Doctrine That Dance: Bring Doctrinal Preaching and Teaching to Life
By Robert Smith Jr. and James Earl Massey
When the early church fathers sought an image to describe the intra-relationship of the Trinity they turned to an interesting dimension of life – dance. The three persons of the one God, they declared, were in a perichoretic state; a dancing state. As Robert Smith, Jr. observes in his book Doctrine that Dances, our fathers in the church were building on an image, a metaphor that was woven through the scriptures. We are a people who are created in the image of God and who therefore have dance in our very genes. Miriam danced when she reached freedom. David danced before the Lord. (Fortunately, Dr. Smith does not advocate naked doctrinal preaching!) Smith also observes that he is not the first to liken preaching to dance.
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Bonhoeffer & King: Speaking Truth to Power
By J. Deotis Roberts
A study of two of the most significant prophetic leaders in the twentieth century, J. Deotis Roberts's Bonhoeffer and King is an instructive work in theological ethics. This book considers and compares the theological reflections that guided Bonhoeffer's courageous stand against Nazism and King's quest for civil rights in America.
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Basic Christianity
By John Stott
In this book world-renowned scholar and preacher John Stott clearly defines both the fundamental claims of Christianity and the proper outworkings of those basic beliefs in the daily lives of believers. Stott's Basic Christianity is a sound, sensible guide for anyone seeking an intellectually satisfying presentation of the Christian faith.
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Why I Am a Christian
By John Stott
Why Jesus? Perhaps you have had the funny feeling that God wants to get your attention. Or maybe you're intrigued with what you've heard about Jesus. Or maybe you're simply looking for meaning and direction in your life. John Stott spent a lifetime wrestling with questions about Jesus both personally and in dialogue with skeptics and seekers around the globe. Now in Why I Am a Christian he provides a compelling, persuasive case for considering the Christian faith. If you take an honest look at Jesus, you will discover that following him gives you the purpose, identity and freedom you've been searching for―and far more than you have ever imagined.
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Between Two Worlds
By John Stott
In his preface to this major study on preaching by John Stott, Michael Green writes, "Much of the current uncertainty about the gospel and the mission of the church must be due to a generation of preachers which has lost confidence in the Word of God."
Perhaps no one is more eminently qualified to address this concern than John Stott whose scholarship and personality have shown generations of believers that he has total confidence in the Word of God and in preaching. "I believe that nothing is better calculated to restore health and vitality to the Church or to its members into maturity in Christ" reflects Stott, "than a recovery of true, biblical, contemporary preaching." His book provides precisely those practical guidelines and experienced perspectives needed for such a recovery.
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The Politics of Jesus
By John Howard Yoder
Tradition has painted a portrait of a Savior aloof from governmental concerns and whose teachings point to an apolitical life for his disciples. How, then, are we to respond today to a world so thoroughly entrenched in national and international affairs? But such a picture of Jesus is far from accurate, argues John Howard Yoder.
Using the texts of the New Testament, Yoder critically examines the traditional portrait of Jesus as an apolitical figure and attempts to clarify the true impact of Jesus' life, work, and teachings on his disciples' social behavior.
The book first surveys the multiple ways the image of an apolitical Jesus has been propagated, then canvasses the Gospel narrative to reveal how Jesus is rightly portrayed as a thinker and leader immediately concerned with the agenda of politics and the related issues of power, status, and right relations. Selected passages from the epistles corroborate a Savior deeply concerned with social, political, and moral issues.
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Your God is Too Small
By J. B. Phillips
Your God Is Too Small explores the ways in which we can find a truly meaningful and constructive God for ourselves, big enough to account for our current experience of life and big enough to command our highest admiration and respect.
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The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus' Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted
By Oberry M. Hendricks, Jr.
Who was Jesus? And how was this first-century political revolutionary, whose teachings are meant to lead the way to freedom, turned into a meek and mild servant of the status quo? How is it possible to profess a belief in Jesus, yet ignore the suffering of the poor and the needy? Just how truly faithful to the vision of Jesus are the many politicians who claim to be Christian? These are the kinds of questions Obery Hendricks, a biblical scholar, activist, and minister, asks in this provocative new book. In this day and age of heated political debate, Hendricks’s The Politics of Jesus stands out as much for its brilliant re-creation of the life and mind of Jesus of Nazareth as for its scathing critique of modern politicians “of faith.”
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Ingenuity: Preaching as an Outsider
By Lisa L. Thompson
Ingenuity introduces a theology and practice of preaching that emerges from the faith and wisdom of black women. Preaching has been resourced and taught from a narrow field of cultural or gendered experiences, historically. Without much support from established channels, black women are left to “figure it out” on their own, and others discern how to preach from a limiting scope.
The best preachers understand their own voices and the voices of others. They stretch and grow, and this enables them to preach more effectively. Ingenuity equips readers to negotiate tradition, life experiences , and theological conviction in the creative work that makes way for sacred speech.
With Ingenuity, Lisa Thompson offers deep insights for anyone seeking to enlarge their understanding, their language, and their sense of lived experiences, and offers practical help through “In Practice” segments for those who preach.
"Written from the deep well of the spirituality of Black women, Thompson has given us a remarkable guide for what preaching should be and must be for the times we are in. Accessible, thoughtful, probing, pastoral, prophetic—all come together in this text. A must read for anyone committed to faithful excellence in proclaiming the word." -Emilie M. Townes, Dean and E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt University Divinity School