Edward Irving (1792-1834) has been known as a controversial pastor-theologian in nineteenth-century Britain, particularly given his belief that Christ took on sinful flesh in His incarnation. This book focuses on Irving’s teaching of the church as the body of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and the eschatological community in holiness. It explores Irving’s emphasis upon the exalted humanity of Christ after His resurrection in relation to the church. Such a Christ-centred and Spirit-empowered concept of the church has relevance to the twenty-first century church in China as the Chinese church leaders attempt to reconstruct a contemporary theology of the church.

An engaging, richly illustrated account of parish churches and churchgoers in England, from the Anglo-Saxons to the mid-sixteenth century Parish churches were at the heart of English religious and social life in the Middle Ages and the sixteenth century. In this comprehensive study, Nicholas Orme shows how they came into existence, who staffed them, and how their buildings were used. He explains who went to church, who did not attend, how people behaved there, and how they--not merely the clergy--affected how worship was staged. The book provides an accessible account of what happened in the daily and weekly services, and how churches marked the seasons of Christmas, Lent, Easter, and summer. It describes how they celebrated the great events of life: birth, coming of age, and marriage, and gave comfort in sickness and death. A final chapter covers the English Reformation in the sixteenth century and shows how, alongside its changes, much that went on in parish churches remained as before.

Christians tend to divide into three camps: evangelical, sacramental, and pentecostal. But must we choose between them? Drawing on the New Testament, Christian history, and years of experience in Christian ministry, Gordon T. Smith argues that the church not only can be all three, but in fact must be all three in order to truly be the church.

Spirit and Sacrament by pastor and author Andrew Wilson is an impassioned call to join together two traditions that are frequently and unnecessarily kept separate. It is an invitation to pursue the best of both worlds in worship, the Eucharistic and the charismatic, with the grace of God at the center. Wilson envisions church services in which healing testimonies and prayers of confession coexist, the congregation sings When I Survey the Wondrous Cross followed by Happy Day, and creeds move the soul while singing moves the body. He imagines a worship service that could come out of the book of Acts: Young men see visions, old men dream dreams, sons and daughters prophesy, and they all come together to the same Table and go on their way rejoicing. In short, Spirit and Sacrament is an appeal to bring out of the church's storehouse all of its treasures, so that God's people can worship our unrivaled Savior with sacraments and spiritual gifts, raised hands and lowered faces.

The Spirituality of a quarter of all Christians can be characterized as "charismatic." Pentecostalism itself is one of the most rapidly growing religious movements in America and abroad. Despite these facts, little serious effort has been made to develop a systematic Pentecostal theology - until now. Word and Spirit at Play is the first work to outline a theology that does full justice to the Pentecostal experience of God's Word and Spirit. Dutch scholar Jean-Jacques Suurmond, who is himself a Pentecostal, draws on two decades of work in Pentecostalism to demonstrate in a simple yet scholarly way how a charismatic approach shapes the lives of Christians and the church. Suurmond describes the history and characteristics of present-day Pentecostalism, discusses the significance of Spirit baptism to the Pentecostal life, reflects seriously on the "gifts of grace," (including tongues), and celebrates the role of "play" in Pentecostal worship. This book will be invaluable both to theologians - who have long wanted a scholarly synthesis of charismatic theology - and to laypeople, especially Pentecostals wanting to deepen their faith and other believers searching for a spirituality that opens up new sources of Christian community. JEAN-JACQUES SUURMOND is a Reformed minister in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands.

