LITMIR.BIZ

Immigration has in recent years become a hotly contested subject in public political and social discussions. Both in Europe and America, there is increased polarization, confusion, and anxiety about how to handle this challenging phenomenon. What has not been adequately discussed during these debates, however, is the influence of immigration on religion in the host countries. The increase in the number of Moslem immigrants in the West has been raised in some publications. However, this book is among the first to examine the impact of immigration on the Christian faith from a biblical perspective.
The fact is, in many Western countries today, the future of Christianity is progressively becoming dependent on immigration. Is there any biblical perspective to the phenomenon? What should be the response of Christians to the debate? And how should Christian immigrants themselves interpret their experiences in the light of the Word of God? Asumang examines the lives and experiences of the giants of the Bible to answer these questions. And his conclusions are insightful and challenging both to immigrant and non-immigrant Christians alike.

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Christian faith is continually challenged by the tension between certainty and mystery. A historic faith can seem threatened by the uncomfortable x that God continues to work in a rapidly changing culture. The Bartender is a fable about the messiness and unpredictability of lives being opened up to God through relationships characterized by deep listening and looking for the ongoing work of God in the world. The parallel and sometimes intersecting paths of two men on different spiritual journeys reveal how God seems to be present in the most scandalous of human dramas. When both men take risks that threaten their own religious sensibilities, they find new ways of living out the implications of their faith.

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A Living Light explores some of the major events in the life of Hildegard of Bingen: mystic, physician, composer, and one of the foremost intellectuals of the Middle Ages. In the form of a dramatic novella, it telescopes to such life-changing events as the courageous recording of her visions, the Church's acceptance of her accounts of prophetic experience, the formation of her own abbey, and the interdiction against her nuns for the burial of a revolutionary on holy ground. A story of character, spiritual doubt and achievement, kindness and resolve, and a life devoted to both faith and works, A Living Light adds to the growing volume and range of works, both scholarly and creative, addressing the influence of this extraordinary woman; it attests to the profound effects possible through the commitment of single, loving, creative individuals even in the most difficult and oppressive of times.

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Told in the first person by the author of the Gospel of Mark, The Cloak and the Parchments relates the story of how the earliest gospel came to be written against the backdrop of emergent Christianity's doctrinal tensions. But it is also the story of one man's struggle of faith, especially with the remarkable notion–at least for a first-century Jew steeped in monotheistic tradition–of the divinity of Jesus Christ. The year is 64 CE, and Paul has summoned Mark and Timothy from Ephesus to his prison cell in Rome. On their journey, the travelers discuss many of Paul's teachings, including that Jesus is truly the Son of God. After reaching Italy they meet up with Peter, whose own account of Jesus's ministry quickly poses a challenge to Paul's views. But there will be no opportunity to hear Peter and Paul debate their differences, for they arrive in Rome at the outbreak of the Great Fire. Amid the turmoil of the resulting Christian persecution, Paul urges Mark to escape and write Peter's account of Jesus's ministry consistently with Paul's own teaching. Mark finds himself conflicted by his promises to both men, and by the disparity between Peter's eyewitness testimony and Paul's claim to direct revelation. In the end, he finds the answer he seeks hidden in the depths of his own soul–as ultimately, we all must.
The Cloak and the Parchments brings these New Testament characters to life in all of their humanity, and presents a cogent argument for the necessity of mystical experience in religious belief.

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For too long the story of history's most infamous terrorist, Yeshua Bar-Abbas, has been mistold. The only way to get justice from the Roman Empire is to steal it. By travelling to the Judean capital and avenging his brothers, Yeshua has achieved precisely that. However, the newfound friends who unexpectedly came to his aid have now blocked his way home to Egypt. An alcoholic archer, an over-zealous rabbi, a nervous shepherd boy, and an overweight farmer have further plans for Yeshua and his brother, Theudas. Each of them will discover that the kind of justice you win depends on how you fight for it. Violent revenge, passive resistance, or reluctant acts of terror? Each will bear its own fruit.

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Goicoechea shows how the three traits of personhood–that all persons are equal in dignity, that each is unique, and that all persons are interpersonal–is rooted in that love which is agape. This love between the three persons of the One God is examined existentially as mother lived it out in her love and personal growth. It is examined philosophically with Kierkegaard as he explains the logic of reconciling love, which can happen when I love the other, even my enemy, as more important than myself. The logic of reconciling love is then examined in Paul's seven authentic letters. The history of how humans became seen as persons and how this idea developed in the West is then examined through nine moments of history.

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When Elizabeth Goodman first arrived at the tiny congregation that would become her home as a pastor–a congregation of about seven people in a town of just under a thousand–the longest-standing member told her that though the congregation was small, her preaching need not be. In this collection of sermons, readers will witness a mind at work amidst a faithful congregation (whose numbers are now around thirty), mutually nurtured, and together having no small amount of fun. Meanwhile, the ramifications of the gospel in the world will sneak up and surprise. Guided always by a spirit of play and by scripture, as it is in conversation with life, Goodman illuminates both the quiet suggestions that undo what we think we know and the startling demands that are to be both feared and desired. This congregation has a tagline: «It's not what you think.» They are probably right.

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Childhood of Jesus takes a look at the life of Jesus' childhood from a Jewish perspective. This booklet discloses daily activities and interaction with family and friends of Jesus. What type of education did Jesus receive? What was expected of Jesus as a little boy? Did he know he was the Messiah? Did he perform miracles? How does the community respond to Mary's pregnancy? What would it be like to live 2,000 years ago? Childhood of Jesus pulls back the covers and exposes the cultural mores of the time of Christ's childhood. This paper is a great guide to use in personal bible study, or bible groups, as well for the classroom or pulpit.

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These 150 meditations are paraphrases of our common human experience and therefore a way of uniting our divisive world. We find three voices providing food for our journey. The Mortal voice speaks of loss, rejection, honesty, faithfulness, integrity, discovery, joy, and God's continuing presence in it all. The Mediator voice is at times teacher, then mentor, and often narrator. In a very inspiring way, the voice of God is a feminine voice, Mother (El Shaddai, the Hebrew breasted God; womb of our being). Take one meditation a day, in a quiet place, if possible. Chew and savor as nourishment for your mind and soul.

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People Want Answers to Their Questions!
Who made God? Has the Bible been corrupted? What is the unpardonable sin? How can a loving God send people to hell? Did Jesus really preach in hell?
As a Bible scholar, church planter, and senior minister of a rapidly growing congregation, Steve Crane receives many questions from believers and skeptics alike. His concise, biblical answers get right to the heart of the matter. Crane not only answers your questions, but will help equip you to «give the reason for the hope that you have» (I Peter 3:15).
Staying true to the original «Email» format, questions and answers have been organized into eight separate categories: Questions about God, Questions about Christ, Questions about the Bible, Questions about Salvation, Bible Questions, Bible Difficulties, Questions about End Times, and Objections to Christianity. This format allows readers to choose the issues that are most pertinent to their interests and needs.

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