Группа авторов
Список книг автора Группа авторовFruits of the Cotton Patch
In honor of what would have been Clarence Jordan's one hundredth birthday and the seventieth anniversary of Koinonia Farm, the first Clarence Jordan Symposium convened in historic Sumter County, Georgia, in 2012, gathering theologians, historians, actors, and activists in civil rights, housing, agriculture, and fair-trade businesses to celebrate a remarkable individual and his continuing influence. Clarence Jordan (1912-1969), a farmer and New Testament Greek scholar, was the author of the Cotton Patch versions of the New Testament and the founder of Koinonia Farm, a small but influential religious community in southwest Georgia.
Fruits of the Cotton Patch,Volume 2 contains Symposium presentations that interpret Jordan's storytelling and the meaning of his prophetic voice in the areas of peacemaking in the context of historical harms, the future of the affordable housing movement, and the direction of the New Monastic movement. These essays and others invite the curious, the student, and the teacher alike to experience the life and work of Clarence Jordan and its powerful connection to the present.
Who Do You Say That I Am?
No question is more central to Christian living, preaching, and theology than Jesus' question to his disciples: Who do you say that I am? Some would have it that pastors and theologians, biblical exegetes and historians, dogmatic and moral theologians, Catholic and Evangelical have more differences than similarities in the way Christians with such diverse vocations respond to Jesus' question. And there is little doubt that there sometimes seem to be unbridgeable gulfs between the way historians and believers, Internet gossipers and preachers, classical christological debates and present-day praying and pastoral care implicitly or explicitly address the Lord's question. But the authors here address these and other issues in ways that are remarkably convergent, as if a «Catholic and Evangelical theology» for proclaiming and following Jesus today has emerged, or is indeed emerging.
Vulnerability, Churches, and HIV
The HIV pandemic has caused serious challenges for the Church as well as for theology. The pandemic has brought enormous human suffering to individuals and has affected families and entire societies. In this context, churches need to listen and to learn, and not least to respond, to thereby mold their own actions and futures. In so doing, this book aims to enable churches to become more HIV and AIDS competent.
Vulnerability, Churches, and HIV includes two kinds of contributions. First, researchers present their thoughts about theology, the church, and HIV. A pastoral letter from the bishops of the Church of Sweden provides a second perspective. The letter makes recommendations to decision-making bodies, patent holders, and decision makers in the pharmaceutical industry. The letter also guides parishes and church workers.
Contributors include editor Goran Gunner, Musa W. Dube, Susanne Rappmann, Kenneth R. Overberg, Edwina Ward, and the bishops of the Church of Sweden.
The book is the first volume in the Church of Sweden Research Series.
Steps to Faith: Examine Faith—Explore Questions—Encounter God
Everyone Has a Unique Pathway to Faith. Take the First Step! – Perhaps you are open to the Christian faith, but in no way convinced. You have legitimate questions or lingering doubts. – Perhaps you seek a spiritual rooting–that comes from deep beliefs. – Perhaps you hope to experience the living God–in a way that's real and sticks. – Perhaps you are searching for something compelling–a vision for your life!
If you are willing, simply, to take the first exploring step, this booklet charts the way forward. It fulfills Jesus's promise that «those who seek will find.» Welcome to a discovery-path of unlimited potential. It can bless you–beyond measure!
Vignettes Inside: The First Step – A Tale of Two Operators – Jesus: Poser or Pedigree? – Something Has Gone Really Wrong! – Jesus Came to Fix What We Can't – The Meaning of the Cross – The Sign of the Resurrection – What's Unique about Christianity – Miscues in Approaching Faith – Faith & Flying – Navigating Forward – Rear View Mirror – Stepping Up – What Surfers Know
To pursue your questions, curiosity, and longings, Steps to Faith can be read personally, with a Christian friend, or by a class/group at church.
Launch Point: Community Group Mission Guide
What if Small Groups Embarked on Mission Together . . .
In Their Own Backyards?
Whereas small groups have traditionally focused internally, many Christians nowadays are hungering for much more! Seeking to make a difference where they live, Christians desire mission. The Community Group Mission Series focuses eight weeks of training–to launch groups in a dynamic mission trajectory!
