Releasing the Church from Its Cultural Captivity

Releasing the Church from Its Cultural Captivity PDF Author: S K Tham
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1514442264
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
In this book, I would like you to come on a journey with me. It is a journey that I have been on, and I want to retrace the route that I have taken. Some parts of the journey may be familiar to you, but other parts may be new and sometimes scary. My journey is by no means at its end yet, but the delight that I have experienced beckons me to tell others and to take others along this journey. Many times along the way, I had to discard the cultural baggage that I had carried along because they became burdensome and prevented me from going further. I then had to adorn a totally new attire and at times change my lenses to see things clearer. I was reluctant to do that at first, but the moment I tried on the new lenses, I saw things that I had never seen before. That was exciting. Things came into much sharper focus. However, the distant view remained hazy, but this only made me more determined to journey on. With each new step I took, I saw a little more. Somehow the haze of the distant hills never lifted. It remained. I was only given a clear view of the immediate surroundings. Over time I became contended with that view knowing that in this journey the delight is limitless. (S K Tham) Those who have struggled with cross-cultural communication of the Word of God will find this book a great assistance. It is not that here at last is a method we can employ that will remove the barriers we face, but there is an explanation and one that is not restricted to any particular Christian cultural group. Siew Kiong Tham has argued that the basic problem is not anthropological or culturalit is theological. Knowing the triune God and having that knowledge effect Christian living and relationships lies at the heart of all we are about as believers and proclaimers. (Rev Dr Ian Pennicook, New Creation Teaching Ministry, NSW) We see our own culture as inviolable. Apart from Christ, it represents our lasting and sacred endeavours. It fits us with the way things are done. Dr Tham shows us that we may not simply overlay our culture with a form of external Christianity. The delivery of grace by the present reigning Lord Jesus can never be drooped over our culture as a better moral system that simply tidies up some minor cultural loose ends. The culture of the Fathers family must break through as the culture of love seen and known only in the Cross. Only there do we discover the Fathers lasting and sacred endeavours to form His culture within humanity. (Brian Arthur, Pastor, Bethel Christian Church)

Releasing the Church from Its Cultural Captivity

Releasing the Church from Its Cultural Captivity PDF Author: S K Tham
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1514442264
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 238

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this book, I would like you to come on a journey with me. It is a journey that I have been on, and I want to retrace the route that I have taken. Some parts of the journey may be familiar to you, but other parts may be new and sometimes scary. My journey is by no means at its end yet, but the delight that I have experienced beckons me to tell others and to take others along this journey. Many times along the way, I had to discard the cultural baggage that I had carried along because they became burdensome and prevented me from going further. I then had to adorn a totally new attire and at times change my lenses to see things clearer. I was reluctant to do that at first, but the moment I tried on the new lenses, I saw things that I had never seen before. That was exciting. Things came into much sharper focus. However, the distant view remained hazy, but this only made me more determined to journey on. With each new step I took, I saw a little more. Somehow the haze of the distant hills never lifted. It remained. I was only given a clear view of the immediate surroundings. Over time I became contended with that view knowing that in this journey the delight is limitless. (S K Tham) Those who have struggled with cross-cultural communication of the Word of God will find this book a great assistance. It is not that here at last is a method we can employ that will remove the barriers we face, but there is an explanation and one that is not restricted to any particular Christian cultural group. Siew Kiong Tham has argued that the basic problem is not anthropological or culturalit is theological. Knowing the triune God and having that knowledge effect Christian living and relationships lies at the heart of all we are about as believers and proclaimers. (Rev Dr Ian Pennicook, New Creation Teaching Ministry, NSW) We see our own culture as inviolable. Apart from Christ, it represents our lasting and sacred endeavours. It fits us with the way things are done. Dr Tham shows us that we may not simply overlay our culture with a form of external Christianity. The delivery of grace by the present reigning Lord Jesus can never be drooped over our culture as a better moral system that simply tidies up some minor cultural loose ends. The culture of the Fathers family must break through as the culture of love seen and known only in the Cross. Only there do we discover the Fathers lasting and sacred endeavours to form His culture within humanity. (Brian Arthur, Pastor, Bethel Christian Church)

The Next Evangelicalism

The Next Evangelicalism PDF Author: Soong-Chan Rah
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830878033
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Soong-Chan Rah calls the North American church to escape its Western cultural captivity and to embody a next evangelicalism that is diverse and multiethnic. This prophetic report casts a vision for a dynamic evangelicalism that fully embodies the cultural realities of the twenty-first century.

Total Truth

Total Truth PDF Author: Nancy Pearcey
Publisher: Crossway Bibles
ISBN: 9781581347463
Category : Apologetics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey offers a razor-sharp analysis of the split between public and private, fact and feelings. She reveals the strategies of secularist gatekeepers who use this division to banish biblical principles from the cultural mainstream, stripping Christianity of its power to challenge and redeem the whole of culture. // How can we overcome this divide? Unify our fragmented lives? Recover authentic spirituality? With compelling examples from the struggles of real people, Pearcey shows how to liberate Christianity from its cultural captivity. She walks readers through practical, hands-on steps for developing a full-orbed Christian worldview. Finally, she makes a passionate case that Christianity is not just religious truth but truth about total reality. It is total truth.

