Books published by Resource Publications (CA)

The Apostle Paul realized that he was an infant in the faith after his encounter with the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus. He experienced what was required to become a member of Christ's body and to walk as a mature Christian. Therefore, he wanted to share these truths with the Ephesians and with us.What does he do? First, he presents doctrine regarding the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Father. Then, he focuses on the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Why? He knew we needed to acquire knowledge of God's Word and develop a personal relationship with the Triune God.He concludes this portion of Scripture with comforting words and stern warnings. The former assures us of attaining spiritual maturity, whereas the latter warns against the predators espousing false doctrine, trickery, cunning craftiness, and deceit, which are only overcome by an intimate knowledge of the Son of God.

Description:Paul proclaimed he was in prison because he was Christ's prisoner. Why? Because he proclaimed the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ uncompromisingly without fear of retribution. He served the living Christ and succumbed neither to the wiles of Satan nor to the demands of the secular world. He gives all the glory to God and in so doing proclaims: the grace of God; knowledge in the mystery of Christ, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, . . . and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. He became Christ's minister by God's grace and His effective power working in him. God does this to enlighten and to strengthen each individual professing faith in Christ and endeavoring to walk with Jesus along life's pathway while enjoying blessings and gifts, as well enduring trials, tests, and temptations. Paul was the ultimate pastor and teacher in expounding Christ's teachings. He was a God server, not a man server. May those who preach and teach follow in Paul's footsteps by proclaiming God's entire Word faithfully.Endorsements:""Bob Callahan is a man who loves the Scriptures and loves the God to which they attest. His lessons on Ephesians are deep and rich. Bob has as his conversation partners the great minds and spirits of the church, and he is at once very readable and very faithful.""-Todd B. JonesPastor, First Presbyterian ChurchNashville, Tennessee""One would be hard-pressed to find a more thorough investigation of the treasures of Ephesians than what Mr. Callahan has written. The author has taken meticulous care to draw from the epistle as many of the theological riches as he could glean--and the reader could digest.""-Norman H. McCrummen IIISenior Pastor, Spring Hill Presbyterian ChurchMobile, AlabamaAbout the Contributor(s):Robert B. Callahan Sr. founded Callahan & Associates, Inc., in 1976, a telecommunications consulting firm. He is the author of The Triune God Speaks to the Saints, Volume 1 in an eight volume expository commentary on the Apostle Paul's epistle to the Ephesians.

Though One Go With Me is the sequel to Pastor Blackstone's first book, Though None Go With Me, which retraces the steps of a Maine pastor back to the fabled land of India. This time the 'one' is the pastor's daughter, Marnie. Travel along as Blackstone introduces his daughter to her first taste of hot, spicy foods, an auto-cart ride, playing with elephants, and traditional Malayalam dress. Once again journey through the State of Kerala on a Sunday Safari into the tea mountains of India, take a sunset stroll along the sands of Kovalam Beach, and enjoy the uniqueness of wearing a pepper necklace around your neck and eating with your fingers. Witness and wonder as Marnie drinks coconut milk straight from the shell, goes on a shopping spree for a beautiful sari, enjoys the smell of a jasmine and rose myla, and experiences the G-Mart (India's version of Wal-Mart). The purpose of this second trip to Edyappara was to be graduation speaker at Kerala Baptist Bible College, where the pastor had taught for 40-days on his first trip, and to deliver a half a million rupees to a small congregation in Venmony so they could start building a church sanctuary and parsonage. Relive the adventures of a father and daughter as they trek through a tropical paradise filled with hospitable people, amazing animals, and breath-taking scenery in their own version of 'The Amazing Race'!

