The Rebel Christ

Once the darling of conservative Catholicism and evangelicalism, the outspoken broadcaster and journalist Michael Coren had what he terms as a profound conversion and began embracing the issues he had previously judged. It cost him his lucrative broadcasting career and made him the target of vitriol, but he found freedom in the radical and progressive nature of the gospel and is today its champion. In The Rebel Christ he explores what Jesus said about the pressing issues of his and our day. Jesus may not have mentioned sexuality, but welcomed outsiders and the marginalized; he never spoke of social security systems, but did criticize the wealthy and complacent and called for the poor to be protected; he didn’t side with the powerful but did condemn those who judged and exploited others and turned their eyes away from those in need and from the cry for justice. This was Jesus the rebel, Christ the radical, who turned the world upside down and who today demands that his followers do the same.

Once the darling of conservative Catholicism and evangelicalism, the outspoken broadcaster and journalist Michael Coren had what he terms as a profound conversion and began embracing the issues he had previously judged. It cost him his lucrative broadcasting career and made him the target of vitriol, but he found freedom in the radical and progressive nature of the gospel and is today its champion. In The Rebel Christ he explores what Jesus said about the pressing issues of his and our day. Jesus may not have mentioned sexuality, but welcomed outsiders and the marginalized; he never spoke of social security systems, but did criticize the wealthy and complacent and called for the poor to be protected; he didn’t side with the powerful but did condemn those who judged and exploited others and turned their eyes away from those in need and from the cry for justice. This was Jesus the rebel, Christ the radical, who turned the world upside down and who today demands that his followers do the same.

The real Jesus was a rebel, a radical, and a revolutionary. Contrary to conservative Christian narratives today, the rebel Christ wasn’t about judgment but forgiveness, not about rejection but inclusion. Michael Coren reveals what the real Jesus would say about the hot-button issues dividing Christians.

What exactly is a disciple, and how will we know if we have made one? There are three core values that a disciple embodies: undiluted devotion to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, a Kingdom of God worldview, and a missional lifestyle. In Revolutionary Kingdom: Following the Rebel Jesus, author and Pastor Mike Slaughter explores why we must exchange comfortable cultural worldviews and values for the radical requirements of living out the Kingdom of God on Planet Earth. When God’s people get serious about this call, it’s revolutionary. Jesus himself was the most radical revolutionary who ever lived and provided us a vision of a kingdom worth dying for. Welcome to the revolution! Additional components for a six-week study include a DVD featuring Mike Slaughter and a comprehensive Leader Guide.

Drawing on ancient texts, modern archaeology, and interviews, BBC journalist Mark Tully paints a multi-layered portrait of Jesus. Four Faces invites the reader to rethink Jesus and his role for the third millennium.

Although temptation is a common and well-acknowledged part of the human experience, few realize the truth behind temptation and fewer still know how to defeat it. Tempted and Tried will not reassure Christians by claiming that temptation is less powerful or less prevalent than it is; instead, it will prepare believers for battle by telling the truth about the cosmic war that is raging. Moore shows that the temptation of every Christian is part of a broader conspiracy against God, a conspiracy that confronts everyone who shares the flesh of Jesus through human birth and especially confronts those who share the Spirit of Christ through the new birth of redemption. Moore walks readers through the Devil's ancient strategies for temptation revealed in Jesus' wilderness testing. Moore considers how those strategies might appear in a contemporary context and points readers to a way of escape. Tempted and Tried will remind Christians that temptation must be understood in terms of warfare, encouraging them with the truth that victory has already been secured through the triumph of Christ.

If you’re a Christian, you know that Jesus took the sin of all mankind upon Himself, to offer redemption and everlasting life to those who believe in Him. But did you know that in His own time, the Jews expected the Messiah to be a military leader who would liberate them from Rome? Our current understanding of Jesus and His role was very different from that of His contemporaries and the first disciples. This accessible, compulsively readable book tells the story of Jesus’ life with different twists. You’ll be enthralled by Jesus’ teachings, appreciate the significance of His power to perform miracles, and dig deeper into the meaning of some of His best-known parables. You’ll see the connections between Jesus and the prophecies of the Old Testament. You’ll walk alongside His first disciples and become entangled in the plot that led to His arrest, trial, and death. But most of all, you’ll see that although Jesus was obedient to His father in heaven, he bucked convention in his life on Earth—from the Romans and the Sanhedrin to everyday Jews and sometimes even His close friends, Jesus was perceived as a rebel who broke new ground in faith and action. Whether you are new to your faith journey or revisiting a well-loved road, this compelling guide to Jesus’ life and times is the extra insight you need to spark your soul.

From the posterboy of Catholic conservatism, a major change of heart and soul on one of the Church's most controversial and intractable stances. "This past February, a conservative Roman Catholic blog, Contra|Diction, gave me perhaps my best headline ever: 'Michael Coren Complicit in Destruction of Souls Who Practice Homosexuality, Pt 1' (I'm still waiting for part two). It was one of countless posts, tweets, and articles that have condemned me for coming out in favour of same-sex marriage. I've also been fired from columns that I wrote for years, been banned from various Catholic TV and radio stations, had speeches cancelled, and been accused of cheating on my wife. My children have been called gay, and I have been compared to a child molester and a murderer. These are new experiences for me. Until last year, I was considered something of a champion of social conservatism in Canada and was well known among politically active Christians. I hosted a nightly show on Crossroads Television for twelve years, was a syndicated Sun columnist, and wrote briskly selling books with such titles as Why Catholics Are Right. Today, I am working away at a new book, Epiphany: Changing Heart and Mind on Same-Sex Marriage. How and why did it go so terribly wrong?" --Michael Coren What went "terribly wrong" is that Michael Coren had a profound spiritual and personal change of heart. Epiphany is about how and why that happened; the reaction from both sides of the fence; and how the Christian doctrine, when studied closely and without bias, heartily supports Michael's findings. As a middle-aged, very white, very straight, very Christian man, he was obliged, first reluctantly and then eagerly, to explore the complex dynamic between faith and homosexuality and to work out a new narrative. The crux of that narrative: God is love. Honest, brave, and rigorous in its scholarship, Epiphany is a groundbreaking book on one of society's most pressing issues.

Insider twentysomething Christian journalist Brett McCracken has grown up in the evangelical Christian subculture and observed the recent shift away from the "stained glass and steeples" old guard of traditional Christianity to a more unorthodox, stylized 21st-century church. This change raises a big issue for the church in our postmodern world: the question of cool. The question is whether or not Christianity can be, should be, or is, in fact, cool. This probing book is about an emerging category of Christians McCracken calls "Christian hipsters"--the unlikely fusion of the American obsessions with worldly "cool" and otherworldly religion--an analysis of what they're about, why they exist, and what it all means for Christianity and the church's relevancy and hipness in today's youth-oriented culture.

This book examines the ways modern Jewish thinkers, writers, and artists appropriated the figure of Jesus as part of the process of creating modern Jewish culture.