Historically, the church's ministry of grounding new believers in the essentials of the faith has been known as catechesis--systematic instruction in faith foundations, including what we believe, how we pray and worship, and how we conduct our lives. For most evangelicals today, however, this very idea is an alien concept. Packer and Parrett, concerned for the state of the church, seek to inspire a much needed evangelical course correction. This new book makes the case for a recovery of significant catechesis as a nonnegotiable practice of churches, showing the practice to be complementary to, and of no less value than, Bible study, expository preaching, and other formational ministries, and urging evangelical churches to find room for this biblical ministry for the sake of their spiritual health and vitality.
Christ's Law, Not Man's will guide you in studying God's Word and gaining understanding of the Scripture that lies within the verses. You will have a better understanding of forming a relationship with your Almighty Creator, maintaining that relationship and building it stronger through continued Christian growth. You will know what it is to walk a Christian journey and why it is an important part of your faith. This title also informs you of three different translation methods that are used in today's bibles and which methods are used in some of the more popular bible translations. You will learn also of a good number of worldly traditions which are believed to be of God's Law for salvation, which are very widely taught in many of today's denominations. You will also know the truth about what God's Word says about these traditional beliefs. Christ's Law, not man's takes you through a step by step walk in confessing Christ to be your Lord and Savior and also gives you important knowledge to help you not be misled by the law of man which doesn't coincide with the Law of Christ
Listening to people over the years, author A Word to Encourage has heard a lot of emotions that were nonproductive—comments that are based on high stress levels. In her book, Stress’in, she offers healthier suggestions for the anxious, the worried, and the “stressed out” to minimize their stress and grow their faith in God. The period 2008-2011 will be the most challenging time for most people in their lifetime. With this editorial workbook that walks through God’s word, the author hopes to encourage Christians to recommit themselves to God, who will always be faithful to them. Just having hope in Jesus Christ is already one way of decreasing stress. Jesus can bring you out of these hard times and make them stronger and healthier persons. Whether one is a Christian or not, the suggestions that the author makes are applicable to all since they are healthier ways of living and thinking that anyone can follow, to minimize stress while increasing faith in Christ. Stress’in will equip those who are experiencing stressful challenges with recommendations on how they can decrease their stress, worry, and anxiety.
God intended the Bible to give guidance to every area of life—including how governments should function. Derived from Wayne Grudem's Politics According to the Bible, this book highlights those economic and foreign-policy issues that have dominated political debate recently and is a must-read for any Christian concerned about current debates over: Economic issues and taxation. The size and role of government. The best way forward out of a recession. Relationships to other nations. Throughout, Wayne Grudem—author of the bestselling Systematic Theology—supports political positions that would be called more "conservative" than "liberal." However, "it is important to understand that I see these positions as flowing out of the Bible's teachings rather than positions I hold prior to, or independently of, those biblical teachings," he writes. "My primary purpose in the book is not to be liberal or conservative, or Democrat or Republican, but to explain a biblical worldview and a biblical perspective on issues of politics, law, and government." Not every reader will agree with the book's conclusions. But by grounding his analysis deeply on Scripture, Grudem has equipped Christians to better understand and respond to some of today's key political debates wisely and in a manner consistent with their primary citizenship as members and ambassadors of the kingdom of God.
It is the duty of Christians to address not only spiritual but also social and political needs in their community and nation. This book examines what those duties are and how the church can effectively prepare its members to be salt in the public arena. Includes the civil teachings of Jesus and the responsibilities of the individual, family, church, and state.
A Change of Heart: Understanding the Kingdom of God by Clemmie A. Scott, Jr. is a piece of Christian non-fiction literature for anyone—new or life-time believer—looking to deepen their relationship with God. Focusing on the heart as the metaphorical connection between men and women and their Creator, the book makes use of multiple points of scripture to argue for the condition of the heart with and without Christ. The book is broken down into five parts: The precondition of the heart and its connection to inherited sin, the transformation of the heart when dedicated to God, the role of the Holy Spirit in transforming the heart, understanding the kingdom of God with a transformed heart, and the role of the heart in transforming marriages. As Scott summarizes, “The heart, the seat of human intention, desire, and belief, must be understood, transformed, and renewed in community in order to allow one entrance and full participation in the Kingdom of God. “ A Change of Heart is uplifting, approachable, and encourages a positive relationship with God.
