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On Preaching: Personal & Pastoral Insights for the Preparation & Practice of Preaching
by H.B. Charles, Jr.Preaching Magazine's 2015 Book of the YearIf you are a pastor, you know the importance of preaching. You have spent time learning and refining the art of preaching because it is vital to the life of God's people—including the preacher. But you probably also find it challenging. On Preaching is a masterful resource that will refresh your soul and revitalize your preaching ministry. Drawing upon Scripture and years of preaching experience, H. B. Charles offers a practical resource for pastors, seminarians, church planters, and Bible teachers that is full of energy and wonderfully enjoyable. He gives tips like, "Avoid indecent exposure—get your wife's permission before using your family in the message" and "Illustrate! A good illustration is like a window on a house. It helps your listeners see in or out."Written in a very clear and concise manner, this resource is formatted into 30 short chapters that can easily be read as a devotional. On Preaching will encourage seasoned preachers to dig deeper into the basics as they pause and reflect on the effectiveness of their ministry. It will also serve as a spring board for those who are just beginning a preaching ministry.
On Priesthood: Servants, Shepherds, Messengers, Sentinels and Stewards
by Stephen CottrellMessenger, sentinel, steward ... these three words have been used to describe the work of a priest in the Church of England since Cranmer wrote the original ordination rite in 1550. Two more, servant and shepherd, were added in 1980. Taken together, these five metaphors provide a rich and resonant set of ideas through which to explore the nature of Christian ministry. In this short, lyrical book, Bishop Stephen Cottrell explores each one; based on actual addresses given to ordinands on the night before their ordination, it is refreshing, challenging and accessible. Anyone considering ordination or already in ministry will want to read this book for the fascinating exploration of the five metaphors he considers.
On Priesthood: Servants, Shepherds, Messengers, Sentinels and Stewards
by Stephen CottrellMessenger, sentinel, steward ... these three words have been used to describe the work of a priest in the Church of England since Cranmer wrote the original ordination rite in 1550. Two more, servant and shepherd, were added in 1980. Taken together, these five metaphors provide a rich and resonant set of ideas through which to explore the nature of Christian ministry. In this short, lyrical book, Bishop Stephen Cottrell explores each one; based on actual addresses given to ordinands on the night before their ordination, it is refreshing, challenging and accessible. Anyone considering ordination or already in ministry will want to read this book for the fascinating exploration of the five metaphors he considers.
On Purpose Leader Guide: Finding God's Voice in Your Passion
by Susan Robb Sam McGlothlin Jevon Caldwell-Gross Magrey deVegaBe part of something more.We are hungry for a sense of purpose, direction, and calling in our lives. That’s as basic an ingredient to the human experience as they come. We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We want to participate in something that has eternal merit and lasting impact. We do not want to live a shallow, hollow existence. We yearn for deeper meaning, for deeper purpose within our lives. We want to be more than we are.In On Purpose: Finding God’s Voice in Your Passion, authors Magrey deVega, Sam McGlothlin, Jevon Caldwell-Gross, and Susan Robb help us see God's purpose for our lives, how to open ourselves to God's voice, and how to take the first or next step to follow God's call. As you read this book and explore your life alongside others, you’ll learn how to channel your passions, hear God’s voice, and live the life you were meant to live.The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the four-week study, including session plans, activities, discussion questions, and multiple format options.Additional components for the four-week small group study include the book and DVD/Video Sessions featuring the authors.
On Purpose: Finding God's Voice in Your Passion
by Susan Robb Sam McGlothlin Jevon Caldwell-Gross Magrey deVegaBe part of something more.We are hungry for a sense of purpose, direction, and calling in our lives. That’s as basic an ingredient to the human experience as they come. We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We want to participate in something that has eternal merit and lasting impact. We do not want to live a shallow, hollow existence. We yearn for deeper meaning, for deeper purpose within our lives. We want to be more than we are.In On Purpose: Finding God’s Voice in Your Passion, authors Magrey deVega, Sam McGlothlin, Jevon Caldwell-Gross, and Susan Robb help us see God's purpose for our lives, how to open ourselves to God's voice, and how to take the first or next step to follow God's call. Reading this book and exploring life choices alongside others, individuals will learn how to channel their passions, hear God’s voice, and live the life they were meant to live.To support reading in a group, resources including a full leader’s guide and DVD with four teaching sessions are also available.