After a half-century of activism, John McConnell, the true founder of Earth Day, here relates his global promotion of peace, justice, and Earth care. Following the Kennedy assassination, McConnell's Minute for Peace gained worldwide attention. This led to his Earth Day and other initiatives aimed at promoting people and planet. In this book, he shares the views that garnered support during the environmental movement from 1969 onward, and that have inspired followers for forty years at annual Earth Day ceremonies at the UN and cities across the globe.John McConnell coined the term Earth Day in 1968, proposed its celebration on the spring equinox to the City of San Francisco in October 1969, and announced it in November at a UNESCO Conference. The City responded by hosting the first Earth Day on March 21, 1970. Margaret Mead, UN Secretary-General U Thant, President Ford, and thirty-three Nobel laureates supported McConnell's Earth Day, and thirty-six worldwide dignitaries signed McConnell's Earth Day Proclamation, supporting Earth Day on the spring equinox, an annual planetary holiday linking people everywhere without regard to politics, culture, national border, or religion. In 1957, after Sputnik, McConnell promoted the Star of Hope, a satellite devoted to peace. This effort sparked his origination of Earth Day, the Earth Flag, Earth Trustees, and the Earth Magna Charta. He worked with UN officials and other leaders to overcome differences and build common ground for peace, aiming to ensure our planet's future and human survival. This book chronicles his global mission, his life journey, and his unique contributions toward a peaceful and cherished planet.

This is not your grandfather's poetry. It is spun for the everyman and woman. It is bred of a spiritual nature, yet it smiles and laughs and screams. Some are funny, some are sad. Some spit in the face of conformity, amused at the absurdity of the world whilst seeking a better way. These odes defy conventional structure and content. They rhyme without embarrassment yet experiment unapologetically with such. They convey messages of hope and love and clearer sight. And they challenge the accepted and popular notions of reality and illusion while offering superior alternatives to both. They will amuse and dismay, provoke and possibly offend, but they will not leave you unchanged. So join me, if you will, as we accompany The Illusion Warrior on his quest to dispel chimera and discover truth.

Every Christian is assailed by the gales of temptation, but those in professional ministry face fiercer storms than the rest. As C. H. Spurgeon warned, contrary to what is often assumed, "our dangers are more numerous and more insidious than those of ordinary Christians." This perspective was shared by the unified voice of the historic church, leading some patristic church fathers to initially flee the call to ministry. The same dangers were repeatedly identified in the writings of the early English pastoral theologians as they sought to mentor their proteges in successful ministry. A Most Dangerous Profession surfaces these gems so often overlooked in historic Christian literature, and ends with their practical advice on how to overcome. As both a pastoral and spiritual theology, A Most Dangerous Profession is bound to add an important voice to the ongoing dialog about pastoral self-care.

Logizomai is the Greek word meaning "to reckon," or "to reason." The Apostle John identifies Jesus as the "Logos" (John 1:1, 14)-the Divine Word. To most Christians in the West today, Christianity is nothing more than a duty, a feeling, a name badge, or something one does on Sunday's. But Christianity is more than that. Christianity is a complete worldview that makes sense of the world. A right theology results in a right understanding of the world and the gospel is that right theology. The Church is sick because she is shallow. What we need is a logizomai faith-a reasonable faith. Such a reasonable faith encounters hardships with perseverance, animosity with love, and evangelism with Spirit-filled skill. Most refuse to share their faith because they don't understand it and are unable to articulate it. If Christianity is logizomai, then the issues we face today present no real challenge. We must, therefore, learn to apply the truths of the gospel to our dying, hurting world. To do so, we must have reason, rooted in the gospel and inspired by the cross.

To have known Adrian van Kaam in person is to have loved him for reasons human and spiritual. His kindness to everyone is as legendary as his fidelity to the mystery in all the peaks and valleys of daily life. His humility is the fire that enkindles his original vision of formative spirituality. His gentle, joyful spirit radiates on every page of this retelling of his life story. In it he takes us to the heart of his thinking in the fields of psychology and spiritual formation. He welcomes us wholeheartedly into the intimate corners of his family, his friendships, and his pastoral and professional life. He brings us into a little known arena of world history, the infamous Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944--1945. We travel with him from that bleak period through the renewal of his life's work in the United States to its crowning phase in the Epiphany Association, co-founded with his colleague and editor of this unforgettable work of love, Dr. Susan Muto.

