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As believers we stand at a fork in the road. Two different expressions of Christianity are emerging in the Body of Christ—believers growing in love for Jesus and others sliding back into apostasy. This book explores the two choices before us, patterned after the churches of Philadelphia and Laodicea in Revelation. Many churches contain a mixture, but as time progresses the two streams will progressively separate. The choice we make will radically affect our destiny in this life and in eternity. Wherever we are spiritually right now, we can choose which way to go. The choice is ours! All rewards described in Revelation are given to overcomers. It is God’s desire for each of us to become an overcomer. The principles in this book are not just good theory, but have been lived out in real life. The more of God’s ways we walk in, the more we will walk as overcomers. The purpose of this book is to encourage you into the joy and victory of walking with the Lord in His wonderful and overcoming ways!
Though a majority of commentators have admitted or naturally assumed that there were many divergences amongst the Pauline churches, many tend to concentrate on similarities more than dissimilarities (contra John M. G. Barclay; Craig de Vos). Especially, the previous scholarly treatments of divergences in the Pauline churches have shed little light on certain areas of study, in particular the early Christians’ socio-economic status. The thesis, therefore, underlines the conspicuous differences between the Thessalonian and Corinthian congregations concerning their socio-economic compositions, social relationships, and further social identities, while extrapolating certain circles of causality between them through socio-economic and social-scientific criticism. This study concludes Paul’s teachings of grace, community, and ethics were manifested and modified in different communities in different ways because of these different socio-economic contexts.
A Tale of Two Churches examines the complexities of resurrecting a congregation postmortem. While conflict is a natural occurrence in all communities, it can lead to organizational implosion. The warning signs become blaring sirens when mistrust goes viral, rumors escalate uncontrolled, and the people discontinue their participation. Pastor Ehlke attempts to generate new life in the corpse of a dying church through means of spiritual transformation. Using the Scripture as a guidepost for reform, the pastor starts a small group designed for the sole purpose of loving the people. Trusting this will spark a revolution of compassion, the leadership embarks on breathing new life into a community declared all but dead by many in observance. Having worked at St. John Lutheran Church in Winter Park, perhaps this paradigm will breathe life into other faith communities who are staring into the darkness of death.
The Tale of Two Churches by Floyd Dopp William Floyd Dopp,William Floyd Dopp Pdf
Is your congregation in its final days? Move your congregation from survival to revival, says the Rev. Dr. William Dopp. Congregations will not only survive, they will thrive when they enter the mission field. In his lively book Dopp illustrates how to move from the old chapel to the emerging missionary church. Back in 2000, Episcopal priest, William Dopp and his wife, Janet, were on their way to Kisoro, Uganda to be part of a special celebration at St. Andrew's Cathedral in that remote part of east Africa. They stopped over in London, where they had the opportunity to attend Sunday worship at St. John the Baptist Church in the Kensington section of London. The contrast between the two churches inspired this book. The old gothic church in London was nearly empty on Sunday morning. One week later, the Dopps took part in worship in rural Kisoro where the 1200-seat cathedral was not large enough to hold the crowd. The church in London had on its literature, Preserving Holy Worship. The church in Kisoro, Uganda proclaimed on a sign, Jesus is our living hope. One church lives in the past; the other is in mission proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. These two churches are the symbols of what Dopp calls the old chapel church, the OCC, and the emerging missionary church, the EMC. Congregations of all denominations fall into these two categories. Through engaging ministry experiences backed up by current statistics, he illustrates how the emerging missionary church transforms the lives of people.