We can become so constricted by liturgical rituals that we cannot love God in our own way. When we cannot live up to the impossible standards that have been placed on us by some denomination or faith group, we may start to feel bad about ourselves, and that only takes us farther and farther away from God. When we come to church to meet with like-minded individuals in search of spiritual reinforcement or support, human rules and regulations grafted on to religion often make us feel belittled, as if we are doing everything wrong. Rather than finding absolution from our sins, we are made to feel inadequate. The message of Jesus Christ is a message of hope and love for all people. Scripture is beautifully written, and when we delve into it deeply, when we uncover its mysteries, that leads to enlightenment. As Christians, we are called on to imitate Christ. That is why it is so important that we closely study the words and actions of Jesus Christeverything He did, every move He made, everything He said, and how He delivered it. Jesus only rarely became angry, but He was never hateful. That is Gods way. We will never be Christ, but we should try to imitate Him as closely as possible. However, when it comes to spirituality, we are our own worst enemies, constantly getting in Gods way. What we need to do more than anything else is to get out of Gods way.
The Quest for Absolute Truth takes Christians on a journey to rediscover and restore the Christian foundation upon which the United States rests. The author, Russell A. Newman, provides a guide to understanding Americans' wide array of religious beliefs and a persuasive argument for the reality of God and the truth of the Christian faith. He then diagnoses the immorality that runs through liberalism. With these building blocks, the book offers Christians the answers to significant questions. How can one be sure of the truth of the Christian faith? What about other religions? What are the Christian principles upon which the United States was founded? When the current culture seems to run awry, how can concerned Christians take action to restore the country to its original path? If you want to know the truth about your country and how you can take a stand, then this book will motivate and inspire you. It will give you the tools you need to proclaim your faith, for the benefit of this country and the children who will inherit it from you and your generation.
“If someone were to ask, ‘Where is God?’ how would you respond?” Joseph A. Bracken, SJ, uses this question as a springboard to introduce the process-relational metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead and other process theologians as he tries to reconcile the sometimes-conflicting views of traditional Christian doctrines and the modern scientific world. To present this material in an accessible manner to a broader audience, Bracken reworks Whitehead’s “model” of the God-world relationship, showing that God is involved in an ongoing, ever-changing relationship with all creatures. He also discusses the work of other contemporary theologians to help Christians come to terms with their role in our multi-dimensional pluralistic society. Bracken examines divine and human creativity, the collective power of good and evil, divine providence and human freedom, prayer, altruism, and the fundamental question, “What is truth?” He shows how Whitehead’s process thought approach to these issues could “harmonize” traditional Christian beliefs and contemporary culture, benefiting faith and reason. Understanding the God-world relationship subtly influences our attitude toward ourselves, toward other human beings, and indeed toward all of God’s creatures, says Bracken. His revision of Whitehead’s metaphysical vision in terms of a cosmic community shows how modern views of the world and God can be accepted and kept in balance with the traditional biblical views found in the Christian faith and how this balance can help Christians make better choices in a world shaped both by contemporary natural science and by traditional Christian spirituality. “If we truly believe that in God, we live and move and have our being and that, as a result, we share with the divine persons in a deeply communitarian way of life together with all of God’s creatures, we may be more readily inclined to make the periodic sacrifice of personal self-interest to pursue the higher good of sustained life in the community. In the end, it is simply a matter of seeing the ‘bigger picture,’ realizing what life is ultimately all about.”
