LITMIR.BIZ

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam claim to be monotheistic, but none of them actually is; none of the three has yet arrived at the true monotheism the Bible and the Qur'an mandate: that is, belief in there being but One God of All. Each often claims its concept of God is the One God despite the fact that the Bible and the Qur'an insist that the true God is indefinable and incomprehensible. Many passages of the Bible are polytheistic, and yet the Judaism that emerged out of the exile claimed to believe in One God. Critically moving from the older passages through to the later, careful readers are able to trace a process that is best called monotheizing. In effect the first commandment of the Decalogue, the first of Jesus's two great commandments, and the Qur'an's clear mandate fashion an imperative to continue the monotheizing process that is not yet complete but that enjoins adherents of each to live life in the belief that there is but One God of All.

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Coming Out of Egypt is an exodus out of idolatry–the idolatry of ancient Egypt and the idolatry that permeates the church today. Its goal is to make the exodus come alive for the reader–not to just read about the exodus but to experience the exodus, not to just read about the Passover but to experience the Passover, to catapult the reader back through time like a time traveler entering a time portal. The goal of Coming Out of Egypt is to experience redemption, not just to read about redemption, to experience redemption from Pharaoh at the Reed Sea, and witness Yeshua's resurrection.

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Living system ministry is an approach to Christian ministry in the Western world that recognizes the differences between cats, the world God created, and toasters, the world we create using our technology and our capacities, limited as they are. The church is the Body of Christ, a living system. Neighborhoods, cities, and cultures, too, are complex and interrelated living social systems. Why, then, would we try to do God's work in a church or social system using tools and methods designed for non-living systems? We do it because our culture is very organizationally – and technologically – centered. We have grown accustomed to thinking of our social contexts not as living systems, but as things we can easily measure and control. Embracing both perspective and procedure, Living System Ministry is about doing better ministry by seeing a better picture of what exists in the total system. Like farmers, rather than technicians, we learn to be involved in and to be «in tune with» what causes fruitfulness. We never cause fruit to happen. God does! But as our work becomes better aligned with what God is already doing in his complex, living-system environment, there is an explosion of life. We discover the fruit that remains. Writing from his forty-five years of experience as an urban ministry practitioner in Boston, Dr. Doug Hall introduces us to an approach to missions that recognizes the lead role of God's larger, living social systems as powerful engines for doing far more in our world than we can even begin to imagine.

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The popular belief that a scientific understanding of reality is incompatible with a Christian one is simply wrong.
Some Christian understandings of reality do conflict with some scientific understandings. But a thoroughly rational Christian understanding of the origin and history of the universe will be informed by the best scientific theories and the «facts» founded on them.
This book weaves a narrative of the origin and history of the universe from the perspective of contemporary science with a Christian understanding of God and of God's role in the origin and history of the universe.
At the center of this integrated narrative is the view that God, who is pure, unbounded Love, is Creator: the zest for life in the universe comes from God, and God is the source of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness in the universe.
God is amazed and delighted at what God-and-the-world has created; God is saddened by ways creatures have fallen short of pure, unbounded Love, Truth, Beauty, and Goodness; and God's pure, unbounded Love keeps on trying to persuade all creatures toward Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.

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What sets The Theological Intentions of Mark's Literary Devices apart from other books? What niche does it fill that makes its publication important?
This volume will interest all those who value a literary approach to the Gospel of Mark. Dean Deppe introduces some new literary devices in the research of the Gospel of Mark as well as demonstrates the theological intentions of Mark when he employs these literary devices. Deppe argues that Mark employs the literary devices of intercalation, framework, allusionary repetitions, narrative surprises, and three types of mirroring to indicate where he speaks symbolically and metaphorically at two levels. Mark employs these literary devices not just for dramatic tension and irony, but also for theological reasons to apply the Jesus tradition to specific problems in his own day.

