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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > Christian social thought & activity
What is the place of Christian love in a pluralistic society
dedicated to "liberty and justice for all"? What would it mean to
take both Jesus Christ and Abraham Lincoln seriously and attempt to
translate love of God and neighbor into every quarter of life,
including law and politics? Timothy Jackson addresses such
questions in Political Agape: Prophetic Christianity and Liberal
Democracy. Jackson argues that love of God and neighbor is the
perilously neglected civil virtue of our time and that it must be
considered even before justice in structuring political principles
and policies. To indicate the specific implications of civic
agapism, he looks at such issues as the death penalty, Christian
complicity in the Holocaust, the case for same-sex marriage, and
the morality of adoption. The book concludes with Jackson's
reflections on Martin Luther King Jr. as a Christian hero.
This is the first book-length study of the contributions of
religious leaders to the War on Poverty, and it demonstrates their
centrality to that effort, both in supporting OEO director Sargent
Shriver through their public testimony and lobbying efforts, and in
co-funding and sponsoring community action programs that realized
the ideal of maximum feasible participation of the poor, one of the
key tenets of the War on Poverty.
2020 American Express NGen Leadership Award We don't care about
what we don't see. Countless people are invisible to us. We
overlook the poor and homeless, partly because we don't share much
space with them. More seriously, we often choose not to see the
realities around us. We hold misconceptions about who is deserving
or not, or make false assumptions about people's poverty being
their own fault. Terence Lester calls us to see the invisible
people around us. His personal encounters and real-life stories
challenge Christians to become more informed about poverty and
homelessness, and to see the poor as Jesus does. When we see people
through God's eyes and hear their stories, we restore their dignity
and help them flourish. And when we recognize our own inner
spiritual poverty, we have greater empathy for others, no matter
their circumstances. Let love open your eyes. Discover how seeing
leads us to act with compassion and justice-as God intends.
On a daily basis, author and LGBTQ advocate Amber Cantorna receives
emails asking the same question: How does one reconcile their
sexuality with their faith? Depression, despair, and thoughts of
suicide often haunt LGBTQ Christians as they feel unable to imagine
the possibility of living a happy, fulfilling life as an LGBTQ
person of faith. As the gay daughter of a thirty-plus-year
executive of conservative Christian organization Focus on the
Family, Amber lost everything when she came out as gay in 2012.
However, her journey to embrace her authenticity brought her
fulfillment and wisdom to share. Unashamed serves as a guide for
Christians considering coming out, tackling tough subject matters
such as demolishing internalized homophobia, finding an affirming
faith community, reestablishing your worth as a child of God,
navigating difficult family conversations (especially in cases
where family is involved in church leadership/ministry), and
healing from the pain of rejection. Unashamed encourages LGBTQ
Christians to embrace their unique identities and to celebrate the
diversity placed inside them by God.
Scholarship has painted many pictures of Augustine - the
philosophical theologian, the refuter of heresy, or contributor to
doctrines like Original Sin - but the picture of Augustine as
preacher, says Sanlon, has been seriously neglected. When academics
marginalize the Sermones ad Populum, the real Augustine is not
presented accurately. In this study, Sanlon does more, however,
than rehabilitate a neglected view of Augustine. How do the
theological convictions that Augustine brought to his preaching
challenge, sustain, or shape our work today? By presenting
Augustine's thought on preaching to contemporary readers Sanlon
contributes a major new piece to the ongoing reconsideration of
preaching in the modern day, a consideration that is relevant to
all branches of the twenty-first century church.
