The Year of the Lord’s Favor comprises short musings and essays on common Christian beliefs, practices, and issues. Some often confounding concepts in everyday discourses and praxis are addressed for clarity with pertinent biblical nuances. Christian faith as a way of life, the interface between faith and pop culture, Christian ministry and vocation, practices around the Christian Calendar, and biblical themes on freedom, spirituality, and women round up the book.
"The author of the book seeks to order, in different shades of subjects, that the subject and object of Christian faith is God in Christ ... the author's theology is centered in that person - Jesus Christ. I Hope, James Kalong's book will have a wide range of readers for many reasons, but one thing for sure, his method and mood is unorthodox. That he takes a stand is clear!" Excerpt from the Foreword by Wati Aier, Emeritus Professor of Constructive Theology and Philosophy, Oriental Theological Seminary, Bade, Nagaland
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Part - 1: New Ways of Contemplation and Praxis
The Year of the Lord's Favor
Born Again or Born OK the First Time?
Not just Fellowship but Koinonia
Am I a Good Neighbor? - A Samaritan's Good Story
Part - II: Faith and Pop Culture
A Theology of Beauty
Bruce Almighty and the Image of God
Reel Spirituality: Watching Movies with Christian Lens Lighting Up Our Spaces
Part - III: Contemporary Challenges in Life and Work
Faith as a Way of Life
Work in Spirit
Keeping the Other Six Days Holy
Part - IV: Setting the Tone for Theology and Ministry
Discipleship of the Mind
"All Things to All People" - Adaptability in Ministry
The Goodness of Doubting
Justice, Compassion, and Humility - A Covenant for Ministry
Destitution - Biblical Insight and Impulse for the Church
Part - V: Reflections on the Christian Calendar
Quenching Thirst at Lent and After
Not iChristian but a Disciple - Lenten Thoughts
A Triumphal Humility - Revisiting Palm Sunday
The "Dailyness" of Carrying the Cross - A Good Friday Reflection
The Spirit of Forgiveness - The Jesus Way
Digging Our Own Graves to Rise Again - Easter Notes
Grace - The Perfect Christmas Gift
Part - VI: Essays Biblical and Theological
Signs of the Times: The Politics of the Apocalypse
The Body of Christ - The "Being" of the Church in Biblical and Contemporary Perspectives
Called and Gifted Equally to Serve: Women Ministry and the Pauline Mandate
Following "a glution and a drunkard": Eating as a Prasix for Christian Spirituality
The Poor in God's Image: The Concept of "the Poor" in the Gospels
Calling Charisma "Calling": Envisaging a Charismatic Community beyond Paul's "Body" Metaphor
Freedom by the Spirit: The Responsibility to Love and Serve
James Kalong is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Oriental Theological Seminary, Bade, Nagaland. His other books are Table Talks of Jesus: Didactics of Reversals in the Gospel of Luke and Signs of the Times: The Matrix of Meanings in Revelation 2-3
|