Book: New Life New Love by Noel Due

New Life New Love will enable you to encounter the God who offers new life to all people. 
You will appreciate who you are as you discover who God is. 
The significance of the Bible for your life will become apparent. 
New possibilities will emerge for greater peace of mind and well-being.
It will draw you deeper into an understanding of God’s forgiveness and love. 
Life affirming relationships with God and others will be experienced.
New Life New Love will enable you to encounter the God who offers new life to all people

New Life New Love is two books in one, with 16 chapters altogether. 

Highly recommended for one-on-one or small group dialogue, each chapter is summarised in a brief video interview with the author, Dr Noel Due.

 

What others are saying...

Are you curious about Christianity? Are you interested in finding out about what Christians believe? Then New Life New Love is the book for you. Noel Due has managed to achieve what many attempt to do and fail. He has distilled into two texts a great snapshot of what it means to be a Christian. And the book (well it’s actually two books for the price of one!) presents the key themes and ideas of the Christian faith in a logical and engaging manner. What a joy it is to read that ‘You are more wonderful than you realise’ in chapter one, and what a challenge it is to come to grips with ‘You are more dangerous than you imagine’ in chapter two. Grab the book and grab a Christian who can support you through the book.   The journey will bring new life and new love.  Dr Tania Nelson Executive Officer Local Mission, Lutheran Church of Australia

‘New Life, New Love’ is an excellent, biblically based discussion resource which explores God’s invitation to individuals to participate in new life and new love in Christ as the Holy Spirit creates faith and helps that faith to grow. ‘New Life, New Love’ leads the reader deeply into the biblical texts in language, metaphors and imagery which speak simply and clearly to our current generation. The book anticipates important questions which may be asked by participants and then addresses them directly in clarifying metaphors and examples. It also provides space for reflecting personally on the text, sharing in discussion and then, most importantly, praying together. Valuable footnotes explain some of the information which may be unfamiliar to readers. Interesting and very helpful insights from the writings of Martin Luther are also included. In all of this, the emphasis is on the action of God in the life of faith and love of the participant.  ‘New Life, New Love’ is also an excellent resource for those who may have drifted away from their relationship with God, or for practicing Christians who may gain important new insights into what the Bible says about a life of faith in Christ as they are led by the Spirit. Rev Dr Malcolm Bartsch Emeritus lecturer and former Head of the School of Educational Theology, Lutheran Church of Australia.

When an esteemed biblical scholar and teacher like the Rev. Dr Noel Due decides to write a biblical study on the invitation and implications of the Gospel for unchurched or dechurched people living in the 21st Century, what you get is his new two part book New Life and New Love.  This one snuck up on me. It leads you to the edge of a vast ocean and tempts you to do more that pick up shells on the shore. On my first reading of it I experienced that most rare of emotions these days - fresh hope - as I was immersed by the author in a new sense of self-discovery through seeing who God really is. Then as I reflected upon it with others, I started to realise its incredible implications; the adventure and possibilities that only a new life in God can bring. Highly recommended for one-on-one or small group study. Dean Eaton Mission Facilitator and Church Planting Mentor, Lutheran Church of Australia, author of Sent Seeking the Orphans of God.

Free pdf copies are available at https://www.lca.org.au/services-resources-training/study-guides/new-life-new-love/

Book: Martin Luther on reading the bible as Christian scripture

Above all else that the sixteenth-century German Reformer was known for, Martin Luther was a Doctor of the Holy Scriptures. One of the most characteristic features of Luther's approach to Scripture was his resolved christological interpretation of the Bible. Many of the Reformer's interpreters have looked back upon Luther's "Christ-centered" exposition of the Scriptures with sentimentality but have often labeled it as "Christianization," particularly in regards to Luther's approach of the Old Testament, dismissing his relevance for today's faithful readers of God's Word.

This study revisits this assessment of Luther's christological interpretation of Scripture by way of critical analysis of the Reformer's "prefaces to the Bible" that he wrote for his translation of the Scriptures into the German vernacular. This work contends that Luther foremost believes Jesus Christ to be the sensus literalis of Scripture on the basis of the Bible's messianic promise, not enforcing a dogmatic principle onto the scriptural text and its biblical authors that would be otherwise foreign to them. This study asserts that Luther's exegesis of the Bible's "letter" (i.e., his engagement with the biblical text) is primarily responsible for his conviction that Christ is Holy Scripture's literal sense.

