Kiwimade Narrative Sermons

This collection of over forty narrative sermons illustrate the science and art of taking a text of Scripture, almost any text, and crafting it into a narrative that effectively and affectively communicates the content of Holy Scripture in ways that impact the congregation. Spanning the canon of Holy Scripture the present volume represents a snapshot of current preaching by Baptist women and men from Aotearoa New Zealand in an attempt to teach by illustration what narrative sermons may look like, and to model the potential they have to communicate God's Word written. Originally preached to a diverse range of congregations, each sermon has been re-written for publication and illustrates biblical fidelity, imaginative creativity, and contextual sensitivity. Kiwimade Narrative Sermons is a key resource text for classes on homiletics, a refresher course for seasoned ministers of the Word, and a devotional aid in its own right.

"A book for people grieving because of the pandemic, health challenges, family conflict, or other losses, while also seeing so many things to be thankful for. A book for small groups - each of the seven chapters has discussion questions at the end. A book for Advent and Lent."--Author's website

At a critical crossroads in New Zealand history, VJM Publishing has released the second edition of New Zealand best seller State Secrets by author Ben Vidgen. Read retrospectively, the 1999 best seller is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand what is now happening in the country known as Aotearoa. State Secrets correctly forecast the emergence of major threats to New Zealand national security (and its status as a genuinely democratic state). Threats which come from the rise of multinational trade blocs intent on accessing New Zealand's considerable natural resources. The agents of these threats, Vidgen maintains, are supported by neoliberal political elements within and outside New Zealand's own Government, such as its media structure, quick to take advantage of the simultaneous rise of a highly dangerous violent criminal class within New Zealand. The 1999 book argues the rise of organised crime in New Zealand is nothing less than a second front in an economic war being deliberately waged on New Zealand sovereignty by those who seek to end New Zealand democratic traditions from the shadows. For example, State Secrets demonstrates how large scale money laundering and white collar tax evasion was rife long before New Zealand was named in the Panama Tax haven bank scandal more than 60,000 times in 2016. State Secrets argued, well ahead of the mainstream pundits, that New Zealand's role as the largest "washing machine" in the South Pacific was having an impact on the housing market and the New Zealand way of life. Viewed in hindsight, the analysis - written by a veteran New Zealand investigator, with a research background in academic political science and New Zealand military intelligence - was dead on the bulls-eye every time. State Secrets forecast the failure of the war on drugs, predicting a massive surge in the meth trade, financed by white collar businessmen, being simultaneously tied to the super escalated growth of American styled super gangs. A claim then considered unlikely but now indisputable for anyone who read the headlines today. State Secrets correctly assessed that the collateral damage of this 'evolution' of New Zealand organised crime would serve to make lower socio-economic communities dysfunctional and would disempower swathes of the wider population as its impact overwhelmed the capacity of our health, education, social services and correctional services - in the process conveniently enhancing the argument for privatisation. State Secrets identifies the enemy within: a neoliberal American and New Zealand Business Round Table alliance who today can be found to have dug their fingers deep into all sides of the New Zealand Parliament (and increasingly the state judiciary and security forces), the political spectrum, and even its underbelly. It is driven by the motives of those addicted to the lust for absolute power and maximum profit. Forces seduced, as State Secrets forecasts, pre 9/11, by the largely self-made (self-armed) bogey monster of terrorism. The enemy within chooses to ignore dealing with the real threats New Zealand faces by placing control on foreign investment and New Zealand, notoriously relaxing banking and company law. Instead it seeks to opportunistically erode New Zealand civil liberties and strengthen a transformative State: one full of secrets which has broken its covenant with the people, serving a corporate master at the expense of the rest of New Zealand.

Let's give ourselves an A for effort. We keep our minds so preoccupied with work projects that we act and think on autopilot. We keep our kids so occupied with activities that they need day planners before grade school. We keep our schedules so full with church meetings and housekeeping and even entertaining that down-time sounds like a mortal sin. When we fail to rest we do more than burn ourselves out. We misunderstand the God who calls us to rest--who created us to be people of rest. Let's face it: our rest needs work. Sabbath recalls our creation, and with it God's satisfaction with us as he made us, without our hurried wrangling and harried worrying. It also recalls God's deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, and with it God's ability to do completely what we cannot complete in ourselves. Sabbath keeping reminds us that we are free to rest each week. Eighteen months in Tel Aviv, Israel, where a weekly sabbath is built into the culture, began Lynne M. Baab's twenty-five-year embrace of a rhythm of rest—as a stay-at-home mom, as a professional writer working out of her home and as a minister of the gospel. With collected insights from sabbath keepers of all ages and backgrounds, Sabbath Keeping offers a practical and hopeful guidebook that encourages all of us to slow down and enjoy our relationship with the God of the universe.

Third Article Theology (TAT) is the name given to a new movement in constructive theology utilizing a distinctly pneumatological approach to dogmatics. Trinitarian in its foundation, pneumatological in its impetus, and comprehensive in its scope, TAT specifies both a method and a theology. Thinking through the theological loci of the tradition in relation to the Holy Spirit opens up new vistas and a deeper vision of the task of theology, revealing ways of thinking hitherto eclipsed by the tradition. Drawing upon the trinitarianism of the Great Tradition, theologians from across the theological spectrumbring their voices to bear upon central and defining theological issues of today in order to present a new form of systematic theology—a pneumatological dogmatics—capable of representing the faith in a contemporary mode. For students, scholars, and clergy, the volume unfolds the classic articles of systematic theology in this new register. Each doctrinal article is written by a leading theologian in the field, with essays from Amos Yong, Eugene Rogers, Veli-Matti Karkkainen, Joel Green, Marc Cortez, Frank Macchia, Myk Habets, and others.

Facebook. Twitter. Snapchat. We live in a rapidly changing world, a world that seems to be increasingly inhospitable toward preaching. In the face of digital technology, social media, cultural pluralism, and pastoral burnout, how can Christian preachers proclaim the gospel faithfully and effectively? This book answers that question by bringing together a selection of important voices from across North America, Asia, and the Pacific. It argues that Spirit-empowered preaching is characterized by five attributes: it opens the Scriptures, engages the culture, addresses the listener, dissects the preacher, and elevates the Savior. With contributions from authors like William Willimon, Darrell Johnson, Lynne Baab, Robert Smith Jr., and Paul Windsor, this is an excellent resource for ordained ministers, lay preachers, theological students, and anyone wrestling with the challenge of preaching God’s word in a smartphone world.

In this devotional, Geoff New urges us to encounter the Lord's Prayer as a text that is urgent and powerful, speaking directly to the needs and longings of the human heart. Written primarily for preachers, this book addresses common ministry challenges and demonstrates how the Lord's Prayer can meet us in every season of the Christian life.

The Art of Worship is about transitioning our understanding and practice of worship to one of design or curation. According to Mark Pierson, a pioneer in worship, worship needs to be seen as an art form rather than a linear task of filling in the gaps on an order of service. Many practical examples are used to illustrate ways in which worship in regular services as well as in specially designed spaces inside and outside the church building can be designed and delivered for spiritual formation and mission.