As rich and thoughtful as all of Brian McLaren's work, but with a particular urgency! --Bill McKibben

Riveting. Challenging. Brave. Devastating. Hopeful. --Rabbi Sharon Brous, IKAR, author of The Amen Effect

A deeply insightful exploration of how to live with wisdom, resilience and love in our turbulent times

For the last quarter-century, author and activist Brian D. McLaren has been writing at the intersection of religious faith and contemporary culture. In Life After Doom, he engages with the catastrophic failure of both our religious and political leaders to address the dominant realities of our time: ecological overshoot, economic injustice, and the increasing likelihood of civilizational collapse. McLaren defines doom as the un-peaceful, uneasy, unwanted feeling that we humans have made a mess of our civilization and our planet, and not enough of us seem to care enough to change deeply enough or quickly enough to save ourselves.

Blending insights from philosophers, poets, scientists, and theologians, Life After Doom explores the complexity of hope, the necessity of grief, and the need for new ways of thinking, becoming, and belonging in turbulent times. If you want to help yourself, your family, and the communities to which you belong to find courage and resilience for the deeply challenging times that are upon us -- this is the book you need right now.

From critically acclaimed author Brian McLaren comes a brilliant retelling of the biblical story and a thrilling reintroduction to Christian faith.

This book offers everything you need to explore what a difference an honest, living, growing faith can make in our world today. It also puts tools in your hands to create a life-changing learning community in any home, restaurant, or other welcoming space.

The fifty-two (plus a few) weekly readings can each be read aloud in 10 to 12 minutes and offer a simple curriculum of insightful reflections and transformative practices. Organized around the traditional church year, these readings give an overview of the whole Bible and guide an individual or a group of friends through a year of rich study, interactive learning, and personal growth.

Perfect for home churches, congregations, classes, or individual study, each reading invites you to

• Cultivate an honest, intelligent understanding of the Bible and of Christian faith in 21st century
• Engage with discussion questions designed to challenge, stimulate, and encourage
• Reimagine what it means to live joyfully and responsibly in today's world as agents of God's justice, creativity, and peace

If you're seeking a fresh way to experience and practice your faith, if you're a long-term Christian seeking new vitality, or if you feel out of place in traditional church circles, this book will inspire and activate you in your spiritual journey.

Discover afresh the transforming message of Jesus--an epic story that is good news for everyone, whatever their gender, race, class, politics, or religion.

What if many have carried on a religion that somewhere along the way missed the rich and radical treasures hidden in the essential message of Jesus?

When Brian McLaren began offering an alternative vision of Christian faith and life in books such as A New Kind of Christian and A Generous Orthodoxy, he ignited a firestorm of praise and condemnation that continues to spread across the religious landscape. To some religious conservatives, McLaren is a dangerous rebel without a doctrinally-correct cause. Some fundamentalist websites have even claimed he's in league with the devil and have consigned him to flames.

To others though, Brian is a fresh voice, a welcome antidote to the staleness, superficiality, and negativity of the religious status quo. A wide array of people from Evangelical, Catholic, and Mainline Protestant backgrounds claim that through his books they have begun to rediscover the faith they'd lost or rejected. And around the world, many readers say that he has helped them find--for the first time in their lives--a faith that makes sense and rings true. For many, he articulates the promise of what is being called emerging Christianity.

In The Secret Message of Jesus you'll find what's at the center of Brian's critique of conventional Christianity, and what's at the heart of his expanding vision. In the process, you'll meet a Jesus who may be altogether new to you, a Jesus who is...

• Not the crusading conqueror of religious broadcasting
• Not the religious mascot of partisan religion
• Not heaven's ticket-checker, whose words have been commandeered by the church to include and exclude, judge and stigmatize, pacify and domesticate

McLaren invites you to discover afresh the transforming message of Jesus--an open invitation to radical change, an enlightening revelation that exposes sham and ignites hope, an epic story that is good news for everyone, whatever their gender, race, class, politics, or religion.

Pastor and best-selling author McLaren revisits the gospel material from a fresh-and at times radical-perspective . . . He does an excellent job of capturing Jesus' quiet, revolutionary style.

--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Here McLaren shares his own ferocious journey in pondering the teachings and actions of Jesus. It is McLaren's lack of salesmanship or agenda that creates a refreshing picture of the man from Galilee who changed history.

--Donald Miller, Author of Blue Like Jazz

In this critical book, Brian challenges us to ask what it would mean to truly live the message of Jesus today, and thus to risk turning everything upside down.

