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Cultivate an Awareness of the Often-Missed Nuances of the Holy Spirits Work in Your Life Do you find yourself longing for a richer, more meaningful spiritual life? Or maybe youre quietly wondering, "Am I even doing this right?" Youve heard metaphors like light or dark, feast or famine, close or far, to express connection with God. But what if the Spirits work in your life is not just a binary of presence or distance, but a vast landscape of movements, invitations, and transformations? In The Way of the Spirit, Dr. Jeremy Sims explains how to cultivate attentiveness to the Holy Spirit so you can recognize the subtle, often-overlooked ways God works in your life. Rather than reducing Gods activity to a formula, this book expands your spiritual vocabulary to name the Spirits many distinct movements across the seasons of life.Sims introduces seven Waypoints along the spiritual journey, each offering a glimpse into a season of life through which the Spirit works. As you walk through each Waypoint, youll be accompanied by a guidea saint or spiritual figure whose life embodies the work of the Spirit in that season. You will sit with Mary, the Mother of Jesus; the Desert Fathers and Mothers; Ignatius of Loyola; Teresa of Avila; John of the Cross; Julian of Norwich; and Brother Lawrence. Through their lives and stories, you will trace the patterns of the Spirits work, learn to recognize His presence in your own life, and engage in spiritual practices along the way.With The Way of the Spirit, you will: Learn how to cultivate attentiveness to the Spirits work and why it matters. Explore how you perceive the Spirits work in your life. Broaden your spiritual vocabulary to help recognize and partner with the Spirits work. Move beyond binaries to learn ways the Spirit moves beyond just the familiar. The Spirit is always present and working in your life, leading you through different seasons in your spiritual journey. Become more attuned to Gods movements, opening the door to the returning, refining, and deepening rhythm of spiritual growth in your daily life. With The Way of the Spirit, begin to navigate your own spiritual journey in a way that feels both ancient and refreshingly new.

Una introducción de treinta días a la historia más grandiosa jamás contada. Sabemos acerca de la Biblia. Quizás conozcamos algunos relatos bíblicos o incluso hayamos leído gran parte de ella. Pero, ¿de que trata realmente? ¿Como encajan todas las piezas?Sin una idea general de la gran historia que cuenta la Biblia, nos perderemos las buenas nuevas que Dios tiene para nosotros. En La Biblia en 30 minutos, los experimentados maestros de la Biblia Craig Bartholomew y Paige Vanosky presentan la historia de las Escrituras en treinta lecturas breves, cada una diseñada para durar aproximadamente media hora. Escritas en un lenguaje sencillo y claro, cada una incluye un pasaje de la Biblia y un breve capitulo que explica como encaja ese pasaje en la narrativa mas amplia de la Biblia.Descubre la historia eterna de la Biblia, en treinta minutos al dia durante treinta dias.

Real Answers for Real Life: Faith, Calling, Relationships, and More God invites you to love him with all of who you are. But what does that actually look like when following Jesus feels hard, and the questions you face are overwhelming?How can you handle relationships, money, and big decisions in a way that honors God?What does it really mean to hear Gods voice or experience Gods presence?How can you live out your faith without caving to the pressures around you?What does it really take to build a faith that lasts?In All Your Life, Lina AbuJamra candidly addresses the hard things about following Jesus as she shares insights for building a life of enduring discipleship. Youll learn how to: Ditch the pressure to act like a perfect Christian and connect with God in your real, everyday life. Stop stressing about whats next and start trusting God with your future, one honest step at a time. Connect with the body of Christ in ways that enrich your faith and help you overcome loneliness. Get real help for your struggles by learning how Gods truth speaks into your daily thoughts and decisions. Move from a faith that relies on emotional highs to a steady, everyday walk with Jesus that actually changes you day by day. If you want to know how to follow Jesus more closely and experience God more deeply, this book will help you explore how your faith connects to your real-life decisions, relationships, and challenges. With the help of AbuJamras honest answers, practical guidance, and biblical wisdom, you can grow beyond a compartmentalized faith and discover the deep joy of walking with Jesus in every part of your life.

