Being a pastor has its rewards and pleasures. But churches can be unsafe places. They are filled with broken, imperfect people. Many ministers of the gospel walk into a church naive about the potential hazards of their vocation. They are vulnerable to difficult people, unresolved conflict, incompatible visions, hidden agendas, mission drift, and sin–their own and that of others. Other pastors feel trapped in a ministry hurricane and don't k ...
"Why are there so many different churches?" Tracing the family tree of the modern church back to the early Christian centuries, The Extended Family explains how and why the various Christian denominations arose. It outlines the distinctive beliefs, traditions, practices, and values of the many church families in modern Britain, what they have in common, and where they have either disagreed or agreed to differ. It also examines the vital que ...
In the late 1800s a supremely qualified woman educator and administrator made an unforgettable imprint on well-known missionaries, educators, and preachers. Emma Dryer worked with Pacific Garden Mission's George and Sarah Clarke, Methodist deaconess Lucy Rider Meyer, Wheaton College President Charles Blanchard, Anna Spafford–whose husband wrote the beloved hymn It is Well with My Soul–and many others. However, her greatest achievement came ...
In 2005 my wife, Jan, and I moved into a condo along the shores of Lake Washington. Even though I had served as President of Seattle Pacific University back in the 1970s, I was unknown on the streets of the resort-like village of Kirkland, Washington. Each morning Molly, our Maltese puppy, and I went across the street for her «potty break» and exercise. Soon, with Molly as the introducer, I discovered a new world where strangers became friends t ...
What if you were to look at human suffering, pain, and loss with another lens? Not as something that you merely make it through but as something that you move around within. In this fresh, creative, and provocative new book, Jeffrey Tucker explores suffering in new ways, challenging our existing beliefs and theologies while offering a healthier and more helpful approach to viewing ourselves, our faith, and others in the face of suffering. Tucker ...
What do you think the Bible says? How does the way the Bible is written affect its meaning? Here is a concise introduction that invites you to interact with the primary text. Interspersed with brief explanations of biblical background and writing techniques are thought-provoking questions about specific readings with space provided for response. This user-engaging approach is enhanced by its sensitivity to readers across the spectrum of belief, ...
In the author's ten years living in China, Chinese friends and foreign friends alike have told him that in many ways he is more like a Chinese person than an American. He sees himself as an «egg,» which is white on the outside and yellow (Chinese) inside. For cross-cultural ministry, we learn from the apostle Paul: «I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some» (1 Cor 9:22). Paul's purpose in be ...
The problem this project addresses is the sense of marginalization experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) and same-sex attracted (SSA) Christian college and university students. Data was collected via an online questionnaire and the study design mixed methods with an emphasis on the qualitative data. The study sample included eighty students/alumni from thirty-two Christian colleges/universities. Generally, respondents felt lonely, hid thei ...
This book shows readers the formation of Q by exploring how the texts were subjected to redaction four times. As author Yoseop Ra demonstrates, the first redaction of Q conveys the words and deeds of the historical Jesus and then the rest of redactors imposed their own theological interpretation to the words and deeds of Jesus. His argument will provide readers with a fresh look on how the earliest «Jesus movement» was formed in the thirties of ...
