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The evangelical church is home to many who claim to follow Christ
but who show little evidence of a truly transformed life. Todd
Wilson's Real Christian: Bearing the Marks of Authentic Faith
biblically defines what it means to be a true Christian, calling
readers to look at their own lives and diagnose where they aren t
living authentically for God. With a prophetic voice, Wilson looks
at how we deceive ourselves into thinking we are really living for
God through believing the right things or doing lots of spiritual
activities. In contrast, real Christians are marked by five key
qualities: broken-hearted joy, a humble disposition, a readiness to
acknowledge sin, an ability to live balanced and avoid legalism,
and a deep spiritual hunger that drives growth. All of these
qualities culminate in the single defining mark of a real
Christian---love. To help in distinguishing genuine faith from
counterfeit spirituality, Wilson draws upon the gospels, the
writings of Paul, and the insights of theologian Jonathan Edwards
to help readers understand the necessary marks of an authentic,
transformed life, marks that show evidence of a new heart and bear
spiritual fruit through the work of the Holy Spirit."
What do Christians believe about human sexuality? In Mere
Sexuality, author and pastor Todd Wilson presents the historic
Christian consensus about human sexuality, the Great Tradition of
the church for centuries as taught in each of its major expressions
- Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant. Wilson highlights the
stunning shift of opinion on issues of sexuality in the evangelical
church and why this break with the historic church is problematic
for the future of Christianity. Along the way he provides ordinary
believers with an introduction to the historic Christian vision of
sexuality, yet does so in conversation with some of the
twenty-first century's leading challenges to this vision. In a
culture that is deeply confused about human sexuality, Wilson
believes it is time for evangelicals to retrieve the historic
Christian tradition and biblical teaching on the question of
sexuality. Mere Sexuality seeks to guide readers back to the beauty
and coherence of this vision of sexuality in the face of an
aggressive and all-consuming pagan and secular worldview.
Pastoral ministry today is often ruled by an emphasis on
short-sighted goals, pragmatic results, and shallow thinking.
Unfortunately, those in the academy tend to have the opposite
problem, failing to connect theological study to the pressing
issues facing the church today. Contemporary evangelicalism has
lost sight of the inherent connection between pastoral leadership
and theology. This results in theologically anemic churches, and
ecclesial anemic theologies. Todd Wilson and Gerald Hiestand
contend that among a younger generation of evangelical pastors and
theologians, there is a growing appreciation for the native
connection between theology and pastoral ministry. At the heart of
this recovery of a theological vision for ministry is the
re-emergence of the role of the "pastor theologian." The Pastor
Theologian presents a taxonomy of the pastor-theologian and shows
how individual pastors-given their unique calling and gift-set-can
best embody this age-old vocation in the 21st century. They present
three models that combine theological study and practical ministry
to the church: The Local Theologian-a pastor theologian who ably
services the theological needs of a local congregation. The Popular
Theologian-a pastor theologian who writes theology to a wider lay
audience. The Ecclesial Theologian-a pastor theologian who writes
theology to other theologians and scholars. Raising the banner for
the pastor as theologian, this book invites the emerging generation
of theologians and pastors to reimagine the pastoral vocation along
theological lines, and to identify with one of the above models of
the pastor theologian.
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