The Christian faith depends to a great degree on persuasion. In one of his letters to early Christians, the apostle Paul wrote, "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone" (Col. 4:6). Yet rhetoric-the art of persuasion-has been largely ignored by most Christians. In this book, James Beitler seeks to renew interest in and hunger for an effective Christian rhetoric by closely considering the work of five beloved Christian communicators: C. S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Desmond Tutu, and Marilynne Robinson. Moreover, he situates these reflections within the Christian liturgical seasons for the essential truths they convey. These writers collectively demonstrate that being a master of rhetoric is not antithetical to authentic Christian witness. Indeed, being a faithful disciple of Christ means practicing a rhetoric that beneficially and persuasively imparts the surprising truth of the gospel. It means having seasoned speech.

As a pastor, the author loved to do evangelism, but noticed most in his congregation didn't share his enthusiasm, despite their desire to share the gospel. Sjogren presents a collection of 101 ways that Christians can reach out to those around them. These "read-and-do" concepts are designed to be read and then done with a few friends, a small group, or an entire church.

Der Band ist die erste groessere Studie zur Vita von Josef Busnaya. Diese Quelle beschreibt in grossem Detailreichtum das alltagliche Leben im 10. Jahrhundert in einem ostsyrischen Kloster und seinem ruralen Umfeld in einer ansonsten schlecht dokumentierten Zeit und Region. Der Autor veranschaulicht das alltagliche Leben im Kloster, seine oekonomische Grundlage und das Verhaltnis der Moenche zu ihrem christlichen und nicht-christlichen Umfeld und analysiert es im Kontext seiner historischen Situation. Das Ergebnis ist eine Momentaufnahme mit erstaunlichen Einsichten in das alltagliche, multireligioes gepragte Leben im Nordirak des 10. Jahrhunderts. Allerdings sind diesen durch die Natur der Quelle als hagiographischer Text Grenzen gesetzt.

How should today's Church shape its response to the Gospel? How can we set about 'making disciples of all nations' in our post-Christian, multi-faith world? What does 'mission' mean in our times? Here, at last, is a book which addresses these issues - and many more - with honesty and openness. It strips 'mission' of its old associations with colonialism and militarism. It looks anew at the underlying theology, reminding us that our task is God's mission, not a human construct. It explores key aspects of contemporary mission, from the familiar - such as the relation of mission to evangelism, and to people of others faiths - to the unusual and thought-provoking - such as mission and the environment, justice for the poor, and the overcoming of violence. J. Andrew Kirk, who has written and lectured widely on the subject of mission, also reflects on the importance of partnership and community - of mission as a shared enterprise. He brings the fruits of his own broad experience, along with current academic thinking in missiology, and presents this afresh for a wide readership. Brief exercises at the end of each chapter draw the reader personally into the issues covered. Students of mission and Christians who wish to engage with today's world, to integrate faith and life, will find here an inclusive, comprehensive and lucid presentation of all relevant discussions.

In 1854, American Presbyterian missionaries arrived in Egypt as part of a larger Anglo-American Protestant movement aiming for worldwide evangelization. Protected by British imperial power, and later by mounting American global influence, their enterprise flourished during the next century. American Evangelicals in Egypt follows the ongoing and often unexpected transformations initiated by missionary activities between the mid-nineteenth century and 1967--when the Six-Day Arab-Israeli War uprooted the Americans in Egypt. Heather Sharkey uses Arabic and English sources to shed light on the many facets of missionary encounters with Egyptians. These occurred through institutions, such as schools and hospitals, and through literacy programs and rural development projects that anticipated later efforts of NGOs. To Egyptian Muslims and Coptic Christians, missionaries presented new models for civic participation and for women's roles in collective worship and community life. At the same time, missionary efforts to convert Muslims and reform Copts stimulated new forms of Egyptian social activism and prompted nationalists to enact laws restricting missionary activities. Faced by Islamic strictures and customs regarding apostasy and conversion, and by expectations regarding the proper structure of Christian-Muslim relations, missionaries in Egypt set off debates about religious liberty that reverberate even today. Ultimately, the missionary experience in Egypt led to reconsiderations of mission policy and evangelism in ways that had long-term repercussions for the culture of American Protestantism.

The Revival of Evangelicalism presents a critical analysis of the evangelical movement in the national Church. It emphasises the manner in which the movement both continued along certain pre-Disruption lines and evolved to represent a broader spectrum of Reformed Presbyterian doctrine and piety during the long reign of Queen Victoria. The author interweaves biographical case studies of influential figures who played key roles in the process of revival and recovery, including William Muir, Norman MacLeod and A. H. Charteris. Based on a diverse range of primary sources, the book places the chronological development of 'established evangelicalism' within the broader context of British imperialism, German biblical criticism, European Romanticism and Victorian print culture.

