Taking a broad look at what the twenty-first-century church is doing on the mission field, the assumptions people make about Christianity, and what it takes to adapt effectively to various cultural contexts, this work helps Christians understand the changing face of Christianity and how that affects short-term missions.

Offers ecumenical meditations on love, perception, forgiveness, eternal life, and theoretical concepts in theology

The Saint John's Bible provides an opportunity for people to experience the Scriptures in a new 'but at the same time ancient 'way. Here are illuminations that bring the words of the Bible alive for a contemporary audience. Some of the world's top calligraphers, working in a tradition all but replaced by the printing press centuries ago, invite us into a rich and varied creation. This second volume of The Art of The Saint John's Bible: A Reader's Guide takes up two great collections of biblical literature 'Wisdom Books and Prophets.

The illuminations in Wisdom Books and Prophets draw on motifs from earlier illuminations and expand the visual vocabulary to strike at what is unique and important to these books. In Wisdom Books we find a number of well-known and beloved aphorisms, or words of wisdom." Here calligraphic text treatments take center stage. However, these books also portray the divine in the female figure of Wisdom, presented visually in several large-scale illuminations. The prophets ' messages are often dark and strange, reflecting the grief of exile but also hope. The illuminations throughout these pages reflect Visions of man's inhumanity, but they also burst with the rainbows of God's promise and glory. Lavishing equal attention on the biblical passages and the artistic Vision of The Saint John's Bible, this guide is offered to enhance your experience and reflection.

Susan Sink is a poet and writer, and is communications director at Saint Benedict's Monastery in St. Joseph, Minnesota. She is also an oblate of Saint John's Abbey, the author of a book of poems, The Way of All the Earth, and the first book in this series.

The influence of the evangelical Christian right on the Bush administration has had a mostly unnoticed impact on America's environmental policy. While some take God's granting of dominion over the earth to man as a call to good stewardship of our planet, many evangelicals distrust science and disdain environmental protections. They live in anticipation of one event: the Rapture, when Christ will return to cleanse the earth while the true believers are transported to heaven. For those who believe that the Rapture and the destruction of the world are imminent, there is no need to be concerned about saving the planet from environmental catastrophe.

Parenting is a school for spiritual formation--and our children are our teachers. The journey of caring for, rearing, training, and loving our children will profoundly alter us forever.Sacred Parenting is unlike any other parenting book you have ever read. This is not a "how-to" book that teaches you ways to discipline your kids or help them achieve their full potential. Instead of discussing how parents can change their kids, Sacred Parenting turns the tables and demonstrates how God uses our kids to change us.You've read all the method books. Now take a step back and receive some much-needed inspiration. You'll be encouraged by stories that tell how other parents handled the challenges and difficulties of being a parent--and how their children transformed their relationship with God. Sacred Parenting affirms the spiritual value of being a parent, showing you the holy potential of the parent-child relationship.

This powerful book of passages from Martin Luther's Easter sermons portrays the reformer's lasting thoughts on faith, human imperfection, salvation through grace, and the wonder of God. The sermons explore events from Holy Week through the Resurrection. They combine marvelous insights with inspiring calls to action that are so characteristic of the great reformer: "The resurrection consists not in words, but in life and power."

In this bold theoretical work, Bruce Lincoln explores the ways in which myth, ritual, and classification hold human societies together--and how, in times of crisis, they can be used to take a society apart and reconstruct it. Without overlooking the role of coercive force in the maintenance (or overthrow) of social structures, Lincoln argues his thesis with compelling illustrations drawn from such diverse areas as Platonic philosophy, the Upanishads of India, ancient Celtic banquets, professional wrestling, and the Spanish Civil War. This wide-ranging interdisciplinary study--which draws on works in history, semiotics, anthropology, sociology, classics, and indology--offers challenging new insights into the complex dynamics of social cohesion and change.

Eilberg, a Conservative rabbi who has worked in hospice care, pastoral care, spiritual teaching, and interfaith programs, explores the work of peace-building and the transformation of an enemy into a friend as a spiritual practice. She uses her experiences with interpersonal, intercommunal, and intergroup conflict, as well as wisdom from ancient Jewish sacred texts and perspectives from the academic study of peace and conflict and communications theory, to understand and teach what happens to humans under threat and in the middle of conflict and what it takes to meet the other and see him or her as oneself. She addresses the experience of conflict in interpersonal relations, then conflict engagement between faith communities, across ideological lines within the North American Jewish community on the subject of Israel, and in the context of grassroots Israeli-Palestinian peace-building, ending with discussion of the qualities of soul needed in peace. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Create a tapestry of comfort and inspiration. Maggie Oman creates a healing space for readers in her deeply spiritual book Prayers for Healing: 365 Blessings, Poems, & Meditations from Around the World. During moments that are filled with despair, illnesses, depression, or spiritual longing, Prayers for Healing draws on the power of wise and healing devotionals for reflection and deep mediation.

Embrace physical, emotional, and spiritual transformation. Prayers for Healing demonstrates the transformative nature woven through the power of prayer and wisdom, drawing from a select collection of influential spiritual leaders, philosophers and thinkers of our time that include:

• The Tao Te Ching
• The Koran
• The Torah
• Native American texts
• The Bible
• Thich Nhat Hanh
• Wendell Berry
• Jack Kornfield
• Rumi
• Rainer Maria Rilke
• Marian Wright Edelman
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Marianne Williamson

Discover the power to heal through many meditation and prayer voices. This interfaith book provides insight from various religious and cultural texts that touches on our pain and inspires the healer within all of us to be reminded of hope and faith so that we may live a deeper, more meaningful, and fully self-expressed life.

If you have found that works such as Prayers That Bring Healing, Earth Prayers, Prayers of Hope for Caregivers, Prayers for Hard Times, or Prayers for Hope and Healing have brought inspiration into your life, then this book is an invitation to cementing your inner healer.