Family life has undergone revolutionary changes in Western society in the last sixty years, posing both theological and ethical challenges for the contemporary church. This book responds with wide-ranging essays on sexuality, marriage, family life, singleness, same-sex relationships, violence against women, anthropology, gender and culture. These chapters are essential reading for anyone concerned with Christian teaching on marriage and the family. They balance a clear loyalty to the church's historic and biblical teaching with a recognition that all doctrine is contextualized. There is a growing gap between the ethics of many Christians and those of wider society. So Christians have to be counter-cultural. But the church also has to be self-critical, differentiating between biblical revelation and cultural development. And it must know how to present unchanging Christian convictions to a constantly changing society. The contributors are Andy Angel, Daniel Block, Rosalind Clarke, Barry Danylak, Andrew Goddard, Stephen Holmes, David Instone Brewer, A. T. B. McGowan, Nicholas Moore, Onesimus Ngundu, Oliver O'Donovan, Ian Paul, Andrew Sloane, Katy Smith, Elaine Storkey and Sarah Whittle. Contents Introduction Thomas A. Noble, Sarah K. Whittle and Philip S. Johnston Part 1: Biblical perspectives 1. The patricentric vision of family in the book of Deuteronomy Daniel Block 2. Ordered relationships in Leviticus Katy Smith 3. 'Who is this coming up from the wilderness?' Identity and interpretation in the Song of Songs Rosalind Clarke 4. The sexuality of God incarnate Andy Angel 5. Developing a biblical theology of singleness Barry Danylak 6. 'Let even those who have wives be as though they had none': 1 Corinthians 7:29 and the challenge of the 'apocalyptic' Paul Sarah K. Whittle 7. Are we sexed in heaven? Bodily form, sex identity and the resurrection Ian Paul 8. Deferring to Dad's discipline: family life in Hebrews 12 Nicholas Moore 9. Evidence of non-heterosexual inclinations in first-century Judaism David Instone-Brewer Part 2: Doctrinal and contemporary perspectives 10. Marriage in early, Christian and African perspectives Onesimus Ngundu 11. Human sexuality and Christian anthropology A. T. B. McGowan 12. 'One man and one woman': the Christian doctrine of marriage Oliver O'Donovan 13. Covenant partnerships as a third calling?: A dialogue with Robert Song's Covenant and Calling: Towards A Theology of Same-Sex Relationships Andrew Goddard 14. 'Male and female he created them'? Theological reflections on gender, biology and identity Andrew Sloane 15. Shadows across gender relations Elaine Storkey 16. On not handling snakes: late-modern cultural assumptions about sexuality Stephen Holmes
Why are more churches not engaged in practical, substantial ways of taking the gospel to the nations?" When Missions Shape the Mission unpacks a statistical study of traditionally evangelical churches that reveals their anemic level of commitment to the biblical mandate of making Christ known around the world. Veteran pastor David Horner makes the data easy to understand, challenging other pastors to radically assign their best leadership and resources to missions as he looks at where the church is today, how it got there, and where we must go from here: "Let's dream a godly dream. What if you committed to step up and lead your church in the pursuit of becoming a mission-focused church? Then, what if you invited ten of your pastor friends to join you in the effort—and each of them did the same? What would happen to the available missions force beginning right here in the West?
Winner of the Christianity Today Book of the Year Award (1995) “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.” So begins this award-winning intellectual history and critique of the evangelical movement by one of evangelicalism’s most respected historians. Unsparing in his indictment, Mark Noll asks why the largest single group of religious Americans—who enjoy increasing wealth, status, and political influence—have contributed so little to rigorous intellectual scholarship. While nourishing believers in the simple truths of the gospel, why have so many evangelicals failed to sustain a serious intellectual life and abandoned the universities, the arts, and other realms of “high” culture? Over twenty-five years since its original publication, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind has turned out to be prescient and perennially relevant. In a new preface, Noll lays out his ongoing personal frustrations with this situation, and in a new afterword he assesses the state of the scandal—showing how white evangelicals’ embrace of Trumpism, their deepening distrust of science, and their frequent forays into conspiratorial thinking have coexisted with surprisingly robust scholarship from many with strong evangelical connections.
The Church gets into trouble whenever it thinks it is in the church business rather than the Kingdom business. In the church business, people are concerned with Kingdom activities, all human behavior and everything God has made.... Church people think about how to get people into the church; Kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world.
