The awareness that the churches shaped out of the European Reformations are in an advanced process of unraveling is becoming increasingly sensed by many. This book proposes a way of addressing this unraveling based on the experiences and knowledge of people who have always had to struggle with the unraveling of their own communities and worlds. It takes us outside the circular conversations of the Euro-tribal churches into dialogue with people who have been marginalized to see how they have learned to reenter their formative stories to discover ways of remaking themselves in the unraveling. The book then turns these discoveries into ways the churches can engage their own massive unraveling.

The awareness that the churches shaped out of the European Reformations are in an advanced process of unraveling is becoming increasingly sensed by many. This book proposes a way of addressing this unraveling based on the experiences and knowledge of people who have always had to struggle with the unraveling of their own communities and worlds. It takes us outside the circular conversations of the Euro-tribal churches into dialogue with people who have been marginalized to see how they have learned to reenter their formative stories to discover ways of remaking themselves in the unraveling. The book then turns these discoveries into ways the churches can engage their own massive unraveling.

This book offers a historical assessment and balanced critique of contemporary church movements, especially in light of missional ecclesiology. An expert on Lesslie Newbigin and an expert on contemporary church models show how Newbigin's ideas have been developed and contextualized in three popular contemporary church movements: missional, emergent, and center church. In addition, the authors explain that some of Newbigin's insights have been neglected and need to be retrieved for the present day. This book calls for the recovery of the missionary nature of the church and commends church practices applicable to any congregation.

Exhausted with trying to “fix” the church? It’s time to turn in a new direction: back to the Holy Spirit. In this insightful book, internationally renowned scholar and leader Alan Roxburgh urges Christians to follow the Spirit into our neighborhoods, re-engage with the mission of God, and re-imagine the whole enterprise of church. Joining God, Remaking Church, and Changing the World can guide any church—large or small, suburban or urban, denomination-level or local parish — to become a vital center for spirituality and mission.

Following the work and presence of God’s Spirit into communities across North America, the authors find stories of people—ordinary, humble, and faithful people—in the Christian Reformed Church in North America who are sharing themselves with those they meet. We believe stories we tell reflect these questions: What is the Holy Spirit’s invitation to the church today and what is the implication for the future? Our answer is to go local, to look at what is set before us, to admit we are disconnected from our neighbors—the person right next door or the person in front of us. We realize we need to find ways to connect with them and stay put by remaining faithfully present. More broadly, the ministries we feature illustrate that the job of the church is to trust God and not to make things happen by ourselves. Don’t be afraid of the changes around you. Listen to the Spirit’s prodding. Embrace your place and love the people in the tangible, ordinariness of life. Inspired by an incarnational theology that emerges from an imaginative, missional reading of Luke 10, in which Jesus sends out disciples to every town and palace, the authors visit workers who labor in the harvest fields of the Lord’s uncommon, upside down kingdom. A kingdom that—at this point mostly under the radar—has already come.

Transforming Work offers a radical re-orientation of the nature and future of work and implications for mission. In conversation with David Bosch’s Transforming Mission and other global and ecumenical voices, 21 leaders offer their vision for transforming the world of work and revisioning work to offer a transforming gift to the world. Writing from biblical and historical perspectives, with case studies and cultural exegesis, they explore work and leisure, ethics and economics, technologies and Artificial Intelligence. It is time to discern where God is transforming work in our cities and farms, shops and classrooms, politics and agencies.

A joy-filled expedition into experiencing God’s majestic, everywhere presence. DNA, the Danube River, and deep-sea life. Knees and trees. The Swiss Alps, songbirds, and supernovas. God speaks though His creation. And you don’t have to be naturally gifted at biology, chemistry, or physics to be awakened to His wisdom and majesty. Pastor, teacher, and non-scientist John Van Sloten invites us to know God more deeply as we marvel at the complexities of His amazing creation. Knowing God through His written Word enables us to know Him more clearly through His creational Words. How does God speak through His creation, and what is He saying? Each chapter includes interviews with leading scientists and connects creation to its Creator. With the primary foundation that Jesus is the mediator of both salvation and creation, Van Sloten fields questions such as: Why are things beautiful and how can beautiful things be engaged? How does the doctrine of the Trinity teach us about the nature of tree branches and wound healing? What do the doctrines of creation, incarnation, and the resurrection tell us about phenomenon of supernovas? How do we engage God’s providence through knees and fossils? We were made to wonder. To marvel. To know and live in awe of God. God Speaks Science expands our hearts and minds so that we might delight in the wisdom, beauty, and awesome power of our triune God!