How do we understand the motivations and dynamics of the different personality types we see in our intimate partners, our friends, or in our professional lives? This six-session study guide is a content-rich companion to Suzanne Stabile's The Path Between Us, exploring the nine Enneagram types and how they experience relationships. Individuals and groups will gain deeper insights about themselves, their types, and others' personalities so that they can have loving, mature, and compassionate relationships.
What was clear to the original readers of Scripture is not always clear to us. Because of the cultural distance between the biblical world and our contemporary setting, we often bring modern Western biases to the text. For example:economicSome readers might assume that Moses married "e;below himself"e; because his wife was a dark-skinned Cushite. Actually, Hebrews were the slave race, not the Cushites, who were highly respected. Aaron and Miriam probably thought Moses was being presumptuous by marrying "e;above himself."e;Western individualism leads us to assume that Mary and Joseph traveled alone to Bethlehem. What went without saying was that they were likely accompanied by a large entourage of extended family.Biblical scholars Brandon O'Brien and Randy Richards shed light on the ways that Western readers often misunderstand the cultural dynamics of the Bible. They identify nine key areas where modern Westerners have significantly different assumptions about what might be going on in a text. Drawing on their own crosscultural experience in global mission, O'Brien and Richards show how better self-awareness and understanding of cultural differences in language, time and social mores allow us to see the Bible in fresh and unexpected ways.Getting beyond our own cultural assumptions is increasingly important for being Christians in our interconnected and globalized world. Learn to read Scripture as a member of the global body of Christ.
Half of Christian high school students walk away from their faith after graduation.Sarah Cowan Johnson unpacks how parents can have an active discipleship role in forming their children's faith, with age-appropriate insights and strategies for different developmental stages. She shows how we can identify God moments, facilitate spiritual encounters, clarify emerging beliefs, and encourage new faith habits in our children.Filled with exercises and activities for families to do together, this handbook is an essential resource for discipling children with confidence and creativity.
You can only go so far for so long before you find the limits of yourself. For Phileena Heuertz that moment arrived, mercifully, around the same time as a sabbatical to mark her twelfth year of service with an international organization working with some of the most vulnerable people in the world. Activists often see contemplation as a luxury, the sort of thing necessarily set aside in the quest to see the world set aright. But in Pilgrimage of a Soul we see that contemplation is essential-not only to a life of sustained commitment to the justice and righteousness of God, but to the fully human life that the Holy Spirit beckons each of us to. Tracing seven movements from a kind of sleepfulness to a kind of wakefulness, Phileena shows us that life is a journey that repeats itself as Christ leads us deeper and deeper into our true selves and a truer knowledge of God. This revised edition includes practices with each chapter, as well as questions for group discussion and individual reflection.
Christianity TodayLost World of Genesis OneThe Lost World of Adam and Eve
The questions our youth have are often the same ones that perplexed the great theologians. Andrew Root and Kenda Creasy Dean invite you to envision youth ministries full of practical theologians. Follow them into reflection on your own practice of theology, and learn how to share that theology through rich conversation and purposeful experience.
Named Best Major Publication by Concordia Historical Institute During the anxiety-laden period from the Great Depression through World War II to the Cold War, Americans found a welcome escape in the new medium of radio. Throughout radio's "Golden Age," religious broadcasting in particular contributed significantly to American culture. Yet its historic role often has been overlooked.In Ministers of a New Medium, Kirk D. Farney explores the work of two groundbreaking leaders in religious broadcasting: Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier. These clergymen and professors--one a Catholic priest, the other a Lutheran minister--each led the way in combining substantive theology and emerging technology to spread the gospel over the airwaves. Through weekly nationwide broadcasts, Maier's The Lutheran Hour and Sheen's Catholic Hour attracted listeners across a spectrum of denominational and religious affiliations, establishing their hosts--and Christian radio itself--as cultural and religious forces to be reckoned with.Farney examines how Sheen and Maier used their exceptional erudition, their sensitivity to the times, their powerful communication skills, and their unwavering Christian conviction, all for the purpose of calling the souls of listeners and the soul of a nation to repentance and godliness. Their combination of talents also brought their respective denominations, Roman Catholicism and Missouri Synod Lutheranism, from the periphery of the American religious landscape to a much greater level of recognition and acceptance. With careful attention to both the theological content and the cultural influence of these masters of a new medium, Farney's study sheds new light on the history of media and Christianity in the United States.
In this ESBT volume, Stephen Dempster traces the themes of kingship and kingdom throughout Scripture, illuminating the challenges, pain, and ultimate hope that the Bible offers. The story of God's kingship is ultimately the fulfillment of a promise to defeat sin and death and to establish a world of peace and justice.
