The poetry and prose reflections in this book cover a wide range of themes, discovering the presence of God in deeply challenging as well as joyful experiences. This is a book for all who love and care about the natural world, and a resource for all interested in spirituality, pastoral counseling and teaching, creative communication, and cross-cultural mission. Or simply for those who love poetry.

Responding to the need for quality material for personal and group Bible study, Ronald S. Wallace has taken care to write this exposition of 1 Kings in such a way that modern readers can learn from this part of the Old Testament, and pastors and teachers can use it in their work. Designed to benefit classroom settings and weekly study groups, this book is divided into sixteen sections that help bring about a clear understanding of the message of 1 Kings. An introduction to each section describes the main historical facts to be noted as the passage is read ...

Description: What was the faith behind the proclamations of Jesus, the message of Paul, and the Johannine witness--and how can it be recovered today? This penetrating and provocative book seeks to probe the various formulations of religious faith in the New Testament with a view to recovering the real essence and genius of Christianity today. Dr. Wilder sees three principal strains--often harmonious but sometimes disparate--in New Testament faith: the proclamations of Jesus, the message of Paul, and the witness of John the Evangelist. First, he studies ...

Description: Many people think of prayer and worship in terms that are too narrow. Sometimes they also entertain presuppositions about prayer and worship that need to be expanded and critiqued and challenged to make them more mature and informed. This book seeks to address these issues. It is an invitation to engage with prayer and worship in ways that enlarge our capacity to think about, address, and encounter God through liturgy and theology, the arts and poetry, as well as basic critical thinking. About the Contributor(s): Owen F. Cummings is a permanent ...

Was Jesus a public figure? A political figure? Yes, according to Luke's gospel, Jesus was a Christ who was both public and political. Recent developments in the theory and practice of the study of space have provided tools to classify ancient social-spatial spheres with greater nuance and depth. A broad survey of literary and archaeological resources in the ancient world, as well as an in-depth look at Plutarch's Political Precepts and Philostratus's Life of Apollonius, reveals that the familiar dichotomy of public and private does not suffice to describe ...

For many congregations, change creates discomfort. Pastoral leaders are often expected to be experts who manage and control realities beyond their expertise, experience, and ability. That expectation, a product of modern approaches to leadership, views the pastor as responsible for maintaining the status quo. Transforming Pastoral Leadership responds to this context by challenging readers to rediscover key biblical themes around the shepherding metaphor as well as key theological themes steeped in our historical faith narratives. Readers are challenged to ...

What then, are the particular aspects--moral and intellectual--of the full Christian life that are emphasized by Benedictines in the form of the life they lead? It is an objective form of life, sane, strong, unchanging from year to year, a life of work and liturgical prayer which can be seen and heard, lived in conditions which aim at representing all that is best in the basic family life of Christianity, aided by all human courtesies, reverences and affections. It is nothing secret or esoteric, nor an impossibility, but an ordered form of ordinary life. ...

The epistle of James is often poorly understood. Beyond questions of authorship and dating, its contents are troubling. Its powerful accusations of sin seem to overshadow the Gospel. For this reason Luther called it an epistle of straw and questioned whether it should be in the Bible at all. Author David Scaer thinks differently, and he shares his insights with us in 'James, the Apostle of Faith'. As the title indicates, faith in Christ and the comforting Gospel are prominent in many places throughout this epistle. Far from being a dreary series of moralisms ...

In 1054 CE, the Great Schism between Eastern and Western Christianity occurred, and the official break of communion between the two ancient branches of the church continues to this day. There have been numerous church commissions and academic groups created to try and bridge the ecumenical divides between East and West, yet official communion is still just out of reach. The thought of St. Maximus the Confessor, a saint of both churches, provides a unique theological lens through which to map out a path of ecumenical understanding and, hopefully, reconciliation ...