On Purpose: The Busy Woman's Guide to an Extraordinary Life of Meaning and Success
by Tanya DaltonExtraordinary Is a ChoiceIn On Purpose, productivity expert Tanya Dalton propels you to ask and answer your own deepest questions. Offering cutting-edge research and thought-provoking infographics, she leads you through innovative exercises designed to help you understandhow to create a map to your ideal future;actionable strategies to move forward with confidence;simple shifts to turn unexpected obstacles into opportunities; anddaily steps you can take toward a more fulfilling life. Tanya doesn&’t tell you what to think. She empowers you to choose how to think. She doesn&’t help you fit in with the status quo; instead she shakes the foundation of how you view the world. Because it&’s your world, and it&’s filled with opportunities you might not even realize are there.Living On Purpose isn&’t about changing who you are. It&’s about rising up and becoming the best version of you. It&’s about adjusting your mindset so you can discover your daily choices. It&’s about finding the unhurried purpose that is hidden in each one of your days when you stay true to your soul&’s path.It&’s Time to Choose to Be Extraordinary
On Purpose: Understanding God's Freedom for Women Through Scripture
by Julie Zine ColemanMany Christian women are torn between how the church has taught traditional gender roles and the liberty they see secular society afford to women. But what if the church's conventional teachings on the place of women aren't really biblical at all?On Purpose is a serious study on the verses in the Bible that have often been interpreted to define the role of women in the church, at home, and in the workplace. Each chapter focuses on a single passage, considering what it meant to the original recipients, understanding each author’s intent, and applying its true meaning in today's cultural setting. With each chapter, Julie Coleman thoroughly reveals how the timeless principles in the Bible actually teach freedom for women. In fact, when rightly understood, these verses are a wake-up call that we are handicapping the church's role on earth by limiting women unnecessarily. Instead, men and women should be working side by side for the advancement of the kingdom of God.Written without anger or judgment, and with no agenda but to delve deep into the Bible, On Purpose is an enlightening study offering a fresh, scriptural perspective. It's time to set women free to answer God's call on their lives--and set the church free to function the way God truly desires.
On Quality: An Inquiry into Excellence: Unpublished and Selected Writings
by Robert M Pirsig Wendy K. PirsigFeaturing long-awaited selections from Robert M. Pirsig's unpublished writings, from before and after Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, an original collection illuminating the central theme of Pirsig's thought: “Quality”“The ultimate goal in the pursuit of excellence is enlightenment." —Robert M. Pirsig, 1962More than a decade before the release of the book that would make him famous, Robert M. Pirsig had already caught hold of the central theme that would animate Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: “Quality,” a concept loosely likened to “excellence,” “rightness,” or “fitness” that Pirsig saw as kindred to the Buddhist ideas of “dharma” or the “Tao.” As he later wrote in Zen, “Quality is the Buddha.”Though he was revered by fans who considered him a guru, the famously private Pirsig published only two books and consented to few interviews and almost no public appearances in later decades. Yet he wrote and thought almost continually, refining his “Metaphysics of Quality” until his death in 2017.Now, for the first time, readers will be granted access to five decades of Pirsig’s personal writings in this posthumous collection that illuminates the evolution of his thinking to an unprecedented degree. Skillfully edited and introduced by Wendy K. Pirsig, Robert’s wife of four decades, the collection includes previously unpublished texts, speeches, letters, interviews, and private notes, as well as key excerpts from Zen and the Art of the Motorcycle Maintenance and his second book, Lila.Since its publication in 1974, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has established itself as a modern classic of popular philosophy; selling millions of copies and inspiring a generation, while serving as a perennial touchstone for the generations that follow. On Quality is a remarkable contribution to our understanding of one of the most influential thinkers and writers of our time.
On Racism, Religion And Reconciliation: Contemplation Of Imam W. Deen Mohammed
by Ronald B. ShaheedA brief reflection on the origins of racism and possible solutions.