"As 'roots' and 'wings' show up in famous quotes, so they do in this book. Rooted in Christian thought and the long tradition of integration, the authors demonstrate a deep understanding of Christian mental health care. At the same time, they challenge us to grow wings, to be innovative and bold as we confront the needs of our world alongside beautiful possibilities for the church. The stories are poignant, the writing is effective, the reflection questions are wise and challenging, and the authors are leaders in the field. This is a fantastic book. Be inspired to imagine the possibilities Beyond the Clinical Hour."Mark R. McMinn, author of Sin and Grace in Christian Counseling and professor emeritus at George Fox University"Beyond the Clinical Hour by Sells, Trout, and Sells is a comprehensive and very helpful guide to how Christian mental health professionals can partner with churches to deal with the mental health crisis before us. It includes integration of Christian approaches to mental health and a biblical theology for the foundation of Christian care. It also emphasizes and covers in detail the topics of supervision, consultation, church development and evaluation, and the ethics and economics of care. Highly recommended!"Siang-Yang Tan, senior professor of clinical psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary and author of Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Christian Perspective"This is one of the most unique, timely, and long-overdue resources for those committed to meeting the pressing needs of the men and women in today's world. The authors give us a fresh and much-needed biblically based, socially informed, clinically sound, and comprehensive model of providing meaningful Christian care. In some ways it provides an invaluable paradigm shift for understanding the essential role of the counselor and the church working together. This encouraging, empowering, and vision-casting resource is a book that you'll be reading more than once and wanting to share with your friends."Gary J. Oliver, executive director of the Center for Healthy Relationships and professor emeritus of psychology and practical theology at John Brown University"An insightful look into the mental health crisis, this book offers innovative solutions that emphasize the collaboration of pastors and counselors. Rather than abiding by the current default of church and mental health systems working at odds with one another, the authors present a vision for teamwork and unity of purpose. Their ideas are truly integration in action, ushering in a new era of creativity for pastors and Christian mental health professionals. Rife with examples of strategic partnership, Beyond the Clinical Hour is a must-read for pastors, counselors, and churchgoers who want to think outside the box to address the mental health challenges we face."Kristen Kansiewicz, assistant professor at Evangel University and a licensed professional counselor
Most lawyers, from Wall Street to the county seat, spend their days drafting documents, negotiating with other attorneys, trying cases, researching the law, and counseling clients. How does this everyday law practice relate to Jesus' call to follow him in servanthood?With decades of experience in the law office, courtroom, and classroom, Robert F. Cochran Jr. explores Jesus' call on lawyers to serve both individual clients and the common good. Cochran pulls back the curtain with stories from his own career and from the legal community to address a wide range of challenges posed by law practice, including counseling clients, planning trial tactics, navigating tensions with coworkers, and handling temptations toward cynicism and greed. This honest and accessible bookshares wisdom from an experienced practitioner and master teacheraddresses real-world situations and relationships experienced by most lawyerscharts the way toward a truly Christian practice of everyday lawFor students considering a career in law as well as for seasoned attorneys, The Servant Lawyer casts an encouraging vision for how lawyers can love and serve their neighbor in every facet of their work.
Plenty of books diagnose our post-Christian malaise. Here's a dynamic solution.The post-Christian cultural turn is creating the conditions for a crisis of confidence in the church and in pastoral ministry. While such changes can be disruptive and disconcerting, our new cultural reality makes the present moment a uniquely exciting time to reimagine churches that bear witness to Christ. How do we move beyond cookie-cutter approaches (which may have worked in the past) to building the creative, compassionate, and incarnational churches we long for?Biblical scholar and accomplished jazz pianist Mark Glanville plays with a metaphor of improvisation to chart twelve themes as the key "notes" on which Christian communities play as they bear witness to God in the world today. Building on these two dynamic traditions--jazz music and Christian community--Improvising Church unfolds a biblical, practical, and inventive vision for churches seeking to receive and extend the healing of Christ.
In the words of the creeds, the church is the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic body of Christ.Of those features, perhaps none is as misunderstood as the church's catholicity (that is, its universality)--because while the church is universal, it is also radically local, connected to a particular community or even found on a specific street corner. How might we reclaim the universality of the church without losing its local situatedness?In this Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture volume, pastor and theologian C. Ryan Fields offers a surprising solution: he turns to the Free Church tradition, those churches that are historically separate or "free" from state oversight. Juxtaposing the Free Church with its Episcopal counterpart, he argues that far from neglecting the catholicity of the church, the Free Church tradition can helpfully inform our understanding of the one body of Christ while remaining true to its local roots.Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture, edited by Daniel J. Treier and Kevin J. Vanhoozer, promotes evangelical contributions to systematic theology, seeking fresh understanding of Christian doctrine through creatively faithful engagement with Scripture in dialogue with church tradition.
Diversity is a high value for younger generations--but too often, they're not finding it in the church.Emerging generations in the West are more diverse than ever--ethnically, socioeconomically, educationally, and politically. And as church attendance among younger generations declines rapidly, research shows that one of their primary sticking points is the lack of diversity in most churches.In Church for Everyone, pastors Dan Kreiss and Efrem Smith address this phenomenon head-on. In this research-based, theologically informed, and practical book, they explore the younger generations' expectations and disappointments with church and hold out a vision for true diversity taken from the pages of Scripture. As experienced church leaders themselves, Kreiss and Smith share a wealth of practical experience and stories from the trenches of multiethnic ministry.The good news is that God has already called the church to diversity. As we seek to live out this calling in our own local contexts, we can become the demonstration of God's love for all humanity that he has designed the church to be--and that the younger generation is so desperately looking for.
