Rick McKinley

How to have a Christmas worth remembering, not dreading. This is an updated and revised version of a book that has impacted thousands of churches. Are you tired of how consumerism has stolen the soul of Christmas? Do you find yourself dreading Christmas a little? This year, take a stand! Join the groundswell of Christ-followers who are choosing to make Christmas what it should be—a joyous celebration of Jesus’ birth that enriches our hearts and the world around us, not a retail circus that depletes our pocketbooks and defeats our spirits. Advent Conspiracy shows you how to substitute consumption with compassion by practicing four simple but powerful, countercultural concepts:Worship Fully—because Christmas begins and ends with Jesus. Spend Less—and free your resources for things that truly matter. Give More—of your presence: your hands, your words, your time, your heart. Love All—the poor, the forgotten, the marginalized, and the sick in ways that make a difference. Christmas can still change the world when you, like Jesus, give what matters most—your presence. This updated and revised version, with some all-new content, will share stories of the impact this movement has made around the globe as well as giving individuals and churches even better, more practical help in planning the kind of Christmas that truly can change the world. New introduction, new chapter, and changes throughout.

For three generations, God's chosen people were exiles in the land of Babylon. Today, many Christians in America feel like exiles within their own country, and there is growing disagreement regarding how to live faithfully in this complex cultural moment. Some desire to conquer our Babylon and return to a type of Christendom they believe existed in an idealized past. Others seek to assimilate the values of our culture into the church. And in between are those who are uncomfortable with either extreme, who feel spiritually homeless. These exiles are looking for a new way of understanding what faith looks like in a polarized, pluralistic, post-Christian culture. They want to know: What does it mean to be the people of God now? That's the question Rick McKinley seeks to answer. He shows exiled Christians how people of faith from other times and places discovered how to live faithfully, prophetically, and imaginatively, neither compromising their principles nor their compassion, and never giving in to despair.

We all long for freedom from anxiety, worry, and fear. We long to be free from sin and free to love others completely as God loves us. And yet we are shackled by insecurity, prone to selfishness, and wary of letting down our guard. That's not the life God designed for his followers. When his enslaved people cry out to him for freedom, he hears--and responds. Now pastor Rick McKinley shows how the true freedom we all long for--the freedom we see as God delivers his people in the Scriptures--is always in the form of relationship with God rather than our popular notion of complete independence. He calls readers to look to the Father, Son, and Spirit for the model of perfect, self-giving freedom, and shows how that kind of freedom can transform us into people who live fully, love boldly, and fear nothing.

Do you face well-intentioned dragons? Every church has them--sincere, well-meaning Christians who leave ulcers, strained relationships, and hard feelings in their wake. They don't intend to be hostile; they don't consciously plot destruction or breed discontent. But they often do undermine the ministry of the church and make pastors question their calling. Ministering to Problem People in Your Church will guide you in dealing with these challenging people. Based on real-life accounts of battle-scarred veterans, this book helps you go beyond just tolerating problem people to limiting their damage and showing them God's love. You'll discover effective strategies to turn dissidents into disciples. This time-tested book by the editor-in-chief of Christianity Today's Leadership Journal has new chapters on using social media and caring for those with mental illness. It will help you not only preserve your sanity (and maybe your job), but minister more effectively, even to those who make life difficult.

&"As I read this book, I find great hope in the presence of the kingdom of God and a deeper desire to participate in it.&" &-from the foreword by Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz & When Jesus was on earth, He painted a radical vision for His followers of an unseen reality. He called it &"the kingdom of God.&" Even here, Jesus said&-in the harshness and mess of earth&-His kingdom is the way things really are. & His announcement was nothing less than revolutionary, yet His followers were not quick to pick up on it. They longed for another world&-a world without injustice or oppression or poverty. But Jesus said that His kingdom was already happening all around them, through them, and in them. & This Beautiful Mess explores what happens when we view our lives through the lens of God&'s kingdom. We see the beauty of Jesus&' reign breaking into the mess of our broken world. We

Do you feel as though you're on the outside looking in? Jesus understood what it meant to live on the periphery. He chose to live in the margins because that's where broken lives are mended, where the wounded hear good news---and where he'll transform your life! 191 pages.