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Books > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations
This volume considers two authors who represent different but
complementary responses to social injustice and human degradation.
The writings of Walter Rauschenbusch and Dorothy Day respond to an
American situation that arose out of the industrial revolution and
reflect especially-but not exclusively-urban life in the east coast
of the United States during the late nineteenth and first half of
the twentieth century. Although these two authors differ greatly,
they both reacted to the extreme social inequality and strife that
occurred between 1890 and the beginning of World War II. They
shared a total commitment to the cause of social justice, their
Christian faith, and an active engagement in the quest for a just
social order. But the different ways they reacted to the situation
generated different spiritualities. Rauschenbusch was a pastor,
writer, historian, and seminary professor. Day was a journalist who
became an organizer. The strategic differences between them,
however, grew out of a common sustained reaction against the
massive deprivation that surrounded them. There is no spiritual
rivalry here. They complement each other and reinforce the
Christian humanitarian motivation that drives them. Their work
brings the social dimension of Christian spirituality to the
surface in a way that had not been emphasized in the same focused
way before them. They are part of an awakening to the degree to
which the social order lies in the hands of the people who support
it. Both Rauschenbusch and Day are examples of an explicit
recognition of the social dimension of Christian spirituality, and
a radical acting out of that response in two distinctly different
ways.
What does it mean to evangelize ethically in a multicultural
climate? Following his successful Evangelism after Christendom,
Bryan Stone addresses reasons evangelism often fails and explains
how it can become distorted as a Christian practice. Stone urges us
to consider a new approach, arguing for evangelism as a work of
imagination and a witness to beauty rather than a crass effort to
compete for converts in pluralistic contexts. He shows that the way
we lead our lives as Christians is the most meaningful tool of
evangelism in today's rapidly changing world.
The American church is at a critical crossroads. Our witness has
been compromised, our numbers are down, and our reputation has been
sullied, due largely to our own faults and fears. The church's
ethnocentrism, consumerism, and syncretism have blurred the lines
between discipleship and partisanship. Pastor Eric Costanzo,
missiologist Daniel Yang, and nonprofit leader Matthew Soerens find
that for the church to return to health, we must decenter ourselves
from our American idols and recenter on the undeniable, inalienable
core reality of the global, transcultural kingdom of God. Our
guides in this process are global Christians and the poor, who
offer hope from the margins, and the ancient church, which survived
through the ages amid temptations of power and corruption. Their
witness points us to refocus on the kingdom of God, the image of
God, the Word of God, and the mission of God. The path to the
future takes us away from ourselves in unlikely directions. By
learning from the global church and marginalized voices, we can
return to our roots of being kingdom-focused, loving our neighbor,
and giving of ourselves in missional service to the world.
Asylum-Seeking, Migration and Church addresses one of the most
pressing issues confronting contemporary society. How are we to
engage with migrants? Drawing on studies of church engagement with
asylum seekers in the UK and critical immigration and refugee
issues in North America, Snyder presents an extended theological
reflection on both the issue of asylum-seeking and the fears of
established populations surrounding immigration. This book outlines
ways in which churches are currently supporting asylum seekers,
encouraging closer engagement with people seen as 'other' and more
thoughtful responses to newcomers. Creatively exploring biblical
and theological traditions surrounding the 'stranger', Snyder
argues that as well as practising a vision of inclusive community
churches would do well to engage with established population fears.
Trends in global migration and the dynamics of fear and hostility
surrounding immigration are critically and creatively explored
throughout the book. Inviting more complex, nuanced responses to
asylum seekers and immigrants, this book offers invaluable insights
to those interested in Christian ethics, practical theology, social
work, mission and faith and social action, as well as those working
in the field of migration.
The great religious orders of Christianity - the Benedictines, the
Dominicans, the Franciscans and the Jesuits - are well known for
their monasteries, their learning, and their missions arouind the
world. But in the Middle Ages, to some extent surviving to this
day, there was another kind of religious order, one whose members'
profession was to bear arms in defence of Christendom. From humble
beginnings in the early 12th century, caring for the sick in the
Holy Land and protecting pilgrims, the military religious orders
spread out across Europe. Not only did they fight for the Holy
Places, they helped push back Islam in Spain and what is now
Portugal, and spread Christianity to the lands across the Baltic,
then still pagan. The Knights of St John, the Knights Templar, the
Knights of Santiago and of Calatrava, the Teutonic Knights and
others played a fearsome, sometimes brutal and often neglected role
in the history of Christianity. The wars, which they fought in the
name of Christ, helped shape the world as we know it
A missionary and shelter, a home and salvation, Union Gospel
Mission has been a place of refuge for many since 1888. From
cowboys to the homeless and jobless, to drug addicts and drunks,
Union Gospel Mission of Fort Worth has unrelentingly helped and
provided for people of all different backgrounds and struggles in
life to help ease their pain, hunger, and need, while bringing them
closer to Christ. This book takes readers through the 1800s as the
Mission cared for and housed prostitutes, cowboys, and drifters, to
the 1900s, when it transformed more by the message of Jesus
Christ's saving grace, to now as it has physically expanded to a
campus and partners with other organizations and churches to help
not only the homeless but all those in need. Fighting debt,
eviction, and addiction, the Union Gospel Mission has provided
food, shelter, jobs, and spiritual sustenance to thousands of
struggling souls for well over a century. This inspiring journey
through time will amaze you in the ways the Union Gospel Mission's
selfless acts have helped lives through Christ.
