Christianity

��ñ�� Press Honored With Multiple Book of the Year Awards

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 17:58:24 +0000

��ñ�� Press Honored With Multiple Book of the Year Awards

��ñ�� Press is consistently recognized for high quality titles that are published annually. Again for 2018, IVP books have been honored for their content in a variety of categories.

Christianity Today recognized five IVP books for their 2019 Book of the Year Award:

Preaching as Reminding: Stirring Memory in an Age of Forgetfulness by Jeffrey D. Arthurs, Book of the Year in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category
Megachurch Christianity Reconsidered: Millennials and Social Change in African Perspective by Wanjiru M. Gitau was Book of the Year in the Missions/Global Church category
Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and Overcoming Violence Against Women by Elaine Storkey was Book of the Year in the Politics and Public Life category
An Extra Mile: A Story of Embracing God’s Call by Sharon Garlough Brown, was Book of the Year in Fiction
The Morals of the Story: Good News About a Good God by David Baggett and Marybeth Baggett received the Award of Merit in the Apologetics/Evangelism category

More information on each of these five award-winning books can be found in a news release on the IVP website.

Three ��ñ�� Press books were among the 2018 honorees recognized by World magazine.

Last Call for Liberty: How America’s Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat by Os Guinness was recognized in the Understanding America category
Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering by Kelly M. Kapic was recognized in the Accessible Theology book category
Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age by Alan Noble was also recognized in the Accessible Theology book category

More information on each of these three award-winning books can be found in a news release on the IVP website.

In addition, Christianity at the Crossroads by Michael J. Kruger was the 2019 Gospel Coalition Book of the Year for History and Biography. And Birthing Hope by Rachel Marie Stone made Library Journal’s list of Best Books for 2018.

Plus, two of the above recognized books and three more were lauded for their cover design and graphics. These five books and all of the other award winners are listed on the IVP Award Winners web page.

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Research on College Students and Faith

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Mon, 01 May 2017 16:24:00 +0000

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Research on College Students and Faith

Facts & Trends, a publication of Lifeway Christian Resources, has some analysis on a new report from Pew Research that “shows the average college graduate is less religious than Americans with a high school degree or less. Unless that college graduate happens to be a Christian.”

To comment on the research, Facts & Trends sought out Greg Jao, who has served at many levels of ��ñ��’s campus ministry and currently is Senior Assistant to President Tom Lin.

Greg observed that college is the time when Christians often start making their own decisions about their faith. “By leaving and going to college,” he said, “they have to decide, ‘Do I still believe this and how will I continue to engage in this faith?’”

Read the Facts & Trends story here.

Read the Pew Research Center original report here.

Author and pastor James Emery White, an ��ñ�� alumnus, commented on the Pew report on his Church and Culture blog.

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Only Dead Fish Swim with the Current

AD-16225 — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:19:25 +0000

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by Alec Hill, president of ��ñ��

Only Dead Fish Swim with the Current

Non-Conformity
At age 89, John Stott penned his final book. Entitled The Radical Disciple (��ñ�� Press, 2010), “Uncle John” described nine characteristics of a serious disciple. His very first trait and highest priority — “nonconformity” — caught me by surprise.

Why would John Stott and Malcolm Muggeridge, quoted above, regard non-conformity as being so important? Why would they encourage believers to swim against prevailing cultural currents?

Historically, ��ñ�� has always leaned into cultural engagement. We are not by temperament Christ against culture* kind of people. Rather, we seek cultural transformation under the lordship of Jesus. Hence the second part of our Vision Statement reads “to see campuses renewed.”

However, we must never lose sight of the fact that Christian discipleship also involves non-conformity. This is particularly true in two pivotal areas – truth and holiness.

Truth
As followers of Jesus, we believe in truth with a capital “T” — truth that is objective and absolute. Suffice to say, this is not a popular position on campus today. To the contrary, the academic world prizes a “define-your-own-reality” approach to metaphysics and ethics.

A friend once called me “arrogant” because I believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and life. His words stung deeply, biting my soul. After all, who enjoys being thought of as rigid, judgmental and exclusive?

Sadly, anything-goes tolerance, not Truth, is today’s cultural norm. As believers, we find ourselves holding a minority position. This is difficult for us because, too often, we have subconsciously bought the erroneous notion that following Jesus leads to happiness and popularity.

Holiness
As Jesus’ disciples, we are called to lead lives of moral purity. While holiness is one of Scripture’s most glorious concepts — mirroring the character of God himself — it is generally disdained by our culture today.

Why? To many, the very idea that humans should pursue — and be held accountable to – a divine standard is simply absurd. Instead, our culture seeks personal freedom as its highest value. A deep conflict revolves around the question of lordship. Who’s really in charge of my life — God or me?

A few years ago, I was pained to the core when someone labeled me a “bigot” because of my views on sexual purity. I’ve been called lots of things in my life, but that was a new personal low. I suspect that many ��ñ�� staff have received similar epithets.

We ought not be surprised that our pursuit of holy lives sets us apart. Both the Old and New Testaments are replete with commands to “come out” from the prevailing culture, to live counter-culturally.

Rewards
On the surface, Jesus’ followers appear to be losers in interactions with culture. After all, who wants to be regarded as arrogant and narrow-minded?

However, while we may suffer a degree of ostracism for non-conformity, the benefits of following Jesus are so much greater than the costs. By pursuing Truth, we are touched by the very hand of God and our lives are framed by a worldview that actually works. By pursuing holy lives, we avoid many of the painful, life-destroying pits that our non-believing friends fall into.

Reflecting on Discipleship
The Fellowship is currently in a season of sharpening our definition of discipleship. As our newest Strategic Initiative, we are asking lots of questions. What does it mean to be a winsome non-conformist? How should Truth and holiness be pursued within the context of being missional on campus? What are the implications of Jesus’ lordship over our lives and the lives of others?

Over the next several months, I plan to share more thoughts about discipleship in this column.

^{* Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture, Harper and Row, 1951.}

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Nonconformity

Discipleship

Christianity

Christianity

��ñ���� Press Honored With Multiple Book of the Year Awards

��ñ���� Press Honored With Multiple Book of the Year Awards

Research on College Students and Faith

Research on College Students and Faith

Only Dead Fish Swim with the Current

Only Dead Fish Swim with the Current

��ñ�� Press Honored With Multiple Book of the Year Awards

��ñ�� Press Honored With Multiple Book of the Year Awards