In this insightful book, John Oak, who was Senior Pastor of one of the largest Presbyterian churches in the world, suggests that the Holy Spirit initiates a certain amount of unrest and turmoil within the church in order for it to function as salt and light in the world. Putting it positively, lay people are the best and the greatest potential the church has. Negatively, lay people are a serious challenge for the church if not mobilized. The answer to which perspective will prevail lies in the hands of church leaders. Rediscovering the biblical role of the laity demands a radical remodelling of the old framework of ministry. Reformation is not an easy process to initiate or complete. It can place a heavy burden on a church leader if the laity are not fully involved in the process.

"Arguably, the church's greatest challenge in the next century will be the problem of the scandal of particularity. More than ever before, Christians will need to explain why they follow Jesus and not the Buddha or Confucius or Krishna or Muhammed. But if, while relating their faith to the faiths, Christians treat non-Christian religions as netherworlds of unmixed darkness, the church's message will be a scandal not of particularity but of arrogant obscurantism. "Recent evangelical introductions to the problem of other religions have built commendably on foundations laid by J. N. D. Anderson and Stephen Neill. Anderson and Neill opened up the "heathen" worlds to the evangelical West, showing that many non-Christians also seek salvation and have personal relationships with their gods. In the last decade Clark Pinnock and John Sanders have argued for an inclusivist understanding of salvation, and Harold Netland has shed new light on the question of truth in the religions. Yet no evangelicals have focused--as nonevangelicals Keith Ward, Diana Eck and Paul Knitter have done--on the revelatory value of truth in non-Christian religions. Anderson and Neill showed that there are limited convergences between Christian and non-Christian traditions, and Pinnock has argued that there might be truths Christians can learn from religious others. But as far as I know, no evangelicals have yet examined the religions in any sort of substantive way for what Christians can learn without sacrificing, as Knitter and John Hick do, the finality of Christ. "This book is the beginning of an evangelical theology of the religions that addresses not the question of salvation but the problem of truth and revelation, and takes seriously the normative claims of other traditions. It explores the biblical propositions that Jesus is the light that enlightens every person (Jn 1:9) and that God has not left Himself without a witness among non-Christian traditions (Acts 14:17). It argues that if Saint Augustine learned from Neo-Platonism to better understand the gospel, if Thomas Aquinas learned from Aristotle to better understand the Scriptures, and if John Calvin learned from Renaissance humanism, perhaps evangelicals may be able to learn from the Buddha--and other great religious thinkers and traditions--things that can help them more clearly understand God's revelation in Christ. It is an introductory word in a conversation that I hope will go much further among evangelicals." (Gerald McDermott, in the introduction toCan Evangelicals Learn from World Religions?

Get ready for what's coming next in Children's Ministry...
Here's how.

Ten front-line Children's Ministry experts peeked out over the horizon to identify ten trends shaping ministry in the next ten years.
See inside to discover...
How current culture is rewiring kids' brains--and secrets for connecting with children
The latest education trends embraced by schools--and how they'll impact your Sunday school
Morphing Children's Ministry into Family Ministry--and how that supersizes your impact
What kinds of children are about to land in your ministry--and how to be ready for them
Plus six more must-know insights--and practical activities that help you take advantage of shifting trends in your Children's Ministry.

Be prepared.
It's good advice for scouts...and even better advice for you.