Books published by Resource Publications (CA)

In Teaching to Justice, Citizenship, and Civic Virtue, a group of teachers considers how students learn and what students need in order to figure out what God is requiring of them. The teachers hear from experts in the fields of civic education, the arts, politics, business, technology, and athletics. In addition, they talk about their own learning and what they want students to know about life after high school.This book, along with its discussion questions, will help parents, teachers, school board members, and administrators talk about what it means to help students work toward God's shalom in a broken but redeemed world.

Musings is a collection of short, easy-reading essays dealing with the challenges of life. Do we take certain beliefs for granted? Are our beliefs distorted by hand-me-down thinking? How can we respond to others with love, acceptance, and compassion? Poetry and humor are interspersed throughout this book's invitation to contemplate a deeper spiritual awareness.If the Beatitudes in the Bible were rewritten today, would we find this one: ""Blessed are they whose plans have been foiled, for they shall be given the opportunity to see the world anew""? Readers are suggested to pick one essay a day. Reflect on the deeper messages and chuckle with the lighter moments while you consider choices that can lighten the load of living.

In 1861 a young farmer, drafted into the Confederate Army, was wounded in battle and sent home to die. For two days he lay on a railway platform, begging passengers to contact his family in the hills. At last, an old slave who had purchased a wagon along with his freedom gently loaded him into his cart. The old man drove him to his family's farm, bathed his wounds in a stream, carried him to his cabin, and delivered the soldier to his astonished young wife.By Faith and By Love is the story of that soldier's grandson, who grew up poor in small South Carolina mill towns. While many of his neighbors take out their frustrations with the legacy of the Civil War by joining the Ku Klux Klan, this soldier's grandson must honor his grandfather's rescuer by finding another path.

Bible study groups sometimes find themselves stalled in a process of sharing personal impressions while looking for more depth. Others read commentaries, but long to engage the biblical text itself. Where does one begin? A Bible Study Program Using the Sunday Lectionary offers a toolkit of approaches for reading the biblical text that a variety of reading groups have already found helpful. Unlike some study methods that emphasize the individual reader, this program keeps the community of worshippers in mind, including the historical faith community that produced the writings and the community of worshippers now reading it. The Catholic Study Bible serves as a reference for the historical community, while the schedule of Sunday Scripture readings evokes the present-day community of readers--with the bonus of enhancing readers' Sunday worship experience.

This collection of theological essays, spiritual meditations, public prayers, and biblical interpretations provides a focus, day by day, for contemplation and reflection. By intention they are offered in media res, in the midst of the cacophony and chaos of life and particularly of academic life. These pages are markings along the journey, on the trail, and thus perhaps signposts for others coming along the same way. To some degree, the collection responds to similar, recent publication of 200-word daily selections from the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The assembly of materials revisits a favorite form of an earlier Dean of Marsh Chapel, Howard Thurman. Thurman easily and regularly captured thought and feeling in an assortment of forms--prayer, sermon, hymn, poem, litany, sermon--and worried very little about repetitions or the jostling inherent in formal variety. Charles River follows after these and similar works, and is offered as a daily resource for those receiving and offering, the divine grace of freedom, acceptance, forgiveness, pardon, and love.

A nineteen-year-old chemistry major at Rhodes College is selected to spend the summer after her freshman year doing research at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Instead, she finds herself a patient there, fighting a life-threatening form of pediatric cancer and suffering through a year of aggressive chemotherapy and surgery. Refusing to believe what many tell her--that the cancer was all part of "God's plan"--she finds solace in journaling and begins a discussion with her grandfather, a university professor specializing in philosophy of religion. Through her experiences and writing about them, the student discovers that she may be a person of faith after all--just not in the way she expected. Her grandfather has selected and arranged the journal entries and their faith conversation and has commented on them in order to bring out the spiritual dimensions of her experience. He learns from his granddaughter that faith comes more through experience than through ideas. The coauthors hope the book will help other sufferers recognize the presence of a loving God in the midst of pain, uncertainty and death.

The theme of the New Exodus (NE) in John's Gospel has been largely unexplored in recent scholarship. Now, however, by careful intertextual exegesis of John 5-10, Paul Coxon has compellingly argued that not only is the NE key to interpreting the Fourth Gospel, but also to unlocking the mysteries of the Johannine "puzzle" itself. Anyone who is interested in searching the riches of this marvelous Gospel will want to explore the NE in John in these pages.

This is a book Jean Wyatt felt compelled to write, as she has for many years wrestled with questions surrounding the love and the justice of God, his salvation and judgment through Jesus Christ, and the effect of our response (or lack of response) to that salvation.The Bible gives glimpses of hope that in the end God will restore all things, and that finally all people will worship him. If it is God's will that all should be saved, is it possible to resist that will for all eternity?Or dare we hope that God will continue to seek and ultimately save those who now reject his offered salvation? Dare we hope that hell will be a place of restorative justice and cleansing, with redemption as its aim? Wyatt has come to the conclusion that we can answer ""Yes"" to both these questions.The fire of God consumes evil and cleanses people.Meanwhile, in the here and now in which we live as disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to be witnesses to the kingdom of God and to work for his kingdom to come ""on earth as it is in heaven.""

