The real Jesus is deeply challenging, something which cannot be said for the stain-glass window figure of Christian imagery. "The Lost Message of Jesus" is written to stir thoughtful debate, to pose fresh questions, perhaps even to shed a little new light and help create a deeper understanding of Jesus and his message.
‘As St. John of the Cross said: “Mission is putting love where love is not.” This book is full of ideas. It should prompt us all to examine the effectiveness of the way local churches are organized.’—The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York ‘Everything that Steve Chalke writes is insightful and cutting-edge. Here he argues in favor of a church that thinks and acts in ways that make the Kingdom of God visible and reasonable in a secular society.’--Tony Campolo, PhD Eastern University, Pennsylvania, USA The task of the Church is “to be the irrefutable demonstration and proof of the fact that God is love,” claims Steve Chalke. An intelligent church intentionally connects the Bible and its twenty-first-century culture, is authentic and, most importantly, has thought through its practice. In other words, the way it does church is a reflection of its understanding of who God is. This foundational issue must be addressed by pastors, church and ministry leaders, small group leaders and others as we continue to grapple with the shape of effective church in the postmodern, post-Christian West. As Chalke unpacks central theological concepts, such as the incarnation, human sinfulness and the Trinity, he points us to the corresponding characteristics of an intelligent church, such as inclusiveness, messiness and diversity. Each thought-provoking chapter concludes with a ‘Yes but How?’ section, which gives practical suggestions for moving your church along this path.
The quest for meaning and purpose dwells within all of us. Jesus insisted that its fulfillment lay in a relationship with him. But what does that relationship look like—really? Apprentice calls spiritual pilgrims, both Christians and non-Christians, to exchange the shallow diversions of secular and religious culture for the pursuit of our true desires. In a book of refreshing honesty, great heart, and rich creativity, Steve Chalke guides us into an apprenticeship with the master teacher, Jesus. Embarking on a relational journey that engages us on every level, we walk with Jesus in an organic, whole-life learning experience, exploring ten areas foundational to the meaning and depth we crave. Apprentice encourages us to ask our most probing questions, embrace our doubts, and learn why we are driven to belong. Combining story and parable with thoughtful commentary, we discover the ancient art and discipline of apprenticeship— living lives stamped with the character, presence, and impact of Jesus.
The real Jesus is deeply challenging, something which cannot be said for the stain-glass window figure of Christian imagery. "The Lost Message of Jesus" is written to stir thoughtful debate, to pose fresh questions, perhaps even to shed a little new light and help create a deeper understanding of Jesus and his message.
This important book sets out vital steps for government, civil society and key stakeholders to create integrated care for our young people.' Sir Tony Blair A Manifesto for Hope sets out ten tried-and-tested practical principles for how to develop joined-up, cost-effective, community-empowering work, gleaned from the hard-won experience that has sat at the heart of Steve Chalke's mission over the past four decades. It's time to reimagine. Our social care systems are failing us, struggling for funding, and failing to speak to one another. At the same time, we are side-lining our greatest national asset: its people - mums, dads, families, and other community members. Steve demonstrates the stark choice facing us: keep pouring money into a faltering system, or reform and invest to improve people's lives. We need a new social covenant that empowers local charities, grassroots movements and faith groups - creating a more imaginative, more collaborative and less bureaucratic approach to community development - if we are going to transform the life chances of countless young people and families. Steve Chalke calls for a radical reset. It's time for A Manifesto for Hope! This is a book for anyone working with young people and the communities they belong to, and for those interested in social reform and transformation. Challenging and informing, A Manifesto for Hope comes from a heart dedicated to the service of that local community, written to support those that act every day to see something that has true life-changing impact in the places where it's most needed.
