This book will examine some of the perspectives of reality that can help us realize the pattern of our recovery. In our notions of improvement there are elements of value and worth, which stress direction and evaluation. These elements are closely related to rationale, aim and goal. We call them wishes. Christianity does not just talk of desire. Appeal often falls short of action. The reality of healing through our faith is directed by divine action. Theologians write about concepts like covenant, sacrifice, depravity and vindication. And they put meanings in those terms which often escape the “man on the street.” We will look at some of these perceptions in our study of this reality. Love is demonstrated in our acts. Sometimes the Bible writers refer to this as ‘right-doing’ of loving response. Our love finds its convincing expression in good acts. Actions attract equivalence from others. Educators refer to this the contrast between cognition and affection.

An in-depth look at what it means to be created in the image of God and how our bodies serve as icons that illuminate God's purposes instead of ours. The human body is an amazing gift, yet today, many people downplay its importance and fail to understand what Christianity teaches about our bodies and their God-given purposes. Many people misunderstand how the body was designed, its role in relating to others; and we lack awareness of the dangers of objectifying the body, divorcing it from its intended purpose. Timothy Tennent covers topics like marriage, family, singleness, and friendship, and he looks at how the human body has been objectified in art and media today. For the Body offers a biblical framework for discipling people today in a Christian theology of the body. Tennent—theologian and president of Asbury Theological Seminary—explores the contours of a robust Christian vision of the body, human sexuality, and the variety of different ways we are called into relationships with others. This book will reveal a theological vision that: Informs our self-understanding of our own bodies. Examines how we treat others. Reevaluates how we engage today's controversial and difficult discussions on human sexuality with grace, wisdom, and confidence. For the Body is a call to a deeper understanding of our bodies and an invitation to recapture the wonder of this amazing gift.

‘Superbly written, utterly Bible based. . . Do not hesitate!’ Archbishop Justin Welby What are we supposed to think about the coronavirus crisis? Some people think they know: ‘This is a sign of the End,’ they say. ‘It’s all predicted in the book of Revelation.’ Others disagree but are equally clear: ‘This is a call to repent. God is judging the world and through this disease he’s telling us to change.’ Some join in the chorus of blame and condemnation: ‘It’s the fault of the Chinese, the government, the World Health Organization...' Tom Wright examines these reactions to the virus and finds them wanting. Instead, he invites you to consider a different way of seeing and responding – a way that draws on the teachings and examples of scripture, and above all on the way of living, thinking and praying revealed to us by Jesus.

This is a book about the behind-the-scenes reality of a life in ministry. It tells you what Zack Eswine wishes somebody else would’ve told him. With over 20 years of experience in ministry, Zack shares with incredible honesty about his own failures, burnout, and pain, all the while addressing the complexities of leadership decisions, church discipline, family dynamics, and so on. Presenting sound pastoral theology couched in autobiographical musings and powerful prose, this book offers a fresh and biblically faithful approach to the care of souls, including your own.

At its beginning Christianity was surprising, powerful, creative, world-shaking. Today in the West it is many times familiar, common, and expected, losing its power to surprise and transform. We have developed societal amnesia and ignorance of what Christianity originally was – and what it still can be. We need to recover the surprise of Christianity. We need to ask the same fundamental questions as the early Christians, which will help us rediscover the surprising power of Christianity in our midst. Focusing on the surprise of the gospel message takes us into the heart of what it is to understand Christianity at all, and thus what it is to remember and relearn the life-giving power and witness that went with being Christian at the beginning. This remembering and relearning can, in turn, surprise us all over again and chart a course for our witness today.

This small, spirited book, a collection of reflections contributed primarily by the participants of a retreat and edited by its sponsor, an authority on spirituality, examines the role of the human body in the Christian spiritual life. It asks us to recover a conviction of the goodness of our bodies and how God created us so that we can reclaim a positive, healthy attitude toward our individual bodies, toward the social body, the community around us, including the Church, the "earthbody," the body of the natural world, and become spiritually whole. Fr. Thomas Ryan, as editor and contributor, leads with an introduction, reflections on the positive aspects of the human body, and the modalities of body expression in the Christian and non-Christian-Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Eastern Orthodox-traditions: meditation, prayer, yoga, exercise and rest, sex, fasting and feasting, silence and solitude, and acts of corporal mercy. He is followed by James Wiseman, James Dickerson, Casey Rock, and James Hall with a,short overview of historical Christian attitudes toward the body, the benefits of yoga and Kripalu philosophy for Christians, and the ways of integrating personal spiritual practices with political, social, and environmental justice, through mission groups, Manna Inc., L'Arche, and wilderness groups. Devotees as well as newcomers to health, fitness, especially yoga, nature, and spirituality rooted in the body, are sure to be receptive of its positive message.

In this anthology of recent criticisms aimed at the reasonableness of Christian belief, former evangelical minister and apologist Loftus has assembled fifteen outstanding articles by leading skeptics, expanding on themes introduced in Loftus' first book.