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What happens when a church chooses to subdivide instead of getting bigger? In 1976, the Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC, did just that. Stalking the Spirit is the story of Seekers Church, a second-generation Church of the Saviour community known for its creative worship, open pulpit, shared leadership, strong matrix of mission groups, and generous giving. Seekers Church inherited a tradition of intentional spiritual life (the inward journey) to support ministry in daily life (the outward journey). All members understand themselves to be called and equipped for ministry. As a model for other emerging churches within or outside of traditional structures, Stalking the Spirit tells the story of Seekers Church, whose members sought the Spirit''s guidance again and again for the next steps, both individually and as a community.""Marjory Zoet Bankson provides an insightful, moving story of how the Seekers Church continues the rich legacy of the Church of the Saviour. This well runs deep. No experience of the church has influenced me more deeply than the Church of the Saviour, and Bankson demonstrates how its principles can be translated into other emerging models . . . She''s written a superb case study and textbook for anyone seeking to shape a faithful Christian community.""--Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, Reformed Church in America, New York, NY""Before anyone was talking about ''emerging church,'' the small group of highly committed Christians who called themselves Seekers Church were experimenting with shared leadership, an open pulpit, and a radical understanding of the priesthood of all believers. Bankson''s evident passion to share what she and others have experienced in their collective ''pilgrim'' journey will inspire and challenge anyone who is looking for a different way to do church.""--Deborah Sokolove, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC""Marjory Zoet Bankson has not only chronicled the important story of Church of the Saviour but has provided an inspirational model for congregations struggling with how to be the church. Stalking the Spirit outlines a comprehensive template for the inclusiveness of lay leadership, the crucial need for intentionally committed participation/investment, and the essential balance of the inward and outward spiritual journey. If even a fraction of current churches followed just a portion of Seekers'' modus operandi, the world could be transformed.""--Tracy Radosevic, Academy for Biblical Storytelling, Indianapolis, IN""Rare is the opportunity to get an inside look at the challenges and discouragements of being community in this way, to listen in on the conflicts as well as witness the faithful responses. This story of one small laity-led church, striving to be an authentic expression of Christ''s body in a local setting and not a mere replica of its founding prototype, is sure to spark conversation for other churches who seek to be uniquely alive and relevant today.""--Kayla McClurg, Church of the Saviour, Washington, DC""The story of the Seekers Community, a lay-led, spirit-guided church in Washington, DC, provides helpful history for other emerging congregations. Shared leadership, spiritual formation, attention to ministry in daily life, and its own gracious style make Seekers a service-oriented church where all are welcome. Marjorie Bankson tells the story she lives so well with verve.""--Diann L. Neu, WATER: The Women''s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual, Silver Spring, MDMarjory Zoet Bankson is a conference and retreat leader based out of Seekers Church in Washington, DC. Her books include The Soulwork of Clay: A Hands-on Approach to Spirituality (2008) and Creative Aging: Rethinking Retirement and Non-retirement in a Changing World (2010). She holds an honorary doctorate from Virginia Theological Seminary and has served as the president of Faith@Work, a national small-group ministry, and as the editor and publisher of Faith@Work''s magazine.

A professor hears the voices of Biblical women. She begins writing. What was it like for Dorcas to die and be brought back to life? What was it like for Philip''s daughters to live with the threat of persecution after Christ was crucified? What did Miriam feel when she sat in the leprosy tent? What did they all say as the professor wove her own story between their voices? It was Michal, David''s first wife, who made a bolster of goat''s hair for David''s bed when Saul, her father, was trying to kill him. The bolster made it look as if David were there. Likewise, these women''s voices are not their actual voices, because they were not recorded in Scripture, but a similitude of what such women might have said. The narrator struggles with their stories beneath Scripture. Michal is maligned because she scorned David when he danced before the ark, but after the death of her sister, she raised her sister''s sons. David hanged them all when the Gibeonites told him that Saul had broken a covenant with them. They asked that Saul''s male descendants be killed. What was it like for Michal to see her nephews hanged? What did she have to say?""Diane Glancy is the kind of visionary whose poetic spirit sees beyond, twisting the ordinary with astonishing verbal leaps of imagination, turning things inside out so that we see what they are made of. In these stories, she interweaves a personal narrative with visions and voices from another time, another sphere. The result is quite extraordinary.""--Luci Shaw, author of Scape""Uprising of Goats is an impeccably researched, intricately rendered, hauntingly beautiful journey through what has traditionally been a realm of silent mystery. It''s clear that Diane Glancy does not simply imagine the world of biblical women, but inhabits the same quietly electrifying space.""--Paula Huston, author of A Land Without SinDiane Glancy is emeritus professor at Macalester College. Her books and films are listed online at www.dianglancy.org and www.dianeglancy.com..