The Continuing Conversion of the Church

The Continuing Conversion of the Church PDF Author: Darrell L. Guder
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802847034
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Western society is now a very different, very difficult mission field. In such a situation, the mission of evangelism cannot succeed with an attitude of "business as usual." This volume builds a theology of evangelism that has its focus on the church itself. Darrell Guder shows that the church's missionary calling requires that the theology and practice of evangelism be fundamentally rethought and redirected, focused on the continuing evangelization of the church so that it can carry out its witness faithfully in today's world. In Part 1 Guder explores how, under the influence of reductionism and individualism, the church has historically moved away from a biblical theology of evangelism. Part 2 presents contemporary challenges to the church's evangelical ministry, especially those challenges that illustrate the church's need for continuing conversion. Part 3 discusses what a truly missional theology would mean for the church, including sweeping changes in its institutional structures and practices. Written for teachers, church leaders, and students of evangelism, this volume is vital reading for everyone engaged in mission work.

Finding Truth

Finding Truth PDF Author: Nancy Pearcey
Publisher: David C Cook
ISBN: 0781413281
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
Christianity Has the Resources to Address Intellectual and Cultural Issues. Do You? Christians can feel overwhelmed at the sheer number of competing worldviews in today’s pluralistic, multicultural society. Thankfully, you don’t have to memorize a different argument to answer every new issue. Instead, you can master a single line of defense, grounded in Scripture, that applies to any theory. In Romans, Paul reveals the strategy for defending the Christian message in a pluralistic culture where many are hearing it for the first time. Finding Truth is the real-world training manual that equips you to confidently address issues you’ll face in the classroom, workplace, and popular culture.

A Peculiar People

A Peculiar People PDF Author: Rodney R. Clapp
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 9780830819904
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Rodney Clapp asks and answers the question, How can the church provide a significant alternative to the culture in which it is embedded?

Being White

Being White PDF Author: Paula Harris
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458749738
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
What does it mean to be white? In our culture, whites have not always used their power and privilege responsibly. As a result, those from other racial and ethnic backgrounds may respond to you differently or suspiciously simply because of your whiteness. You may feel ambivalent about your own identity as a white person. Perhaps you have been frustrated when a friend of another ethnicity shakes his head and tells you, ''You just don't get it because you're white.'' How can whites overcome the mistakes of the past? How can they build authentic relationships with people from other backgrounds? In this groundbreaking book, Paula Harris and Doug Schaupp present a Christian model of what it means to be white. They wrestle through the history of how those in the majority have oppressed minority cultures, but they also show that whites have their own cultural and ethnic identity with its own distinctive traits and contributions. They demonstrate that white people have a key role to play in the work of racial reconciliation and the forging of a more just society. Filled with real-life stories, life-transforming insights and practical guidance, this book is for any white who is aware of racial inequality but has wondered, So what do I do? Discover here a vision for just communities where whites can use their influence to empower those of other ethnicities.

Mobilizing for the Common Good

Mobilizing for the Common Good PDF Author: Peter Slade
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 1628469838
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
Born into a sharecropping family in New Hebron, Mississippi, in 1930, and only receiving a third-grade education, John M. Perkins has been a pioneering prophetic African American voice for reconciliation and social justice to America's white evangelical churches. Often an unwelcome voice and always a passionate, provocative clarion, Perkins persisted for forty years in bringing about the formation of the Christian Community Development Association—a large network of evangelical churches and community organizations working in America's poorest communities—and inspired the emerging generation of young evangelicals concerned with releasing the Church from its cultural captivity and oppressive materialism. John M. Perkins has received surprisingly little attention from historians of modern American religious history and theologians. Mobilizing for the Common Good is an exploration of his theological significance. With contributions from theologians, historians, and activists, this book contends that Perkins ushered in a paradigm shift in twentieth-century evangelical theology that continues to influence Christian community development projects and social justice activists today.

Many Colors

Many Colors PDF Author: Soong-Chan Rah
Publisher: Moody Publishers
ISBN: 1575674971
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
The United States is currently undergoing the most rapid demographic shift in its history. By 2050, white Americans will no longer comprise a majority of the population. Instead, they'll be the largest minority group in a country made up entirely of minorities, followed by Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans. Past shifts in America's demographics always reshaped the county's religious landscape. This shift will be no different. Soong-Chan Rah's book is intended to equip evangelicals for ministry and outreach in our changing nation. Borrowing from the business concept of "cultural intelligence," he explores how God's people can become more multiculturally adept. From discussions about cultural and racial histories, to reviews of case-study churches and Christian groups that are succeeding in bridging ethnic divides, Rah provides a practical and hopeful guidebook for Christians wanting to minister more effectively in diverse settings. Without guilt trips or browbeating, the book will spur individuals, churches, and parachurch ministries toward more effectively bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News for people of every racial and cultural background. Its message is positive; its potential impact, transformative.

No Place for Truth

No Place for Truth PDF Author: David F. Wells
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802807472
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Evangelicals, argues Wells, have largely lost the truth that God also stands outside all human experience, that he still summons sinners to repentance and belief regardless of their self-image, and that he calls his church to stand fast in his truth against the blandishments of the modern world.