Created in Delight challenges the church to take seriously the relationship of human beings with the earth and their fellow creatures. It challenges communities of faith to construct youth and young adult ministry through an ecological hermeneutic. Van Meter includes narratives from his youth work and teaching as well as ecological theology and an exploration of contemporary ecological concerns. He challenges youth and young adult ministers to seek their own formation through practicing hope in resistance to despair as they engage ecological questions in partnership with young people. The book concludes by asserting that cultivating curiosity, compassion, resilience, wisdom and other virtues is essential for the continuing health of young people and faith communities.

`A truly insightful book laced with numerous examples... The host of practical insights, meticulously documented, will resonate very well and should push one to soul search on the way on is handling one's customers' - Lloyd Mathias, Executive Vice President - Marketing, Pepsi Cola India `Began browsing... and felt like a CRM guru by the end of the day! Unputdownable!' - Amrit Kiran Singh, VP and Area Director, Brown Forman Eurasia and Africa Written in an accessible and user-friendly style this book discusses the beginnings of customer relationship management (CRM) using India as an example of an expanding `customer care' service provider and analyzes the growing need for better customer understanding to build successful enterprises. It focuses on an integrated approach to CRM and the tools required for practising it, including: database management; call centres; customer relationship management technologies; and soft skills/communication.

"The world is our parish and all her creatures our congregation." Based on talks given to ordinands in Wales, this book presents the ministry as responding to God's call to be priestly stewards of creation and to participate in the blossoming of the new creation. Clavier engages with Scripture and people such as Augustine, Anselm, Bernard of Clairvaux, Bonaventure, Julian of Norwich, Lancelot Andrewes, George Herbert, C. S. Lewis, N. T. Wright, and Rowan Williams to portray the whole ministry of God's people as being animated by the generosity, freedom, delight, and love of God. Our understanding of the ministry must break free from managerial philosophy and business know-how to recapture an approach to ministry that seeks to delight in God, neighbors, and all of creation in order to reveal the depth of God's love to a world increasingly immersed in mass consumption.

For those who chose to read this book, the intent herewith is to show you how you can have delight for your life. I have had many experiences in my life. I want to share these experiences; it is the best I can offer. Take the time to read and to think. You have all the resources you need to make the best of your life. You must seek, seriously, to find the delight of your life. As we read good author's books, we learn knowledge from these authors through their writings. Often we find what we are looking for, and even more! This is what makes life delightful. We are not perfect, and can become confused by things we experience in life. There are answers for everything, and all the means to solve problems, by studying the truths in your life. You will find that you already know the answers but you have to think. Thinking is hard work! I have learned this from Socrates the Greek philosopher. To all those who read this book, I pray and wish you all the best from Heaven above. Very Sincerely, The Author, H.R.S.

The Reading Augustine series presents short, engaging books offering personal readings of St. Augustine of Hippo's contributions to western philosophical, literary, and religious life. Mark Clavier's On Consumer Culture, Identity, The Church and the Rhetorics of Delight draws on Augustine of Hippo to provide a theological explanation for the success of marketing and consumer culture. Augustine's thought, rooted in rhetorical theory, presents a brilliant understanding of the experiences of damnation and salvation that takes seriously the often hidden psychology of human motivation. Clavier examines how Augustine's keen insight into the power of delight over personal notions of freedom and self-identity can be used to shed light on how the constant lure of promised happiness shapes our identities as consumers. From Augustine's perspective, it is only by addressing the sources of delight within consumerism and by rediscovering the wellsprings of God's delight that we can effectively challenge consumer culture. To an age awash with commercial rhetoric, the fifth-century Bishop of Hippo offers a theological rhetoric that is surprisingly contemporary and insightful.

This book initiates a new conversation about how theological education might be re-envisioned for the twenty-first century church. The prevailing curricular structure in today's seminaries and divinity schools was fashioned in a very different era, one that assumed the continued cultural dominance of Christianity and the continued academic dominance of the canons of Enlightenment reason. Neither assumption is viable in today's post-Christian world; hence, our new circumstances demand a new vision for theological education. The authors of this volume offer an important resource for this project through their creative appropriation of the classical rhetorical tradition, particularly as it has been rehabilitated in the contemporary context. Like St. Augustine, they believe that the chief goals of Christian theology are similar to those of classical rhetoric: "to teach, to delight, and to move." And the authors are united in their conviction that these must also be the goals of theological education in a post-Christian era. This volume arises out of a passionate commitment to the cause of theological education. The authors hail from a wide range of denominational traditions and have taught in numerous seminaries and divinity schools. They have also studied the classical and postmodern rhetorical traditions in both theory and practice. They met as a group on numerous occasions to read one another's contributions to the volume and to offer guidance for the process of rewriting. As a result, this book is much more than a mere collection of essays; it is a jointly-authored work, and one which presents an integrated vision for the future of theological education.

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How do we know the Bible is God's Word? What is sin and where did it come from? How is Jesus fully God and fully man? What are spiritual gifts? When and how will Christ return? If you've asked questions like these, then "systematic theology" is no abstract term. It's an approach to finding answers every Christian needs to know. Bible Doctrine takes a highly commended upper-level textbook on systematic theology and makes it accessible to the average reader. Abridged from Wayne Grudem's award-winning Systematic Theology, Bible Doctrine covers the same essentials of the faith, giving you a firm grasp on seven key topics: The Doctrine of the Word of God The Doctrine of God The Doctrine of Man The Doctrine of Christ The Doctrine of the Application of Redemption The Doctrine of the Church The Doctrine of the Future Like Systematic Theology, this book is marked by its clarity, its strong scriptural emphasis, its thoroughness in scope and detail, and its treatment of such timely topics as spiritual warfare and the gifts of the Spirit. But you don't need to have had several years of Bible school to reap the full benefits of Bible Doctrine. It's easy to understand—and it's packed with solid, biblical answers to your most important questions.

A collection that includes two of our most exemplary textbooks, Systematic Theology and Historical Theology. The ebook will provide an introduction to Biblical and Christian doctrine.