The quest for meaning and purpose dwells within all of us. Jesus insisted that its fulfillment lay in a relationship with him. But what does that relationship look like—really? Apprentice calls spiritual pilgrims, both Christians and non-Christians, to exchange the shallow diversions of secular and religious culture for the pursuit of our true desires. In a book of refreshing honesty, great heart, and rich creativity, Steve Chalke guides us into an apprenticeship with the master teacher, Jesus. Embarking on a relational journey that engages us on every level, we walk with Jesus in an organic, whole-life learning experience, exploring ten areas foundational to the meaning and depth we crave. Apprentice encourages us to ask our most probing questions, embrace our doubts, and learn why we are driven to belong. Combining story and parable with thoughtful commentary, we discover the ancient art and discipline of apprenticeship— living lives stamped with the character, presence, and impact of Jesus.
We have a need today to free up the Church in its ability think through and debate its ethical responses to contemporary issues. How do we think about and respond to the issues of crime, punishment and rehabilitation, consumerism - money, banks, economics and bonuses, war and peace making, euthanasia and assisted dying, same sex relationships. etc.‘We can only act within the world we can envision.... We do not come to see merely by looking, but must develop disciplined skills through initiation into that community that attempts to live faithfully to the story of God...by learning to be faithful disciples, we are more able to see the world as it is.’ Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom. Ethics provide the cultural and moral framework in which we live our whole lives. Our ethics are like the air we breathe, and though for the most part they go unnoticed, our lives and communities depend on them. But Christian ethics are distinctive. They are not just anyone’s ethics. Indeed, if the Christian vision is not distinct from other moral frameworks, then what is so special about Christ and our story? For many, Jesus has simply become nothing more than a ‘personal’ and ‘private’ motivator to the same common ideals, which are shared by all. So, how do we live distinctively in a time of uncertainty? How do we see the world through the eyes of Christ? What tools do we need for the complex choices that confront us, in order to live well; to live Christ centred lives in the 21st century? This book provides this kind of help in a clearly, written accessible style with discussion questions making this useful for small-group use.
The big picture is well-known: over the last century, religion in Britain has lost power, popularity, and plausibility. Here, Steve Bruce charts the quantifiable changes in religious interest and observance over the last fifty years by returning to a number of towns and villages that were the subject of detailed community studies in the 1950s and 1960s, to see how the status and nature of religion has changed. Drawing on both detailed data on baptism rates, church weddings, church attendance and the like, and on his extensive fieldwork, he considers the broader picture of religion today: the status of the clergy, the churches' attempts to find new roles, links between religion and violence, and the impact of the charismatic movement. Along the way, Bruce encounters and engages with the contemporary rise of secularism, considering our everyday secular tensions with religion: arguments over moral issues such as abortion and gay rights, the effect of social class on belief, the impact of religion on British politics, and the ways that local social structures strengthen or weaken religion. Analysing the obstacles to any religious revival, he explores how the current stock of religious knowledge is so depleted, religion so unpopular, and committed believers so scarce that any significant reversal of religion's decline in Britain is unlikely.
One explores the personal journey of Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance. It explores the challenges of unity as outworked both in his day-to-day marriage and home life, and national and international relations. Unity is what drives him - but not just for unity's sake. In bringing people together, we are following the John 17 mandate to show the immense love of God, who sent his Son for us. We connect to a shared mission, whether it's nurturing a church culture which is increasingly confident in the gospel, getting involved in community action or lobbying the government for a better society. The Church is the key to long-lasting change in the world - by working in unity we can transform our communities with the good news of Jesus.
Biblical faith is being undermined and criticized with an increasing fervor in schools, on job sites, and in the marketplace. Are you equipped to face the onslaught of secular, anti-Christian values and viewpoints? Can you clearly state why you believe in Christ and the authority of the Bible? How does this work in your daily life? In God We Trust is a guided journey that will help you: Identify the influence of the secular worldview and how it attempts to compromise the Word of God. Distinguish between genuine authority and the counterfeit authority of so many at present. Realize how your commitment to God?s authority will impact your church, family, and others for Christ. Author Steve Ham, Director of Outreach at Answers in Genesis, clearly delves into the issues of faith and God's authority in the life of the believer in order to prepare you to stand firm. An intriguing exploration of why man was never meant to rule himself, but instead to operate within an authoritative structure designed by God. Steve is co-author of Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World, and the popular evangelism series, Answers for Life.
