From the Chapter
Against Self-Promotion
By Hans Boersma, Ph.D.
Humility is a key virtue, according to Christian tradition. The Rule of Saint Benedict famously mentions the angels descending and ascending on Jacob’s ladder, and explains allegorically, “Doubtless, we should understand this descent and ascent as follows: one descends by pride and ascends by humility.”
The Gospels as Stories
By Jeannine Brown, Ph.D.
As we think about the Gospels as stories, it can be helpful to take a step back and consider how story is a fundamental human category. Human beings experience life as “narratively plotted.” This makes sense of the human predisposition to tell about our lives in story form.
Churches Transforming Communities
The late theologian and missiologist, Lesslie Newbigin wrote that each Christian has been sent out with the gospel, together in community, to those in the surrounding culture, for the sake of the King and His kingdom: “The Church is sent into the world to continue that which Jesus came to do, in the power of the same Spirit, reconciling people to God.”
The Little Texas Church that Could
How would they pay for their land, their building, and their priest? This was not an easy time for any of the parishioners as they were in the middle of a severe, seven-year drought.