Ronald J. Allen
Beyond Heterosexism in the Pulpit
Preaching & Worship
“If you are a progressive minister called to bring issues of sexuality into the pulpit and into wider conversation in the congregation, this book is for you. Beyond Heterosexism in the Pulpit offers practical guidance on how a preacher can make a liberating prophetic witness in solidarity with the LGBTQI community while communicating pastorally and compassionately with listeners who are undecided or who do not agree.”
Preaching & Worship
“With painful clarity, Craig Watts exposes how the worship practices of many North American congregations have bowed not to the living God of the Bible but to the idols of latter-day Babylon. Going beyond exposing sin, however, Watts prescribes pathways toward faithful worship.”
Christian Living
“Bob Cornwall asks, ‘Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going? What is my purpose in life?’ Such questions are entrenched in the early twenty-first century. Cornwall points to Abram and Sarai as foreparents who were given the gracious call from God to show the way of blessing to others. By demonstrating the way of blessing, the couple would be blessed. Two things happen. (1) The number of paths to blessing expands as human experience becomes more diverse. (2) Communities lose blessing as life wears them down. Cornwall shows readers how to rediscover the generative power of the founding blessing and to witness to blessing in new forms in new contexts.”
Preaching & Worship
“Many preachers in the early twenty-first century are vexed by the current vortex of postmodernism, the pandemic, digital media, artificial intelligence, and political partisanship in the churches. Casey Sigmon gives us the first book that makes a theological appraisal of this situation and that offers local preachers practical ways to navigate it. Like its title, the book itself is a gadfly whose friendly bite will stimulate creative responses.”
Evangelicalism and The Decline of American Politics
Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
“In this provocative book, Jan Linn argues that the evangelical theological movement is responsible for the extremism of right wing politics, and the incivility that characterizes so much of contemporary public life. Linn does not take potshots. He writes from the perspective of a former insider—one who grew up in evangelicalism and who understands many of its dynamics. Linn points to a way forward: partisan religio-politics giving way to respectful dialogue in a context of critical thinking in which participants are informed by education and are willing to compromise. This volume is excellent for individual reading and as a resource for group study.”
Preaching & Worship
“When I think of preaching on special occasions, I initially think of such occasions as baptisms, funerals, and weddings. This excellent book provides resources for these events and also for occasions that have distinctive characteristics even though they may not be the first to come to mind as special occasions: calls and commitments, congregational conflict, preaching among communities of older adults, holy days and holidays, crises, and situations beyond the church. With respect for exegetical and theological integrity, and with wisdom born from pastoral attentiveness, the authors help preachers move from specific contexts to the Bible. They describe the dynamics of special occasions in theological (and psychological) terms while positing possibilities for preaching. In addition to consulting the book as guide for particular occasions, I can imagine developing a sermon series based on the categories and chapters in this book. This volume should be a resource that preachers have on their desktops for easy reach. These occurrences knock at the study door more frequently than one might imagine, and often enter the room with great force.”
Preaching & Worship
“Paul Scott Wilson has done more than any other recent scholar to insist on the theological character of preaching through his four-pages approach to the sermon, attention to the evocative possibilities of language, and emphasis on preaching Christian doctrine. This book, written in his honor by three of his most talented students, opens even more windows on how preachers can bring the good news of a gracious and redeeming God to an increasingly troubled world.”
History & Biography
“Better than any other book in post-Holocaust theology, this classic volume brings together consideration of the Bible, the history of the church, and contemporary constructive theology, in Jewish-Christian relationships. While the book lays bare the church's anti-Judaism and anti-semitism, and their painful consequences, Williamson moves us toward a vital relationship of mutual support, and, indeed, mutual witness, between Judaism and Christianity. The only other book that has affected me more profoundly is Williamson's own Way of Blessing, Way of Life: A Christian Theology.”
Homiletical Theology in Action
Preaching & Worship
“Scholars and preachers alike will want this new contribution to homiletical theology. The homiletical theology movement explores how preaching is itself a form of doing theology, and not just a consumer of the work of systematic theologians. The preacher can be a creative theologian and not just one who applies the theologies of academic theologians. In this fast-moving volume, seven eminent scholars of preaching--all of whom are gifted in theology--think in exciting and critical ways about homiletical theology in three modes: description, confessional, and analytical.”
