Las Vegas has long been characterized as «Sin City.» It is a common assumption of many outsiders that Las Vegas is a spiritual wasteland, devoid of any significant religious community and bereft of traditional values. This is most certainly not the case! In fact, Las Vegas has a strong, healthy, and growing religious dimension. Within this milieu is a strong and rapidly expanding Pentecostal dimension to the city's profile of faith. The P ...
How important is childhood in the spiritual formation of a person? How do children experience God in the context of their lives as they grow? What does God do in the lives of children to draw them to himself and help them grow into a vital relationship with him? How can adults who care about children better support their spiritual growth and direct it toward relationship with God through Jesus Christ? These are critical questions that church lea ...
How should followers of Christ live in a multi-religious world? This book argues that the example of Jesus has something fresh and helpful to say to those who ponder the question. It takes something old–the example of Jesus–to say something new to our pluralist world. Most of the book examines the meetings of Jesus with Gentiles and Samaritans. These are found in some of the most poignant and dramatic encounters and teaching passages in the Gosp ...
This book proposes a new and comprehensive chiastic structure as well as a new unifying theme for the Letter of James. In accord with this structure that organizes its oral performance, the words «worship to live by» express what the letter as a whole is exhorting its audience to adopt. «Worship» includes not only liturgical worship but also the ethical behavior that complements it, so that the result is a holistic way of worshiping God. And the ...
Praying–with the Saints–to God Our Mother celebrates the feminine characteristics of God by uncovering a treasury of texts that have been overlooked for centuries. Over 150 scriptural passages, both from the original biblical languages and other ancient translations, radiate the warmth and vitality of the maternal face of God. Additionally, passages from five Ecumenical Councils, all thirty-three Doctors of the Church, another thirty-six Fathers ...
Global Christianity has been experiencing an unprecedented historical transition from the West to the non-Western world. The leadership of global Christianity has taken on a new face since the twentieth century. Christendom in Europe and America has experienced a great decline while there has been a rise in Majority World Christianity. Churches in the Global South have given their voices to global Christianity through their leadership, world mis ...
In this innovative work, Mowinckel employs the phenomenology of religion to investigate how religion was lived and experienced in ancient Israel and Judah. Using his considerable expertise, he draws important comparisons between the religious practices in the Old Testament and ancient Near Eastern religions, Christianity, and tribal religions from around the world. ...
Here's a different angle on humor–it can be a spiritual practice, an expression of a theology of joy, hope, and grace. Humor is so valuable, for it offers self-care, healing, and renewal, precious gifts in times of pressure and tension. Olson begins by telling of three unforgettable friends who lived their lives with joy and zest–a practice that opened doors and aided their own sense of well-being. Playfully, he continues by exploring the k ...
Thomas Jefferson and William Wilberforce were born at a time of great, dangerous challenges where unprecedented revolutions in thought, governments, worldview and culture swept in. Their lives, from their beginning tragedies down to their calling and early commitments to end slavery, make their stories even more amazing. Powerfully formed as leaders by exceptional mentors and lifelong supporters, they were sustained in their difficult journeys t ...