For religious communities to have integrity and credibility they must flourish as places of love and respect. Every aspect of church life is defined and protected by essential boundaries: boundaries around space, time, thought, speech, will, emotion, and behavior--both for clergy and church members. Lack of awareness and attention to boundary keeping diminishes the integrity of the church and harms its mission, whereas insight and vigilance about best practices lend freedom and energy to the calling of the church to care for others and to reach out to the world. In a flourishing Christian community, a wide array of boundaries must be recognized, celebrated, and navigated--from the boundaries that define and protect us as individual persons to role boundaries and the boundaries that define essential communal functions, such as worship. This book is no conventional account of boundaries. It takes a comprehensive approach to the challenge of understanding and creating healthy boundaries. It applies the lessons from the emerging field of behavioral ethics to the rich and rewarding complexity of boundaries in church life, helping us to be more loving and responsible in how we think, speak, and act, so that the church can be true to its identity and mission.

For religious communities to have integrity and credibility they must flourish as places of love and respect. Every aspect of church life is defined and protected by essential boundaries: boundaries around space, time, thought, speech, will, emotion, and behavior--both for clergy and church members. Lack of awareness and attention to boundary keeping diminishes the integrity of the church and harms its mission, whereas insight and vigilance about best practices lend freedom and energy to the calling of the church to care for others and to reach out to the world. In a flourishing Christian community, a wide array of boundaries must be recognized, celebrated, and navigated--from the boundaries that define and protect us as individual persons to role boundaries and the boundaries that define essential communal functions, such as worship. This book is no conventional account of boundaries. It takes a comprehensive approach to the challenge of understanding and creating healthy boundaries. It applies the lessons from the emerging field of behavioral ethics to the rich and rewarding complexity of boundaries in church life, helping us to be more loving and responsible in how we think, speak, and act, so that the church can be true to its identity and mission.

Mainstream Christian theology has valued the integrity of the body and the goodness of God reflected in creation. However, it has also asserted the complementarity of "normal" male and female physiology. Sex and Uncertainty in the Body of Christ offers the first systematic theology of the intersexed body. The book analyzes the theological implications of physical intersex conditions and their medical treatment. The medical assumption of what constitutes male and female bodies is shown to raise essential questions about the meaning of incarnation and bodiliness. The book argues for a theology that speaks to stigmatized and marginal bodies, examining the impact of such a theology on sex, marriage, sexuality, perfection, healing, and the resurrected body.

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings epic tale has long captivated readers with its parallels to biblical truth. And now, Walking with Frodo looks at the biblical themes found in the classic Lord of the Rings trilogy. The 18 devotions pair vices and virtues (deception vs. honesty, light vs. darkness, good vs. evil) displayed by characters in The Lord of the Rings and bring to light what the Bible has to say. A must-have for longtime and new series fans.

* A timely discussion of a key Pauline theme and its value for the global church * Challenges a consensus regarding the "politics" of 1 Corinthians

How do you lead an organization stuck between an ending and a new beginning—when the old way of doing things no longer works but a way forward is not yet clear? Beaumont calls such in-between times liminal seasons—threshold times when the continuity of tradition disintegrates and uncertainty about the future fuels doubt and chaos. In a liminal season it simply is not helpful to pretend we understand what needs to happen next. But leaders can still lead. How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going is a practical book of hope for tired and weary leaders who risk defining this era of ministry in terms of failure or loss. It helps leaders stand firm in a disoriented state, learning from their mistakes and leading despite the confusion. Packed with rich stories and real-world examples, Beaumont guides the reader through practices that connect the soul of the leader with the soul of the institution.

Teens hear a lot of conflicting viewpoints about sex. The world tells them to follow their heart and do what feels right-that sex isn't a big deal, that pornography isn't harmful, that modesty is old-fashioned. But that's not how God designed sex. Sex is a precious and sacred gift to be enjoyed tin the right context, according to God's design. We need to have honest conversations with youth about pornography, self-pleasure, homosexuality, modesty, the value of human life, and, yes, sex. God gives us grace upon grace to teach our children about purity according to His Word. He equips parents, pastors, teachers, and youth workers to connect to the deeper wisdom the Bible provides and begin the conversation about sexual integrity. Book jacket.

Those within the free church tradition have often appealed to the notion of the invisible church to account for the unity of the Body of Christ. A growing number of free church theologians, however, are giving increased attention to the importance of visible ecclesial unity, which immediately raises the perennial problem of the authorities by which unity is maintained. There is also a growing recognition among free church theologians of the need to recognize the authority of tradition in tandem with the authority of Scripture. In this book, Cary affirms these recent developments but then inquires whether a turn toward visible unity, together with an embrace of the authority of tradition, can eventually be coherent without also embracing the authority of an extra-congregational teaching office. To guide his study, Cary engages the work of two theologians from outside the free church tradition: Robert Jenson and Rowan Williams. He then brings them into contact with the prominent free church theologian James McClendon in order to supplement some of the deficiencies Cary perceives in McClendon's groundbreaking work. Once these deficiencies are addressed, however, the question intensifies whether the free church tradition, as such, can remain a coherent ecclesial option over time.

Ye Are the Body of Christ presents a deep understanding of the human body to explain biblical concepts pertinent to the body of Christ. When the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:27 concludes, Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular, this somehow echoes the words of King David in Psalms 139:14, I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Pauls comparison of the functioning of the natural body to the spiritual one gives insight into the conversations that must have taken place between the apostle of the gospel of uncircumcision and the beloved physician, Luke. In Ye Are the Body of Christ, a book tagged by some as being the first of its kind, the author skillfully uses his deep knowledge of the human body to prove biblical points concerning the Godhead, the meaning of the Crucifixion, and the biblical heart, and to demonstrate the significance of multiple diseases that have plagued humanity throughout the ages. How important is vision, naturally and spiritually speaking? How does our immune system correlate to the spiritual life? Is leprosy in the Bible the same as modern leprosy? What is the hidden message behind HIV/AIDS? Why do we develop cancer? Will we ever find a cure for cancer? What is the body of Christ? How should the body of Christ function? How should we care for the body of Christ? It is amazing how the author, who is both a physician and a minister of the gospel, can effortlessly navigate through his understanding of the human body and the magnificence of the spiritual realm. Once you understand the different aspects covered in Ye Are the Body of Christ, your walk with God will never be the same.

With a clear, straightforward definition such as this, the subject of the church isn't one that most people would consider a "doctrine." For this reason, there aren't many books that deal with this crucial fundamental belief. This very readable and informative treatment of such a vital topic fills an important gap in Adventist literature. Reinder Bruinsma's far-ranging look at the doctrine of the church moves from Old and New Testament foundations for this doctrine up through church government and on to controversial issues such as ordination and church discipline. Fittingly, he concludes with the mission and future of the church. His fourfold approach-biblical and theological, historical, practical, and with an Adventist perspective-ensures that every facet of the doctrine is explored in detail. This thought-provoking discussion challenges those who call themselves "God's people" to examine their current understanding of the church and to prayerfully consider their roles as part of the body of Christ. Book jacket.