A Church In Search Of Itself

A deeply informed look at the intensifying struggle over the future of the Catholic Church. Robert Blair Kaiser examines the most important and divisive issues confronting the Church: the sex abuse scandal, a shortage of priests due to the insistence upon celibacy, the ban on contraception, the roles of women in the Church, the increased participation of laypeople in Church affairs. He gives us an in-depth and behind-the-scenes view of six of the cardinals who gathered in Rome in April 2005 to choose a new pope and through them makes clear why Catholics worldwide are increasingly leaving the Church or defying Church doctrine. With passion and heartfelt concern, Robert Blair Kaiser brilliantly illuminates the issues and the combatants in the battle for the soul of the Catholic world. From the Trade Paperback edition.

A deeply informed look at the intensifying struggle over the future of the Catholic Church. Robert Blair Kaiser examines the most important and divisive issues confronting the Church: the sex abuse scandal, a shortage of priests due to the insistence upon celibacy, the ban on contraception, the roles of women in the Church, the increased participation of laypeople in Church affairs. He gives us an in-depth and behind-the-scenes view of six of the cardinals who gathered in Rome in April 2005 to choose a new pope and through them makes clear why Catholics worldwide are increasingly leaving the Church or defying Church doctrine. With passion and heartfelt concern, Robert Blair Kaiser brilliantly illuminates the issues and the combatants in the battle for the soul of the Catholic world.

An assessment of the state of the Catholic Church today and the shape of the future to come.

“A perceptive and practical book about why our calendars so rarely reflect our priorities and what we can do to regain control.”—ADAM GRANT “Carey’s book will help you reorganize your life. And then you can share a copy with someone you care about.”—SETH GODIN You deserve to stop living at an unsustainable pace. An influential podcaster and thought leader shows you how. Overwhelmed. Overcommitted. Overworked. That’s the false script an inordinate number of people adopt to be successful. Does this sound familiar: ● Slammed is normal. ● Distractions are everywhere. ● Life gets reduced to going through the motions. Tired of living that way? At Your Best gives you the strategies you need to win at work and at home by living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow. Influential podcast host and thought leader Carey Nieuwhof understands the challenges of constant pressure. After a season of burnout almost took him out, he discovered how to get time, energy, and priorities working in his favor. This approach freed up more than one thousand productive hours a year for him and can do the same for you. At Your Best will help you ● replace chronic exhaustion with deep productivity ● break the pattern of overpromising and never accomplishing enough ● clarify what matters most by restructuring your day ● master the art of saying no, without losing friends or influence ● discover why vacations and sabbaticals don’t really solve your problems ● develop a personalized plan to recapture each day so you can break free from the trap of endless to-dos Start thriving at work and at home as you discover how to be at your best.

There are important Biblical truths overlooked by much of Christianity. The Devil would have it so, and, unfortunately, our naturally sinful hearts find it attractively so. We prefer to be saved in our sins rather than from our sins. The term Gospel is in reference to the salvation of fallen mankind in Christ’s future, eternal kingdom of peace. Tragically, great differences in understanding of the Gospel is a major reason for the multitude of differing Christian faiths. The Bible speaks of “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” (Ephesians 4:5). Jesus Christ made the claim: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). Thus, the Scriptures teach that there is only One True Way to the heavenly Father, only One True Gospel—the Man Christ Jesus. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden—embedding the trait of selfishness in humanity’s heart—Christ promised them that He would come to earth to take their punishment, and to crush their deceiver Satan’s head. As a perpetual reminder, Christ gave them the sacrificial system. They were to confess their sins over the head of an innocent lamb and then to slay it; symbolizing Christ’s future death on the cross for the sins of man. When the children of Israel were delivered from slavery in Egypt, Christ gave them a much more complete explanation of the various steps in the salvation process. In the earthly sanctuary and its services—a pattern of the true sanctuary in heaven—He gave a much clearer explanation of the salvation process as to how, when, and where the various steps occur in reality. For some 1500 years Christ worked with the children of Israel in an attempt to lead them, in their tabernacle/temple services to depict to the world the gospel of salvation through the coming Messiah. Unfortunately, Satan succeeded in blinding their eyes to the truths of their own religious services, to the degree, that they rejected and nailed to a Roman cross the long-looked-for perfect Lamb of God. Unfortunately still today, many of Christ’s followers are failing to appreciate the important truths of the gospel as depicted for so many centuries in the priestly services of the earthly tabernacle and temples of Israel. We are tending to ignore the New Testament teachings regarding Christ’s High Priestly ministry in the true tabernacle of heaven (see Hebrews chapters 3-10). We tend to not appreciate the important prophecy of Daniel 8:14: “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” (Daniel 8:14). The dominant Christian faith of the Dark Ages has side-tracked our attention to a still earthly priesthood with the claim to forgive sin. For these and other reasons, Satan is again succeeding to a great degree in blinding Christ’s followers to the great truths of the sanctuary services, now going on in heaven. Through failure to understand as to the how, when, and where Christ is working to save repentant men and women from sin, rather than in sin, many will fail to be benefitted by His death on the cross so many years ago. It is the purpose of this publication to search for clarity as to what is the One True Gospel. It has found that a comprehension of Christ’s role as Surety, as the Lamb of God, and as the Mediator-High Priest of the human race goes far in achieving that goal. “We need . . . much more knowledge in regard to the plan of salvation. There is not one in one hundred who understands for himself the Bible truth on this subject that is so necessary to our present and eternal welfare. When light begins to shine forth to make clear the plan of redemption to the people, the enemy works with all diligence that the light may be shut away from the hearts of men. If we come to the Word of God with a teachable, humble spirit, the rubbish of error will be swept away, and gems of truth, long hidden from our eyes, will be discovered.” Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, 359, 360.

If you feel caught between the traditional church and the emerging church, read Jim Belcher. He paints a picture of an alternate, "deep" church--a missional church committed to both tradition and contemporary culture, valuing innovation in worship, arts and community but also adhering to creeds and confessions.

During the first decade of the 21st century the Catholic Church in the developed world has faced a decline in its moral authority, increasing accusations of irrelevance to a secular age, and a steep and steady decline in commitment among successive generations from the 1960s on. Despite this Catholic schools have multiplied and grown in popularity and educational achievement. The book sets out a programme for the contribution of Catholic schools to the future of the Church, covering such topics as the religious education curriculum in its cognitive and affective aspects, the sacramental life of the school, selection of staff, the issue of staff and Catholic witness and many other topics. Engebretson argues that Catholic schools are a powerful key to the future of the Church and shows how, within their diversity, Catholic schools can be ecclesial communities, which have at their heart the building up of the Church.