|
Books > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > Christian mission & evangelism
While much work has been done to apply anthropological insights
to the study of missions, the sociological perspective has been
generally neglected by missiologists. This volume defines the
sociology of missions as a discrete subdiscipline within the
sociology of religion and provides a working set of conceptual
resources for those involved in mission work to use in furthering
their understanding of their task. The author reviews the major
areas of sociology that are most relevant to missions and presents
his findings as a basis for discussion and a stimulus to further
exploration of relevant sociological concepts and theories. One of
his main goals is to increase dialogue between missiologists and
sociologists of religion, by providing the former with a
sociological perspective and the latter with a deeper understanding
of the missionary enterprise.
Born into a sharecropping family in New Hebron, Mississippi, in
1930, and only receiving a third-grade education, John M. Perkins
has been a pioneering prophetic African American voice for
reconciliation and social justice to America's white evangelical
churches. Often an unwelcome voice and always a passionate,
provocative clarion, Perkins persisted for forty years in bringing
about the formation of the Christian Community Development
Association--a large network of evangelical churches and community
organizations working in America's poorest communities--and
inspired the emerging generation of young evangelicals concerned
with releasing the Church from its cultural captivity and
oppressive materialism.
John M. Perkins has received surprisingly little attention from
historians of modern American religious history and theologians.
"Mobilizing for the Common Good" is an exploration of the
theological significance of John M. Perkins. With contributions
from theologians, historians, and activists, this book contends
that Perkins ushered in a paradigm shift in twentieth-century
evangelical theology that continues to influence Christian
community development projects and social justice activists
today.
In our image-based culture, people need to visualize something to
understand it. This has never been more true about our
communication of the gospel. But sometimes our understanding of the
gospel gets stuck in a rut, and all we know is a particular outline
or one-size-fits-all formula. While we hold to only one gospel, the
New Testament uses a wealth of dynamic, compelling images for
explaining the good news of Jesus, each of which connects with
different people at different points of need. Neil Livingstone
provides a guided tour of biblical images of the gospel and shows
how each offers fresh insight into God's saving work. Walking
through Scripture's gallery of pictures of salvation from new life
to deliverance, from justification to adoption, Livingstone invites
us to deepen our understanding of the gospel. By letting the truth
and power of each permeate our lives, we will be better able to
articluate the life-changing gospel of Christ to a world that needs
to taste--and see--that the Lord is good.
This book provides a wealth of fascinating information about many
significant and lesser-known nineteenth-century Christian authors,
mostly women, who were motivated to write material specifically for
children's spiritual edification because of their personal faith.
It explores three prevalent theological and controversial doctrines
of the period, namely Soteriology, Biblical Authority and
Eschatology, in relation to children's specifically engendered
Christian literature. It traces the ecclesiastical networks and
affiliations across the theological spectrum of Evangelical
authors, publishers, theologians, clergy and scholars of the
period. An unprecedented deluge of Evangelical literature was
produced for millions of Sunday School children in the nineteenth
century, resulting in one of its most prolific and profitable forms
of publishing. It expanded into a vast industry whose magnitude,
scope and scale is discussed throughout this book. Rather than
dismissing Evangelical children's literature as simplistic,
formulaic, moral didacticism, this book argues that, in attempting
to convert the mass reading public, nineteenth-century authors and
publishers developed a complex, highly competitive genre of
children's literature to promote their particular theologies, faith
and churchmanships, and to ultimately save the nation.
There has not been conducted much research in religious studies and
(linguistic) anthropology analysing Protestant missionary
linguistic translations. Contemporary Protestant missionary
linguists employ grammars, dictionaries, literacy campaigns, and
translations of the Bible (in particular the New Testament) in
order to convert local cultures. The North American institutions
SIL and Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) are one of the greatest
scientific-evangelical missionary enterprises in the world. The
ultimate objective is to translate the Bible to every language. The
author has undertaken systematic research, employing comparative
linguistic methodology and field interviews, for a
history-of-ideas/religions and epistemologies explication of
translated SIL missionary linguistic New Testaments and its
premeditated impact upon religions, languages, sociopolitical
institutions, and cultures. In addition to taking into account the
history of missionary linguistics in America and theological
principles of SIL/WBT, the author has examined the intended
cultural transformative effects of Bible translations upon
cognitive and linguistic systems. A theoretical analytic model of
conversion and translation has been put forward for comparative
research of religion, ideology, and knowledge systems.