A Christian Approach for Communicating with Your Neighbor Every day we give and receive communication. But good communication doesnt always come naturally. Strengthening our skills is vital not only for those who specialize in communication but for everyone who wants to have healthy relationships, love our neighbors, and shape the world around us for good.In Authentic Communication, educators Tim Muehlhoff and Todd Lewis offer a wealth of resources from both communication studies and the Bible. This textbook unpacks the essential elements of communication and applies them to common challenges, offering a unique look at biblical principles of communication such as loving our enemies and blessing those who insult us.Youll find wisdom to address questions like: How can we overcome our natural biases and take someone elses perspective? When are persuasion tactics ethicaland when arent they? What does healthy forgiveness look like? How should Christians offer alternative views to the dominant voices in society? Is constructive dialogue practical in a culture of argument? Whats new in the second edition: a new chapter on perspective taking in light of disagreement, a new chapter on communication in estranged relationships, an updated recommended resources section, and updated research and sources based on the past fifteen years of fresh scholarship in communication studies. This book lays a foundation for engaging people who hold different views, seeking to open pathways for communication. Embrace the invitation to communicate well as a Christian with Authentic Communication.

"Mako has a lot of wise things to say about beauty in this book . . . one point is worth emphasizing: Beauty refreshes. Beauty alters. Beauty is a revolution in outlook. That makes beauty both a potent balm and a potent provocation, especially in times like these." from the foreword by David Brooks, New York Times columnist and author of How to Know a Person Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year Christianity Today Book AwardsAward of Merit Cultivate Practices That Care for the Soul of Our Culture "Culture is not a territory to be won or lost but a resource we are called to steward with care. Culture is a garden to be cultivated."We live in an era of cultural war and combativeness. But we all have a responsibility to care for culture, to nurture it in ways that help people thrive. In this second edition of Culture Care, internationally recognized artist Makoto Fujimura issues a call to cultural stewardship in which we become generative and feed our cultures soul with beauty, creativity, and generosity, serving others as cultural custodians of the future.This is a book for anyone with a calling to createfrom visual artists, musicians, writers, and actors to entrepreneurs, pastors, and business professionalswho wants to reach across boundaries with understanding, reconciliation, and healing. As creative catalysts, we can contribute to the shared culture that affects human thriving today and shapes the generations to come.Whats New in the Second Edition Carries forth the call to steward and restore culture so that people and communities may thrive A new introduction and additional content addressing the significance of culture care in an era of culture wars New material on generative thinking and culture care as public theology Enhanced with 15% more new content including real life stories and fresh insights to help deepen your understanding This book also includes a study guide for individual reflection or group discussion. Culture care is about shaping culture by fostering beauty, cultivating understanding, and offering hope. If you want to learn how to engage with culture in a more meaningful way, read Culture Care and discover how to become a hopeful, generative contributor to the world around you. Culture Care is your invitation into a vision of cultural engagement rooted in beauty, restoration, and spiritual depth.

¿Cómo sabemos que el Nuevo Testamento es confiable? Es una cuestión importante, pero los debates sobre si el Nuevo Testamento es históricamente exacto pueden ser tediosos y abrumadores. Queremos tener la certeza de que los relatos del Nuevo Testamento son verdaderos y dignos de confianza, pero las discusiones academicas sobre la autenticidad de los eventos narrados en las Escrituras pueden resultar dificiles de abordar.Benjamin Shaw ofrece la introduccion clara que necesitabamos para comprender la fiabilidad historica del Nuevo Testamento. En su libro Confiable, realiza un repaso sistematico de los temas clave relacionados con la confiabilidad del Nuevo Testamento y proporciona orientacion para quienes se inician en la exploracion de las evidencias. Con capitulos breves y directos al punto, equipa al lector para responder a las preguntas dificiles que surgen al hablar sobre la credibilidad del Nuevo Testamento.Abordando una amplia variedad de evidencias incluyendo la arqueologia, la autoria, la critica textual y las fuentes no cristianas Shaw guia al lector a traves de los temas academicos esenciales relacionados con la confiabilidad del Nuevo Testamento. Esta es la verdad: podemos confiar en el Nuevo Testamento no solo por su exactitud historica, sino tambien como guia para la vida.

