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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Methodist Churches
This Is A New Release Of The Original 1888 Edition.
The Land That Calls Me Home investigates the disappearance of
small-scale farms from rural America and casts a vision for the
church to lead in their recovery. The book goes beyond naming the
usual suspects of industrialization, agricultural policies, and
corporations most often blamed or credited with orchestrating the
mass exodus of farmers from rural America and brings to light two
overlooked contributors to driving farmers away from the land:
Theology and the Church. The author shows how a misinterpretation
of scripture erroneously equates farming with God's curse on Adam
for eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. That fallacy
lies at the root of the uncontested takeover of agriculture by
corporate powers. The takeover centralized farming so that today a
few giant corporations monopolize global farm markets and only
one-percent of all Americans farm full time. Globalizing farming
promised to free the masses from the curse of having to work the
land to survive. The author debunks the portrayal of tilling the
soil as a curse and interprets the curse rather as the separation
of human beings from the soil. The more distance we create between
ourselves and the soil, the less healthy the earth and our human
bodies become. Therefore, restoring the viability of small-scale
farming is a means of counteracting the curse on Adam and the soil.
The church has been an accomplice to the theft of agriculture from
the people and forcing their mass migration from rural farmsteads
to suburbs and cities. The church saw the increase in productivity
of those who were left to farm on a large scale as a positive
development to be celebrated. The negative impact of farming with
pesticides, herbicides, genetically modified organisms (altered
seed), and chemical fertilizers, along with the effect of
agricultural runoff on the soil, rivers, oceans, and on human
health were seen as negligible compared to the promise of increased
yield that could be used to eradicate global hunger. Corporate
greed, however, has stockpiled food while millions die of
malnutrition annually. Furthermore, the church has too often
separated the care of souls from the care of the earth and ceded
earth and health care to government and free enterprise. In
shrinking rural communities, decimated by the migration of farmers
to the city, a few dwindling churches have remained open long
enough to care for the lingering souls and to bury the dead. By
confessing our complicity in causing the current farm crisis in
America, church leaders can with renewed vision help restore the
viability of small-scale farming in rural communities on the
fringes of larger population centers. Churches can serve as network
hubs for farmers, whose crops are too small to win contracts with
large grocery chains, to sell their produce in local Farmers
Markets and community supported agriculture (CSA) networks.
Churches that catch the vision to support local agriculture have
the volunteer base, the parking lots, and the presence in their
communities to organize and run an effective Farmers Markets. They
provide a service to the farmers and to their community while
reconnecting people to the soil. The author researches the loss and
revival of small-scale farming from the standpoint of a pastor and
a farmer. He lived on and moved from a small-scale farm as a youth
and has served in full-time pastoral ministry forty years,
including the last twenty years when he has worked to revive and
grow his family farm. His greatest discovery in seeking to make
farming viable has been that the small-scale farm's best chance of
financial solvency is having adequate local markets to sell farm
products, markets which churches in population centers are ideally
suited to provide. He has worked with lay leaders to establish a
successful Farmers Market in his present pastoral appointment and
serves as consultant to other congregations seeking ways to support
local agriculture.
Exploring the work of William Blake within the context of Methodism
- the largest 'dissenting' religious group during his lifetime -
this book contributes to ongoing critical debates surrounding
Blake's religious affinities by suggesting that, contrary to
previous thinking, Blake held sympathies with certain aspects of
Methodism.
In the opening years of the nineteenth century, south of Natchez,
hidden away in a remote backwater named Deadman's Bend, a woman in
her 20s found herself a widow, the mother of two small children.
With fierce determination, she supported her family. On the waters
of the great river and in the shade of the deep woods, her
precocious son Hiram grew like a wild plant, with no schools and no
churches. Soon enough, he learned how to catch a riverboat into
Natchez. There he encountered ball room ladies, swindlers,
gamblers, merchants, constables, and judges. When he was 17 years
old, the boy Hiram learned carpentry from an Uncle. The Uncle's
wife taught him polite conversation. He met a lovely young girl and
moved to Wilkinson County to marry her. When his wife joined a
Methodist Society, Hiram went along to please her. Soon he became
convinced that his purpose in life was to preach the gospel.
Contrary to the old adage, Hiram Enlow found acceptance among his
own people. The unlettered and un-churched at Deadman's Bend and
his neighbors in Wilkinson County revered him. The Methodists,
however, had a tradition of academic preparation and a Book of
Discipline. Hiram Enlow struggled for more than a decade to gain
acceptance into the Methodist clerical hierarchy. He was loved and
admired by those whom he served, but his academic deficiencies and
his preaching style needed correction. He overcame his weaknesses
and eventually received his church's recognition. The book is
written as an historical novel. Each chapter is appended with
meditation/discussion questions in the style of contemporary
Christian spiritual literature. Additional features include the
author's notes regarding the research and family history. The
autobiography, poetry and essays of Hiram Enlow, long held as a
private family heirloom, are included as an appendix.
This is a new release of the original 1943 edition.
Popular author F. Belton Joyner has revised his best-selling
resource for introducing the United Methodist Church. In a humorous
yet respectful style, Joyner takes the reader through illuminating
questions and answers on United Methodist terms and beliefs on God,
Jesus, the Bible, the church, salvation, and more. Examples of
Joyner's questions include aEUROoeWhy did Jesus have to die?aEURO
aEUROoeWho was John Wesley, and who were all those other
figures?aEURO aEUROoeIs the Bible infallible?aEURO aEUROoeWhat is
The Book of Discipline?aEURO This revised edition includes new
sections on United Methodism as a global church, United Methodist
ministries beyond the congregation, and United Methodist theology
in conversation with other Christian traditions. It has also been
updated to reflect recent changes to The Book of Discipline and the
orders of ministry. The book's question-and-answer format easily
lends itself to use in Sunday school classes and also works for
individual study. From new recruits to lifelong United Methodists,
readers will gain a lively sense of what is special and important
about their denominational home.
Join Adam Hamilton for a six-week journey as he travels to England,
following the life of John Wesley and exploring his defining
characteristics of a Wesleyan Christian. Wesley s story is our
story. It defines our faith and it challenges us to rediscover our
spiritual passion.
The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group
through the Revival Bible study program. Includes session plans and
discussion questions, as well as multiple format options."
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