LITMIR.BIZ

R. S. Thomas (1913-2000) was a major poet of the twentieth century. He was respected by luminaries of the literary establishment, recognized with numerous awards, and nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1996. Thomas was also a priest of the Anglican Communion who wrestled ceaselessly with problems of faith and doubt in his poetry. John G. McEllhenney makes R. S. Thomas' poems, ministry, and irascible character come brilliantly alive in his new book, A Masterwork of Doubting-Belief: R. S. Thomas and His Poetry. McEllhenney, who developed a personal relationship with Thomas during the last decade of the poet's life, draws on his conversations and correspondence with Thomas, as well as his experiences as a clergyman and lover of poetry, and offers readers a unique experience that is part biography, part appreciation, and part religious meditation.
A Masterwork of Doubting-Belief is an important new contribution to our understanding of R. S. Thomas and an inspiring source of insights for all who struggle with their faith!

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Christians are prone to so focus on the realities of Jesus' divinity that we minimize or ignore the realities of his humanity. That he called himself the Son of Man more than any other title emphasizes that Jesus lived humanly in our fallen world, facing our temptations and living out the tensions of being human in the flow of life. He was just like us, human in a sinful world, yet he did not sin.
So what can we learn from Jesus' glorious life about the meaning of our own humanity, about the tensions of being human in a sinful world and the difference between being a sinner and being a finite, flesh-and-blood human being? With this book as a helpful and trustworthy guide, you will begin to see how we can learn from Jesus how to:
– live gracefully in our bodies, even our wounded and dying bodies – live with integrity as finite human beings who are created to enjoy limits – love our family, friends, neighbors, strangers, and enemies – enjoy being alone without being lonely – enjoy the good things of life – wear our scars with hope and dignity – learn to die
As Dr. Russ shows, it is by truly encountering, understanding, and learning from Jesus' humanity that we can become more fully and truly human.

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Transformation Through the Different Other is the story of Faustin Ntamushobora's transformation through encounters with people of different races, tribes, worldviews, and experiences, and how God has used these experiences to transform his life into the image of Christ.
The root cause of racial and tribal problems is not really the difference in color, but the human heart. However, differences in race, tribe, and worldview could widen the gap in people's hearts and cause more separation and strife. But the same heart, if transformed by the «Great Other,» can shape and sharpen the heart of one's fellow human being.
Ntamushobora acknowledges that community is very important for our transformation. Diversity in community, when developed with a sense of unity, can shape us into vessels that glorify the Lord by pouring into and receiving from those who are different from us.
The book ends with practical ways transformation through the other can become a reality, and an invitation to believers to prepare themselves for the time when every tongue, every tribe, and every race will stand together, singing praises to the Lamb of God who was slain for the redemption of every person from every nation.

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There is perhaps no Christian virtue more undervalued than intentionality. Although we know God calls us to be set apart as followers of Jesus Christ, that is, to march to a different drummer, we find ourselves not at all very different from the world around us. Living Intentionally before God is a summons to redeem the quality of being intentional–of being purposeful–in all areas of our lives as we seek to live before the Audience of One.

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Do you know what will happen a week from next Tuesday? You might find a quite ordinary day with work, laundry, and a child's soccer game. Or perhaps the day will bring an unexpected tragedy for someone you love. Maybe something completely out of the blue will surprise you. While no one can know what today, tomorrow, or a week from next Tuesday will hold, you can know Christ's gift of JOY in your life every day. Despite our best efforts to squelch its presence, JOY keeps showing up because Jesus Christ keeps showing up. With stories from pastor Matt Rich's life and ministry, A Week from Next Tuesday explores the birth, life, death, resurrection, and promised return of Christ to provide a glimpse of this amazing gift that cannot be lost or stolen. Ideal for personal devotion, small group study, and all those seeking something more in their own lives and the church, this book invites you to receive the gift of JOY as you begin to recognize Christ's presence in the ordinary, tragic, and surprising moments of your life.

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Life is a complex journey, and each of us must find our own way. But sometimes we take a wrong turn and get lost. When that happens we have to backtrack and begin again. We are living in a time when many young adults who dropped out of church in high school or college are seeking to reconnect with their faith, while older Christians are feeling a need to turn their own lives around.
Finding the Way offers help for all Christians who are hungry for an intimate relationship with God and want to restart their spiritual journey on a path they can see clearly, explain simply, follow faithfully, and share with others. This is a book for those who want to practice Christian faith as a way of life, not merely accept it as a system of doctrine.
We are not lost in a trackless, twenty-first-century spiritual wasteland. There is a Way that can lead us home to God. We have companions on the journey, and the Good Shepherd himself will guide us. Finding the Way calls us to brave the steep, upward journey with Jesus–to rededicate ourselves boldly to the imitation of Christ.

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Despite the fact that the theological gains of Latin American Liberation Theology (LALT) have been incorporated into several theologies around the world, many North Atlantic evangelicals still consider LALT a heresy. The underlying reason for the lack of positive engagement between North Atlantic Evangelical Theology in general–and American Evangelical Theology in particular–and LALT is the mistaken perception that LALT and evangelical theology are necessarily contradictory.
In Evangelicals and Liberation Revisited, Joao Chaves analyzes instances of the evangelical-liberationist interaction and examines the generally suspicious responses given to LALT by North Atlantic Evangelicals. Evangelicals who think of LALT as a heresy have failed to look not only into the diversity that exists among liberationists, but also into the different theological expressions within their own movement.
Joao Chaves argues convincingly that if evangelicals think about both liberation theology and their own theological commitments critically, then they will be able to recognize that LALT can be an indispensable ally in their commitment to following God.

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Created in Delight challenges the church to take seriously the relationship of human beings with the earth and their fellow creatures. It challenges communities of faith to construct youth and young adult ministry through an ecological hermeneutic. Van Meter includes narratives from his youth work and teaching as well as ecological theology and an exploration of contemporary ecological concerns. He challenges youth and young adult ministers to seek their own formation through practicing hope in resistance to despair as they engage ecological questions in partnership with young people. The book concludes by asserting that cultivating curiosity, compassion, resilience, wisdom and other virtues is essential for the continuing health of young people and faith communities.

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This revised edition of The Family Metaphor in Jesus' Teaching examines the family metaphors for God (Father) and for believers («children,» «brothers») that Jesus chose to use. Jesus not only held up a child as an example of receptivity, but he defended actual children, warning against despising «one of these little ones.» Using current discussions of the «equal-regard family» and of the importance of «human fathering,» Stephen Finlan explores how the gospel entails a changed model of parenting and of marriage and a new approach to spiritual growth.

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As a dominant voice in our society, Western Christianity (including fundamentalism) is dying despite the growing tendency of people to identify as spiritual but not religious. In the face of this reality, churches continue to preach the same message of sin, judgment, guilt, in order to be saved, or in the case of more progressive churches, feel-good messages. No wonder Western Christianity is failing.
If it is ever to regain its viability, Christianity must rethink its total devotion to Christ and look again at its roots. A new Christianity must start over with the original vision of God's dream for us as expressed by Moses and Jesus.
Jesus was not a Christian. He was a Jewish reformer and he worked within the context of the Jewish Scriptures (the Old Testament). Deuteronomy was one of these books. When this ancient wisdom is paired with post-modern Christianity we see that the teachings of Moses and Jesus are as relevant today as they were two to three thousand years ago, perhaps even more so.

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