A Trusted Resource for Christian Mental Health Professionals, Now Updated Navigate the complexities of mental health from a Christian worldview with Modern Psychopathologies. Written by well-known and respected scholars Mark A. Yarhouse, Barrett W. McRay, and Richard E. Butman, this classic textbook, now in its third edition, provides a comprehensive introduction to the major psychopathologies identified in contemporary mental health care.Chapters address categories of psychological problems and offer overviews of current research on etiology, treatment, and prevention. Topics covered include: Issues related to anxiety, mood, addiction, trauma, and more Biological and sociocultural foundations of mental illness Insight for conducting responsible care in an imperfect system The authors also explore methods of classifying disorders in historical pastoral care and contemporary mental health care. In addition to the biological and sociocultural foundations of mental illness, they reflect on the relation between psychopathology and the Christian understanding of sin.Whats new in the third edition: Updates according to the DSM-5-TR New content on social and cultural influences, trauma, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and more Discussion of different classification models for personality disorders Incorporates new insights and references from the latest ten years of research Modern Psychopathologies is a unique and trusted resource for Christian students, professors, and mental health professionals. Whether you are studying psychology and counseling or providing counseling services, pastoral care, or spiritual direction, this book equips you to understand, evaluate, and contribute to mental health care with clarity, compassion, and conviction.About the Series Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS) Books explore how Christianity relates to mental health and behavioral sciences including psychology, counseling, social work, and marriage and family therapy in order to equip Christian clinicians to support the well-being of their clients.

Lessons from Midwives for Pastoral Leadership We find ourselves in a moment in which the church is in great pain. Congregations are dwindling, denominations are fracturing, and church scandals have become all too common. We need a new imagination to capture the hopefulness of God birthing something new in the midst of the pain of the old creation. In The Pastor as Midwife, Shawna Songer Gaines brings her pastoral experience alongside her research on the vocation and practices of midwifery to explore a vision of pastoral leadership that is shaped by the wisdom of those who walk alongside expectant mothers. Learning to pastor like a midwife helps us embrace what God is doing in our pain and see new life in unlikely places.This book gives pastors a ministry paradigm that embraces change and pain as part of Gods salvific work in the world. Gaines helps pastors embrace a new, life-giving posture for ministry marked by advocacy, listening, and letting go of control. Like the apostle Paul in Romans 8:22, pastors who long to witness the birth of Gods new creation are invited to imagine their work like a hopeful midwife.With The Pastor as Midwife, you will: learn how the practices and wisdom of midwives offer a new way of approaching pastoral leadership, a way that begins and ends with a hopeful view of Gods work in birthing new creation; engage with thought-provoking reflection questions to explore your own leadership patterns; and reenvision ministry to see change and pain as integral to Gods life-giving work in the world. Wherever you are in your journey as a pastor, The Pastor as Midwife offers a thoughtful and hopeful perspective on ministry in a changing and often challenging world. Learn to witness and partner with God in the birth of new creation with The Pastor as Midwife, trusting in the Spirit of God who brings new life to a fallen but beautiful world.