Originally published in 1940, this book contains the text of the Birkbeck Lectures for 1937-8. Smyth assesses the contributions that Cambridge cleric Charles Simeon made to the Evangelical Revival in Cambridge in the eighteenth century, and includes correspondence between Simeon and other evangelical thinkers of the day among his sources. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in religion in Georgian England and the Evangelical Revival.

The twenty-first century has opened with a rapidly changing map of Christianity. While its influence is waning in some of its traditional Western strongholds, it is growing at a phenomenal pace in the global South. And yet this story has largely eluded the corporate news brokers of the West. Layered as it is with countless personal and corporate stories of remarkable faith and witness, it nevertheless lies ghostlike behind the newsprint and webpages of our print media, outside the camera's vision on the network evening news. Miriam Adeney has lived, traveled and ministered widely. She has walked with Christians in and from the far reaches of the globe. As she pulls back the veil on real Christians--their faith, their hardships, their triumphs and, yes, their failures--an inspiring and challenging story of a kingdom that knows no borders takes shape. This is a book that coaxes us out of our comfortable lives. It beckons us to expand our vision and experience of the possibilities and promise of a faith that continues to shape lives, communities and nations.

Jeffrey P. Greenman and Gene L. Green edit this collection of essays from the proceedings of the 2011 Wheaton Theology Conference. The essays explore the past, present and future shape of biblical interpretation and theological engagement in the Majority World. Leading scholars from around the world interact with the key theological issues being discussed in their regions. In addition, some theological voices from minority communities in North America address issues particular to their context and which often overlap with those central in Majority World theology. Contributors include Vince Bacote, Samuel Escobar, Ken Gnanakan, James Kombo, Mark Labberton, Terry LeBlanc, Juan Mart?nez, Ruth Padilla DeBorst, Lamin Sanneh, Andrew Walls, K. K. Yeo and Amos Yong.

In 1730 a delegation of Illinois Indians arrived in the French colonial capital of New Orleans. An Illinois leader presented two ceremonial pipes, or calumets, to the governor. One calumet represented the diplomatic alliance between the two men and the other symbolized their shared attachment to Catholicism. The priest who documented this exchange also reported with excitement how the Illinois recited prayers and sang hymns in their Native language, a display that astonished the residents of New Orleans. The "Catholic" calumet and the Native-language prayers and hymns were the product of long encounters between the Illinois and Jesuit missionaries, men who were themselves transformed by these sometimes intense spiritual experiences. The conversions of people, communities, and cultural practices that led to this dramatic episode all occurred in a rapidly evolving and always contested colonial context.In "The Catholic Calumet," historian Tracy Neal Leavelle examines interactions between Jesuits and Algonquian-speaking peoples of the upper Great Lakes and Illinois country, including the Illinois and Ottawas, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Leavelle abandons singular definitions of conversion that depend on the idealized elevation of colonial subjects from "savages" to "Christians" for more dynamic concepts that explain the changes that all participants experienced. A series of thematic chapters on topics such as myth and historical memory, understandings of human nature, the creation of colonial landscapes, translation of religious texts into Native languages, and the influence of gender and generational differences demonstrates that these encounters resulted in the emergence of complicated and unstable cross-cultural religious practices that opened new spaces for cultural creativity and mutual adaptation.

Over the last four decades, evangelical scholars have shown growing interest in Christian debates over other religions, seeking answers to essential questions: How are we to think about and relate to other religions, be open to the Spirit, and at the same time remain evangelical and orthodox? Gerald R. McDermott and Harold A. Netland offer critiques of a variety of theologians and religious studies scholars, including evangelicals, but also challenge evangelicals to move beyond parochial positions. This volume is both a manifesto and a research program, critically evaluating the last forty years of Christian treatments of religious others and proposing a comprehensive direction for the future. It addresses issues relating to the religions in both systematic theology and missiology, taking up long-debated questions such as contextualization, salvation, revelation, the relationship between culture and religion, conversion, social action, and ecumenism. It concludes with responses from four leading thinkers of African, Asian, and European backgrounds: Veli-Matti Karkkainen, Vinoth Ramachandra, Lamin Sanneh, and Christine Schirrmacher.