New Horizon in Male-Female Relationships attempts to break new ground in the discourse on gender equality, love, happiness, and marriage. Author David Samuel Green succeeds admirably and wastes no time in tracing the evolution of human relationships. But he also puts forward new theories regarding the state of relations between males and females across the globe, including married couples.What Green's new book further accomplishes lies in its no-holds-barred exploration of matters of the heart. Specifically, the author examines methods we can employ to eliminate problems that tend to hamper our relationships, and shows us how best to get the most out of our unions, with emphasis on how ""product thinking"" and ""egalitarianism"" assist remarkably.Besides offering solutions for troubled marriages and other relationships, the book also extols several concepts that go hand in hand with love and happiness. At the same time, it becomes clear that if we want our unions and partnerships to work, we have to bring the right attitude to the table. After all, as we learn, the ingredients for a successful relationship must include compassion, forgiveness, and understanding.

"Why is this happening to me?" is a question being asked by millions of people who have lost their livelihoods in today's economic recession. In Better for Life you will find answers to this question as you explore the trials of several biblical characters and the purposes for those trials. Within these pages you will not only discover the purpose of your trial, but you will also learn what you can do about it. You can't change your situation, but you can change yourself. God's plan is not merely to get you out of your trials, but to transform you while you are in them. Take a journey to discover the reasons for your hardships, and learn how you can use these circumstances to your advantage. Remember: God is not so concerned with making life better for you; He is interested in making you better for life. So, if you are tired of struggling under the burden of your circumstances, then it is time to become better for life!

Dr. John H. Leith (1919-2002) enjoyed Christmas. He appreciated it especially as a celebration of the goodness of this world that God not only created but also, in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, entered, blessed with his presence, and redeemed. And at Christmas he especially wanted to be in contact with, and to minister to, those whom he loved, those whom he had taught, and those whom he cherished as colleagues in the Christian and Reformed ministry of preaching, teaching, and pastoral care.This little book comprises a collection of Leith's Christmas letters to his former ministerial students at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. The letters grew lengthier and richer through the years. We have gathered them here so that others may enjoy reading them also.

Proceeding from Voltaire's conclusion that "God is a comedian playing to an audience that's afraid to laugh," this book seeks to uncover some of the many instances in which biblical texts offer readers grace and insight through the divine gifts of humor, wit, and laughter. Readers are invited to take a strikingly unusual, if not unique, approach to the texts, imagining not only the voice inflections but also the body language of their narrators to capture the humorous nuances and ripples of laughter that likely attended the first telling of many biblical stories.

Countless books have been written about the impending death of the institutional church, but this one both celebrates the resurrection that will follow and lights the way toward a new kind of spiritual community. The Way of Jesus identifies seven principles upon which authentic and vibrant Christian communities can be built in today's diverse and ever shrinking world. Toby Jones traveled across the country, from San Francisco's Glide Memorial Church to New York's Church of the Holy Apostles, and from Chicago's Wicker Park Grace to Minneapolis's Solomon's Porch. He sojourned with seven communities in all and conducted in-depth interviews with their leaders and participants to reveal what distinguishes resurrection communities from those in precipitous decline. In The Way of Jesus, Jones draws both from the scriptures and from such fresh thinkers as Brian McLaren, Dallas Willard, Doug Pagitt, and Shane Claiborne, offering genuine hope and practical direction to the millions of spiritually homeless. But just as importantly, The Way of Jesus offers a clear path to struggling, shrinking congregations who desire to re-form themselves in a way that is both more faithful to the Gospel and compelling to post-modern generations, who have long since abandoned the institutional church.

The purpose of this book is to present a comprehensive review of deception, its essential component of neurolinguistic dialectics, and how it is used by Satan to corrupt the human mind from devotion to Jesus Christ. These theological subjects are explored in an interdisciplinary fashion in an attempt to reveal historical knowledge of religious and secular developments of the ages needed to understand spiritual failure, deception, sin, apostasy, the role of the human mind as the venue or battlefield of deception, and how faith in God becomes weak and susceptible to doubt. Always at issue here is "why humanity replicates behavior that regresses to the same results of apostasy and utter spiritual failure induced by deception?" This interdisciplinary approach eludes the prototypical, one-dimensional approach to understanding deception and sin and presents the reader with a "how to" methodology that will hopefully defeat deception and sin. It also shows how deception results from heretical doctrine advanced by false prophets and preachers. Moreover, this book will help readers hone their skills necessary to examine issues of contemporary life with critical thinking in the context of religious and human history that facilitates their becoming better human beings.