Are there any solutions to dying churches? Many historic Protestant churches lost their way when the ground beneath their feet began to shift in the last part of the 20th century. Back then, congregations became confused about why so many Americans had become indifferent toward church-going. They became anxious about their shrinking numbers and aging membership. How would they survive? They could not see the way forward. But now, a few ordinary congregations are finding their way into the future by cultivating certain spiritual habits which transform them so that they, in turn, can transform the world. Dr. Ruth A. Fletcher shares her her pastoral experience, judicatory work,consulting ministry, and personal research in which she has discerned some spiritual practices that characterize congregations that are thriving. This is an excellent read whether you are a pastor, church leader or concerned member of a fellowship groaning in the labor of reaching out to the “disenfranchised others.” Thrive is the third volume in the Academy of Parish Clergy's Guides to Practical Ministry series.
Americans seem prone to create their own reality in situations that have faced them over the past several years and this arrogance cost the country dearly. Three events stand out as prime examples this arrogance. The first of these events was the war in Iraq which was based on the false reality that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction and had ties to terrorist organizations. The second example was the financial crisis of 2008 which was precipitated by the invention of new and complicated investment vehicles. The last example is the current Trump administration which was filled with falsehoods during the campaign and his first years in office, such that one could not believe anything that this administration said. This book is going to focus on religious reasons for this situation as I believe that it is the Christian religion that is largely at fault for this condition. It is religion that has set up most Americans to believe our leaders when they outright lie and claim to know things beyond what the evidence will support and create a false reality that eventually comes crashing down to disrupt American life. If our nation is ever going to be great it must quit living in a fantasy world and give up a belief in magic as far as its future is concerned. Decisions in government and business must be based on reality as it is and not on what we arrogantly think we can create. The two go together as the more we try and create our own reality the less able we are to come to grips with the reality that actually exists. The place to start is by recognizing the role the Christian religion has played in this phenomenon and letting go of the fantasies that comprise this religion and live a secular life that finds meaning and purpose in this world rather than in some hereafter. We will not successfully deal with all the problems with which we are faced and have a political and economic system that works for everyone until this happens.
The rapidly approaching end of the age is witnessing a tremendous increase in the activity of the powers of darkness. These conditions are reacting strongly upon the great ministry of Christ's Church. No longer are these concerned about the lost souls which wander in darkness; their thought is centered on raising their social status and meeting their intellectual and physical needs. They seek, in their own jargon, to "build a better world." But the world they envision is one without a Savior. There are few subjects relating to the Christian life concerning which there is so little exact knowledge as that of the Authority of the Believer. This is not because such authority is the property only of a few elect souls. On the contrary, it is the possession of every true child of God. It is one of the "all things received in Christ." Its reception dates from the soul's contact with Calvary. John MacMillan was a Canadian Presbyterian businessman who became involved with ministry to Chinese and Jewish people in Toronto. Ordained at the age of 49, MacMillan and his wife traveled to China as missionaries with The Christian and Missionary Alliance. He later became Field Director of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in the Philippines.
By &"the fear of freedom&" Greer means the unconscious flight from the heavy burden of individual choice an open society lays upon its members. The miraculous represents a heavenly power brought down to earth and tied to the life of the community. Understanding how miracles were perceived in the late antiquity requires us to put aside the notion of a miracle as the violation of the natural order. &"Miracles&" for the church fathers refers to anything that evokes wonder. Rowan Greer is not concerned with conclusions about the truth or falsity of the miracles reported in the ancient sources. He is concerned with how the miracle stories shaped the way people understood Christianity in the fourth and fifth centuries. Once the Church gained the predominance in the Empire as part of the Constantinian revolution, most Christians thought that a new Christian commonwealth was in the making. The miracles associated with the cult of the saints (the martyrs and their relics) in the Christian Empire were part of this sacralization. In the Roman imperial church we find a tension between the Christian message, which revolved around virtue and the individual, and corporate piety that focused upon the empowering of the people of God. With Augustine we find Christian Platonism transformed into a &"new theology&" far more congruent with the corporate poetry that had by then developed. An emphasis upon grace and upon God's sovereignty fits a preoccupation with miracles better than the old emphasis upon human freedom and virtue and sets the stages for the Western Middle Ages and the cult of the saints, organized and made central to Christian piety. From a study of Roman imperial Christianity before the collapse of the West we discover the tendency to substitute one kind of freedom for another. Freedom as the capacity of human beings to choose the good does not, of course, disappear, but on the whole it is made subordinate to notions of God's sovereign grace and even to an insistence upon the authority of the church.