When we think about the lives of the saints, we can easily forget that they were people just like us--with all the same struggles, temptations, joys, and sorrows we experience in life. They were not born saints; they became saints. And in the course of their journeys through life, other people helped them become the people that God wanted them to be.A Sheltering Tree offers stories of faith, fidelity, and friendship from both Christian and non-Christian writers that explore the importance of friendship to psychological and spiritual development. These stories show how friends became special graces, special gifts given to us by the Lord to help us grow in holiness. Contemporary stories of ordinary people illustrate fifteen lessons about friendship in our own time to help us understand the grace of friendship in our lives. These stories are a source of encouragement and inspiration for each of us on our personal journeys, leading us closer to each other and to the Lord who has called each of us his friend.A Sheltering Tree provides remarkably rich insights into friendship and love, beginning with the writings of both saints and classical authors. The subsequent real-life stories are as shining jewels of human friendship, love, joy, sadness, and mystery, shared with the author as psychotherapist and friend. The lessons he derives are universal. This deceptively short volume provides a wealth of clearly accessible truths into our humanity and its deepest callings.--Ron Bashian MD, former pediatrician, Arlington, VAA thoughtful book on friendship and love. Peter is a gifted writer who unites themes of friendship, presenting stories of people whose lives were animated by a profound awareness of the divine presence in all. Friends, loving God and each other, demonstrate that human life is the arena where the divine is made visible. The fifteen lessons are especially powerful, emphasizing our oneness. Friends help us grow into wisdom and to practice loving kindness and compassion. Buy this book! Gift it to your friends!--Regina McPhillips, spiritual seeker, Ellicott City, MDA Sheltering Tree is a thoughtful and compelling way to understand and strengthen our spiritual connections to God through our friendships. Stories and writings from saints, historical figures, and spiritual teachers (i.e., Aristotle, St. Therese, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, etc.), and from Wilcox''s thirty years as a psychotherapist, illustrate how our Christianity, humanity, and friendships intersect. The highlight for me was the fifteen practical lessons, tools, and ways for me to improve my relationship to Christ through my relationship with my treasured friends! I recommend it to all spiritual seekers.--Bob Connolly, geriatric social work consultant, Ellicott City, MDPeter C. Wilcox, STD, has been a psychotherapist and spiritual director for over thirty years. He holds a doctorate in theology from the Catholic University of America and has taught at the Washington Theological Union, Loyola University Maryland, and Saint Bonaventure University. He has directed retreats and conducted seminars on personality development and spiritual growth for many years and is the author of John Henry Newman, Spiritual Director 1845-1890. Dr. Wilcox lives in Millersville, Maryland, with his wife and daughter.

This book offers reflections on a number of theological themes, going beyond abstraction to ask what is ΓÇïinvolved in coming to know God--through all the praying, struggling, and rejoicing thatΓÇï ΓÇïentails. For speaking accurately about God cannot be done apart from beholding him.We are all too prone to forget the innocence of life''s immediacy as we become weathered by the passage of time. Wonder is a fragile thing that struggles for breath amidst our everyday habits, environment, and slothfulness of vision. We require guidance to see the world''s wonder, but we are given to a time that is less than hospitable to transcendental ends. This book''s purpose is to inspire perpetual reconsideration of the wonder of things. Behold Our God does not relate personal experience or dogmatic confession for the sake of a certain end, but rather seeks to excite the rhapsody of God and reveal the profundity of life, anticipating the day when it shall be said, ""Behold, this is our God"" (Isa 25:9).""Resourcing biblical, historical, and contemporary theological voices, Roberts provides a personal, engaging, and thoughtful reflection on classical topics in Christian theology for the purpose of Christian formation. The topics treated and style and voice of the prose lend to its use as a spiritual formation guide in introductory theology courses.""--Steven M. Studebaker, Associate Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON, Canada""A mini-theology that breathes life! Justin Roberts''s Behold Our God is contemplative spiritual theology at its best. It achieves his aim to bridge the intersection of the ''scandalous particularity'' of the revelation of God in Christ, and ''the attestation of the glories of God'' which flow through creation in a way that succeeds in making them ''harmonious dancing partners.'' And it is written beautifully, evoking wonder and doxology. Your spiritual formation will be deepened by this read!""--Ross Hastings, Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, BC, CanadaJustin Mandela Roberts is a graduate of Regent College, Vancouver (MA), and a PhD student in Systematic Theology at McMaster Divinity College.

