Ministry in the Image of God

2009-09-20
Ministry in the Image of God
Author: Stephen Seamands
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2009-09-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830876359
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Merit winner in the 2006 Christianity Today Book Awards! "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Those of us called to Christian ministry are commissioned and sent by Jesus, just as he himself was called and sent by the Father. Thus we naturally pattern our ministries after Christ's example. But distinctively Christian service involves the Spirit as well, just as Jesus himself accomplished his ministry in the power of the Spirit. Thus the whole Trinity--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--gives shape to truly authentic Christian ministry. Though as Christians we all affirm the doctrine of the Trinity, many of us might struggle to explain how understanding the Trinity could actually shape our ministry. Stephen Seamands demonstrates how a fully orbed theology of the Trinity transforms our perception and practice of vocational ministry. Theological concepts like relationality and perichoresis have direct relevance to pastoral life and work, especially in unfolding a trinitarian approach to relationships, service and mission. A thoroughly trinitarian outlook provides the fuel for our ministry "of Jesus Christ, to the Father, through the Holy Spirit, on behalf of the church and the world." Essential reading for pastors, parachurch workers, counselors, missionaries, youth ministers and all who are called to any vocation of Christian ministry.

Dignity and Destiny

2015-01-08
Dignity and Destiny
Author: John F. Kilner
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 414
Release: 2015-01-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0802867642
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Misunderstandings about what it means for humans to be created in God's image have wreaked devastation throughout history -- for example, slavery in the U. S., genocide in Nazi Germany, and the demeaning of women everywhere. In Dignity and Destiny John Kilner explores what the Bible itself teaches about humanity being in God's image. He discusses in detail all of the biblical references to the image of God, interacts extensively with other work on the topic, and documents how misunderstandings of it have been so problematic. People made according to God's image, Kilner says, have a special connection with God and are intended to be a meaningful reflection of him. Because of sin, they don't actually reflect him very well, but Kilner shows why the popular idea that sin has damaged the image of God is mistaken. He also clarifies the biblical difference between being God's image (which Christ is) and being in God's image (which humans are). He explains how humanity's creation and renewal in God's image are central, respectively, to human dignity and destiny. Locating Christ at the center of what God's image means, Kilner charts a constructive way forward and reflects on the tremendously liberating impact that a sound understanding of the image of God can have in the world today.

Creative in the Image of God

2020-03-02
Creative in the Image of God
Author: Katherine M. Douglass
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2020-03-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532684533
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The declining religious participation among young adults, or “Rise of the Nones,” has signaled alarms across American Christianity. A closer look into the faith lives of thirty young adults who are, or were at one time, connected with a church, however, shows an articulate and aesthetically embodied faith life that seeks out connection with others, expression of their identity, and an openness to encountering God. Young adults see themselves, and all people in this pluralistic world, as bearing the image of God. They see creativity, in their own lives and in the lives of others, as evidence of this identity. This book is not an appeal to put more art into congregations, but rather an invitation to attend to aesthetic, embodied ways of knowing that exist among all people.

The Image of God in an Image Driven Age

2016-03-08
The Image of God in an Image Driven Age
Author: Beth Felker Jones
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2016-03-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830851208
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Humans are created in the image of God, yet by choosing to rebel against God we become unfaithful bearers of his image. But Jesus, who is the image of God, restores the divine image in us. At the intersection of theology and culture, these essays offer a unified vision of what it means to be truly human and created in the divine image in the world today.

Basic Lessons on Life

1993
Basic Lessons on Life
Author: Witness Lee
Publisher: Living Stream Ministry
Total Pages: 163
Release: 1993
Genre: Spiritual life
ISBN: 087083729X
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Created in God's Image

1994-09-06
Created in God's Image
Author: Anthony A. Hoekema
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 282
Release: 1994-09-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780802808509
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ccording to Scripture, humankind was created in the image of God. Hoekema discusses the implications of this theme, devoting several chapters to the biblical teaching on God's image, the teaching of philosophers and theologians through the ages, and his own theological analysis. Suitable for seminary-level anthropology courses, yet accessible to educated laypeople. Extensive bibliography, fully indexed.

Tending to the Holy

2009-10-02
Tending to the Holy
Author: Bruce G. Epperly
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2009-10-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1566996473
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Tending to the Holy: The Practice of the Presence of God in Ministry invites pastors to embody their deepest beliefs in the routine and surprising tasks of ministry. Inspired by Brother Lawrence's classic text in spirituality, Tending to the Holy integrates the wisdom and practices of the Christian spiritual tradition with the commonplace practices of pastoral ministry. Bruce and Katherine Epperly utilize a variety of spiritual disciplines especially Benedictine, Celtic, Ignatian, Rhineland, and process spiritualities to provide a framework for helping clergy nurture the awareness of God, creative imagination, and personal well-being in every aspect of their ministerial lives. Practicing God's presence in the ordinary tasks of ministry inspires wholeness, spiritual transformation, vision, imagination, endurance, and healthy self-differentiation in ministry. Commitment to joining spiritual practices with the routine and repetitive tasks of ministry provides an important antidote to unhealthy stress, burnout, and loss of vision in ministry. By seeing their congregational leadership in terms of spiritual transformation, imaginative practice, and relational interdependence, ordinary ministerial practices can become ways pastors can deepen their relationship with God. Growing out of their work with pastors at every season of ministry, as well as combined ministerial experience of nearly sixty years, Bruce and Katherine Epperly invite pastoral leaders to complement and expand on their understanding of spiritual leadership, pastoral excellence, and self-care, integrating traditional and contemporary spiritual practices with the concrete arts of ministry.

Ministry by the Book

2009-05-29
Ministry by the Book
Author: Derek Tidball
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2009-05-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830838597
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Focusing on pastoral leadership within local churches or groups of churches, Derek Tidball provides a comprehensive survey of the variety of ministry models and patterns found in the New Testament with applications for today's ministry.