Power has a God-given role in human relationships and institutions, but it can lead to abuse when used in unhealthy ways. Speaking into current #MeToo and #ChurchToo conversations, this book shows that the body of Christ desperately needs to understand the forms power takes, how it is abused, and how to respond to abuses of power. Although many Christians want to prevent abuse in their churches and organizations, they lack a deep and clear-eyed understanding of how power actually works. Internationally recognized psychologist Diane Langberg offers a clinical and theological framework for understanding how power operates, the effects of the abuse of power, and how power can be redeemed and restored to its proper God-given place in relationships and institutions. This book not only helps Christian leaders identify and resist abusive systems but also shows how they can use power to protect the vulnerable in their midst.

"This book, which in my opinion is Moltmann's best, can be recommended on the basis that it contains challenging and creative insights that can be used by the discriminating reader in the service of church renewal Moltmann represents the theology of liberation at its best, and those who wish to know more about this theology would do well to study this creative and searching theologian." --Donald G. Bloesch Christianity Today "Moltmann is perhaps unsurpassed among his contemporaries in keenness of insight and rhetorical power." --Daniel L. Migliore, Theology Today "Moltmann presents a stirring vision which every Christian community could well ponder With a missionary emphasis, he seeks to help the reader face the question of the church's identity in the light of the contemporary political, economic, and social scene." --Religious Education

Why the furor over this book? Why was Church: Charism and Power the subject of a Vatican inquiry? The reason, ironically enough, has little to do with its alleged use of Marxist thought, but rather with its critical understanding of the church in the light of the gospel. Church: Charism and Power is a provocative, devastating critique of the ways in which power, sacred power, is controlled and exercised in the Roman Catholic Church. It is a militant book, a radical book, but it is by no means defective in orthodoxy. In fact, with all its criticism it offers a brilliant defense of the historical claims of Roman Catholicism. Its central thesis argues that since the fourth century the church has fallen victim to a kind of power that has nothing to do with the gospel and everything to do with the dynamics of power with all of its inevitable abuses. This historical reality, enshrined in the monarchical model of the church, was undermined at the Second Vatican Council and replaced by that of the church as people of God. This 'laical' model is closely allied in Boff's exposition with the notion of the church as sacrament of the Holy Spirit: the church as sign and instrument of the now living and risen Christ, that is the Holy Spirit. A pneumatic ecclesiology such as this would lead the church back to its primitive dynamics of community, cooperation, and charism. It would create a church in which everyone shared equally and where flexible and appropriate ministries conformed to needs as they arose. Is such a church possible? Is it not simply the utopian dream of idealists and sectarians down through the ages? No, says Father Boff, given the incredible growth throughout Latin America of comunidades eclesiales de base, base communities, where the people express and achieve their desire for participation and where the hierarchy divests itself of its titles and ecclesiastical baggage, creating a common desire for community and equality. This model of the church has acquired an unexpected historical possibility: the new church is in the process of being born. This church, the church being born from the faith of the poor, has rediscovered for itself--and for the church universal--the living presence of the dangerous memory of Jesus Christ.

Power and Identity in the Global Church: Six Contemporary Cases applies contemporary sociological, theological, and New Testament insights to better understand how God’s people can, do, and should interact in the field, thereby laying the groundwork for better multicultural approaches to mission partnership. The authors—six evangelical anthropologists and theologians—also show that faithfulness in mission requires increased attention to local identities, cultural themes, and concerns, including the desire to grow spiritually through direct engagement with God’s word. In this context, failure to attend to power imbalances can stunt spiritual and leadership growth. Attending to those imbalances should make Christian churches more truly brothers and sisters in Christ, equal members of the one global body of which Christ alone is the head.

A highly practical guide for nurturing relations between believers and the Spirit, in order to better advance the Kingdom of God.

You don't have to head overseas to find a war. In the church, the rhetorical cross-fire between evangelical and "spirit-filled" Christians over the past hundred years has been withering. "No scriptural foundations," is the charge evangelicals have leveled at the charismatics. "No spiritual power," the latter have countered. The boundaries are clear. The positions are taken -- and guarded. Either you're a Word person or a Power person. Today, though, such black-and-white, either-or thinking is giving way to the liberty and promise of a Word and Power church. Pastor Doug Banister shows why we cannot afford to settle for less. It's time to bury our differences -- which are largely artificial -- and discover the incredible potential that arises when evangelicals combine their strengths with Pentecostals and charismatics. Taking a long, careful, and honest look at the Scriptures, at church history, and at the state of the church and the world today, Pastor Banister reveals why Pentecostalism and evangelicalism need each other. Each tradition possesses strengths that are essential to a balanced, life-changing faith. The Word and Power Church shows how these "two mighty rivers" add to, rather than subtract from, each other. At the cusp of a new millennium, they are in fact merging into one river. Word and Power churches may experiences turbulence where the waters meet, but they teem with life, hope, faith, and power to reach a desperate world with the Gospel. Filled with personal anecdotes, this fascinating, thought-provoking, and candid book supplies the why-tos and how-tos of a Word-and-Power approach. What you won't find is preferential treatment of one view over another. What you will find are thoughtful biblical insights that will challenge you and inspire you. And you'll discover practical guidance for charting your own course -- whether as an individual or as a church -- toward a faith that embraces the truth of the Word and the power of the Spirit. As a solidly evangelical seminary graduate and pastor, Banister admits to having disdained charismatics. That is, until meticulous study of God’s Word convinced him that miraculous gifts of tongues, healing, and prophecy are indeed valid for today. As he details his “journey beyond categories,” Banister explores the reasons for the age-old rift between the two camps and the ways in which healing is taking place in new “Word and Power” churches all over America. When evangelicals and charismatics bring together the best from each tradition, he has discovered that the result is a strong, unified body. Word and Power churches affirm the authority of Scripture and encourage the propheticembrace of those who pray in a spiritual language, pursue obedience to Christ, edify the believer and evangelize the seeker, heal the sick and comfort the suffering. The Word and Power Church will speak to Christians everywhere who want to walk in both the integrity of Scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus' death and resurrection are undeniably central to the Christian faith. But how, precisely, is their significance to be understood? Concerned to reinvigorate the church's teaching on the cross, the resurrection, and salvation -- the atonement -- Peter Schmiechen here invites readers to rediscover the wealth of the Christian tradition. In "Saving Power he makes ample use of primary sources to unpack ten distinct theories of atonement, welcoming aspects of each rather than championing only one. Along the way, he demonstrates that while most Christians assume the basic theme of atonement to be sin and forgiveness, other powerful themes -- liberation from oppressive powers, reconciliation in the face of division, and the hope of resurrection in the face of death, for instance -- also deserve to be studied and preached. Affirming orthodox teaching while offering a positive take on marginal views, "Saving Power is a crucial resource for anyone who seeks a fuller understanding of Christ's work.