A Boy Grows in Brooklyn is an educational and spiritual memoir that recounts stories from life in the Midwood interfaith neighborhood during the fifties and sixties. It shares spiritual lessons for living today that are applicable to readers of all ages who yearn for the joy, humor, and challenge discovered in everyday urban life. Memories of the Brooklyn Dodgers, neighborhood encounters, family roots, public and Sunday school teachers, pastors'' modeling, and scouting ventures are woven together in vibrant stories to enlighten the hearts, souls, and minds of readers across every stage of life.""More than a story, a memoir helps us to connect with the resonating challenges, experiences, and questions of our own lives, even when we are living them in a different epoch than the author. This memoir is a reflection that teaches us lessons for our own lives: how to make sense of the world, gather hope, and nurture optimism. For those of us who are religious educators, this memoir gives us an understanding of the educational ecologies that nurture lives, and in particular, the spiritual journey, as it informs and aids the development of the whole self in the world. Read for enjoyment and reflection.""--Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, Academic Dean, Esperanza College, Philadelphia, PA""I can imagine grandparents (or parents) with grandkids seated on their laps, reading through Robert Pazmi├▒o''s memoirs for the joy of a shared experience about Pazmi├▒o''s lessons learned from life. Furthermore, such a shared moment of reading together offers the distinct opportunity for intergenerational conversation about what matters in life, with deep personal sharing from grandparent to grandchild, and vice versa.""--Klaus Issler, Professor of Christian Education and Theology, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, La Mirada, CARobert W. Pazmi├▒o is Valeria Stone Professor of Christian Education at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, MA, where he has taught since 1986. He has also taught at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and other theological schools across the United States. He is the author of several books, including Foundational Issues in Christian Education (2008), So What Makes Our Teaching Christian? (2008), and Doing Theological Research (2009). He serves as a national consultant for the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion.

In this collection of sermons, Dr. Albert Walsh, after more than three decades of pastoral ministry, presents the gospel message as the Christ-centered proclamation of hope for all those who sojourn along the path of life. Walsh''s sermons speak directly to those who hold faith in Christ, but they also speak with force to those who are searching for the meaning and purpose of life as the gift of a gracious God. This collection of sermons offers the reader a word of genuine hope in times of trial, struggle, and in the face of the innumerable sufferings--both small and great--we so often experience in life. These sermons cover the whole of the life of Christ from his incarnation to his death, resurrection, ascension, and promised return in glory to offer spiritual enrichment for all.The Gospel of Grace for Wounded Sojourners is a collection of sermons on well-known themes from the Scriptures. Sermons are naturally delivered to a congregation on a particular day and in a particular setting. Certain sermons, however, step beyond the time barrier and are worthy of being published so that readers from many different backgrounds can be inspired by them in any setting. These messages are of that caliber.--From the foreword by Drake Williams IIIIn an age of tired pastors and stale sermons, The Gospel of Grace for Wounded Sojourners is an inspiring message for all people. Whether a minister searching for guidance, or an unsure mind searching for truth, Walsh''s sermons deliver the words of grace straight into the heart of any who read them.--Jessica Hughes, Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, PAAlbert Walsh was ordained in 1981, and after serving in local United Church of Christ churches for more than thirty-two years, has now retired to devote his time to writing, speaking engagements, and teaching. Walsh is a volunteer chaplain and has written several books, including Theo Cross: A Life Lived under Grace, all published by Wipf and Stock.

