Brian McLaren

Jeremy Steele knows what it means to suck as a Christian-because he's an expert. How to Not Suck as a Christian takes an unflinching look at the ways Christians often miss the mark, from misusing scripture and manipulating others to failing at basic empathy. With chapters like Be Pro-Choice Because God Is and Stop the Homophobia, this book isn't afraid to tackle the controversial issues that make the more fundamentalist Christians squirm. FAIR WARNING: This book is as likely to provoke laughter as it is discomfort. But don't worry, discomfort is where the good stuff starts.

Jeremy Steele knows what it means to suck as a Christian-because he's an expert. How to Not Suck as a Christian takes an unflinching look at the ways Christians often miss the mark, from misusing scripture and manipulating others to failing at basic empathy. With chapters like Be Pro-Choice Because God Is and Stop the Homophobia, this book isn't afraid to tackle the controversial issues that make the more fundamentalist Christians squirm. FAIR WARNING: This book is as likely to provoke laughter as it is discomfort. But don't worry, discomfort is where the good stuff starts.

Meet Abraham, a man caught in a matrix of violence who has the audacity and faith to challenge the very notion of divine violence. Meet Moses, known for leading people on an external journey through the wilderness, but who also models an inner journey toward wholeness. Meet David, who fulfills the classic archetypes of king, warrior, magician, and lover, but also specializes in love, as should we all. And beside them, you'll meet Isaiah, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, Timothy, John, two Josephs, Elijah, and Jesus. This classic work of Richard Rohr--in this new edition--shows how he uses biblical scholarship, reading the Bible psychologically, always looking for the inner dynamics of the developing character. The Bible is doing its intended work when it helps us live consciously and creatively, growing toward the light. Soul Brothers also gives us a window into Richard Rohr's theology. He is not primarily focused on being religiously correct or theologically fastidious. Rather, he shows how good theology leads us to be more fully human.

In Modern Architecture, Empire, and Race in Fascist Italy, Brian L. McLaren examines the architecture of the late-Fascist era in relation to the various racial constructs that emerged following the occupation of Ethiopia in 1936 and intensified during the wartime. This study is conducted through a wide-ranging investigation of two highly significant state-sponsored exhibitions, the 1942 Esposizione Universale di Roma and 1940 Mostra Triennale delle Terre Italiane d'Oltremare. These exhibitions and other related imperial displays are examined over an extended span of time to better understand how architecture, art, and urban space, the politics and culture that encompassed them, the processes that formed them, and the society that experienced them, were racialized in varying and complex ways.

Empowered by the Brand New Congress initiative in 2018, evangelical pastor and progressive Republican Robb Ryerse embarked on a long-shot, grassroots congressional campaign against Steve Womack, one of the most powerful Republican incumbents in Washington, DC. After he ultimately lost his race, Ryerse worked with the Vote Common Good campaign, traveling across the United States to help turn Congress blue. Throughout his political journey, Ryerse gained new insights on the relationship between religion and politics in America today, the dynamics of our deep partisan divide, and the power of faithful people working for the common good. Running for Our Lives is the honest and authentic story of how one pastor tried to make a difference. Through all the joys and struggles of daring to make a stand, Ryerse shares what hes learned about how our political identities shape us, what the role of government has in helping to meet peoples needs, and how others can get involved in politics as an expression of progressive faith.

Theology, says Brian McLaren, is at its best when it is in conversation with the wild world that flourishes beyond our walls and outside our windows and cities. In God Unbound, McLaren follows his love of nature all the way to the Galapagos Islands, where the natural world awakens his soul in a way that organized religion cannot.

The idea of the United States as a Christian nation is a powerful, seductive, and potentially destructive theme in American life, culture, and politics. And yet, as Richard T. Hughes reveals in this powerful book, the biblical vision of the "kingdom of God" stands at odds with the values and actions of an American empire that sanctions war instead of peace, promotes dominance and oppression instead of reconciliation, and exalts wealth and power instead of justice for the poor and needy. With extensive analysis of both Christian scripture and American history from the founding of the republic to the present day, Christian America and the Kingdom of God illuminates the devastating irony of a "Christian America" that so often behaves in unchristian ways.

When three of Andrew Marin's friends came out to him in the span of three months, he was confronted head-on with the question of how to reconcile his friends with his faith. Love Is an Orientation is the result of years of wrestling with this issue. In the book, Marin speaks out with compassion and conviction, elevating the conversation between Christianity and the GLBT community so that the focus is moved from genetics to gospel, where it really belongs.

Neil Livingstone provides a guided tour of biblical images of the gospel and shows how each offers fresh insight into God's saving work. Walking through Scripture's gallery of pictures of salvation from new life to deliverance, from justification to adoption, he invites us to deepen our understanding of the gospel.

If the emerging church movement is looking for a theology, Ray Anderson offers clear and relevant theological guidance for it in this timely book. Reaching back through time, Anderson roots an emergent theology in what happened at Antioch, where Saul (Paul) and Barnabas were set apart for a mission to establish churches outside of Jerusalem--among Gentiles who had to be reached in their own cultures. He shows how the Lord Holy Spirit himself revolutionized and inspired how the message of salvation was offered to others, and provided a model to follow. Explaining that an emergent theology is messianic, revelational, kingdom-coming and eschatological, this book adresses many of the concerns of those looking for a church that is contemporary, yet true to the gospel. If you wrestle with the challenges that face the church in these "postmodern" days, you will benefit from this book.