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Our world is inundated with war, poverty, disease, economic crises, terrorism, unemployment, fatherlessness, addictions, divorce, abortion, sex trafficking, racism, depression and anxiety, information and stimulation overload, and the list goes on and on. Where do people find relief? How do people find true peace and hope? Do they find it? Do they even find it in church, or do they endlessly and hopelessly search? Truth Therapy is a devotional strategy for spiritual formation and discipleship that employs scripture, basic Christian truths, the names of God, and faith affirmations blended with cognitive-behavioral theory. It is an intentional approach that tackles many of the maladies of our day that impede believers from growing and overcoming in Christ, such as stress, worry, fear, depression, and anxiety. The fundamental premises of Truth Therapy are that lies bind us, but the truth sets us free. The lies we believe are the primary weapons used to defeat us, while the truth we believe can be the key to setting us free. Truth Therapy provides a framework for identifying and evaluating the lies we believe and replacing those lies with the truth found in the word of God for every area of our life. Truth Therapy can be used in multiple settings, such as personal devotions, group devotions, small group study, discipleship, counseling, and in intercession.

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Using Socratic dialogue to argue the evidence, Fatal Choice makes its case for an orthodox view of hell. But more than that, the narrator finds himself on an actual tour of hell with none other than Hieronymus Bosch, the master of paintings on hell, as his mentor.

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On the highways and byways of every continent, hundreds of millions of immigrants are constantly on the move. Because of growing inequalities of wealth caused by unregulated economic globalization, political and ethnic conflicts, environmental degradation, instant communication, and viable means of transportation, more and more people are migrating than ever before. Crossing international borders, whether compelled or voluntarily, is a major characteristic of our present epoch. No countries or regions are immune from this reality. Facing the growing scope, complexity and impact of the current worldwide phenomenon, God's People on the Move seeks to develop appropriate biblical and missiological responses to the issue of human migration and dislocation. The book is divided into two major sections. Part one, «Biblical Perspectives on Migration and Mission,» contains six essays that focus on various biblical themes or texts that deal with migration and mission. Part two, «Contemporary Issues of Migration and Mission,» contains six essays that address different immigration issues around the world. The contributors to this volume are women and men from different ethnic backgrounds, working and living on five continents. The internationality of the contributors gives this volume a unique global perspective on migration and mission.

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The Incarnate Word contains a selection of the key writings on the doctrines of Christology produced by the theologians of Mercersburg Seminary during the middle of the nineteenth century. Despite the seminary's small stature and marginal position within American religious life, these texts represent some of the most profound wrestlings with the doctrine of the person of Christ that appeared in antebellum America, engaging the latest in German theological scholarship as well as the riches of the Christian tradition. As such, they command more than mere historical interest, providing rich conversation partners for contemporary debates in Reformed Christology, and anticipating the insights of such key twentieth-century theologians as T. F. Torrance. The present critical edition carefully preserves the original texts, while providing extensive introductions, annotations, and bibliography to orient the modern reader and facilitate further scholarship.
The Mercersburg Theology Study Series is an attempt to make available for the first time, in attractive, readable, and scholarly modern editions, the key writings of the nineteenth-century movement known as the Mercersburg Theology. An ambitious multi-year project, this aims to make an important contribution to the scholarly community and to the broader reading public, who can at last be properly introduced to this unique blend of American and European, Reformed and catholic theology.

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This book is a commentary on the Acts of the Apostles for the nonspecialist, based on lecture notes accumulated over many years of Professor Mel Storm's introductory course on Acts. Originally written to supplement students' reading of the story of the church in Acts, Living Lord, Empowering Spirit, Testifying People provides readers with important historical information and theological insights. The book opens with an introduction to Acts that gives special attention to the question of the authorship and date of the book, as well as to the theological themes that shape the narrative. Storm offers large sections of in-depth commentary instead of verse-by-verse analysis and concludes each chapter with important vocabulary and insightful questions that can be used as a springboard for class discussion, small writing assignments, or personal reflection in both academic circles and church settings. Living Lord, Empowering Spirit, Testifying People guides students to understand Acts as a theologically shaped narrative that conveys important themes for disciples of Jesus.

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Pentecostal and charismatic renewal movements have seen great growth over the last century and have engaged with many Christian traditions. Yet there are signs that all is not well, and there is a need to develop theologies of renewal that engage with practice and across the traditions if the movements are to continue to grow. In particular, this book seeks an ecumenical engagement between David Watson and Thomas Merton, leaders in the charismatic and monastic renewal movements. The aim is to reflect on the theological roots of these renewal movements through a study of particular people who lived them in practice and sought to help others understand how the triune God was at work. This is done against the wider background of contemporary renewalist theology to develop constructive proposals for renewal theology in the future. Receptive ecumenism provides the method for bringing the different voices into conversation in ways that also point forward in approaches to ecumenical dialogue. It is thus a study relevant to those seeking new ways in theology, those involved in renewal and ecumenical movements, students of Thomas Merton, and all who seek to better understand the Christian renewal movements that have swept the world.

