Life Together The Classic Exploration Of Christian In Community

This short book is a reflection on life as an intentional Christian community, written by Bonhoeffer during his time as a head of the Illegal Seminary of the Confessing Church in Finkenwalde (Eastern Prussia). The book has become a spiritual classic in which many Christians of a wide variety of backgrounds and contexts have found meaning and encouragement.

This short book is a reflection on life as an intentional Christian community, written by Bonhoeffer during his time as a head of the Illegal Seminary of the Confessing Church in Finkenwalde (Eastern Prussia).

On the nature of Christian community and a theological interpretation of the Psalms.

Using the acclaimed Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works English translation and adapted to a more accessible format, these new editions of Discipleship, Ethics, Letters and Papers from Prison, and Life Together feature the latest translations of Bonhoeffer's works, supplemental material from Victoria J. Barnett, and insightful introductions by Geffrey B. Kelly, Clifford J. Green, and John W. de Gruchy. This four volume set of Bonhoeffer's classic works allows all readers to appreciate the cogency and relevance of his vision. -- publisher.

Welcome to the neighborhood of your dreams. Here you'll find great friends. Help and encouragement. Shared meals and resources. Family gatherings. These pages present a parade of homes like you've never imagined . . . neighborhoods, farms, apartments, and houses in which Christians are discovering the key to contentment in community. It's nothing new. Community was God's idea in the garden. Sure, it was twisted by the fall, but the early church's example of healthy community is being re-experienced by many believers today. Maybe you're considering a move to an intentional community. Or maybe you want to develop deeper friendships and commitment without going anywhere at all. Then read on. These people can lead you to the next step, through engaging stories of brokenness, joyful surrender, creative awakenings, and simple childlikeness. Enjoy this colorful tour of some of the most alive and authentic communities in America today. This could be the most satisfying journey home that you have ever taken.

Emerging adults today feel homeless and alone. How can the church share the good news of a God who offers home and togetherness? Home Together gives a compelling account of a Christian student residence that has shared this good news by engaging emerging adults in a community of discipleship and belonging. For over thirty years, the Menno Simons Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia has supported university students and helped them to grow together in their faith. Using the metaphor of home to describe this community, Thomas Bergen outlines a practical theology of ministry among emerging adults as a shared home construction project. He explores six aspects of the Menno Simons Centre as home—spiritual, supportive, sabbatical, safe, spurring, and sending—combining theological reflection, cultural analysis, personal testimonies, and practical wisdom. Set against the backdrop of postmodern challenges, Home Together offers an inspiring model of ministry among university students that might well be adapted for other contexts.

Recapturing Eternity is about the disillusioning and painful journey that many saints are presently experiencing in their search for God. It was written for the misfits who have dared to ask the hard questions. It's for my fellow trouble makers, who wonder if the Western church's current trajectory is spiraling in the wrong direction. This book is for untold thousands of saints who feel their hearts rebelling against it. Recapturing Eternity is for those with a nagging suspicion that our current church model has run its course. It's for those who are tormented with the thought that Sunday after Sunday we may be simply pouring new wine into old wine skins. This book is about recapturing an eternal perspective. The work examines how eternity should impact our views on aspects of modernity, worship, the mission of the church, Christian warfare, the lusts of the world, and our identity as pilgrims. This book is for those willing to see. It is for those looking to find God as He actually is

How should we deal with our guilt and shame? How should we think about freedom? What is Spirit-inspired Christian living? How does our understanding of hell affect the way we live the Christian life? The Christian gospel transforms every aspect of our lives. If we don’t understand that, we don’t understand Christianity. The Centre for Christian Living, which operates out of Moore Theological College in Sydney, aims to bring biblical ethics to everyday issues—taking the theology and knowledge of God and showing how it shapes and directs every aspect of our daily lives. To that end, we have compiled this annual, which collects some of the material from our activities during 2019: essays from our public events, highlights from our podcast and articles by members of our student team at Moore College. Our hope is that you will find this collection helpful and encouraging as you live out the Christian life.

