The Soul of Tomorrow's Church
The Soul of Tomorrow's Church

Author: Kent Ira Groff

Publisher:

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 9780835809276

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The goal is to allow the form of Jesus the Christ to take shape in the believer and the believing community. It is to experience the soul of Christ's integrity, passion, and wholeness in these five basic functions of community: worship, administration, education, soul care, and outreach. In varied forms these are the foundational mandates of ministry, vertical threads in the tapestry. Interlaced with these are five horizontal threads, essential spiritual aptitudes that open us for God to restore the soul of ministry. These five -- pray, discernment, faith stories, silence, and hospitality -- reflect the pattern of Christ' life as contemplative threads are woven into active ministry functions. The pattern created is a twill, known for its durability, flexibility, and potential variety of horizontal threads.

Is God a Trinity?
Is God a Trinity?

Author: United Church of God

Publisher: United Church of God

Published: 2011-08-02

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 1257958844

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

You might be surprised to find that God is not a trinity. The Trinity is one of mainstream Christianity’s most widely accepted and revered doctrines held by millions of Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox believers. The belief that God is three persons—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit—coexisting in one being is how the trinity doctrine is often defined. But the word trinity appears nowhere within the pages of the Bible. You can not cling to long-held religious traditions if they contradict the Scriptures. Your beliefs must rest solidly on the teachings of the Holy Bible. This Bible Study aid, "Is God a Trinity?", goes into great detail explaning the non-biblical origins of the trinity and how this false gospel replaced the true teachings of Jesus Christ. Discover how the Bible communicates a true picture of God and learn about the awesome plan He has promised for you and all mankind. Chapters in this ebook: -- Is the Trinity Biblical? -- The Surprising Origins of the Trinity Doctrine -- Greek Philosophy's Influence on the Trinity Doctrine -- How Ancient Trinitarian Gods Influenced Adoption of the Trinity -- A Spurious Reference to the Trinity Added in 1 John 5:7-8 -- How Is God Revealed in the Bible? -- Jesus Was Sent by the Father -- Jesus Christ: "The Rock" of the Old Testament -- The Apostles Understood Jesus to Be the Creator -- Did Jesus Christ Claim to Be God? -- "In the Beginning Was the Word" -- The Claim of Jesus' Disciples -- "There Is One God, the Father...and One Lord, Jesus Christ" -- God's Plan to "Bring Many Sons to Glory" -- Jesus Christ's Submission to the Father -- How Is God One? -- "The Lord Our God, the Lord Is One" -- Seven Scriptures That Debunk the Trinity as a Single Being -- Elohim: The Plurality of God -- Is the Holy Spirit a Person? -- Does Matthew 28:19 Prove the Trinity? -- Why the Holy Spirit Is Sometimes Incorrectly Referred to as "He" and "Him" -- What About Passages That "Prove" the Trinity? -- The Holy Spirit: God's Transforming Power -- How to Stir Up God's Spirit -- God's Nature and Character -- God's Purpose for You -- The Likeness of God -- Do Some Verses Deny a Divine Family? -- The God Family Inside this Bible Study Aid ebook: "Most people assume that everything that bears the label “Christian” must have originated with Jesus Christ and His early followers. But this is definitely not the case." "Many historians and religious scholars, some quoted in this publication, attest to the influence of Greek or Platonic philosophy in the development and acceptance of the Trinity doctrine in the fourth century." God the Father is the One who calls us to baptism and a new way of life (John 6:44, 65), and it is His goodness that leads us to repentance and baptism (Romans 2:4). "As even the New Catholic Encyclopedia, quoted from earlier, acknowledges: “The majority of New Testament texts reveal God’s spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God..."

Tomorrow's Christian Church
Tomorrow's Christian Church

Author: John Kloster

Publisher: PublishAmerica

Published: 2009-10-19

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 145606410X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Christianity is the only religion that still worships a human being. Jesus's humanity and mission was derailed at the Council of Nicaea in 325AD. Jesus was declared God, equal with the Father. The God in the Book of Genesis was incorporated into Christian doctrines. The separation of the divine from the human, along with seventeen hundred years of institutional control by Western Christianity, has had a detrimental effect on global humanity. Jesus's spiritual and social values included connecting his people and all humanity with the Universal Spirit. The divine light that Jesus embodied is shared by all humanity. God is spirit, he told the Samaritan woman. True worshipers will worship him in spirit and truth. The Spirit who is so universally diffuse and active in people's lives is often referred to as the work of angels or miracles happening.

Tomorrow's Church Today
Tomorrow's Church Today

Author: Michael Kelly

Publisher: ATF Press

Published: 2016-09-20

Total Pages: 111

ISBN-13: 1925486419

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In his last interview, the late Italian Cardinal and former Archbishop of Milan, Carlo Maria Martini, said the need for deep reform in the Catholic Church was urgent and long overdue because 'the Church is 200 years behind the times'. The reference to 200 years clearly points to the watershed in European life that the French Revolution and the Enlightenment became. Vatican II was one attempt to meet the challenge of relevance to our times. But its best efforts have been on ice since the late 1970s. Now a new opportunity arrives in the pontificate of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. And the movement he has initiated is evangelical in source and comprehensive in reach. But, as many observers have pointed out, it will not be lasting if it does not lead to sustainable structural change?to reform that accompanies renewal. In Tomorrow's Church Today, five highly qualified commentators focus on what lies ahead for the Church to be reformed if it is to meet the challenges of the 21st Century: o A theologian and historian (Massimo Faggioli) who targets how ministry and leadership can be reshaped authentically for our times; o A journalist and radio host for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation?the ABC?(Geraldine Dougue), writes a candid piece on how she would advise Pope Francis on the state of the Church; o A reporter and analyst with 30 years experience of moves and machinations in the Etenrnal City (Robert Mickens); o A bishop with a lifetime of experience of ministering to the divorced and remarried and the benefit of legal and biblical scholarship to support his approach (Geoffrey Robinson); o A biblical scholar who examines much of what's taken for granted in the governance of the Church and exposes where it is left wanting (Antony Campbell); and o A bishop whose forced 'resignation' exposes the deficiencies of a system of governance devoid of basics?due process and respect for natural rights. But the Catholic Church is not its clerics, scholars and commentators. It is the baptised. Geraldine Doogue is a celebrated Australian broadcaster and commentator whose Introduction speaks for and from the experience of the mass of Catholics.

