Author: Brad Hambrick
Publisher: Cruciform Press
ISBN: 194111413X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 81
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Book Description
Conversations among friends accomplish more than debates between opponents. Conversations on controversial issues do not to go well when the dialogue happens community-to-community or figurehead-to-figurehead. Whether it’s race, religion, or politics, groups don’t talk well with groups. Too much is at stake when we feel like our words and actions speak for the collective whole. Platforms and podiums will never accomplish what can only be done around dinner tables and in living rooms. Two individuals from those respective groups are much more likely to forge a good relationship, influencing one another in various ways. Unfortunately, an individual who listens well is often viewed by his or her collective compatriots as engaging in compromise; at the group level, representing each side fairly feels too much like agreement. That is why the aim of this book is friendship. Friendship is the level at which influence can be had, because the dialogue does not seek to represent an agenda but to understand a person. Friendship is what protects good points from becoming gotcha moments. The subject for which this approach may be most vital for the modern church may be homosexuality and same-sex attraction (SSA). Yet our approach has tended to be more polemical or political than pastoral and personal. Churches have articulated their position on a conservative sexual ethic. Churches have re-examined the key biblical texts that are challenged in defense of a progressive sexual ethic. As important as these things are, however, they do not equip everyday Christians to develop meaningful friendships with people who experience same-sex attraction or have embraced a gay identity. In the absence of relationship, our theology becomes theory. Many Christians are seeing that the church’s unwillingness to befriend people who experience SSA has blocked us from engaging with the subject of homosexuality on a person-to-person level. We are reticent to engage relationships where it feels probable that there will be awkwardness. Admittedly, this book is not as “neat” as you might like for it to be. Many tensions will be navigated; maybe not all contradictions will be avoided. However, when it comes to being salt and light for the sake of the gospel, it seems far better to choose possible messiness over guaranteed ineffectiveness. That means we must realize that it is good for us to have conversations where we don’t know what to say. This is part of the essence of being a growing person. When we’re not having conversations that challenge us to think about new things, we will commit sins either of pride or apathy. We should always be praying that God will bring people into our lives who will provide the opportunity for us to ask new and important questions. The desire of this book is to be a resource God uses to grow his people into excellent ambassador-friends to their classmates, colleagues, and family members who experience SSA. If this is what you want to do and be, then God will be faithful to complete this work in you regardless of the strengths and weaknesses, insights and oversights of this book (Philippians 1:6). Thank you for taking this journey with me. —Brad Hambrick
Author: William Bonzo
Publisher: William Bonzo
ISBN: 1451571909
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 203
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Book Description
William Bonzo's biting, informative, and sometimes riotous memoir, Don't Ask, Do Tell: When I Finally Told the Military "Kiss My Gay..." aims directly at the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy previously enforced by the United States military. Bonzo was a Navy man before being outed and forced to leave the service. Until then, he had served his country honorably and enthusiastically. So how can a military that is dangerously short of personnel and engaged in several wars around the world afford to impose a weeding-out policy that not only de-militarizes talented leaders, but does so in an abrupt and emotionally brutal fashion? Reading this book, one is struck by the irony of training a man for years, bringing him to his peak of military knowledge and direction, and then dismissing him for his sexual orientation. Despite a light and often funny voice, the underlying message remains: Don't Ask/Don't Tell was unethical, pragmatically absurd, and often devastating to those who were targeted.
Author: Neerja Singh
Publisher: Notion Press
ISBN: 1684946743
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 253
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Book Description
Generation gap! The stakes have never been higher. At least five generations co-exist in a state of uneasy truce today. No one seems to hear the other. For the first time in mankind’s history, their differences in preferences, priorities and prejudices have become tangible. The resulting grief is hurting our collective emotional and mental health. Generations are meant to be keepers of each other, they are the continuum of human survival, repositors of life’s DNA. But for that to happen, there has to be a fundamental generational benevolence and that is no longer a given. How do we begin to change this headache into a help? The first step is to appreciate what lies behind the assumptions about each other. Why is a Boomer not ok anymore? What limitations, latitudes and legacies defined this cohort? This book invites the Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha to look at life through a Boomer’s bitter-funny lens.
Author: Jonathan Holmes
Publisher: New Growth Press
ISBN: 164507465X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 106
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Book Description
Jonathan Holmes explores the challenges children face in forming their identity and offers guidance for parents in helping their children build their identity in Christ.
