LITMIR.BIZ

This book combines critical New Testament scholarship with homiletic concerns. Kim unravels complexities of the most prominent themes in the New Testament such as faith, freedom, and transformation, and brings them into dialogue with modern preaching contexts, ranging from personal identity to social justice to global issues. This book invites readers to reinterpret the most familiar themes that have not been thoroughly explored in scholarship and to make an informed choice about what to preach to whom in what context.

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If you are involved in the local church or any ministry that wants to create an ethos of Christian growth and education, or disciple investing, Christ Changing Lives: Digging Deeper into the Practice of Disciple Investing, is a book that will assist you in thinking through a philosophy of how to invest in followers of Christ. Following up on the introductory material of its earlier companion book, The «Disciple Investing» Life, Christ Changing Lives will take the reader into a thoughtful treatment of systems of discipleship, the art of diagnosis, situations one might encounter in the discipling process, and how to create balanced disciples. The book will also conclude by providing some helpful ideas about how to disciple others in a local church or campus ministry setting. Both church and ministry leaders, as well as those seriously interested in the task of disciple investing, should profit from the practical ideas contained in this insightful publication.

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Paul's conflict with viscous enemies, human and otherwise, led him to employ efficacious powers, charismata (charismatic powers), and controversial and sometimes illegal practices that are only coherent when placed in context of the first century Hellenistic-Roman world. These included soul and spirit transportation, possession, and exorcisms, special techniques to repel demonic attack, as well as what was considered the darkest of black magic in the ancient world–the casting of death curses, which called on Satan to infect, harm, and even kill his enemies. All of these can be recovered in striking detail using risk analysis of his undisputed writings and comparing them with contemporary sources, papyri, and documents independent of the New Testament. The results demonstrate that Paul's letters are so much more than simply intellectual and rhetorical correspondences–they are infused with dangerous mystical and charismatic powers feared in an ancient world that was saturated with prevalent, active dark forces and multi-layered human and supernatural conflicts; of angels and demons at war; of charismata and anathemata (deadly curses); and Paul's expectation of the hemera kuriou, «Day of the Lord,» that would defeat Satan and the curse of death via pistis (faith) in the efficacious euangelion (gospel) of agape (love).

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The book looks into the liturgy of the Mar Thoma Church. The Mar Thoma Church claims to be eastern and reformed. An enquiry is made into the liturgy of the passion week and the Eucharist to look into the theology of Atonement (work of Christ) and the nature of the Holy Spirit respectively. The measuring rod to determine the Eastern and the Reformed nature is the Eastern Fathers such as Gregory Nazianzen, Athanasius, St. Basil, etc., and the Reformer John Calvin. The theology of atonement (work of Christ) and the nature of the Holy Spirit as laid out in the liturgy of the Mar Thoma Church are compared to the teachings of the Eastern Fathers and Reformer John Calvin. Some observations are made and accordingly conclusions are drawn. Based on the conclusions some implications are made for the Mar Thoma Church.

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For a Better Worldliness is not only a statement of Abraham Kuyper's and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theological concept and historical practice of discipleship. It is also–and perhaps more importantly–a call to engage in the fullness of the Christian life here and now. While this book goes to great efforts to establish sound historical and theological insights specifically in regards to Kuyper and Bonhoeffer, there is a strong underlying current that these particular insights deeply matter to the life of discipleship in the world today.
History shows us that discipleship is not a singular journey; because of Jesus Christ it is not a description of one set path with one set of guidelines. A disciple can be a prime minister who unabashedly and successfully campaigned on his Calvinistic principles, just as he can be a participant in a coup d'etat launched against a tyrant, leading to the disciple's own imprisonment and death. Jesus Christ calls–whether to the height of political office, or to the dank prison cell, or (more likely for us) to somewhere in between.

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I AM: A Journey in Jewish Faith is a spiritual/theological meditation on the Shema, the biblical statement of God's oneness that rests in the heart of the Jewish people. Through poetry and prose, Rabbi Eron uses the words of the Shema–"Listen carefully all you people of Israel, the Eternal is our God, the Eternal alone!"–and the three biblical passages that follow it in the Jewish worship service to explore and express a contemporary understanding of the ties that bind each of us and God together.
The two fundamental themes of the Shema–declaration of the oneness of God and proclamation that people and God are in a relationship–anchor Eron's presentation of a deeply spiritual expression of monotheistic faith from a modern Jewish perspective. As we discover ourselves as unique individuals, we open our hearts and minds to the God who, like ourselves, is unique. This powerful symmetry provides the foundation upon which we can build the lasting and sustaining relationships that connect us not only to God but also to each other and to all creation.

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Sharing in God's Presence means far more than «getting saved» and experiencing God's blessing in our lives. As believers, his presence becomes a very personal part of who we are and what we do–God actually shares himself with us!
The language that we use often fails to capture the depths of God's nature penetrating ours, the fullness of his Spirit permeating our hearts, and the innermost infusion of his presence in our lives. But the truth couldn't be more intimate: «The person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him» (1 Corinthians 6:17)!
This book is an invitation to share in God's presence by allowing God to share himself with you. God wants everyone to share in his embrace. As we accept our responsibility for prayer, ministry, and even revival, we share in the very precious dynamic of give and response that's involved in an intimate walk with Jesus Christ.
For a general readership, this book is a reworking of material from the second half of the author's academic work God's Absence and the Charismatic Presence.

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Story, Formation, and Culture brings together a myriad of scholars, researchers, and ministry leaders into conversation about how we can effectively nurture the spirituality of children. Built around the three themes of story, formation, and culture, this volume blends cutting-edge research and insights with attention to how we can bring theory into practice in our ministries with children. The work of children's spiritual formation is often a marginalized component in the church's overall ministry. This volume seeks to equip pastors, leaders, and scholars with cutting-edge research and practices that effectively strengthen their ministries with children.

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Displacement of peoples around the world continues to impact governmental policies and contest national identities. At the micro level, displacement's impact on the religious lives of those affected by displacement is a growing field of study and worthy of consideration as a form of self-theologizing and religious renewal. Theologizing Place in Displacement looks at the process of theologizing about place among displaced Orthodox Christian believers in the Republic of Georgia and outlines three key areas where a local theology takes shape around key Orthodox theological themes.

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Philosophers of religion have focused almost exclusively on the existence and nature of God and the nature and destiny of human beings. But these philosophers have been remiss in engaging discussions about the possibility of there being adverse gods of this world (demonic beings) despite being a doctrine that comprises a significant part of the Christian confession. This drought in the literature has left a number of questions unaddressed, including:
Hasn't science buried the demonic? Are there any successful philosophical arguments for the existence of Satan? What kind of being is Satan? Is he the fallen angel of lore? Is it reasonable for Christians to say that demons are purely immaterial spirits? Can demons causally interact with the physical world and its inhabitants? Can demons perform diabolical miracles?
Shandon Guthrie broaches new territory beginning with a rigorous defense for the existence of Satan and his cohorts. He then advances and defends a model for how to understand their nature in terms of their ontology and causal powers. No other book has attempted a full-fledged natural diabology on behalf of Christian orthodoxy. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the dark side of Christian theology and metaphysics.

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