LITMIR.BIZ

At some time or another, every preacher has entered the pulpit wondering «What shall I preach?» This study finds the answer in the preaching charge of 2 Timothy 4:1-5 summarized in the command, «Preach the Word!» In this careful examination of the preaching ministry of Paul as recorded in his letters and sermons in the book of Acts, a Pauline theology of preaching emerges. What this work discovers is that the governing activity of the ministry of the Apostle Paul is the verbal proclamation of the gospel of Christ. All other activities in his ministry are subservient to this overriding concern, and they find meaning only if preaching is primary. That being the case, this book takes seriously the words of Paul when he encourages future preachers to follow his teaching, conduct, and purpose (2 Tim 3:10), offering Paul as the model for the Christian preacher. As readers will discover, anyone who desires to preach biblically should seek to preach like Paul, and the way to do that is to «Preach the Word!»

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Rather than representing the book of Revelation as a single «apocalyptic» genre, Kendra Haloviak Valentine demonstrates that the work in fact reflects several genres–apocalyptic, prophetic and liturgical–within the overall framework of an epistle. This study focuses on the sixteen hymns, a largely neglected part of the literary construction of the work. Responding to the insight of Mikhail Bakhtin that literary genres carry ways of thinking about the world, this important study calls attention to the multiple voices within the text that need to be heard–voices that soften the book's transcendent, future focus so that it is not allowed complete dominance.
Hymns, as the sites of colliding and collaborating genres, engage the reader. Worlds at War, Nations in Song explores the role of these liturgical elements within the moral enterprise to suggest that the book of Revelation provides readers with a moral vision linking the future with the present. Readers are called to respond in worship and witness. By calling attention to the multiple voices within Revelation, Haloviak Valentine demonstrates the invalidity of seeking «one» correct interpretation. Recognizing this dialogic approach may help prevent the misinterpretations that led to such tragedies as Waco and Jonestown.

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While Christianity appears to be in decline in the West it is growing robustly in the global South. What does this mean for the Christianity that was once considered to be the religion of the West? The new contexts and trajectories require innovative responses and relevant theological reflection in the church. This volume addresses these changes through identifying and analyzing global shifts, highlighting practical innovations in the church that attempt to deal with new trajectories, and proposing theological positions intended to help face the issues and challenges of the twenty-first century. Contributors to this volume include Philip Jenkins (The Next Christendom, The New Faces of Christianity, God's Continent), Steven M. Studebaker, Gordon L. Heath, Bradley K. Broadhead, Christof Sauer, Lee Beach, Michael P. Knowles, Peter Althouse, Michael Wilkinson, John H. Issak, David K. Taurus, and Seongho Kang.

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This is a book Jean Wyatt felt compelled to write, as she has for many years wrestled with questions surrounding the love and the justice of God, his salvation and judgment through Jesus Christ, and the effect of our response (or lack of response) to that salvation. The Bible gives glimpses of hope that in the end God will restore all things, and that finally all people will worship him. If it is God's will that all should be saved, is it possible to resist that will for all eternity? Or dare we hope that God will continue to seek and ultimately save those who now reject his offered salvation? Dare we hope that hell will be a place of restorative justice and cleansing, with redemption as its aim? Wyatt has come to the conclusion that we can answer «Yes» to both these questions. The fire of God consumes evil and cleanses people. Meanwhile, in the here and now in which we live as disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to be witnesses to the kingdom of God and to work for his kingdom to come «on earth as it is in heaven.»

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This book shows readers the nature of Christian faith by exploring how the gospel was originated, formed, and developed. As author Yoseop Ra demonstrates, the Christian faith began to develop during the conflict between Paul and the Jerusalem apostles, while the redemptive death of Jesus Christ on the cross, the core of the gospel, was made through theological interpretation and spiritual confession. The Origin and Formation of the Gospel offers new interpretations based on a profound analysis of sources. First, author Yoseop Ra shows Q to have been redacted four times. Second, he identifies the original form of the first Christian gospel and separates Paul's seven genuine epistles into sixteen letters. Finally, Ra offers an analysis of four Gospels and other writings to argue that the redemptive role of the cross was introduced as a breakthrough on the part of Paul to overcome the Jerusalem apostles, identifying the kingdom of God as the garden of Eden.

