The Evangelistic Love of God & Neighbor

The Evangelistic Love of God & Neighbor
Author: Bishop Scott J. Jones
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2010-08-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1426719167

There are, it seems, as many definitions of the term "evangelism" as there are people doing the defining. For some, it means proclaiming the gospel to those who have not heard it. To others, it means making disciples of Jesus Christ. To others, it means working for the transformation of the world into the kingdom of God. For still others, it has principally to do with building vibrant, healthy congregations. Underlying this confusion is a fundamental inability to locate the practice of evangelism within one's overall theological convictions. We will never understand the part that proclamation, disciple making, kingdom building, and church growth play in evangelism until we first ask a more important question: What does evangelism have to do with who God is? What is it we know about God that makes evangelism a central part of what it means to be Christian? In this comprehensive theology of evangelism, Scott J. Jones proposes to ground the practice of evangelism in an understanding of God's love for the world, specifically as seen in the incarnation of God in Christ. In Jesus, God took on all of what it means to be human. Because of this, evangelism must be a ministry to the whole person. The typical distinctions between soul-winning, social action, and church growth evaporate; individual conversion and acts of mercy are part of the same ministry of bringing persons more fully into the reign of a loving God.

Loving God and Neighbor with Samuel Pearce

Loving God and Neighbor with Samuel Pearce
Author: Michael A. G. Haykin
Publisher: Lexham Press
Total Pages: 120
Release: 2019-08-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1683592700

The love of God and neighbor is the heart of the Christian faith. Forgotten saint Samuel Pearce teaches us how to live a life faithful to the greatest commandment. Pearce was a Baptist pastor known in eighteenth-century England for his moving preaching and strong, pious character. In his short life, he supported believers in his own parish as well as in the many cities where he preached and helped send missionaries. Yet his personal faith, founded on the "holy love" of God, formed his most compelling witness to the world. By getting to know Pearce's story, readers will learn from his example what it looks like to love God and neighborâ€"in good times as well as challenging and seemingly mundane ones. The Lived Theology series explores aspects of Christian doctrine through the eyes of the men and women who practiced it. Interweaving the contributions of notable individuals alongside their overshadowed contemporaries, we gain a much deeper understanding and appreciation of their work and the broad tapestry of Christian history. These books illuminate the vital contributions made by these figures throughout the history of the church.

Love Your Neighbor

Love Your Neighbor
Author: Norman L. Geisler
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2007-07-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433520850

Love Your Neighbor is a concise introduction to Christian ethics. It begins with a look at the biblical basis for morality, defines and describes various philosophical approaches to the subject of ethics, then connects biblical morality with the idea of absolute truth in philosophy. The book then moves from its philosophical basis to a practical application of Christian ethics, considering a wide range of social, biomedical, and personal issues. It does not take a partisan or denominational approach to these issues, but squarely faces them with an open mind and open Bible. The book is based on sound biblical and philosophical reasoning and does not tell readers what to think but encourages them to think biblically and critically through these issues.

BLESS

BLESS
Author: Dave Ferguson
Publisher: Salem Books
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2021-01-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1684510880

What If You Could Change the World without Changing Your Daily Routine? When you’ve been transformed by God’s love, you can’t help but want others to experience the same grace and freedom. But how do you share it without scaring them away or offending them? For most Christians, “evangelism” is an intimidating word that suggests handing out tracts to strangers or doing other awkward things. But what if there was a more organic, more authentic way to share your faith with your friends, neighbors, and coworkers? Dave and Jon Ferguson have found five simple, straightforward practices that will allow any believer to do just that. And by consistently living them out, you can affect not just individual lives but your entire neighborhood and community—one person at a time.

The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor

The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor
Author: Mark Labberton
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2010-10-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830868232

Seeing rightly, says Mark Labberton, is the beginning of how our hearts are changed. Through careful self-examination in the Spirit, we begin to bear the fruit of love toward others that can make a difference. Here is a chance to reflect on why our ordinary hearts can be complacent about the evils in the world and how we can begin to see the world like Jesus.

A Common Word

A Common Word
Author: Miroslav Volf
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2010
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0802863809

A letter printed in the pages of The New York times in 2007 acknowledged differences between Christianity and Islam but contended that "righteousness and good works" should be the only areas in which the two compete. That letter and a collaborative Christian response appear in this volume, which includes subsequent dialogue between Muslim and Christian scholars.

Evangelism in Everyday Life

Evangelism in Everyday Life
Author: Lyle Pointer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 48
Release: 1998-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780834117396

Witnessing takes place when it is least expected: in the yard, at the grocery store or on the phone. Those relationships provide the opportunities to live and share Christ.Although, relationship evangelism is an ancient concept, it is the open door to friends, acquaintances, and coworkers. The thought of witnessing about faith can leave one tongue-tied, but Evangelism in Everyday Life reassures us that it is a natural outflow of our love for God. Living a holy life in daily activities becomes the light that shines on the hill, around the office and across the neighborhood.Care and compassion is the language that changes hearts. Once a person comes to Christ, this book also provides answers for guiding him or her along the journey. And the witness continues through discipleship and guidance. Rooting a new Christian firmly in the life of the church is the next step in deepening relationships with God and fellow man. Down-to-earth answers to these and many other such questions make this book an invaluable witnessing tool. Leader’s Guide. Paper.

Putting God Second

Putting God Second
Author: Donniel Hartman
Publisher: Beacon Press
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2017-02-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0807063347

Why have the monotheistic religions failed to produce societies that live up to their ethical ideals? A prominent rabbi answers this question by looking at his own faith and offering a way for religion to heal itself. In Putting God Second, Rabbi Donniel Hartman tackles one of modern life’s most urgent and vexing questions: Why are the great monotheistic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—chronically unable to fulfill their own self-professed goal of creating individuals infused with moral sensitivity and societies governed by the highest ethical standards? To answer this question, Hartman takes a sober look at the moral peaks and valleys of his own tradition, Judaism, and diagnoses it with clarity, creativity, and erudition. He rejects both the sweeping denouncements of those who view religion as an inherent impediment to moral progress and the apologetics of fundamentalists who proclaim religion’s moral perfection against all evidence to the contrary. Hartman identifies the primary source of religion’s moral failure in what he terms its “autoimmune disease,” or the way religions so often undermine their own deepest values. While God obligates the good and calls us into its service, Hartman argues, God simultaneously and inadvertently makes us morally blind. The nature of this self-defeating condition is that the human religious desire to live in relationship with God often distracts religious believers from their traditions’ core moral truths. The answer Hartman offers is this: put God second. In order to fulfill religion’s true vision for humanity—an uncompromising focus on the ethical treatment of others—religious believers must hold their traditions accountable to the highest independent moral standards. Decency toward one’s neighbor must always take precedence over acts of religious devotion, and ethical piety must trump ritual piety. For as long as devotion to God comes first, responsibility to other people will trail far, far behind. In this book, Judaism serves as a template for how the challenge might be addressed by those of other faiths, whose sacred scriptures similarly evoke both the sublime heights of human aspiration and the depths of narcissistic moral blindness. In Putting God Second, Rabbi Hartman offers a lucid analysis of religion’s flaws, as well as a compelling resource, and vision, for its repair.