Bøger af Bob G Shupe

Throughout history, the Christian faith has experienced incredible flashpoints of both disruption and growth. These points in history always seem to involve turning away from tradition and institutionalized stagnation. These turns are almost always toward a fundamental movement sparked by an individual or small group who depend on face-to-face word of mouth for validation and growth. May I be so bold as to suggest that today we sit at the edge of a long overdue 3rd Great Awakening? It may have already begun in, of all places, educational institutions, not churches. As with the Protestant Reformation and the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings, motivating conditions preceding these movements were unfavorable to following Christ's Great Commission. The same is true today. In fact, our present situation has had more than two-hundred years to ferment. Since the last Great Awakening mankind has, like a turtle, slowly withdrawn into their shell-a shell known as the church facility. Instead of going outside our comfort zone and introducing strangers to Christ through our ministry outside the church walls, we invite them into the church where they can hear a monologue-not a discussion with questions-about God's story from an ordained pastor draped in church traditions and theology. Is your congregation dying? If you consider that question harsh ... is your congregation seriously declining? If you belong to one of the protestant congregations in the United States, the truthful answer, based on real data, is most likely... "Yes. Absolutely." How does someone know a congregation is dying or seriously declining? Can even a stranger notice that something is seriously wrong? There are both telling signs and less-noticeable signs. You may have heard the tired slogan, "There's no 'I' in team." There is however an 'I' in Un-i-te, and unity is one of the primary subjects in this study guide. The 3rd Great Awakening?... A Spiritual Opportunity to Reverse Congregational Decline contains information that is written between the lines of the reference book "Between Two Breaths, the Seasons of Creation." The purpose of the reference book is to encourage dialogue instead of monologue, discussion instead of lecture, and relationships rather than institutional connection. This third study guide addresses and provides ways to place the 'I' where it belongs in your congregation by un-i-ting through the use of the Great Commission's original intent and application. Most importantly, this study gives a congregation a practical track to run on and some of the tools needed to create a great awakening within their congregational ministry.This study provides a fresh look at the Great Commission through twenty-first-century eyes, to determine its relevance to the mission of twenty-first-century congregations. The difficulty within this task is perspective. This study will be divided into three sections, all with the aim of uniting local twenty-first-century congregations through Christs' Great Commission by: - Becoming Informed- Becoming the Church, Instead of Just Sitting in It- Becoming EngagedConversations surrounding the questions within these three areas could be the vehicle and the fuel needed to carry a twenty-first-century congregation out of distress, division, and desperation and into assurance, unity, and hope... and maybe even a 3rd Great Awakening.

Throughout history, the Christian faith has experienced incredible flashpoints of both disruption and growth. These points in history always seem to involve turning away from tradition and institutionalized stagnation. These turns are almost always toward a fundamental movement sparked by an individual or small group who depend on face-to-face word of mouth for validation and growth. May I be so bold as to suggest that today we sit at the edge of a long overdue 3rd Great Awakening? It may have already begun in, of all places, educational institutions, not churches. As with the Protestant Reformationand the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings, motivating conditions preceding these movements were unfavorable to following Christ's Great Commission. The same is true today. In fact, our present situation has had more than two-hundred years to ferment. Since the last Great Awakening mankind has, like a turtle, slowly withdrawn into their shell-a shell known as the church facility. Instead of going outside our comfort zone and introducing strangers to Christ through our ministry outside the church walls, we invite them into the church where they can hear a monologue-not a discussion with questions-about God's story from an ordained pastor draped in church traditions and theology. Is your congregation dying? If you consider that question harsh ... is your congregation seriously declining? If you belong to one of the protestant congregations in the United States, the truthful answer, based on real data, ismost likely... "Yes. Absolutely." How does someone know a congregation is dying or seriously declining? Can even a stranger notice that something is seriously wrong? There are both telling signs and less-noticeable signs. You may have heard the tired slogan, "There's no 'I' in team." There is however an 'I' in Un-i-te, and unity is one of the primary subjects in this study guide. The 3rd Great Awakening?... A Spiritual Opportunity to Reverse Congregational Decline contains information that is written between the lines of the reference book "Between Two Breaths, the Seasons of Creation." The purpose of the reference book is to encourage dialogue instead ofmonologue, discussion instead of lecture, and relationships rather than institutional connection. This third study guide addresses and provides ways to place the 'I' where it belongs in your congregation by un-i-ting through theuse of the Great Commission's original intent and application. Most importantly, this study gives a congregation a practical track to run on and some of the tools needed to create a great awakening within their congregational ministry. This study provides a fresh look at the Great Commission through twenty-first-century eyes, to determine its relevance to the mission of twenty-first-century congregations. The difficulty within this task is perspective.This study will be divided into three sections, all with the aim of uniting local twenty-first-century congregations through Christs' Great Commission by: - Becoming Informed- Becoming the Church, Instead of Just Sitting in It- Becoming EngagedConversations surrounding the questions within these three areas could be the vehicle and the fuel needed to carry a twenty-first-century congregation out of distress, division, and desperation and into assurance, unity, and hope... and maybe even a 3rd Great Awakening.

