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In the English-speaking Western world alone, thousands of men and women begin formal training for Christian ministry each year, or informally, seek to equip themselves for pastoral ministry. Over the past fifty years, the ancient world of virtue ethics has been reimagined as a means of forming people of character and morality today, and in this book, it is used as the framework to understand what we are doing as we form Christian ministers now, and how we might strengthen that formation by more consciously linking the practices of ministry with the person, spirituality, and wisdom of the practitioner. Writing out of the context of a lifetime of pastoral ministry and the oversight of ministers in the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Paul Goodliff explores what pastors do and who they are called to be, using a mixture of theological and pastoral inquiry, reflections upon art, and personal story. This book will be of interest to those who are charged with forming the next generation of ministers; but anyone starting out on that journey of formation for ministry will also find this vision of ministry challenging and inspiring.

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Innovation Theology: A Biblical Inquiry and Exploration invites seminary leaders to explore an uncharted territory–theology for innovating. This unexplored terrain of practical and applied theology holds gems of substantive and practical wisdom for innovating in the marketplace, society, and church. Innovation Theology brings theological perspectives to the challenges of innovating and promises to transform how we make sense of change and where (and why) we choose to innovate. Innovation Theology makes the case that God continues to create and continues to invite us, through change, to co-create new value for others (i.e., innovate). Innovation Theology explores where discovery, invention, and value creation intersect (or not) with the intentions of God. Not to be confused with workplace spirituality, business ethics, or critiques of technology, theology for innovating can encourage scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to aim their innovating toward the common good, not just in response to the invisible hand of the market. Innovation Theology invites us to make meaning before money, aim for plumb lines before bottom lines, and reattach extrinsic to intrinsic value. The one for whom all things are possible is interested, invested, and engaged in innovating. Are we innovating with him, or not?

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Understanding Our Story presents a concise introduction to the original, transformative thinking of Adrian van Kaam, CSSp, PhD (1920-2007). While many books are available on «spiritual formation» and «Christian disciplines,» no other author of our time has offered such a holistic and comprehensive explanation of Christian formation and its relationship to the human spirituality of all persons. Understanding our Story culls the most seminal ideas and vocabulary from van Kaam's eleven volumes on formation science, formation anthropology, and formation theology, and provides examples of his theoretical-practical research drawn from everyday life, Scripture, Christian writers, and van Kaam's life story itself. In doing so, it makes his extensive work available to scholars in the field of spiritual formation, and gives all readers the opportunity to utilize his insightful thinking to more fully understand the myriad ways in which God reforms and transforms lives into the image of Christ. In the pluritraditional world in which we live, where so many faith and formation traditions demand our attention, van Kaam's formative spirituality provides a means of respectful dialogue with formationally relevant truths from others and of wise appraisal of ideas that are (and are not) conducive to, and compatible with, the Christian revelation.

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In The Oxbridge Evangelist: Motivations, Practices, and Legacy of C. S. Lewis, Michael Gehring examines the evangelistic practices of one of the most significant lay evangelists of the twentieth century. In the early 1930s not many who knew Lewis would have guessed that he would become such a significant evangelist. He has left an evangelistic legacy that has influenced millions across the world. Yet Lewis scholarship has not given sufficient attention to this crucial aspect of his legacy. This work examines Lewis's loss and recovery of faith, and it shows how his experience heightened his own awareness of the loss of the Christian faith in England. Because of his ability to identify with others, Lewis engaged in the work of evangelism with uncanny skill. This work required singular courage on his part; it cost him dearly professionally and in his relationships. Gehring critically explores Lewis's motivations, practices, and legacy of evangelism. In doing so he provides penetrating insight for those interested in the theory and practice of evangelism in a culture that too readily leaves it to the crazies of the Christian tradition or relegates it to the margins of church life.

