In the world we live in today, people who have been sucked into the world of gangs and violence have become pariahs in society. The moving biography of Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart, captures the extent of gang violence though memoirs of numerous ex-gang and gang members. Boyle’s mission is to help these people with his endless compassion, fostering a sense of kinship, and helping them find self-love, ultimately forming a community unlike any other. The entire book revolves around compassion. When asked what compassion is, one of Father Greg’s students replied, “Compassion ...IS...
Beginning at its November breakfast meeting, BTB began a remarkable study authored by Rev. Tony Evans. The study is based on his book, Kingdom Man. In the very first study, he uses a football analogy to define what the Kingdom Man’s role is. He’s not a quarterback, running back, or a quarterback.
He examines how we do nothing and that God alone works this saving faith in us. Next on the list is having a biblical understanding of evangelism. Dever believes that the way we evangelize has a lot to with the way we understand biblical conversion. Dever sought to answer: What is evangelism? Who should evangelize?
In the book Just Mercy, by Bryon Stevenson, he shares the story of his upbringing as a lawyer and company Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. Through his career, he was able to understand the full extent of mercy and its ability to bring out people’s humanity. Additionally, Stevenson argues how people who act upon prejudiced beliefs are just as broken as those who have been condemned to life in prison without parole and on death row, because they have all been defeated by a sense of hopelessness and animosity within their own lives. In my critique, I describe my new found understanding of the cruelty behind the death penalty. Moreso, the trauma and brutality it brings to all the players involved, especially to those who are placed on death row.
War Without Mercy “Ultimately, it brought about a revolution in racial consciousness throughout the world that continues to the present day.” (Dower 4). During World War II, besides morbid deaths, racism was one of the ultimate factors which sparked this tragic period of time. With the use of propaganda such as cartoons, films, and several other media induced strategies, the extreme hatred between the Americans and Japanese was increasing.
The observer discusses their motivations in the preamble. Speaking as the human’s pastor, they describe how they ‘tended’ the human, guiding them to the right path. The use of the term ‘tended’ invokes the commonplace metaphor of the child
The sermon begins with an introduction to the story of Peter Healing a Lame Beggar and emphasizes on Acts 3:1-8. Bishop Jakes discusses that the man in the story was only expecting to receive something, no matter what it was, as long as it was something. He then goes into how people are afraid of disappointment, how to have the courage to raise your expectations, and how to break your patterns. He describes how the environment you are in can affect your success and how it’s beneficial to surround yourself with others who are better and who have different things than you do. To be able to want better and receive better, you have to surround yourself with better.
Ed combats this view with the idea that the point of discipleship is not information, but Christ-like transformation. The second “broken view” presented is the fact that we try to program discipleship. Ed infers that discipleship is so much more than a six-week course, and people are looking for relationships more than discipleship classes. The third “broken view” is that we equate discipleship with our preaching. In fact, 56% of pastors surveyed believe their weekly sermon was the most important discipling ministry in the church.
In Thomas Long’s The Witness of Preaching, he aims to urge the reader to become a reliable witness of the gospel by way of ample preparation before entering a pulpit. The text offers to the reader a deeper understanding of the ministry of preaching. A useful component of the text contains informative bits of information that make the reader aware of the lengthy but necessary preparation needed for an adequate explanation of the scripture. Of primary importance is the consideration of the congregation when a preacher is first approaching the text. This point is of vital importance as it signifies that the speaker is a member of the body of Christ and the congregation.
The Wounded Heart The book The Wounded Heart is a book written for the purpose of offering hope for adult victims of childhood sexual abuse. The book examines the reality there are so many victims of sexual abuse who are now adults, and are still suffering the consequences of the abuse they encounter as child, and how these sexual abuse have not only destroy their trust in people, but it has damage their current relationships, how it has impacted their dreams for the future, it has caused people to suffer from anxiety, depression, stress, anger, how it has made them feel with a sense of guilt and shame, even though it was not their fault. This book takes a look at the issues related to sexual abuse, while also looking for God for peace and
The concept of “The Hero’s Journey” plays a major role in nearly every piece of fiction humanity has created since its inception, from epic poems to blockbuster movies. In many ways, works of fiction and some pieces of nonfiction could not exist and would not make sense without the concept of a Hero’s Journey; it allows the reader to comprehend and follow the progression of characters over the course of the story. While Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road may not display most of the archetypal qualities found in classic Hero’s Journeys such as J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit or Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad, it most clearly exemplifies the qualities of a Hero’s Journey through the Boy’s character in relation to the mentor, tests and enemies, and the
Theologically conservative leaders from United Methodist Church have formed a group within the denomination known as Wesleyan Covenant Association. The organization is endorsed by around 50 ministerial and lay leaders, and theologians. The WCA will convey its first gathering in Chicago on October 7 to promote the goals of scriptural Christianity and to welcome new members.
(Matthew 20:26–28). It is sad commentary in the world today that we have many leaders but very few servants. Many people want to “exercise authority,” but only a few want to serve. We should have an attitude to be like Christ’s in that we recognize others better than ourselves and do nothing out of vanity or selfishness. Rather, we must look out for the interests of another, and this means every leader is a
Christians often view salvation as a heavenly resting place; in reality, however, salvation is a lifelong journey that can bridge the gap between Heaven and Earth. This spiritual bridge can be crossed through faith coupled with good works. “Bridge”, a short story by Daniel O’Malley, features a young boy who struggles to comprehend salvation as well as find his own. This motif of salvation is achieved through the use of biblical allusions which also help support the fact that the bridge is a physical representation for the motif of the path to salvation which the narrator fails to cross. O’Malley starts his story with two biblical allusions, “...but also about the flood and locusts and frogs and other plagues that had happened before and could happen again…(192).
A short critique - “The Reformed Pastor” by Richard Baxter Richard Baxter’s writings on the “The Reformed Pastor” is a wake up call to every shepherd of the flocks to examine their soul’s condition and their flocks as well. So, the minister, coming into ministry with much infirmity, has before him a great responsibility and yet difficult office to undertake and to accomplish. Every minister’s success in accomplishing God ordained duties and responsibilities depends on the thoroughness of his examination of his own soul – “It is most necessary, therefore, that men of so much infirmity should take heed to themselves, and be careful in the oversight of their own souls.” While he takes care of his own soul diligently, the same way he needs to care for his flocks welfare – soul’s betterment. Richard Baxter’s writing had been a humble yet an authoritative call to reform ministers’ actions and live their lives as if the souls of his flock depend on his actions.