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.
Is God a sadistic torturer? Coldhearted judge? Genocidal maniac?
Unfortunately, our popular caricatures often make him out to be.
God has some skeletons in the closet. At least, that's what many of us fear. "How can a loving God send people to hell?" "Isn't it arrogant to believe Jesus is the only way to God?" "What is up with holy war in the Old Testament?" These are difficult questions that our family, our friends, our culture--even we ourselves--are asking. The Skeletons in God's Closet pulls these skeletons out of the closet to show that they were never really skeletons at all--but part of the good news that God is good and coming to redeem his world.
Hell is not an "underground torture chamber" God creates to torture sinners, but a destructive power we unleash that God has promised to redeem his world from--it represents an extravagant act of mercy. Judgment is not "churchgoers go to heaven, everyone else goes to hell," but God coming to raise humanity from death and set his world right by calling things out as they really are--and the results are a shocking surprise. Holy war is not "the strong using God to justify their conquest of the weak," but God arising on behalf of the weak when the tyranny of the strong has raged for far too long--he is the hope of the world.
Mercy. Surprise. Hope.
Not what we usually think.
Including practical theology of why living out of a place of authentic desire is central to living in the Kingdom of God, Rick McKinley will help you understand how your innermost desires shape your experience of following Jesus.
A Kingdom Called Desire will help you:
* Uncover your core desires
* Discover the freedom of living honestly before God
* Allow God's desires to shape your life
* See how your own unique personality, gifts, and experiences can be used by Jesus in his Kingdom
The results of McKinley's life-changing message can be seen in people from his own community at Imago Dei. While A Kingdom Called Desire will inspire you to see the practical display of Kingdom theology, it will also be deeply formational, allowing you to engage in your own personal journey and find healing and redemption in your unmet desires.
A Kingdom Called Desire will unleash you from stale religious duty, as well as cynical social activism, bringing you into a dynamic love relationship with Jesus, motivated by the fulfillment of authentic desire.
Are you fed up with how consumerism has stolen the soul of Christmas? This year, take a stand! Join the growing groundswell of Christ-followers who are choosing to making Christmas what it should be---a joyous celebration of Jesus' birth, not a retail circus.
Advent Conspiracy invites individuals, families, groups, and entire churches to substitute compassion for consumerism 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.