Believe it or not, the book of Genesis might have been the most Darwinian text in the ancient world. And throughout the opening books of Scripture, we find ideas that would also become prominent insights of the biologist Charles Darwin interlaced with the Bible's one-of-a-kind origin story. Key plot markers come to the surface again and again, driving the history of Israel and the Jesus movement forward to its cosmic completion.Biblical scholar Dru Johnson calls us beyond typical creation-versus-evolution debates to explore the conceptual worlds underlying both Scripture and evolutionary science. He points toward remarkable continuities and discontinuities between the Bible's central concerns and those of Darwin and modern science--ideas so fundamental that they can easily escape our notice.The Hebrew creation accounts, Johnson argues, weave together three key themes on the origins and development of humans and animals, themes that are also essentially Darwinian: the connection among scarcity, cooperation, and violencethe fitness of creatures to their environmentsthe genealogical aims of sexual reproductionCan the ideas of Scripture and evolutionary science be mutually illuminating? When we enter deeply into the metaphysical imagination of the biblical authors, we discover surprising ways in which the two accounts converge--and conflict.
One-third of our waking lives is spent at work. Work is where we make culture and come into contact with our world. Work is central to God's mission to redeem souls, systems, and structures. And God works through our work to bring hope to the brokenness and fallenness of our surrounding culture.The gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for the world, and that includes the transformation of our ordinary work into a sacred calling. Ross Chapman and Ryan Tafilowski show how work is a way to love God, serve our neighbors, and demonstrate the gospel. With a broader understanding of God's work in the world, we are able to engage our daily work as part of how God makes all things new.This guide invites you to reflect on the meaning and purpose of your life's work and to transform your work into service to those around you.
What do the books of Luke and Acts teach us about God, Jesus, and the early church? How do these two books relate to each other? And what do they mean for us today?In this accessible and compelling introduction, Michael Bird draws us into the wide-ranging narrative of Luke-Acts to discover how Luke frames the life of Jesus and of the first disciples who set out from Jerusalem to "the ends of the earth" proclaiming the Good News. Bird shows us how these two books, when read together, tell a cohesive narrative about Jesus, the Church, and the mission of God--with implications for the whole of our lives today. Situating both books in their historical and literary context, Bird moves through an exploration of their central theological themes and culminates with consideration of the books' relevance for contemporary social issues.
Women now have professional opportunities beyond what previous generations ever imagined. But as our roles in public life have grown, the church's vision for women's work and calling has not grown with us, leaving us feeling isolated and under-resourced. Christian women face multiple tensions between home and work, navigating complex gender dynamics in the workplace and social pressure to hold together picture-perfect lives.Joanna Meyer addresses a critical gap in Christian women's discipleship by speaking to the roles we play in public and professional life. Acknowledging the brokenness of workplaces and industries, she provides a theological framework for women's work and influence and offers resources for the challenges of working life. This book will help you: Ignite your vocational imagination, with a biblical framework for work and calling.Build strength from within, with emotional and spiritual health to support your work.Navigate common workplace challenges, with practical tools to help your influence grow.Pursue purposeful relationships, collaborating and building strong relationships with others.Learn from the lived experience of godly female leaders and discover how women can have a redemptive impact through our work.
We need to rediscover lament to heal and hope again.We've lost the practice of lament. Most people don't know how to process personal or communal mourning and instead struggle to honor their tears, vulnerability, and the full weight of these disillusioning times. But tending our grief might be exactly what we need to reimagine a way forward.Tracing her difficult experiences of a catastrophic home fire, a threat to her child's well-being, and other devastating losses and upheavals, Terra McDaniel offers a clear framework for expressing heartache and burdens. McDaniel says, "Lament is surprisingly hopeful. As strange as that may sound now, I promise it's true. It's an act of trust both that we can face pain and survive, and that God cares about our anger, confusion, doubt, grief, and fear. Lament refuses to bury pain or, just as dangerous, to give in to despair."Hopeful Lament makes space for the powerful act of crying out before a loving God and offers provoking reflection questions, embodied practices, and applications for families with children. Learn how to journey gently through suffering.
What does it mean to be human? This timeless question proves critical as we seek to understand our purpose, identity, and significance. Amidst the many voices clamoring to shape our understanding of humanity, the Bible reveals important truths related to our human identity and vocation that are critical to the flourishing of all of creation.Carmen Joy Imes seeks to recover the theologically rich message of the creation narratives starting in the book of Genesis as they illuminate what it means to be human. Every human being is created as God's image. Imago Dei is our human identity, and God appointed humans to rule on God's behalf. Being God's Image explores the implications of this kinship relationship with God and considers what it means for our work, our gender relations, our care for creation, and our eternal destiny. The Bible invites us into a dramatically different quality of life: a beloved community in which we can know God and one another as we are truly known.Includes a discussion guide for personal reflection or group study, as well as links to related video material through the BibleProject.
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