--Jim Wallis, Author of God's Politics and editor of Sojourners

Compelling, crucial and liberating: a book for those who seek to experience the blessed heat of Christianity at its source.

--Anne Rice, Author of Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt

Dubbed a heroic gate-crasher by New York Times bestselling author Glennon Doyle, Brian D. McLaren explores reasons to leave or stay within the church and if so how...

Brian's new book on remaining Christian knocks it out of the ballpark in terms of framing and naming the questions. I cannot stop reading it. Thank you, Brian!
--Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, author of The Universal Christ

Any thoughtful Christian has been asking the questions McLaren tackles here, but many of us are afraid to voice them aloud. In Do I Stay Christian? we're gifted a gentle guide who opens ideas and voices the questions we cannot, naming our frustration, fear, and hesitant hope.
--Rev. Dr. Amy Butler, former Senior Minister, The Riverside Church; Founder, Invested Faith

Do I Stay Christian? addresses in public the powerful question that surprising numbers of people--including pastors, priests, and other religious leaders--are asking in private. Brian McLaren is not attempting to persuade Christians to dig in their heels or run for the exit. Instead, he combines his own experience with that of thousands of people who have confided in him over the years to help readers make a responsible, honest, ethical decision about their religious identity. There is a way to say both yes and no to the question of staying Christian, McLaren says, by shifting the focus from whether we stay Christian to how we stay human. If Do I Stay Christian? is the question you're asking--or if it's a question that someone you love is asking--this is the book you've been waiting for.

From the author of A New Kind of Christianity comes a bold proposal: only doubt can save the world--and your faith.

An honest, vital conversation... will help you live fuller and breathe easier. He illuminates the reality that belief and doubt are not opposites --Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of Love Warrior

Important book...Helps you find a deeper and wiser faith --Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, author of The Universal Christ

Sixty-five million adults in the U.S. have dropped out of active church attendance and about 2.7 million more are leaving every year. Faith After Doubt is for the millions of people around the world who feel that their faith is falling apart.

Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality. He proposes a four-stage model of faith development in which questions and doubt are not the enemy of faith, but rather a portal to a more mature and fruitful kind of faith. The four stages--Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony--offer a path forward that can help sincere and thoughtful people leave behind unnecessary baggage and intensify their commitment to what matters most.

A beautifully illustrated children's book that shows us all how to find a new way forward in a world that can be scary for kids and adults alike, from the acclaimed author of Faith After Doubt and the beloved storyteller behind How Not to be Afraid

Cory the raccoon and Cory's best friend Owl love their happy, peaceful village and want to keep it that way. But things begin to change for the worse when some of their neighbors, including Badger, Fox, and Weasel, become fierce and angry critters who fight and bully others in the village, driving away those who they deem dirty and bad.

It breaks Cory and Owl's hearts to see their village filled with anger, fear, and fighting--but what can they do? A wise visitor named Switfhorse arrives and helps Cory and Owl understand six old stories that explain what is happening:

The story of power to dominate,
the story of striking back with fury and hate,
the story of running to find a safe place,
or pointing at others to shame and disgrace,
or being stuck in self-pity for the pain we've been through,
or of me having more Shiny Objects than you.

Finally, Cory and Owl find a way to reunite all of the villagers through a new story--the seventh story--where the story is peace and the hero is love! Children and parents alike will delight in this hope-filled tale that teaches us how we can all extend peace, love, and laughter to everyone we meet.

We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the church. Not since the Reformation five centuries ago have so many Christians come together to ask whether the church is in sync with their deepest beliefs and commitments. These believers range from evangelicals to mainline Protestants to Catholics, and the person who best represents them is author and pastor Brian McLaren.

In this much anticipated book, McLaren examines ten questions facing today's church--questions about how to articulate the faith itself, the nature of its authority, who God is, whether we have to understand Jesus through only an ancient Greco-Roman lens, what exactly the good news is that the gospel proclaims, how we understand the church and all its varieties, why we are so preoccupied with sex, how we should think of the future and people from other faiths, and the most intimidating question of all: what do we do next? Here you will find a provocative and enticing introduction to the Christian faith of tomorrow.

Dubbed a heroic gate-crasher by New York Times bestselling author Glennon Doyle, Brian D. McLaren explores reasons to leave or stay within the church and if so how...