What is the value of medical research? With contributions from
anthropologists, sociologists and activists, this approach brings
into focus the forms of value - social, epistemic, and economic -
that are involved in medical research practices and how these
values intersect with everyday living. Though their work covers
wide empirical ground -from HIV trials in Kenya and drug donation
programs in Tanzania to industry-academic collaborations in the
British National Health Service - the authors share a commitment to
understanding the practices of medical research as embedded in both
local social worlds and global markets. Their collective concern is
to rethink the conventional ethical demarcations betwweenpaid and
unpaid research services in light of the social and material
organisation of medical research practices. . Rather than warn
against economic incursions into medical knowledge and health
practice, or, alternatively, the reduction of local experience to
the standards of bioethics, we hope to illuminate the array of
practices, knowledges, and techniques through which the value of
medical research is brought into being. This book was originally
published as a special issue of Journal of Cultural Economy.
We live in a world of options, where we might do this or that if we
feel like it. But for followers of Jesus, certain things are not
optional, but necessary. Bishop Claude Alexander unpacks the
Gospels' statements of what Jesus said he must do. He must be about
his Father's business. He must go through Samaria. He must go to
Jerusalem. Life in God is less about what you could do, and more
about what you must do. Contrary to the life of the optional,
accidental, and haphazard, the believer is called to live with a
sense of divine necessity. No maybes about it.
Outreach 2022 Resource of the Year (Cross-Cultural and Missional)
Southwestern Journal of Theology 2021 Book of the Year Award
(Evangelism/Missions/Global Church) Representing the fruit of a
lifetime of reflection and practice, this comprehensive resource
helps teachers understand the way people in different cultures
learn so they can adapt their teaching for maximum effectiveness.
Senior missiologist and educator Craig Ott draws on extensive
research and cross-cultural experience from around the world. This
book introduces students to current theories and best practices for
teaching and learning across cultures. Case studies, illustrations,
diagrams, and sidebars help the theories of the book come to life.
'You don't honestly believe all that stuff in the Bible!'
Challenged by her friends, and later as a student by theological
teachers, Amy Orr-Ewing was determined to leave no stone unturned
in her eagerness to prove that the Bible was unique and wholly
reliable. Her passion drove her to complete an in-depth study of
the answers to ten of the most frequently raised objections she
encountered, including: * Isn't it all a matter of interpretation?
* Can we know anything about history? * Are the original
manuscripts reliable? * What about the canon? * What about other
holy books? * Isn't the Bible sexist? * What about all the wars? *
Isn't the Bible out of date on sex? * How can I know? Sensitively
yet convincingly, the author addresses the issues and the
arguments, showing that we have every reason to trust the Bible
today.
What every church needs to know about sports ministry.
A guide to developing church sport and recreation ministries.
Especially relevant to churcheswho want to run sport programmes
ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
Bryan Mason contends that sport is as vital a part of the church
programme as say youth work or women's ministry. Indeed, by its
all-encompassing nature, it reaches out to every age group. Sport
is an ideal atmosphere for making friends and sharing the
difference Jesus Christ makes in your life. This book provides
vital information and ideas for churches wishing to make mission a
central goal as 2012 approaches.
There are many things that make up a great leader. The ability to motivate, to see the big picture, to delegate. But perhaps just as important, if not more so, is the leader's emotional intelligence (EQ). How we feel impacts how we lead, and how those we lead feel about themselves when they're around us affects how well they follow our leadership. It follows then that if we want to be the most effective leaders, we must be emotionally mature.
In this practical book, church leadership expert Aubrey Malphurs shows church and ministry leaders how to assess, understand, and improve both their own EQ and that of their followers, so that they can inspire the very best in their churches and organizations.
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