Each group will engage holistically, showing the love of Christ and making disciples. Relationally angled, this series leads groups to assimilate the mission skill set of Jesus. Hold on! The stories of God are yet to be written. Who knows what God will do in the lives of your neighbors . . . your group . . . and your church?!
Session Titles: 1. The Soul of Mission 2. When Faith Is Fantastic 3. Learning the Faith Formation Process 4. Getting Real for the Gospel 5. The Gospel and Its Key 6. Discerning Belief Barriers 7. Coming Home to Jesus 8. What Jesus Co-missioned Us to Do
First Steps Discipleship Training
The First Steps of Your Discipleship Journey . . . Are More Important than You Think!
Are you seeking a strong spiritual walk? If you are willing to do some training, this course can get you there! Replicating Jesus's exciting vision, First Steps teaches six key practices to establish your faith and empower your mission! Come journey alongside others to gain a stride that will bless you for the rest of your life!
First Steps Skill Set: – Develop a method for getting the most from your Bible – Adopt the simple pattern of conversational prayer – Experience the life-changing power of confessional abiding – Take steps into deeper relationships and service – Learn skills to touch your world with the love and message of Christ!
First Steps Discipleship Training
When It Comes to Disciple Making . . . You Get What You Aim For!
Because the church grows at the edges, discipling new believers may be one of the most important things you do! Jesus knew this. At the pivotal post-resurrection point, he took the newer-in-faith and synergized a movement. Yet the biblical example and current trends do not match–churches lack consistently in four areas: Aim: They fail to shoot for the new believer's evangelistic influence. Approach: They teach, but do not instill practices. Angle: Non-relational follow-up leads to disconnected disciples. Anticipation: Limited time did not produce lasting impact. Re-visioning, First Steps offers a fourfold course correction. Set your sights on the superior targets–and exciting results await! This guide will prepare you for the biggest assignment ever given: turn simple followers into strategic players.
The Great Tradition—A Great Labor
At a recent conference entitled Ancient Wisdom–Anglican Futures, theologians from across the denominational spectrum considered the question, «What does it mean to inhabit the 'Great Tradition' authentically?» As an expression of what C. S. Lewis called «Deep Church,» Anglicanism offers a test case of Tradition with a capital "T" in late modernity. Of particular interest is the highly dynamic transmission that has preserved a recognizable «Anglican Way» over the centuries. The process has been enlivened through constant negotiation and exchange with surprising convergences that have brought new life and direction. The contributors to this volume show how «profitable and commodious» (as Richard Hooker has said) the Great Tradition can be in nurturing the worship, communal life, and mission of the Church. But it often demonstrates how hard it is to uphold the varied integrities of historic faith in the contemporary marketplace of religion and, especially, among evangelicals who continue to follow the Canterbury Trail.
Contributors: Simon Chan, Tony Clark, Dominic Erdozain, Edith Humphrey, D. Stephen Long, George Sumner, and D. H. Williams.
C. S. Lewis and Friends
C. S. Lewis is one of the best-loved and most engaging Christian writers of recent times, and he continues to be a powerful defender of the faith.
It is in his imaginative fiction that his genius finds its fullest expression and makes its most lasting theological contribution. Famously, Lewis had friends who, like him, employed powerfully creative imaginations to explore the profundities of Christian thought and their struggles with their faith.
These illuminating essays on C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Dorothy L. Sayers, Rose Macaulay, and Austin Farrer are written by an international team of Lewis scholars.
Metaphors We Teach By
Metaphors We Teach By helps teachers reflect on how the metaphors they use to think about education shape what happens in their classrooms and in their schools. Teaching and learning will differ in classrooms whose teachers think of students as plants to be nurtured from those who consider them as clay to be molded. Students will be assessed differently if teachers think of assessment as a blessing and as justice instead of as measurement. This volume examines dozens of such metaphors related to teaching and teachers, learning and learners, curriculum, assessment, gender, and matters of spirituality and faith. The book challenges teachers to embrace metaphors that fit their worldview and will improve teaching and learning in their classrooms.