Books

Enduring Friendship

Friendships are difficult.

Sometimes it can seem as if friends are more work and pain than they're worth, with friendship challenges that we have to endure and struggle through. Life gets in the way of our well-intentioned efforts to connect. Conflicts and differences over serious issues divide us and make us think that we could never be close to a person ever again. In today's cancel culture, it's easy to give up on people and just walk away, leaving us all more isolated than before. How can we build real relationships that are life giving and pass the test of time?

Bryan Loritts mines one of the Bible's least-known books for insights into how friendships can flourish even in the midst of sin and brokenness. With careful exposition and insight, he unpacks how the apostle Paul helped Philemon and Onesimus reconcile a most unlikely relationship with truth, repentance, and grace. With God’s work and steadfast love, even the most painful relationships that have ruptured are not beyond the reach of forgiveness and reconciliation. Discover how friendships that are hard can be transformed into friendships that endure.

 

The Offensive Church

Crises around race have put the church in a defensive posture, always reacting to racial conflicts in society. But Jesus wants more. He wants Christians to play offense by discipling people into a new humanity, where we push beyond mere diversity and into a biblical vision for ethnic unity.

Bryan Loritts calls Christians to proactively and intentionally live out the embodied reality of a people at one with one another. We play offense by practicing a robust gospel, preparing reliable leadership, and providing relational environments so that the church becomes the aroma of Christ to our culture and gains ground against the demonic foothold of racism in all its forms.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
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The Dad Difference

What does it take to be a great dad?

The world is full of examples of men who weren’t there for their kids. But there are good and even great dads out there, who inspire their children and the men around them to reach for more. How do you become a dad like that—even if your own dad wasn’t such a good example?

In The Dad Difference, Bryan Loritts explores the four gifts every kid needs from their dad: relationship, integrity, teaching, and experiences. He walks you through what each of these mean and how to put them into practice. He also shares stories of fathers, including his own dad, who were examples of this to him. Full of biblical wisdom, simple truths, and practical advice, this book will empower you to become a dad who makes a difference in the lives of your children.

 
 
 

Insider Outsider

God boldly proclaims throughout the book of Acts, "There is no ethnic home team when it comes to Christianity." But the minority experience in America today--and throughout history--too often tells a different story.

When Pastor Bryan Loritts wrote an op-ed piece in Christianity Today about this "evangelical gentrification" in the American church, he received an overwhelming response of more than one million views and sparked a provocative national conversation. In Insider Outsider, Loritts dives deeper into what it's like to be a person of color in predominantly white evangelical spaces today and where we go from here. Drawing on insightful snapshots through history, eye-opening personal experiences, and biblical exposition, Loritts awakens both our minds and hearts to the painful reality of racial divides as well as the hope of forgiveness.


Saving the Saved

In Saving the Saved, Pastor Bryan Loritts reveals the astonishing truth that God doesn’t want your spiritual scorekeeping. He simply wants your surrender. The punchline of the gospel of Matthew is just that—a message of grace and performance-free love to do-good, try-harder Jews who thought they had to earn their way into God’s favor. It’s an ancient message, yet it can be a lifeline to us today as we live in a world of performance metrics. Just as Matthew wrote to the Jews in his gospel, we were never meant to flounder under the pressures and anxieties of show Christianity. Make no mistake: we are called to live in obedience, but Jesus wants us to save us from the illusion that our actions can ever earn God’s acceptance of us.

 
 
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Letters to a Birmingham Jail

A Response to the Words and Dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

More than fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Much has transpired in the half-century since, and progress has been made in the issues that were close to Dr. King’s heart. Thankfully, the burning crosses, biting police dogs, and angry mobs of that day are long gone. But in their place, passivity has emerged. A passivity that must be addressed.

That’s the aim of Letters to a Birmingham Jail. A collection of essays written by men of various ethnicities and ages, this book encourages us to pursue Christ exalting diversity. Each contribution recognizes that only the cross and empty tomb of Christ can bring true unity, and each notes that the gospel demands justice in all its forms. This was a truth that Dr. King fought and gave his life for, and this is a truth that these modern day "drum majors for justice" continue to beat.

 
 

A Cross-Shaped Gospel

Reconciling Heaven and Earth

Today’s church is continually being confronted with the question, “What is the gospel?” Many churches answer this through strong exposition of biblical truth. Others answer with a focus on community engagement. But doesn’t Christ call us to do both?

The covenant of salvation demands a radical re-patterning of relationships. Bryan Lorrits, a pastor in the heart of one of America’s historically racially divided urban centers, seizes the opportunity to engage God, the church, and culture in ways that may challenge your beliefs, practices, and relationships.

A Cross-Shaped Gospel clearly articulates the vertical dimension of the Christian faith, as well as looking at the horizontal implications of salvation for growth, service, and community. It provokes readers to think about the implications of living out their faith. What does the gospel mean for issues of: Political engagement, Class distinctions, Race Relations.

 
 
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God on Paper

The Bible is the most quoted book in the western world, and likely the most misunderstood. It is often thought to be little more than religious mythology, or a collection of moral and ethical guidelines, or a series of quaint but irrelevant legends.

But what if the Bible were read on its own terms, as a highly personal and unbelievably passionate love story? What if the Bible is really a wild tale of relentless pursuit, the diary of a God who can’t bear to be separated from the people he loves?

In God on Paper you’ll share in a conversation that takes a new look at Scripture, a dialogue that entertains doubts and questions about the value–and the validity–of the Bible. And you’ll encounter an amazing love story of divine proportions.

 
 

RIGHT COLOR, WRONG CULTURE

A LEADERSHIP FABLE

Increasingly, leaders recognize the benefit of multi-ethnic organizations and are compelled to hire diverse individuals who will help them reflect a new America.

In his address at a Global Leadership Summit, Bryan Loritts challenged leaders to have a vision that is about more than the stuff that perishes—to have a vision for making sacrifices that make a difference and help to bring about transformation in the lives of others.

He brings a similar challenge to leaders in this fable of self-discovery and change, as he explores the central, critical problem leaders often encounter when transitioning their church, business, or organization to reflect a multi-ethnic reality: finding a leader who is willing to immerse themselves in the environments and lives of people who are different from them.

In Right Color, Wrong Culture you enter into a conversation between individuals who are grappling with changing neighborhoods while struggling to remain relevant within communities growing in diversity. You journey with Gary and Peter as they challenge those around them to reach beyond what is comfortable and restructure their leadership team.

Known for his passion to build diversity in organizations, Bryan Loritts equips you to identify the right person needed in order for your organizations to become multi-ethnic.

 
 
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