Author: Caleb Kaltenbach
Publisher: WaterBrook
ISBN: 1601427379
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 226
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Book Description
Sometimes, grace gets messy. Caleb Kaltenbach was raised by LGBT parents, marched in gay pride parades as a youngster, and experienced firsthand the hatred and bitterness of some Christians toward his family. But then Caleb surprised everyone, including himself, by becoming a Christian…and a pastor. Very few issues in Christianity are as divisive as the acceptance of the LGBT community in the church. As a pastor and as a person with beloved family members living a gay lifestyle, Caleb had to face this issue with courage and grace. Messy Grace shows us that Jesus’s command to “love your neighbor as yourself” doesn’t have an exception clause for a gay “neighbor”—or for that matter, any other “neighbor” we might find it hard to relate to. Jesus was able to love these people and yet still hold on to his beliefs. So can you. Even when it’s messy. “Messy Grace is an important contribution to the conversation about sexual identity for churches and leaders. Caleb's story is surprising and unique, and he weaves it together compellingly. He states his views clearly, leaves room for disagreement, and champions love no matter where you are in this conversation.” —Jud Wilhite, Sr. Pastor, Central Christian Church
Author: Gretchen Bitterlin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521719865
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 372
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Book Description
Ventures is a six-level, standards-based ESL series for adult-education ESL. Each Student's Book with Audio CD contains 10 topical units composed of six lessons each. The two-page lessons are designed for an hour of classroom instruction. Culture notes as well as speaking, reading, and writing tips enrich and support exercises. Review units include sections focusing on pronunciation.
Author: Michael L. Brown
Publisher: Charisma Media
ISBN: 162136593X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 305
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Book Description
How do we respond to gay people who tell us how much they love the Lord and experience God's power? What do we do with the argument that the Old Testament laws no longer apply? Brown provides solid biblical answers, clearly written and based on sound scholarship, in a compassionate way that causes the reader to wrestle with the issues and discover the biblical truth. He also provides practical guidelines for ministry, and shows readers how they can resist the gay agenda while reaching out to their gay friends and family.
Author: Marshall Segal
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 1433555484
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 221
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Book Description
Life Is Never Mainly About Love and Marriage. So Learn to Live and Date for More. Many of you grew up assuming that marriage would meet all of your needs and unlock God's purposes for you. But God has far more planned for you than your future marriage. Not Yet Married is not about waiting quietly in the corner of the world for God to bring you "the one," but about inspiring you to live and date for more now. If you follow Jesus, the search for a spouse is no longer a pursuit of the perfect person, but a pursuit of more of God. He will likely write a love story for you different than the one you would write for yourself, but that's because he loves you and knows how to write a better story. This book was written to help you find real hope, happiness, and purpose in your not-yet-married life.
Author: James Garratt
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1805143557
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
REACH is an acronym: Relationships, Enjoyment, Achievements, Comfort and Health. Our lives revolve around our relationships, the things we enjoy, the things we try to achieve, the things that give us comfort, and our health, both physical and mental. In this thought provoking and life transforming book, James Garratt, author of REACH for Teenagers, offers an insight into some of the common issues related to REACH and encourages the reader to ask questions, make comments and engage in conversation. Let’s Talk REACH includes sixty-eight original poems and is written in a conversational style, making the content more accessible and memorable.
Author: Tim Osterlund
Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 1098059247
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 424
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Book Description
For childrenaEUR"and even for some adultsaEUR"the Bible can be a large, intimidating, and confusing book. For some, their only activity with the Bible is taking it to Sunday school to earn a sticker or other token.The Bible is GodaEUR(tm)s Word, God speaking to us. Reading it allows us to hear what God is saying to us. But how can you get a young student to read it? And if you do, isnaEUR(tm)t it too confusing for that age group? And if you do get them to read it, can you as a parent or guardian explain to a first, second, third, or fourth grader what the verses say?Reading the Bible should be a conversation between God and us. Not only do we need to read GodaEUR(tm)s Word, but in our conversation with him, we also need to respond in prayer. The two go together.Okay, God, LetaEUR(tm)s Talk aids in all of these areas. It gets the child involved in looking up and reading the verse of the day in his or her own Bible. It is a reading exercise as well as a Bible exercise. Each verse has a short commentary written for the parent or guardian to explain what the verse says. Also included each day is a place for the child to write his or her prayer request; hence, it becomes a conversation.Fifteen minutes each day, sharing GodaEUR(tm)s Word with your child can transform young lives and build strong parent or guardian relations. Okay, God, letaEUR(tm)s talk.
