Presence
A Journal for Servants and Leaders Engaging in the Public Square
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Presence!
We are making the first edition of Presence available to all subscribers (free and premium) to give everyone a taste of what we hope to make available every 4-6 weeks.
In this edition, our founder, Michael Langer unpacks some of the central themes of the ministry while focusing specifically on how Nietzsche and Marx have made their way into the evangelical Christian world. In "Faithful Presence and the Gift of Humanity," he is concerned not with social justice issues but with how these philosophies have enticed followers of Jesus away from embracing our created-humanity and prompted destructive levels of over-functioning.
Our second article comes from Dr. Charlie Self. "St. Thomas Aquinas: Everyday Economic Ethics" explores how Aquinas helps us understand justice in the marketplace and how free-markets require virtuous participants.
In a collaborative work, Abe Cho (Redeemer City to City) and Greg Perry (Third Mill Seminary) revisit the recent classic, "To Change the World" by James Hunter. In, "How is God Changing People and Places?" they demonstrate the important role of table fellowship in creating the systems needed to effect change.
Our Ministry Resident, Nichole Rittgers, contributes her thoughts on one of the seven deadly sins in "The Vice of Slothfulness: Shedding Light on the Sin of Acedia." Rittgers suggests that a misunderstanding of this vice has contributed to our non-stop busy lives, which is the word's very definition.
As so many others are doing, we reach into our archives to share an article by Dr. Tim Keller, who passed away last month after an extended battle with cancer. The article "The Implausibility Structure of a Culture" was initially shared with Michael while he was in seminary as part of a preaching class and now widely available online. This brief document was the groundwork for Keller's later book, "The Reason for God," and presents an insightful apologetic method for the 21st century.
Finally, we tie everything up with a review of Chuck DeGroat's 2016 masterpiece, Wholeheartedness: busyness, exhaustion, and healing the divided self which offers guidance on truly resting in Christ and our humanity.
We are working hard to get more of our all-access and premium content published so keep your eyes open.
Scroll down and let the joy of reading begin!
P.S. Please let us know if you encounter any issues with access, as we are still ironing out some behind-the-scenes tech matters.
Michael Langer
Faithful Presence
Faithful Presence
Faithful Presence
Faithful Presence
Faithful Presence