This poetry becomes an agent of transformation in offering a new direction for our lives. It provokes a little holy agitation by tossing poems like pebbles into placid pools of water to cause some waves. Such poetry gives us prophetic alerts to pay attention to things that matter, like peace not war, like economic and immigrant justice, like an earthy passion for life more than death. This book of poems describes a link between poets and peacemakers:Maybe peacemakers are like insurgent poets,Irrelevant, dissident, disregarding the status quo,Imagining a vision of a world that gets alongThis poetry--too dangerous for right wing religion--will offer a resource for church activists and for taking the next step of courage. It will be a companion for marching to a different drummer and hearing the still voice of God amplified through ordinary occasions.

The Emerald Mandala is a spiritual shelter, a sanctuary of sorts. It is a harmony of words and rhymes to take you to far away inner places. Inside you will find fables, prayer, dilemma, and intentional absurdities. Angelic advocates wait to take you on wings widespread and destined for the heavens. Love is discussed, insights appraised, mind and spirit explored. The Emerald Mandala is a journey from which you will return changed, maybe ever so slightly, but changed nevertheless. It will likely provoke you. It may touch your heart. It might leave you mystified or confused, but it will certainly leave you in better thought. Within these emerald walls, we will explore ourselves together, we will challenge our beliefs to see if they endure, and we will pray and hope for similar providence. I ascribe my poems to no particular religion or doctrine. I seek God by any means left to me. There are as many paths back as there are rays of the sun. Join me now and let us ignore our differences, embrace our alikeness, and seek together that we may end up as One. Let the Emerald Mandala transport us beyond the worldly bonds that seek to contain and diminish us. Let it be our mutual conveyance to set our direction, side by side, to the road Home.

What if reality TV met one of our oldest stories of blood revenge, lust, envy, and coming-of-age? Though the story of Salome has been told down through the ages, this new rendition from a woman's perspective portrays mother-daughter forgiveness based on the story of the sensuous young woman who danced for Herod then demanded John the Baptist's head on a platter at her mother's instigation. Lush language and a riveting storyline combine to create this small jewel from debut novelist Patti Rutka.

Jairus's Daughter is a literary-historic novel that sets up a rhythm between two women separated by twenty centuries. Their lives nonetheless mirror each other in subtle ways and finally intersect in modern Israel. Aviel, a scribe in first-century Israel, has a gift and a secret that, millennia later, will affect the choices of Anna Washington, a modern rock climbing woman searching for her heart's direction. Colorful characters and striking detail combine in this tale of passion and integrity from midrashic novelist Patti Rutka.

Told in the first person by the author of the Gospel of Mark, The Cloak and the Parchments relates the story of how the earliest gospel came to be written against the backdrop of emergent Christianity's doctrinal tensions. But it is also the story of one man's struggle of faith, especially with the remarkable notion--at least for a first-century Jew steeped in monotheistic tradition--of the divinity of Jesus Christ. The year is 64 CE, and Paul has summoned Mark and Timothy from Ephesus to his prison cell in Rome. On their journey, the travelers discuss many of Paul's teachings, including that Jesus is truly the Son of God. After reaching Italy they meet up with Peter, whose own account of Jesus's ministry quickly poses a challenge to Paul's views. But there will be no opportunity to hear Peter and Paul debate their differences, for they arrive in Rome at the outbreak of the Great Fire. Amid the turmoil of the resulting Christian persecution, Paul urges Mark to escape and write Peter's account of Jesus's ministry consistently with Paul's own teaching. Mark finds himself conflicted by his promises to both men, and by the disparity between Peter's eyewitness testimony and Paul's claim to direct revelation. In the end, he finds the answer he seeks hidden in the depths of his own soul--as ultimately, we all must.The Cloak and the Parchments brings these New Testament characters to life in all of their humanity, and presents a cogent argument for the necessity of mystical experience in religious belief.

