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Martin Luther Speaks in D. Michael Bennethum’s Listen! God Is Calling!
"In each of the congregations I have served as pastor, it has been my experience that many members have little practical sense of how to connect the faith they profess with the lives they lead. Typically, they have a vague sense that God wants them to live morally upright lives. They appreciate God’s promise of forgiveness, particularly when they have a sense that they have failed. Trying times drive them to prayer. Otherwise, they find comfort in the knowledge that they are ‘as good as most and better than some.’ When it comes to the routines of daily life and work, however, their faith as Christians, expressed eagerly in worship and church-related activities, just doesn’t seem to play much of a conscious role. Listen! God Is Calling! is an attempt to understand why this is so and to propose a resource from the church’s heritage that I have found helpful for bridging the gap that exists between Sunday worship and weekday living among so many of today’s church members. — The Author "Every pastor who has tried program after program to motivate members should read this book. Applying a central reformation idea to congregational life, not adding programs, holds much more promise of renewal. Members should read it, too, because it validates their faith-lived lives and they need to hear that over and over." —Judith McWilliams Dickhart, Author, Denton, Maryland "A ‘must read’ for all those wondering how to cross the great divide between Sunday and Monday—the relationship between thief faith and their daily work. Pastor Bennethum’s book is an excellent resource for developing the skills to listen to God’s call in every aspect of one’s life. Informative, practical, and provocative, the book is a great tool for all the baptized, both those whose ministry is in the world and those who are professional leaders in the church." —Carol L. Weiser, Director of Communications, NE Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA D. Michael Bennethum has been an ordained pastor in the Lutheran Church since 1979, serving congregations in Pennsylvania and Georgia. He has done graduate work in Reformation theology at Emory University and holds a Doctor of Ministry Degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Currently he and his family live in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he serves as senior pastor of Reformation Evangelical Lutheran Church. Listen! God is Calling! is part of the new Lutheran Voices series from Augsburg Fortress that brings fresh new messages that inform, teach, inspire, and renew. Grounded in Lutheran theology and practice, the books cover a wide range of subjects and themes of interest to ELCA members and the wider Christian community. To learn more about this exciting new series please visit www.lutheranvoices.com. Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is the definitive source for numerous volumes on Martin Luther including Martin Luther: A Life, designed to coincide with the September 2003 release of the major motion picture LUTHER. (http://www.augsburgfortress.org/store/item.asp?isbn=0806645733&clsid=92063) Listen! God is Calling! |
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MINNEAPOLIS
(August 12, 2003) — The Christian faith has implications
for all of life. Yet, many Christians do not make the connection between
the resources of their faith and the challenges they face in daily life
and work. For a number of reasons, God’s call to faithful living is
often understood primarily in terms of being involved in church-sponsored
ministries. In Listen! God Is Calling!, author D. Michael
Bennethum presents Martin Luther’s teaching on vocation as an aid for
helping believers find deeper meaning in their daily work—recognizing
in their ordinary labors a way in which they can, and already do serve
God.