This is a landmark book that will renew our understanding of what the gospel - literally 'the good news about Jesus' - is for today's cultures. It begins with a key challenge - do we believe God speaks in the cultural context, or only in the Christian tradition? Part One - Listening to God in the cultural context explores the radically changing culture in which the church exists today, the rise of new spiritualities, the secularisation of society and religion's increasingly dubious public image. Part Two - Listening to God in the Christian tradition looks at key periods in Christian history as responses to cultural changes, from the ancient pagan world to modernist faith. What can we learn from the lessons of the past? Part Three moves from theory to practice and tells great stories where innovative evangelism is taking place - from supermarkets to festivals to the internet.
The pandemic unleashed a strange half-world - not the comfortably familiar one we all knew and loved, but one in which we had to tread carefully and remain vigilant. Subsequently, it became a game of risk management that created tensions between the political desire to return to some form of normality and the need to protect lives. Inevitably, this conflict of interests led to confusion, confrontation and, sadly, deaths. Despite some catastrophic misjudgements at the governmental level, we ourselves must also shoulder some of the blame. Social media added fuel to the fire for those who chose to challenge the official guidance as an infringement on their personal freedoms and rights and preferred to interpret events as evidence of institutional conspiracies. Amid this mayhem, our planet was suffering. It was estimated that one million of our eight million species on Earth are threatened with extinction – some within decades. A report by WWF and the Zoological Society of London revealed that animal populations globally had plunged by 68% in more than twenty thousand populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish in the last fifty years.
The belief that Jesus died for us, suffering the wrath of his own Father in our place, has been the wellspring of hope for countless Christians through the ages. However, with an increasing number of theologians, church leaders, and even popular Christian books and magazines questioning this doctrine, which naysayers have described as a form of "cosmic child abuse," a fresh articulation and affirmation of penal substitution is needed. And Jeffery, Ovey, and Sach have responded here with clear exposition and analysis. They make the case not only that the doctrine is clearly taught in Scripture, but that it has an impeccable pedigree and a central place in Christian theology, and that its neglect has serious consequences. The authors also systematically analyze over twenty specific objections that have been brought against penal substitution and charitably but firmly offer a defining declaration of the doctrine of the cross for any concerned reader.
Steve Bell has distilled three decades of experience in cross-cultural communication of the Gospel to ordinary Muslim people. Gospel For Muslims asserts that all theology - including Western theology - is influenced by the culture of those who write it. Help is therefore needed to move beyond the western understanding of the Bible in order to tell Muslims the good news about Jesus in more accessible ways and enable them to believe and follow him in culturally appropriate ways - even if it means doing so from outside institutionalized Christianity.
In a post-modern world leery of abstracted theology, might the answers to the deep question of why Jesus died on the cross be found, not in theology textbooks, but in the stories of the Bible? What if the playing out of one Hebrew word, hesed, tells us who we are, who God is, and what Jesus' life and death were all about? Embraced: Prodigals at the Cross tells the story of hesed, God's steadfast love, as it weaves its way from our creation for relationship, through our rejection of that relationship, to God's centuries-long pursuit of reconciliation. The story ends in embrace, the embrace of a good father who runs to his prodigal son, and a loving God who takes on human flesh to reach out to us on the cross. This book is God's story. This book is our story.
The diary of a father and pastor dealing with his wife's terminal illness and a discourse on the major issues raised, including the mystery of suffering and understanding the role of prayer. This is a diary kept during the five years of his wife's illness and records how they handled their lives in the light of it. It depicts a personal search for an authentic faith when all around appears to be crumbling. The epilogue examines in further detail some of the chief concerns raised by their journey.