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The Bible has the unfortunate legacy of being associated with gross human rights violations as evident in the scriptural justification of apartheid in South Africa as well as slavery in the American South. What is more, the Hebrew Bible also contains numerous instances in which the worth or dignity of the female characters are threatened, violated or potentially violated, creating a situation of dehumanization in which women are viewed as less than fully human.
And yet the Bible continues to serve as a source of inspiration for readers committed to justice and liberation for all. But in order for the Bible to speak a liberative word, what is necessary is to cultivate liberating Bible reading practices rooted in justice and compassion. Restorative Readings seeks to do exactly this when the authors in their respective readings seek to cultivate Bible reading practices that are committed to restoring the dignity of those whose dignity has been violated by means of racial, gender, and sexual discrimination, by the atrocities of apartheid, by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and by the dehumanizing reality of unemployment and poverty.

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"I plead for the acceptance of this central truth as the great hope of the gospel, that the victory of Jesus Christ must be final and complete, i.e., that nothing can impair the power of his cross and passion to save the entire human race."–Thomas Allin
In 1885, the Rev. Thomas Allin waded into the debates on final punishment that had plagued the Church of England during the nineteenth century. His contribution was a radical book that sought to demonstrate that reason, tradition, and Scripture all affirm that God will one day redeem his whole creation through Jesus Christ. Universal salvation, he maintained, was the only way to coherently affirm the victory of God over evil. Allin's book is one of the first detailed attempts to show that global salvation was not some modern heresy, but an ancient Christian tradition with a serious claim to catholicity and orthodoxy. Turning the tables on the critics, Allin boldly argued that universalism, far from being dangerous, was actually needed to defend the orthodox faith of the church. This new edition of Allin's classic work includes an introduction that sets it in its historical context, the addition of subtitles to help readers navigate the argument, and numerous explanatory annotations.

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This biography of Isabel Crawford is a lively account of a feisty and fascinating Baptist missionary. Born in Canada in 1865, she had an independent spirit leading her to remarkable accomplishments in a life marked by obstacles. Her conversion at age ten created a lifelong commitment to Christian service. In her teens a near-fatal illness left her deaf, but nevertheless in 1893 she completed studies to become a missionary. Rejected for overseas service, she was assigned to a troubled Indian mission in Oklahoma. She began her work there with great reluctance but developed a lifelong bond with her beloved Kiowa converts. Her success as a woman missionary created friction with the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and she left the mission in 1906. Remaining committed to the Women's Home Mission Society, Crawford became a sought-after inspirational speaker for them and later served again as missionary, this time in western New York. She retired in 1930 and moved back to Canada in 1942. Crawford is buried, as she had arranged, at her Saddle Mountain, Oklahoma, mission. The biography is enriched by extensive use of Crawford's witty and perceptive descriptions of the extraordinary challenges and variety of experiences that marked her life.

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Many opinions contend in the church today for what constitutes true worship of God and how best it can be practiced. This collection of essays carries on a conversation between biblical scholars and church music practitioners. It begins with three studies investigating what we can learn about worship in the Old Testament, followed by essays on the teaching about worship in the Gospels, Epistles, and the book of Revelation in the New Testament. The church music practitioners featured in the book respond to each of these essays. The final essay by Wendy Porter takes a historical journey of theological reflection on Christian worship from the days of the early church, tracing worship developments in the Western church through the centuries to today. This is an important book for anyone who wants to think theologically about how and why Christians worship God.

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Why another book about biblical interpretation (hermeneutics)? First, this is not just another book about hermeneutics. It deals specifically with hermeneutics as practiced y Pentecostals; rather, more accurately, as hermeneutics should be practiced by Pentecostals. The book presents a distinct Pentecostal hermeneutic that moves away from exclusive use of historical-grammatical methodology.
The hermeneutic presented here employs an eclectic methodology and a quadratic strategy. Scripture, Spirit, trained leader, and community, in the proposed hermeneutic, are shown to work together to produce an interpretation that engages both creative imagination and authorial intent. The text offers pastors, professors, and laity alike a method and approach that will allow them to interpret Scripture from a clearly Pentecostal perspective. An important addition to the book is an outline for an undergraduate course instructing students in this distinct Pentecostal hermeneutic.

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