News

Stephen Skuce's New Book!

22/10/2008

Faith Reborn considers the place of faith and mission in a rapidly changing Ireland. The decline of institutional Christianity is re-read through a western post-Christendom paradigm. The decline of this institutional form of belief creates a unique opportunity for Irish Christianity to be reborn as a movement. Signs of this happening are considered and a potential, albeit very radical, way forward is articulated.

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While of clear relevance to those interested in mission and Christian faith in Ireland, this book gives an example of applying current missiological, emerging church, post-Christendom thinking and cultural analysis to a particular context to seek to understand what is happening, discern where God is leading and develop forms of church that made sense and are missionally effective in this new context.

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Available to Purchase by Clicking here!

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Imagination

10/10/2008

That's what we encourage children to have isn't it? A fanciful thing which must eventually be given up in order to live in the 'real world'. But what if imagination is more than that. I am convinced our imagination is a God-given capacity to perceive 'things not seen' (Hebrews 11) with our physical senses. When our imaginations are captivated by the Spirit, we are given eyes of faith to see through the veil of our immediate circumstances, to see the presence and activity of God in our lives. If I am right, then the imagination is not a flight from reality, but the very means by which we know what is the most real of all.

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It is in our imagination that we escape conventional thinking, entertain new possibilities for our lives, and explore alternative worlds. It is the ability to see and anticipate the future, giving rise to our longings and aspirations, our hopes and fears. The imagination is where our dreams are formed, the driving force behind changing the reality we have for the reality we dream about.

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Having a 'sanctified imagination' is another way of talking about how the Spirit opens the 'eyes of our heart' (Ephesians 1:18) to understand the things of God, and to make them the centre of our attention. It is through a sanctified imagination that the Spirit imparts the dreams and visions of God's future for our lives, our churches, and our communities (Acts 2:17).

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But the imagination is also a place of 'spiritual warfare'! Our world is full of stories and images that would colonise our thinking with false promises of health, wealth, and happiness. In many ways, being a disciple is about struggling to envision the future that God has for us, guided by the gospel of Jesus Christ, in the midst of a world that competes for our imagination.

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At Cliff College, we are committed to helping people develop a sanctified imagination - to discover God's dream for their lives, and equip them for the task of faithful discipleship in contemporary culture. One way to think about mission is to have our imaginations shaped by God's future for the world, so that we can see how it is breaking into the present, and how we might join in what he is already doing. Evangelism, then, is the Christian task of working with the Spirit to help others see the reality of God and enter into his kingdom of love, joy and peace.

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Can you begin to imagine what your future looks like in God's hands? Do you want to have your imagination stretched, to envision what God can do in your life, in your family, in your church, or your community? Then you might consider a course at Cliff College, and join all those over the years who have been inspired to greater things in God.

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Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20).

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-Phil Meadows

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