The lively interest today in the historical figure of Jesus is rarely matched by theological advances in understanding his person and significance for our own time and worldview. Gordon Kaufman takes up this challenge in this bold, speculative work. Despite the fabled difficulties of traditional Christological terms, few theologians since Tillich and Teilhard have sought to re-envision the symbol of Jesus within the contemporary scientific worldview. Building on his notion of God as simply creativity, Kaufman here locates the meaning of Jesus' salvific story within an evolving universe and a threatened planet. Outside the dualistic categories of the biblical worldview, he finds, the enormously creative and influential figure of the historic Jesus can have a vital role in the emergence and development of the cosmos and human history. Within that role, he argues, Jesus, his relation to God, and his centrality to Christian faith become clearer and our own lives and actions take on a new meaning.

Paper Edition was voted 2002 Publisher's Weekly Best Adult Religion Book of the Year! "It was art and it was theater at the same time, but it was more. It was what he did not say that spoke most powerfully to the mob that morning. It was a cup of cold water for a thirsty adulteress and an ice cold drenching in the face to a group of angry Pharisees. "To this day we have not the slightest idea what it was Jesus twice scribbled in the sand. By and large the commentaries have asked the wrong question through the ages. They labor over the content, over what he might have written. They ask what, without ever realizing the real question is why? It was not the content that mattered but why he did it. Unexpected. Irritating. Creative." (From the Introduction) Singer, songwriter and diligent student of Scripture, Michael Card is well known for the depth of his lyrics and the artistry of his music. But far more significant than the songs he has penned is the source of his inspiration--the creativity embodied in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God. In this book Card explores the biblical foundations of true Christian creativity. Whether we think of ourselves as creative or not, all of us are created in the image of our Creator God, and thus creativity is a vital expression of our discipleship. With Jesus as his model, Card shows how understanding God s creative imagination leads to a lifestyle of humility, obedience and servanthood. And he invites us to follow God s creative call through worship and community. Through Jesus, God has spoken to us in a word we can understand. Likewise, Michael Card has articulated the story of Jesus to others through his own scribblings in the sand. This book shows us how we can do the same.

To help in understanding the creative aspect of God's personality for every area of life. A great resource for individuals, groups and churches. This is for creatives wanting to make a greater impact with their creativity or for pastors and church leaders to help cultivate creativity in their church.

Learn God's Word and grow in the Glory Realm!In this first volume of Glory Bible Study, you are invited to search the Scriptures, not only by studying them with your mind, but by opening your entire person to experience the living Word and Spirit of God. The Bible says:Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13, AMPGod has promised to reveal Himself to those who seek Him with great expectation. Therefore, expect to increase in your knowledge of the Glory, and expect to receive personal revelation and supernatural miracles as you devote yourself to studying these gloriously inspired truths. This volume covers the following fascinating topics:? Angels? Supernatural Living? Divine Healing? Spirit of Glory? Miracles? Portals? Praise and Worship? Biblical ProsperityThis in-depth compilation of lessons has been gathered from Joshua and Janet Mills' popular weekly Glory Bible Study broadcast. The study is filled with progressive revelation and deep impartation for any serious student of the Word. Be prepared to grow spiritually as you biblically learn how to live in the Glory Realm.

The global reality of suffering and death has always demanded an authentic theological response and impelled debate concerning Gods relationship to suffering, as well as the conceivability of the suffering of God. The scope and impact of this suffering in the last century have driven this debate to an acute pitch, demanding to know how one can speak rightly of God in view of the suffering that is inherent and inflicted in the cosmos. While in former ages, some looked to an omnipotent and impassible deus ex machina in answer to this question, many contemporary theologians have revised their understanding of God in relation to the world. With these theologians, Gloria Schaab proposes that a viable response to cosmic suffering is the recognition that the triune Christian God participates in the very sufferings of the cosmos itself. She sets her argument within theology and science dialogue and specifically within the work of scientist-theologian Arthur Peacocke. Informed by the understandings of evolutionary science, grounded within a panentheistic paradigm of the God-world relationship, and rooted within the Christian theological tradition, this work contends that the understanding of the Triune God as intimately involved with the suffering of the cosmos is viable and efficacious in view of the suffering of the cosmos and its creatures. It develops a female procreative model of the creative suffering of the Triune God, an ecological ethics based on the midwife model of care, and a pastoral model of threefold differentiation of suffering in God as steps toward Christian praxis in response to the mystery of God within the pain, suffering, and death of cosmic existence and human experience.

The declining religious participation among young adults, or “Rise of the Nones,” has signaled alarms across American Christianity. A closer look into the faith lives of thirty young adults who are, or were at one time, connected with a church, however, shows an articulate and aesthetically embodied faith life that seeks out connection with others, expression of their identity, and an openness to encountering God. Young adults see themselves, and all people in this pluralistic world, as bearing the image of God. They see creativity, in their own lives and in the lives of others, as evidence of this identity. This book is not an appeal to put more art into congregations, but rather an invitation to attend to aesthetic, embodied ways of knowing that exist among all people.