The rapidly approaching end of the age is witnessing a tremendous increase in the activity of the powers of darkness. These conditions are reacting strongly upon the great ministry of the Church of Christ. No longer are these concerned about the lost souls which wander in darkness; their thought is centered on raising their social status and meeting their intellectual and physical needs. They seek, in their own jargon, to "build a better world," but the world they envision is one without a Saviour. There are few subjects relating to the Christian life concerning which there is so little exact knowledge as that of the Authority of the Believer. This is not because such authority is the property only of a few elect souls. On the contrary, it is the possession of every true child of God. It is one of the "all things received in Christ. Its reception dates from the soul's contact with Calvary. John MacMillan was a Canadian Presbyterian businessman who became involved with ministry to Chinese and Jewish people in Toronto. Ordained at the age of 49, MacMillan and his wife traveled to China as missionaries with The Christian and Missionary Alliance. He later became field director of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in the Philippines.
Should Christians be involved in political issues? This comprehensive and readable book presents a political philosophy from the perspective that the Gospel pertains to all of life, including politics. Politics—According to the Bible is an in-depth analysis of conservative and liberal plans to do good for the nation, evaluated in light of the Bible and common sense. Evangelical Bible professor, and author of the bestselling book Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem unpacks and rejects five common views about Christian influence on politics: "compel religion," "exclude religion," "all government is demonic," "do evangelism, not politics," and "do politics, not evangelism." Instead, he defends a position of "significant Christian influence on government" and explains the Bible's teachings about the purpose of civil government and the characteristics of good or bad governments. Grudem provides a thoughtful analysis of over fifty specific and current political issues dealing with: The protection of life. Marriage, the family, and children. Economic issues and taxation. The environment. National defense Relationships to other nations. Freedom of speech and religion. Quotas. And special interests. Throughout this book, he makes frequent application to the current policies of the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States, but the principles discussed here are relevant for any nation.
The rapidly approaching end of the age is witnessing a tremendous increase in the activity of the powers of darkness. Unrest among the nations, more intense than at any previous time in earth's history, is due largely to the stirring up of the ambitions and passions of men, while the spread of an almost wholly secularized education is quietly doing away with the Scriptural standards which formerly exerted a restraining influence among the so-called Christian peoples. "These conditions are reacting strongly upon the great ministry of the Church of Christ. No longer are these concerned about the lost souls which wander in darkness; their thought is centered on raising their social status and meeting their intellectual and physical needs. They seek, in their own jargon, to "build a better world," but the world they envision is one without a Saviour." John MacMillan was a Canadian Presbyterian businessman who became involved with ministry to Chinese and Jewish people in Toronto. Ordained at the age of 49, MacMillan and his wife traveled to China as missionaries with The Christian and Missionary Alliance. He later became field director of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in the Philippines.
Today’s Christian pro-life movement has misplaced its priorities. The issue of abortion is more complex than the movement often appreciates. For a start, Scripture is less clear about the moral weight of the fetus than we often think. In fact, early Christians took different positions on abortion because they also relied on different scientific sources about the unborn. Furthermore, Christian conservatives today do not acknowledge that in American history, as today, Christian stances on abortion were motivated by other political fears: White Protestant Americans developed different state laws on abortion to accomplish anti-immigrant goals in the North, but anti-black racism in the South. That messiness impacts U.S. constitutional law, including Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, Scripture commissions God’s people to confront socio-economic factors that push abortion rates higher: male privilege and the disempowerment of women; the high cost of child raising; the causes of birth defects; the desire to care narrowly for just “my children”; mistaken views about contraception and “the culture wars”; and most of all, poverty. This book incorporates biblical studies, church history, science, social science, history, and public policy to argue that we must not approach abortion policy primarily from a criminal justice standpoint, as modern conservatives do, but from a broad social and economic standpoint meant to benefit and bless all children.