Once you come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, what is the next step? If you have been a believer for a while and want to grow further, what is the next step? If you have grown in your faith and want to learn how to help other believers grow in theirs, what is the next step? This book will begin to answer these important questions. In Peter''s second letter to scattered believers, he challenges us to add seven character qualities to our faith that will help us grow to be more like Christ. The Next Step looks at these seven character qualities, along with God''s corresponding attributes, to help us grow in these qualities as we grow in our understanding of God''s character. In every chapter, Johnson introduces readers to prayer, grace, and practical ways to begin reaching out to the people God places in our lives. The Next Step will help you grow in your daily walk with the Lord and will launch you on a lifelong journey of investing in others to help them walk with Christ.I have worked closely in ministry with Stan Johnson for almost twenty years now. He''s the real deal. His life backs up his teaching. In The Next Step, Stan has provided a clear, practical discipleship tool that can be used individually, one-on-one, or in small groups to help you and others develop godly knowledge, character, and ministry skills. Get it, use it yourself, use it with others, and watch the Lord change hearts and lives.--Steven J. Cole, Flagstaff Christian Fellowship, Flagstaff, AZYears ago, as a new university student and new believer, I met Stan Johnson on my very first day of classes. Stan not only befriended me, but also encouraged me in the areas of Bible study, personal devotions, Scripture memory, and service to others. I didn''t realize it at the time, but it was the spiritual foundation I would build my life on. Get this book in the hands of as many people as you can!--Steve Sundin, Strong Tower Ministries, Orange County, CATaking the new Christ follower to that next step of commitment to become a faithful disciple of his Lord can be a daunting task. Among the many challenges we face is finding an effective model and tool that incorporates as many of the spiritual disciplines as possible, such as bible study, personal quiet time, journaling, or worship. Out of his many years of ministry, Stan Johnson has crafted one of the most useful and easy to use discipleship tools I have seen in my over fifty years of pastoral ministry.--Wayne R. Lehsten, Scottsdale Bible Church, Scottsdale, AZStanley P. Johnson is Associate Pastor at Flagstaff Christian Fellowship in Flagstaff, AZ. He graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1981 and has served in churches in California, Wisconsin, and Arizona.

Endorsements:""I think a book should be intelligent, well-crafted, and beautiful. A book is not a message to grasp but an object to love. I love this new book of haiku and images and will be happy to be in its presence, touch it, and feast on it for many years. It is a perfect example of John Keats'' idea of soul-making: transforming the everyday into beautiful and probing reflection. It is what Wallace Stevens called ''a mirror with a voice.''""-- Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and Dark Nights of the Soul""This deeply human dialogue of haiku and commentary follows in the footsteps of Issa and Buson. Rosen and Weishaus express their psychological wisdom with lightness, humor, and a uniquely personal touch. A treasure!""-- Claire Douglas, author of Translate this Darkness and The Woman in the Mirror""An altogether pleasurable book indeed!""--Robert Creeley, author of Life and Death""This book of texts and encounters, of poetic moments and prose commentaries, of interpersonal responses, has the feeling of a work that is both very ancient and utterly contemporary. It enacts what it''s about--a spiritual journey, a creative healing.""--Edward Hirsch, author of Lay Back the Darkness and Wild Gratitude""To have one''s soul evoked by reading, that in itself can be a scared act. To me, since forever, el libro es sancta: a book is blessed--for inside, there can be water glistening to moisten the parched throat, and a thunder of wings that can carry us to a homeplace where exists essential remembrance of ''what truly matters.'' Haiku, to me, is the quintessential story form, one that like a twilight is meant to be walked through with care, so as to see and feel the clarity of things that cannot be seen from a dusky afar. This work you hold in your hands offers that twilight walk, and more.""--Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D., author of Women Who Run with the Wolves and The Gift of Story

Description:No Man''s Land is a book of poems of searching, longing, and belonging overlaid by the ancient struggle with home, family, and God. These poems are often confessional, persistent, and speak to the interior journey of our lives. They acknowledge the paradox of this journey, which often leaves us empty-handed and with more questions than answers, yet still offer praise and gratitude, however faint.

About the Contributor(s):David Baily Harned (PhD, Yale Graduate School) is a retired professor of religious studies who remains active as a classroom teacher and a scholarly writer. He taught at Williams, Smith, and Allegheny Colleges, and served a five-year term as president at Allegheny College. His longer terms of service were seven years as the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Louisiana State University and ten years as the founding chairman of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia.Elaine H. Harned is David''s wife.

Description:Drawn from three decades of parish ministry experience, Steward of Stories opens the delightfully complex and nuanced world of the congregation to a wider audience beyond, but including, local parish pastors. Each chapter brings together dramatically different stories about ordinary ministry situations organized around a core thematic connection, including pastoral incidents focused on topics like ""Paying Attention,"" ""Marry Me,"" and ""Time to Go."" Linking these together is the interwoven wisdom of an experienced pastor who encourages readers to consider the theological and ministry challenges at stake for us all. Clearly written and highly accessible, these vignettes are meant for lay and clergy audiences alike, especially as they come together in their mutual life in Christian community. These are stories about real people drawn from actual events--accounts that will prompt thoughtful contemplation and conversation among the faithful about saints and sinners in everyday congregations and situations. Each chapter concludes with helpful questions for use in both educational settings and individual study. This book is ideal for personal reflection or group discussion and will stimulate a richer awareness of the challenges and opportunities we all face in the ministries we share.