Your life is precious - a precious gift. It is sacred; every moment of it. The opportunity to live rather than sleepwalk through our days belongs to us. This book is a call to wake up. It is a call to each one of us; to wake up, to live before we die.' It's easy to sleepwalk through life without ever really considering what we're here for. But life presents us with continual opportunities to wake up - and to think about not just what we do with our lives, but who we become while living them. Ultimately it is the story that we believe about ourselves, our lives and the world around us that will shape us - for better or for worse. So where do we find a good story - a convincing narrative that makes sense of it all? Steve Chalke suggests that Jesus' good news about the kingdom of God - a practical, lived-out expression of God's plans for the world - is the best story for us to find ourselves in. Each one of us is called to be part of the drama of the coming kingdom, and it's in this that we find a practical spirituality that helps shape our lives into everything we were meant to be.
Connect! Is a wake-up call for the church to respond and act to the challenges of globalization. Encouraging churches to get directly involved in mission, rather than going via mission agencies, Connect! will launch the 21st century church into a new paradigm of mission. In Connect! Tim Jeffery and Steve Chalke recognize the new and exciting opportunities the Christian church has to work together as a global network. The global church is undergoing radical changes. The influx of churches in Africa, Latin America and Asia is forcing the western church, once the center of world Christianity, to consider new and different ways of doing mission. In a globalized, interconnected world we have the tools we need to truly be God's global community learning and growing together. Joining the mindset, technology and infrastructure of globalization with the mission focus of the church, the authors show how we can become part of this global family.
The quest for meaning and purpose dwells within all of us. Jesus insisted that its fulfillment lay in a relationship with him. But what does that look like-really? Apprentice encourages us to ask our most probing questions, embrace our doubts and learn why we are driven to belong. Designed for use with the Apprentice five-session DVD study, use this participant’s guide as you follow bestselling author Steve Chalke in guiding us into a deep experience of learning and relationship with Jesus. Embarking on a relational journey that engages us on every level, we learn to walk with Jesus in an organic, whole-life learning experience, exploring areas foundational to the meaning and depth we crave. In five sessions the author covers the following topics.•Journeying: Life is like a journey best walked one step at a time•Longing: Satisfaction comes from longing for the things God longs for •Believing: Our knowledge is always limited, in the end we have to put our trust in something•Questioning: Without room for doubt, faith could not exist•Belonging: Living in community requires trust and love. It is dangerous and risky, but ultimately worth the risk
Guidebook to the Sarsen Way (79km) from Coate Water Park to Salisbury and the Cranborne Droves Way (28km) connecting Salisbury to Wessex Ridgeway at Win Green. These long-distance paths are part of the Great Chalk Way. Both can be walked in a week and are suitable for all abilities. The routes are presented in 8 stages, ranging from 10.5km to 17.3km Step-by-step descriptions plus 1:50k OS mapping Centres include Swindon, Chiseldon, Avebury, Durrington, Amesbury, Great Durnford, Old Sarum, Salisbury, Shaftesbury Comprehensive planning information and notes on sites along the route GPX files available to download The compact format is conveniently sized for slipping into a jacket pocket or the top of a rucksack
We have misunderstood Paul, badly. We have read his words through our own set of assumptions. We need to begin with Paul's world view, to see things the way he saw them. - What if 'original sin' was never part of Paul's thinking? - What if the idea that we are saved by faith in Christ, as Luther argued, was based on a mistranslation of Paul's words and a misunderstanding of Paul's thinking? 'Over the centuries,' writes Steve Chalke, 'the Church has repeatedly failed to communicate, or even understand, the core of Paul's message. Although Paul has often been presented as the champion of exclusion, he was the very opposite. He was the great includer.' Steve Chalke MBE is a Baptist minister, founder and leader of the Oasis Charitable Trust, and author of more than 50 books.