What others are saying?
"Marsh has provided fresh insight on Luther's hermeneutics and his preaching, especially of Old Testament texts. Marsh focuses on Luther's own words to understand what the reformer taught about a Christian reading of Scripture. This is an excellent contribution to the contemporary discussions."  --Jason K. Lee, Professor of Theological Studies, Dean, School of Biblical and Theological Studies, Cedarville University

"Through a close and learned reading of key texts in the reformer's canon, William M. Marsh shows that Christ is the focus of Luther's interpretation of the Old and New Testaments. Martin Luther on Reading the Bible as Christian Scripture makes an important contribution to our understanding of Luther's biblical theology and hermeneutics. By linking the human witness to Christ with the word of God, Marsh demonstrates theologically how in Luther's thought the Bible's truth is connected to the living reality of Christ."  --Christine Helmer, Arthur E. Andersen Teaching and Research Professor, Professor of German and Religious Studies, Northwestern University

"In this volume William Marsh explores the manner in which Luther listened to and conveyed to others this conviction that God converses with his people in and through The Book. . . . A rewarding read indeed!"  --Robert Kolb, from the foreword

2018 Clergy Life Calendar

The Clergy Life Planner has been developed by a Life Coach who works closely with many clergy.

The  2018 features:

• Goal Planning/Mind Mapping – to help to set a clear vision for your ministry and life in 2018
• Vacation Ideas and Plans – to ensure that you use your vacation time and stay refreshed and renewed for ministry
• Sabbath Ideas – a place to capture ideas for your Sabbath time so you can take it whether it be a whole day or just a few hours
• 2-page month, week and reflection pages
• Future planning - Undated – when you are behind on something this year, you jot it down here at an earlier time to remind yourself to get a head start on it the next year
• Future planning – Dated – when you need to schedule those far off appointments like weddings, family reunions and spring break
• Seasons of the Church Year – a place to capture ideas for the seasons as you hear or read about them
• Lists and Expenses – places to record your to-do’s, prayers, and visits as well as a place to keep track of expenses
• Finger Labyrinth
• Weekly pages that have a place for daily tasks, more room on Sunday while still having a space to keep track of your large projects, your Sabbath plan and other notes – the weekly layout has a Monday start with a Sunday focus but the layout is horizontal so it does not confuse those who are used to a Sunday start to their planners. Clergy also spoke of liking their days divided into morning, afternoon and evening blocks so this layout is the best of all worlds.  
• The back sections are all stand alone so if you don’t want to have your visitation list in your planner, you can remove it without removing any other important pages.

To buy the calendar visit http://www.clergylifecoaching.com/resources.html

Wittenberg confessions: Testimonies of converts to confessional Lutheranism

The institutional church is drifting further and further from the historic liturgy and the proclamation of the pure Gospel. It is devolving into a pop culture version of the faith and emphasizes "feel good" worship over the historic liturgy and tolerance over the the truth of the pure Gospel. But all is not lost. Internet blogs like the Brothers of John the Steadfast and radio programs like Issues, Etc. and Pirate Christian Radio are being used by God to raise up a new generation of committed believers.

Wittenberg Confessions presents the testimony of eight of these new converts to Confessional Lutheranism. Reading these testimonials of what God has done in these lives will give you hope that Christ continues to build His Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, despite man's foibles and propensity to create programs which lack neither hope nor give growth to Christ's Holy Body on Earth.

The editor, Jim Pierce, is a layman from Seattle, Washington. He wrote the introduction and conclusion for Wittenberg Confessions and also organized the other essayists and edited their work. He leads off the collection of essays with his own odyssey of faith. He voyaged away from Pentecostalism into atheism and is now at peace as a Confessional Lutheran attending Messiah Lutheran Church in a north Seattle neighborhood.

Book: Seven disciplines that shape the church for mission

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? 
In Faithful Presence, noted pastor and scholar David Fitch offers a new vision for the witness of the church in the world. He argues that we have lost the intent and practice of the sacramental ways of the historic church, and he recovers seven disciplines that have been with us since the birth of the church. 
Through numerous examples and stories, he demonstrates how these revolutionary disciplines can help the church take shape in and among our neighborhoods, transform our way of life in the world, and advance the kingdom. 
This book will help you re-envision church, what you do in the name of church, and the way you lead a church. It recovers a future for the church that takes us beyond Christendom. 
Embrace the call to reimagine the church as the living embodiment of Christ, dwelling in and reflecting God's faithful presence to a world that desperately needs more of it.