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We all say that we care about children. We all know that millions of children around the world, including in the United States, are suffering physically, materially, and emotionally and are unable to reach their full potential. Moreover, their material deprivation and physical ills often prevent them from responding to the gospel. Most of us conclude that we cannot do anything significant to help the impoverished children living in our own backyards let alone those living in the slums of Nairobi or the hinterlands of Haiti. We can, however, do much to improve their lives materially and spiritually. Through praying, giving generously, sponsoring children, volunteering with aid organizations, living more simply, investing and shopping more prudently, and advocating more zealously in the political arena, we can make a difference. We can prod politicians, business executives, and church leaders to prioritize aiding destitute children. We can support one of the hundreds of organizations that are working effectively to help indigent children have better lives. Suffer the Children describes the plight of poor children and provides many practical ways we can participate in one of the most important crusades to improve our world.

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Abraham, the father of all believers, plays host to three strangers, one of whom is God, and thus sets an example for others to follow. Jews, Christians, and Muslims often treat each other as strangers. Their Holy Books are not the cause of their conflicts and enmity but rather show the way to solve them. They tell a common story of the lifelong journey of the human being to the promised city, the promised land, and the promised world where justice and righteousness reign.

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If you are passionate about participating in the recovery of preaching for the spiritual formation of God's people, then you will want to jump into this lively collection of biblically rigorous, culturally intuitive, grace-drenched sermons. Robert Dean sets the bar very high, even as he throws the gauntlet down, with these remarkable expressions of all that preaching was supposed to be and can still become.
Animated by the conviction that the preached word is the playground of the Living Word, the pages of Leaps of Faith are populated by saints and sinners, pimps and prophets. Unexpectedly and delightfully, Bono works alongside Bonhoeffer, Dr. Phil learns a lesson from the Amish, and a discussion of body odor primes the senses for contemplating the mission of God.
Rooted deeply in the lives of actual worshipping communities, these wonder-laden sermons from the prophetic imagination of an emerging pastor-theologian dare the reader to leap into the continuing story of the Triune God and, in doing so, discover that all of life has been taken up in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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This book affirms relationship as the shared human elemental pursuit and proposes relationship as the transformative space. Wonderfully, the author asserts, it is God's intention to fulfill this intrinsic human desire in the present in all of us and universally. This desire is an often inarticulate, innate desire and pursuit to enjoy and reflect the divine image in which every human being was created. In this book, this pursuit is referred to as proleptic spiritual transformation (PrōST). That is, this book demonstrates that what is too often relegated to eternity is available now. Relationship is the Transformative Space considers God's heart, in relationship, and its implication toward human spirituality and how this intent has been interrupted and restored. God is actively interested in the recovery of a fully expressed image in humanity.

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Conversations about gender, both inside and outside the church, can frequently degenerate into stale and rancorous disputes in which predictable arguments are traded back and forth, or fade awkwardly away into the tense silences of mutual misunderstanding. But the issue is an important one, and calls for a better conversation than either of those alternatives.
In September 2015, Morling College hosted a one-day symposium entitled The Gender Conversation. A rich and diverse mix of contributors met to discuss issues of gender, theology, and Christian living, within a shared framework of evangelical conviction. Our aim in hosting the symposium was to deepen mutual understanding and respect, highlight common ground, clarify points of difference, and unite us all in a quest to learn from the Scriptures and live in the light of the gospel.
This book brings together the papers presented at the symposium and the contributors' responses to one another, as a resource for further reflection and discussion.

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Acts of terror are everywhere! Not one day goes by without hearing about the latest suicide bomb in Baghdad, knife stabbing in Germany, or shooting spree in France or in the United States. A Christian extremist preacher claims that homosexuals deserve to die because he considers their lifestyle to be sinful; groups like ISIS perpetrate genocide against religious minorities and call for global jihad against infidels; Buddhist monks in Myanmar persecute the Rohingya for fear that the Muslim minority destroy their country and religion. All these actions seem to be somehow religiously motivated, where the actors claim to act in accordance with their beliefs. In the midst of this spiral of violence seen across traditions and geographical locations, there is a pressing need to understand why people act as such in the name of their faith. The Global Impact of Religious Violence examines why individuals and groups sometimes commit irremediable atrocities, and offers some solutions on how to counter religiously inspired violence.

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