Mark R. Teasdale

Effective Intercultural Evangelism

Evangelism & Missions

“This is exactly the book we need for evangelism in a time of increasing cultural diversity and globalization. God did not wait for humanity to come to the heavenly places but sent Jesus to meet humanity on our turf to invite people into the kingdom of God. Taking a cue from this, Moon and Simon draw together their experiences as missionaries who lived as guests in others' cultures with a combination of classical and new scholarship on evangelism and intercultural communication to develop a comprehensive and eminently practicable framework for sharing the Christian faith in a pluralistic context. Their framework provides Christians with a way to meet people on their own turf by teaching both how to listen for the worldviews people hold and how to offer the message of Jesus in a way that is most meaningful to the various worldviews. The authors explain their ideas creatively and accessibly, welcoming readers to reflect on their personal attempts to evangelize and learn how they can improve on those using the framework. Anyone interested in sharing their faith, whether among those who are beset by destructive forces in their lives, those who link their faith to a communal sense of shame and honor, those who feel crushed by theirmoral failings, or those who are formed in a secular setting and are indifferent to Jesus, will find this book equips them to be witnesses for Jesus Christ with greater grace, wit, and confidence.”

Finding Faith Today

Evangelism & Missions

“This book offers a paradigm shift! In a culture awash with statistical trends about religious adherence and programming meant to attract people to faith, Stone's wide-ranging, thoughtful, and careful research provides a human face to the statistics. He shows us that most people find God in authentic relationships and communities. As people of faith we are freed from the business and celebrity often connected with faith-recruitment to welcome, befriend, and share our lives with others.”

Formation for Mission

Church Leadership & Ministry

“In every generation, congregations cry out to know how to reach young people. Formation for Mission provides exactly this insight. Deftly weaving together the concepts of mission, spiritual formation, and emerging adulthood while accounting for the many psychological, sociological, behavioral, and cultural crosscurrents that intersect them, it offers an unblinking view of what it is like to be an emerging adult in twenty-first-century America. At the same time, it offers an honest assessment of the American church, letting congregations know that if they want to meet emerging adults where they are then they must jettison inward-focused portions of the Christian subculture and recommit themselves to the self-giving mission of Jesus Christ by becoming mentoring communities that create intentional space for young adults. The authors and editors are clear that only when a congregation is willing to submit itself to being formed in God’s mission can it be used by the Holy Spirit to form emerging adults as disciples. It delivers all this with exactly what we have come to expect from work published out of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center for Evangelism: strong scholarship that is engaged with a deep bibliography, nuanced in its thinking, grounded in fresh empirical research, sensitive to the lived experience of those it addresses, faithful to the gospel, and eminently practical.”

Holiness

Theology

“Doesn't holiness mean that God stands in judgment over us because of our sin? Ayars, Bounds, and Friedeman answer that God's holiness and graciousness are inextricably linked. By providing a careful survey of how holiness is understood both in the Old and New Testaments and by orthodox theologians from different eras and denominational backgrounds, the authors point us to a holy God who invites us to come as we are so that we can become like him. This book both uplifts and challenges us to accept this invitation by leaving a life of mediocrity and compromise to embrace a life of holiness.”

Humble Confidence

Apologetics

“Can we stand firm as trustworthy witnesses for the hope of the gospel while honoring the vast diversity of cultures and religions that shape people? Benno van den Toren and Kang-San Tan emphatically respond with a yes, if we first explore how culture has shaped our core theological beliefs and assumptions about what it means to engage in Christian apologetics. Drawing on their rich epistemological, intercultural, and interreligious knowledge and experience, Van den Toren and Tan guide us to greater awareness of God, self, and others that, true to the title, equips us with humble confidence to participate persuasively in an apologetic dialogue with people from any and every background.”

Not Done Yet

Church Leadership & Ministry

“Beth Seversen has successfully developed a book on evangelism that appeals to the scholar and the church leader. For the scholar, Seversen offers fresh, empirical research that engages with human complexity and refuses to be contained by common assumptions about what evangelism should look like. Her work is worthy of significant engagement in the academy. For church leaders, Seversen is good news to the church! In a North American culture filled with gloomy statistics, she shows there are bright spots where young people are participating in Christian communities and committing to lives as disciples of Jesus Christ. More than this, she shows how local congregations can increase their evangelistic illumination to join these bright spots.”

Politics Strangely Warmed

Theology

“Coates is an important new voice in Wesleyan Studies. His critical inquiry and appreciation for nuance allow him to breathe new life into well-worn Wesleyan ground as well as to offer welcome insights by including Wesley's American Holiness heirs in his search for a Wesleyan political theology. Alongside of this solid scholarship, Coates wants to give readers a way to put his ideas into practice. This book is a go-to resource for students of Wesley and for all Methodists who want to discern what their denominational heritage teaches about how they can engage faithfully in politics.”

Renewal Worship

Theology

“Steven Félix-Jäger has a word for those who think worship is just about moving through ritual or getting their spiritual tank refilled! Deploying a generous view of worship and Pentecostalism that makes room for Christians who harken from all theological traditions to find themselves in his writing, Félix-Jäger reminds us that it is uniquely in worship that we most immediately experience God's overflowing salvation. Through music, testimonies, and other acts of worship, we discern the power of the Spirit, are formed into the likeness of Christ, and are reconciled to the Father as one holy people. We are then sent forth as prophetic messengers to carry this message of hope to others and plant new worshiping communities throughout the world. Biblically grounded, doxologically shaped, carefully argued in conversation with a wide range of scholars, and thoughtfully engaged with the lived experience of Christians, Renewal Worship situates the practice of renewal worship at the heart of the Christian life.”

The Logic of Evangelism

Evangelism & Missions

“With the publication of The Logic of Evangelism, William Abraham offered a forthright, nuanced, provocative, and gently Wesleyan text that argued for the serious study of evangelism . . . The Logic of Evangelism Revisited guides readers through the rich and multifaceted content of Abraham’s original work and brings it into conversation with the latest scholarship from a variety of fields and contexts . . . This text will provide the next generation a helpful companion as they read Abraham’s text in the 21st century and continue the scholarly conversation about evangelism.”