Faith Challenges, By J. Robert Clinton

Many people would agree that without faith, the world would be in chaos. The book Christian Foundation by Kathleen Fischer and Thomas Hart gives an interpretation on faith in our time. Many people would question the definition of faith. Faith is a gift, which is given by God to have trust in him and belief in him. This book is a great entry in anyone's life that has speculation on his or her own faith. The book has many ways into understanding ones own religion. It discusses the Bible, Jesus, Church, God's existence and Images of God. All of these chapters helped me get a better interpretation of what my religion entailed.

In Frank Damazio's book "Lay Pastor" on page (38) he says, "The faithful team member understands promotion comes from the Lord and Lord promotes based on His principles. The principles of faithfulness and integrity are basic to leadership." Being faithful to the vision of the church is what helps evenly flow of the congregation to reach the acquired goal. Also, the pastor must be faithful to his or her congregation, this shows the leadership in the mist of the people he or she is leading. Faithfulness, in stewarding what God called the pastor to do. Back in 2005 there was a pastor in Patterson that was having a successful church. He believed the Lord wanted him to move to New Orleans to expand the church. Off he left for a couple of months. Then a devastating hurricane hit New Orleans. The pastor came back and said, "God said I can come back to Patterson now." However, he could not start up another church and never had a church again. This is an example of not being faithful to the call. He did not have this conviction implanted in his

As America is rich in multi cultural immigrants’ diversities in culture, beliefs, faiths and religion are not uncommon among American population. Health care profession is one of the major areas that are affected with these diversities of culture, beliefs, faiths and religion. While there are many advantages of rich and diverse heritage, it’s challenging for health care professionals to deal with those from various faith/ spiritual background, especially for minority religious groups. However, in order to provide best available care health care professionals

Theme in “Defender of the Faith” can be interpreted in many varying ways, some of which are life-long lessons and others to the relation between faith and the individual.

Innerchange Freedom Initiative is a faith based organization that provides educational and value-based program services to prisoners on a voluntary basis. This privately funded organization prepares prisoners to re-enter the work force, community, and their private family and social life. The Innerchange Freedom Initiative is a part of Prison Fellowship, which is a religious organization that uses the restorative approach to help prisoners, former prisoners, and those who are affected by crime and incarceration. The program is 18 months and at least six months aftercare is provided.

Nouwen shared that one of the struggles a leader faces in ministry is low self-esteem and even self-depreciation. Many people in the church struggle with seeing the results and feeling like they are making a difference in the world or making an impact. Nouwen said a sad truth that, “Christian leaders feel less and less relevant and more and more marginal” (Page 33). Nouwen encourages however, that when we stop trying to be relevant and we accept that may not be “in the loop”; it is there that God can use us. And it is there that Jesus can be seen. Nouwen advises Christian leaders to be in constant contemplative prayer. That is to say that our prayers should be thoughtful, mindful, and

In trying to reconstruct my past to correlate it with James W. Fowler’s stages of faith, who I am now is the lens through which I remember the past. I am rehearsing the past with a present view. James W. Fowler purports faith begins to develop between ages three and seven. I grew up in a rural area in South Carolina. We lived on a farm until I was twelve. Although my dad stopped farming when I was six or seven, we lived in the same house until I was thirteen. My earliest memory with regard to Fowler’s first stage of faith development, Intuitive/Projective Faith was prior to attending elementary school. I don’t remember my exact age, however, my siblings and I were quite imaginative during play time. We conjured these elaborate scenes and characters and envisioned ourselves as owners of mansions and castles. We were encouraged by our parents, particularly, our dad, to dream big dreams.

