Community Is Messy

Community Is Messy PDF Author: Heather Zempel
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830866973
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
Drawing on her background in environmental engineering and her current pastoral role, Heather Zempel assesses the perils and possibilities inherent in small groups and other environments for Christian community. The book helps leaders begin to see the inherent "mess" of such gatherings as raw material for arriving at something beautiful.

Community Is Messy

Community Is Messy PDF Author: Heather Zempel
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830866973
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
Drawing on her background in environmental engineering and her current pastoral role, Heather Zempel assesses the perils and possibilities inherent in small groups and other environments for Christian community. The book helps leaders begin to see the inherent "mess" of such gatherings as raw material for arriving at something beautiful.

Messy Grace

Messy Grace PDF 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

Messy Truth

Messy Truth PDF Author: Caleb Kaltenbach
Publisher: WaterBrook
ISBN: 0525654275
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
From the author of Messy Grace, a former pastor raised by gay parents, comes a compassionate playbook to help Christians, church staff, and ministry leaders create a culture of belonging without sacrificing theological convictions. What should we do? This is a question many Christians are asking as they face shifting societal norms, conflicting opinions, and often inaccurate scriptural interpretations regarding those who identify as LGBTQ+. Caleb Kaltenbach believes there’s a more helpful question:What am I willing to do to keep and build influence with ______________? Caleb knows our love for others is best measured by the lengths we’ll go to help them. He also recognizes that people find and follow Jesus better in community than in isolation. As a child raised by three activist gay parents, Caleb experienced firsthand the outrage of some Christians. That’s why he is committed to creating a sense of belonging for all people. True community can happen only when Christians are intentional in infusing their attitudes, systems, and values with grace and truth. This hopeful, practical book offers tools for encouraging church involvement, strengthening personal relationships, increasing empathy, and engaging in pivotal conversations about grace and truth with our whole community. Fostering a culture of belonging is a messy process, but it holds a massive possibility for everyone involved: a growing relationship with Jesus.

Messy Church

Messy Church PDF Author: Ross Parsley
Publisher: David C Cook
ISBN: 1434705064
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 179

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Book Description
When you look at the church today, what do you see? A corporation with a CEO at the helm? A social organization that does good things for the community? Pastor Ross Parsley believes that neither of those pictures is God’s desire. Instead, God wants His church to function as a family—a group of real people who love each other and care for one another’s needs, no matter how messy. Our culture is dying for the kind of community that only the church can provide—if we are living as God intended: as a family, protecting one another, extending grace, and loving unconditionally. We are not called to be consumers who ask what the church can offer us. We are called to love deeply, fight fairly, and bring hope to a generation of people starving to belong to something greater than themselves. Welcome to the family. You belong here.

A Bigger Table

A Bigger Table PDF Author: John Pavlovitz
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664262679
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
No one likes to eat alone; to approach a table filled with people, only to be told that despite the open chairs there isn't room for you. The rejection stings. It leaves a mark. Yet this is exactly what the church has been saying to far too many people for far too long: "You're not welcome here. Find someplace else to sit." How can we extend unconditional welcome and acceptance in a world increasingly marked by bigotry, fear, and exclusion? Pastor John Pavlovitz invites readers to join him on the journey to find—or build—a church that is big enough for everyone. He speaks clearly into the heart of the issues the Christian community has been earnestly wrestling with: LGBT inclusion, gender equality, racial tensions, and global concerns. A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, Hopeful Spiritual Community asks if organized Christianity can find a new way of faithfully continuing the work Jesus began two thousand years ago, where everyone gets a seat. Pavlovitz shares moving personal stories and his careful observations as a pastor to set the table for a new, more loving conversation on these and other important matters of faith. He invites us to build the bigger table Jesus imagined, practicing radical hospitality, total authenticity, messy diversity, and agenda-free community.

Life Is Messy

Life Is Messy PDF Author: Matthew Kelly
Publisher: Blue Sparrow
ISBN: 9781635822007
Category : Self-actualization (Psychology)
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Life is messy. It isn't a color-within-the-lines exercise. It's a wild and outrageous invitation full of uncertain outcomes. The mess of life is both inevitable and unexpected. It is filled with delightful mysteries and frustrating predicaments. In our disposable culture, we throw broken things away. So, what will we do with broken people, broken relationships, broken institutions, broken families, and of course, our very own broken selves? We are all broken and wounded. This book is about putting our lives back together, and allowing ourselves to be put back together, when life doesn't turn out as we expected it to. Based on his own heart-wrenching personal journals, Matthew Kelly shares how the worst three years of his life affected him, by exploring this question: Can someone who has been broken be healed and become more beautiful and more lovable than ever before? The answer will fill you with hope. There has never been a more urgent need for us to attend to what is happening within us. This is quite simply the right book at the right time.

