Exile can be a frightening prospect.Like the Israelites in Babylon, Christians today may feel they are in unfamiliar territory, surrounded by a culture with customs and practices foreign to their faith. In these times of dislocation and powerlessness, God wants to help his people experience anew the possibilities of covenantal faithfulness.In Embracing Exile, T. Scott Daniels invites the church to embrace this modern time of 'exile' and to seize this unique opportunity to be a blessing to the culture around us.
T. Scott Daniels, pastor of a Los Angeles megachurch, contends that corporate bodies like churches form an individual spiritual personality of sorts. Cultural influences can impact the collective spirit or attitude of a congregation, either hindering it from becoming all God intends it to be or setting it free to glorify God. In this practical work, Daniels examines the nature of the seven representative "angels" of the churches addressed in Revelation to show how congregations can escape the principalities and powers that hold them captive. The book encourages working pastors, church leaders, and ministry students to consider a systems approach to church leadership--one that takes seriously the powers at work within local congregations--and offers suggestions for transformation.
Recent years have witnessed a series of books, articles, and lectures raising serious questions about the Christian doctrine of the Atonement. While coming from a variety of sources, the questions usually center around the central issue of atonement and violence. Doesn’t the Atonement promote the idea of violence on the part of God? If so, isn’t such violence incompatible with a God of love? Doesn’t this doctrine send the wrong signal, excusing and perhaps even promoting such things as child abuse? Is it time to abandon what has become an outmoded and harmful doctrine? The authors of this book claim that to abandon the Christian doctrine of the Atonement is to abandon the central witness of the gospel, for atonement speaks of nothing less than God’s reconciliation of the world in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, to believe in the atoning death of Jesus Christ does not mean that one believes that God has engaged in cosmic child abuse. Drawing on the classical theories of the Atonement, engaging in creative theological construction, they present set of cogent, cohesive alternatives to either rejecting the doctrine out of hand, or uncritically accepting it. Contributors include: J. Denny Weaver, Bluffton University: “Narrative Christus Victor: The Answer to Anselmian Atonement Violence”; Thomas Finger, Associated Mennonite Seminary: “Christus Victor as Nonviolent Atonement”; Hans Boersma, Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia: “Violence, the Cross, and Divine Intentionality: A Modified Reformed View”; and T. Scott Daniels, Pasadena First Church of the Nazarene: "Passing the Peace: Worship That Shapes Nonsubstitutionary Convictions.
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