On the necessity of boundary-crossing friendships for Christian discipleship Friendship isn’t always given a lot of thought—and lately, it doesn’t get a lot of time and effort, either. But in a world of busy and isolated lives, in which friendships can too easily become shallow, tenuous, and homogeneous, Dana Robert insists that good friendships are a vital and transformative part of the Christian life—a mustard seed of the kingdom of God. She believes Christians have the responsibility—and opportunity—to be countercultural by making friends across cultural, racial, socioeconomic, and religious lines that separate people from each other. In this book Robert tells the stories of Christians who, despite or even because of difficult circumstances, experienced friendship with people unlike themselves as “God with us,” as exile, as testimony, and as celebration. Jesus was a friend to his disciples. Through Jesus’s life and the lives of his followers down through the ages, Faithful Friendships shows readers how friendship can become life-changing—and even worldchanging.

In this transformative book on relational youth ministry, pastor and Young Life leader Drew Hill unpacks the challenges teenagers face and how youth leaders and parents can share the gospel with them at this crucial age. Full of practical insight and biblical knowledge, Alongside is an invaluable resource that invites readers to love teenagers ...

Throughout her academic career, Christine D. Pohl has helped the church rediscover practices that used to be central to its life, like hospitality, community, and friendship. Perhaps best known for her groundbreaking Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, she has also contributed significantly to discussions on Christian community, feminism and the academy, and the practice of friendship. Yet behind this lies a lifetime of “lived theology” that informs her life and her work, both inside and outside the academy. Containing biblical, systematic, and moral theology, these essays are scriptural and liturgical, multidisciplinary and missional. Several of them could be described as offering essays of “lived theology,” writing and reflecting from within years of action and contemplation. They build upon particularly fruitful aspects of Pohl’s work, through expansion, clarification, and occasional disagreement. A mix of scholars and practitioners, colleagues, former students, and friends, the contributors represent a wide variety of theoretical and practical expertise. This volume honors Pohl most when its readers choose to take the wisdom within its pages and embody that in life together.

We are in this together—all ages practicing, all ages becoming God’s people. Often, intergenerational initiatives are seen as the next new church trend, or another programming tool for church growth and revitalization. Ultimately, though, intergenerational practice is at the core of what it means for us to be the body of Christ. God intends for all ages to participate in faith formation together; we are formed in our practice of intergenerationallity as we participate in the formation of becoming God’s people. All Ages Becoming brings theologians, practitioners, and ministry leaders, representing diverse denominations, generations, cultures, and geographical locations, together to help us explore this adventure of intergenerational Christian practice. As you consider intergenerational practice in your own faith community, each chapter provides “Theology in Practice” sections with questions designed to help your community reflect, discuss, discover, experiment, reinvent, redesign, and continue in your community of practice.

The Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies (JBTS) is an academic journal focused on the fields of Bible and Theology from an inter-denominational point of view. The journal is comprised of an editorial board of scholars that represent several academic institutions throughout the world. JBTS is concerned with presenting high-level original scholarship in an approachable way. Academic journals are often written by scholars for other scholars. They are technical in nature, assuming a robust knowledge of the field. There are fewer journals that seek to introduce biblical and theological scholarship that is also accessible to students. JBTS seeks to provide high-level scholarship and research to both scholars and students, which results in original scholarship that is readable and accessible. As an inter-denominational journal JBTS is broadly evangelical. We accept contributions in all theological disciplines from any evangelical perspective. In particular, we encourage articles and book reviews within the fields of Old Testament, New Testament, Biblical Theology, Church History, Systematic Theology, Practical Theology, Philosophical Theology, Philosophy, and Ethics.

