LITMIR.BIZ

Forgiveness marks one of the most important issues of our time. If the enormous number of books and articles are a measure, then forgiveness–our forgiveness of others and forgiveness for ourselves–appeals to our deepest concern. It's a challenge to determine just what we mean when we speak of «forgiveness.» Any discussion will reveal that our shared understanding and practices of forgiveness quickly diverge. For example, is it the same thing to forgive a child, a criminal, a malicious acquaintance, or someone who's inadvertently done us harm? Likely, no. We'll discover in this book that how we understand and practice forgiveness has shifted and changed through history, formed by cultural context. Even biblically, our understanding of forgiveness has altered over time. We'll unpack the importance of this cultural history and then turn to the three strands of forgiveness that together form our modern practice of forgiveness. First, the personal and therapeutic forgiveness. Second, the communal forgiveness that's valued for its power to resolve conflict, renew relationships, and restore peace. Finally, the divine, God's absolute unconditional forgiveness, a forgiveness we'll discover that undergirds every other way we understand forgiveness.

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Two human streams flow through history. The Bible characterizes these streams as the sons of God and the sons of Men. They are first distinguished in Cain and Abel as either those seeking to please God, like Abel, or those who prefer only to please themselves, like Cain. The product of the streams stands in stark contrast. This is the story of the stream of life and light in those identified as the sons of God.

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The meaning of «the millennium»–the thousand-year reign of Christ spoken of in Revelation 20–has been controversial for much of the church's history, and even the main perspectives on the matter turn out to be more variegated than is often realized. This book takes the oldest of those options, premillennialism, and offers an excellent introduction to a variety of models of premillennialism currently available, including classical dispensationalism, progressive dispensationalism, historic premillennialism, thematic premillennialism, and historic premillennialism in Asian context. The product of collaboration between a systematic theologian and a New Testament scholar, this book provides a fascinating reference tool for anyone interested in what Scripture teaches about the last things of redemptive history, the Parousia, and the millennial kingdom.

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Extraordinary Time appeals to people who have suffered serious illness or traumatic loss and are seeking a hopeful approach to healing from trauma, pain, and grief. The author recounts her harrowing one-year experience with cancer and its aftermath, the death of her spouse, and a major life transition. Extraordinary Time illustrates how a person faces significant life changes with courage and recovers through drawing on the wellsprings of faith, the love and support of community, and the full resources of the Christian spiritual tradition, including the mystics and Communion of Saints. The great themes of suffering, healing, death, and the afterlife are explored from a spiritual teacher's deeply formed angle of vision through which a wide range of readers will find encouragement, consolation, and inspiration for dealing with their own extraordinary times.

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You've probably heard someone say, «I go to a Bible believing church.» The implication is pretty clear: if you go somewhere else you're attending a «Bible doubting» church. Some fundamentalist and evangelical pastors actually say just that from their pulpits. It's branding genius! It's also dismissive of most of Christianity. In this book I hope to reclaim words like «moderate» and «progressive» as a style of spirituality that actually reflects Jesus' teaching. My goal is to present a scriptural basis for the beliefs of the other half of American Protestantism. I hope that those who read this book see that our differences from fundamentalist and evangelical congregations are grounded on an abiding trust in God's goodness, especially as we see it in Jesus. It's my desire to establish how discipleship in our communities is driven by the belief that the sacrificial love we see expressed by Jesus for us, should also be expressed by us in our everyday lives. Jesus calls us to follow his way of life, which is reflected in the Beatitudes. That kind of Christianity looks a lot different from what is being taught in most big-box churches across the country.

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How do we love people who we are afraid of?
The political climate of the US in recent years has revealed significant divisions in our nation and our neighborhoods, divisions often fueled by fear. For those who follow a call and commitment to love our neighbors, how do we love in the midst of this fear?
In this book, Cassie Trentaz looks that question in the eyes and asks her friends and neighbors in four communities currently facing pressure and often viewed with suspicion–immigrants, Muslim Americans, LGBTQ+ people, and young African American men–what feels like love to them and, alternatively, what does not. Trentaz brings their honest, heartfelt responses in their own words, helping us to know people we might not know and bringing us powerful stories of offerings of love that were received as love as well as stories of good intentions that missed their mark. She then offers us tools to help us act on what we hear. This book is both an invitation and a toolbox for listening. It takes love from a good idea to a concrete force that can speak to our fears, reach across divisions, and just might heal our world.

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What does it mean to inhabit the land of Palestine and Israel justly? How should Christians understand the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Alain Epp Weaver examines answers to these questions, paying particular attention to the theologies of sumud, or steadfastness, advanced by Palestinian Christian theologians, while also presenting other Christian, Jewish, and Muslim responses. Contextualizing these theologies within Palestinian and Israeli Jewish histories, Epp Weaver introduces readers to the intertwined histories of Zionism (as a movement to establish a Jewish state and renew Jewish life in the biblical land of Israel) and Palestinian nationalism. He also situates Palestinian Christian theologies within broader Christian conversations about election, God's enduring covenant with the Jewish people, and Zionism. In the face of a politics of separation and dispossession, Epp Weaver contends, Palestinian Christian theologies testify to the possibility of a shared polity and geography for Palestinians and Israeli Jews not defined by walls, militarized fences, checkpoints, and roadblocks, but rather by mutuality and reconciliation.

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When the Spirit enters the scene, people change. The fallen find redemption. The fearful find freedom. The broken find hope and healing for a new beginning.
But how do we trust a Spirit we struggle to know and understand?
Story of the Spirit breaks down barriers of confusion and controversy by exploring his partnerships with real people in the Old Testament. Through the eyes of leaders like Moses and Gideon and lesser known heroes like Jephthah and Bezalel, we discover a Spirit who
–champions second chances –emboldens the insecure –restores lost peace and purpose –transforms places of wounding into places of worship
It's time to turn the page in our perception of the Holy Spirit and awaken his powerful presence in our lives. He is more than a riddle to unravel or mystery to solve. He is a Person we were always meant to know. Knowing him inspires trust. Trusting him transforms the unfolding chapters of our own story with potential made possible only in relationship with the whole of who God is–Father, Son, and Spirit.

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Contemplation is a spiritual process involving long, thoughtful, steady, serious, and attentive consideration or observation in order to achieve closer unity with God and to discover and understand God's will for the contemplative. Contemplation gives rise to activity, and activity, in turn, gives rise to more contemplation. The result of contemplation is often called discernment, seeing clearly what is at first not very clear or obvious, understanding what is not immediately obvious, resulting in accuracy of spiritual perception. Divine discernment is contemplation in action; it results in insight, inspiration, and an awareness of inner truth upon which one must act. While there are countless models of contemplation leading to action, the ninth-century BCE prophets Elijah and Elisha are the examples used in this book. Both are seers, messengers, and heralds of the LORD. They appear in activity when they are needed, and they disappear into solitude and silence when they are not.

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How can sixty-eight words change the world? Seems impossible. An even greater mystery, these words come in the form of a prayer. Christopher Levan shows how early Christians used what we now call The Lord's Prayer as a building block for their movement. It was from these sixty-eight words that they created the backbone and determination to shape a religious movement that would dramatically alter human history. Walking step by step through The Prayer, Levan will show how Jesus of Nazareth adapted the economic and spiritual principles from his Jewish heritage and teaching, to direct his followers in a simple, yet very profound conversation with their Creator. In The Prayer, Jesus' disciples found words to build God's reign on earth: «the kingdom of God.» Obviously, these sixty-eight words are not just words. They have power. They enact what they express. And far from spent, these words still contain the ability to enliven and shape the current expressions of God's reign here and now.

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