In God's Image: Recognizing the Profoundly Impaired as Persons is a bold Catholic argument in defense of the profoundly impaired. While a range of theological voices can now be heard speaking up on behalf of those who live their lives at the extremes of the human condition, few voices have been explicitly Catholic. Comensoli draws on the irreplaceable contribution of St. Thomas Aquinas to forge an engagement with one of the leading thinkers in the theology of the disabled, Professor Hans Reinders. While recognizing the crucial contribution that Reinders has made, Comensoli situates our perception of the cognitively impaired within the horizon of God's own image, refusing a reduction of the substantialist position the Catholic tradition has always valued. This is linked to the fresh and countercultural community life pioneered by Jean Vanier, founder of the L'Arche communities. For Comensoli, the profoundly impaired are persons whose personhood cannot be recognized outside of the condition of their impairment, and through which God's Image is perceived in all its paradoxical implications.
Been there? You have forty-five minutes until the doctor appointment. Plenty of time. But then your mother decides she should clean out her purse and possibly use a different one. As you are going out the front door, she thinks maybe she should go to the bathroom one more time. If you have been there, you will know that you need more than patience. You need to know that God is involved. These stories are real. Bethany Uhl’s insight is that God is close and his Word is important for caregivers. These devotions build on actual events and reflect the insights and encouragements the Word of God gives. She has cared for parents and loved ones through crises and everyday experiences, frustrations, and joys. But more important, her stories reveal how much God was involved in helping and clarifying what she did. This book shares experiences and reflections of the ups and downs of caregiving and relates them to the Word and Spirit of God. These devotions are easy to read. They come from real people and offer practical advice from a biblical point of view. Each entry includes the full biblical texts as well as a prayer for the day. Your story is real too. When you face the challenges of being a loving caregiver, you will find your experience reflected in the many people Bethany writes about.
In his writings and his career Gregory of Nyssa assumes many roles. He is a Christian Platonist, a spiritual guide for ascetics and those seeking the vision of God, as well as one of those who shaped the Trinitarian doctrine of God espoused at Constantinople in 381. But he is also a popular preacher and, paradoxically, someone unafraid of deeper speculations regarding the meaning of the Christian ideal. The translations in Part One illustrate these various concerns, but are not a sufficient basis for thethesis of Part Two, one that attempts to answer the question of how to describe the coherence of a thinker far from systematic. One solution is to appeal to Gregory's conviction that after this world all Christians, indeed all humans, will be united in diversity, and that this means that all are now on the one path to their destiny, however much their progress may differ. This answer does not pretend to solve all problems, nor does it rule out other approaches to Gregory's thought. But it locates Gregory's work in the liturgical and sacramental life of the church that includes ordinary as well as elite Christians.
It is not possible to look at the ministry of Jesus without noticing his concern for the poor and the sick. He not only had a huge sense of compassion for people who were suffering, but sent people out to heal the sick and tell them the Kingdom of God is near them. This concern for health and wholeness has inspired Christians through the ages as they have cared for the sick, founded hospitals, and been at the forefront of public health movements. In the nineteenth century, the church was one of the major influencers in initiating ministries of health, both through the work of its own deaconesses and the involvement of its members as they felt a sense of vocation to nursing and public health work. Florence Nightingale was a theologian and statistician as well as being a nurse leader. However, with the advent of state health provision and private health insurance schemes, the role of the local church in health has diminished. This book describes a simple way for churches to re-engage with health ministry and presents evidence that underlines not only a Biblical authenticity for its place in the mission of a local church, but also a compelling rationale for its implementation. It will be of interest to church leaders and all those involved in health care.