The doctrine of theosis has enjoyed a recent resurgence among varied theological traditions across the realms of historical, dogmatic, and exegetical theology. In Christification: A Lutheran Approach to Theosis, Jordan Cooper evaluates this teaching from a Lutheran perspective. He examines the teachings of the church fathers, the New Testament, and the Lutheran Confessional tradition in conversation with recent scholarship on theosis. Cooper proposes that the participationist soteriology of the early fathers expressed in terms of theosis is compatible with Luther''s doctrine of forensic justification. The historic Lutheran tradition, Scripture, and the patristic sources do not limit soteriological discussions to legal terminology, but instead offer a multifaceted doctrine of salvation that encapsulates both participatory and forensic motifs. This is compared and contrasted with the development of the doctrine of deification in the Eastern tradition arising from the thought of Pseudo-Dionysius. Cooper argues that the doctrine of the earliest fathers--such as Irenaeus, Athanasius, and Justin--is primarily a Christological and economic reality defined as Christification. This model of theosis is placed in contradistinction to later Neoplatonic forms of deification.Cooper''s work exhibits all the elements one would expect from a Lutheran scholar--a commitment to sola scriptura, a strong defense of a forensic notion of justification, and an emphasis on sacramentology--while at the same time incorporating a notion of theosis as Christification. Alongside other Protestant construals of theosis, Cooper''s work makes a fine addition.--Myk Habets, Carey Baptist College, Auckland, New ZealandOn the basis of a clear exposition of the Eastern Orthodox teaching on deification, with particular emphasis on the aspect of Christification, Jordan Cooper argues eloquently for its compatibility with Lutheran theology. Without obscuring the differences between the Orthodox and Lutheran approaches, he makes a valuable contribution to ecumenical theological dialogue and potentially to the renewal of the mystical tradition in the Western churches.--Norman Russell, St. Stephen''s House, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKJordan Cooper is the pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Brighton, IA, host of the Just & Sinner podcast (visit http://www.justandsinner.com), and the author of The Righteousness of One: An Evaluation of Early Patristic Soteriology in Light of the New Perspective on Paul (2013).

Like a who-done-it of the spirit, Six Doors to the Seventh Dimension escorts travelers through the house of life, revealing at each threshold another critical aspect of the way to wholeness, harmony, and peace. Like a labyrinth of word and image, the pages of this metaphorical travelogue wind toward the mystical center that binds all things together. Those who make this pilgrimage will never again see themselves or the cosmos in the same light.Six Doors to the Seventh Dimension lures the curious reader inside the welcoming world of the metaphor, one that leads gently but challengingly down an integrative path to both psychic and spiritual transformation. Truly a brilliantly conceived parable for thoughtful pilgrims of all faiths, played out to a stunningly beautiful end--a book that will leave you both breathless and breath-filled.--Patricia Adams Farmer, author of Embracing a Beautiful GodWith sequential collages of prose and image and subsequent prose, the collaborators have labored to perform the very argument of their book, which is the necessity of what Bonhoeffer has called ''life together.''--Scott Cairns, author of Idiot PsalmsBeautiful words, intriguing images, a unique concept, and fresh takes on the life of the spirit rooted firmly on earth. It''s no wonder this book speaks straight to the soul.--Victoria Moran, author of Creating a Charmed LifeTimothy Carson is Senior Minister of Broadway Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, in Columbia, MO. He is the author of Liminal Reality and Transformational Power (1996), Your Calling as a Christian (2006), and The Square Root of God (2013).Jenny McGee is a creative artist in Columbia, MO, whose work has appeared in local and national galleries. She combines her passion for artistic expression with helping others to find the source of healing and liberation for themselves.Genevieve A. Howard is a poet and communication professional at the University of Missouri. When she is not designing web pages or teaching, she is writing poetry. She is the author of Horsecrazy (2006), Lightener (2010), Take (2011), and Turn (2014).

