Sharing Gifts in the Global Family of Faith

Sharing Gifts in the Global Family of Faith
Author: Pakisha Tshimika
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 129
Release: 2003-06-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1680992686

As the "center" of Christianity has moved south to Africa, Asia, and Latin America, what gifts can churches in different parts of the world share with each other? Are churches in Europe and North America willing and able to receive as well as give? Who's rich? In what? Who's needy? In what way? How do we overcome the real obstacles that obstruct this essential part of being the church?

Come Out from among Them, and Be Ye Separate, Saith the Lord

Come Out from among Them, and Be Ye Separate, Saith the Lord
Author: William H. Brackney
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2020-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 022717724X

Believers’ Churches have their origin in the Radical Reformation of the sixteenth century. Over the past 450 years the movement has included the Brethren, Mennonites, Hutterites, various types of Baptists, and the Restoration Movement. While never a unified denominational structure, the Believers’ Churches together have been characterized by a strong personal faith in Christ, a call to discipleship and Christian activism, a high view of the authority of Scripture, and profession of faith in believers’ baptism. The Believers’ Churches have represented their beliefs in various ecumenical settings, missionary gatherings, and theological conversations. In the late 1950s, representatives of the several Believers’ Churches began to meet in a series of conferences to explore their common views on doctrine, history, and ethics. Topics at the conferences have included baptism, Lord’s Supper, the nature of the church, and religious voluntarism. In 2016, the 17th Believers’ Church Conference was held at Acadia University and sponsored by Acadia Divinity College. The theme was 'The Tendency Toward Separationism Among the Believers’ Churches', a key recurring characteristic. This volume includes the papers presented at the conference and examines the theme from an immediate post-Reformation perspective, including Baptists, Black Baptists, Restorationists (including the Churches of Christ), the Hutterites, Pentecostals, the role of women, and significantly, the separationist tendency as it occurs in New Religious Movements. Typologies and analyses are provided by leading historians, theologians, and social science specialists.

That They May All Be One

That They May All Be One
Author: Neal D. Presa
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2010-06-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1611640938

To mark the historic 2010 union of two Reformed bodies of churches--the World Alliance of Refored Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical council--more than twenty-five revered pastors, theologians, and ecumenists contributed essays for this volume. These writings celebrate what it means to live in unity and communion in the twenty-first century and stress the importance of ecumenism in working for mission and justice. Among the many noted contributors are Jane Dempsey Douglass, Michael Kinnamon, Samuel Kobia, Setri Nyomi, Ofelia Ortega, Gradye Parsons, and Iain Torrance.

Christian Reflection in Africa

Christian Reflection in Africa
Author: Paul Bowers
Publisher: Langham Publishing
Total Pages: 969
Release: 2018-07-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1783684453

This reference collection presents academic reviews of more than twelve-hundred contemporary Africa-related publications relevant for informed Christian reflection in and about Africa. The collection is based on the review journal BookNotes for Africa, a specialist resource dedicated to bringing to notice such publications, and furnishing them with a one-paragraph description and evaluation. Now assembled here for the first time is the entire collection of reviews through the first thirty issues of the journal’s history. The core intention, both of the journal and of this compilation, is to encourage and to facilitate informed Christian reflection and engagement in Africa, through a thoughtful encounter with the published intellectual life of the continent. Reviews have been provided by a team of more than one hundred contributors drawn from throughout Africa and overseas. The books and other media selected for review represent a broad cross-section of interests and issues, of personalities and interpretations, including the secular as well as the religious. The collection will be of special interest to academic scholars, theological educators, libraries, ministry leaders, and specialist researchers in Africa and throughout the world, but will also engage any reader looking for a convenient resource relating to modern Africa and Christian presence there.

What Is the Mission of the Church?

What Is the Mission of the Church?
Author: Roger P. Schroeder
Publisher: Orbis Books
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2008
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1608330672

After years of practical work in overseas mission, studies of how the mission of Jesus has been carried on through the centuries, and teaching in the United States, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Africa, and China, Roger Schroeder set out to distill the wisdom he has gained and mix it with the wisdom of church teaching. The result is a book to help individuals, parishes, dioceses, and national churches grapple practically and put themselves heart and soul into the mission of being Christ in our suffering world.

