Sacred Roots Frames Series

"Why should I invest myself in something that I'm not sure does any good?" This is a question many people today are asking about the church. Data shows young people are leaving the church, especially in urban contexts. Yet as Jon Tyson will show you in this Barna Frame, the church has much to offer cities—and individuals—in the 21st century. Whether you come with an open-mind, skeptical, or already committed to your local church, join Jon Tyson, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in New York City, as he makes the case for why church matters.

What is the point of church? Really? This book is for anyone questioning the value of church to their everyday life. Sacred Roots offers four personal and communal shifts critical to being the kind of church that transforms people---and renews the world. Sacred Roots is part of the FRAMES series - short yet meaningful reads on the top issues facing us in today's complex culture.

Remember when all you needed was a cool business card for cocktail parties? Now social status is determined in a hundred ways that all come with their own pressures-how many Twitter followers do you have? How many facebook page likes? How much traffic does your site get? Are you speaking? Traveling? How full is your inbox? While pressure has always been there, in many ways that pressure is more public than ever. The world is both bigger and smaller today. With access to so much media and so quickly, we know everything that's going on in the world. We are bombarded with possibilities and opportunities. It seems like we have limitless choices. It's easy to feel like your life is small, that you aren't doing enough, that other lives, careers, and even cities are more exciting than yours. The challenge today is, with limitless public pressure on how your life measures up against everyone else's, how do you find contentment in this context? Join Claire Diaz-Ortiz, an author, speaker, and Twitter employee, in this Barna Frame as she explores this timely issue.

FRAMES is a series of mini-books that address the critical issues of our day and equips you to live a more meaningful life in the midst of complicated times. This compilation includes all nine of the FRAMES in Season 1 in one softcover book. Each FRAME includes compelling research from Barna Group, full-color infographics, thoughtful commentary and insights from experts, and provocative questions that help you and your book club, small group, or social media group to have meaningful discussion.

A coming-of-age book of a young man and his early commitment to religion and the trials, struggles and complexities of religion. A glimpse into the authors private life from childhood through adulthood and his decision to pull away from organized religion. The author brings insight into religion from personal experiences and research into the relationship of religion to physical, mental and psychological well-being on humans. Obsolescence and Vanishing Ethos explores personal trials and cover such topics as guilt, control, issues of the church and sex, masturbation and homosexuality, as well as topics on the anthropological aspect and religion as a business enterprise.

There is a new reality for mothers in the 21st century-it's a different world with different goals than it was even a generation ago. As little girls, today's moms didn't grow up with ONLY dolls and toy kitchens and princesses and visions of idyllic domesticity and motherhood behind a white picket fence: they were given these but also a little plastic doctor's bag and a coloring book full of potential careers to choose from. "You can be anything you want, child." It's a message of empowerment and it's beautiful. But, as many of those young girls grew up, a message that was once meant to convey opportunity has begun to feel like a pressure cooker. What once was "You can have it all" has now become "You need to have it all." You need to have the perfect job, the perfect husband, the perfect house, the perfect kids, the perfect play dates and craft nights and date nights and DIY Pinterest projects and #nofilter Instagrams. What does it mean to be a mom in a world like that? Where does vocation fit into all this? What does a holistic idea of self fit in? Many women struggle with the decision to work inside the home or outside the home. How can you maintain a sense of self and motherhood in both decisions? The reality is we can't really have it all - sometimes we will have to make choices. This Barna Frame explores the value and beauty in those constraints. Join Kate Harris, wife, mother, and the executive director of The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation, and Culture, as she unpacks the identity questions, the economic realities, and the role of the church in your life as you feel compelled to be wonder woman.

Caring for orphans makes grace touchable. When Christians choose to adopt, foster, mentor or support care for orphans around the world, it reveals God's true character to the world like nothing else we can do. This softcover book unpacks specific steps that you can take to care for orphans in distress. Some of these steps are “big” choices like fostering or adopting; some are smaller choices like supporting work abroad or mentoring a foster youth. But all have the impact of revealing God’s love to someone who wants to be home for good. Join Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), as he reveals the profound sense that deep, sustaining love for orphans springs not from duty, guilt or even idealism, but foremost as a response to the way we've first been loved by God.