God S Empowered People

Professional ministers and their work as church leaders have dominated church and pastoral ministry studies. Lay ministry studies have been neglected. In the local church, lay ministries are often defined solely by their voluntary service in the local church, and even then are regarded as secondary to the work of the professional minister(s) leading the local church. This study proposes that the word "minister" should be applied to all believers and that professional ministers and their ministries should serve the larger group doing ministry: the laity. Lay ministry should not be understood only as that service done in the local church, but should be understood as a call received and obeyed by the laity to "do the work of ministry" in their work places and their neighborhoods, as well as their local churches. Following Amos Yong's theology of disability and the formation of the L'Arche communities found throughout the world, this God's Empowered People will show how the local church can welcome all in Christ's name into a community of the Spirit in which people are loved and respected for who they are. From such a welcoming, loving, and respectful community can come people of varying abilities who discover their special gifts of ministry, then take their gifts into the work world, market place, and neighborhoods to "do the work of ministry" in Christ's name. They will be able to go places and do things no professional minister could go or do, yet still need the professional minister to help prepare them to "do the work of ministry." Thus, professional and lay ministries are not competitive but complementary. In such a community of professional and lay ministries operating cooperatively, all have the opportunity to express wisely their gifts in their arenas of calling and influence.

The early 1960s were a heady time for Catholic laypeople. Pope Pius XII’s assurance “You do not belong to the Church. You are the Church” emboldened the laity to challenge Church authority in ways previously considered unthinkable. Empowering the People of God offers a fresh look at the Catholic laity and its relationship with the hierarchy in the period immediately preceding the Second Vatican Council and in the turbulent era that followed. This collection of essays explores a diverse assortment of manifestations of Catholic action, ranging from genteel reform to radical activism, and an equally wide variety of locales, apostolates, and movements.

"Fee's book is the most comprehensive treatment available of Paul's understanding of the Holy Spirit, a topic that has rarely received sufficient attention in studies of Pauline theology. Fee's method is exemplary: he first analyzes Paul's statements about the Spirit, in each individual letter, and then moves to a synthesis of Paul's general pneumatology. The result is a book that is deeply exegetical, doing justice both to the particularity of Paul's writings and to the fundamental unity of his vision for the Spirit's role in the life of the Christian community. Most importantly, Fee emphasizes insistently that the Holy Spirit must be experienced as a living presence within the church. That message is both faithful to Paul and urgent for the community of faith in our time." and -Richard B. Hays, Professor of New Testament, The Divinity School, Duke University"With the energy and care that is a trademark of his work, Gordon Fee here fills a significant gap in Pauline Studies. Both those who find talk about the Holy Spirit congenial and those who would happily marginalize it will be instructed by this book. Fee makes a genuine contribution as he examines Paul's letters in conversation with both the exegetical tradition of the academy and the pressing needs of the church." and -Beverly R. Gaventa, Professor of New Testament and Exegesis, Princeton Theological Seminary"Fee uniquely combines professional competence as a text critic, an exegete, an author and editor of major commentaries, and a foremost evangelical interpreter of Paul with a lifetime of formation and ministry among the Pentecostals-this century's providential witnesses to the work of the Spirit of God among us. . . . Fee's work offers an enduring encyclopedia of Pauline pneumatological exegesis, easy to consult for next Sunday's sermon, yet substantial enough to take its place near George Ladd's Theology of the New Testament as a must-have, within arm's reach, for serious interpreters of Paul's gospel. . . . Fee's work is the theological crown of a distinguished exegetical career." and -Russell P. Spittler, Senior Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary

Empowering God's People Devotional is a must to read daily devotional for motivation, for strength, to help you navigate your way through life, knowing God is with you. And you can now follow his plan because he has given to us the route we need to take that can bring you closer to where he wants you to be in him...Empowering people to come one person at a time, making sure no one is left behind. When we share God's love that is so divine, 'cause the world needs to know that God is still around, and there's no way he could ever leave town, for God is a spirit, and he's always around. And my plea to you is to trust him, so you can stop being down...When you let God empower you, he'll give you peace of mind. When the enemy comes to you, trying to get you to turn around, you can always call on Jesus. It will have him running every time...

God spoke to me today. He began to speak to me about different things. It's just been one of those times in the last few weeks, God has just been speaking incredibly special things. I believe such a time as this, this is the most powerful time in the church ever, in our lives. In anybody's lifetime is right now what God wants to do. He wants to do wonderful things. He wants to do mighty things. It's not just about America, but it's about the world. In our day of destiny, that's what it is. This is our destiny. For what God is getting ready to do, there is a destiny, we're going to see the glory of God. To see the glory, we must believe, you got to believe God's doing something. For a long time, I've been in many revivals, and we've had outbreaks of revival where people were healed 1000s of cancers, and all kinds of miracles and, and things taken place. We've had so many different things take place, every time.

In his insightful book, Damazio lays out for the serious student a broad discussion of what it means to be responsible for a group of "followers.

The most powerful asset a church has is it’s people. People of God is a challenge to the men and women of the church. It is a challenge to believe what God says about his people still applies to the church today. It is a challenge not to settle for church as just a program. It is a challenge to return the ministry of God to the people of God. People of God lays out the theology and practice of community. Authors Spence Shelton and Trevor Joy seek to show why community is central to the Christian life, and how to practice it in the 21st century church. Whether you are a pastor or a volunteer leader, People of God aims to equip and encourage congregations as they build a culture of discipleship in the life of their church. The authors draw on experiences and learnings from their time leading two of the fastest growing congregations in America to give you principles that can apply in a church of 50 or 15,000.

This book strives to explain how a free people are more than able to provide for their own needs infinitely better than any conceivable government program. Within its pages I unveil my One-Eight, One-Nine plan to Empower People through Restrained Government. It's a two part plan which addresses both the function and finance of the federal government by insisting upon adherence to existing Constitutional provisions. Government leaders fear it. One-Eight deals with function. It refers to Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution which specifically enumerates the powers authorized to be performed by congress. The plan seeks to awaken the people of the United States to the enormous benefits to society derived from our extremely limited Constitutional government, and insist that the federal government adhere to and honor its specific enumerated duties. We accomplish this task by educating ourselves and monitoring those we elect to office to ensure they follow the Constitution. Those which don't must be voted out. One-Nine deals with financing. It refers to Article 1 Section 9 which specifically states that money may only be drawn from the federal treasury to pay for enumerated Constitutional functions. All spending outside this authority is unconstitutional. Implementing the Constitutional provisions of One-Eight, One-Nine is achieved through my Negative Baseline program. Current policy automatically increases annual spending on non-Constitutional programs through baseline budgeting. My Negative Baseline instead reduces this spending causing all non-Constitutional spending to simply fade away. Contrary to popular belief, I discuss how the reductions will be relatively painless. Unneeded federal employees, as well as those dependant on the federal government, will be enthusiastically absorbed by a revitalized free market. The only way to solve our nation's problems is through an educated electorate desiring to replace self serving politicians with those wishing to truly secure our liberty.