Brian's new book on remaining Christian knocks it out of the ballpark in terms of framing and naming the questions. I cannot stop reading it. Thank you, Brian!
--Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, author of The Universal Christ

Any thoughtful Christian has been asking the questions McLaren tackles here, but many of us are afraid to voice them aloud. In Do I Stay Christian? we're gifted a gentle guide who opens ideas and voices the questions we cannot, naming our frustration, fear, and hesitant hope.
--Rev. Dr. Amy Butler, former Senior Minister, The Riverside Church; Founder, Invested Faith

Do I Stay Christian? addresses in public the powerful question that surprising numbers of people--including pastors, priests, and other religious leaders--are asking in private. Picking up where Faith After Doubt leaves off, Do I Stay Christian? is not McLaren's attempt to persuade Christians to dig in their heels or run for the exit. Instead, he combines his own experience with that of thousands of people who have confided in him over the years to help readers make a responsible, honest, ethical decision about their religious identity.

There is a way to say both yes and no to the question of staying Christian, McLaren says, by shifting the focus from whether we stay Christian to how we stay human. If Do I Stay Christian? is the question you're asking--or if it's a question that someone you love is asking--this is the book you've been waiting for.

When four religious leaders walk across the road, it's not the beginning of a joke. It's the start of one of the most important conversations in today's world.

Can you be a committed Christian without having to condemn or convert people of other faiths? Is it possible to affirm other religious traditions without watering down your own?

In his most important book yet, widely acclaimed author and speaker Brian McLaren proposes a new faith alternative, one built on benevolence and solidarity rather than rivalry and hostility. This way of being Christian is strong but doesn't strong-arm anyone, going beyond mere tolerance to vigorous hospitality toward, interest in, and collaboration with the other.

Blending history, narrative, and brilliant insight, McLaren shows readers step-by-step how to reclaim this strong-benevolent faith, challenging us to stop creating barriers in the name of God and learn how affirming other religions can strengthen our commitment to our own. And in doing so, he invites Christians to become more Christ-like than ever before.

The Christian story, from Genesis until now, is fundamentally about people on the move--outgrowing old, broken religious systems and embracing new, more redemptive ways of life.

It's time to move again.

Brian McLaren, a leading voice in contemporary religion, argues that-- notwithstanding the dire headlines about the demise of faith and drop in church attendance--Christian faith is not dying. Rather, it is embarking on a once-in-an-era spiritual shift. For millions, the journey has already begun.

Drawing from his work as global activist, pastor, and public theologian, McLaren challenges readers to stop worrying, waiting, and indulging in nostalgia, and instead, to embrace the powerful new understandings that are reshaping the church. In The Great Spiritual Migration, he explores three profound shifts that define the change:

∙ Spiritually, growing numbers of Christians are moving away from defining themselves by lists of beliefs and toward a way of life defined by love
∙ Theologically, believers are increasingly rejecting the image of God as a violent Supreme Being and embracing the image of God as the renewing Spirit at work in our world for the common good
∙ Missionally, the faithful are identifying less with organized religion and more with organizing religion--spiritual activists dedicated to healing the planet, building peace, overcoming poverty and injustice, and collaborating with other faiths to ensure a better future for all of us

With his trademark brilliance and compassion, McLaren invites readers to seize the moment and set out on the most significant spiritual pilgrimage of our time: to help Christianity become more Christian.

Brian McLaren, mencionado como uno de los 25 evangélicos más influyentes en los Estados Unidos por la Revista TIME regresa y esta vez para llevar a los lectores en una travesía que será turbulenta y estremecedora, como también emocionante y transformadora. Sin temor a la controversia o a los tabúes de la vida, McLaren busca encontrar la esencia del mensaje de Jesús, aunque esto signifique un vuelco a nuestras ideas convencionales, prioridades y prácticas.

Discover a fresh vision of what it means to be a person of faith and see what happens when Jesus' Good News collides with a world in need.

How can the life and teachings of Jesus impact the most critical global problems in our world today?

For the last twenty years, Brian McLaren has been unable to escape this life-shaping question. In Everything Must Change, he unveils a fresh and provocative vision of Jesus and his teachings, and how his message of hope can ignite purpose and passion to change the economic, environmental, military, political, and social crises that have overtaken our world.

The Good News is more than a ticket to heaven. It is an invitation to personal change and a radical challenge for global transformation. Imagine what would happen:

• If we believed that God's will really could be done on earth and not just in heaven
• If the world's leading nations spent less on weapons and more on making peace, alleviating poverty, and caring for creation
• If a renewed understanding of Jesus and his message sparked a profound spiritual awakening in a global movement of faith, hope, and love

If you are hungry for a fresh vision of what it means to be a person of faith, Everything Must Change shows what would happen when Jesus' Good News collides with a world in need.

Why have certain spiritual disciplines been in use for centuries, and why are they so important?

