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Americans live their lives through institutions: government, businesses, schools, clubs, and houses of worship. But many Americans are wary of the control these groups–especially government and business–exercise over their lives.
Flea Market Jesus provides an up-close look at the rugged individualism of those trying hardest to separate themselves from institutions: flea market dealers. Having spent most of his life studying American religious organizations, Art Farnsley turns his attention to America's most solitary, and alienated, entrepreneurs.
Farnsley describes an entire subculture of white Midwesterners–working class, middle class, and poor–gathered together in a uniquely American celebration of guns and frontier life. In this mix, the character «Cochise» voices the frustrations of flea market dealers toward business, politics, and, especially, religion.
Part ethnography, part autobiography, Flea Market Jesus is a story about alienation, biblical literalism, libertarianism, and deep-seated religious belief. It is not about the Tea Party, the Occupy movement, or the Christian Right, but it shines a light on all of these by highlighting the potent combination of mistrust, resentment, and personal liberty too often kept in the shadows of public discourse among educated elites.

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From London to New York to Ann Arbor, people are gathering in pubs and bars to communicate, connect, and learn from one another over the topic of religion, of all things. In Pub Theology, pastor, writer, and pub theologian Bryan Berghoef draws from his own experience in one such setting in northern Michigan. Berghoef contends that for too long the church has insisted on setting the terms for how one can find and encounter God. Yet what if God is to be found in places we haven't been looking at all: in a coworker who doesn't believe in God, in a Buddhist neighbor, in a friend who prefers a yoga studio to a sanctuary?
This book will move readers to shift toward a more chastened, humble, and inviting faith. A faith that seeks not to teach, but to learn; not to speak, but to listen. A faith that will have a seat at the table in the important religious conversations our world is having.
Real-life stories gleaned from conversations and encounters during pub theology gatherings, combined with the author's own experience in grappling with these issues, make for an intriguing and enlightening read.
So what are you waiting for? Pull up a chair and join the conversation!

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"Walter Brueggemann is the master of finding fresh and compelling dimensions of meaning in texts so familiar they barely scratch the surface of our consciousness. In this exciting collection, Brueggemann finds that when we admit we are dust, we can be liberated. Why? Because we are free from acting like God. We are free to choose obedience to the one living, true Sovereign. The idols lose their grip on us and we live faithfully and in authentic joy." –Ronald J. Allen, Christian Theological Seminary
"According to Walter Brueggemann, the autonomy, secularity, and individualism that characterize modernity have 'exiled' the contemporary believer. Always concerned with the manner in which one is to live in the world, he argues for a subversive imagination similar to that found in the biblical wisdom writings, the Psalms, and the Prophets. One comes away from this book both energized by the vision presented and challenged to make it a reality." –Dianne Bergant, Catholic Theological Union in Chicago
"There is a reason why Walter Brueggemann remains, for preachers and pastors, the most loved and trusted of all biblical scholars–and that is simply because he writes for us. In every season and heartbreak of life and ministry, he writes for us. And over the years, we have come to see that when Brueggemann goes to the text before God, with his signature passion, candor, and ferocious energy, he goes not for our enlightenment or edification, but for our life and for his. Read this book and take off your shoes, because you will enter onto holy ground." –Anna Carter Florence, Columbia Theological Seminary

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Kierkegaard's Pastoral Dialogues takes a selection of Kierkegaard's most insightful spiritual writings and transforms them into a series of dialogues between two friends, a believer and a nonbeliever. In this way, some of Kierkegaard's complex religious thought is made accessible to a wider readership, so as to provide a resource for individual or group study in pastoral, counseling, or spiritual direction contexts. Each dialogue is accompanied by a commentary and questions to help discussion by groups or application by individuals. Finally, there are three responses from, respectively, a philosopher, a theologian, and a hospital chaplain, looking at how the dialogues may be relevant to these different fields of practice.

