Religious aspects of sexuality, gender and relationships Books

Book SynopsisTrue beauty is not about how you look…but how you live.Women are constantly bombarded with the lie that how we look is far more important than who we are. It?s time for a clarion call back to the truth.Journey with gifted storyteller Kim Meeder as she encourages women to see that true value is defined by our Creator and that our worth has a purpose of eternal proportions.Real beauty isn?t a look, it?s an action. It can be found by making one crucial, life-defining choice?to lay down personal ambitions and selfish desires, pick up your sword of encouragement, and fight for those who are losing their battle for hope. As you do, fierce beauty is revealed?along with lasting value, fulfillment, and joy.In Fierce Beauty, Kim shares inspiring true stories from her own life of adventure, love, and loss?including her parents? shocking death when she was nine years old and her struggles with self acceptance, knowing God, and standing for Him. Through it all, you?ll discover life lessons about trust, transformation, surrender, forgiveness, and genuine purpose.Ultimately, life comes down to one question: Will you serve yourself or your King? Includes discussion guide for individuals or groups. ?You were not created to be a princess of entitlement but a warrior, fighting to bring love and hope to the world.? ? Kim Meeder

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Book SynopsisHave you ever thought about praying for your future husband?Will it make a difference?There''s only one way to find out… From when we were small girls, most of us dream of “The One,” our future husband. We think about what it would be like to be a bride. We wonder who that special guy is and when we''ll find him. The great news is that what you do now can make a difference in your life and the life of your future husband! Authors and good friends Robin Jones Gunn (Christy Miller series) and Tricia Goyer (author and former teen mom) believe God answers women''s prayers for husbands—even husbands they may not meet for years. They invite young women to pray boldly for their future mate … while also asking God to prepare their own hearts.  In Praying for Your Future Husband, Robin and Tricia share their two vastly different experiences, including the things they did right and the mistakes they made on the path to meeting and marrying their husbands. Each chapter includes helpful Bible verses, prayers, and practical application, along with true stories of women who prayed for a husband and how God answered in remarkable ways.  God has a beautiful romance prepared for you. Prayer is the key to unlocking the love story … with your future husband and with God, the lover of your soul.

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Book SynopsisThough I don?t know where your fears started or how deep they sit in your soul, I do know this: Fear is a heavy burden. One of the heaviest you can carry. It?s exhausting and overwhelming. And it?s not from God. ?Susie Davis, Unafraid In 1978 Susie Davis watched as a thirteen-year-old classmate entered her classroom and killed her teacher. As a witness to one of the earliest school shootings in our nation, Susie faced years of paralyzing fear and an intense distrust of God. But God relentlessly pursued her and, over time, broke Susie?s fear addiction. In Unafraid, Susie offers her hard-won insights about how we can trust God in the midst of our fears about violence, disease, and personal tragedy. With you, she asks, ?How do we live unafraid? How do we remain aware of world events without giving in to fear? How do we make everyday choices to stop letting ?What if?? control us?? As Susie shows us, it is possible to break fear?s grasp on our lives. We can be aware of the terrible without forgetting the beautiful. We can look up with joy and realize the remarkable truth: Jesus wants to take our fear and give us, in its place, true peace. Walk this liberating journey with her and learn what it means to live unafraid.

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Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Raw, intimate, and timely—a no-holds-barred celebration of our bodies that flies in the face of antiquated ideas about sex and gender.   “A triumph.”—Glennon Doyle • “One of the most important, life-changing books I’ve ever read.”—Rachel Held Evans, author of Searching for Sunday and Inspired  Negative messages about sex come from all corners of society: from the church, from the media, from our own families. As a result, countless people have suffered pain, guilt, and judgment. In this instant bestseller, Nadia Bolz-Weber unleashes her critical eye and her vulnerable yet hopeful soul on the harmful conversations about sex that have fed our shame.   Bolz-Weber offers no simple amendments or polite compromises. Instead, this modern-day reverend calls for an inclusivity that empowers us to be loyal to people and, perhaps most important, ourselves. “Christianity is not a program for avoiding mistakes,” she writes. “It is a faith of the guilty.” With an alternative understanding of Scripture passages that have been weaponized against Christians for decades, Bolz-Weber reminds us that sexual flourishing can and should be for all genders, all bodies, and all humans. She shares stories, poetry, and Scripture that wage war on perpetual anxiety around sex by celebrating sexuality in all its forms and recognizing it for the gift that it is.   If you’ve been mistreated, confused, angered, and/or wounded by shaming sexual messages, this one is for you.