Clergy Table Talk
Clergy Table Talk

Author: Kent Ira Groff

Publisher: Energion Publications

Published: 2012-04-12

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 1631996142

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What goes on in the back of clergy folks' heads that we wish we could talk about? And what do we talk about with no holds barred? In each chapter of this book, Groff offers a spiritual spin on an issue in ministry normally viewed as a distraction. He shows real life ways that a barrier can become a bridge to deepening spiritual life and vocation. A paragraph ends with a question, inviting the reader to pause . . . and ponder. Each chapter ends with a spiritual practice and questions for reflection. Here is ideal grist for intergenerational study groups for ministers, members, and seekers.

The American Missionary
The American Missionary

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1923

Total Pages: 738

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Vols. 13-62 include abridged annual reports and proceedings of the annual meetings of the American Missionary Association, 1869-1908; v. 38-62 include abridged annual reports of the Society's Executive committee, 1883/84-1907/1908.

Do You Believe?
Do You Believe?

Author:

Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.

Published:

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 9780819226372

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A guide to living the baptismal covenant in congregational and personal life. An excellent book for parish study and reflection, offering ways that individuals and congregations can envision the church--and their own lives--as a dynamic relationship with God.

Tending to the Holy
Tending to the Holy

Author: Bruce G. Epperly

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2009-10-02

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1566996473

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Tending to the Holy: The Practice of the Presence of God in Ministry invites pastors to embody their deepest beliefs in the routine and surprising tasks of ministry. Inspired by Brother Lawrence's classic text in spirituality, Tending to the Holy integrates the wisdom and practices of the Christian spiritual tradition with the commonplace practices of pastoral ministry. Bruce and Katherine Epperly utilize a variety of spiritual disciplines especially Benedictine, Celtic, Ignatian, Rhineland, and process spiritualities to provide a framework for helping clergy nurture the awareness of God, creative imagination, and personal well-being in every aspect of their ministerial lives. Practicing God's presence in the ordinary tasks of ministry inspires wholeness, spiritual transformation, vision, imagination, endurance, and healthy self-differentiation in ministry. Commitment to joining spiritual practices with the routine and repetitive tasks of ministry provides an important antidote to unhealthy stress, burnout, and loss of vision in ministry. By seeing their congregational leadership in terms of spiritual transformation, imaginative practice, and relational interdependence, ordinary ministerial practices can become ways pastors can deepen their relationship with God. Growing out of their work with pastors at every season of ministry, as well as combined ministerial experience of nearly sixty years, Bruce and Katherine Epperly invite pastoral leaders to complement and expand on their understanding of spiritual leadership, pastoral excellence, and self-care, integrating traditional and contemporary spiritual practices with the concrete arts of ministry.

In Plain Sight
In Plain Sight

Author: Dr. R. Curtis Royal

Publisher: Author House

Published: 2013-02-15

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 1481711288

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

IN PLAIN SIGHT SEARCHING FOR A MORE EXCELLENT WAY, addresses the ongoing exodus from western churches. Census records remind us there are two to three times more Christians than go to church. Interestingly, the increase of Christianity in third world countries is remarkable. Western churches are suffering a massive dislocation from both society and from Christianity in general. What is suggested in this book is exactly the sort of process God enables/allows while preparing the next stage of a grand plan in the drama of human redemption. We must search for a more excellent way. Tolerant Spirit is paramount in hearing the voice of the Spirit along the spiritual journey. IN PLAIN SIGHT extends the sacred conversation to all fellow travelers aspiring to discover or regain their spiritual compasses in being faithful to a true and living God who rules and reigns beyond our many fallible conceptions of divine governance in the world, and the interaction of divine initiative and human responsibility. The problem of forging a new paradigm in the churches for a new age is a sacred conversation about rethinking divine activity and personal and corporate faithfulness. We must become much more intentional about developing a theology of grace which thoroughly encompasses serious crises and problems of all spiritual pilgrims, travelers, and persons of sincere faith.

Recovering Hope for Your Church
Recovering Hope for Your Church

Author: Edward H Hammett

Publisher: Christian Board of Publication

Published: 2014-08-30

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 0827232306

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Why?" seems to be on the lips of many church, judicatory, and denominational leaders today. "Why has our church plateaued?" "Why are so few young leaders going into church-based ministries?" "Why are so few interested in church these days?" Recovering Hope uncovers the "whys," creating space to embrace new realities, commit to the tough road of recovery, and develop new skills, structures, and ministry designs through a process of spiritual discernment, congregational coaching, and a deeper reliance on the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Eddie Hammett, a Professional Certified Coach and Church and Clergy Coach for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina, provides a step-by-step process of hope and health to encourage, guide, and inspire pastors, leaders, churches, regions, and denominations that recovery of hope is possible. A TCP Leadership Series title.