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This second volume of Sermons by Jonathan Edwards on the Matthean Parables contains a previously unpublished series of six sermons by Edwards on Jesus' parable of the Sower and the Seed, as found in Matthew 13:3-7. Edwards preached these sermons in 1740 immediately following the visit of George Whitefield to Edwards' church in Northampton, Massachusetts, in October of that year. Not only does this series have a historical significance for its place in the Great Awakening, but it contains important pronouncements on the preacher's craft and the hearer's responsibilities. These sermons have been placed in the context of Edwards' preaching style and method, and framed by historical considerations. Prepared from the original manuscripts by the staff of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University, this series represents a significant addition to the available Edwards corpus that will be of interest to scholars, religious leaders, and general readers.

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Holiness is a topic that is rarely discussed in Christian colleges and seminaries, yet the rationale for the existence of these institutions is that they provide environments where people can grow into the image of Christ. In other words, these places exist so that Christians can grow in holiness. The essays collected in this volume treat the theme of holiness from a variety of theological disciplines, all with the purpose of disabusing Christians from mischaracterizations of the theme as well as offering a vision for what the Christian life could look like. In both simple and profound ways, holiness is a liberal art; it is the Christian way and shape of life.

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In a time of life-and-death challenges to the human spirit–global economics, nuclear dangers, environmental threats, and religious polarization and war–Christians must look for resources that provide new insights of God's power and care for all people. What are the forms of suffering and hope in the world today, and how can Christians respond with healing resources? Korean Christians have unique contributions to make to our understanding of pastoral theology and counseling. Pastoral counselors and theologians from the United States should look to the South Korean Christian churches and other Asian churches for conversation partners about the nature of care and healing in today's world. In this book, the authors explore important ideas–such as han, jeong, and salim–from Korean history and culture that can inform the healing ministries of the churches.

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What does a clock or calendar, a map, a newspaper or bandage, a set of measuring cups or a basket have to do with prayer? Kathleen Finley not only tells about how to pray with all our senses, but also shows us how, using Scripture as well as factual information about a wide variety of everyday objects, to help us take seriously how everything has the potential to be holy in light of Jesus' incarnation.
If folding your hands and closing your eyes doesn't always work for you as a posture of prayer, this excursion into new possibilities for prayer may be for you.

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Miracles are woven into the fabric of Christianity. From Genesis to Revelation, they are threads that run throughout the entire tapestry of Scripture. It seems, however, that our society has waged an all-out assault on miracles and their relevance. Today, biblical miracles are brushed aside as mere superstition or myth, while God is dismissed as unnecessary. Is there really a wonder-working God?
Prayer is a powerful thing. It is a two-way conversation between a holy God and those He has chosen to redeem. Prayer is not powerful because of the words we choose, nor based upon the amount of faith that we possess, but because we serve an awesome God who is able to step into our natural world and work miracles on our behalf. So, the question is not whether there is a God, but rather how big is your God? Our faith is literally stitched together by God's miraculous power.

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I am not like Hudson Taylor, David Livingstone, or William Carey. The stories of these people are inspiring, but they also make me question, «Am I really good enough to be a missionary? Because I don't consider myself super-spiritual like these missionary heroes seem to be.» Ordinary Missionary introduces world missions through the story of an ordinary family facing ordinary questions about their own insecurities and inadequacies. Step into the shoes of three authors who combine their thoughts to put a face, a feeling, and a person to contemporary missions. Join Jay, husband and father, as he prepares to minister among the Builsa people in Ghana, West Africa. Observe Pam, wife and mother, as she addresses the personal concerns of the family. Follow Emily, oldest daughter, in the struggles and joys of being a missionary kid.
This story is not a triumphant tale of missionary heroes. The real heroes show up in unlikely places when they are least expected. Our steps are ordinary, but the journey is beyond extraordinary. These real stories will inspire you to trust your own life in the hands of our extraordinary God.

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