On Reading the Bible: Thoughts and Reflections of Over 500 Men and Women, from St. Augustine to Oprah Winfrey
by Bill BradfieldHundreds of heartfelt, perceptive comments by men and women from all walks of life fill the pages of this inspirational book. Included are memorable quotes from historic and contemporary writers, philosophers, entertainers, business people, politicians, and spiritual leaders, from Abraham Lincoln to Ray Charles and Sal Bando. Brief contributor biographies provided.
On Relationship
by J. KrishnamurtiModern quantum physics, most psychological insight, and all religions reveal the interconnectedness of everything in the universe, that everything always affects everything else. Because all life is lived in relationships, it is essential that we understand what a relationship is, and what every movement in relationships can mean to us and everyone else. Put together, all our individual relationships create society. Attention to our own behavior in relationship will recreate the world.
On Religion
by John CaputoJohn D. Caputo explores the very roots of religious thinking in this thought-provoking book. Compelling questions come up along the way: 'What do I love when I love my God?' and 'What can Star Wars tell us about the contemporary use of religion?' (are we always trying to find a way of saying 'God be with you'?) Why is religion for many a source of moral guidance in a postmodern, nihilistic age? Is it possible to have 'religion without religion'?Drawing on contemporary images of religion, such as Robert Duvall's film The Apostle, Caputo also provides some fascinating and imaginative insights into religious fundamentalism.
On Religion (Thinking In Action Ser.)
by John CaputoIn a thoroughly updated second edition of his popular and engaging book, John D. Caputo revisits Augustine’s ancient question "what do I love when I love my God?" and presses it into service in the post-modern world. Accessible but without compromising the big ideas, he raises the question of what religion means today in the face of widespread religious violence after 9/11, of spreading secularization, the dazzling discoveries of contemporary cosmology, and the eerie advent of the "post-human" world. All along sculpting the idea of a post-modern, post-secular "religion without religion," which turns on the "mystical element" of our lives, he wonders what the future of traditional religion will be, or whether it even has one. On Religion will fascinate anyone interested in the challenges religion faces in the contemporary world. It offers an ideal starting point from which undergraduate and postgraduate students, teachers, and lecturers can explore religion and philosophy today.
On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers
by Friedrich SchleiermacherSchleiermacher's On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers is a classic of modern Protestant religious thought that powerfully displays the tensions between the Romantic and Enlightenment accounts of religion. This edition presents the original 1799 text in English for the first time. Richard Crouter's introduction places the work in the milieu of early German Romanticism, Kant criticism, the revival of Spinoza and Plato studies, and theories of literary criticism and of the physical sciences. This fully annotated edition also contains a chronology and notes on further reading.
On Religious Liberty: Selections from the Works of Roger Williams (The William E. Massey Sr. lectures in the history of American Civilization ; #2008)
by Roger WilliamsBanished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his refusal to conform to Puritan religious and social standards, Roger Williams established a haven in Rhode Island for those persecuted in the name of the religious establishment. He conducted a lifelong debate over religious freedom with distinguished figures of the seventeenth century, including Puritan minister John Cotton, Massachusetts governor John Endicott, and the English Parliament. James Calvin Davis gathers together important selections from Williams's public and private writings on religious liberty, illustrating how this renegade Puritan radically reinterpreted Christian moral theology and the events of his day in a powerful argument for freedom of conscience and the separation of church and state. For Williams, the enforcement of religious uniformity violated the basic values of Calvinist Christianity and presumed upon God's authority to speak to the individual conscience. He argued that state coercion was rarely effective, often causing more harm to the church and strife to the social order than did religious pluralism. This is the first collection of Williams's writings in forty years reaching beyond his major work, The Bloody Tenent, to include other selections from his public and private writings. This carefully annotated book introduces Williams to a new generation of readers.