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This volume of essays, dedicated to Stan and Ruth Burgess, has been written by their colleagues and students to honor them as they retire after many years of distinguished service to Evangel University, Southwest Missouri State University, and Regent University. Several meanings can be subsumed under the title Children of the Calling. Stan and Ruth grew up in India, children of Pentecostal missionaries who felt they had «divine callings.» They were influenced not only by the religious callings of their parents, but also by the cultural milieu of India. Though they did not personally take on board the specific missionary calling of their parents, they charted life maps that benefitted from the cross-cultural proficiencies developed in their childhoods in India, which to a large extent colored the influence they would have on their children, academic colleagues, and students, some of whom have submitted essays for this Festschrift. The diversity of subjects in this volume attests to the breadth of the scholarly work of Stan and Ruth Burgess. The first section narrates the major highlights of Stan and Ruth's academic biographies, the second presents pioneering studies of biblical studies and church history, and the third offers application-based research and personal reminiscences.

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Journal of Biblical and Pneumatological Research
VOLUME ONE FALL 2009
The Journal of Biblical and Pneumatological Research (JBPR) is a new international peer-reviewed academic serial dedicated to narratively and rhetorically minded exegesis of biblical and related texts. Potential topics include theological and pneumatological interpretation, the role of spiritual experience with authorial, canonical, and contemporary contexts, and the contextual activity of Ruach Yahweh, Ruach Elohim, and various identifications of the Holy Spirit. JBPR hopes to stimulate new thematic and narrative-critical exploration and discovery in both traditional and under-explored areas of research.
CONTENTS:
Contextual Analysis and Interpretation with Sensitivity to the Spirit as Interactive Person:
Editor's Explanation and Welcome to JBPR
KEITH WARRINGTON
Suffering and the Spirit in Luke-Acts
WILHELM J. WESSELS
Empowered by the Spirit of Yahweh: A Study of Micah 3:8
KENNETH BASS
The Narrative and Rhetorical Use of Divine Necessity in Luke-Acts
JACQUELINE GREY
Acts of the Spirit: Ezekiel 37 in the Light of Contemporary Speech-Act Theory
JOHN C. POIRIER
Spirit-Gifted Callings in the Pauline Corpus, Part I: The Laying On of Hands
ROB STARNER
Luke: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist: A Review Article

Review of Wilda C. Gafney, Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel (Leonard P. Mare)
Review of Richard M. Davidson, Flame of Yahweh: Sexuality in the Old Testament (Roger D. Cotton)
Review of Robby Waddell, The Spirit of the Book of Revelation (David G. Clark)
Review of Graham Twelftree, In the Name of Jesus: Exorcism Among Early Christians (Jon Mark Ruthven)
Reviews of Gordon Fee, Galatians (Janet Meyer Everts and George Lyons)

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In many churches, the work of evangelism and social justice is relegated to clergy, staff, or special committees. Rarely do most members of the laity believe they should or even want to engage in the tasks of evangelism and social justice. In this volume, LaBoy contends that participation in baptism and Eucharist mandates for all Christians–and those who are Wesleyan in their orientation, in particular–that evangelism and social justice are not optional but in fact integral to their worship and witness. She argues that this understanding and practice of the integration of sacraments, evangelism, and social justice are what can help churches deal with contemporary issues of decline and church disenfranchisement by both congregants and those beyond church walls. LaBoy further argues that making the sacraments central to the worship life of congregations is what made early Methodists great evangelists and advocates for social justice.

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When a fire severely burned a small boy and displaced his family, it left lingering marks on the entire neighborhood. As a community pastor, Dr. Kevin Yoho not only witnessed the visible signs of despair but also came to understand the pain hidden in the flames. He will be your guide as you step outside your organizational structures through the practice of what he calls reneighboring. Crayons for the City is about training leaders to be a new kind of community network engineer who will realign their organization's priorities, resources, and values to serve the public good. It's a story about how one community of faith improved the lives of hundreds of families by taking a walk across the street with fresh expressions of the good news. How do leaders grow and change–from holding on to ineffective ministry models to building new connections of grace and gratitude? The journey is not an easy one for most. Crayons for the City starts with the reader's own context and offers a new methodology of how to engage it. Awaken your own capacity to change the world. All you need to begin is this book and a box of crayons.

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This is the third volume of Ferguson's collected essays, and includes some of his most memorable work, especially on «laying on of hands.»

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