This book is not meant to be a definitive exploration of the whole of the two churches in any case. The attempt would be absurd. But the book is not meant, either, to be an intense exploration of "certain aspects" of the two churches. It is meant rather to be an extended essay about the connected differences between the two churches, to use "aspects" as touchstones for comparison. It is meant to be a comparison of two total styles. These are not architectural styles, although there is a marked and significant difference between English and Italian ecclesiastical architecture in the thirteenth century. The nonarchitectural style of the thirteenth-century Italian church might in fact be called sustained Romanesque, or perhaps sustained Burgundian. Comparing England (or Britain) with Italy in order to expose more fully one or both is not a new idea. Historians, like Tacitus and Collingwood, have made the comparison, and so have poets, like Browning and, with superb intellectuality, Clough. This is, at least locally, where angels feared to tread. The famous Venetian Anonymous wrote from the other side in his Relation (of about 1500), and condensed for us his comparison in the observation that unlike the Italians the English felt no real love, only lust. The spring bough and the melon-flower, Collingwood's city and field—the long continuity of the difference is startlingly apparent. Explaining the continuity (and perhaps there is no more difficult sort of historical explanation—its difficulty is painful to the mind) is not the job that this book sets itself. But it would be dull and dishonest to ignore the fact that the continuity exists. All that this book has to say may be no more than that the thirteenthcentury Italian church was in fact, as Browning warned, a melon-flower. The book may be only a gloss on amore. The symbol is more inclusive, more evocative, less guilty of excluding the essential but undefined, than detailed description can be. Melon-flower and amore, however, fortunately for the purpose of this book, say very little about the intricate, connected detail of administrative history. Collingwood's (after Tacitus's) city against field presses less deeply but says more. The general difference between the styles of the English and Italian churches has a great deal to do, and very directly, with the fact that the inhabitants of Italy were continually city-dwellers and the inhabitants of Britain were essentially not. Although this book is about both England and Italy, it approaches them differently. The thirteenth-century Italian church is, particularly in English and French, practically unknown. Before it can be explained or analyzed, it must be recreated, formed again in detail. The job is in part really archaeological. The outline of past existence must be uncovered. This is not at all true of the thirteenth-century English church. It has been well explored. This disparity in past observation forces my book to talk much more of Italy than of England; but, if it is a book about one church rather than the other, it is a book about England. England is meant to be seen, for a change, against what it was not. In this sort of profile it has a different look. England may no longer seem a country in the frozen North, incapable, in the distance, of responding fully to Lateran enthusiasm. Its full response to ecclesiastical government may seem clearly connected with its, of course relatively, full response to secular government.
WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT OF US? Is our faith just about going to church, studying the Bible and avoiding the most serious sins—or does God expect more? Have we embraced the whole gospel or a gospel with a hole in it? Ten years ago, Rich Stearns came face-to-face with that question as he sat in a mud hut in Rakai, Uganda, listening to the heartbreaking story of an orphaned child. Stearns’ journey there took much more than a long flight to Africa. It took answering God’s call on his life, a call that tore him out of his corner office at one of America’s most prestigious corporations—to walk with the poorest of the poor in our world. The Hole in Our Gospel is the compelling true story of a corporate CEO who setaside worldly success for something far more significant, and discovered the full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to change his own life. He uses his journey to demonstrate how the gospel—the whole gospel—was always meant to be a world changing social revolution, a revolution that begins with us. ECPA 2010 Christian Book of the Year Award Winner! “Read this compelling story and urgent call for change—Richard Stearns is a contemporary Amos crying ‘let justice roll down like waters....’ Justice is a serious gospel-prophetic mandate. Far too many American Christians for too long a time have left the cause to ‘others.’ Read it as an altar call.” --Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, BC “Rich Stearns calls us to exhilarating obedience to God’s life-altering, world-changing command to reflect his love to our neighbors at home and globally. The Hole in Our Gospel is imbued with the hope of what is possible when God’s people are transformed to live radically in light of his great love." --Gary Haugen, President & CEO, International Justice Mission “Richard Stearns is quite simply one of the finest leaders I have ever known.... When he became president of World Vision I had a front row seat to witness the way God used his mind and heart to inspire thousands.... His new book, The Hole In Our Gospel will call you to a higher level of discipleship.... Now is the time...Richard Stearns has the strategy...your move!” --Bill Hybels, Founding and Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, IL “Rich Stearns has given us a book that makes absolutely clear what God hopes for and expects from each of us.... He reminded me of my personal responsibilities and the priority I must give them and also where life’s true rewards and fulfillment are to be found.” --Jim Morris, former executive director, United Nations World Food Program "World Vision plays a strategic role on our globe. As the largest relief organization in the history of the world, they initiate care and respond to crisis. Rich Stearns navigates this mercy mission with great skill. His book urges us to think again about the opportunity to love our neighbor and comfort the afflicted. His message is timely and needed. May God bless him, the mission of World Vision and all who embrace it." --Max Lucado, author of 3:16—The Numbers of Hope, Minister of Writing and Preaching, Oak Hills Church, San Antonio, TX “With passionate urging and earnestness, Rich Stearns challenges Christians to embrace the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ by embracing the neediest and most vulnerable among us. After reading the moving stories, the compelling facts and figures, and Stearns’ excellent application of scripture and his own experiences at World Vision, you will no doubt be asking yourself: What should I do?” --Chuck Colson, Founder, Prison Fellowship
In A Tale of Two Theologians, Ambrose Mong's observant new work, he examines the writings of the Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutierrez and the Indian theologian Michael Amaladoss, and gives fresh attention to their main concerns regarding evangelisation and the poor. Why, he asks, is Gutierrez's liberation theology now accepted and celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church while Amaladoss's Asian theology with a liberation thrust is threatened with censorship? Mong argues that the dwindling threat of Communism has made the Marxist overtones of Latin American liberation theology more palatable to the Catholic hierarchy, while the challenge of religious pluralism in Asia is as complex and emotive as ever.How can the Church learn to balance the need for dialogue between religions with their duty to proclaim the Gospel? How can the Church inculturate itself in Asia while maintaining its identity? Ambrose Mong tackles these questions with the shrewd, clear-eyed view of an active priest and scholar, exploring the long, troubled relationship the Church has with liberation theology and offering guidance for the future.