Preaching & Worship
“Preachers instinctively know that humor in the sermon can serve the gospel. Preachers also know that when humor appears inappropriately in the sermon, everyone in the room is uneasy. This superb volume—the first study of humor in the pulpit in a generation—offers a theology of humor, perspectives on how humor works, points to sources for humor, marks occasions that are appropriate and inappropriate for humor, and, best of all, offers practical guidelines for using humor in the pulpit. This book will not turn preachers into stand-up comics, but it will help preachers see and express the humor that is all around us and that can bring a special spark to the sermon.”
Preaching & Worship
“David Lose is a wise and experienced guide for the church as it walks the line between Christian tradition and the emerging postmodern world. He looks the most serious questions in the eye and does not flinch—questions the tradition raises for postmodernism and questions that postmoderns put to tradition and preaching. Spontaneous combustion occurs igniting fires that bring warmth and light to the pulpit.”
Preaching & Worship
“This is a 'must have' book for every preacher who seeks to help congregations towards a faithful understanding of how human beings can join God's purposes for the created world. John Holbert's work is comprehensive: from the creation narratives in Genesis through the Prophets and Wisdom Literature to the less-often-considered role of creation in the Letters, Gospels, and Book of Revelation, John offers incisive (and highly quotable) exegesis and epigrammatic sample sermons.”
Preaching & Worship
“This volume introduces a distinctive and insightful commentary series to support preaching. . . . The comments are exegetically well informed, theologically rigorous, and homiletically suggestive. I especially like the discussion of Hebrews. Although that book is dense, Thompson’s commentary allows the preacher to bring it into the pulpit as through clear glass.”
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“Walter Brueggemann is the master of finding fresh and compelling dimensions of meaning in texts so familiar they barely scratch the surface of our consciousness. In this exciting collection, Brueggemann finds that when we admit we are dust, we can be liberated. Why? Because we are free from acting like God. We are free to choose obedience to the one living, true Sovereign. The idols lose their grip on us and we live faithfully and in authentic joy.”
Slow of Speech and Unclean Lips
Preaching & Worship
“"The language we use shapes our perception of God, the world, and how we live. The language that preachers use to describe themselves organizes what they try to do in the pulpit. This provocative book offers the preacher eight vibrant images for the preacher from a major voice in contemporary scholarship in preaching . . . Each image prompts the preacher to envision the sermon in a different yet faithful way. Preachers who are ready for a jump start into fresh ways of thinking about their vocation will want this beautifully edited book.”
Preaching & Worship
“John Holbert is unsurpassed, both as a narrative preacher and as a teacher of narrative preaching. Here he explains not only how to prepare a narrative sermon . . . but he provides case studies of four biblical texts in which he takes the reader from a masterful reading of the text, to thinking about how to develop a narrative sermon, and offering a sermon on the text. This kind of preaching will be life-giving in any congregation.”
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“In my classes, I have found The Bible: An Introduction to be an ideal gateway into the study of the Bible. It covers the breadth of the Bible in ways that honor the historical settings in which the biblical authors wrote and in which Israel and the church formed the biblical tradition. It respects the different kinds and functions of literature in the Bible. Best of all, it identifies the distinct theological voices in Bible and helps students bring those voices into conversation. The volume is enhanced by illuminating graphs, charts, timelines, and pictures--many of them taken by the author in the Bible lands. From start to finish, the volume is written in language that is immediately accessible.”
Church Leadership & Ministry
“The church has long focused on ministry to children. In this pioneering work, Amy Lindeman Allen invites the church to relate to children as contributing participants. Allen introduces a child-centered approach to interpreting the Bible and calls attention to children as agents of ministry who encourage churches towards becoming ever more inclusive communities.”
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
“I have been in New Testament studies and preaching since 1968. Once in a generation, a commentary comes along that opens a window on a biblical book in new and compelling ways. Allen’s The Gospel of Mark is that book for the early twenty-first century, as Allen sees the second Gospel as itself a parable intended to get inside the minds, hearts, and behaviors of an unfaithful congregation and awaken them to want to turn toward faithfulness and to join the movement toward the present and coming realm of God. Even better: Allen leads readers in theological reflection and lifts up homiletical possibilities. I have never said this about any other commentary, but I believe this work is so comprehensive that it is the only commentary a preacher needs on the Gospel of Mark .”
NOTE: Only includes books currently in our catalog; not necessarily a complete list.
Preaching & Worship
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
Preaching & Worship
Preaching & Worship
Reading the New Testament for the First Time
Biblical Studies & Commentaries
Bible Studies & Devotionals
Preaching & Worship
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