No other book in the New Testament compares to John in its complexity of style and structure. So many factors confuse Johannine scholars, including the complexity of styles, repetition, duplication, and seemingly distracted structures that are difficult to discern. Sourcebook of the Structures and Styles in John 1-10 is designed to scrutinize the structures and styles in John 1-10, reading John according to John''s way, with the following integrated points of view: First, this reading is indebted to both diachronic and synchronic approaches. Second, macro structure and micro style are treated together and interactively. Third, specific and overall analyses are made together. Fourth, grammatical and relational considerations are brought together. Fifth, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic relations are considered all together. Sixth, both parallelisms and chiasms (including their variations) are examined, whether in macro structure or in micro style, without excluding either. Seventh, all types of parallelisms and chiasms are examined, whether simple or complex. Eighth, ancient and modern ways in writing-reading processes complement each other. Ninth, Western and Eastern perspectives become complementary. Tenth, the Greek text and its English version (by the author) are used interactively. Eleventh, analysis and discussion are brought to complement one another.Sang-Hoon Kim is Associate Professor of New Testament at Chongshin University and Seminary in Seoul, South Korea.

What do educated urban people think about God, and why? What factors--logical, emotional, experiential, or intuitive--incline them towards belief or towards unbelief? How do they balance these factors? Why do many seem to be ""swing voters,"" comfortable sitting on the fence, unmotivated to move far either way? What common ground do they share with Christianity? What are their objections to Christian belief and practice, and their misunderstandings?Why do many people describe intuitive and emotional attraction to believing in God, but resist it intellectually? What apologetic approaches would make most sense, specifically to educated urban Australians? What media products do they enjoy and trust? And how should these insights influence apologetics? Grenville Kent asks these questions in one Australian demographic to help target Big Questions, a documentary film series for Christian apologetics. Anyone interested in apologetics, evangelical media, and the application of marketing research to evangelism will be interested in this study.""This book is an excellent study in applied apologetics, where appropriate biblical models and relevant market research provides the foundation for a groundbreaking apologetic media production. The author applies his interdisciplinary competence as a biblical theologian, apologist, and video producer to the innovative task. This creative ministry project models a balance between the art of listening and the art of persuasion.""--Lars Dahle, Vice-Rector, Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Gimlekollen School of Journalism and Communication, NLA University College, Norway ""This project aims to develop a targeted form of Christian apologetics using film media, with market research to judge its effectiveness. It addresses this issue in a novel and useful way.""--Neil Ormerod, Director, Institute of Theology, Philosophy and Religious Education, Australian Catholic University, Australia""As culture is in constant flux, so too must the ways of presenting the Christian faith constantly change. The first step to developing a Christian apologetic is to listen carefully to the potential audience: not only to what they say, but to the very frameworks out of which their thinking comes. This book demonstrates creatively and with great insight how such listening can be conducted, and how apologetics may be developed that are truly appropriate for the audience.""--Philip Hughes, Senior Research Officer, Christian Research Association, MCD University of Divinity and Edith Cowan University, AustraliaGrenville J. R. Kent has lectured in Old Testament and Arts at Wesley Institute, Sydney, for a decade and is producer of the Big Questions film series (www.bigquestions.com). He wrote Say It Again, Sam: A Literary and Filmic Study of Narrative Repetition in 1 Samuel 28 (2011) and co-edited Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching (2010).

About the Contributor(s):Susan B. Thistlethwaite is a professor at Chicago Theological Seminary, where she is known for her insight into the training of church workers and ways of bringing the particular resources of women and minorities into play for the church.