Are you tired of politicians arguing over which one has the solution to your healthcare cost issues? Are you tired of the same old sound bites describing untested ways to control healthcare costs? Do you find it odd that those being asked to fix this cost issue all make a lot of money from things remaining the way they are? Would you like to know how much the industries, organizations, and individuals that service healthcare get paid? Would you like to discover how organizations, industries, and individuals controlling healthcare costs make billions of dollars while you and your employer struggle to pay for your healthcare? Would a detailed, documented look at the motives, if any, of organizations, industries, and individuals controlling healthcare costs be of interest to you? What if all of this information could be acquired from an individual who has spent the last thirty-five years in the middle of this healthcare cost debate with no bias because they were not connected to any of the players?That unbiased individual, Bob G. Shupe, REBC, is the author of a new book covering all of these questions and many more with over 250 references from every spectrum. Mr. Shupe is the CEO of a fifty-year old consulting firm working exclusively for employers. In the Forward of the book, written by a Deputy Director of a large school system, he says, "I would strongly encourage you to read this entire book. It is not a book you can understand by picking and choosing chapters or subjects. The healthcare cost crisis is a complicated web of interconnected issues, only understood when looked at as a whole. The book is filled with things you may not know, things with which you may disagree, and things which may disturb you--all of which will enlighten you." He closes with, "You may challenge what is in this book, but you will have to work very hard to prove these concepts wrong. You really should take the time to read this book." Mr. Shupe has saved this, and other clients, millions of dollars while maintaining some of the best benefit programs in the nation; with quality outcomes and above average reserves. The editor of this book called it, "revolutionary!"The title of the book is self-explanatory; Behind the Healthcare Cost Curtain...there is an answer. Order today! Pull the curtain back and get involved in the conversation by being informed. Stop trading soundbites in your discussions about this issue. Gain the background you need from this book to ask challenging questions. Best of all; know the answer to the question before you ask it. The theme of this book is to stop shifting costs and start shifting responsibility. It is not about repeal and replace, but repeal and change. Isn't it time to stop wondering?

Why another study about the life of Christ? Maybe you are as taken back by this question as I when it came up during my research. After being confronted by this inquiry, I had to spend quality time in prayer and thought. I concluded I could not answer the question. Instead, I turned to the Holy Spirit for guidance. The Spirit's assignment was turning a recently released 550-page project into the space of around 250-pages including over 450 discussion questions.This study and its companion studies, Irreconcilable Differences, the birth, and death of everything through the eyes of science, faith, and religion and Are You the "I" in UNITY?, inform-invite-involve, compose a three-book series titled, The Great Commission for the 21st Century Congregation. This study, The Story of Faith, a movement, not an institution, centers roughly on thirty-three years of Christ's life on the Earth and then about seventy-seven years of building a faith that changed not just the world but, all time before and after this one-hundred and ten-year period. Information about the companion studies can be found by visiting www.bobgshupe.com. The information you will discuss and debate within this study will introduce you to more than just Christ and other major characters of the Bible you have studied in specialized discussions. You will also meet the minor participants who, in their own way, contributed as much or more in a short period of time as those characters we have heard about most of our lives. Why did I write this study? I was led to do so. In a time of infinite history and endless future events it is possible the church feels it has outgrown Christ. Time for a personal faith checkup. Welcome to the story.

