9 Plays For The Christian In All Of Us

This play is a collection of character-inspired Christian plays Ive written to be performed in churches and in theatres. It includes characters like Mary Magdalene, Samson, Hezekiah, Naomi, Esther, Ruth, and many more.

John Wimber wasn't interested in religion -- he was interested in a relationship with Jesus and discovering how that impacted the way he lived his life and the people with whom he shared his life. He viewed community as a great opportunity to put into practice the teachings of Jesus and felt following Jesus wasn't a spectator sport. In Everyone Gets to Play, Wimber's writings and teachings on life together in Christ drives home the importance of one of his favorite sayings and shares some of his ideas on what that can look like. From taking risks to prayer to leading others, Wimber s skillfully penned words from his writings and teachings still resonate powerfully today.

According to recent research, our brains prefer the path of least resistance when it comes to engaging people who are unlike us—in fact, our brains tell us to perceive anyone different than us as a threat. That is a nice way to say that, despite our best intentions, we all have our prejudices and preferences. In biblical terms, we show partiality toward people who resemble us; we play favorites. Much of our identity, community, and power are established by the measurement of our differences from others, justifying our need to categorize people. Even when we attempt to engage other races and cultures, we see it as a one-way bridge, taking our way of life across the river to enlighten those different than us. It assumes we are on the bank of the undistorted view of the world and our understanding of the other side is not important. The proper response is to encourage two-way traffic on the bridge, not only by having dialogue with people over the bridge but more importantly listening to them. Overcoming our prejudices and bridging the cultural divide is the result of living out the gospel and it is the most significant way to communicate the gospel.

The first volume of this series surveyed the great world dramatists to gather concepts and ideas to apply to the real stage, which is the universe God has made and centered into himself as an actor. This volume describes the actors, the dramatis personae. This is his theological anthropology concerning man, his freedom and destiny in the light of biblical revelation. Von Balthasar is concerned here with the dramatic character of existence as a whole, approaching the topic through a consideration of the various conditions and situations of mankind as a drama that involves both the Creator and his creatures.

What should be the Christian's attitude toward society? When so much of our contemporary culture is at odds with Christian beliefs and mores, it may seem that serious Christians now have only two choices: transform society completely according to Christian values or retreat into the cloister of sectarian fellowship. In Making the Best of It, John Stackhouse explores the history of the Christian encounter with society, the biblical record, and various theological models of cultural engagement to offer a more balanced and fruitful alternative to these extremes. He argues that, rather than trying to root up the weeds in the cultural field, or trying to shun them, Christians should practice persistence in gardening God's world and building toward the New Jerusalem. Examining the lives and works of C. S. Lewis, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer for example and direction, Stackhouse suggests that our mission is to make the most of life in the world in cooperation with God's own mission of redeeming the world he loves. This model takes seriously the pattern of God's activity in the Bible, and in subsequent history, of working through earthly means--through individuals, communities, and institutions that are deeply flawed but nonetheless capable of accomplishing God's purposes. Christians must find a way to live in this world and at the same time do work that honors God and God's plan for us. In an era of increasing religious and cultural tensions, both internationally and domestically, the model that Stackhouse develops discourages the "all or nothing" attitudes that afflict so much of contemporary Christianity. Instead, he offers a fresh, and refreshingly nuanced, take on the question of what it means to be a Christian in the world today.

Torrey and Andrews have taken deep theological subjects and made them easy to understand. CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY: What the Bible Teaches about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Man, Angels, and Satan the Devil. Torrey offers the readers a listing of propositions of what the Bible teaches in Theology and verses that support each statement, while Andrews digs deeper into what the authors meant by their words.