of lies about themselves and God. Armed with razor sharp wit and biblical truth, Susanna Foth Aughtmon gives women the honest truth about lies like • God is disappointed in me • God can't change me • God doesn't hear me • I need to be good so God will love me • I'm stuck in my present circumstances • I need to protect myself from getting hurt • and many more With questions for group or individual study, My Bangs Look Good and Other Lies I Tell Myself is perfect for any woman who has ever felt undervalued, overlooked, or not good enough for God's love.

In 7 Lessons for New Pastors, leading author Matthew D. Kim gives seminarians and new pastors a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a pastor. Drawing on his own experience as a senior pastor and the wisdom of seasoned pastors, Kim seeks to prepare future ministers mentally, emotionally, physically, relationally, and spiritually for the first year so that it can be a solid foundation for a lifetime of effective ministry. Both new and experienced pastors will profit from reading this book. This second edition is revised and expanded, including questions for personal or group reflection and two bonus mini-lessons.

From the moment it became known that GRACE is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense, we all became interested in what constitutes God’s Riches. The list is heavy. By grace we have salvation, hope of eternal life in heaven, the power of God, opportunity to serve in God’s house and the ministry; by grace we could be healed, delivered, protected, guided and enjoy peace. There are more, but one that should interest all of us is God’s grace that makes us rich and wealthy. Pastor Francis Eseh presents The Riches of His Grace in such a clear way that leaves you in no doubt of how well and happy God wants you to live. You’re be fulfilled reading this book and see it a worthwhile gift for those you give copies to better their understanding of grace, the place of money in human life, and ultimate to profit their own lives.