Christian Modesty offers scriptural guidance from a balanced perspective. Today, with sensuality permeating our culture in a rapid advance, there has never been a greater time or need for this book. Christian Modesty will challenge those who seek God's will for their whole life; and it may frustrate those with predetermined mindsets not based on the Holy Scriptures. Either way, readers will benefit from the challenges set forth within these pages. Christian Modesty will help you understand the heart of the matter! "Cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also" (Matthew 23:26b). This book will answer questions such as: Is God concerned with how we dress? Is modesty defined by culture, the church, or the Lord? Are pants considered men's attire? How do I obey God, dress with humility, yet not appear homely?
Occasioned by the near death of his son from lymphatic cancer and the experiences of eight weeks spent in an intensive-care waiting room, this volume by Arthur A. Vogel reflects on life with God in a world in which chance, accident, and evil are able arbitrarily to contradict the goodness of life. Vogel grapples with some hard questions: Does God act in human affairs? Is it reasonable to pray with expectancy? Does prayer have any objective results? What is the relation of prayer to healing and of prayer to science? In the light of such pressing, often intensely personal questions, Vogel successfully shows the reasonableness of belief in the presence of God and in the effectiveness of prayer without denying the complexities and ambiguities of life in this world - where some of those who are prayed for live and are healed while others die.
God has made me Laugh and all who hear about it will laugh at me." These are the words of Sarah after she bore a child to Abraham when both were in advanced old age. Sarah named this child "Isaac" which means "laughter." Thus believers, as descendants of Abraham and Isaac are "children of laughter." Luke takes the theme of joy and laughter through his whole gospel. The angels at Jesus's birth announce "good news of great joy" to all the people. Jesus presents his teaching in the form of grace and surprise which prompt joy and laughter on the part of the gospel audience. Luke has before him the image of a "laughing Jesus." As a climactic story, Jesus visits Jericho near the Dead Sea. The chief tax collector for Rome, Zaccheus, a most unpopular man, small in stature and character as well, climbs a tree so he can see Jesus coming in spite of the crowds. Jesus spots him with laughter, and calls out, to the dismay of the crowd, "Zaccheus, hurry up and climb down, I'm going to have dinner at your house today." Luke's gospel presents Jesus as a comic contrast to many ultra-serious religious teachers by his concern for the outcast, strangers, and marginalized of society.
The clergy today faces mounting challenges in an increasingly secular world, where declining prestige makes it more difficult to attract the best and the brightest young Americans to the ministry. As Christian churches dramatically adapt to modern changes, some are asking whether there is a clergy crisis as well. Whatever the future of the clergy, the fate of millions of churchgoers also will be at stake. In Who Shall Lead Them?, prizewinning journalist Larry Witham takes the pulse of both the Protestant and Catholic ministry in America and provides a mixed diagnosis of the calling's health. Drawing on dozens of interviews with clergy, seminarians and laity, and using newly available survey data including the 2000 Census, Witham reveals the trends in a variety of traditions. While evangelicals are finding innovative paths to ministry, the Catholic priesthood faces a severe shortage. In mainline Protestantism, ministry as a second career has become a prominent feature. Ordination ages in the Episcopal and United Methodist churches average in the 40s today. The quest by female clergy to lead from the pulpit, meanwhile, has hit a "stained glass ceiling" as churches still prefer a man as the principal minister. While deeply motivated by the mystery of their "call" to ministry, America's priests, pastors, and ministers are reassessing their roles in a world of new debates on leadership, morality, and the powers of the mass media. Who Shall Lead Them? offers a valuable snapshot of this contemporary clergy drama. It will be required reading for everyone concerned about the rapidly shifting ground of our churches and the health of religion in America.
Though in all things God's Word is the final authority, our Christian tradition, as inherited from centuries of careful reflection and endeavoring to be true to the teaching of Scripture, can greatly enlighten us. Nowhere is this blend of respectful listening to the wisdom of the past and faithfulness to the Bible more necessary than in our contemporary reformulations of the doctrine of God's person. Bruce Ware believes that while tradition's emphasis on God's metaphysical perfection and His supremacy over the world is correct, we must refine our understanding of the way in which He relates to us. While retaining the deepest concerns of the historic tradition, Ware offers a more rational view of God's dealings with His children–a view that is reflected in Scripture's own testimony of Him. Ware then applies this concept of real divine exaltation and real divine-human relationship to the areas of our prayer life, confidence in God and His guidance of us.