What do you do if you are an evangelical Christian, politically conservative AND transgender? Evangelical Christians are often attacked by the Left. People who are transgender are often attacked by the Right. It's human nature to align with those who share our world view, and dismiss those who don't. There is a struggle going on in our culture that produces more victims than champions--we all seem to agree on that. The growing divide between the political, ideological Left vs Right and Religious vs Secularist is so sharp that even attempting to bridge the gap is a perilous endeavor. But what happens to the people who are scorned by both sides? Shut out by the Left for their conservative views. Rejected by Christians for being transgender. Meet Laurie Suzanne Scott. She is, indeed, both an evangelical Christian and transgender. Raised in a devoutly Christian home, she endured the unbelievably difficult and complicated odyssey of finding her identity as a woman ...without losing her identity in Christ. A journey she barely survived. In "God Doesn't Make Mistakes: Confessions of a Transgender Christian" Laurie tells her story of growing up playing a role as unnatural to her as the body she was born with. She was a living, breathing dichotomy... and there was no one who could understand. She had no choice but to keep up the pretense and keep it a secret. She became a good son. A good Christian. And eventually even a good husband. She knew if her true identity became known, she would lose everything. E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. So, she kept her secret from everyone. But she knew there was no keeping it from God. Raised with a doctrine she believed condemned her, she decided the only way out of her constant misery was to end her life. "Who would even want to stop me?" "Wouldn't it be easier for everyone this way?" It was at that desperate crossroad she heard the voice of God simply say, "You're okay." Since that day, God has led her on a path to heal her deep wounds of rejection by family as well as other Christians, and make peace with the way she was created. "I thought God would be the first to reject me. But, in fact, He was the first to accept me." Now Laurie reaches out to Christians who are transgender, who are still struggling to believe God loves them for who they are... just as they are. It's a difficult and often emotionally exhausting ministry. Equally important are the efforts to help the Church see their Christian brothers and sisters who are transgender as simply, their Christian brothers and sisters. Nothing more, and nothing less. And finally, she shares the much needed message that God doesn't make mistakes, and it IS possible to be a conservative, a Christian, and transgender.
The Magdalene in the Reformation by Margaret Arnold Pdf
Prostitute, apostle, evangelist—the conversion of Mary Magdalene from sinner to saint is one of the Christianity’s most compelling stories. Less appreciated is the critical role the Magdalene played in remaking modern Christianity. Margaret Arnold shows that the Magdalene inspired devotees eager to find new ways to relate to God and the Church.
In 1935, Fascist Italy invaded the sovereign state of Ethiopia--a war of conquest that triggered a chain of events culminating in the Second World War. In this stunning and highly original tale of two Churches, historian Ian Campbell brings a whole new perspective to the story, revealing that bishops of the Italian Catholic Church facilitated the invasion by sanctifying it as a crusade against the world's second-oldest national Church. Cardinals and archbishops rallied the support of Catholic Italy for Il Duce's invading armies by denouncing Ethiopian Christians as heretics and schismatics and announcing that the onslaught was an assignment from God. Campbell marshals evidence from three decades of research to expose the martyrdom of thousands of clergy of the venerable Ethiopian Church, the burning and looting of hundreds of Ethiopia's ancient monasteries and churches, and the instigation and arming of a jihad against Ethiopian Christendom, the likes of which had not been seen since the Middle Ages. Finally, Holy War traces how, after Italy's surrender to the Allies, the horrors of this pogrom were swept under the carpet of history, and the leading culprits put on the road to sainthood.
It is often claimed that local churches provide a significant proportion of social care today. This important new study considers the reality of the church's involvement to offer compelling and concrete recommendations for the future. It proposes a transformational model of welfare that breaks free from the default approach of ‘eradicating the five giant evils – squalor, ignorance, want, idleness, and disease’. Instead the authors focus on fostering five assets – relationship, creativity, partnership, compassion, and joy – and empowering people to regain control of their lives.
In the powerful new book World Impacting Churches, author James Eby issues a challenge to churches around the world to regain their focus on the task of finishing The Great Commission in this generation. Drawing on more than 30 years of experience in national and international ministry, Eby shares ten thought-provoking characteristics of churches which make a difference in the world and help complete the mandate Jesus gave us. Eby's Biblical insight and practical application for implementing these characteristics will inspire and challenge church leaders on every level. The principles set forth in this book are applicable to churches of every size and culture.
