Joining Lives

We live in precarious times and are seeking to make a lasting impact through immediate solutions. But in our haste we often make decisions to fix problems and persons, forgetting that we are not called to fix but rather to reconcile. In this wide-ranging collection of essays we explore what it might look like if we were to live in the world first with the purpose of reconciling and then allow that vision to guide our actions. Each essay engages with reconciliation in different contexts, providing meaningful and potentially transformative insights that will lead the reader to more faithful lives and activities. The essays are not filled with theoretical reflections but with hard-earned wisdom from proven thinkers, practitioners, and innovators.

Many introductory texts claim to make sociology relevant to student interests. Perhaps no other text has done this so completely - and engagingly - as Connecting Sociology to Our Lives. Tim Delaney not only uses popular and contemporary culture examples, he explains sociology thoroughly within the frame of the contemporary culture of students - a culture shaped by political, economic, and environmental trends just as much as by today's pop stars. This book will help academics to engage their students in sociology through the prism of their own culture. It involves students in critical thinking and classroom discussion through the book's many 'What Do You Think?' inserts, and will inspire them to careers with the book's unique chapter, 'Sociology's Place in Society: Completing the Connection'.

The awareness that the churches shaped out of the European Reformations are in an advanced process of unraveling is becoming increasingly sensed by many. This book proposes a way of addressing this unraveling based on the experiences and knowledge of people who have always had to struggle with the unraveling of their own communities and worlds. It takes us outside the circular conversations of the Euro-tribal churches into dialogue with people who have been marginalized to see how they have learned to reenter their formative stories to discover ways of remaking themselves in the unraveling. The book then turns these discoveries into ways the churches can engage their own massive unraveling.

What does it mean to ‘take up your cross daily’? “Sell your possessions and give to the poor”--really!? “Deny yourself,” Jesus says. How does all of this fit together in a world two thousand years removed? Joining Jesus on the Way, takes a look at the discipleship teachings of Jesus through the lens of the Gospel of Luke. Luke’s unique emphasis on discipleship has long been recognized among the Gospel traditions. One might even call Luke’s Gospel a discipleship manual. In Luke, Jesus prepares his disciples for the power packed ministry they will live out in Luke’s second volume, Acts. Jesus teaches his disciples about self-denial, obedience to his commands, proper attitude toward possessions, faith and prayer, and, after his resurrection, promises them the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to continue the ministry he began. Most of Jesus’ discipleship teachings are found in the “travel narrative” portion of the Gospel of Luke. In these ten chapters, Jesus is traveling up to Jerusalem and his ultimate destiny, the cross. This is a journey on which Jesus invites all would-be disciples to join him. On the way, we learn what it means to be true followers of Jesus. The ultimate goal of the journey is the cross, which every disciple must bear, but the journey does not end here. Death to self means resurrection to new life in Christ. Two thousand years later, Jesus is still calling his followers to join him on the way, but we don’t always know how to answer that call. It’s not necessarily our fault, as we seem to hear very little these days about true discipleship. Some are answering the call but don’t know what to do next. Their pursuit of Jesus is avid, but they need someone to help them along the way. This book is written to be that help. In Joining Jesus on the Way, Mayo considers the implications of Jesus’ discipleship teachings for would-be disciples both then and now. This book is written to challenge 21st century believers to deepen their walk with Jesus, and to choose to take up that proverbial cross and follow him daily.

Joining the Mission is a helpful guide for new (and experienced) faculty at religious colleges and universities. Susan VanZanten here provides an orientation to the world of Christian higher education and an introduction to the academic profession of teaching, scholarship, and service, with a special emphasis on opportunities and challenges common to mission-driven institutions. From designing a syllabus to dealing with problem students, from working with committees to achieving a balanced life, VanZanten s guidebook will help faculty across the disciplines Art to Zoology and every subject between understand better what it means to pursue faithfully a vocation as professor. Susan VanZanten s Joining the Mission is an exceptional resource for all faculty members at Christian colleges and universities. While it is a very practical guide to teaching at a university, the book also helps the reader understand and wrestle with the nuances of what it means to be a faculty member at a mission-driven institution. I appreciate VanZanten s contribution to articulating why mission is important at our institutions, why we care about it so much, and how we can better accomplish it. Thomas Cedel President, Concordia University Texas

Following the work and presence of God’s Spirit into communities across North America, the authors find stories of people—ordinary, humble, and faithful people—in the Christian Reformed Church in North America who are sharing themselves with those they meet. We believe stories we tell reflect these questions: What is the Holy Spirit’s invitation to the church today and what is the implication for the future? Our answer is to go local, to look at what is set before us, to admit we are disconnected from our neighbors—the person right next door or the person in front of us. We realize we need to find ways to connect with them and stay put by remaining faithfully present. More broadly, the ministries we feature illustrate that the job of the church is to trust God and not to make things happen by ourselves. Don’t be afraid of the changes around you. Listen to the Spirit’s prodding. Embrace your place and love the people in the tangible, ordinariness of life. Inspired by an incarnational theology that emerges from an imaginative, missional reading of Luke 10, in which Jesus sends out disciples to every town and palace, the authors visit workers who labor in the harvest fields of the Lord’s uncommon, upside down kingdom. A kingdom that—at this point mostly under the radar—has already come.

Understanding how a child's faith forms is crucial to knowing how adults can most significantly enhance the child's spiritual development. This book provides parents, teachers, and Christian education leaders with valuable insights into spiritual formation during childhood. With a biblical perspective as a starting point and a recognition of the crucial role of both the family and the faith community, Stonehouse reviews important contributions from noted child development experts Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, and James Fowler. This overview gives insight into the processes of psychosocial, cognitive, and moral development in children and adolescents. Stonehouse concludes with solid guidelines for designing children's ministries. By carefully "setting the stage" through liturgy, sacred stories, and parables, Christian educators can help children meet with God. Quiet times of "godly play," carefully adapted to the age level of the child, enable adults to join with children on the journey toward deeper intimacy with God.

Analyzes the spiritual formation of young children and calls for renewed attention to scripture and the involvement of families in the process.