Answering the Call is the story of nineteen Catholic permanent deacons from the Diocese of Savannah (Georgia) whose lives underwent profound transformations as they embarked upon a journey of self-discovery which revealed to them both the awesome power of God and the holiness of everyday life. When these deacons, who come from vastly different spiritual, professional, and educational backgrounds, responded to God's call, they soon became aware of the profound impact their decision would make on their lives as husbands, fathers, and, most of all, servants of God. Any person who experiences a crisis of faith or wants to deepen his or her relationship with God, will find the theological, pastoral, and spiritual aspects of these essays informative as they will inspire further reflection and discernment. Each of the essays can be read as a guide to ministry that provides personal and experiential advice about how to minister in a God-centered and healing manner. A person considering a religious vocation, or any man discerning God's call as a permanent deacon, or is a candidate or a deacon now, will appreciate the honesty with which each deacon describes the expected and unexpected stages of his journey.

Listen closely. Hear the Spirit Song. In good turn, all will come along. Join me in this adventure, as we play in rhythm and rhyme. Explore the hidden places, all in real-time. Let us laugh and cry together, let us be alertly surprised. Come with me, dear brother, let us jointly seek the Prize. These poems come from a special place, one I can little describe. They are meant as gifts, but for a minor fee. I am honored to be the scribe of such wonderful things. I have recorded them here so you may see, all that is given, all that is free. Join me if time allots you so. A gift cannot be without a beneficiary. Pearls must be claimed, to shine. Take a chance, my friend. Let us join the Golden Dance in time.

Focusing on the "ontological indwelling of God" as the basis and ground of the soul, the author expounds its capacity for spiritual experience, which he describes metaphorically as "being with Christ in paradise." Aspects of mystical experience are briefly discussed, an extended description of the author's own experience is presented, and practical suggestions are offered to the reader for his or her own spiritual enrichment.

The poet's quest is one of wide magnitude. He or she must explore the untapped regions of mind and spirit and then proceed to paint a picture in words of that strange and mysterious landscape. The book before you is such a picture, depicting a new yet ancient province of the soul. By middle age, it starts to become obvious to most of us that we operate with a split mind; the lesser mind that focuses on the acquisition and defense of things and the higher mind that impels us to a more unified reality. With age and experience, the acquisition of wealth, status, and sophistication start to pale in comparison to the more etheric goals of peace, freedom, and union with our Creator. As we start to notice a shorter road ahead than behind, we seek a more meaningful existence. We intensify our search for union with our earthly brothers and our heavenly Father. In effect, we require a reality based on our need to be free, whole, and eternal. By now, we are far too skeptical to accept wishful thinking as our truth, yet still yearn for an intellectual and spiritual certainty that we can believe in simply because the case for it is far too compelling to ignore. After several decades of just such a search I discovered a path that, at long last, gave me confidence in the truth of a divine Mind and Spirit. That path led me to a place that my soul knew and honored as divine. From that connection and in that place, this book was born.

If the Bible teaches that the Lord is sovereign over all and that mankind is naturally hostile towards God, then it stands to reason that we would never choose the Lord apart from the Holy Spirit working within us to change our hearts. Proceeding from this logical starting point of God's sovereignty and man's depravity, it necessarily follows that God must save His people from their sins, those that are otherwise helpless and in a desperate state. No theological system like Reformed theology allows one to remain consistent when carrying out one's beliefs to the ultimate conclusions as the doctrines of God's sovereignty and grace do. Murrell examines common arguments against Calvinism and demonstrates how they are oftentimes the result of misunderstandings, faulty reasoning, or poor scriptural exegesis. God's sovereignty is not so much a barrier to Calvinism as it is a powerful support for it.

Have you ever been challenged and stymied when asked where you stand in your faith? Do you ever wonder who is responsible to reach those who have not yet heard the Gospel message? Do you wonder what your role is as a messenger of God's love? Are you filled with questions or have doubts and fears about relationship evangelism? Do you believe that God can release your fears to be a spokesperson for the sake of the Gospel? This book will enable and equip you to embark on the simple journey of reaching people for Him! You will learn how to prepare your very own faith story by actually writing it out and putting it into practice. It includes thought-provoking questions to prepare your heart as you journey with Jesus. Included are charts to determine where you are in the faith and to help maintain the progress of evangelizing.Whether you need to actively develop soul-winning skills or simply get back to the basics and refresh your desire to share your faith, this book will equip you to keep your faith story alive and prepare you to be used for His glory.Get ready for blessings and excitement as you put your faith into action!