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The Diffusion of Ecclesiastical Authority explores the leadership of the church in Acts from a sociological perspective. Two primary models emerge from a sociologically informed investigation of first-century Greco-Roman and Jewish religious leadership: «manager-leader» and «innovator-leader.» An examination of seven passages in Acts reveals that the leaders of the early church, although initially conforming to cultural expectations, are best described as innovator-leaders whose counter-cultural actions resulted in the empowerment of new leaders and the advancement of the gospel. Through the use of fictive kinship language, the voluntary sharing of authority, the fostering of a sense of mutual dependence on God as the common patron, and the redefinition of what is honorable, the leaders in Acts consistently enabled others to share authority in the church.

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In Glory, Grace, and Truth, Alexander Tsutserov argues that three concepts of the revelation of God as Jesus are unfolded throughout the Gospel of John in terms of a ratification of the covenant of the presence of God.
The covenantal aspects of «glory,» confirming the presence of God, are evident in Jesus: the visible appearance of God; the intrinsic character of God; the miraculous splendor of God (in Jesus's incomparable signs, deeds, wonders, and marvelous acts); and the divine honor of God (in the Son glorified by the Father).
"Grace upon grace" alludes to the requests to confirm the presence of God. All believers gained the grace of the presence of God in Jesus, rather than Moses alone encountering the grace of the presence at Sinai. The Gospel of John depicts ratification of the covenant of the presence of God in Jesus according with the covenantal articles.
"Grace and truth" alludes to Exodus 34:6. Each allusion in John depicts the full graciousness and integrity of God's character. The Son possesses and bestows the Father's character onto believers by means of the Holy Spirit, who is full of «grace and truth.» The divine character and the divine Law complement each other in believers, thus fulfilling the Scripture.
In essence, the revelations of God at Sinai and in Jesus are the same. In quality, the latter surpasses the former in all three aspects: glory, grace, and truth.

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From the time of Martin Luther's writing of «On War Against the Turk» in 1529 to American Lutheran military chaplains serving in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Lutheranism has had a symbiotic relationship with Islam in the Middle East, framed across cultural and religious borders. There have been those who have crossed these «borders» to engage in mission and dialogue. In Piety, Politics, and Power, David Grafton examines the origins of the American Lutheran missionary movement in the Middle East, with a focus on its encounter with Muslims and the varied Lutheran theological responses toward Islam. The narrative is placed within historical contexts to provide an overarching background of Middle Eastern history and Christian-Muslim Relations. The survey covers Lutheran missionary communities in Persia, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jerusalem and the West Bank, including the work of the Lutherans working for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missionaries, the Anglican Church Missionary Society, the Lutheran Orient Mission, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Whether enthusiastic Pietists seeking the conversion of Muslims and Jews; cautious theologians in dialogue with Islam, Judaism, or Oriental Orthodoxy; or social activists working on behalf of refugees in Egypt and the West Bank, Grafton argues that these Christian missionaries were all enmeshed in the politics of the communities in which they lived, and either contributed to or suffered from the realities of Middle Eastern and international politics. Given the current reality of «Pax Americana» in the Middle East, the author asks the driving question about the role of American Lutheran missions and Lutheran-Middle Eastern Muslim dialogue in the age of American power in the Middle East.

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Around the world, thousands of grassroots movements are confronting issues like destruction of the environment, economic depression, human rights violations, religious fundamentalism, and war. This book tells the courageous story of one such group. Organizing in 1939, Northern Baptists formed the Baptist Pacifist Fellowship as part of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Southern Baptists formed a parallel body. Like today, it was a time when sources of hope seemed hard to find. Discerning a need to support and connect Baptist conscientious objectors in the United States, members faced hostility in congregations and the nation. For the duration of the Second World War, the Korean War, war in Vietnam and elsewhere, Baptists sustained a witness for peace and justice. By 1984, threat of nuclear weapons led to formation of a wider circle of resistance to the culture of war. Subsequently, the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America has brought together Baptist peacemakers from around North America and the world. However small in numbers or reviled, members have been building a culture of peace through an interracial and international community. This book is an invaluable resource for those seeking a new world of forgiveness, respect for human rights, nonviolence, and peace.

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