How is the Supreme Identity of Hinduism related to the hypostatic union of Christianity? Does the "pure" spirituality of the East complement the "practical" spirituality of the West? What is the relationship between Oriental quietism and Christian deliverance? The anonymous author of this work, a Cistercian monk, wrote these short but profound reflections out of an earnest desire to bring aspects of the Hindu tradition to the attention of a Western readership. With a subtle care for detail, he clarifies the relationship between the hypostatic union embodied in the person of Christ and the Supreme Identity of Atma and Brahma, two distinct notions seemingly opposed in certain respects but curiously compatible in unexpected ways. With characteristic humility, the author writes: 'We will say unequivocally that after more than forty years of intellectual reflection on this doctrine, we have found nothing that has seemed incompatible with our full and complete faith in the Christian Revelation.' Given the attraction Indian thought exercises on contemporary Western spirituality, these pages offer the Christian a welcome deepening of access to the spirit of the Hindu perspective. The radical disparity that seemingly exists between the phrase 'I am Brahma' and the sacred formula of the Eucharistic consecration 'This is my Body' melts away, allowing these separate worlds to shed new meaning on each other. The author outlines conditions leading to a doctrinal accord between the Advaita Vedanta and orthodox Christian doctrine. He writes at one point that although these two traditional perspectives 'do not pertain to the same order of Reality, hypostatic union and Supreme Identity are not in themselves metaphysically incompatible. . . . What order links them together, because all that is real must be integrated in one way or another into the universal order?" For Western readers, this work offers a better understanding of Hinduism in light of the Christian experience and suggests a better application of Christian principles within our modern lives in light of the profound spirituality of the Eastern tradition. Concerned with a more accurate interpretation of non-duality in the light of Christian philosophy and experience, the author creates the right conditions in which East meets West through an interpretation and analysis of their respective spiritual philosophies, how they differ and how they can become an expression of the perennial philosophy that unites these two distinct traditions.
Make Disciples." Jesus' command is clear. But what is a disciple? And how are we to "make" them? Based on decades of experience, this book explains and illustrates the process of disciple-making that Jesus taught and modeled. First published in 1974, its practical, biblical approach has revolutionized the ministry of hundreds of thousands of Christians as they learned how to multiply themselves in the lives of others. Disciple-making is challenging, to be sure. But as we are faithful to Christ's Great Commission, we'll experience the fulfillment that comes from being faithful to the life mission to which God has called us.
Dr. Michael Milton is concerned about any diabolical power -political, cultural, or otherwise - that could hurt the souls of human beings or threaten the Church. This is not a call for the Church to become a political action committee, but a call to pastors and people to return to the Biblical model of a shepherd guarding the sheep against any and all attacks which would hurt the flock. To speak, to write, to preach or to witness against the powers that oppose Christ and His Kingdom is a pastoral act of protection that follows in the footsteps of the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs of the Church, the Reformers, and, as is shown so often in the Bible, Christ Himself.
Lightly tracing his personal experiences growing up in the Bible Belt as a born-again Christian, James A. Sanders recounts his second rebirth experience and subsequent efforts to battle what can most broadly be called evangelicalism's denial of dignity and human worth to those different from the so-called norm. While Sanders cherishes his early experience of being "saved" or "born again," he has become deeply concerned at what has happened to the evangelical movement in America, especially in its being politicized and removed from any kind of valid interpretation of the Bible itself. Sanders critiques evangelicalism for restricting the Holy Spirit's work to the realm of personal experience and so for denying the Spirit's work in society to move believers beyond the ancient mores and metaphors that biblical authors and editors used to record God's work in antiquity. Sanders proposes that Christians read the Bible honestly in its ancient and moral contexts, and attempt with humility to register its prophetic condemnation of tribal views of God, in order to heed the Spirit's urgings to engage in the advancing monotheizing process that the Bible demands of its adherents.
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