LITMIR.BIZ

How should we positively interact with others from all types of backgrounds in ways that acknowledge God's diversity in the world? What are effective ways to engage in cross-cultural collaboration endeavors that honor and respect the culture of those involved with our efforts? The principles of cultural humility, beginning with intentional relationship building, provide a framework that can guide our cross-cultural interactions and partnerships with others both locally and globally, in ways that respect both the culture and backgrounds of others. In this book, Eloise Hockett and John Muhanji share their unique experiences of cross-cultural collaboration using the principles of cultural humility, primarily in Kenya. From Mt. Elgon, to a village in rural Kenya, to working with teachers in schools, John and Eloise describe each project through the lens and perspective of an American and a Kenyan. Within these narratives, Eloise and John also share their journey of how they learned to engage and work with one another and learn from each other. John and Eloise believe their collaborative efforts incorporating the themes of cultural humility fully demonstrate how God can work through each person regardless of their cultural background, in order to carry out His plan in the world.

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The loss of a pastor throws a congregation into emotional turmoil. Sometimes bad circumstances force a pastor to leave. Sometimes an effective pastor moves to a new congregation or retires. Either way, the congregation is thrust into a unique journey through change and loss. People often fail to identify or understand the emotions of loss churning under the surface. Whether a congregation embraces a good future or gets stuck in the dynamics of the past depends in part on skillful and wise leadership. When faced with confusing signs, transitional leaders seek wisdom about the unique dynamics of a congregational system in flux. How can one leader adapt to the sudden and surprising needs inherent in transitional leadership? Firmly rooted in the biblical narratives of leading through journeys of transition, this book matches those narratives with case studies and other stories to connect the present practice of transitional leadership with the deep wisdom in the biblical accounts. The perseverance and hope inherent in the Bible's story of redemption deeply engages the dynamics of transition, suggesting ways to lead congregations to embrace a renewed mission. This combination of narratives points to a new level of understanding what is happening within communities in transition.

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How do humans explore beauty, virtue, love, justice, and goodness? This book argues that philosophical attention to our lives, shaped in part by our choices, is our instrument for investigating these parts of reality. Constructing a life is a philosophical act. Philosophical acts that are shaped by a life, and that shape a life, constitute philosophical style. Everyone has a philosophical style, which is fundamentally about the way we live in the world through our bodies, our reason, our imagination, and our virtue. It is about what we love and how we are loved. Beauty, suffering, and being in the world are placeholders for everything that makes up our lived experience. As we live our lives between beauty and suffering, we learn most about being in the world. The argument of the book moves from a discussion of philosophical style, through the three placeholders for human experience as they are affected by philosophy (beauty, suffering, and being in the world), arriving at a reworking of Pascal's wager about living in relationship to the presence or absence of God as a way of understanding the commitments that are our only way into the truth of our life.

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Martin Luther is one of the most studied theologians in the history of the Christian church, so it is difficult to find areas that have been neglected when it comes to this great reformer. However, Luther's work with children and youth gets short shrift when compared to many other achievements. Martin Luther as a Youth Worker considers the reformer from this little-studied aspect of his work. Luther's practical care for children and youth, his educational reforms, his work in faith formation, and his view of human reason are considered. Last, the question is asked what it means to be a reformer with children and youth today. How can we live into Luther's reforming spirit in a way that addresses the needs of our current context?

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James Edwards believes God is in the business of interrupting lives and changing them forever. He shows how the stories of eight biblical characters are paradigms for the ways God intrudes in our lives today, leading us to do His will and become the people He wants us to be.
Through creatively told Bible stories and intriguing anecdotes of personal experiences, Edwards creates an interplay between the historical and the contemporary that allows you to discover God afresh. You'll observe how God interrupts people's lives in times of disillusionment, inadequacy, grief, and even opposition. As you join these conversations, you'll understand God's character in a new, intimate way. And, you may see clues to God's interruptions in your own life.

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The gospel is the heart of the Christian faith, and the atonement is the heart of the gospel. In this work, Pastor Brandon Crawford offers a study of the doctrine of atonement as it was understood by America's greatest theologian–Jonathan Edwards–setting his doctrine in the context of both his historical predecessors and his broader theology. This book provides important insights into the mind of this intellectual giant and the critical role that Edwards played in the trajectory of New England theology in the decades following his death.

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Martin Luther's theological revolution depended in a significant part upon the distinction between law and gospel. Within the last hundred years, several authors have reevaluated the reformer's understanding of this paradigm in light of its development within the Lutheran orthodox tradition. Some authors have argued that the Lutheran scholastic view of God's law departs from that of Luther. Specifically, it is contended that the Lutheran orthodox argued for a definition of the law which defines it as God's eternal will in contradiction to Luther's approach, wherein the law is defined almost exclusively in negative terms, as a temporal order to eventually be replaced and superseded by the gospel.
In this work, Jordan Cooper argues for the continued validity of the Lutheran orthodox definition of the law. Throughout this text, he contrasts the perspective of Radical Lutheran theologians, like Gerhard Forde, with that of earlier Lutheran writers such as Martin Chemnitz and Johann Gerhard. It is argued that Forde's view is inadequate to address contemporary ethical and pastoral issues, and that the Lutheran scholastic doctrine of the law as God's eternal will remains a necessary concept for the contemporary church.

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The Book of Job has been a rich source of truth and comfort for its readers throughout the ages, but the crowning glory of this book is the prophetic testimony it bears to the sufferings that Jesus Christ would endure as the savior of his people. The Shadow of Christ in the Book of Job examines the historical character of Job as a typological figure, whose experience of suffering leading to glory was meant to portray the work of Christ, and provide assurance and comfort to all who bear affliction in faith.

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Angels and Beasts looks into the interplay between the angelic figures in the vision of the seven seals. John creates a relationship between the four living creatures and the four riders in Revelation 6:1-8 that must not be overlooked. This connection works between the two groups as a whole and at the one-to-one level. The blending of symbols and the communication between these symbolic figures reveal exegetical, theological, and spiritual lessons. Both the scenario and the script of John's vision talk about terms and ties in the realm of angelic beings. For John these relations in the world above are a code to unlock relations in the world below.

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In this book David Everett examines how Church has changed throughout a modern/postmodern context. Everett explores how social gospel dimensions and prophetic radicalism have diminished in a way that it might reestablish itself as a pillar in the community through a retrieval of its prophetic voice and social gospel roots so that it to might be missional-minded and civically-engage. Everett anticipates that this perspective will assist the Black Church in the reclamation of its heritage by confirming its purpose and affirming its position within the missional context that God has placed it.

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