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This book boldly asserts that New Testament prophetic visions portray a dynamic heaven-borne program of collective human revitalization in the new future. It is just the opposite of the doom and gloom predictions of many modern prognosticators. The author attempts to combine the authentic openness and self-revealing vulnerability of the AA community with the stupendous gospel claims of God's personal and global gift of eternal life with him. This combination of powerful, practical deliverance from addition, and the promise of God's unconditional grace-love, echoes in both of these contemporary historic phenomena–the ancient character of the Gospel's successful joining of God with us in our suffering world. From the first step to the last, the AA program and the Christian Gospel have produced bona fide evidence that anyone who seeks God and his right character will find it, and with it a new mind, a new God, and a new lasting life hope, that is, an eternal «spiritual awakening.»

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In the author's ten years living in China, Chinese friends and foreign friends alike have told him that in many ways he is more like a Chinese person than an American. He sees himself as an «egg,» which is white on the outside and yellow (Chinese) inside. For cross-cultural ministry, we learn from the apostle Paul: «I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some» (1 Cor 9:22). Paul's purpose in becoming all things to all men is so that some may be saved. We can see this displayed in his preaching to the Athenians in Acts 17, how he becomes a local by relating to them through their culture. This book first looks at how we are to imitate Christ's love and humility to effectively love the locals to whom we are ministering. Then the book covers many specific aspects of life abroad and how we can better live like the locals in many areas that some may be saved. Though this book is particularly targeted for those readers who are ministering cross-culturally, it is also a very beneficial book for Christians aiming to be light in their home country.

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This timeless classic, Born Only Once, describes the emotional turmoil of many persons and offers hope for healing through the author's compassionate understanding of their deepest wounds. Psychiatrist Conrad Baars discusses this inner unrest in terms of the fundamental human need for unconditional love, or affirmation. When children have been denied the gift of themselves through affirmation to a greater or lesser degree, they continue to look for this unconditional love, and later as adults suffer from deep feelings of inferiority, inadequacy, uncertainty, and insecurity, as well as having difficulty relating to others.
Baars describes how authentic affirmation strengthens a person to feel secure and happy in himself, able to confront the world and to relate to others with confidence. Affirmation is what unaffirmed persons and those with Emotional Deprivation Disorder need to feel at peace, strong, and secure in their own identity. Baars lists many things that unaffirmed persons can do to help themselves, but it is hoped that the reader will be moved to lead an authentically affirming life by being open to the goodness of persons, things, nature, ideas, etc. This simple way of being, of openness to being moved, can bring peace and resolve difficulties.

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When United Airlines Flight 232 crashed in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1989, 112 people died, and 184 people survived. In this book Gregory S. Clapper, both a college professor and a chaplain in the National Guard, reflects on his ministry in the aftermath of this tragic event. Processing his chaplain experiences through the lens of his theological training, he reflects on six different resources from the Christian tradition that he saw transform people's lives during and after this tragedy.

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Textuality and the Bible represents a concerted effort to clarify the object of study in biblical scholarship and in the church by bringing together the disciplines of hermeneutics, compositional analysis, canon studies, and textual criticism. It ultimately seeks to issue a call for study of the Bible for its own sake.

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Benedictions is about the presence of the sacred in ordinary things: the ground beneath our feet, the ways we bless each other, loss and grief, the making of our homes, even doubt and darkness. In the everyday experiences described here, God's presence is palpable and real. «Cleave the wood and I am there,» says Isaiah in the apocryphal gospel of Thomas. «Lift up the stone and you will find me there.» These benedictions–literally good words, blessings, tastes of God–remind readers to live life with feeling and passion and art, to pay attention to the holiness of the commonplace. Each reflection opens a door inviting the reader into an experience they might understand as an encounter with God, and an exploration of the many meanings of the sacred. Benedictions is also a personal collection about places and people, seasons of life, and seasons of experience that convey much more than the ordinary. A statement and questions for further conversation and discussion follow each reflection. Hopefully, readers will discover their own benedictions here in the wonder, grace, and mystery of God's presence in daily life.

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Holy Is a Four-Letter Word responds to the need for an accessible and simple articulation of the holy life, and what it means for the collective church as well as for individual believers. This goal is accomplished by taking the fundamental tenets of holiness doctrine and shaping them around twelve four-letter words: (1) Holy, (2) Self, (3) Full, (4) Pure, (5) Will, (6) Mind, (7) Body, (8) Love, (9) Rest, (10) Life, (11) Sent, and (12) Call. Each chapter deals with holy living according to scripture as it pertains to each four-letter word.
Setting the concept of holiness against the backdrop of modern (and often profane) media culture accomplishes two objectives: (1) it reveals the relevance and urgency of holy living amongst a super-charged, secular media culture, and (2) defining holy living, first and foremost, by what it is not thereby accentuating «holy» as being set a part for the purposes of God.

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Your congregation is teeming with people already doing community ministry. They just don't know it yet. This book knocks down the church walls that keep parishioner ministry hidden from congregational view. Do parishioners know that their already-mission counts as ministry in your congregation?
Parishioners are already on mission raising their children, caring for elderly parents, volunteering in the community, supporting neighbors in crisis, serving on charity boards, donating to food banks, and fundraising for important causes. This book counts this already-mission as Christian service.
When parishioners sacrifice their time, talents, and treasures to be the good news for others, they are on mission for God. Even if they don't know it. Already missional congregations help people connect their personal mission with their faith. Already missional congregations see parishioners as community partners in ministry. This book provides the steps needed to connect your congregation's mission strategy with the rich and varied already-mission lived daily by parishioners. Already Missional is your congregation's guide to being a community partner.

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Over the past few decades Christianity in the global South has grown exponentially in size and influence, with many centers emerging around the globe, such as Brazil, South Korea, and Nigeria. One remarkable phenomenon in this process is the rise of faith-based, humanitarian, international, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). While traveling to about seventy different countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Haemin Lee has witnessed the surge of faith-based NGOs all around the world.
This book explores the role that religion plays in encountering secular society from various angles by drawing upon discourses in mission studies, sociology of religion, and anthropology of development. Specifically, it probes the development practices of two major Korean organizations, Korea Food for the Hungry International and Good Neighbors. This book investigates the following hypothesis: humanitarian care through international development NGOs appears to be the growing interest of Korean Christian mission and this shows a new direction of Korean Christianity as public religion. However, on closer examination, a more complex reality emerges in which diverse theological and developmental ideals motivate the Korean NGOs' humanitarian efforts.

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A Minister's Manual for Spiritual Warfare is written to assist pastors and other ministers help their parishioners find freedom from demonic oppression. It is based upon years of experience and research and was written in consultation with orthodox, highly credentialed theologians, biblical scholars, clinicians, and attorneys. It is written from an evangelical Anglican perspective, but it will also be useful for other traditions. The manual describes various kinds of demonic attacks and discusses the reasons to involve medical and mental health professionals. Providing practical guidance for the deliverance ministry, it includes diagnostic procedures, insight into the makeup and training of a ministry team, the appropriate use of liturgies, pastoral care for victims and deliverance ministers, and legal considerations. The book devotes special attention to exorcisms, emphasizing the importance of a teamwork approach and the necessity of thorough preparedness, including an awareness of different strategies which demons may use to thwart exorcists. Rounding out the manual is a series of accessible, biblical, step-by-step instructions to assist ministers in helping others find freedom in Christ from demonic attacks. A Minister's Manual for Spiritual Warfare is a must-have for any Christian minister involved in deliverance ministry.