Gospel-Centered Discipleship

Gospel-Centered Discipleship PDF Author: Jonathan K. Dodson
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 1433530244
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
Reflecting on the practice of disciple making in young adult, college, graduate, and local church contexts, Jonathan Dodson has discerned some common pitfalls. For many, discipleship is reduced to a form of religious performance before God. For others, it devolves into spiritual license and a loose adherence to spiritual facts. Both approaches distort biblical motivations for Christian obedience and are in need of reform. By explaining various motivations for discipleship, Dodson charts a biblically faithful, grace-driven alternative. Additionally, he provides a practical model for creating gospel-centered discipleship groups—small, reproducible, missional, gender-specific groups of believers that fight for faith together. This book blends both theology and practice to inspire and equip Christians to effectively fight sin, keep Jesus central, and make gospel-centered discipleship a way of life. Both new and growing Christians will learn to trust the gospel in community as they fight together for holiness as well as how to start gospel-centered community groups in any local church.

The Messy Book

The Messy Book PDF Author: Maudie Powell-Tuck
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781848692800
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description
Cat has made a mess and she won’t tidy it up - no matter how many times Dog asks her. Can Dog convince Cat, a giraffe and two penguins to clean up this very messy book? Children will laugh out loud at the quirky illustrations from the exciting new talent Richard Smythe (Beep Beep Beep Time For Sleep!) and will pore over the fabulously clever design. Packed with humour and adorably funny animal characters, The Messy Bookis the perfect story for anyone who has ever been told to tidy their room.

Of Mess and Moxie

Of Mess and Moxie PDF Author: Jen Hatmaker
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
ISBN: 0718031865
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Life is messy for each of us. But Jen Hatmaker reminds us that it's okay to admit that we're all in the same boat. Join New York Times bestselling author and honorary big sister Jen as she shares hilarious tales, shameless honesty, and unconditional hope for the woman who's forgotten her moxie. We will endure discouragement, heartbreak, failure, and suffering. All of us. And more than once. But we are the very same folks who can experience triumph, perseverance, joy, and rebirth. More than once. And in more than one category. And in more than one season. And that? That's moxie. Moxie reaches for laughter, for courage, for the deep and important truth that women are capable of weathering the storm. We are not victims, we are not weak, we are not a sad, defeated group of sob sisters. Yes, life is hard, but we are incredibly resilient. Of Mess and Moxie shines a light on Jen's own triumphs and tragedies into a sigh of relief for all normal, fierce women everywhere. Whether it's the time she drove to the wrong city for a fourth-grade field trip or the way she learned to truly forgive, she offers a reminder to those of us who sometimes hide in the car eating crackers that we do actually have the moxie to get back up and face our messes head-on. After all, this race is not a contest--there's enough abundance to go around. This book will give you the encouragement you need to remember that: Your mess is normal You are not in competition with your peers--your seat at the table is secure You have incredible gifts to offer Come alongside Jen as she teaches us that we can all choose to live undaunted and in the moment, no matter what the moments hold, and we really can lead vibrant, courageous, grace-filled lives.

Joan Garry's Guide to Nonprofit Leadership

Joan Garry's Guide to Nonprofit Leadership PDF Author: Joan Garry
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 111929309X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
Nonprofit leadership is messy Nonprofits leaders are optimistic by nature. They believe with time, energy, smarts, strategy and sheer will, they can change the world. But as staff or board leader, you know nonprofits present unique challenges. Too many cooks, not enough money, an abundance of passion. It’s enough to make you feel overwhelmed and alone. The people you help need you to be successful. But there are so many obstacles: a micromanaging board that doesn’t understand its true role; insufficient fundraising and donors who make unreasonable demands; unclear and inconsistent messaging and marketing; a leader who’s a star in her sector but a difficult boss... And yet, many nonprofits do thrive. Joan Garry’s Guide to Nonprofit Leadership will show you how to do just that. Funny, honest, intensely actionable, and based on her decades of experience, this is the book Joan Garry wishes she had when she led GLAAD out of a financial crisis in 1997. Joan will teach you how to: Build a powerhouse board Create an impressive and sustainable fundraising program Become seen as a ‘workplace of choice’ Be a compelling public face of your nonprofit This book will renew your passion for your mission and organization, and help you make a bigger difference in the world.