He examines how we do nothing and that God alone works this saving faith in us. Next on the list is having a biblical understanding of evangelism. Dever believes that the way we evangelize has a lot to with the way we understand biblical conversion. Dever sought to answer: What is evangelism? Who should evangelize?
Book three of Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis, commences by discussing moral rules, which are directions for the good human life. Moral ideals may be preferences but are not moral obedience or aiming for high morals. Morality is concerned about three things; first, fair play and harmony between individuals; second, cleaning up and improving or harmonizing the things inside each individual and third, the general purpose of human life, what we are made for, what the inventor/creator wants. Modern people think in the first way and lose the other two. Lewis next discusses cardinal or pivotal virtues which include Prudence, Temperance, Justice and Fortitude.
In his book Every Good Endeavor, Timothy Keller seeks to reimagine and rekindle the idea of “connecting your work to God’s work” by examining God’s original design for work, identifying the main effects of sin on work, and then offering a glimpse into how Christians may work in light of the Gospel. Furthermore, throughout his three sections, Keller presents Christians not only with a reminder of work’s original dignity and importance but also with a reminder of how the Gospel should affect every aspect of our lives and our being, as we were saved by grace, through faith, but were also “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he has set ahead of time for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10).” Overall, Keller’s Every Good Endeavor encourages Christians
“The Wounded Healer” is a book that I have come back to at least annually since discovering it the year after I finished seminary. I return to it often because it reminds me what it is I must become as well as what the church must become if we are to speak hope and life into the angst of modern life. Nouwen challenges those of us who choose to engage the world through ministry to strike a balance between a “mystical" way of being and a “revolutionary” way. In the mystical mode ministers “find a center from which they can embrace all other beings at once and experience meaningful connections with all that exists” (20). In the revolutionary mode, we see that only “a radical upheaval of the existing order, together with a drastic change of direction”
Ministering to the church of God requires two traits: sacrifice and commitment. Few men possess either of these things, and even fewer are willing to work toward them. Yet, there is a rare breed of individuals who innately have these traits. One such individual went by the name of J.D. Tant. Throughout his entire life, Tant happily committed himself to the Lord and sacrificed earth’s treasures to labor on His behalf.
This Biblical Foundation paper will thoroughly examine the existing adaptive leadership and transformational change issues within the ministry context of New Creation African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) in Ft. Washington Maryland. The focus is to make the connection between the stated contextual issues and the questions that were formulated on the topic “Reconciling Spiritual Connectedness: an Adaptive Model to Increase Spiritual Cohesion at New Creation AME Church,” and “What the bible teaches us about the topic of "Reconciling the Brokenhearted to Connectedness?” The goal of this paper is to discover how God through the Apostle Paul desired to impact the people in Corinth, the Jewish community and the entire world; and how this scripture is still relevant to the context
Bibliographic Information Kalas, Ellsworth J. Preaching in an Age of Distration. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2014. Summary of Content J. Ellsworth Kalas confessed that the distractions pastors face today are different than in prior years (9–10). With this in mind, He set out to help readers understand how to communicate to a distracted culture. First off, Kalas laid a foundation from which the rest of the book developed.
McDowell begins the book with an anecdote of his life; a familiar story of the sceptical university Agnostic, ready to fire back a retort at the slightest mention of God, Christianity, and anything (or anyone) within. He recounted the all too common feeling of a meaningless life, the seemingly innate itch of human existence, and how it brought him to various places in his life—until he stumbled upon a particular group of people and was changed forever. This introduction, though short, is crucial to understand, for it sets the stage for the remainder of the book. It tells not only the story of a former non-believer, but the story of everyone—it presents us the life of Jesus Christ, not as a gentle sermon or a feel-good retelling, but as an assertive, rational reply to the accusation: ‘Christianity is a myth, and so is your God.’
Throughout this memoir, Lauren Winner allows us a glimpse into her transition from Orthodox Judaism to Christianity. Due to her own intellectual pursuits, relationships with others, and strange and miraculous pursuits, she chooses to leave Judaism, despite the emotionally difficulty of the endeavor. As she grows in her understanding of her new faith and attempts to find her place among Christians and Jews, she realizes that Jesus has been “courting” her for years in many ways. She begins to see just how much the powerful Lord, Creator of everything, loves her and wants her to follow Him. Through her tale, readers have the chance to see that the Lord will work to bring you to Himself.
Little Book for New Theologians: Summary The book, A Little Book for New Theologians, written by Kelly Kapic, begins by underlying the importance of good theology, but also warns of bad theology. Bad theology can have a catastrophic effect on those it reaches. Kapic’s worry is that there will be a detachment between spirituality and theology. His hopes in writing this book is so that it can help new theologians avoid theological detachment.
The book Contains twenty complimentary chapters each one reads as an in-depth bible study lesson, complete with provided references to related anecdotes and biblical scripture. Throughout the book, author Beth Gable Hicks, posits many concepts, tantamount to believers accessing God's promised love and protection. Readers will find the religious ideals discussed, as wide ranging as they are thought-provoking, as Mrs. Hicks expounds on matters like; Security in life comes from faith in God, God is the true source of all wisdom, following just the word of Christ, looking to the bible for instruction, and experiencing God's love and protection through a three pronged approach through worship, wisdom and witness. I found, Finding Freedom in God's promises to be an interesting read.
It’s like a revolving door; people come and go. The message of this book is how to develop a church that keeps people in the church (willfully) and closing the door. Not necessarily through a program or new things to keep people entertained but rather a simple method which best reflects the new testament way of doing things. Sermon-based small groups work because they are focused on linear programs and relationships.
I personally felt that this book is not only for Christian ministers or leaders but for everyone and anyone because, as mortal human beings, we live in a societal world where caring or helping each other is indispensable. I like the way Nouwen makes us see the four chapters of this book, as entering into four different doors, each representing the ‘problems of ministry in the modern world’ (Nouwen, 2010, p.3). I’ve categorized my reflections on this book into three particular headings. The Human Condition Nouwen starts the first chapter by portraying Peter, a young man going through the contemporary human condition, which is, the search of meaning to their life.
Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Jesus had a heart not only for the saved but for the lost. In the same way churches and ministry organizations should as well. This paper will suggest that in order to reach the lost just as Jesus did, a church needs to be small group oriented and community oriented as they participate in the Great
World War II was a continuation of World War I. WWI had a great impact on European countries after it ended. The treaty of Versailles declared that Germany had to pay for the war. This money debt strained their economy, which was most likely the largest factor in making Germany’s hostility greater towards other European countries. It was supposed to completely destroy Germany and left Germany boiling with anger. Sooner or later they wanted to get revenge, but first they had to get their economy back on track.
