Mostrando títulos en Eclesiología

Of all things Catholic, there is nothing that is so familiar as the Mass. With its unchanging prayers, the Mass fits Catholics like their favorite clothes. Yet most Catholics sitting in the pews on Sundays fail to see the powerful supernatural drama that enfolds them. Pope John Paul II described the Mass as "Heaven on Earth," explaining that what "we celebrate on Earth is a mysterious participation in the heavenly liturgy."

Author Frank Viola gives listeners language for all they knew was missing in their modern church experience. He believes that many of today's congregations have shifted from God's original intent for the church. As a prominent leader of the house church movement, Frank is at the forefront of a revolution sweeping through the body of Christ. A change that is challenging the spiritual status quo and redefining the very nature of church. A movement inspired by the divine design for authenticity community. A fresh concept rooted in ancient history and in God Himself.

The feast of Epiphany and its following season are not as well observed as they should be. Many of us associate Epiphany with the visit of the Magi but don't know much more about it. In this short volume, priest and theologian Fleming Rutledge expounds the primary biblical texts and narrative arc of the season, inviting us to discover anew "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

History amply demonstrates that the truths of Paul's message cannot be overstated or repeated too often. The appalling, centuries-long failure to stop false teachers from invading churches can be traced directly back to ignorance of or disobedience to Paul's prophetic warnings to the Ephesian elders. Paul's instructions and pleas to the Ephesian elders are just as critically needed today as they were that day on the shores of Miletus.

What do we call each other? It’s a deceptively simple question, because how we refer to one another is how we understand our relationships. Not recognizing the power of our words makes it harder for us to trust and serve one another―to love one another. In More than Christians, Norman Hubbard explores how the early church used common words in uncommon ways to make sense of their relationships with God and with one another. His research and contextualization of the cultural background to the New Testament is as practical for today as it is urgent.

America has become a beautiful mosaic filled with many colors and ethnicities - but does your church reflect this change? Are you longing to be a cross-cultural leader who can guide the church into a multicolored world for the sake of the gospel? Best-selling author and pastor Dr. Derwin Gray calls all churches and their leaders to grow out of ignorance, classism, racism, and greed into a flourishing, vibrant, and grace-filled community of believers.

The enduring influence of the Catholic Church has many sources, but in the first half of the 19th century, the foundations upon which the church had rested were shaken. For many people, liberalism in the guise of liberty, equality, and fraternity was the quintessence of the evils that shook those foundations. At the Vatican Council of 1869-1870, the church made an effort to set things right by defining the doctrine of papal infallibility. Author John W. O'Malley draws us into the bitter controversies over papal infallibility that at one point seemed destined to rend the church in two.

Have you ever wondered why we Christians do what we do for church every Sunday morning? Why do we "dress up" for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon each week? Why do we have pews, steeples, choirs, and seminaries? This volume reveals the startling truth: most of what Christians do in present-day churches is not rooted in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles.

In this book, Tony Merida highlights how in-person Sunday gatherings are central to God’s plans and to our faith and joy. He reminds believers of their privileges as citizens of heaven, members of God’s family, and stones in God’s temple.

What is the way forward for the church? Tragically, in recent years, Christians have gotten used to revelations of abuses of many kinds in our most respected churches―from Willow Creek to Harvest, from Southern Baptist pastors to Sovereign Grace churches. Respected author and theologian Scot McKnight and former Willow Creek member Laura Barringer wrote this book to paint a pathway forward for the church.

A cautionary look at 10 dangerously appealing half-truths. Not long ago, I came across a list of 10 principles set forth by proponents of progressive Christianity. They are, in effect, a new 10 commandments. What’s striking is that they are far less about God revealing his desires and far more about man expressing his own - less Moses, more Oprah. Yet each of these commandments is partially true. Indeed, that is what makes this list, and progressive Christianity as a whole, so challenging.

Nearly two decades ago, Hank Hanegraaff's award-winning Christianity in Crisis alerted the world to the dangers of a cultic movement within Christianity that threatened to undermine the very foundation of biblical faith. In the 21st century, there are new dangers—new teachers who threaten to do more damage than the last. Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century exposes darkness to light, pointing us back to a Christianity centered in Christ.

For years, Douglas Wilson was a credobaptist, even after accepting Calvinism and Postmillennialism. However, when he sat down to write a book on baptism, he came to question his own views and to realize that the Biblical teachings point in exactly the opposite direction. The result of that study is this audiobook, To a Thousand Generations.

Who Stole My Church? is a fictional story that tells the all-too-real tale of many church communities today. In this audiobook, you can walk alongside an imaginary community, led by real-life pastor Gordon MacDonald and his wife, Gail, and discover how to meet the needs of all believers without abandoning the dreams and desires of any.

Every church, every organization, has experienced them: betrayal, deception, grumbling, envy, exclusion. They make life together difficult and prevent congregations from developing the skills, virtues, and practices they need to nurture sturdy, life-giving communities.

The office of deacon is God's gift to His church, but today it is often undervalued, misunderstood, and perceived to be of little importance. In The Deacon, the author considers the Old Testament background for this calling, the deacon in New Testament times and in church history, and the current function of the office. You will rediscover the high and privileged calling of deacons and come to a better understanding of what God requires of them.

There is a church...not the one that man is building...but the one that Jesus himself has been constructing in the hearts and lives of believers throughout the ages.

In our quest to renew the church, Christians have walked through seeker-friendly, emergent, missional, and other movements to develop new expressions of the body of Christ. Now, in the post-Christian world in North America, we're asking the question again: Is there a way to be the church that engages the world, not by judgment nor accommodation but by becoming the good news in our culture?

Most books aimed at introducing Orthodoxy to the non-Orthodox begin by explaining basic points of doctrine and practice that differ from what the average reader may be familiar with. But for the average American, this approach doesn't go deep enough. In order to be able to fully understand Orthodox doctrine and practice, we have to unlearn an entire secular worldview and become participants in a sacramental worldview instead of a worldview that embraces reality as it truly is.

Researchers have uncovered the following three trends: First, distrust of institutions, including the church, is at an all-time high. Second, young people raised in the church are leaving at alarming rates and not returning. Third, loneliness and social isolation are at pandemic levels. What’s the connection? It appears that an entire generation is starving for the very thing the church is called to provide but has chosen to look for it elsewhere. Why is this happening?