What does a clock or calendar, a map, a newspaper or bandage, a set of measuring cups or a basket have to do with prayer? Kathleen Finley not only tells about how to pray with all our senses, but also shows us how, using Scripture as well as factual information about a wide variety of everyday objects, to help us take seriously how everything has the potential to be holy in light of Jesus' incarnation. If folding your hands and clos ...
To question the idea of hell as a default destination is to question the entire fundamentalist evangelical worldview. This book does just that. Fundamentalist evangelicalism holds that the Bible is an infallible authority and that all are born in sin. Sinners go to hell, but Jesus, taking their place, died to save them from hell. How did this belief come to be? What were the effects on people brought up with a belief in the reality of hell? What ...
Even though the postmodern return of religion is dramatically shaping the future of twenty-first-century theology, its riches for preaching are rarely mined. Preaching After God highlights the trajectories of the postmodern return of religion by introducing readers to the positive theological themes stirring in the work of influential philosophers like Jacques Derrida, John Caputo, and Slavoj Zizek. Phil Snider shows how engaging their thought p ...
Miracles are woven into the fabric of Christianity. From Genesis to Revelation, they are threads that run throughout the entire tapestry of Scripture. It seems, however, that our society has waged an all-out assault on miracles and their relevance. Today, biblical miracles are brushed aside as mere superstition or myth, while God is dismissed as unnecessary. Is there really a wonder-working God? Prayer is a powerful thing. It is a two-wa ...
I am not like Hudson Taylor, David Livingstone, or William Carey. The stories of these people are inspiring, but they also make me question, «Am I really good enough to be a missionary? Because I don't consider myself super-spiritual like these missionary heroes seem to be.» Ordinary Missionary introduces world missions through the story of an ordinary family facing ordinary questions about their own insecurities and inadequacies. Step into ...
Two parables that have become firmly lodged in popular consciousness and affection are the parable of the Good Samaritan and the parable of the Prodigal Son. These simple but subversive tales have had a significant impact historically on shaping the spiritual, aesthetic, moral, and legal traditions of Western civilization, and their capacity to inform debate on a wide range of moral and social issues remains as potent today as ever. Noting that ...
How will the world end? Doomsday ideas in Western history have been both persistent and adaptable, peaking at various times, including in modern America. Public opinion polls indicate that a substantial number of Americans look for the return of Christ or some catastrophic event. The views expressed in these polls have been reinforced by the market process. Whether through purchasing paperbacks or watching television programs, millions of Americ ...
Trying to articulate the ways in which one's life meshes with one's own time can be perilous, yet friends have encouraged me to do just that. Nevertheless, for one oriented to serving others as teacher and mentor in a context of faith, writing about oneself seems unnatural. Yet the «self» we have been given to share embodies many others as well. So many of the encounters narrated here will open into friendships. Moreover, what spices t ...
In modern times the relationship between the church and academy has been strained and tension-filled. Mainstream church culture has often been skeptical of Bible scholars, depicting them as self-serving intellectuals trying to out-think God by devising new and controversial interpretations. Just as well, academics have often leveled harsh critiques against church culture, painting pastors and laity as anti-intellectual pseudo-spiritualists. Ente ...
