Christian Barriers to Jesus (Revised Edition)

Christian Barriers to Jesus (Revised Edition) PDF Author: J. Paul Pennington
Publisher: William Carey Publishing
ISBN: 1645083837
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 411

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Book Description
A Call to Follow Jesus When He Challenges Our Traditions There are many challenges to adequately representing Jesus to the majority world, and often Western Christian traditions create unnecessary hindrances to people accepting His truth. This book grew out of many interviews with Indian Jesus-followers—both Christians and Yesu bhaktas—who identified painful stumbling blocks to receiving and sharing the gospel. While Hindus often have a high view of Jesus, they struggle with the conventions, practices, and labels around "church." Christian Barriers to Jesus uniquely challenges readers to examine nine barrier-producing Christian traditions, exploring: • The assumptions Christians may hold about the value, origin, or necessity of their customs • The concerns Hindus commonly raise about traditions that confuse, offend, or alienate them • Teachings from Jesus in Scripture that often question the same ideas or practices Pennington suggests that by not asking deep enough questions about what is essential for following Jesus and what is a non-essential human invention, the church is unnecessarily alienating millions of people from Him. As a body, it is time to honestly address these concerns, developing new patterns of discipleship that reveal Jesus’s heart for breaking down barriers instead of creating them. The analysis presented in this book will empower readers to critically examine their personally cherished traditions and the purity of the gospel they present, with insights that are relevant in all contexts.

Christian Barriers to Jesus (Revised Edition)

Christian Barriers to Jesus (Revised Edition) PDF Author: J. Paul Pennington
Publisher: William Carey Publishing
ISBN: 1645083837
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 411

Get Book Here

Book Description
A Call to Follow Jesus When He Challenges Our Traditions There are many challenges to adequately representing Jesus to the majority world, and often Western Christian traditions create unnecessary hindrances to people accepting His truth. This book grew out of many interviews with Indian Jesus-followers—both Christians and Yesu bhaktas—who identified painful stumbling blocks to receiving and sharing the gospel. While Hindus often have a high view of Jesus, they struggle with the conventions, practices, and labels around "church." Christian Barriers to Jesus uniquely challenges readers to examine nine barrier-producing Christian traditions, exploring: • The assumptions Christians may hold about the value, origin, or necessity of their customs • The concerns Hindus commonly raise about traditions that confuse, offend, or alienate them • Teachings from Jesus in Scripture that often question the same ideas or practices Pennington suggests that by not asking deep enough questions about what is essential for following Jesus and what is a non-essential human invention, the church is unnecessarily alienating millions of people from Him. As a body, it is time to honestly address these concerns, developing new patterns of discipleship that reveal Jesus’s heart for breaking down barriers instead of creating them. The analysis presented in this book will empower readers to critically examine their personally cherished traditions and the purity of the gospel they present, with insights that are relevant in all contexts.

Churchless Christianity

Churchless Christianity PDF Author: Herbert E. Hoefer
Publisher: William Carey Library
ISBN: 9780878084449
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
The purpose of this book is to describe a fact and reflect upon it theologically. The fact is, there are thousands of people who believe solely in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior but who have no plans to be baptized or to join the local church. Churchless Christianity is based on research from the early 1980s among non-baptized believers in Christ in Tamil Nadu, India. This revised edition includes all the original text plus five additional chapters and a new foreword.

Breaking Through the Barriers

Breaking Through the Barriers PDF Author: Rosemary Sookhdeo
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781732195264
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
How can we understand our Muslim friends and neighbours so that we can share the Gospel effectively with them? This book discusses their religion, culture and practices to find the points of contact that will help Muslims respond to the Christian Gospel. The author deals with the crucial differences between Islam and Christianity and answers important questions, such as: Is the God of the Bible the same as Allah? Is the Muslim Jesus, or "Isa", the same as the Jesus we know from the Gospels?

Does Jesus Really Love Me?

Does Jesus Really Love Me? PDF Author: Jeff Chu
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062359304
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
“Fascinating, thoughtful, and important. [Jeff Chu] captures the fractures and conflict at a moment when the issue of what to do with L.G.B.T. people is tearing Christian denominations apart. Does Jesus Really Love Me? deserves to be widely read.” —Dan Savage, New York Times Book Review In this timely work—part memoir, part investigative analysis—a prize-winning writer explores the explosive and confusing intersection of faith, politics, and sexuality in Christian America. When Jeff Chu came out to his parents as a gay man, his devout Christian mother cried. And cried. Every time she looked at him. For months. As a journalist and a believer, Chu knew that he had to get to the heart of a question that had been haunting him for years: Does Jesus really love me? The quest to find an answer propels Chu on a remarkable cross-country journey to discover the God “forbidden to him” because of his sexuality. Surveying the breadth of the political and theological spectrum, from the most conservative viewpoints to the most liberal, he tries to distill what the diverse followers of Christ believe about homosexuality and to understand how these people who purportedly follow the same God and the same Scriptures have come to hold such a wide range of opinions. Why does Pastor A believe that God hates me, especially because of my gayness? Why does Person B believe that God loves me, gayness and all? From Brooklyn to Nashville to California, from Westboro Baptist Church and their god hates fags protest signs to the pioneering Episcopal bishop Mary Glasspool, who proclaims a message of liberation and divine love, Chu captures spiritual snapshots of Christian America at a remarkable moment, when tensions between both sides in the culture wars have rarely been higher. Both funny and heartbreaking, perplexing and wise, Does Jesus Really Love Me? is an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual pilgrimage that reveals a portrait of a faith and a nation at odds.