Arguably the most imaginative and energetic church response to the pandemic has been that of HeartEdge, the interdenominational church renewal movement founded at St Martin in the Fields by Samuel Wells but now extending beyond the UK to Europe, North America and Australia. From serving thousands of meals on London’s streets to becoming, in all but name, an online conference centre and theological college offering hundreds of events, one outstanding feature of its programme has been Samuel Wells’ monthly conversations about the future of the Church with leading figures from Britain and America, attended by large online audiences. This volume offers a distillation of those conversations which, instead of being preoccupied with decline, focus on what Christian presence and practice might look like in the world that is being reshaped by what the pandemic has revealed, and the theology that is needed to sustain such a vision.
‘As St. John of the Cross said: “Mission is putting love where love is not.” This book is full of ideas. It should prompt us all to examine the effectiveness of the way local churches are organized.’—The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York ‘Everything that Steve Chalke writes is insightful and cutting-edge. Here he argues in favor of a church that thinks and acts in ways that make the Kingdom of God visible and reasonable in a secular society.’--Tony Campolo, PhD Eastern University, Pennsylvania, USA The task of the Church is “to be the irrefutable demonstration and proof of the fact that God is love,” claims Steve Chalke. An intelligent church intentionally connects the Bible and its twenty-first-century culture, is authentic and, most importantly, has thought through its practice. In other words, the way it does church is a reflection of its understanding of who God is. This foundational issue must be addressed by pastors, church and ministry leaders, small group leaders and others as we continue to grapple with the shape of effective church in the postmodern, post-Christian West. As Chalke unpacks central theological concepts, such as the incarnation, human sinfulness and the Trinity, he points us to the corresponding characteristics of an intelligent church, such as inclusiveness, messiness and diversity. Each thought-provoking chapter concludes with a ‘Yes but How?’ section, which gives practical suggestions for moving your church along this path.
The quest for meaning and purpose dwells within all of us. Jesus insisted that its fulfillment lay in a relationship with him. But what does that look like-really? Apprentice encourages us to ask our most probing questions, embrace our doubts and learn why we are driven to belong. Designed for use with the Apprentice five-session DVD study, use this participant’s guide as you follow bestselling author Steve Chalke in guiding us into a deep experience of learning and relationship with Jesus. Embarking on a relational journey that engages us on every level, we learn to walk with Jesus in an organic, whole-life learning experience, exploring areas foundational to the meaning and depth we crave. In five sessions the author covers the following topics.•Journeying: Life is like a journey best walked one step at a time•Longing: Satisfaction comes from longing for the things God longs for •Believing: Our knowledge is always limited, in the end we have to put our trust in something•Questioning: Without room for doubt, faith could not exist•Belonging: Living in community requires trust and love. It is dangerous and risky, but ultimately worth the risk
This important book sets out vital steps for government, civil society and key stakeholders to create integrated care for our young people.' Sir Tony Blair A Manifesto for Hope sets out ten tried-and-tested practical principles for how to develop joined-up, cost-effective, community-empowering work, gleaned from the hard-won experience that has sat at the heart of Steve Chalke's mission over the past four decades. It's time to reimagine. Our social care systems are failing us, struggling for funding, and failing to speak to one another. At the same time, we are side-lining our greatest national asset: its people - mums, dads, families, and other community members. Steve demonstrates the stark choice facing us: keep pouring money into a faltering system, or reform and invest to improve people's lives. We need a new social covenant that empowers local charities, grassroots movements and faith groups - creating a more imaginative, more collaborative and less bureaucratic approach to community development - if we are going to transform the life chances of countless young people and families. Steve Chalke calls for a radical reset. It's time for A Manifesto for Hope! This is a book for anyone working with young people and the communities they belong to, and for those interested in social reform and transformation. Challenging and informing, A Manifesto for Hope comes from a heart dedicated to the service of that local community, written to support those that act every day to see something that has true life-changing impact in the places where it's most needed.
A change agent wants to alter the way the world works. Creative, driven, difficult, these people have visions that they wrench into reality. Steve Chalke turned a church into the hub of its inner-city community. In Change Agents, he shares lessons he learned---hard-won, wryly told, and immensely practical---as his vision took form and life.
