STREET SIGNS by Ray Bakke & Jon Sharpe
It’s a world in motion. Across the globe people are moving in unprecedented proportions from rural communities to urban centers. This explosion of growth and all the complexities it brings is not to be seen as a problem for churches, but as a gift - an opportunity to work with God within the city to see His purposes worked out.
Street Signs is a guide for church missions leaders and community ministry leaders seeking to bring spiritual and practical transformation to the city. Ray Bakke and Jon Sharpe offer transferable models that come from consultations held in over 200 world cities with church, business, government, and other leaders that provide approaches for God’s people who want to love their own cities from the inside out. They also provide a practical and inspirational guide to enable leaders to become volunteer consultants, bringing together church and city leaders to mobilize resources for the transformation of the city.
It’s a world in motion. Across the globe people are moving in unprecedented proportions from rural communities to urban centers. This explosion of growth and all the complexities it brings is not to be seen as a problem for churches, but as a gift - an opportunity to work with God within the city to see His purposes worked out.
Street Signs is a guide for church missions leaders and community ministry leaders seeking to bring spiritual and practical transformation to the city. Ray Bakke and Jon Sharpe offer transferable models that come from consultations held in over 200 world cities with church, business, government, and other leaders that provide approaches for God’s people who want to love their own cities from the inside out. They also provide a practical and inspirational guide to enable leaders to become volunteer consultants, bringing together church and city leaders to mobilize resources for the transformation of the city.
A THEOLOGY AS BIG AS THE CITY by Ray Bakke
As we look at the world-class cities around our planet, we face five new urban realities: a crack cocaine epidemic, assault weapons, massive numbers of homeless children, HIV/AIDS and (in the U.S.) what magazine has called `the browning of America.' The needs of the urban population are greater than ever. . . . As our cities swell with immigrants, I'm reminded that Jesus was born in a borrowed barn in Asia and became an African refugee in Egypt, so the Christmas story is about an international migrant. Furthermore, a whole village full of baby boys died for Jesus before he had the opportunity to die for them on the cross. Surely this Jesus understands the pain of children who die for the sins of adults in our cities.
How does God see the city? What does Scripture have to say about urban ministry? These are the questions Ray Bakke has systematically addressed, beginning with Genesis and continuing through to Revelation. Here is a biblical theology that will constantly surprise and challenge as you get a glimpse of how big God's view of the city really is.
As we look at the world-class cities around our planet, we face five new urban realities: a crack cocaine epidemic, assault weapons, massive numbers of homeless children, HIV/AIDS and (in the U.S.) what magazine has called `the browning of America.' The needs of the urban population are greater than ever. . . . As our cities swell with immigrants, I'm reminded that Jesus was born in a borrowed barn in Asia and became an African refugee in Egypt, so the Christmas story is about an international migrant. Furthermore, a whole village full of baby boys died for Jesus before he had the opportunity to die for them on the cross. Surely this Jesus understands the pain of children who die for the sins of adults in our cities.
How does God see the city? What does Scripture have to say about urban ministry? These are the questions Ray Bakke has systematically addressed, beginning with Genesis and continuing through to Revelation. Here is a biblical theology that will constantly surprise and challenge as you get a glimpse of how big God's view of the city really is.
THE URBAN CHRISTIAN by Ray Bakke
There are millions of opportunities for the gospel. With half of the world's five billion people in cities, there is almost no end to the exciting challenges that await us. Ray Bakke has been there. For over twenty years he and his family have worked with and love the people of today's cities, bringing a message of faith and hope. He knows how the city works and how it can be used to the advantage of the gospel. He knows how people hurt too, and he knows how Christianity can heal and make whole.
Now he offers us the basic building blocks we need to live this young, rootless, mobile, media-tuned population. Here is practical, time-tested wisdom on what the church can and is doing in worship, work and witness.
Bakke's biblical perspective is enriched by years of study and worldwide travel. He believes the church can and must train people to live with and minister to the hurting rich and the hurting poor of the city. The opportunities are our for the taking.
There are millions of opportunities for the gospel. With half of the world's five billion people in cities, there is almost no end to the exciting challenges that await us. Ray Bakke has been there. For over twenty years he and his family have worked with and love the people of today's cities, bringing a message of faith and hope. He knows how the city works and how it can be used to the advantage of the gospel. He knows how people hurt too, and he knows how Christianity can heal and make whole.
Now he offers us the basic building blocks we need to live this young, rootless, mobile, media-tuned population. Here is practical, time-tested wisdom on what the church can and is doing in worship, work and witness.
Bakke's biblical perspective is enriched by years of study and worldwide travel. He believes the church can and must train people to live with and minister to the hurting rich and the hurting poor of the city. The opportunities are our for the taking.
