Keith Giles

What happens when two philosophically-minded friends sit down around a firepit to chat about life's biggest topics? Within these pages, you'll find out. In The Bonfire Sessions: The Long Road to Redemption, authors and podcasters Matthew J. Distefano and Michael Machuga give their readers a glimpse into their very real lives, modeling for others what they believe conversation should look like. With rawness and vulnerability, as well as a large dose of salty language, this set of conversations delivers quite a punch. Sometimes funny, sometimes profound, but always honest, the two hosts of The Bonfire Sessions podcast come together to deliver the entire Year Two collection of booklets that will be sure to challenge your heart, soul, and mind. So, pour your favorite drink and fill your long-stemmed pipe, and get ready for some high-quality fellowship.

Sometimes, when we begin to question our faith or have doubts about our tradition it can feel like we are wandering out into the desert. When we take a step back and honestly evaluate organized religion in the 21st century, many times it doesn't make any sense. The more we cling to it and try to save it, the worse it becomes. In addition, widespread abuse, cover ups and victim-shaming causes some of us to question whether it will ever be right again. Out Into the Desert is an honest survey of Western Christianity, along with Karl and Laura's personal story as they journeyed through 20-plus years of ministry. Let the Forehands be your guide as they examine these questions and more ... Is it okay to take some time off from religion and do this assessment? Are there things we can't see because we're too close? Where else can we find community? Is it possible to thrive outside of organized religion? If Jesus were physically here, would he go to church?

The opposite of faith is not doubt, it's certainty. We cannot talk about God with any degree of certainty, because God is, by definition, a Being who transcends imagination, expectation and comprehension. What we know is this: there is more of God to know than any of us will ever fully know in this life. So, let's begin by embracing the mystery of Christ to discover the endlessly unfolding beauty of uncertainty.

What if Jesus was serious about loving our enemies? For too long, those who carry the name "Christian" have ignored the Christlike path of enemy-love and creative nonviolence. For many of us, the Second Amendment has become more important than the Sermon on the Mount. It's time we begin to walk the path of peace marked out for us by the Prince of Peace and learn to study war no more.

For three decades, Todd R. Vick struggled to be good enough for God, his family, friends, and the churches he ministered in. After years of personal reflections, research, and a total faith deconstruction, he discovered the transforming power of the human mind to create better life outcomes. The Reconstructing of Your Mind takes a hard look at what the majority of us have been taught to believe within evangelicalism and introduces his latest findings into the conversation. With the heart of a pastor and the mind of a student of life, Todd combines the scientific and the spiritual while guiding the reader on a journey to total personal transformation by showing how to use the brains that God gave us to take our spiritual lives to a whole new level.

What if Christ has already returned? The Second Coming of Christ has been "coming soon" ever since 1850, when John Nelson Darby popularized his brand of end times dispensational rapture theology. Many Christians today are unaware that the version of biblical prophecy they've been taught is not what the Church believed for the first 1,800 years. It's time to leave behind the "End Times" and discover an astounding truth-Christ has already returned and our participation is essential to making all things new.

What if God is better than you think and hell isn't an eternal torture chamber? Many Christians are unaware that Universal Reconciliation was the dominant view of the church for the first 500 years, with Annihilation and Eternal Torment as minority positions. Jesus Undefeated is an eye-opening examination of all three views of the afterlife and a God who is even more loving than we dare imagine. Discover the Gospel that is not merely "Good News," but fantastically "Great News."

God called. He wants His Church back. Many Christians have begun to recognize that God desires His church to function as an organism rather than an organization. After over 11 years of experience founding and facilitating a house church, author Keith Giles shares the insights he developed in the trenches. Filled with practical, real-world examples of how to plant and nurture an organic gathering, readers will find a wealth of information to help them bring Jesus back to the forefront of every meeting. First published as This Is My Body: Ekklesia As God Intended, 2010 by Subversive Press, Orange, California. Additional material includes: "Anatomy of an Organic Church," "Pitfalls of Organic Church," and "What's Wrong With House Church," published online at www.subversive1.blogspot.com by Keith Giles. This edition is expanded, updated, and edited to reflect the transforming views of the author on this important subject.

What if the Bible actually keeps us from hearing the Word of God? For many Christians, the Bible is the only way to know anything about God. But according to that same Bible, everyone can know God directly through an actual relationship with Jesus. Jesus Unbound is an urgent call for the followers of Jesus to know Him intimately because the Gospel is not mere information about God, but a transformational experience with a Christ who is closer to us than our own heartbeat.