A Cloud of Witnesses

A Cloud of Witnesses
Author: John D. Roth
Publisher: MennoMedia, Inc.
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2021-09-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1513809407

Indonesia is home to the oldest Mennonite community outside of Europe and North America. Author John D. Roth traces the 170-year history of Mennonites in Indonesia alongside the larger cultural and religious history of the country. By placing the legacy of European colonization from the sixteenth century to national independence in 1945 beside the history of the Dutch Mennonite mission to Indonesia in the nineteenth century, Roth creates a rich narrative tapestry. A Cloud of Witnesses traces the emergence of the three Mennonite-related groups found today in Indonesia. Like all churches, they have each integrated the good news of the gospel with the local culture, ethnic identity, religious currents, and national history in a distinctive way. In July 2022, these three Mennonite groups in Indonesia will collaboratively host the seventeenth global assembly of Mennonite World Conference in Semarang, Java. A Cloud of Witnesses helps to orient other members of the global Anabaptist-Mennonite church to the history and identity of this unique group of churches while also providing practical travel tips, recipes, reference notes on culture and language and tourist sites—making it the perfect accompaniment for those who plan to travel to Indonesia for Mennonite World Conference in the summer of 2022. ​ Selamat dating!

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians
Author: Dan Nighswander
Publisher: MennoMedia, Inc.
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2017-10-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1513802453

Christians in the bustling, diverse city of Corinth in 50 BCE quarreled about how to be faithful to Jesus. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he calls the small band of new believers to unity and cautions against factionalism, themes that pastor Dan Nighswander unpacks for contemporary readers in this thirty-second volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series. Any Christians who experience division over loyalty to different leaders, who find it hard to agree on sexual ethics (or to live up to them), and who feel tension between their theological convictions and social context will find common ground with believers in Corinth. Home of the exalted “love chapter,” which roots all Christian action in the greatest gift, 1 Corinthians equips those who follow Jesus to craft true community with other believers, differences notwithstanding. With keen theological, biblical, and pastoral insight, Nighswander illuminates for readers the apostle Paul’s challenge to the Corinthian church and calls Christians today to unity through the reconciling work of Christ. Free downloadable study guide available here.

The Gift of Faith

The Gift of Faith
Author: Jeanne Harrison Nieuwejaar
Publisher: Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2005-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781558964433

Eloquent and inspiring, The Gift of Faith celebrates the importance of nurturing our children's spiritual growth. This is a call for parents to be intentional, strong and clear in their choices regarding the messages that children receive about religion. By sharing her own stories and experiences, Nieuwejaar shows that religious community can play an integral role in clarifying and deepening the faith of parents, who inevitably are children's primary religious educators. She also explores ways to foster spiritual awareness in the home and includes rituals for marking the events in children's lives as religious occasions. This important book is ideal for adults of any faith who are concerned with the spiritual development of children. Book jacket.

Global Dictionary of Theology

Global Dictionary of Theology
Author: William A. Dyrness
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 1026
Release: 2009-10-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830878114

Theological dictionaries are foundational to any theological library. But until now there has been no Global Dictionary of Theology, a theological dictionary that presumes the contribution of the Western tradition but moves beyond it to embrace and explore a full range of global expressions of theology. The Global Dictionary of Theology is inspired by the shift of the center of Christianity from the West to the Global South. But it also reflects the increase in two-way traffic between these two sectors as well as the global awareness that has permeated popular culture to an unprecedented degree. The editorial perspective of the Global Dictionary of Theology is an ecumenical evangelicalism that is receptive to discovering new facets of truth through listening and conversation on a global scale. Thus a distinctive feature of the Global Dictionary of Theology is its conversational approach. Contributors have been called on to write in the spirit of engaging in a larger theological conversation in which alternative views are expected and invited. William A. Dyrness, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Juan F. Martinez and Simon Chan edit approximately 250 articles written by over 100 contributors representing the global spectrum of theological perspectives. Pastors, theological teachers, theological students and lay Christian leaders will all find the Global Dictionary of Theology to be a resource that unfolds new dimensions and reveals new panoramas of theological perspective and inquiry. Here is a new launching point for doing theology in today's global context.

If I Could Ask God Anything

If I Could Ask God Anything
Author: Kathryn Slattery
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2010-03-29
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1418555053

Awesome Bible answers for curious kids! If I Could Ask God Anything is a unique kid-friendly book jam-packed with clear, fresh answers to important questions about God, faith, prayer, and Christianity in language that children can understand. Using kid-friendly language, established author Kathryn Slattery tackles "toughies" such as: If God is invisible, how do I know He is real? Did Jesus live on Earth before or after the dinosaurs? Why should I go to church? When I die, do I become an angel with a halo and wings? How can the Holy Spirit help me? Does God stop loving me when I sin? This book will help young readers establish a closer relationship with God as well as help parents nurture their child's mind and spirit with this well-rounded, Scripture-based guide.