 

View the table of contents

What others are saying
"David Fitch continues his constructive work in ecclesiology by emphasizing the presence the church makes possible in a world that desperately needs God's presence. The disciplines he calls attention to are life giving because they are the disciplines God has given us to be a faithful presence. Hopefully this book will be widely read and used in churches everywhere."    Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus, Duke Divinity School

"David Fitch can write this book not just because he has a heart for mission, but because he has attended faithfully to the presence of the Spirit of the living Christ poured out on all flesh. If you want to know more about Spirit-empowered mission, read this book. But be careful, as it will transform—discipline, even!—your life, your family, and your church according to the shape of the coming reign of God."  Amos Yong, professor of theology and mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, author of Hospitality and the Other

"Do you want some practical, pastoral, and theological wisdom and encouragement on how to be the church, rather than merely go to church? Do you want to be a people for God's name and faithful presence—for one another and the world? Read this book. Learn nonnegotiable practices that Fitch and his communities have learned through their communion with a faithful God. These disciplines (including being with and for children), practiced together by the power of the Holy Spirit, will conform us to Jesus. Joined to him, one another, and those he's given us to love with him, we are intentionally shaped for God's missional life among us."  Cherith Fee Nordling, associate professor of theology, Northern Seminary

"Like leaven in the dough, like a mustard seed in the soil, like light in the darkness, the church must be faithfully present in our communities as an outpost of heaven. David Fitch's new book will help us all to practice the kingdom lifestyle now. I encourage you to read, share, and live it!"  Krish Kandiah, founder and director, Home for Good, author of Paradoxology

"Are missional churches merely traditional churches with some justice projects added on? In Faithful Presence David Fitch says no. Instead, Fitch argues, following the missio Dei and living incarnationally only occurs as we practice faithful presence in the world. And such presence requires disciplines. Faithful Presence is a meaty and delicious book."  Michael Frost, author of The Shaping of Things to Come and The Road to Missional

"In Faithful Presence, a book long overdue, David Fitch provides a corrective to the work of James Davison Hunter. He offers a winsome vision for following Jesus into the world that Christians across multiple traditions will find challenging, compelling, and inspiring."
Anthony B. Bradley, associate professor of religious studies, The King's College

"When I get up on the average day, I don't know how to transform the world. But I know how to pray, show hospitality, and proclaim truth. With scholarly care and pastoral zeal, David Fitch reminds us that it's in long-term, communal devotion to small but transformative practices that we both discover and reflect the faithful presence of God. Faithful Presence gives us permission to step aside from our own efforts at greatness, encouraging us to give our time and attention to disciplines that reveal and proclaim God's presence in our churches, homes, and neighborhoods."Mandy Smith, lead pastor, University Christian Church, author of The Vulnerable Pastor

"In Faithful Presence David Fitch brings heard-it-all-before church leaders both profound insight and a new imagination for spiritual practices that lead seamlessly to an authentic, faithful presence with God in the world—a faithful presence that results in intuitive and organic mission in all aspects of our everyday lives."   
Todd Hunter, bishop, Churches For the Sake of Others, author of Giving Church Another Chance

"The relationship between worship and mission, between the life and practices of the church and its witness to the world, is a matter of continual debate. David Fitch has done us a great service by identifying a holistic pattern of worship and witness rooted in disciplines given by Christ, to be practiced in the different contexts of our lives as disciples. Faithful Presence is both theologically grounded and very practical. The only problem with books like this is that you can't just read them, you have to live them."
Graham Cray, former leader, Fresh Expressions, Church of England

"Faithfulness is an intimidating idea, so the church can be tempted to find speedy shortcuts to growth, mission, and relevance. David Fitch is helping the church outgrow its obsession with fads to break open space for the reappearance of God's real-time presence in our neighborhoods. There is certainly unflattering press about the church in today's headlines, but Faithful Presence gives me genuine hope about what the body of Christ can be when it gathers around these seven practices. This book is appropriately critical at times, but it is fundamentally grounded in inspiring the shaping of a community for God's witness in the world. David Fitch has laid out a pathway for the church being the church again!"  Dan White Jr., cofounder, The Praxis Gathering, author of The Church as Movement

"Fitch's Faithful Presence is . . . timely and extraordinarily helpful. As churches shrink, as 'spiritual but not religious' postures become more widespread, as American Christendom wanes and it becomes weirder, more inconvenient, and less comfortable to commit oneself to a local church, the need to recover this 'faithfully present' vitality is more urgent than ever."   Brett McCracken, Christianity Today, January/February 2017