Restoring the Shattered (el. knyga) (skaityta knyga) | knygos.lt

Aprašymas

Twenty percent of North American non-Christians do not even know a Christian while the number of those who call themselves Christians dwindles. Winds of hostility toward Christian faith are strengthening. In the meantime, the American family continues to fracture as poverty grows all around us.

Nancy once knew poverty.

Written in an easy to understand, conversational style, Restoring the Shattered is an account of her family’s journey through single-motherhood and material need. Their journey shows the power Christians of varying traditions manifest when they live out the Gospel for the sake of those in need.

This family’s story illustrates common problems in our society, the fracturing of families and communities, reflecting a splintered Church. Alienated families and a riven Church cannot minister effectively to their own members or others until they come together.

As this social shifting unfolds, the divide between those in prosperity and those in poverty widens. Separation grows.

When one of Nancy’s grown children became Catholic, she became more aware of the ways her own evangelical tradition often dismisses Catholic believers and misinterprets many of their doctrines. While many of our doctrines differ, our essential beliefs are the same. Nancy looked at the causes of the Reformation and other schisms. The original schism within Orthodoxy resulted from a misinterpretation of each other’s languages. Misunderstanding our faith languages feeds separation today.

The book is not a call to discard our differences and become a melded Christianity devoid of doctrinal distinctions. It is a call to respect each other and work beside each other to obey Christ’s call for accord, in love for Him, for our Christian siblings, and for those outside the family of faith. Christian accord produces obedience to Christ’s call to minister to those in need.

Accounts of both effective and ineffective methods of ministry in our personal story, in local communities, and in mission work pepper the text. Chapters begin with brief scripture passages and a quote relating to stained glass. Each chapter draws a parallel between the Church and the motif of a stained glass window. A quality of glass or stained glass draws our attention to a quality of the Church as God intended her to be. Each chapter ends with a short original poem or literary passage.