It is questionable if one can ever be exactly the same person waking up on two consecutive days. How are spiritual sojourners to cope with the constant change? Many are beginning to explore the ancient Christian spiritual practices, such as fixed-hour prayer, fasting and sincere observance of the Sabbath. What is causing this hunger for deeper spirituality?

Brian McLaren guides us on this quest for an explanation of these spiritual practices, many of which go all the way back to Abraham and the establishment of Israel. In the midst of contemporary Christianity, we discover the beauty of these disciplines and the transformation through Christ that each can provide.

Includes foreword by Phyllis Tickle and leads into seven additional titles, The Ancient Practices, a classic series featuring some of the leading writers on spirituality in the world today.

Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, catholic, green, incarnational, depressed- yet hopeful, emergent, unfinished Christian. A confession and manifesto from a senior leader in the emerging church movement. A Generous Orthodoxycalls for a radical, Christ-centered orthodoxy of faith and practice in a missional, generous spirit. Brian McLaren argues for a post-liberal, post-conservative, post-protestant convergence, which will stimulate lively interest and global conversation among thoughtful Christians from all traditions. In a sweeping exploration of belief, author Brian McLaren takes us across the landscape of faith, envisioning an orthodoxy that aims for Jesus, is driven by love, and is defined by missional intent. A Generous Orthodoxy rediscovers the mysterious and compelling ways that Jesus can be embraced across the entire Christian horizon. Rather than establishing what is and is not orthodox, McLaren walks through the many traditions of faith, bringing to the center a way of life that draws us closer to Christ and to each other. Whether you find yourself inside, outside, or somewhere on the fringe of Christianity, A Generous Orthodoxy draws you toward a way of living that looks beyond the us/them paradigm to the blessed and ancient paradox of we. Also available on abridged audio CD, read by the author.

Bestselling author Brian D. McLaren followed his love of nature (specifically, tortoises) all the way to the Galapagos Islands. There, he paid close attention to the flora and fauna around him but also to what was happening within him, how the natural world awakened his soul in a way that organized religion could not. McLaren's descriptions of birds and reptiles, fish and flowers sing; he walks in the footsteps of Charles Darwin and grieves that Darwin has been demonized by his fellow Christians; and he reflects on how his own faith has evolved in the years since he left the pastorate.

McLaren writes in the spirit of Aldo Leopold and Wendell Berry, weaving together the spiritual and the material. Even though most readers will never visit the Galapagos Islands, they can travel with McLaren and experience the beauty and fragility of this extraordinary place.

When I began researching the subject of bias, I was simply trying to make sense of some disturbing things I saw happening around me in the political and religious worlds. I had no idea that my research would turn into an extended essay in the form of a short e-book Why Don't They Get It? Overcoming Bias in Others - and Yourself. Nor did I expect that that extended essay would inspire a podcast, Learning How to See, co-hosted with my dear friends and colleagues Fr. Richard Rohr & Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis. And never in my wildest dreams could I have guessed that Tim Gilman, Creative Director for the Common Good Coalition would invite me to team up with our mutual friend Rev. Dr. Samual Lee, who, in addition to his extraordinary leadership in a congregation and university, is also an artist with a deep love of photography.

The idea for this book is simple: As you reflect on each of the thirteen biases we'll cover, you'll find a photograph to savor. Let its composition and colors still you and then move you, and then start writing. You might write a prayer or a poem. You might tell a story. You might jot down some spontaneous reactions, or even a list of questions for further consideration.

One of my mentors says, Learning is not the consequence of teaching. (Or, I might add, writing and reading or listening to a podcast.) Learning is the consequence of thinking, he says. So, we offer you this book to assist you in thinking . . . thinking as you slow down and sit in quiet reflection . . . thinking as you write . . . thinking as you reflect on what you write.

In many ways, biases are shortcuts around thinking. They are ways our brains try to say, You're busy enough already. No need to think about this. Shortcuts are sometimes helpful, but sometimes, they lead to dangerous dead ends.

Thanks for your interest. Thanks for thinking, and learning!

One of my mentors says, Learning is not the consequence of teaching. (Or, I might add, writing and reading or listening to a podcast.) Learning is the consequence of thinking, he says. So, we offer you this book to assist you in thinking . . . thinking as you slow down and sit in quiet reflection . . . thinking as you write . . . thinking as you reflect on what you write.

Preface

1 in 4000

No, I have never thought that I was literally the only one going to heaven, but I might as well have.

There are approximately 2,000,000 members of the Church of Christ in the world. With a population of 7.9 billion people, this means I grew up with the impression that only .025% of the world's population was saved. For reasons I'll get into later, even this number is generous!