Why another study about the life of Christ? Maybe you are as taken back by this question as I when it came up during my research. After being confronted by this inquiry, I had to spend quality time in prayer and thought. I concluded I could not answer the question. Instead, I turned to the Holy Spirit for guidance. The Spirit's assignment was turning a recently released 550-page project into the space of around 250-pages including over 450 discussion questions.This study and its companion studies, Irreconcilable Differences, the birth, and death of everything through the eyes of science, faith, and religion and Are You the "I" in UNITY?, inform-invite-involve, compose a three-book series titled, The Great Commission for the 21st Century Congregation. This study, The Story of Faith, a movement, not an institution, centers roughly on thirty-three years of Christ's life on the Earth and then about seventy-seven years of building a faith that changed not just the world but, all time before and after this one-hundred and ten-year period. Information about the companion studies can be found by visiting www.bobgshupe.com. The information you will discuss and debate within this study will introduce you to more than just Christ and other major characters of the Bible you have studied in specialized discussions. You will also meet the minor participants who, in their own way, contributed as much or more in a short period of time as those characters we have heard about most of our lives. Why did I write this study? I was led to do so. In a time of infinite history and endless future events it is possible the church feels it has outgrown Christ. Time for a personal faith checkup. Welcome to the story.

This the first of a three book small group/classroom study series based on the reference book, Between Two Breaths, the seasons of creation by Mr. Shupe. This 550 page reference book is extensive and well documented with over 400 plus references. For the Christian faith community, the creation story begins with Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning. . ." The science community, on the other hand, cites a single moment when the first indication of life occurred. But what was happening in the instant before either of these took place? Moving to the end of the timeline, humanity is faced with a similar quandary: What happens the instant after Christ returns at the end of days, or as science postulates, the Extinction Event?Throughout this study, you will be considering things that do not necessarily fit the traditional faith or scientific explanations you may have been previously taught. For example, you will be asked to accept this premise: that before all the formless void spoken of in Scripture - or the scientific explanation of life's origins - something was already there. The simple act of entertaining this thought can change your perspective as it pertains to Scripture and science - it can also drive you insane if you dwell on it.My purpose in writing this study is to provide the Christian audience with "food for thought" regarding difficult questions that can arise in discussions with a non-believer, specifically as it relates to Christian beliefs and the scientific/naturalist community. While there can be vast differences of opinion separating us, an open mind leads to open dialogue.Such a discussion can only move forward with questions and observations. The faith-based explanation has roots in Scripture, while the scientific explanation will always follow the scientific method. We can examine these two viewpoints more closely by addressing the content and questions posed in this study.

This the first of a three book small group/classroom study series based on the reference book, Between Two Breaths, the seasons of creation by Mr. Shupe. This 550 page reference book is extensive and well documented with over 400 plus references. For the Christian faith community, the creation story begins with Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning. . ." The science community, on the other hand, cites a single moment when the first indication of life occurred. But what was happening in the instant before either of these took place? Moving to the end of the timeline, humanity is faced with a similar quandary: What happens the instant after Christ returns at the end of days, or as science postulates, the Extinction Event?¿¿¿Throughout this study, you will be considering things that do not necessarily fit the traditional faith or scientific explanations you may have been previously taught. For example, you will be asked to accept this premise: that before all the formless void spoken of in Scripture - or the scientific explanation of life's origins - something was already there. The simple act of entertaining this thought can change your perspective as it pertains to Scripture and science - it can also drive you insane if you dwell on it.My purpose in writing this study is to provide the Christian audience with "food for thought" regarding difficult questions that can arise in discussions with a non-believer, specifically as it relates to Christian beliefs and the scientific/naturalist community. While there can be vast differences of opinion separating us, an open mind leads to open dialogue.Such a discussion can only move forward with questions and observations. The faith-based explanation has roots in Scripture, while the scientific explanation will always follow the scientific method. We can examine these two viewpoints more closely by addressing the content and questions posed in this study.