Mark Baker
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Centered Set Church
$24.00Add to cartChristians can be adept at drawing lines, determining what it means to be a good Christian and judging those who stray out of bounds.
Other times they erase all the lines in favor of a vague and inoffensive faith. Both impulses can come from positive intentions, but either can lead to stunted spiritual life and harmful relationships. Is there another option? The late missionary anthropologist Paul Hiebert famously drew on mathematical theory to deploy the concepts of bounded, fuzzy, and centered sets to shed light on the nature of Christian community. Now, with Centered-Set Church, Mark D. Baker provides a unique manual for understanding and applying Hiebert’s vision. Drawing on his extensive experience in church, mission, parachurch, and higher education settings, along with interviews and stories gleaned from scores of firsthand interviews, Baker delivers practical guidance for any group that seeks to be truly centered on Jesus. Baker shows how Scripture presents an alternative to either obsessing over boundaries or simply erasing them. Centered churches are able to affirm their beliefs and live out their values without such bitter fruit as gracelessness, shame, and self-righteousness on the one hand, or aimless whateverism on the other. While addressing possible concerns and barriers to the centered approach, Baker invites leaders to imagine centered alternatives in such practical areas of ministry as discipleship, church membership, leadership requirements, and evangelism. Centered-Set Church charts new paths to grow in authentic freedom and dynamic movement toward the true center: Jesus himself.
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Ministering In Honor Shame Cultures
$32.00Add to cartFailing to understand honor and shame cultures can lead to cross-cultural roadblocks in ministry and relationships for Westerners. Georges and Baker examine the Bible through the lens of honor and shame and join their cross-cultural experience and reflection in this informed exploration and guide to ministry in honor and shame contexts.
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Recovering The Scandal Of The Cross (Reprinted)
$32.00Add to cartPreface To The Second Edition
Abbreviations
1. Making Sense Of The Cross Of Christ
2. The Cross And The New Testament: A Melange Of Voices (Part One)
3. The Cross And The New Testament: A Melange Of Voices (Part Two)
4. The Saving Significance Of Jesus’ Death In The New Testament
5. Models Of The Atonement: A History And Assessment (Part One)
6. Models Of The Atonement: A History And Assessment (Part Two)
7. Removing Alienating Shame: The Saving Significance Of The Cross In Japan
8. Confounding Evil Through Cunning And Compassion
9. Hearing Other Voices: Exploring The Ongoing Significance Of Jesus’ Death
10. Communicating The Atonement Today
Bibliography
Author And Subject Index
Scripture IndexAdditional Info
For the first-century Roman world the cross was first and foremost an instrument of shameful and violent execution. But early Christians, who had seen their world upended by the atoning power of the cross of Christ, came to view it in an entirely different light. Deeply scandalous, it was paradoxically glorious. For the cross of Christ marked the epochal saving event in God’s dealings with Israel and the world. And its meaning could not be fathomed or encircled by a single image or formulation.Since its publication in 2000, Recovering the Scandal of the Cross has initiated among evangelicals a new conversation about the nature of the atonement and how it should be expressed in the varied and global contexts of today. In this second edition Green and Baker have clarified and enlarged their argument in a way that will continue to provoke thought and conversation on this critical topic.