Lead Your Congregation to Connect Sunday Worship to Monday Work Work matters to God. Does it matter to his church? Many Christians experience vocational restlessness and anxiety, unsure or unaware how their faith can guide them in their workplaces. What would it look like for your church to affirm, equip, and commission your congregation to embrace a sense of calling and mission in their everyday labor? In Pastoring for Monday, Matt Rusten helps you lead your church to form Christians who follow, represent, and commune with Christ amid their daily work. This book equips you to bridge the divide between the sacred and secular, transforming how your church disciples people for the workplace.Rusten shows how you can intentionally change your language and liturgy to celebrate the ordinary working lives of church members, providing concrete discipleship pathways and pastoral priorities for living out the gospel through vocational discipleship. Youll learn how you can prioritize faith and work as a necessary focus, rather than an optional add-on, for the thriving and collective mission of your church.With Pastoring for Monday, you will: Learn to connect Sunday worship with the realities of Monday work to equip people to follow Jesus through the work week. Find practical discipleship ideas to help believers live out their faith in professional contexts. Transform your preaching and leadership to help your congregation see the value of their daily vocation as a ministry. This book empowers pastors to foster a church culture where every believer is equipped to follow Jesus not just on Sunday but through the workdays that follow. With Pastoring for Monday, help your congregation connect Sunday worship to Monday work and transform the way your ministry bridges faith and work.

Move Past Anxiety and Into Confident Witness Are fear and anxiety holding you back from sharing your faith? Does the thought of evangelism make you uneasy or leave you concerned about making others uncomfortable? The biggest barrier to evangelism, Mark Teasdale argues, is not lack of training or informationits fear.To overcome this fear, we must engage not just intellectually and spiritually, but also psychologically. In Socially Awkward Evangelism, Teasdale considers evangelism through the lens of psychology, helping you overcome the roadblocks that often accompany sharing your faith. Teasdale offers resources for dealing with anxiety and shame and helps you communicate in ways that reduce uncertainties in others, utilizing recent developments in understanding mental and emotional health.Socially Awkward Evangelism: addresses the underlying fears and anxieties often tied to evangelism with tools informed by psychology, offers practical tools for overcoming fears about evangelism, challenges common misperceptions about evangelism, and helps you communicate your faith authentically, sensitively, and creatively. Through practical exercises, theological foundations, and psychological insights, this book will guide you to thoughtfully attend to your inner life, your social context, and the heart of Jesus, helping you move beyond fear to embrace evangelism as the blessing its meant to be.Whether youre a church leader or educator training others, a student eager to learn, or someone who struggles with the social anxiety often tied to evangelism, Socially Awkward Evangelism provides the tools to help you step into this sacred task with confidence and purpose.

Including People with Disabilities Is Essential to Your Churchs Witness God wants people of all abilities to be active participants in his kingdom. But churches have not always made it clear that people with disabilities are both part of Gods story and fully welcome in their communities. If the church is to be a credible witness, it must reach and include people with disabilities within its evangelism, mission, and everyday life.In Disability and Evangelism, Rochelle Scheuermann casts a vision for including people with disabilities in all aspects of evangelism, from how we understand and tell the gospel story, to how we evangelize to and with people with disabilities. This groundbreaking book invites us to reshape our evangelism theology and practice so that people with disabilities are central in all we think, say, and do. Scheuermann uncovers how Gods story in Scripture responds to the complexities of disability and provides both the means and message to share good news among people of all abilities. She then explores issues of evangelism practice, including how we understand conversion, an expanded understanding of accommodation, and pursuing interdependence in ministry.In Disability and Evangelism, you will gain a biblical understanding of both disability and evangelism; hear stories from people with a range of disabilities; study evangelism practices that go beyond traditional approaches that are key for doing evangelism with and among people with disabilities; understand why many people with disabilities feel excluded from and do not attend church; and engage with discussion questions in each chapter. This book shows how the gospel really is good news for people of all abilities. Understanding and embracing disability is not only a matter of compassion and justice. People with disabilities will help the church to counteract faulty visions of power, autonomy, and self-promotion and to encounter the good news of Jesus more deeply. If youre looking for a resource that invites people with disabilities to be both recipients and active participants in Gods mission, Disability and Evangelism is for you.About the Series Center for Disability and Ministry books explore the intersection of disability and practical theology in partnership with the Center for Disability and Ministry at Western Theological Seminary. Co-edited by Benjamin T. Conner and John Swinton, this series explores key issues in disability theology through the framework of practical theology, aiming to increase knowledge as well as faithfully impact Christian practice.

