Theological schools are currently facing a perfect storm of jeopardies that threatens their future prospects and even survivability. The squall is all the more menacing for free-standing seminaries that are not connected to a university, and especially for free-standing mainline Protestant or mainline denominational seminaries. This book brings together a stellar and diverse cast of administrators and professors working within different theologi ...
By the grace of God, every human being, at the proper time–that is, «in God's timing»–can become a Christian, irrespective of ethnicity, race, or gender (male or female). «Becoming a Christian» means «a spiritual transformation» from within our inner-being, as we are «born anew» in the spirit when we accept the loving sacrifice of Christ as atonement for our sins and believe in his resurrection from the dead as the empowering act of love th ...
Pastors are privileged to hear questions of faith. These questions often arise from people who engage in critical thinking, value intellectual integrity, and want an authentic conversation regarding their inquiries. S. P. King skillfully engages historical, biblical, and spiritual elements to squarely tackle some of the paramount issues of the Christian faith. Each chapter provides the theological background necessary for a thorough response. Th ...
When do Christians pray? Do we only pray at our daily devotional times or when the Lord's prayer is recited at a public event or in a worship litany? Many of us are acquainted with emergency prayer when an accident or heart attack involves one of our close relatives. At such times we often do not trust our own relationship with God enough, so we anxiously await the arrival of a minister at the hospital bedside for real prayer to happen. Is ...
What is Born of the Spirit is Spirit provides reflections on Scripture texts associated with (Holy) Spirit and (human) spirit. Various aspects of Spirit and spirit are explored in one-hundred-five entries. The subtitle, A Biblical Spirituality of Spirit, indicates the ways biblical authors are inspired to present imaginatively what cannot be pictured: Spirit and spirit. This book attempts to recover the spirituality of biblical stories that nar ...
Modern Christians have been bombarded by objections launched against the Christian faith from popular secular authors, bloggers, and stars from the entertainment industry. The church is quickly beginning to acknowledge the need for apologetics due to the number of youth and adults alike leaving the faith. But how does one respond to these objections? For the laity of the church, this is especially difficult, as many are left without the proper t ...
In 2013, Edward Snowden released a trove of documents revealing the extent of government electronic surveillance. Since then, we have been inundated with reports of vicious malware attacks, election hacking, data breaches, potential cyberwars, fights over Net Neutrality, and fake internet news. Where once discussion of cyberspace was full of hope of incredible potential benefits for humanity and global connection, it has become the domain of fea ...
The book addresses the way we are able to understand the radical invitation of Jesus. The invitation is to those who heard Jesus in the first century, the intervening centuries, and those in the twenty-first century urging them to turn away from a life that is self-centered and to seek a life that is God-centered, accepting the reign of God in one's life rather than wealth, pleasure, power, and fame. Jesus says that we are to seek first the ...