Conventional wisdom has it that thinking on nature and grace among Catholic intellectuals was severely clouded by the work of Cajetan and his fellow Thomistic commentators from about the sixteenth century to the eve of Vatican II. Henri de Lubac has rightly been given credit for pointing this out; and to all appearances, de Lubac''s influence won the day, as can be seen by the imprint of his thought upon not just the Second Vatican Council, but also the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.However, in recent years, a new crop of Thomistic scholars has arisen who question whether de Lubac''s word on nature and grace should be the last; hence, the debate over the nature-grace relation, so heated at mid-twentieth century, has been stirred once again. Dr. Swafford here offers a third way by way of the nineteenth-century German theologian Matthias J. Scheeben--who, for some reason, has never really been considered especially relevant to this debate. Swafford shows that Scheeben can capture the very best of both sides, while at the same time avoiding the characteristic pitfalls so often alleged against each.Dr. Swafford''s book is highly welcome as the Catholic Church celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Henri de Lubac had been a noted peritus during that council. His understanding of the nature-grace relationship informed the final form of significant conciliar documents. Swafford ably develops the parameters within which the nature-grace discussion has evolved, giving particular attention to the contemporary contributions of Lawrence Feingold and Steven Long. Using primary sources, he convincingly demonstrates how the much-celebrated but now almost forgotten theologian Matthias Scheeben offers a solution to this problem.--Emery de Gaal, University of Saint Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, ILThis is more than a book: it''s a milestone in Catholic intellectual history.--Scott W. Hahn, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Steubenville, OHProfessor Swafford argues that the christological, nuptial, and incarnational emphases of de Lubac and his school need not be opposed to the traditional Thomistic approach to nature and grace. In fact, in the work of Matthias Scheeben, he finds precisely both emphases in profound integration. If, as I hope, the eventual fruit of this book is the translation and publication of Scheeben''s Dogmatics, then this book will indeed mark a new beginning in English-speaking Catholic theology.--Matthew Levering, Mundelein Seminary, Mundelein, ILAndrew Dean Swafford holds a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary and a master''s degree in Old Testament and Semitic Languages from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is a contributing author to 30-Second Bible (2012) and is currently an Assistant Professor of Theology at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, where he resides with his wife and three children.

Just as the government structure of Russia differs from that of the United States, and both differ from that of Great Britain, so it is with church government. Yet, as the institution governed by God''s written word, the church must find and defend its governing structures using that word--the Bible. In this book, Dr. Simon Goncharenko argues that it is, in fact, possible to identify a specific preferred model of church polity within the Bible and to model our current church structure after Scriptural precedent.""Simon Goncharenko has done an excellent job of examining all of the various forms of church governance used throughout history and today. Those who do not understand the issues would be well advised to consult the author''s research and see how he comes to his conclusion.""--Elmer L. Towns, author of Fasting for Spiritual Breakthrough""This is a must-read for all church leaders and congregational participants who are sincerely exploring God''s plan for leadership in the local church. It represents the author''s thorough investigation of church governance, utilizing the lens of Scripture, and church history. Not everyone will agree with all of Goncharenko''s conclusions regarding an elder/congregational model as being the biblical model. But as a professor, pastor, and author who has researched and written in this area, I found his book to be very helpful in taking a fresh look at God''s plan for local church governance.""--Gene A. Getz, author of Elders and LeadersSimon V. Goncharenko is a church planter, professor, and author. His five-year-old congregation, 21 Fellowship, SBC, is located in Midway, TX, and online at www.21fellowship.com. He is also an Online Professor of Theology and Church History at Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, VA, and the author of Wounds That Heal: The Importance of Church Discipline within Balthasar Hubmaier''s Theology (2011).

Description:First published in 1938, this book made a significant contribution to the scholarship on mysticism by approaching the problems of mysticism from the theological angle adopted by the church fathers and medieval scholastics. Seeking to strike a balance with the psychological method, Stolz began his study with an examination not of John of the Cross or Teresa de Avila, but of St. Paul''s account of his rapture. Stolz''s analysis clarified the theological foundation of mysticism and its development in the ecclesiastical tradition, with his assertion that ""mysticism is built on the sacramental and therefore the liturgical life, and is thus bound up intrinsically with Christian life, of which it is the conscious intensification and perfection.""

About the Contributor(s):Dr. Gerard A Vanderhaar (1931-2005), author of six books on nonviolence as well as numerous articles and other publications. He was Professor Emeritus of Religion and Peace Studies at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee, where he taught for twenty-eight years.

Description:This compassionate book describes the making of enemies in our personal, social, and national lives. It goes on to outline a nonviolent approach to resolving enmity wherever it arises.It taps the rich resources of Jesus'' two-thousand-year-old formula, ""Love your enemies,"" with the help of our contemporary understanding of Gandhian active nonviolence. The author offers a life-changing, habit-breaking approach of understanding, focusing, and negotiating as a positive alternative to the usual flight-or-fight response to enemies.The book sketches an informative portrait of the Soviet Union that includes insights into its communist ideology, its political structures, and the practice of religion in the country. The book stresses that the USSR is a nation of real people who are interesting, sometimes colorful, yet always struggling.