Connect Your Creativity with the Creator In In the Beginning We Create, award-winning graphic designer and artist Nathan L. Nicholson reflects on Gods timeless patterns of creation, offering practical insights for how and what you create. Nicholson guides you through twenty-one reflective meditations inspired by Gods creative process, each paired with the authors original artwork, uncovering how collaboration, creation, and rest are essential rhythms for expressing your unique creative vision.Nicholson explores how God is the ultimate Creator, and his creative abilities are beyond compare. In the Beginning We Create invites you to explore Gods creative process and discover how you can emulate his creativity in the creative gifts he has given you. Using the book of Genesis as the foundation, youll dive into the story of God creating the universe and find inspiration for your own creative journey. If the Creator of the universe took time to rest, the cycle of creation and rest is necessary for our healthy creativity as well.Key Features: 21 inspiring reflections that draw from the Genesis creation narrative and other Scripture passages 50+ original artworks by the author thoughtfully included throughout the book Insights for spiritual growth as you learn how the process of creating connects you with God and has purpose and meaning Though this book, youll see how no matter the creative discipline you use, you can offer your creativity back to God, discovering new ways to reflect the Creators handiwork in your life.If you yearn to create with intention and purpose, this book will help you view creativity through a new lens: aligning your creativity with divine purpose. Learn how you can honor God with every word, stroke, or melody you create with In the Beginning We Create.

Faith Conversations for a Modern World Have you ever wanted to look over the shoulder of an expert apologist as he has conversations about faith?Louis Markos, acclaimed author of From Plato to Christ and Passing the Torch, gives you a seat at his table for an international potluck dinner held in his home, where guests from many faith traditions and walks of life engage in spirited discussion about faith, miracles, and the meaning of life.My Apologetics Dinner Party presents a method of talking about Christian faith that is not based primarily on propositional logic or the defense of truth claims (though these features do show up). Instead, he aims to clarify what Christians actually believe through a winsome and engrossing narrative in the tradition of Socratic dialogue. The conversations in this book are rooted in real-life interactions Professor Markos has had with skeptics, seekers, and adherents of other faiths throughout a lifetime as a professional apologist for Christianity.In My Apologetics Dinner Party, you will get a unique opportunity to look over the shoulder of an expert apologist in action. observe a laid-back, conversational approach to evangelism built upon hospitality and designed for life in a modern, pluralistic society. see an example of how to engage in conversational apologetics among people of diverse cultural, educational, and religious backgrounds. hear dialogues, rather than debates, as creative narrative in the Socratic tradition. Youll be entertained as well as enlightened as youre taken up in the banter, humor, and atmosphere of lively dinner conversationonly to find at the end that some of your deepest questions have been addressed. If you are looking for a book that will show you how to discuss your faith in a real-life setting with friends who have deep questions to ask but dont want to hear a sermon, or a book you could give to curious seekers to read on their own, youll find it in My Apologetics Dinner Party.

A Groundbreaking Analysis of Dallas Willards Theology of Spiritual Formation Dallas Willards formational theology begins with the claim that the aim of God in human history is the formation of a community of loving persons apprenticed to Jesusand ends with the promise that such apprenticeship prepares us to share in Gods governance of the cosmos.This apprenticeship to Jesus is the path to human flourishing, the renewal of the church, and the healing of the world. In Kingdom Apprenticeship, Keas Keasler offers the first comprehensive study of Willards theology of spiritual formation. He argues that while the three Ds of disciples, discipleship, and disciplines made Willard famous, his formational theology is much deeper than that. Willards unique grammar of transformation is grounded in ordinary life, for it is in our present reality that we are trained to participate in Gods eternal purposes.Mining Willards philosophical works, theological writings, recorded lectures, and unpublished papers, Keasler shows: Willards theology serves as a practical curriculum for spiritual growth, offering a remedy for the character crisis we see in the church and in society. Apprenticeship to Jesus is both for growth in Christlikeness and preparation for reigning with God in the fullness of his kingdom. Spiritual formation is not secondary or supplementary to Gods mission; it is its very strategy. Against the drift of modern theology into abstraction, Willard calls the church back to a clinical theologyone aimed at the transformation of character through an interactive life with God. Formation and mission, contemplation and action, inner renewal and outward vocationall are inseparably linked in Willards vision.Kingdom Apprenticeship offers a fresh and urgent call: to recover apprenticeship to Jesus as the heart of the Christian lifeand the hope of the world.

