A brief and balanced introduction and response to the culture of woke for busy people.

I know of no other book that explains so clearly, with so lively a pen, and with such economy the various intellectual currents that are now disturbing our cultural peace. What is even rarer is that the author grinds no axes, treating both sides of the culture wars with thoughtful charity and a deeply Christian intelligence. 'Woke' has important things to say and it does so in a highly readable manner.

- Nigel Biggar, Ph.D., Regius Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology, University of Oxford

WOKE: AN EVANGELICAL GUIDE-

• introduces and explains a range of key ideas, from postmodernity to political correctness, which define aspects of woke culture;
• offers Christian reflection and practical advice to parents, students, pastors, educators, policymakers, and any other concerned citizens; and
• helps faithful Christians respond to those issues with clarity, charity, vigour, and effectiveness.

John G. Stackhouse, Jr. (Ph.D., The University of Chicago)

Is an award-winning scholar, educator, speaker, and consultant. He has lectured at leading universities (from Harvard to Hong Kong), authored more than a dozen books, and addressed executives in Seoul, religious leaders in Jerusalem, pastors in Bangalore, teachers in Calgary, lawyers in Aspen, and physicians in Vancouver.

What are Christians to be and to do in the world? What does faithfulness look like in these complex and confusing times?

Christians are often told either to take over the world in God's name or to withdraw into faithful sanctuaries of counter-cultural witness. John Stackhouse offers a concise, vivid, and practical alternative based on the teachings of Scripture about the meaning of human life in this world and the next.

Why You're Here provides an accessible, concrete program for the faithful Christian living in today's world, fraught as it is with ambiguity, irony, and frequent choices among unpalatable options. Stackhouse speaks directly to everyday Christians who are searching for straightforward advice on some of their most complex quandaries and the challenges inherent in staying true to the Bible's teachings.

Politicians, medical professionals, businesspeople, professors, lawyers, pastors, students, and anyone else concerned to think realistically and hopefully about Christian engagement in society today will find here a framework to both guide and inspire them in everyday life.

The following observations are offered to the rest of the church as the commendations and provocations of a loyal church member, not as the flatteries or insults of an outsider. They are offered in love-and exasperation, and longing, and even a bit of pique at times-in the hopes that the church somewhere, somehow, will be the better for them. -from the preface John Stackhouse's collection of short writings will be an invigorating reading experience for everyone, from pastors to laity, who loves the church in spite of its eccentricities and excesses. Heavily sprinkled with satire and wit, Church offers plenty of food for thought on topics such as worship, preaching, leadership, money, membership, literacy, and even summertime events (or the lack thereof). It is straightforward and practical, written by one of the keenest observers of the North American church scene. While Stackhouse is shameless about bringing both the good and the ugly to light in his provocative reflections, he is also shamelessly passionate about making the church an even better, more inviting, place to be.

Since the birth of evangelicalism in the eighteenth century, it has defined itself as a movement keenly interested in salvation. What, however, has the evangelical understanding of salvation been? What is it today? What should it be? What Does It Mean to Be Saved? marshals leading evangelical scholars to probe these questions with the goal of encouraging a more holistic understanding of salvation. Each chapter introduces a distinctive point of view on an aspect of redemption. Issues addressed in the volume include individual and corporate salvation, salvation with regard to women, the poor, the oppressed, and the natural world.

Since the birth of evangelicalism in the eighteenth century, it has defined itself as a movement keenly interested in salvation. What, however, has the evangelical understanding of salvation been? What is it today? What should it be? What Does It Mean to Be Saved? marshals leading evangelical scholars to probe these questions with the goal of encouraging a more holistic understanding of salvation. Each chapter introduces a distinctive point of view on an aspect of redemption. Issues addressed in the volume include individual and corporate salvation, salvation with regard to women, the poor, the oppressed, and the natural world.

Canadians usually associate evangelical Protestantism with television evangelists and the new religious right in American politics. In this first portrait of Canadian evangelicalism in the twentieth century, John Stackhouse argues that Canadian is far from being either an echo of an American phenomenon or a residue of the British heritage, but instead is distinctly Canadian. He also points out the Canadian evangelicalism has been become a powerful force in contemporary Canadian religion.

Stackhouse disputes the church-sect typology of previous studies and also challenges the accepted wisdom that flamboyant preachers like the fundamentalist T.T. Shields and preacher-turned-politician William Aberhart represent evangelicalism in Canada. On the contrary, he says, the true character of the tradition is more accurately found in Bible schools like the internationally known Prairie Bible Institute and the Ontario Bible College, seminaries such as Regent College and Ontario Theological Seminary, liberal arts institutions like Trinity Western University, student ministries such as the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, and cooperative organizations typified by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

This book complements current studies of Canadian evangelicalism in earlier periods and is informed by recent scholarship in Canadian, American, and British religion. It brings fresh insights to a field that is drawing increasing interest.

What should be the Christian's attitude toward society? When so much of our contemporary culture is at odds with Christian beliefs and mores, it may seem that serious Christians now have only two choices: transform society completely according to Christian values or retreat into the cloister of sectarian fellowship.

In Making the Best of It, John Stackhouse explores the history of the Christian encounter with society, the biblical record, and various theological models of cultural engagement to offer a more balanced and fruitful alternative to these extremes. He argues that, rather than trying to root up the weeds in the cultural field, or trying to shun them, Christians should practice persistence in gardening God's world and building toward the New Jerusalem. Examining the lives and works of C. S. Lewis, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer for example and direction, Stackhouse suggests that our mission is to make the most of life in the world in cooperation with God's own mission of redeeming the world he loves. This model takes seriously the pattern of God's activity in the Bible, and in subsequent history, of working through earthly means--through individuals, communities, and institutions that are deeply flawed but nonetheless capable of accomplishing God's purposes. Christians must find a way to live in this world and at the same time do work that honors God and God's plan for us.

In an era of increasing religious and cultural tensions, both internationally and domestically, the model that Stackhouse develops discourages the all or nothing attitudes that afflict so much of contemporary Christianity. Instead, he offers a fresh, and refreshingly nuanced, take on the question of what it means to be a Christian in the world today.