Muslims, Christians, and Jesus

Muslims, Christians, and Jesus PDF Author: Carl Medearis
Publisher: Bethany House
ISBN: 1493412078
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
An Acclaimed Guide to Understanding Today's Muslim, Completely Updated Carl Medearis provides new insights into the top questions people have about Muslims and Islam. With practical information and fascinating stories, he shares culturally sensitive ways for Christians to get to know Muslims on a personal level. In this updated and expanded edition, Medearis shares · How more and more Muslims live "right next door," and how we can overcome the growing level of misinformation and fear · The roots of modern-day jihad and how recent developments in the Middle East affect the West · A new chapter answering tough questions about terrorism, Christian converts, and other key topics Medearis shows how common ground is the best foundation for hearts turning to Jesus rather than focusing initially on the differences between Islam and Christianity.

Becoming All Things

Becoming All Things PDF Author: Michelle Reyes
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310108926
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
WINNER OF THE 2022 ECPA CHRISTIAN BOOK AWARD FOR NEW AUTHOR Healthy relationships across cultures are possible. Dr. Michelle Reyes takes a close look at the concept of cultural accommodation found in Scripture—and especially in the letter of 1 Corinthians—to redefine how Christians interact with cultural narratives that are different from their own. Christians—whose standard of living is oneness in Christ, whose gospel is radically nonexclusive—should be at the frontlines of justice and of cross-cultural unity. But many of us struggle to reach outside of our own cultural bubbles and form real relationships that move beyond stereotypes and lead to understanding, healing, and solidarity across cultural lines. Why is that? Why is it so difficult to reconcile our call to be united in Christ with a celebration of different cultural expressions? What are the reasons for cultural differences and how do they so often lead to stereotyping, appropriation, gentrification, racism, and other forms of injustice? What does the Bible say about human beings as cultural image bearers? How do we reevaluate our awareness of culture identity in a healthy and constructive way? These are just some of the questions that Dr. Reyes explores as she faces the challenges surrounding cross-cultural relationships in America today and her thoughts on the way forward. Spoiler Alert! The way forward does require willingness to change. It requires embracing cultural discomfort. But by engaging with this book, you will be empowered to learn how to become all things to all people—that is: how to reflect Jesus' love in a multicultural, multiracial body of Christ and to share that love with a hurting world.

A New Christian Manifesto: Pledging Allegiance to the Kingdom of God

A New Christian Manifesto: Pledging Allegiance to the Kingdom of God PDF Author: Bob Ekblad
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 0664236626
Category : Church renewal
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description


Life Tastes Better

Life Tastes Better PDF Author: Terry Virgo
Publisher: The Good Book Company
ISBN: 1784983470
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
Discover how life tastes better when Jesus takes over Letting Jesus take control of your life is a scary thought and a stumbling block for many. It's easy to think that following Jesus would make life less fun and more limited. Drawing on his decades of introducing the real Jesus to people, founder of NewFrontiers Terry Virgo reveals the surprising truth that the Jesus who turned water into wine is ready to make every life taste better, both now and eternally. Because when we let Jesus take charge, our biggest problems are sorted out and we are free from the pressure of relying on ourselves for everything. Easy-to-read, short, clear, faithful and conversational, this is a perfect book to give to a non-believing friend.

Lost Christianities

Lost Christianities PDF Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195182491
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. In Lost Christianities, Bart D. Ehrman offers a fascinating look at these early forms of Christianity and shows how they came to be suppressed, reformed, or forgotten. All of these groups insisted that they upheld the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, and they all possessed writings that bore out their claims, books reputedly produced by Jesus' own followers. Scrupulously researched and lucidly written, Lost Christianities is an eye-opening account of politics, power, and the clash of ideas among Christians in the decades before one group came to see its views prevail.

Living into the Life of Jesus

Living into the Life of Jesus PDF Author: Klaus Issler
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830869646
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Deriving insights from the life of Jesus in the Gospels, Klaus Issler uncovers the dynamics involved in truly becoming more Christlike. He shows how you can forge much deeper connections with Jesus. The result is a closer alignment between what you want to do as a follower of Jesus, what you actually do and who you are becoming in him.