Christian Living

Spiritual Friendship is today the best known and perhaps most influential of the thirteen surviving works of Aelred, abbot of the great English Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx from 1147 '1167. During his abbacy he built Rievaulx into a place of spiritual welcome and physical prosperity, desiring to make it a mother of mercy" to those in need. In a three-book Ciceronian dialogue Aelred defines human friendship as sacramental, beginning in creation, as God sought to place his own love of society in all his creatures, linking friends to Christ in this life and culminating in friendship with God in beatitude. This fresh new translation makes the work crisply readable, allowing the intellectual and Christian insight of this great Cistercian teacher and writer to speak clearly to today's seekers of love, wisdom, and truth.

"The stories," Reverend Thoma writes, "are never applied to the whiskies. The whiskies reveal the stories... In the process of sniffing, sipping, and finishing a dram, the story is fetched and the whisky's heart is rendered. Sometimes the story includes Darth Vader. Another time there may be a shark named Gary, or an unfortunate brawl with Santa Claus at Walmart."

As it was with Volumes I and II, so goes Volume III. Thoma, with his signature style and creativity, never fails to delight nor lose pace in his effort to enlighten and entertain.

Amid continuing advances in medical research and treatment, Gilbert Meilaender's Bioethics has long provided thoughtful guidance on many of society's most difficult moral problems--including abortion, assisted reproduction, genetic experimentation, euthanasia, and much more. In this fourth edition, Meilaender updates much of the data referenced in the book and responds directly to recent developments, such as the CRISPR/Cas9 method of gene editing. Christians seeking discernment in this new decade will appreciate Meilaender's circumspect writing and his ability to address the nuances of each issue while maintaining strong and clearly stated moral convictions.

Are you a good listener? Many people believe that they are but, when asked if they believe others are a good listener, the answer is usually no. Perhaps we all can learn to be better listeners. And there's no better model than Jesus Christ Himself.

Join Brian Davies on a journey of sitting back, opening your heart, and learning how to truly hear what others are saying. Follow Christ's numerous examples to see how asking questions can broaden your perspectives and deepen the conversations you're having with others. Each chapter includes reflection questions to help you internalize the teachings and apply them to your own life. Start new habits this year and come to conversations with a new posture of listening before speaking with Captivating Conversations.

Whether your table is set with the good china, covered in toddler spills, or tucked in the corner of a small apartment, join Kristopher R. Whitby to explore eleven meals throughout Scripture and the lessons God teaches there around His table.

Listen along with the disciples as Jesus teaches them about welcoming others and seeking the lost. Sit with God's people as they eat His Passover meal each year, remembering God's promises to rescue them. Learn anew at the Last Supper to what lengths your Lord will go to bring you to His Table, shoulder to shoulder with believers of all time.

Your Lord invites you to come and be filled with His good gifts. Experience the joy of gathering around the table with His people, sharing together in the blessings of Christ. Through Jesus, your meals will mean more.

The Third Commandment asks Christians to "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." But how is one supposed to keep it holy? What are the ways that we are to honor the sabbath through our work, rest, play, and everyday life? Author Joel Biermann invites you to join him on an exploration of the sabbath and how it's all about living in the joy and celebration of God's good gifts. Start with a look at what both Luther's Small Catechism and the Bible say about the sabbath to give you a foundational understanding of what God says. Then, see how to apply it in your work, personal, and leisure, rest, and day-to-day activities.

We live in unprecedented times, when what was known for thousands of years, that we are created male and female, is now up for debate. It is now controversial to see that sex is binary, that a man can never become a woman, nor a woman a man, and that men should not enter women's sports, women's bathrooms, and women's prisons, merely for saying that they are a woman. We are witnessing a rapid rise in gender confusion among young people, especially among young women and girls.

The Detransition Diaries is both personal and historical. It is personal in that it recounts the stories of five women and two men who felt they were born in the wrong body and believed the lie they were told by peers, teachers, and medical professionals that they could be their "true" selves by medically and surgically altering their bodies to match the opposite sex. Their stories describe the short- and long-term harm that so-called gender-affirmative medicine did to their mental and physical health. The book is historical because it outlines the history of the "gender-affirmation" movement, including the various individuals and organizations who have peddled the idea that the sexual binary is arbitrary.

The book closes with an analysis on how this dark chapter in medical abuse might end and what is needed for medicine to regain its obligation to do no harm.

An introduction to ethics that will help Christians rediscover a moral reasoning rooted in Scripture and navigate the ethical crises of our time.

How should Christians live? How should we interact with one another? Why do we think the way we do about right and wrong? How should we approach today's complex moral questions? Keith Stanglin realigns our ethical thinking around the central question: What does real love require? applying it to our ethical reasoning on many of the social issues present in today's culture:

Moral evaluation must be based on more than our subjective feelings or the received wisdom or majority opinion of our community. But thinking objectively and reasonably about our ethical commitments is a process that's rarely taught in contemporary education or even in churches.

Ethics Beyond Rules is a clear and accessible introduction for thoughtful Christians who want to lead moral lives--who want to define their moral code by firm biblical standards while acknowledging the complex nature of the issues at hand. Stanglin's love-based framework for moral decision-making engages Scripture and the historic Christian faith, giving Christians the tools to clear-mindedly consider the ethical problems of today and the foundation to confront new issues in the years to come.