This pioneering new study of the Black megachurch phenomenon brings
nuance and depth to the question, Are Black megachurches more
focused on prosperity than on people? Black megachurches and their
pastors are often accused of failing to use their considerable
resources to help the poor; focusing on prosperity theology rather
than on social justice; requiring excessive monetary and time
commitments of members; and pilfering church coffers for the their
personal use. The debate rages on about whether these congregations
are doing all they can to address specific challenges facing
African American communities. Live Long and Prosper is a
refreshing, innovative study that reaches beyond superficial
understandings of the Black megachurch phenomenon in a piercing
interrogation of how powerful megachurches address (or fail to
address) two social crises in the Black community: HIV/AIDS and
poverty. Live Long and Prosper offers an intriguing examination of
sixteen representative Black megachurches and explores some of
their motivations and subsequent programmatic efforts in light of
prosperity or "health and wealth" theology. Professor Barnes makes
the case that the Black megachurch is a complex, contemporary model
of the historic Black church in response to globalism, consumerism,
secularism, religious syncretism, and the realities of race. She
contends that many of these megachurches hold unique
characteristics of adaptability and innovation that position them
well to tackle difficult social issues. Prosperity theology
emphasizes two characteristics-physical health and economic
wealth-as examples of godly living and faith. This book considers
whether and how efforts to address HIV/AIDS (a "health" issue) and
poverty (a "wealth" issue) are influenced by church and clergy
profiles; theology, in general; and prosperity theology, in
particular. Frame analysis informs this mixed-methodological study
to compare and contrast experiences, theological beliefs, pastoral
profiles, and programs. Live Long and Prosper is a must-read for
general readers, academics, and students alike-indeed, anyone
interested in the contemporary Black megachurch's response to
social problems and the link between theology and social action. It
is at once a fascinating, readable narrative and a rich piece of
scholarship complete with extensively documented endnotes,
statistics, informative charts and tables, and an exhaustive
bibliography.
Heaven is multiethnic. Are you ready for that? The Bible tells us
that the congregation gathered around God's heavenly throne will be
"a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language,"
all singing the praises of the Lamb. God's intention has always
been to delight for all eternity in a redeemed community of ethnic
diversity. But this diverse community shouldn't have to wait until
eternity to begin! It can be a reality in our own local churches
here and now. Patterned after a worship service, In Church as It Is
in Heaven gives biblical warrant for such a community and shows how
multiethnic churches provide a unique apologetic for the gospel.
Along the way, the authors tell the story of their own church—a
majority-white congregation which is being transformed into a
family that reflects the diversity of heaven. The multiethnic
kingdom is not just a nice idea, or an abstract theory. It's a
reality—one we can enter into today.
Every follower of Jesus Christ should be able to answer two simple
questions:
- Who is investing in me?
- Who am I investing in?
God desires to pour an abundance of spiritual and emotional capital
into your life. And he wants to use you to pour spiritual and emotional
capital into others. Along the way, you'll be changed. Others will
change. You will experience God and his community in a new and personal
and supernatural way. And so will others.
God calls this process of spiritual investing "making disciples." It's
the heart of the Great Commission. It's the vision of a great local
church. It's the secret of a healthy joyful, secure, and significant
life.
Frank Brennan has been a long time advocate for human rights and
social justice in Australia. This collection of essays brings
together some of his major addresses and writings on justice in the
Catholic Church and in Australian society. Placing the individual's
formed and informed conscience as the centre piece in any work for
justice, he surveys recent developments in the Catholic Church
including the handling of child sexual abuse claims and the
uplifting effect of the papacy of Francis, the first Jesuit pope.
He then applies Catholic social teaching and the jurisprudence of
human rights to contested issues like the separation of powers and
the right of religious freedom, and to the claims of diverse groups
including Aborigines, asylum seekers, the dying, and same sex
couples. At every step, he is there in the public square amplifying
that still, small voice of conscience, especially the voice of
those who are marginalised.
Though we often hear about the "gay problem" today, there is an
even deeper problem in the church today--one that we often
overlook. The call to follow Christ is a call to costly obedience
for all, not just for gay Christians. Far too often, the church has
elevated homosexuality above other sins and required a costly
obedience from gays that it is unwilling to demand of others. And
yet, the answer is not to weaken the demands of obedience. Instead,
gay Christians who make the difficult choice to align their lives
with the biblical view of sexuality are a gift to the church,
reminding all of us that spiritual growth and maturity is costly.
There is a price to pay in following Christ and devoting our lives
to the call of the gospel, and it is one that we all must pay--gay
and straight Christians alike. Through the stories and struggles of
gay Christians who are reorienting their lives around the costly
obedience required to follow Christ, Mark Yarhouse and Olya
Zaporozhets call the church to reorient as well, leaving behind the
casual morality that is widespread today to pursue the path of
radical discipleship. Unlike any other book on homosexuality and
the church, this is a call to examine your life and consider what
God is asking you to lay down to take up your cross and follow him.
This bestselling text by Haddon Robinson, considered by many to be
the "teacher of preachers," has sold over 300,000 copies and is a
contemporary classic in the field. It offers students, pastors, and
Bible teachers expert guidance in the development and delivery of
expository sermons. This new edition has been updated throughout
and includes helpful exercises.