The Book Living Every Moment Rightly for Jesus can be summarised as: As a Christian, where ever you are, whatever you do, remember you are the messenger. Your life should speak for Jesus. If we belong to Christ, people must see changes in our lives (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christianity is about transformation which gives us a new life, a new heart and a new self (Ephesians 4:22-24). Apostle Paul tells us that this transformation involves renewal of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). He goes further and says that this renewal is about having a new mindset or attitude that you find in Christ himself (Philippians 2:5-8). The Church is where Christians are equipped for the Ministry of Jesus (Ephesians 4:11-12). People cannot advance Spiritually apart from what they hear on the pulpit. Christians bear fruit outside the four walls of the Church. They have been commanded to carry the Good News (the Gospel) which has transformed their lives to people around them through their personal examples. Christians should not expect people around them to accept their doctrine and ignore their personal examples. Our personal examples are what will win souls for Jesus. Jesus is our Saviour and King. He gave His life to pay for our sins and to serve Him faithfully with passion will change the world. The crowd needs God's grace (Joel LIVING EVERY MOMENT RIGHTLY FOR JESUS 3:14). To serve the Lord faithfully with gladness is serving for the Kingdom purpose. It is a call to serve as against volunteering which means I am doing you a favour. To serve is a manifestation of Christianity; Jesus served (Matt hew 20:28). As Christians, we are all in the Ministry of Jesus. The change (transformation) in our lives (new heart, new mind and new self) should be reciprocated in our communities, workplace, political and social life just to mention but a few. The Word of Spirit and of Power: "For just as the sufferings of Christ fl ow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows" (2 Corinthians 1:5).

What if you could find a way to share your faith in Jesus that feels natural, fits your personality, and ignites a fire in others? In this video-based evangelism training course (video streaming code included), author of Becoming a Contagious Christian Mark Mittelberg introduces five approaches to evangelism to help you determine which of them fit best with your unique gifts and personality: Friendship-Building Selfless-Serving Story-Sharing Reason-Giving Truth-Telling As disciples of Christ, we are called to share the gospel, but few of us are naturally comfortable with evangelism. We wrestle with a sense of insecurity, a lack of preparation, and the sense that reaching out to others might force us to act like someone we're not. And many of us feel guilty when we fail to use an opportunity to talk about our faith, lowering our confidence even further. Building upon popular personality-type methods, the Contagious Faith assessment will help you identify your primary style, along with any secondary styles you discover. You'll learn next steps for developing and deploying your natural approach to evangelism and work through interactive prompts to practice the methods Mark unpacks in the videos. The Contagious Faith Training Course can be used in small groups, classes, student ministries, and church-wide campaigns and has everything you need to participate, including: The guide itself-with discussion and personal reflection questions, prompts, video notes, and a leader's guide. The six-session teaching DVD. The Contagious Faith book An assessment quiz to help you determine your Contagious Faith style. The training videos also include short interviews with Mark and five individuals who speak and use each of the 5 faith-sharing styles so that you can see them in action. Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2027. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.

"Moral Geography" traces the development of a moral basis for American expansionism, as Protestant missionaries, using biblical language and metaphors, imaginatively conjoined the cultivation of souls with the cultivation of land and made space sacred. While the political implications of the mapping of American expansion have been much studied, this is the first major study of the close and complex relationship between mapping and missionizing on the American frontier. Moral Geography provides a fresh approach to understanding nineteenth-century Protestant home missions in Ohio's Western Reserve. Through the use of maps, letters, religious tracts, travel narratives, and geographical texts, Amy DeRogatis recovers the struggles of settlers, land surveyors, missionaries, and geographers as they sought to reconcile their hopes and expectations for a Promised Land with the realities of life on the early American frontier.

Der vorliegende Band der Reihe New German-American Studies eroertert anhand der Lebensgeschichte des geburtigen Westfalen August Rauschenbusch und unter Anwendung gangiger Methoden der deutsch-amerikanischen und transatlantischen Geschichtsschreibung das Schicksal eines deutschen Amerikaauswanderers im 19. Jahrhundert. August Rauschenbusch migrierte 1846 als protestantischer Missionar nach Missouri und hatte spater eine angesehene Stellung als Professor und Ausbilder von Predigern an einem deutschsprachigen theologischen Seminar im Staat New York inne. Der Verfasser ruckt durch seine Untersuchung der Biographie eines deutschen Theologen und Einzelauswanderers in den USA heute vergessene oder bisher weitgehend vernachlassigte Forschungsfelder deutsch-amerikanischer Geschichte wieder ins Bewusstsein.

In this pioneer study, Ion investigates the experience of the Canadians who were part of the Protestant missionary movement in the Japanese Empire. He sheds new light on the dramatic challenges faced by foreign missionaries and Japanese Christians alike in what was the watershed period in the religious history of twentieth-century East Asia.

"The Cross in the Dark Valley" delivers significant lessons for Christian and missionary movements in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe which even now have to contend with oppression from authoritarian regimes and with hostility.

This new book by A. Hamish Ion, written with objectivity and scholarly competence, will be of interest to all scholars of Japanese-Canadian relations and missionary studies as well as to general historians.