How we minister matters--especially to those who have already been hurt by the church. Instead of ministering out of God's love and compassion, the church has often ministered to the Queer community out of a deep-rooted fear. Why do we administer hatred instead of allowing the balm of the Holy Spirit's tender care to define our actions? The integrity of the gospel message has been hurt by the way many of us have wielded the power we have been given. Becoming Community is a call for us to renew our Christian commitment to social responsibility and justice as a primary focus of the church. We must challenge the practices and visions which we hold most important in our communities. Are our ministries truly inclusive to all who would seek to find solace at the feet of Christ? Regardless of whether a person might adopt a philosophy of affirmation or denial of queer practices as God-honoring, one trait must remain in our response: inclusion. Without intentionally inclusive language, care, and practice, can the church live up to the higher calling that we have been given? Is it possible for every individual to be genuinely included in our communities?

Loneliness is the most dangerous and least talked-about epidemic--but Made for People offers a cure. Busyness, fear of vulnerability, and past pain often keep us from the deeper friendships we long for. Discover life-changing habits for friendship that will help you move out of a world of digital loneliness and into a life of being truly known by your friends. Is it possible to have--and keep--life-giving friendships? In Made for People, bestselling author and founder of The Common Rule Justin Whitmel Earley explains why we were made for friendships and how we can cultivate them in a technology-driven, post-pandemic world. Justin weaves personal stories with fascinating research and biblical wisdom to show us: How loneliness points to our God-given needs Why vulnerability is the beginning of real friendship How to deepen friendships we already have Key habits that create a lifestyle of friendship God's design for "covenant friendships" Isolation may be the norm of modern life, but it does not have to be the story of your life. Made for People will inspire you to practice the art and habit of fostering life-giving friendships.

Leisure and Fellowship in the Life of the Black Church explores why leisure and fellowship in congregational life of African American churches matters. The book provides a biblical and theological foundation for the concepts of work, rest, Sabbath, play, leisure and fellowship. Moreover, the book explores how religious tradition and doctrine shape and constrains our attitudes and behaviors about leisure, fellowship and living abundantly. Several churches are lifted as exemplars based on the way that they embrace leisure and fellowship within their respective congregations. In the closing chapters, the book examines what leisure and fellowship might be like in Heaven and how we engage Christ and each other in congregations.

Our journey in Christian ethics starts with God in whose image we are created. Creation begins with birth and continues as we mature. Our character matures, shaped by the example of Christ under the mentorship of the Holy Spirit through the family and the church. Christian leaders reach full maturity once they able to mentor others—we are blessed to be a blessing. Living in Christ focuses on explaining, not justifying, Christian ethics. At a time and in a place where people scoff at developing a theological understanding of their faith and refuse to teach Christian morality, ethics is almost a lost art. At the heart of the ethical dilemma is a tension between theological principles that can only be resolved the guidance of the Holy Spirit. How do you practice forgiveness for sinners who refuse to confess their sin and force you to bear its consequences? In this context, ethics is less a philosophical discipline that a recognition of our own limitations as Christians and the need for divine intervention. Ethical thought and action always involve interpretation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is thus ironic that a book on Christian living should have an outward focus on God rather than an inward focus on what to do and not do. This interpretative element colors how we view character formation, the community of faith, leadership, and the many special issues that arise in daily life. Hear the words; walk the steps; experience the joy!

"This volume honors Lisa Cahill's 45 years of teaching Christian ethics at Boston College. With contributions from most of the doctoral students she directed during her career, it provides an interpretive overview of Cahill's specific contributions to Christian ethics"--

Discipleship without mission is discipleship without Christ. The church often lacks maturity and missional impact because discipleship is at its periphery. In order to get discipleship to the center, leaders need a locally rooted, culturally contextual discipleship pathway to tether disciples who are disciplemakers to the neighborhood or network around them. Pastor and discipler E. K. Strawser shows that when discipleship becomes central to your leadership and community, then discipleship becomes central to congregational mission and cultural renewal. Centering Discipleship is a gutsy practice-based guidebook for leaders who are doing the hard work of re-imagining and re-structuring their churches and communities to turn spectators into missional, mature followers of Jesus.