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Noted missiologist/church researcher Ed Stetzer offers an accessible treatment of the doctrine of the kingdom of God, inviting readers to actively explore, advance, and live in this "subversive kingdom" today.
In Subversive Spirituality Peterson has gathered together a host of writings penned over the past twenty-five years that reflect on the overlooked facets of the spiritual life. Comprising occasional pieces, short biblical studies, poetry, pastoral readings, and interviews, this work captures the epiphanies of life with the pleasing pastoral style and inspiring depth of insight for which Peterson is well known. Peterson describes his book this way: "This gathering of articles and essays, poems and conversations, is a kind of kitchen midden of my noticings of the obvious in the course of living out the Christian life in the vocational context of pastor, writer, and professor. The randomness and repetitions and false starts are rough edges that I am leaving as is in the interests of honesty. Spirituality is not, by and large, smooth. I do hope, however, that these pieces will be found to be freshly phrased".
When Jesus left the most exclusive gated community in the universe to come live with the people he loved and gave his life for, he turned everything we know and believe about life on its head. Jesus said that he came to bring good news to the poor, but most Western Christians remain disconnected and isolated from the poor and their contexts of injustice. Even our churches echo society’s pressure to isolate ourselves from the margins (e.g. by moving to a better suburb) and instead teach us how to be “nice people” who worship a “nice Jesus” and don’t disrupt the status quo. Convinced that Jesus places love for the poor and the pursuit of justice central, Craig Greenfield has sought to follow in Christ’s footsteps by living among people at the edges of society for the last fourteen years. His quest to follow this Subversive Jesus has taken Craig and his young family from the slums of Asia to inner city Canada and back again. This is the story of how Jesus led them to the margins: initiating the Pirates of Justice flash mobs, sharing their home with detoxing crackheads, welcoming homeless panhandlers and prostitutes to the dinner table, and ultimately sparking a movement to reach the world’s most vulnerable children. This book is a strong and potentially controversial critique of the status quo too often found in our churches, but it offers an inspirational and hopeful vision of another way. While readers may not relocate to a slum, they will certainly come to view their lives and ministry through a fresh lens—reconsidering how they are uniquely called by Jesus to subversively love the poor and break down systems of injustice in their sphere of influence.
Learn to leverage privilege. Privilege is a social consequence of our unwillingness to reckon with and turn from sin. But properly stewarded, it can help us see and participate in God's inbreaking kingdom. Scripture repeatedly affirms that privilege is real and declares that, rather than exploiting it for selfish gain or feeling immobilized by it, Christians have a responsibility to leverage it. Subversive Witness asks us to grapple with privilege, indifference, and systemic sin in new ways by using biblical examples to reveal the complex nature of privilege and Christians' responsibility in stewarding it well. Dominique DuBois Gilliard highlights several people in the Bible who understood this kingdom call. Through their stories, you will discover how to leverage privilege to: Resist Sin Stand in Solidarity with the Oppressed Birth Liberation Create Systemic Change Proclaim the Good News Generate Social Transformation By embodying Scripture's subversive call to leverage--and at times forsake--privilege, readers will learn to love their neighbors sacrificially, enact systemic change, and grow more Christlike as citizens of God's kingdom.
In 'Announcing the Reign of God' Mortimer Arias proposes that the time has come to recover in its fullness the biblical perspective of the kingdom for the mission of the church today and particularly for our evangelistic witness.
Needlework is America's most popular craft, with about 38 million stitchers according to the Hobby Industry of America. Subversive Cross Stitch puts a 21st-century spin to this age-old art. Step-by-step instructions for 35 hilarious projects are sure to appeal to the savvy stitch-n-bitch generation.
University is a major way that our society prepares professionals and leaders in education, health, government, business, arts, church--all components of our communal lives. Although the beginnings of the first universities were Christian, academia has become more and more adrift from these foundations. We have lost not only the union, the interwovenness of theological and academic understandings, but also the relational and communal process of learning which teaches students to be other-centered in their practice. A Glimpse of the Kingdom in Academia tells the story of the social sciences department of a small Christian university that took seriously the mandate to prepare their students to be salt and light in a secular society. Here are stories of the transformation in students' lives, as well as description of classroom practices, and the epistemological theory behind those practices. The book explores academic knowing, Christian worldview, relational epistemology, inner knowing, and wisdom--all ways of knowing that a Christian university should teach. The process of transformation, the context of community, and the bigger picture of life's journey and changing images of God are identified as important aspects of kingdom life in academia. The institutional setting is also critiqued with the recognition that power practices need to align with the kingdom of the Christ who emptied himself.
Mark Van Steenwyk explores the various ways we the Christian community have failed our mission by embracing the ways of the world and advancing our own agendas. He shows us that the starting place of authentic Christian witness is repentance, and that while Jesus' kingdom is not of this world, it remains the only hope of the world.
We live in a 24/7 culture of endless productivity, workaholism, distraction, burnout, and anxiety--a way of life to which we've sadly grown accustomed. This tired system of "life" ultimately destroys our souls, our bodies, our relationships, our society, and the rest of God's creation. The whole world grows exhausted because humanity has forgotten to enter into God's rest. This book pioneers a creative path to an alternative way of existing. Combining creative storytelling, pastoral sensitivity, practical insight, and relevant academic research, Subversive Sabbath offers a unique invitation to personal Sabbath-keeping that leads to fuller and more joyful lives. A. J. Swoboda demonstrates that Sabbath is both a spiritual discipline and a form of social justice, connects Sabbath-keeping to local communities, and explains how God may actually do more when we do less. He shows that the biblical practice of Sabbath-keeping is God's plan for the restoration and healing of all creation. The book includes a foreword by Matthew Sleeth.
Discovering the New Testament is a new and comprehensive introduction to the New Testament in three volumes, reflecting current research and scholarship in New Testament studies. Each volume provides a thorough discussion of background issues as well as treating theological themes and practical application. The first volume on the Gospels and Acts covers Jewish and Greco--Roman backgrounds, critical methodologies, the synoptic problem, and surveys each of the four gospels and Acts. It concludes with three chapters that explore the key theme of the kingdom of God, including its Old Testament background, the place of miracles, and an examination of Jesus' parables. Ideal for college or seminary students, the volumes provide numerous maps and charts, as well as discussion questions for each chapter and a focus on real--life relevance and application. Forthcoming volumes will focus on Paul (Vol. 2) and the general epistles and Revelation (Vol. 3).