As a matter of fact, author Lee Strobel was a former legal editor of The Chicago Tribune, an award winner in his field as he overtime became a best-selling author of over twenty books. Yet, remarkably he was an atheist beforehand before eventually becoming Christian—The Case for Christ detailing his conversion. As such, a majority of his life’s work has been sharing evidence that supports Christian claims, aiming to equip believers with what is necessary to share their faith with those they know and are close to. In any case, Lee Strobel previously acquired his Bachelor of Journalism and Master of Studies in Law from the University of Missouri and Yale Law School, becoming a journalist and maintaining his career for fourteen years. Furthermore, he went on to successfully achieve the highest honor from United Press International, specifically for his public service journalism. Either way, he’s had many guest roles on national networks in America, including Fox, Discovery, CNN, PBS and ABC. Moreover, he successfully managed to host Faith under Fire,

The time and need for reform has never been greater than it is right now. The way in which the world is moving is causing divisions among the people of the Islamic faith. Now is the time to look to the Qur’an and the hadith. We must achieve the right balance of maintaining our acts toward God, while modernizing and changing with the times, in order to better benefit society and people as a whole. This is why our reform movement urges all Muslims to join this cause and become a Balanced Believer, accepting and living the Qur’anic principles and teachings while living in a modern technologically and scientifically advanced society. If all Muslims, Shia or Sunni, become united under this belief the Islamic world will be better off in the 21st century.

In order to truly understand the aspect of value, there needs to be understanding of a corporations and individuals stock evaluation methods (worth), and value proposition. Just as organizations are built to produce wealth for shareholders, individuals are equally created by God to generate value throughout the world. In order to successfully value a business through its stock evaluation methods (wealth), it would be feasible that financial analyst consider the aspect of those methods, such as benchmarking against similar organizations within the industry. Philippians 4:8 (English Standard Version) states, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”. This would allow those analysts to gain an understanding of the type of investment that investors are willing to provide or integrate within a particular organization (Brealey, Myers, and Marcus). As organizations, individuals are seen as stock. The value of ones stock is dependent upon their relationship with Christ. The more an individual values and accept Christ the higher his/her value would become, and the more others will be willing to follow (invest) in you. Value can also be created through the consumer, government and

A sentiment common to almost any organization is that the one fact that remains constant is change. As society changes, and human understanding grows, any organization that maintains a static posture, assures its demise. Churches and Christian organizations are no exception. The gospel may remain the same, but the method for communicating it must speak to the audience to assure understanding. The Christian leader must be prepared to meet this challenge by incorporating an effective model for change into his theology of leadership in order to keep the ministry relevant and effective. Searching for such a change agent can prove to be challenging as well. To aid in this search, four

Effective leadership approaches from a biblical perspective consist of God’s nature in his manifested character. Christian leaders are willing to pay the price to lead in Christ’s affliction. Paul said there is a price to pay in order to lead and Jesus reminded us, “Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master. ' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also” (John 15:20, New International Version). Christian leaders need core attributes of God’s styles and approaches, support and linkage from scriptures, and knowledge of his leadership models of truth for effective leadership. However, these perspectives will gave me a better appreciation and insight of who God is and who I can be with his guidance.

The Dynamics of Faith is an in-depth look at what faith is from a theological perspective. Tillich seems to be replying to all of the writers we have read thus far and placing their arguments within the context of faith. Nowhere is this more apparent than on page 24, in his discussion of community. He rightly acknowledges that faith is usually seen in its sociologic setting. He then proceeds to sort out the different claims, saying that

Complementarity in the Christian faith is the belief that, "God has created men and women equal in their essential dignity and human personhood, but different and complementary in function with male headship in the home and in the Church." This view of gender roles is drawn from Biblical interpretations and emphasizes the equality as well as the valuable dissimilarities of men and women. Susan T. Foh, a Christian author, has redefined the concept of complementarity in her own terms, coining the phrase "ontologically equal, but functionally subordinate" (Foh, 391). Her interpretation also comes directly from Biblical sources, but the meaning behind her careful phrasing does present some disparities between the two concepts.

The New Testament leaders are an example of how church leaders of today should also behave and work[8]. They ought to be able to teach, guide the believers in the way of God and nurture their spiritual gifts. The New Testament leaders had to boldly defend the word of God in case of any false teaching. Basing on this New Testament leadership, it is important to make sure that any believer appointed to the leadership office has the laid down qualifications[9].