That means that one out of every four thousand people would go to heaven while everyone else was destined for eternal torment. Talk about a narrow way!

Thankfully, after a process that was both excruciating and exciting, I emerged from this way of viewing the world as a new person. I believe that those who have gone through similar experiences or may be on the verge of their own baptism of fire might gain encouragement from my story.

This book is also for those who may come from a more generous background but who would like to understand what a friend, family member, or colleague of theirs is going through.

It could also be helpful to someone who is interested in where Christianity is headed or who might sometimes be discouraged that it isn't going anywhere. If God can transform someone like me, then I have hope for anyone who is caught up in such a system.

I believe that as long as Christianity as a whole emphasizes beliefs, traditions, and doctrines, we will continue down the path of decline. It may be a slow death, but this type of system is simply unsustainable. We must shift our focus from beliefs back to a faith that expresses itself through love. If you feel this same sense of urgency, then this book is for you.

You might also be reading this book because you want to see why I changed as a way to prevent your own children, church members, or maybe even yourself from leaving your particular movement, church, or religious organization. I invite you to read both with a critical eye and an open heart. I fully realize that I could be totally wrong, and I welcome discussion, but I also ask that you maintain a healthy dose of humility as you read my story. You may just see yourself it. - Daniel Rogers

Using the metaphor of metamorphosis, Carbon Dharma calls for our occupation of the Earth as Butterflies, to undo the damage done by the human species in its present Caterpillar stage of existence. It diagnoses the reasons for our Caterpillar stage of existence as the misinterpretation of the fundamental principles that underlie our democracy and our industrial civilization. It posits that the solution to our predicament was already revealed in the first chapter of the Rig Veda, one of the oldest and foundational texts of human religion, and that we are doing the exact opposite of the Rig Veda's prescription in our modern consumer societies, following false Freudian assertions.The book is intended for the youth of this world who are facing some of the gravest challenges ever faced by any generation of human beings. It is also intended for all those who love the youth of this world, for the youth cannot solve these challenges on their own while their parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts continue to pile on more grave challenges for them to solve. While drawing upon the ancient Hindu concept of Dharma, or right action, the book weaves illustrative stories from the author's life and leads up to a global call to action, action of a very specific, focused kind. Rather than listing hundreds of change-light-bulb type actions that a lot of us have been doing disjointly, but somewhat ineffectively, it lists three specific actions that we can begin to do concertedly to make a difference. While changing the world is about changing ourselves, effecting social change requires such concerted action.

There have been times when you've felt that if there isn't a God, there ought to be. Swept up in the mystery of the night sky, you've felt the closeness of its designer. Nature's extravagant diversity, unfolding in living color, has made you long to know the artist who dreamed it all up.

Imagine what that might be like--to actually know God in a way that fills your heart and whispers tremendous value and purpose to something deep within you. But how can you experience a being you're not even sure exists? Religious jargon and games can't satisfy such a longing. It's got to be real . . . or nothing at all.

A Search for What Is Real helps you sort through the questions, objections, and concerns that arise when you consider God not as some theological abstraction, but as someone you can actually connect with . . . and want to connect with, perhaps more than you know.

FINDING FAITH

The Finding Faith books, A Search for What Makes Sense and A Search for What Is Real, don't try to tell you what to believe; they are guides in learning how to believe. If you think the spiritual journey requires turning your back on honesty and intellectual integrity, these two companion volumes will speak to both your mind and your soul.

Does having faith mean abandoning reason? It's easy to get that impression. Still, it seems reasonable that a supremely intelligent God would want you to use your God-given intellect on your spiritual journey as much as in any other aspect of your life.

Faith may not stand on rational thinking alone, but a solid faith should walk hand in hand with intellectual integrity.

• Does it really matter what I believe?
• What is the relationship between faith and knowledge?
• Why are there so many religions?
• Do all paths lead to the same God?

This book helps you sort through the questions, objections, and concerns you can't help but raise. A Search for What Makes Sense will help you think your way clearly and honestly to answers that satisfy because they're your answers--conclusions you've arrived at personally without manipulation, coercion, or game-playing.

For faith to exist and grow it's got to make sense--good sense, carefully-thought-out sense. And chances are it does.

FINDING FAITH

The Finding Faith books A Search for What Makes Sense and A Search for What Is Real don't try to tell you what to believe; they are guides in learning how to believe. If you think the spiritual journey requires turning your back on honesty and intellectual integrity, these two companion volumes will speak to both your mind and your soul.