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Book SynopsisWhat makes a Baptist church Baptist? Casual observers might be tempted to stereotype the churches of the American South, but scholar Andrew B. Gardner paints a portrait of one North Carolina congregation that defies easy categorization. Established in 1958 in the college town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church immediately sought to establish a welcoming religious community—focusing initially on bringing in both Black and White congregants and, as ideas about inclusivity developed, on accepting all people, regardless of identity. By naming itself for a theologically progressive preacher and professor, the fledgling church signaled a perspective unfamiliar to Baptists in the South, which gave the church a radical edge. The church’s first pastor, Robert Seymour, also possessed a progressive vision that resonated with his congregants and pushed them to commit to justice and equality. Soon after its founding, the church strived to challenge inequality in segregated Chapel Hill. Although it remained predominantly White well into the twenty-first century, Binkley evolved to become increasingly aware of issues of gender equality, equity, LGBTQ inclusion, and climate justice. Addressing these issues was Binkley’s way of building God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.Binkley: A Congregational History tells the story of a single church with a complicated past, demonstrating that, while liberal in heritage, it operated with an unconsciously White, heteronormative worldview that slowly evolved into a distinct expression of faith. The author also draws on scholarship within the broader field of American religious history to position Binkley—with all its complexities, conflicts, and nuances—within the broader context of twentieth-century liberal Protestantism. Perhaps most importantly, Gardner tells the story of a place animated by a vision of Christianity that is often overlooked or drowned out by larger and louder Christian groups. He compellingly shows how this progressive vision of Christianity has shaped Binkley’s commitment to its community and beyond.Trade Review“This is more than just a congregational history—although it is a masterful exemplar of that. It is a story situated in both a particular place and in a larger culture and time. Gardner pays needed attention to a sometimes invisible corner of Baptist life—the world of southern white progressive Christians. And he does so with a critical and caring eye on a real place where real people live out their faith."—Nancy T. Ammerman, author of Baptist Battles: Social Change and Conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention “If Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church sought to reform and reimagine the ‘southern part of heaven’ that was Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Gardner himself rectifies as well as reconceives congregational history, rescuing it from the parochialism and hagiography that have so often informed the genre’s reputation. . . . While indeed the tale of a particular church, with its own peculiar personalities and in-house happenings, Binkley also discloses the ;courage and resilience as well as the failures and misgivings of Southern liberal Christianity."—Elizabeth Flowers, associate professor of religion, Baylor University “Surprise! We’ve been duped to think all Baptists are conservative and reactionary, but not all Baptists are the same. Historian Andrew Gardner reveals how progressive white churches like Binkley Memorial Baptist Church embody a Southern, congregationally based liberalism consistently opposing exclusion and hate. Their ecclesial stance on controversies over race and gender from the past century remains a cornerstone of ministry. Read this book to discover a neglected yet sorely needed history of a white liberal Baptist church persistently striving for a more just and inclusive Christianity."—Gerardo MartÍ, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology at Davidson College “Andrew Gardner’s rich and evocative historical narrative of Binkley Memorial Baptist Church demonstrates the vitality and challenges of a church planted in southern evangelical soil but sown with the seeds of a progressive and justice-oriented vision of faith. Truly, a captivating and informative account that both clergy and scholars should savor."—Scott Thuma, professor of sociology of religion at Hartford International University and director of Hartford Institute for Religion Research

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