On Repentance And Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World
by Danya RuttenbergA crucial new lens on repentance, atonement, forgiveness, and repair from harm—from personal transgressions to our culture&’s most painful and unresolved issuesAmerican culture focuses on letting go of grudges and redemption narratives instead of the perpetrator&’s obligations or recompense for harmed parties. As survivor communities have pointed out, these emphases have too often only caused more harm. But Danya Ruttenberg knew there was a better model, rooted in the work of the medieval philosopher Maimonides. For Maimonides, upon whose work Ruttenberg elaborates, forgiveness is much less important than the repair work to which the person who caused harm is obligated. The word traditionally translated as repentance really means something more like return, and in this book, returning is a restoration, as much as is possible, to the victim, and, for the perpetrator of harm, a coming back, in humility and intentionality, to behaving as the person we might like to believe we are. Maimonides laid out five steps: naming and owning harm; starting to change/transformation; restitution and accepting consequences; apology; and making different choices. Applying this lens to both our personal relationships and some of the most significant and painful issues of our day, including systemic racism and the legacy of enslavement, sexual violence and harassment in the wake of #MeToo, and Native American land rights, On Repentance and Repair helps us envision a way forward. Rooted in traditional Jewish concepts while doggedly accessible and available to people from any, or no, religious background, On Repentance and Repair is a book for anyone who cares about creating a country and culture that is more whole than the one in which we live, and for anyone who has been hurt or who is struggling to take responsibility for their mistakes.
On Repentance: The Thought and Oral Discourses of Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveitchik
by Pinchas H. PeliFor five decades prior to his death in 1993, Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveitchik was the unchallenged leader of modern Orthodox Judaism in the United States. His understanding of both traditional Judaism and secular philosophy shaped two generations of rabbinic students at Yeshiva University, and charted a new course for American Orthodox Jews. In On Repentance, noted scholar Pinchas Peli has gathered the major points of Rabbi Soloveitchik's teachings on teshuvah (repentance), based on the annual series of lectures on the theme of teshuvah, presented on the anniversary of his father's death. For many Jews, these lectures were the major academic and intellectual event of the year. Outside of his followers however, few were able to experience the genius of Rabbi Soloveitchik. He gave his lectures in Yiddish, and generally refused to publish. Now readers can experience the brilliant thinking of this great teacher and sage.
On Revival
by Jonathan EdwardsThis volume contains Edwards' most analytical treatises on reviva: Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God; his famous Narrative of Surprising Conversions, and a detailed account of the famous revival of religion at Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1735.
On Revival: Hebrew Literature Between Life and Death (Jewish Culture and Contexts)
by Roni HenigA critique of the discourse of language revival in modern Hebrew literatureOn Revival is a critique of one of the most important tenets of Zionist thinking: “Hebrew revival,” or the idea that Hebrew—a largely unspoken language before the twentieth century—was revitalized as part of a broader national “revival” which ultimately led to the establishment of the Israeli nation-state. This story of language revival has been commemorated in Israeli popular memory and in Jewish historiography as a triumphant transformation narrative that marks the success of the Zionist revolution. But a closer look at the work of early twentieth-century Hebrew writers reveals different sentiments.Roni Henig explores the loaded, figurative discourse of revival in the work of Hebrew authors and thinkers working roughly between 1890 and 1920. For these authors, the language once known as “the holy tongue” became a vernacular in the making. Rather than embracing “revival” as a neutral, descriptive term, Henig takes a critical approach, employing close readings of canonical texts to analyze the primary tropes used to articulate this aesthetic and political project of “reviving” Hebrew. She shows that for many writers, the national mission of language revival was entwined with a sense of mourning and loss. These writers perceived—and simultaneously produced—the language as neither dead nor fully alive. Henig argues that it is this figure of the living-dead that lies at the heart of the revival discourse and which is constitutive of Jewish nationalism.On Revival contributes to current debates in comparative literary studies by addressing the limitations of the national language paradigm and thinking beyond concepts of origin, nativity, and possession in language. Informed by critical literary theory, including feminist and postcolonial critiques, the book challenges Zionism’s monolingual lens and the auto-Orientalism involved in the project of revival, questioning charged ideological concepts such as “native speaker” and “mother tongue.”
