Contemporary Issues

Controversy often seems incompatible with love. Tame discussions are thought to go hand in hand with kindness. But a simple review of the greatest saints from the Bible and from Church history shows how groundless such a view is. There are times in which a stern word is the most loving, kind, and gracious thing that can be offered. Granted, it is not always that time, for often gentle words or even no words at all are appropriate. But today is a day of controversies. It is time to speak and to do so boldly. If we love our neighbors as ourselves we must not remain silent.

In most cases, controversies get to be controversies because they treat something important. Few mature people will enter into a controversy over the flavor of toothpaste they deem best. One hears of churches splitting over the color of the new carpet to be purchased, but we hope that such is the rare exception. There are, however, issues and questions that are not insignificant. Matters of life and death confront us daily. In general, the more important a subject is the more likely folks are to get worked up when it is discussed. Controversy is not always evil. It is frequently an indication that we are getting to something important.

In the topics discussed below you will find much to “get worked up” over. It is not our intention to produce controversy for controversy’s sake, but rather to press for the important things. Nothing is more essential in our day than that Christian people recover their collective prophetic voice. It is shameful, in the face of the tragic and evil deeds being done in our land, for godly men and women to remain silent. We must lift up our voices. We must point out that the emperor really has no clothes. We must show our neighbors that the paths they are on will end in their eternal horror. We are ambassadors of King Jesus. He has sent us to announce His Gospel and the terms and standards of His Kingdom. How can we not speak?

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42 Items found Print
Active Filters: 6th grade (Ages 11-12), In-Stock Books & Materials
Across America on an Emigrant Train
by Jim Murphy
from Sandpiper Books
for 5th-8th grade
1994 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$10.95
Blowing-Wand
Land of the Free Series
by Elsie Reif Ziegler, illustrated by Jacob Landau
from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Bobby’s Friends
by Phia van den Berg
from Inheritance Publications
for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.95
Bound for America
Great Journeys
by Milton Meltzer
from Benchmark Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Built to Last
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$24.99
Chariot in the Sky
Land of the Free Series
by Arna Bontemps, illustrated by Cyrus Le Roy Baldridge
1st edition from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Coolies
by Yin, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet
from Puffin Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Transcontinental Railroad (Location: HISA-19TRR)
$7.99
Dreaming of America
by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by Ben Stahl
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Dreams in the Golden Country
Dear America
by Kathryn Lasky
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
First Farm in the Valley
by Anne Pellowski
from Bethlehem Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.50
Great Wheel
by Robert Lawson
from Walker and Company
Realistic fiction for 4th-8th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Growing Up in Coal Country
by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-9th grade
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$7.95
How I Became an American
by Karin Gundisch
from Cricket Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Immigrant Kids
by Russell Freedman
from Puffin Books
Non-fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$8.99
Immigrants to America
History of America
by Linda Thompson
from Rourke Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Irish Americans
by James Mullin
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-9th grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Jar of Dreams
by Yoshiko Uchida
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Journey to America
Journey to America Saga #1
by Sonia Levitin
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Journey to the New World
Dear America
by Kathryn, Lasky
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th Grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Kids on Strike!
by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$10.99
Letters from Rifka
by Karen Hesse
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Letters from Rifka
by Karen Hesse
from Square Fish Publishing
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Liberty
by Lynn Curlee
from Atheneum
for 4th-6th grade
in Landmarks & Symbols of the United States (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Life Before Birth
by Gary Parker
from Master Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Pregnancy & Infant Care (Location: PRE-INF)
$10.39
Mosque
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.99
Mosque
by David Macaulay
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Orphan for Nebraska
A Guild Book
by Charlene Joy Talbot
from Atheneum
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Orphan Train Rider
by Andrea Warren
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$9.95
Orphan Train Rider
by Andrea Warren
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Other Words for Home
by Jasmine Warga
First Ed from Balzer & Bray
for 4th-8th grade
2020 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
Penny from Heaven
by Jennifer L. Holm
from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
2007 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Prairie Star
by Nina Hermanna Morgan
from Viking Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Seek the Dark Gold
Land of the Free series
by Jo Evalin Lundy, illustrated by Edward Shenton
from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Sky at Our Feet
by Nadia Hashimi
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
Spacious Dreams
The Asian American Experience
by Ronald Takaki
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 6th-12th grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Star Fisher
by Laurence Yep
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$4.99
Stink Alley
by Jamie Gilson
from HarperCollins
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Surviving Middle School with Soundtrack CD
by Rick Bundschuh
for 6th-9th grade
in Secular vs. Christian Education (Location: HSR-PE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Tales of Persia
by William Miller
from P&R Publishing
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in History of Missions (Location: XCH-MIS)
$11.99 $7.00 (2 in stock)
Turtle of Oman
by Naomi Shihab Nye
from Greenwillow Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
When Stars Are Scattered
by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$12.99