Following Jesus In A Culture Of Fear The Christian Practice Of Everyday Life

Through politics, marketing, news programming, and popular culture we are taught to fear, often in ways that profit others. But what does all this fear do to our moral lives as it forms (or deforms) our character and our judgment? Drawing on Christian scripture and tradition, Following Jesus in a Culture of Fear articulates a response to fear that resists an ethic of security in favor of fostering an ethic of risk. The Christian virtues of hospitality, peacefulness, and generosity are presented as the way to defeat the counter-virtues of suspicion, preemption, and control. Pastors, students, and lay people will find this unique book both accessible and intriguing. EXCERPT Do not be afraid. We live in a time when this biblical refrain cannot be repeated too often. Both John Paul II in 1978 and his successor, Benedict XVI, in 2005 used these words to begin their papacies. Among all the things the church has to say to the world today, this may be the most important. No one has to be convinced that we live in fearful times, though we are not always sure what we should be afraid of and why. We suspect that our fears make us vulnerable to manipulation, but we find it hard to quell the fear long enough to analyze how it is being produced and directed for the benefit of others. One reason we are a more fearful culture today, despite the fact that the dangers are not objectively greater than in the past, is because some people have incentives and means to heighten, manipulate, and exploit our fears. Fear is a strong motivator, and so those who want and need to motivate others--politicians, advertisers, media executives, advocacy groups, even the church--turn to fear to bolster their message. I call this the "fear for profit" syndrome, and it is rampant. We have become preoccupied with unlikely dangers that take on the status of imminent threats, producing a culture where fear determines a disproportionate number of our personal and communal decisions. The sense of ever-increasing threats can overwhelm our ability to evaluate and respond proportionately to each new risk, thus we allow fear to overdetermine our actions.

Christian hospitality is more than a well-set table, pleasant conversation, or even inviting people into your home. Christian hospitality, according to Elizabeth Newman, is an extension of how we interact with God. It trains us to be capable of welcoming strangers who will challenge us and enhance our lives in unexpected ways, readying us to embrace the ultimate stranger: God. In Untamed Hospitality, Newman dispels the modern myths of hospitality as a superficial commodity that can be bought and sold at The Pottery Barn and restores it to its proper place within God's story, as displayed most fully in Jesus Christ. Worship, she says, is the believer's participation in divine hospitality, a hospitality that cannot be sequestered from our economic, political, or public lives. This in-depth study of true hospitality will be of interest to professors, students, and scholars looking for a fresh take on a timeless subject.

Fear has taken on an outsized role in our current cultural and political context. Manufactured threats are advanced with little to no evidence of danger, while real threats are exaggerated for self-interested gain. This steady diet of fear produces unhealthy moral lives, leading many Christians to focus more on the dangers we wish to avoid than the goods we wish to pursue. As a fearful people, we are tempted to make safety our highest good and to make virtues of suspicion, preemption, and accumulation. But this leaves the church ill-equipped to welcome the stranger, love the enemy, or give to those in need. This timely resource brings together cultural analysis and theological insight to explore a Christian response to the culture of fear. Laying out a path from fear to faithfulness, theologian Scott Bader-Saye explores practices that embody Jesus's call to place our trust in him, inviting Christian communities to take the risks of hospitality, peacemaking, and generosity. This book has been revised throughout, updated to connect with today's readers, and includes new discussion questions.

These essays reflect possibilities and practices of radical democracy and radical ecclesia that take form in the textures of relational care for the radical ordinary. Hauerwas and Coels point out political and theological imaginations beyond the political formations, which seems to be the declination and the production of death. The authors call us to a revolutionary politics of 'wild patience' that seeks transformation through attentive practices of listening, relationship-building, and a careful tending to places, common goods, and diverse possibilities for flourishing.

A biblical, historical, philosophical and theological guide to the field of Christian ethics. Written in an accessible and animated style, this is the essential text for students of Ethics.

In November 2014, the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) invited its member churches worldwide to examine firsthand each other's understanding of mission. The findings would then be used as a basis for an EMS Symposium on the theme of 'Mission Moves.' This was the starting point for four international EMS Team Visits to churches in Ghana, India, Indonesia and Germany, in 2015 and 2016, followed by the Symposium itself in June 2017. This book showcases some rare insights into what happens when churches with very different missiological backgrounds engage on a common path of internationalisation and growing together. Riley Edwards-Raudonat is the Africa Liaison Secretary at EMS. Originally from the USA, he is now based in Germany and has lived and worked extensively in Ghana. Uwe Gr�¤be is currently the Middle East Liaison Secretary at EMS, and Executive Secretary of the Evangelical Association for the Schneller Schools. Before that, he spent many years living and working in the Middle East. Kerstin Neumann is the EMS Deputy General Secretary and Head of its Department for Mission and Partnership. Before assuming her current post at EMS, she lived and worked in India for more than twenty years. (Series: Contributions to Missiology and Intercultural Theology / Beitrage zur Missionswissenschaft und Interkulturellen Theologie, Vol. 41) [Subject: Christian Studies, Religious Studies, Evangelical Studies]

Women are entrepreneurs, highly paid professionals, and leaders in business. Many of us have skills to give. We are marrying later. Many of us have time to give. Women are also likely to manage the family money for a significant portion of their lives. Many of us have money to give. When Kim King, a former corporate lawyer, began her own giving journey she found herself short on resources that would guide her along the way. She faced many questions: How much do I give? How do I find good organizations that are efficient and effective? What are some of the common methods of giving? How do I find others to join me on this journey? Most of all, she was eager to root all of her decisions in a biblical framework. When Women Give is filled with practical advice and stories to foster growth in giving at any and every level. Kim shares openly from her own story, both from her perspective as a donor and from serving on the boards of several Christian nonprofits. If you want to be a wise steward of what you've been given, then this book is for you.

Now widely recognised within palliative care, the concept of ‘total pain’ is an intensely theological one at heart. In Light to those in Darkness clinician and theologian Dr Charlie Bell holds up the concept to theological scrutiny. Bell reflects on the ways that the doctrine of ‘the communion of saints’, might be used to help the church understand how it can address “total pain” within individuals, and collective trauma within the wider community. As such the book offers both an important theological reflection for those in pastoral care roles and a broader challenge to the church to become a place of solidarity and accompaniment.