Secret Believers

In his letter to his protégé, Timothy, Paul says, "I have fought the good fight." In Arabic, those last three words are translated jihad. In Secret Believers, readers are introduced to Brother Andrew's protégé in the Muslim world, Butros. In this riveting true story of the Middle Eastern Church struggling to come to grips with hostile governments, terrorist acts, and an influx of Muslims coming to Christ, readers will meet a group of men and women they never knew existed. The names and places have been changed to protect the real people in the real places. But the stories are true. In his most incredible and eye-opening book to date, Brother Andrew invites you to meet: • Ahmed, a young Muslim terrified by nightmares until he is introduced to Isa (Jesus) • Mustafa, a former leader in a fundamentalist Muslim movement that persecuted Christians • Salima, a privileged young Muslim woman who is held captive by her family when they find a Bible in her possession • Abuna, a priest faced with an aging congregation and constant threats to his beloved church • and many more. Secret Believers not only gives readers a glimpse of the lives of these courageous believers, it also proposes four practical initiatives for Christians in the West to help these persecuted brothers and sisters. It calls us to join this new kind of jihad, leaving vengeance behind in favor of forgiveness, radical love, and unyielding prayer.

While globalization undermines ideas of the nation-state in the Mediterranean, conversions reveal how religion can unsettle existing political and social relations. Through studies of conversions across the region this book examines the challenges that conversions represent for national, legal and policy ways of dealing with religious minorities.

Utilizing his extensive editing and compiling skills, L.G. Parkhurst, Jr. has combined Andrew Murray's small "Secret" book on brotherly love with excerpts from Jonathan Edwards' book Charity and Its Fruits. Murray's devotional style is evident and readers may be surprised to find devotional beauty and depth also from Edwards, known primarily as one of America's most important theologians and a fiery evangelist. Both Murray and Edwards show how the Spirit must bear the fruits of love in the Christian's life and how this is possible. Edwards' writing was probably accomplished while he was enduring devastating hatred and persecution in the community where he had pastored a church for twenty-three years. Believers will be encouraged to live up to the example of Christ.

“An important new interpretation of how religious change shaped American cultural identity in the early republic.” —Journal of American History Northern New England, a rugged landscape dotted with transient settlements, posed challenges to the traditional town church in the wake of the American Revolution. Using the methods of spatial geography, Shelby M. Balik examines how migrants adapted their understanding of religious community and spiritual space to survive in the harsh physical surroundings of the region. The notions of boundaries, place, and identity they developed became the basis for spreading New England’s deeply rooted spiritual culture, even as it opened the way to a new evangelical age. “I strongly recommend Balik’s book for those studying colonial religious landscapes and heritages not only in New England, but in the nineteenth-century religious diasporas that swept the continent with varying mixes of European colonials and also African and Asian heritages.” —Stanley D. Brunn, University of Kentucky “In this beautifully written and richly researched work, Shelby Balik shows how the travels of early nineteenth century Methodists, Universalists and freewill Baptist itinerant missionaries and congregations recreated the geography of New England Protestantism, setting in motion (literally) a tension between religious rootedness and religious uprootedness, center and periphery, that endures to today. Early American religious history in Balik’s retelling of it is one of bodies in constant movement in and out and around the city on the hill. The delight Balik takes in maps and journeys is infectious. This is a wonderful addition to American religious historiography.” —Robert Orsi, Northwestern University

Provocatively argues that concealing Christian identity in American public life is the best way to maintain faithful witness and integrity.

One hundred years ago Roland Allen authored his landmark study Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? The 2012 annual conference of the Evangelical Missiological Society celebrated this centennial by addressing this ever relevant topic. The present volume brings to readers insights from that conference examining the theological foundations, historical precedence, and practical challenges regarding missionary methods. Missiologists, missionary practitioners, and strategic leaders alike will benefit from these essays, which give fresh perspective on methods for fulfilling the Great Commission in our day.

'This is a handbook on spiritual obstetrics, written out of deep concern that so many Christians have been badly 'delivered'. So often, later spiritual disease can be traced back to an inadequate initiation into the Kingdom. A better birth means greater growth in a healthy Christian life.' Basing his study on the New Testament, David Pawson advocates a synthesis of the 'liberal' emphasis on repentance, the 'evangelical' on faith, the 'sacramental' on baptism and the 'pentecostal' on the Spirit. He then relates these 'spiritual doors' to the concepts of conversion and regeneration. THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN BIRTH looks at crucial and controversial texts, challenging traditional interpretations. The final section on evangelistic counselling questions the adequacy of the typical 'sinner's prayer' approach. Drawing from scripture and experience, David Pawson gives many practical tips on helping potential disciples to repent, believe, be baptised and receive the Spirit. David Pawson has a worldwide teaching ministry, particularly for church leaders. He is known to many through Christian broadcasting and is the author of numerous books.