Rediscover Community in a Disconnected World Jesus said his followers would be known for their love, not their loneliness. Yet over half of Americansand American churchgoerssay that they lack companionship or that no one knows them well. We live increasingly disconnected lives, and our mental and spiritual health suffer as a result.In The Way Back to One Another, Jeff Galley and Phil Smith provide a remedy based on studying Scripture, learning from the global church, and observing best practices in thousands of small groups. The New Testaments exhortations to love one another are not merely individual commands but instructions for experiencing deep relationships and community, one to another, to each other, and each to all. Loving one another today will require a countercultural return to practices that are increasingly devalued and disregarded: depending on, committing to, talking with, knowing, and welcoming one another.In The Way Back to One Another, youll learn: Loneliness is a subtle yet pervasive issue that affects our mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being, and even as Christ-followers, were not immune. God designed us for deep, meaningful relationships to help us become who he intends us to be. There is hope to cultivate the deeper connections we long for and to be ambassadors of those relationships for others, even in a culture of isolation. Fulfilling life is found in interdependence and realizing that our relationship with God is deeply connected to our relationships with others. Overcoming loneliness requires intentional, countercultural changes in how we live. Galley and Smith cast a vision for how we were created to live, outline practical shifts to combat loneliness, and offer life design suggestionssmall yet meaningful changes we can make to escape aloneness, build relationships, and create community to experience the depth of connection God intends for us. With The Way Back to One Another, discover how you and your church can break away from soul-killing isolation and become catalysts of life-giving relationships and community.

The twenty-first century opened with a rapidly changing map of Christianity. While its influence is waning in some of its traditional Western strongholds, it is growing at a phenomenal pace in the global South. And yet this story has largely eluded the corporate news brokers of the West. Layered as it is with countless personal and corporate stories of remarkable faith and witness, it nevertheless lies ghostlike behind the newsprint and webpages of our print media, outside the cameras vision on the network evening news.Miriam Adeney has lived, traveled and ministered widely. She has walked with Christians in and from the far reaches of the globe. As she pulls back the veil on real Christians--their faith, their hardships, their triumphs and, yes, their failuresan inspiring and challenging story of a kingdom that knows no borders takes shape.This is a book that coaxes us out of our comfortable lives. It beckons us to expand our vision and experience of the possibilities and promise of a faith that continues to shape lives, communities and nations.

"By his wounds we are healed" Isaiah 53:5 We are wounded people. In this fallen world, people are hurt and exploited. Children are abused. Marriages are broken. Tragedies of all kinds afflict us and the ones we love. Woundedness, it seems, is simply a fact of life.But we are not alone in our suffering. Despite our emotional, psychological and physical injuries, God has not abandoned us. God is not distant or aloof. On the contrary, through the ministry of Jesus, God enters our painful situations to bring healing and redemption.Balancing sound biblical exposition with sensitive pastoral care, Stephen Seamands examines the profound implications of Jesus crucifixion for our healing and restoration. Because Jesus experienced abuse, shame and rejection, he understands the hurts we experience today. And his response to pain and suffering gives us hope that we too can experience forgiveness and new life.Filled with real-life stories of peoples brokenness and healing, Wounds That Heal offers comfort for our wounded souls. Ultimately, we take heart that God not only understands our pain but has done something about it. Encounter here the promise that the wounds of Jesus are wounds that heal.