Praise for the Second Edition
Named "One of the 25 Most Influential Preaching Books of the Past
25 Years" by "Preaching"
" An] outstanding introduction to the task of preparing and
presenting biblical sermons. More than any other book of the past
quarter century, "Biblical Preaching" has profoundly influenced a
generation of evangelical preachers."--"Preaching"
What happens when two bishops known for their liturgical
sensibilities travel to study alternative Christian communities on
two continents? Bishops Mary Gray-Reeves and Michael Perham
traveled throughout the U.S. and U.K. to study fresh expressions of
church and identify the principles that link these new forms of
worship and community. The Hospitality of God captures their
practical and inspiring findings and builds a bridge between fresh
new voices and the institutional church.
A reasoned response to the contemporary moral debate about
homosexuality, taking into account the latest medical and social
scientific research, and thoroughly examining biblical and
theological concerns.
The sacred ethos of the American Dream has become a central pillar
of American civil religion. The belief that meaning is fashioned
from some mixture of family, friends, a stable career, and
financial security permeates American culture. Profane Parables
examines three films that assault this venerated American myth.
Fight Club (1999), American Beauty (1999), and About Schmidt (2002)
indict the American Dream as a meaningless enterprise that is
existentially, ethically, and aesthetically bankrupt. In their
blistering critique of the hallowed wisdom of the American Dream,
these films function like Jesus' parables. As narratives of
disorientation, Jesus' parables upend conventional and cherished
worldviews. Author Matthew Rindge illustrates the religious
function of these films as parables of subversion that provoke
rather than comfort and disturb rather than stabilize. Ultimately,
Rindge considers how these parabolic films operate as sacred texts
in their own right.
A leading poet and a theologian reflect on the Old Testament story
of Ruth, a tale that resonates deeply in today's world with its
themes of migration, the stranger, mixed cultures and religions,
law and leadership, women in public life, kindness, generosity and
fear. Ruth's story speaks directly to many of the issues and deep
differences that Brexit has exposed and to the polarisation taking
place in many societies. Padraig O Tuama and Glenn Jordan bring the
redemptive power of Ruth to bear on today's seemingly intractable
social and political divisions, reflecting on its challenges and
how it can help us be effective in the public square, amplify
voices which are silenced, and be communities of faith in our
present day. Over the last year, the material that inspired this
book has been used with over 6000 people as a public theology
initiative from Corrymeela, Ireland's longest-established peace and
reconciliation centre. It has been met with an overwhelming
response because of its immediacy and relevance, enabling people
with opposing views to come together and be heard.
Writing in response to our current "constitutional crisis," New
York Times bestselling author and Christian activist Jim Wallis
urges America to return to the tenets of Jesus once again as the
means to save us from the polarizing bitterness and anger of our
tribal nation. In Christ in Crisis? Jim Wallis provides a path of
spiritual healing and solidarity to help us heal the divide
separating Americans today. Building on "Reclaiming Jesus"--the
declaration he and other church leaders wrote in May 2018 to
address America's current crisis--Wallis argues that Christians
have become disconnected from Jesus and need to revisit their
spiritual foundations. By pointing to eight questions Jesus asked
or is asked, Wallis provides a means to measure whether we are
truly aligned with the moral and spiritual foundations of our
Christian faith. "Christians have often remembered, re-discovered,
and returned to their obedient discipleship of Jesus Christ--both
personal and public--in times of trouble. It's called coming home,"
Wallis reminds us. While he addresses the dividing lines and
dangers facing our nation, the religious and cultural commentator's
focus isn't politics; it's faith. As he has done throughout his
career, Wallis offers comfort, empathy, and a practical roadmap.
Christ in Crisis is a constructive field guide for all those
involved in resistance and renewal initiatives in faith communities
in the post-2016 political context.
"Living in the Gaze of God" offers an accessible exploration of the
theme of ministerial accountability through the lens of one
reflective tool - that of formal supervision of ministerial
practice. Bold and far-reaching, the book addresses the key
presenting issues around a need for a change of culture in the
church as regards accountability for ministerial practice. It
outlines a theological and practical model of 1-to-1 supervision,
arguing that such an approach enables the development of greater
attentiveness to God, the self and others and thus enhances
accountability. Laying aside the need to offer a 'how-to' approach,
Helen Cameron instead brings us a rigorous and dynamic
consideration of the interface between supervision, accountability
and ministerial practice, and offers a theological underpinning for
the issues.
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