We live in a time of war. From Baghdad, New York, and London, to Buenos Aires, Tokyo, and Kabul, the fabric of human society is being torn apart by hatred and greed, and almost everyone is nervous about something – if not droughts or floods, then the stock market, or another terrorist attack.

That’s why we put together this e-book: as an antidote to fear, and to the isolation and mistrust it breeds. The passages in this e-book were selected by Church Communities International members. (If they told us why they chose a particular quote, we included their comments.) Some passages pertain to the events of September 11, 2001; others to escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere. Still others address the broader themes of suffering, injustice, retribution, forgiveness, peace, and the eternal battle between evil and good.

Directly or indirectly, all of them sound a common note: our faith that though there will be war and rumors of war, God ultimately directs the course of history and holds us in his hands. And he is not a God of fear, but of hope.

39 pages, 369 kb