Mark Ellingsen

Rescuing Our Country and Our Values from the Right-- Strategies for a Post-Bush America

When Did Jesus Become Republican?

The most inclusive church history text on the market today — it pays special attention to Christianity in the southern hemisphere, Eastern Orthodoxy, the church among minority cultures in North America, and the role of women in church history.

Martin Luther to Martin Luther King

Reclaiming Our Roots -- Volume 2

This volume is a unique interpretation of what Martin Luther contributes to renewed appreciation of Biblical diversity. The Church in the West is struggling. One reason behind this is that the prevailing models for Theology have imposed logical and modern ways of thinking about faith that renders theology academic, and therefore largely irrelevant for daily life. By letting the first Reformer speak for himself in this book, Mark Ellingsen shows how Martin Luther’s theological approach can reform the Church’s theology today. The real Luther-not the one taught by his various systematic interpreters-presents Christian faith in its entirety, with all its rough edges, in such a way as to direct on how and when to employ those dimensions of the Biblical witness most appropriate for the situation in which we find ourselves.

Reforming Reformation Theology for the 21st Century

Martin Luther's Legacy

Christianity is in decline in North America and Europe. Polls indicate that in the US the fastest-growing segment of the American population is the religiously unaffiliated (the so-called Nones). Why is this happening? Mark Ellingsen calls our attention to a previously overlooked reason--the flawed theology and Christian education material used in most mainline churches. These approaches forfeit the transcendence of God. They logically fall prey to the claim of German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach (and his student Karl Marx) that Christianity is nothing more than a bunch of teachings that human beings have made up. Insofar as this is a message the public has been hearing, little wonder Christianity in America and Europe is losing ground! Though his main concern is to get church and academy talking about this problem and to prod us to do something about it, Ellingsen proposes a way out of this mess. Drawing on insights from the neo-orthodox, postliberal, progressive evangelical, and black church traditions, he offers a proposal that succeeds in making clear that God is more than how we experience him. He invites readers to explore with him the exciting possibility that a theological use of the scientific method could be employed to make a case for the plausibility of Christian faith.

That’s Why American and European Christianity Are in Such a Funk

Ever Hear of Feuerbach?

Mark Ellingsen dares you to go ahead and sin bravely! In this refreshing and unique book, he challenges the religious legalism pervasive throughout American evangelicalism today and encourages a new understanding of what it means to be both a Christian and a human being. Equipped with the joyful, rebellious vision of Martin Luther, father of the Protestant reformation, and the latest in neuroscientific research, Ellingsen offers a new approach for healthy living - one opposed to the duty-oriented, selfish and stifling conception of faith that has gained such a strong foothold in contemporary American culture. It is an approach that fully embraces the active role that God's grace plays in each person's life and the fun and freedom one gains from it. Beginning with the first theological analysis of Rick Warren's brand of Christianity, this book exposes the burdens and narcissism that purpose-driven and duty-bound living encourages, and includes the purveyors of the Prosperity Gospel, taught by such influential preachers like Joel Osteen, in his critique. Ellingsen writes that brave sinners, aware of God's grace in their lives, instead say "no" to narcissism and "yes" to healthy risk-taking that gets beyond selfish desires to the desire to help one another. When people sin bravely, acknowledging that everything done is done in sin with God's saving grace acting upon them, people can learn to recognize God. This awareness leads to freedom and joy, since the pressure is now removed to do and be good. In addition, total dependence on God entails a self-forgetfulness that leads to happiness. The more boldly someone acknowledges their sin, in failing to take credit for the good they have done, the more focused on God the individual becomes. Correspondingly, this self-forgetful lifestyle is a promising counter-cultural alternative to the cultural narcissism, which so dominate in many segments of contemporary American society. This book demonstrates both how and why brave sinning leads to joy, and in so doing offers readers practical advice on living this way. Ellingsen also cites recent neurobiological findings showing that when people forget themselves in order to focus on bigger projects, the pleasure centers of the brain are stimulated and people become happier and more content. It is this joyous risk-taking that he suggests brings people closer together, closer to God, and closer to a better understanding of themselves. Sin Bravely dares to be that joyful alternative to the purpose driven life.

A Joyful Alternative to a Purpose-Driven Life

Sin Bravely

After almost a millennium and a half, scholars are rediscovering the theological roots of Christianity in ancient North Africa! But we still have a long way to go in bringing these insights to the Church's consciousness. What has been needed is a careful but accessible analysis of what the great theologians of the region prior to and contemporary with Augustine actually taught about the faith, and why what they said still matters today. African Christian Mothers and Fathers is precisely the book we have needed, an explanation of the theology of these great, though in some cases forgotten, early church leaders for scholars, seminarians, pastors, and laity. Mark Ellingsen, author of an acclaimed book on the thought and life of Augustine, takes readers on an insightful tour of the theological landscape of North Africa and its thought from the late first through the early fifth centuries, and brings us back to the present enriched with ancient but fresh ideas for living the faith.

Why They Matter for the Church Today

African Christian Mothers and Fathers

After almost a millennium and a half, scholars are rediscovering the theological roots of Christianity in ancient North Africa! But we still have a long way to go in bringing these insights to the Church's consciousness. What has been needed is a careful but accessible analysis of what the great theologians of the region prior to and contemporary with Augustine actually taught about the faith, and why what they said still matters today. African Christian Mothers and Fathers is precisely the book we have needed, an explanation of the theology of these great, though in some cases forgotten, early church leaders for scholars, seminarians, pastors, and laity. Mark Ellingsen, author of an acclaimed book on the thought and life of Augustine, takes readers on an insightful tour of the theological landscape of North Africa and its thought from the late first through the early fifth centuries, and brings us back to the present enriched with ancient but fresh ideas for living the faith. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

Wayne Brouwer

Charles L. Aaron, Jr.

Lee Griess

Chris Ewing

Five outstanding preachers from diverse denominations skillfully weave together scripture with dynamic stories and illustrations to create eloquent messages for every Sunday and major celebration in the church year. Combining deep biblical grounding with an astute understanding of the meaning of Jesus' message and ministry for contemporary living, these insightful sermons pull readers into God's Word and engage both the mind and the heart. Offering a vision of God's unconditional love and the grace-filled life, this collection of model messages from an experienced group of master preachers passionately proclaims the Good News, provides a wealth of sermon seeds, and revitalizes the faith of anyone who reads them.

Cycle A

Sermons on the Gospel Readings

Ellingsen demonstrates that awareness of sin is shown to lead to freedom and joy, as the pressure is removed to do and be good all the time.

Mark Ellingsen

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