When was the church founded? Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God and not of a religious organization subsequently called church. We dont find in the Gospels expressions which make reference to the foundation of a new religious community, a new and distinct community of followers of Jesus. But after the resurrection of Jesus, his followers, as a result of his express command, gather together not only those from the people of Israel but men and women of all nations.The final clauses of the Nicene Creed spell out, briefly and to the point, the churchs self-understanding in these early centuries. Angelo Di Berardino assembles a wide range of texts and teachers of the church during these years to enrich our understanding and deepen our faith in the great mysteries expressed here.The Creed quickly hits the four marks of the churchthat it is "one holy catholic and apostolic." What do we mean by professing each of these? Di Berardino helps us to give an answer with the help of the fathers of the church.The volume closes, as does the Creed, with a consideration of baptism (the traditional entrance for people into the church) and two central features of the church in the futurethe expectation that all of Gods people will enjoy the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.The five-volume Ancient Christian Doctrine series follows up on the acclaimed Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture to provide patristic commentary on the Nicene Creed, translating source material from the church fathers into English for unparalleled insight into early church history.

"The Spirit blows where it pleases," Jesus said to Nicodemus."You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."The Spirit, like the wind, is hard to pin down. Any discussion of the Spirit is fraught with the difficulty of speaking about something or someone who defies definition and who purposely averts attention from himself toward someone else. So it is with the Spirit. And so it is with the churchs reception of and conversation about the Spirit, even in its early centuries. It is hard to pin down, and the churchs voice on the Spirit has been about as loud as the whisper of the wind that indicates the Spirits presence.The churchs teaching on the Holy Spirit is perhaps what Nicolas Berdayev has called "the last unexplored theological frontier." In these latter days of the church, this "final frontier" is receiving increasing attention. The rise of the Pentecostal movement, the engaged witness of the Orthodox churches, which have historically been more sensitive to the role of the Spirit, coupled with the fact that people in general are looking for a deeper and more relational faith, perhaps help explain in part the increased attention the Spirit is getting.It is appropriate then that the base camp of this exploration be established in the early understanding of the church on these matters. Following the outline of the succinct third article of the Nicene Creed, Joel Elowsky opens up to us vistas of the Holy Spirit with expertly selected passages from ancient Christian writings.This portion of the Creed, apart from the filioque, is largely uncontroversial. The full deity of the Spirit is highlighted not so much by theological definition as by the emphasis on worship and action. While the Creed itself does not speak directly of the work of the Spirit in justification, sanctification and the like, the early church theologians nevertheless had much to say on these issues. Here we see clearly how the Spirit is "giver of life."The five-volume Ancient Christian Doctrine series follows up on the acclaimed Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture to provide patristic commentary on the Nicene Creed, translating source material from the church fathers into English for unparalleled insight into early church history.

Master the Art of Communication for Counseling and Beyond Anyone in a helping professionincluding professional counselors, spiritual directors, pastoral counselors, chaplains, and lay leadersneeds to develop effective communication skills. But learning these skills is like learning a new language: it takes time and practice to communicate effectively, and lack of practice can lead to declining fluency in this new language.For both beginning students and seasoned practitioners, Skills for Effective Counseling provides a biblically integrated approach to foundational counseling skills. It trains the reader to use crucial microskills such as perceiving, attending, empathic connection, and authenticity.Chapters include textbook features such as sample session dialogues, role plays, and a variety of exercises that will engage different learning styles. Interwoven throughout are special topics related to: clinical tips for using skills in real-world counseling settings biblical/theological applications current and seminal research on microskills multicultural counseling the relevance of skills to interpersonal relationships and broader ministry settings This textbook and the accompanying IVP Instructor Resources include all of the activities and assignments that an instructor might need to execute a graduate, undergraduate, or lay course in foundational counseling skills. Professors teaching in CACREP-accredited professional counseling programs will be able to connect specific material in the textbook to the latest CACREP Standards.This revised edition of Skills for Effective Counseling has been updated throughout to incorporate recent research and be even more useful for the classroom. This second edition includes a new chapter on video/online counseling, discussion of new approaches to biblical and theological integration, updated references, and expanded instructor resources.About the Series Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS) Books explore how Christianity relates to mental health and behavioral sciences including psychology, counseling, social work, and marriage and family therapy in order to equip Christian clinicians to support the well-being of their clients.