How do you forgive a person who has hurt your deeply? Why forgive someone who does not deserve to be forgiven? Forgiveness is not easy, and often we discover that the person who needs to be forgiven the most is ourselves. As we forgive others and ourselves, we find that we are the ones who have benefited--forgiveness brings a peace to our lives that no one can take away from us.Learning to Forgive: A Memoir of Doubt and Faith is the author's personal journey of forgiveness from a spiritual and psychological point of view. The book shows the reader how they can use their relationship with God, the resources of the Christian faith, and their psychological understanding of themselves to learn how to forgive. As readers see that pastors are not immune to the challenges of everyday life, nor are they spared from abusive backgrounds, they will be encouraged to embark on their own journeys of forgiveness or receive strength and hope for a journey already started.

How true can Christianity really be? In a culture where religion and ""real life"" often occur in completely different times and places, the question troubles many Christians. How can we give the reason for the hope that we have amid the many voices telling us that Christianity might be helpful or interesting, but not really ""true"" for anyone except Christians? Why should we ourselves bother with a religion so insubstantial that it is only legitimate within our own minds? People with real sins require a real savior, not merely inspiring stories and advice on how to live. As Though It Were Actually True provides Christians with an introduction to the age-old practice of apologetics--the rational defense of Christianity as objective truth. It explores some of the most important issues on which the Church finds itself in conflict with today's culture through a combination of critical reasoning, evidence, and the law written on our hearts. By providing a philosophical foundation that is reasonable, a historical foundation that is factual, and a theological foundation that is biblical, this book will help equip Christians to contend for their faith against the shallow and deceptive philosophies that seek to undermine it.

Can military chaplains pray "in Jesus' name?" Are they allowed to share their faith openly? Are evangelical Christians persecuted in the military? Does the general prohibition against proselytizing in the military violate soldiers' Constitutional rights? Are liberalism and/or universalism implicitly endorsed by the military and political leadership as the preferred religion of the United States government? In this timely and important book, John Laing draws upon his knowledge as a professor of theology and philosophy and his experience as an Army chaplain in order to address these questions and more, with a view to answering the larger theological question of whether evangelicals can successfully serve as military chaplains while remaining true to their conservative biblical beliefs and evangelistic commitments. While the book is primarily written for those involved or interested in military chaplaincy, it has a broader appeal, as the issues discussed are relevant to all areas of chaplaincy: healthcare, institutional, public service, campus, and marketplace.

In this book, Vivian Houk acknowledges that parenting is really hard work. There is no getting around that. It just is! While many books have been written about all major areas of development, she brings light to what may be the least understood and most confusing area of parenting today: the spiritual lives of their children. Parenting by Developmental Design was written for interested and engaged parents who need affirmation and want to know more about the pathway of spiritual formation for their children. For those who don't know how to begin, it offers hope and encouragement. "God has given us some amazing and powerful tools," writes Houk, "which are useful and effective in providing direction for those of us who suffer from the fear of failure or incompetence. We have the gift of imagination; the use of symbol, ritual, and celebration; and the tools for calming fears and healing wounds. And above all, the gift of the Holy Spirit. You are not alone or incapable." Anyone who values the stories of both the adult and child who walk with God will find this book enjoyable, engaging, and challenging.

In the Labyrinth of Grief40 Words of God that Offer ComfortBrief meditations for those in sorrowWhen death enters our life, a process begins that we refer to as grieving. This is a confusing process that is accompanied by different emotions such as sadness, unbelief, relief, anger, resignation, depression, despair, and even new joy in life.The image of the labyrinth helps us to accept that grieving is a complex process in which we learn to accept the empty place and seek to come to grips with all our emotions. The forty short meditations in this book were written with the goal that we might allow ourselves to be comforted from God's Word and that-in all our confusing emotions-we may know ourselves to be secure in the God who gives us hope.