Repenting of Religion

Author: Gregory A. Boyd
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1585589489
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Book Description
We human beings are burdened by our tendencies to harshly judge others and ourselves. Unfortunately for believers, this bent is as prevalent in the church as in the world. Pastor and author Gregory A. Boyd calls readers to a higher standard through understanding the true manner in which God views humanity: as infinitely worthwhile and lovable. Only an attitude shift in how we perceive ourselves in light of God's love can impact how we relate to people and transform our judgmental nature. Believers wrestling with the reality of God's love and Christians struggling with judging in the local church will appreciate this examination of how we move from a self-centered to a Christ-centered life.

Benefit of the Doubt

Author: Gregory A. Boyd
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441244549
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Book Description
In Benefit of the Doubt, influential theologian, pastor, and bestselling author Gregory Boyd invites readers to embrace a faith that doesn't strive for certainty, but rather for commitment in the midst of uncertainty. Boyd rejects the idea that a person's faith is as strong as it is certain. In fact, he makes the case that doubt can enhance faith and that seeking certainty is harming many in today's church. Readers who wrestle with their faith will welcome Boyd's message that experiencing a life-transforming relationship with Christ is possible, even with unresolved questions about the Bible, theology, and ethics. Boyd shares stories of his own painful journey, and stories of those to whom he has ministered, with a poignant honesty that will resonate with readers of all ages.

The Doctrine of Repentance

Author: Thomas Watson
Publisher: Fig
ISBN: 162314809X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Book Description

Seeing Is Believing

Author: Gregory A. Boyd
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 080106502X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Book Description
Break out of spiritual performance into a liberating relationship with Christ. Experience the reality of Jesus through the imaginative power of prayer.

Escaping the Matrix

Author: Gregory A. Boyd
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441201378
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Book Description
In some way or another most of us are "stuck"-in a secret sin we can't control or maybe by an inability to stand up for ourselves. In Escaping the Matrix, authors Gregory A. Boyd and Al Larson use the vehicle of The Matrix film trilogy to argue that our struggles with habitual sin, thought patterns, damaged emotions, and phobias happen because we do not know how to take charge of the way we experience reality. The authors draw on biblical and psychological insights to provide practical resources for helping believers escape the matrix of the world system that ensnares them. While this book is aimed at the newest generation of Christian readers, all ages will be inspired by the book's innovative strategies for experiencing a deeper life in Christ.

Redeeming Sex

Author: Debra Hirsch
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830898107
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description
Nothing has exposed the gap between the church and the broader society quite like the volatile topics of sexuality, relationships, identities, orientations and even gender. With a pastor's heart and a missiologist's mind, Debra Hirsch helps us discover a holistic, biblical vision of sex and gender that honors God and offers good news to the world.

The Crucifixion of the Warrior God

Author: Gregory A. Boyd
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506420761
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1487

Book Description
A dramatic tension confronts every Christian believer and interpreter of Scripture: on the one hand, we encounter images of God commanding and engaging in horrendous violence: one the other hand, we encounter the non-violent teachings and example of Jesus, whose loving, self-sacrificial death and resurrection is held up as the supreme revelation of God’s character in the New Testament. How do we reconcile the tension between these seemingly disparate depictions? Are they even capable of reconciliation? Throughout Christian history, many different answers have been proposed, ranging from the long-rejected explanation that these contrasting depictions are of two entirely different ‘gods’ to recent social and cultural theories of metaphor and narrative representation. The Crucifixion of the Warrior God takes up this dramatic tension and the range of proposed answers in an epic constructive investigation. Over two volumes, renowned theologian and biblical scholar Gregory A. Boyd argues that we must take seriously the full range of Scripture as inspired, including its violent depictions of God. At the same time, we must take just as seriously the absolute centrality of the crucified and risen Christ as the supreme revelation of God. Developing a theological interpretation of Scripture that he labels a “cruciform hermeneutic,” Boyd demonstrates how Scripture’s violent images of God are completely reframed and their violence subverted when they are interpreted through the lens of the cross and resurrection. Indeed, when read through this lens, Boyd argues that these violent depictions can be shown to bear witness to the same self-sacrificial character of God that was supremely revealed on the cross.

Commonwealth and Covenant

Author: Marcia Pally
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 146744538X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 427

Book Description
In Commonwealth and Covenant Marcia Pally argues that in order to address current socioeconomic problems, we need not more economic formulas but rather a better understanding of how the world is set up — an ontology of how we and the world work. Without this, good proposals that arise lack political will and go unimplemented. Pally describes our basic setup as “separability-amid-situatedness” or “distinction-amid-relation.” Though we are all unique individuals, we become our singular selves through our relations and responsibilities to the people and environments around us. Pally argues that our culture’s overemphasis on “separability” — individualism run amok — results in greed, adversarial and deceitful political discourse and chicanery, resource grabbing, broken relationships, and anomie. Maintaining that separability and situatedness can and must be considered together in public policy, Pally draws on intellectual history, philosophy, and — especially — historic Christian and Jewish theologies of relationality to construct a new framework for addressing present economic and political ills.

Astoundingly Joyful, Amazingly Simple

Author: Timothy D. White
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1468556827
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 261

Book Description
The meta church is a group of culturally varied congregations combined together as one family with one dream that can only be fulfilled by our differences combined together as a fulfillment of the priestly prayer of Jesus Christ. If youre looking for the hard science of what it takes to build a thriving church, look no further than Dr. Whites Astoundingly Joyful, Amazingly Simple. Biblically sound and culturally relevant, Dr. Whites strategy reveals the secrets every church leader longs for. More importantly, he has put them into practice at his amazing church, Washington Cathedral. If youre in church leadership, you dont want to miss out on this transforming message. Dr. Les Parrott, Author of Love Talk Like the TV commercial where theyre building an airplane while flying it, Dr. Tim White reworks todays institutional church while reading the Book of Acts. Readers feel both his passion and his struggle, but we also see the joy and simplicity of the model represented by Washington Cathedral. Their meta approach involves Tiny Little Churches that undergird everything they do, nonprofit foundations that minister to the community, and diverse cultural congregations that share the singular dream of building the greatest care network the world has ever seen. If you want practical ways for your church to move closer to the ideals found in the Book of Acts, this book is for you. Dr. Warren Bird, Research Director for Leadership Network, and co-author of Better Together: Making Healthy Church Mergers Work Whites book is born out of a 25-year education in the school of hard knocks in founding and leading Washington Cathedral into one of the most profoundly incarnational churches in North America. Jim Palmer, author of Divine Nobodies, Wide Open Spaces, & Being Jesus in Nashville

Rescuing God from Christianity

Author: Sven E. Erlandson
Publisher: Variocity
ISBN: 1933037415
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232

Book Description
Erlandson articulates the growing frustration that many people have with Christianity and shows how a church is not needed to create a challenging and life-changing new path based on the simple call to love God and love one's neighbor.