Being a parent is something you can never feel quite prepared for. There are no set rules and certainly no instruction manuals! Steve Chalke draws from his own experience as a father to produce this down-to-earth, simple guide that will set you on the right path to being a GREAT parent! How not to be the perfect parent and enjoy it! Let your child know you love them Giving your child self-confidence Getting the most from your child's education How and when to tell your child 'the facts of life' Helping your child grow up How to let go
I can say with absolute certainty that, everybody enjoys watching movies, cinema, films and television. But few, if any, know how a film is made: a film has inbuilt special effects or 'tricks'to make it appealing to audiences. MOVING CAMERAS AND LIVING MOVIES reveals to you ALL about films & Filmmaking; it is a hard and tasking enterprise involving tens of thousands of workers and millions of investment dollars. After reading MOVING CAMERAS...your love for movies will triple. Movie technicians and camera gurus have a license to mould, alter, and manipulate the screen to produce or induce rain, sunlight, snow, fire, or fly any object in space in defiance of gravity or even cause 'accidents'or 'raise' the dead to life. Learn the fascinating, exciting world of film, actresses, actors, fashion, and fictional entities.
The quest for meaning and purpose dwells within all of us. Jesus insisted that its fulfillment lay in a relationship with him. But what does that look like-really? Apprentice encourages us to ask our most probing questions, embrace our doubts and learn why we are driven to belong. Designed for use with the Apprentice five-session DVD study, use this participant's guide as you follow bestselling author Steve Chalke in guiding us into a deep experience of learning and relationship with Jesus. Embarking on a relational journey that engages us on every level, we learn to walk with Jesus in an organic, whole-life learning experience, exploring areas foundational to the meaning and depth we crave. In five sessions the author covers the following topics.*Journeying: Life is like a journey best walked one step at a time*Longing: Satisfaction comes from longing for the things God longs for *Believing: Our knowledge is always limited, in the end we have to put our trust in something*Questioning: Without room for doubt, faith could not exist*Belonging: Living in community requires trust and love. It is dangerous and risky, but ultimately worth the risk
Things to Do on a Good Day Things to Do When the Weather Turns Sour Food, Feasts, Dates and Dinners Theme Parks, Exhibitions and Museums Things to Do on Car Journeys Great Days 'In' Steve Chalke explains how days out look from your child's perspective, how to survive them, and how to make them special for children of any age.
Arguably the most imaginative and energetic church response to the pandemic has been that of HeartEdge, the interdenominational church renewal movement founded at St Martin in the Fields by Samuel Wells but now extending beyond the UK to Europe, North America and Australia. From serving thousands of meals on London’s streets to becoming, in all but name, an online conference centre and theological college offering hundreds of events, one outstanding feature of its programme has been Samuel Wells’ monthly conversations about the future of the Church with leading figures from Britain and America, attended by large online audiences. This volume offers a distillation of those conversations which, instead of being preoccupied with decline, focus on what Christian presence and practice might look like in the world that is being reshaped by what the pandemic has revealed, and the theology that is needed to sustain such a vision.
This comprehensive manual is a unique resource for churches who want to make a difference in their community.This book gives invaluable guidance on getting your church involved, researching your community, developing your strategy and implementing your pr
A duty of loving care towards the planet and all its inhabitants needs to become a central feature of the Christian message in today's church, accompanied by scriptural backing and practical guidance that encourages God's people to be at the forefront of change. Christians need to be adequately equipped to bring a message of creation care and faith-based environmentalism to their communities. We know that it is not only what we say but what we do that has the potential to 'speak' to people about the love of God in Christ. Hospitality, love for our neighbours and care for the poor are central themes in the gospel message and the 'green' gospel for today must also demonstrate our love and care for all creation - humanity is part of a delicate web of life, all of which is loved by our Creator God.
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