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THE BEAUTIFUL GATE: ENTER JESUS' GLOBAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT by Bob Ekblad
The Beautiful Gate is the site of the first healing Jesus’ disciples facilitate after Pentecost. Peter and John encounter a man lame from birth, disqualified and excluded outside the temple. In this prototype miracle, care for the poor and marginalized, respectful presence, relational connectedness, empowerment and holistic healing in Jesus’ name coalesce, freeing the man to move through the Gate, into the company of those who had previously excluded him. Once inside, the apostles offer prophetic challenge, calling people to confession, repentance, and conversion. We too are called to join Jesus in his global liberation movement now.
The Beautiful Gate is the site of the first healing Jesus’ disciples facilitate after Pentecost. Peter and John encounter a man lame from birth, disqualified and excluded outside the temple. In this prototype miracle, care for the poor and marginalized, respectful presence, relational connectedness, empowerment and holistic healing in Jesus’ name coalesce, freeing the man to move through the Gate, into the company of those who had previously excluded him. Once inside, the apostles offer prophetic challenge, calling people to confession, repentance, and conversion. We too are called to join Jesus in his global liberation movement now.
READING THE BIBLE WITH THE DAMNED by Bob Ekblad
Exploring the challenges that both the churched and the unchurched have faced regarding giving and receiving the word of God, Bob Ekblad encourages us all to learn to read the Bible together as a whole. In this compelling book, he reflects on how Christians have often found it difficult to proclaim God's good news to every realm of society, while those who have needed it most have frequently deemed themselves unworthy due to social circumstances or sinfulness. In Reading the Bible with the Damned, Ekblad offers concrete advice on how to bridge this gap through a variety of insights ultimately leading to spiritual transformation. This book is full of examples of how Scripture changes lives for those who attend Bible studies and for those who lead them, offering practical suggestions on many passages from the Old and New Testaments.
Exploring the challenges that both the churched and the unchurched have faced regarding giving and receiving the word of God, Bob Ekblad encourages us all to learn to read the Bible together as a whole. In this compelling book, he reflects on how Christians have often found it difficult to proclaim God's good news to every realm of society, while those who have needed it most have frequently deemed themselves unworthy due to social circumstances or sinfulness. In Reading the Bible with the Damned, Ekblad offers concrete advice on how to bridge this gap through a variety of insights ultimately leading to spiritual transformation. This book is full of examples of how Scripture changes lives for those who attend Bible studies and for those who lead them, offering practical suggestions on many passages from the Old and New Testaments.
A NEW CHRISTIAN MANIFESTO by Bob Ekblad
Bob Ekblad delivers a radical new reading of the Lord's Prayer by arguing that there are earthly power structures and allegiances that prevent God's kingdom from coming "on earth as in heaven." Drawing on his experiences in ministry with marginalized people and his understanding of the Bible, Ekblad calls the church to follow Jesus by seeking its own deliverance from these structures, and to recognize people on the margins as the most receptive to becoming agents of transformation. A New Christian Manifesto urges Christians to break down barriers to join Jesus in a movement that includes recruiting, healing, empowering, and setting out to achieve an ultimate victory of the cross.
Bob Ekblad delivers a radical new reading of the Lord's Prayer by arguing that there are earthly power structures and allegiances that prevent God's kingdom from coming "on earth as in heaven." Drawing on his experiences in ministry with marginalized people and his understanding of the Bible, Ekblad calls the church to follow Jesus by seeking its own deliverance from these structures, and to recognize people on the margins as the most receptive to becoming agents of transformation. A New Christian Manifesto urges Christians to break down barriers to join Jesus in a movement that includes recruiting, healing, empowering, and setting out to achieve an ultimate victory of the cross.
THE LEAST OF THESE by Ron Ruthruff
Through concrete detail, current statistics, and qualitative insights from more than 25 years living among and ministering globally to youth mired in tough and dangerous street life, Ron Ruthruff provides a tried model for serving not only troubled youth but others as well. Ruthruff tells stirring, biblically relevant stories of the real young people whom he and his family have loved and served—and what these kids have taught him in return about truly Christ-centered ministry. These stirring stories compel us to reach the least, the last, and the lost, and to appreciate what they can teach us as well. Readers will hear the voice of Job from the hospital bed of a heroin addict, read the story of the demoniac in Mark 5 from the perspective of an “untouchable” in an orphanage in Bombay, India, and discover that the children who sit on our city streets around the world are not just a problem to be solved, but have the potential to become some of our greatest teachers in both their depravity and their dependence on God.
Through concrete detail, current statistics, and qualitative insights from more than 25 years living among and ministering globally to youth mired in tough and dangerous street life, Ron Ruthruff provides a tried model for serving not only troubled youth but others as well. Ruthruff tells stirring, biblically relevant stories of the real young people whom he and his family have loved and served—and what these kids have taught him in return about truly Christ-centered ministry. These stirring stories compel us to reach the least, the last, and the lost, and to appreciate what they can teach us as well. Readers will hear the voice of Job from the hospital bed of a heroin addict, read the story of the demoniac in Mark 5 from the perspective of an “untouchable” in an orphanage in Bombay, India, and discover that the children who sit on our city streets around the world are not just a problem to be solved, but have the potential to become some of our greatest teachers in both their depravity and their dependence on God.