During the last twenty-five years, two scholarly conversations have developed largely alongside one another--one surrounding the multiethnic church phenomenon and another regarding the missional church. To date, no empirical research has explored the relationship between these two conversations. In this dissertation, I explore the intersection between missional leadership and multiethnic ministry by analyzing how pastoral leadership facilitates missional change at The Lighthouse--a multiethnic congregation in Port City, USA. To understand the process of missional change at the church, I utilized a case study approach. I collected data by conducting semi-structured interviews with thirteen pastoral and lay leaders in the church, through participant observation, and by administering a congregational survey through a convenience sample during Sunday morning worship services. I then used an integrated theoretical framework consisting of adaptive leadership theory and schema theory to interpret the data. My findings revealed that pastoral leadership has been utilizing a charismatic leadership approach to construct a missional theology of place among the congregation to facilitate the process of change. They also revealed several adaptive challenges resulting from that approach to leadership: (1) A gap between a lived and preferred value for mission in the congregation; (2) over-dependence on the charismatic leader; and (3) an ethnic hierarchy being perpetuated through a Euro-centric leadership schema. As a result of this study, I was able to make three conclusions. First, as a result of the top-down charismatic leadership approach, the church is not on a journey to missional. Instead, it is engaging in an ecclesio-centric form of mission that inadvertently diminishes the agency of the Spirit by centering missional innovation around the gifts and charisma of the pastor. Second, by centering power and decision-making among the charismatic leader, the pastoral staff has inadvertently minimized the agency of the everyday people of God and marginalized ethnically diverse voices in the congregation. Third, the charismatic approach toward change is hindering missional innovation and creativity among the congregation, reinforcing the cycle of dependency on the charismatic leader. Accordingly, I suggest interpretive leadership as a pathway forward for the church to unleash the missional potential in the congregation.

Rites in the Spirit is a book about spirituality, ritual, and Pentecostal experience. The volume presents a careful and innovative study of Pentecostal practices and experiences. Focusing on the very important, but often intriguing worship rites that express the spirituality of Pentecostals, Albrecht discovers that these Pentecostal/charismatic rites and their attending sensibilities also function to shape, nurture, authenticate and even transform the spiritual lives of these Christians. Rites in the Spirit seeks to guide Pentecostals, and the charismatically-inclined, toward self-interpretation and a more nuanced conception of, and a deeper appreciation for, their Pentecostal experience. The volume also aims to make a sometimes exotic spirituality more accessible and understandable to those who have had limited contact with Pentecostal/charismatic forms and expressions.

Founded by David Yonggi Cho, Yoido Full Gospel Church is the world's largest church. This book discusses the factors responsible for the phenomenal growth of this church. The book expounds the role played by leadership, the Holy Spirit, prayer, preaching, cell groups and creativity in promoting church growth, with particular reference to Yoido Full Gospel Church. It focuses on God's Grace (charis) and Inspiring Leadership (charisma) as the two essential factors for church growth and, in this context, examines the part David Yonggi Cho's personal charisma and his ideas or principles play in causing growth. The purpose of the book is to present a model for church growth worldwide.

“A perceptive and practical book about why our calendars so rarely reflect our priorities and what we can do to regain control.”—ADAM GRANT “Carey’s book will help you reorganize your life. And then you can share a copy with someone you care about.”—SETH GODIN You deserve to stop living at an unsustainable pace. An influential podcaster and thought leader shows you how. Overwhelmed. Overcommitted. Overworked. That’s the false script an inordinate number of people adopt to be successful. Does this sound familiar: ● Slammed is normal. ● Distractions are everywhere. ● Life gets reduced to going through the motions. Tired of living that way? At Your Best gives you the strategies you need to win at work and at home by living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow. Influential podcast host and thought leader Carey Nieuwhof understands the challenges of constant pressure. After a season of burnout almost took him out, he discovered how to get time, energy, and priorities working in his favor. This approach freed up more than one thousand productive hours a year for him and can do the same for you. At Your Best will help you ● replace chronic exhaustion with deep productivity ● break the pattern of overpromising and never accomplishing enough ● clarify what matters most by restructuring your day ● master the art of saying no, without losing friends or influence ● discover why vacations and sabbaticals don’t really solve your problems ● develop a personalized plan to recapture each day so you can break free from the trap of endless to-dos Start thriving at work and at home as you discover how to be at your best.

Charismatic Chaos thoughtfully and carefully shines the light of Scripture on teaching that is not only gaining massive and loyal television followin, but also leading to disunity on a worlwide scale and promising to fuel controversy for years to come.