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The prosperity movement has influenced millions of people in North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa through Pentecostal, Charismatic and nondenominational preachers in some of the largest churches in the world. CNN, ABC, and Time magazine have examined the preachers and churches in this popular and controversial movement. Scholars and church leaders have studied it for more than two decades, producing dozens of books and articles on it. Considering the widespread popularity of the prosperity movement and the attention it is given by its critics, Brogdon asks, «Is prosperity preaching the new Pentecostal message?» In order to answer this question, one has to examine the prosperity movement as a Pentecostal movement instead of a Word of Faith movement that is a revised form of New Thought metaphysics and Science of Mind. Brogdon provides an introduction to the prosperity movement as a Pentecostal movement. He asks important questions in the study of the prosperity movement, such as who popularized prosperity teaching, Oral Roberts or Ken Hagin? Do all Pentecostals agree with the prosperity doctrine? Is prosperity teaching good news to the poor? Has prosperity replaced the emphasis on the Holy Spirit? The answers may surprise you.

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African Americans have always wrestled with hopelessness. Yet in the face of hopelessness, African Americans fought for hope that America can be a land of equality, opportunity, and justice. The fight for hope has been difficult and has taken a toll on African Americans. Today the signs of hopelessness abound in black communities across the nation as an increasing number of leaders express concern about a pervasive problem that they could not identify. Beyond the continuing injustices and inequities linked to systemic racism, they recognize a growing internal apathy in African Americans. This internal apathy is nihilism, the embrace of nothingness, meaninglessness, and internalized oppression. Nihilism has been slowly emerging since the 1980s and is the reason there is an increasing number of blacks who turn to defeating and destructive behaviors that only worsen their plight. In nihilism's wake, leaders and communities are left trying to help people who have turned on themselves and abandoned hope that things can get better.
The first step toward hope requires an understanding of hopelessness. Only then can we step into a world that pushes people to the brink and hope to make a difference. Hope on the Brink offers an exploration into this hopelessness.

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When is the last time you heard a sermon, Bible study, or even read the Letter to Philemon? For some the answer is «recently» but for too many the answer is «it has been a long time» or worse yet «never.» Why is it that Philemon, though included in the Christian canon, is not read and studied as a text with theological depth that is helpful for serious study and preaching? In A Companion to Philemon, Lewis Brogdon insists that a part of the reason is the interpretation that Paul is sending a thieving runaway slave back to his good master. This interpretation is not only problematic, it is also theologically limiting and offers the church very little to reflect on as we face mammoth issues of inclusion and fellowship such as racism, sexism, and classism. A Companion to Philemon challenges the church to reimagine the interpretation of Philemon by focusing on the role exclusion had in the events that led to his departure from Philemon. Using the issue of exclusion, Brogdon takes the interpretation of Philemon in new directions that not only invite the church to read Philemon but also challenge us to examine both our understanding and practice of Christian fellowship today.

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