"This is a solid introductory text that will help thoughtful
students understand the major world religions and the currents of
secular atheism. It is broad in scope, concise in expression and
practical for learning and reference. A fine tool for learning."
Charlie Self, Ph.D. Director of the Bible and Theology Ph. D.
Program. Associate Professor of Church History, Assemblies of God
Theological Seminary. "I have known Ron since the fall of 2004,
when we hired him and he started teaching sections of World
Religions...which focused on comparing and contrasting
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and
Taoism...Through the years his students (and the Department Chairs)
have consistently given him excellent evaluations. For all of these
reasons I highly recommend Dr. Woodworth..." David J. Yount, Ph.D.
Former Mesa Community College Professor of Philosophy and Chair of
the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. For the
introductory student of world religions World Religions &
Atheism: A Christian Perspective will serve as a helpful primer to
the subject that will provide a framework for assessing the truth
claims of any religion. It unapologetically presents Christianity
as a religion whose truth claims deserve a fair and honest study,
especially over against the absolutist secular claims of Atheism.
James D. Hernando, Ph. D., Professor of New Testament, AGTS. Member
of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical
Literature.
The unbelievable story of how one town truly prayed without ceasing
In 1999, a small town on the south coast of England became the
birthplace of the extraordinary, accidental, international movement
known as 24-7 Prayer. Their inspiration was a seemingly chance
visit by founder Pete Greig to Herrnhut in Germany, where the
eighteenth-century Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf had initiated the
Moravian prayer watch, which ran without ceasing for a hundred
years. Five years later, Phil Anderson undertook an aerial road
trip on a tiny four-seat airplane from England to Germany, a
remarkable journey to uncover the history of Zinzendorf and the
movement he led. Part history, part narrative, The Lord of the Ring
takes readers on a fascinating journey back to the
eighteenth-century Moravian renewal movement and their hundred-year
prayer watch. Anderson retraces the steps of Zinzendorf, reconnects
with his legacy, and seeks to apply it to life and faith in a new
millennium. Learning from the past, readers will discover crucial
signposts for grappling with the church's identity and calling as
an authentic, relational, missional community.
This book examines unintended participatory cultures and media
surrounding the American televangelists Robert Tilton and Tammy
Faye Bakker-Messner. It brings to light heavily ironic fan
followings; print, audio, and video projects; public access
television parodies; and other comedic participatory practices
associated with these controversial preachers from the 1980s
onwards. For Tilton's ministry, some of these activities and
artifacts would prove irksome and even threatening, particularly an
analog video remix turned online viral sensation. In contrast,
Bakker-Messner's "campy" fans - gay men attracted to her "ludicrous
tragedy" - would provide her unexpected opportunities for career
rehabilitation. Denis J. Bekkering challenges "supply-side"
religious economy and branding approaches, suggestions of novelty
in religion and "new" media studies, and the emphasis on sincere
devotion in research on religion and fandom. He also highlights how
everyday individuals have long participated in public negotiations
of Christian authenticity through tongue-in-cheek play with
purported religious "fakes."
A positive vision of the re-Christianization of Central America by
Evangelical missionary activity and a dramatic shift in the
cultural, social and economic realities in Latin America.
Connect your journey of discipleship with a passion for the world
to meet Jesus Christ. For many followers of Jesus, discipleship
means doing certain things to deepen our connection with Jesus
Christ. But our spiritual growth checklists are often disconnected
from the mission of reaching a lost world with the gospel message.
Taking a holistic approach that unites evangelism and discipleship,
Kevin and Sherry Harney demonstrate how God's plan for our
spiritual growth is intimately connected to his mission to the
world. Based on the teachings and reflection of their book, Organic
Disciples, Kevin and Sherry will lead you and your group through
the seven markers of spiritual maturity and how these biblical
practices can connect us with God's work of reaching people with
his love: Bible Engagement Passionate Prayer Wholehearted Worship
Humble Service Joyful Generosity Consistent Community Organic
Outreach True spiritual maturity will always lead believers outward
to engage the world with the good news and truth of Jesus. You'll
learn how to overcome the common roadblocks and false narratives
that stand in the way of spiritual maturity and how to design a
personal pathway of growth to be more like Jesus in character and
mission. Used together with the Organic Disciples book and the free
video study and online assessment available at OrganicOutreach.com,
churches and individuals can better identify where they are in
their growth journey and what the next steps are in becoming more
like Jesus.
|
|