Towards The Prophetic Church

Thirty years ago John Hull wrote “What Prevents Christian Adults from Learning?”. This new book asks “What Prevents Christian Adults from Acting?” How has it come about that the Church appears to be so preoccupied with itself? What happened to the quest for the social justice of the Kingdom of God? John Hull's search for understanding took him back to the prophetic tradition of the Bible, and he discovered that this has become neglected and even betrayed. Christian discipleship must be more than church-going and prayer. Christians must resist the unjust structures of society in the prophetic tradition. Theological reflection is not enough!

Christians chronically and desperately need prophecy, says award winning biblical scholar Luke Timothy Johnson. In this and every age, the church needs the bold proclamation of God's transforming vision to challenge its very human tendency toward expediency and self interest -- to jolt it into new insight and energy. For Johnson, the New Testament books Luke and Acts provide that much-needed jolt to conventional wisdom. To read Luke-Acts as a literary unit, he says, is to uncover a startling prophetic vision of Jesus and the church -- one that imagines a reality very different from the one humans would construct on their own. Johnson identifies in Luke's writings an ongoing call for today's church, grounded in the prophetic ministry of Jesus Christ, to embody and enact God's vision for the world--from publisher's website.

The gift of prophecy has always invited some degree of opposition and controversy. It is one of the most vivid displays of God's presence and power among his people. Many people struggle with the very concept of the validity of prophecy today. They are troubled by the possibility that God may have direct access to our minds. Greg Haslam argues that such concerns are misplaced. Following St Paul's injunction that we should be 'eager to prophesy' he considers how God speaks, and how we should hear him; how we can test and deliver a prophetic word; and how we can grow in confidence as we learn to discern what the Spirit is saying to the church.

Where have all the prophets gone? And why do preachers seem to shy away from prophetic witness? Astute preacher Leonora Tisdale considers these vexing questions while providing guidance and encouragement to pastors who want to recommit themselves to the task of prophetic witness. With a keen sensitivity to pastoral contexts, Tisdale's work is full of helpful suggestions and examples to help pastors structure and preach prophetic sermons, considered by many to be one of the most difficult tasks pastors are called to undertake.

R. Loren Sandford does not believe we will see revival sweep the Western world--despite the prayers of those longing for God to send it--without certain key elements. The goal of our pursuit in these crucial days, rather than seeking power, must be intimacy with God and oneness with his heart. In addition to biblical examples and practical application, Sandford shows readers how certain "lighthouse churches" are incorporating and cultivating these goals. The church of Jesus Christ, he says, can rise up to have a prophetic impact on cities and nations and become all that our Savior called us to be.

Missio Alliance Essential Reading List Hearts Minds Bookstore's Best Books RELEVANT's Top 10 Books Englewood Review of Books Best Books When Soong-Chan Rah planted an urban church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his first full sermon series was a six-week exposition of the book of Lamentations. Preaching on an obscure, depressing Old Testament book was probably not the most seeker-sensitive way to launch a church. But it shaped their community with a radically countercultural perspective. The American church avoids lament. But lament is a missing, essential component of Christian faith. Lament recognizes struggles and suffering, that the world is not as it ought to be. Lament challenges the status quo and cries out for justice against existing injustices. Soong-Chan Rah's prophetic exposition of the book of Lamentations provides a biblical and theological lens for examining the church's relationship with a suffering world. It critiques our success-centered triumphalism and calls us to repent of our hubris. And it opens up new ways to encounter the other. Hear the prophet's lament as the necessary corrective for Christianity's future. A Resonate exposition of the book of Lamentations.

Hearing the Heart of Heaven is an exploration of the Biblical prophetic gifts. Full of accessible teaching, practical tips and helpful examples, this book will help you develop your own personal prophetic culture. Comprised of three sections that examine prophetic definition, prophetic structure and prophetic character, it contains the following chapters: Divine Testimony

2021 Association of Catholic Publishers third place award in theology 2021 Catholic Media Association Award second place award in theological and philosophical studies 2021 Catholic Media Association Award second place award in future church Globalization is uniting the world more closely than ever before while at the same time increasing the likelihood of division and conflict. Humanity faces problems of an unprecedented scope: vast inequality, climate change threatening the conditions of life on this planet, and a great population migration that includes human trafficking and desperate refugees. What does this global plight demand of a church called to be a sign and instrument of the union of all in God? In this book, Mary Doak shows how the church must rectify its own historic failures to embody the unity-in-diversity it proclaims, especially with regard to women and Jews. Only then, and through responding to the demands of the current global crises, can we learn what it means to be the church—that is, to be a prophetic witness and public agent of the harmony that God desires and the world deeply needs.