On Roman Religion: Lived Religion and the Individual in Ancient Rome (Cornell Studies in Classical Philology #67)
by Jörg RüpkeWas religious practice in ancient Rome cultic and hostile to individual expression? Or was there, rather, considerable latitude for individual initiative and creativity? Jörg Rüpke, one of the world’s leading authorities on Roman religion, demonstrates in his new book that it was a lived religion with individual appropriations evident at the heart of such rituals as praying, dedicating, making vows, and reading. On Roman Religion definitively dismantles previous approaches that depicted religious practice as uniform and static. Juxtaposing very different, strategic, and even subversive forms of individuality with traditions, their normative claims, and their institutional protections, Rüpke highlights the dynamic character of Rome’s religious institutions and traditions. In Rüpke’s view, lived ancient religion is as much about variations or even outright deviance as it is about attempts and failures to establish or change rules and roles and to communicate them via priesthoods, practices related to images or classified as magic, and literary practices. Rüpke analyzes observations of religious experience by contemporary authors including Propertius, Ovid, and the author of the "Shepherd of Hermas." These authors, in very different ways, reflect on individual appropriation of religion among their contemporaries, and they offer these reflections to their readership or audiences. Rüpke also concentrates on the ways in which literary texts and inscriptions informed the practice of rituals.
On Roman Time: The Codex-Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity
by Michele R. SalzmanMichele Renee Salzman establishes that the traditions of Roman art and literature were still very much alive in the mid-fourth century. Salzman also studies the Calendar of 354 as a reflection of the world that produced and used it.
On Sacrifice
by Moshe HalbertalThe idea and practice of sacrifice play a profound role in religion, ethics, and politics. In this brief book, philosopher Moshe Halbertal explores the meaning and implications of sacrifice, developing a theory of sacrifice as an offering and examining the relationship between sacrifice, ritual, violence, and love. On Sacrifice also looks at the place of self-sacrifice within ethical life and at the complex role of sacrifice as both a noble and destructive political ideal. In the religious domain, Halbertal argues, sacrifice is an offering, a gift given in the context of a hierarchical relationship. As such it is vulnerable to rejection, a trauma at the root of both ritual and violence. An offering is also an ambiguous gesture torn between a genuine expression of gratitude and love and an instrument of exchange, a tension that haunts the practice of sacrifice. In the moral and political domains, sacrifice is tied to the idea of self-transcendence, in which an individual sacrifices his or her self-interest for the sake of higher values and commitments. While self-sacrifice has great potential moral value, it can also be used to justify the most brutal acts. Halbertal attempts to unravel the relationship between self-sacrifice and violence, arguing that misguided self-sacrifice is far more problematic than exaggerated self-love. In his exploration of the positive and negative dimensions of self-sacrifice, Halbertal also addresses the role of past sacrifice in obligating future generations and in creating a bond for political associations, and considers the function of the modern state as a sacrificial community.
On Salafism: Concepts and Contexts (Stanford Studies in Middle Eastern and Islamic Societies and Cultures)
by Azmi BisharaOn Salafism offers a compelling new understanding of this phenomenon, both its development and contemporary manifestations. Salafism became associated with fundamentalism when the 9/11 Commission used it to explain the terror attacks and has since been connected with the violence of the so-called Islamic State. With this book, Azmi Bishara critically deconstructs claims of continuity between early Islam and modern militancy and makes a counterargument: Salafism is a wholly modern construct informed by specific sociopolitical contexts. Bishara offers a sophisticated account of various movements—such as Wahabbism and Hanbalism—frequently collapsed into simplistic understandings of Salafism. He distinguishes reformist from regressive Salafism, and examines patterns of modernization in the development of contemporary Islamic political movements and associations. In deconstructing the assumptions of linear continuity between traditional and contemporary movements, Bishara details various divergences in both doctrine and context of modern Salafisms, plural. On Salafism is a crucial read for those interested in Islamism, jihadism, and Middle East politics and history.
On Secular Governance: Lutheran Perspectives on Contemporary Legal Issues
by Ronald W. Duty Marie A. FailingerThis volume puts forth an unprecedented, distinctive Lutheran take on the intersection of law and religion in our society today. On Secular Governance gathers the collaborative reflections of legal and theological scholars on a range of subjects — women&’s issues, property law and the environment, immigration reform, human trafficking, church-state questions, and more — all addressed from uniquely Lutheran points of view.
On Secular Governance: Lutheran Perspectives on Contemporary Legal Issues
by Ronald W. Duty Marie A. FailingerThis volume puts forth an unprecedented, distinctive Lutheran take on the intersection of law and religion in our society today. On Secular Governance gathers the collaborative reflections of legal and theological scholars on a range of subjects — women’s issues, property law and the environment, immigration reform, human trafficking, church-state questions, and more — all addressed from uniquely Lutheran points of view.