Description:Apocalyptic voices grow louder as we enter the new Millennium, promising dire consequences for the fate of humanity, our planet and our civilization. But theirs are not the only voices around. There are voices that are equally strong and full of hope, courage and conviction. Gerard Vanderhaar''s voice is not apocalyptic, but prophetic and full of passion. He proposes a new direction, one that will lead to a more workable world - that of the Nonviolent Christ.Vanderhaar shows how figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and others have taken the example of the Nonviolent Christ as their guide for living and working justly and courageously in the world. He then offers suggestions for incorporating gestures of peace and words of compassion and justice into our daily dealings at home, at work, with difficult people, and as part of the political process. He also shows how our attitudes toward money, time and people can deeply influence our effectiveness in working for a better future.

Description:Written to provide a down-to-earth, practical guide for achieving peace in our personal lives through active nonviolence, the book features stories from the pioneers of nonviolence--Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day. All are engagingly woven in with those of ordinary persons who have adopted a nonviolent perspective. The author fervently shows how everyday events, such as our conversation, our dealings with difficult (and hostile) people, even our highway driving, can be done in a nonviolent and, as a result, spiritually nourishing way.This is a singularly distinctive ""how-to"" book that creatively connects the ordinary activities of our lives with the extraordinary vision of a peaceful world championed by the great advocates of nonviolence in our century.Active Nonviolence is an original, enriching, and authentic resource for those who wish to integrate peace in both their personal and public lives.

About the Contributor(s):Dr. Gerard A Vanderhaar (1931-2005), author of six books on nonviolence as well as numerous articles and other publications. He was Professor Emeritus of Religion and Peace Studies at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee, where he taught for 28 years.

Description:Did biblical characters gamble in casting lots?Did reliance on casting lots encourage gambling?Do all risk-taking decisions have a gambling element?Are Stock Exchange investments a form of gambling?As more and more Christians are buying lottery tickets, Lotto: Is the Lottery Fun or Folly? examines and argues cogently the biblical, theological, historical, and ethical dimensions of lotteries. It provides up-to-date information on many of the increasingly popular forms of gambling, including charity gambling, but with particular emphasis on lotteries. It explores theological issues and examines biblical and historical viewpoints often overlooked by other works.This book is highly readable style and nonjudgmental in its approach. It offers practical and pastorally sensitive advice on the control of gambling, and each chapter concludes with discussion questions to prompt further study.

About the Contributor(s):Douglas Harink is Professor of Theology at The King''s University College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He has served as president of the Canadian Theological Society and the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association.

Description:How have Christians over the centuries demonstrated faith, worked through doubt, acted with courage? How can great people of faith inspire our Christian journey? Can we really be like they were? Dr. Tyson believes we can, and he offers fifteen short biographies of significant Christians from various periods of history to prove it. We see in their lives specific examples of faithful responses to God and how their examples of faith can be put into practice in concrete, real-life situations. Dr. Tyson looks at the faith of the following great people of Christian faith: Vibia Perpetua (ca. 181-203), Athanasius of Alexandria (ca. 296-373), Augustine of Hippo (ca. 354-430), Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109), Francis (ca. 1181-1226) and Clare (ca. 1193-1254) of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), Julian of Norwich (ca. 1342-1423), Martin Luther (1483-1546), John Calvin (1509-1564), John (1703-1791) and Charles (1707-1788) Wesley, Karl Barth (1886-1968), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), and Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997).

About the Contributor(s):Arthur W. Hunt III is associate professor of communications at The University of Tennessee at Martin. His writings have been featured in Touchstone, Modern Age, The Christian Research Journal, and Explorations in Media Ecology: The Journal of the Media Ecology Association. He is the author of Surviving Technopolis: Essays on Finding Balance in Our New Manmade Environments (Pickwick Publishers) and serves on the editorial board of Second Nature, an online journal for critical thinking about technology and new media in light of the Christian tradition.