As a pastor, do you ever get the feeling that no matter what you try, nothing much seems to change? That is because the ministries themselves are not redemptive--they are not up to you. Only Jesus' ministry is redemptive. Jesus has to "show up." Theologian Andrew Purves explores at the deepest level the true and essential nature of Christian ministry. He says that the attempt to be an effective minister is a major problem. Ministers are "in the way." He radically claims that ministries need to be crucified. They need to be killed off so that Christ can make them live. Rooting church service in Christ's own continuing ministry, Purves provides a vision for students and practicing clergy to reclaim the vital connection between Christ and participation in his ministry today, even if it means letting Christ put to death the ministries to which pastors cling so closely. A radical appraisal for a critical malady affecting the life of the Christian church written in plain, down-to-earth language.

Fulton J. Sheen, Norman Vincent Peale, and Billy Graham were America's most popular religious leaders during the mid-twentieth century period known as the golden years of the Age of Extremes. It was part of an era that encompassed polemic contrasts of good and evil on the world stage in political philosophies and international relations. The 1950s and early 1960s, in particular, were years of high anxiety, competing ideologies, and hero/villain mania in America. Sheen was the voice of reason who spoke against those conflicting ideologies which were hostile to religious faith and democracy; Peale preached the gospel of reassurance, self-assurance, and success despite ominous global threats; and Graham was the heroic model of faith whose message of conversion provided Americans an identity and direction opposite to atheistic communism. This study looks at how and why their rhetorical leadership, both separately and together, contributed to the climate of an extreme era and influenced a national religious revival.

The last 10 years have seen an upturn in the number of people reporting difficulties with emotional and mental health issues, particularly anxiety and depression. And, it is often the strongest who struggle under the weight of all they have nobly tried to shoulder. Turn to the Bible, and this truth is played out in the lives of some of its greatest characters. King David led a nation - yet wrote some of the Bible's bleakest laments. Elijah worked outlandish public miracles - and later pleaded God to take his life. Dedicated, hardworking mother and woman of God Naomi acknowledged that she had become characterised by bitterness. And lifelong God follower Job found himself longing for a death that would not come. This book affirms that depressive illness can strike anyone - not least the capable, busy people with the `can-do' attitude of the title. This special bespoke edition for the Christian market takes a destigmatising, thoroughly informed approach to depression, with a foreword by Will Van Der Hart, whose own experience of ill mental health led to him founding Mind & Soul, the leading Christian mental health organisation.

Christianity Today 2022 Book Award Winner (Church/Pastoral Leadership) Outreach 2022 Recommended Resource (Church) Southwestern Journal of Theology 2021 Book of the Year Award (Honorable Mention, Preaching/Ministry/Leadership) Offering an important corrective to a pain-averse culture that celebrates individualism and success, veteran preacher and teacher Matthew Kim encourages pastors to preach on the painful issues their congregations face. Through vulnerability and self-disclosure, pastors can help their congregants share their suffering in community for the purpose of healing and transformation. The book includes stories, shares relevant Scripture texts imparting biblical wisdom, and offers best practices for preaching on specific topics. Each chapter ends with discussion questions and a sample sermon.

This volume studies local priests as central players in small communities of early medieval Europe. As clerics living among the laity, priests played a double role within their communities: that of local representatives of the Church and religious experts, and that of owners of land and other goods. By virtue of their membership of both the ecclesiastical and the secular world, they can be considered as 'men in the middle': people who brought politico-religious ideas and ideals to secular communities, and who linked the local to the supra-local via networks of landownerhsip. This book addresses both roles that local priests played by approaching them via their manuscripts, and via the charters that record transactions in which they were involved. Manuscripts once owned by local priests bear witness to their education and expertise, but also indicate how, for instance, ideals of the Carolingian reforms reached the lowest levels of early medieval society. The case-studies of collections of charters, on the other hand, show priests as active members of networks of the locally powerful in a variety of European regions. Notwithstanding many local variations, the contributions to this volume show that local priests as 'men in the middle' are a phenomenon shared by the early medieval world as a whole.

Is your small group boring? (It's okay to be honest.) Do you sometimes have to force yourself to attend the meetings (even the meetings you lead )? Do you wonder if small groups are doing anything for your spiritual growth? Kim Engelmann, a pastor and small group leader, describes how she felt about one small group she attended: "It is Thursday evening--small group night. I . . . hesitate before getting out of the car. Do I really want to do this? I am not the sort of person that likes weeknight meetings. I am tired from a long day's work, but I push my car door open and crunch on up the gravel driveway. . . I convince myself that this is for my own good. I tell myself that I ought to be grateful that I live in a free country where small groups that talk about Jesus and the Bible are allowed. But I am not grateful--not one little bit." As a result Kim asked herself a hard question about groups: Is it small groups that are the problem or the way we do small groups? In this book she shares her answers, offering a new format for groups that gives authentic spiritual community a chance. She challenges the compartmentalization of Bible study, prayer and even fun (only laugh during icebreaker time ), and offers creative, practical suggestions that can serve to integrate these aspects into an experiential framework. Whether you are a pastor, a group leader or a member, if you find yourself dragging when it's time for small group, then this is the book for you.