Dennis Ngien – författare

A sequel to A Faith Worth Believing, Living and Commendation, Giving Wings to the Soul is the compilation of Dr. Ngien''s sermons or speeches, devotional and theological reflections. The materials continue to provide Bible-based, thought-provoking theological, spiritual, and pastoral insights to issues of topical interest. Devoid of complex theological jargon, and crafted with an earthy relevance, Dr. Ngien shows us how to preach doctrinally, apologetically, and pastorally in a way that is clear, readable, and laudable. Reflecting his extensive ministry and academic rigor, his work will instill thirst in a seeker''s hearts, and grounds the believer''s faith in timeless truth, ultimately giving wings to the soul.

The materials presented here are reflections on a variety of topics: a belief in God''s suffering and the pastoral implications of this; Luther''s theology of preaching; practical approaches to evangelistic preaching; pastoral advice on death and dying; apologetic preaching in a post-Christian culture on the model of Paul; effective living in the power of the Holy Spirit, striking a balance between enthusiastic service and fervent love; the image of God''s love in the Old Testament; and personal exhortations. Although this book was written on the balcony of my own study where reflection and meditation are carried out, it is cognizant of ministry contexts where people''s needs and struggles are most evident. With anecdotes and analyses, the readers will be enabled to discern the signs of divine transcendence in their lives, and to apprehend, or rather to be apprehended by, the beauty of God''s grace--the abiding basis of our being and well-being. What has been written in this book reveals the heartbeat of a mentor who earnestly hungers for divine beauty and holiness, a mentor whose hunger God eagerly fulfills, just as he promises, and a mentor who wishes this same fulfillment to happen for readers. The basic assumption in this book is this: a faith that is worth believing is a faith that is worth living, and thus worth commending. The book is also an exercise of faith seeking understanding--understanding only God could supply. It is written with the hope that it will lead readers from knowing God to loving him, to enjoying him, and finally to proclaiming him so that others will be brought into the orbit of God''s inestimable grace. Not until our hearts, which God''s heart touches, touch the heart of others is our ministry complete and our life found pleasing to God.

In celebration of Alister E. McGrath''s sixty-fifth birthday in 2018, this Festschrift aims to highlight him as a lauded scholar, who exemplifies an interface of science, theology, and religion. It comprises works by McGrath''s theological allies and colleagues from diverse ecclesial homes including Graham Ward, Oliver Crisp, Tony Lane, Sung Wook Chung, Randall Zachman, Veli-Matti Karkkainen, Jonathan Wilson, Jeffrey P. Greenman, Robert Kolb, Sister Benedicta Ward, Michael Lloyd, Bethany Sollereder, and Patrick Franklin. Critical but appreciative is the posture with which these contributors engage the wide range of McGrath''s own scholarly pursuits and publications. This volume, edited by Dennis Ngien, covers these themes that are central to the life and witness of the church: atonement, Christology, Trinity, eschatology, mission, Reformation, science, nature, culture, evangelism, and theodicy--there is much to ponder and reap here. Readers will join with the contributors and pay tribute to McGrath who has risen to a life of significance as a scientist turned theologian, professor, author, Christian apologist, and churchman.

Luther was fundamentally a preacher-pastor, "a care-taker of souls," whose ingenuity lies in his usage of the biblical message as a source of pastoral encouragement. This book seeks to capture the often-overlooked pastoral side of the Reformer through an examination of his sermons on John''s gospel.The sermons on John show the intrinsic, close, and causal link between doctrine and consolation. They are an exercise of his vocation as a pastor, or more precisely, as a theologian of the cross who seeks to inculcate the good news of justification by faith in his people, leading them to experience it within the dialectic of law and gospel. St. John, said Luther, "is the master in the article of justification." Luther''s theological method, namely, his theology of the cross, permeates and governs the exposition of the text, and all major themes of his theology-- Christology, Trinity, and soteriology--appear in his exegesis of John.

The ministry is more than preaching, but preaching is its priority. This conviction is one Dr. Ngien has lived and worked with. As a sequel to A Faith Worth Believing, Commending and Living, and Giving Wings to the Soul, Interpretation of Love: God''s Love and Ours is a third collection of sermons and talks, preached with rigor and humor, reverence and relevance. Basic to the book is the assertion that the one possessed of a penetrating eye, coupled with a compassionate heart, could interpret, and thus be an effective agency of love.We are saved not so that we might be good, but so that we are God''s--chosen and set apart to be his holy, beloved family. Because we are his, we are to dress ourselves differently (Col. 3:12-13). The wardrobe of the holy saints is full of love. The imperative of the new self is to reflect Christ''s holiness in the way that we relate to each other. The selfishness that was at the core of our existence now gives way to a loving self-sacrifice for the good of others, resulting in a theology of radical reversal, which is the theology of a holy life: (i) compassion instead of contempt for or indifference to others; (ii) kindness instead of malice; (iii) humility instead of arrogance; (iv) gentleness instead of rudeness; (v) patience instead of anger; (vi) forbearance instead of resentment; and (vii) forgiveness instead of revenge. This is the fruit of Christ''s redemptive act on the cross manifest in those who live in joyous obedience and willful submission to the Holy Spirit. Readers will be drawn into the depth of biblical and theological truths presented with anecdotes and antidotes.

The author does not aim to defend Luther''s and Calvin''s reading of Galatians against modern biblical scholarship but to read and hear them in their own contexts. He grapples with major theological themes underlying their approach: law and gospel, active and passive righteousness, faith alone yet not alone, attribution of contraries between Christ and the justified saints, human love and God''s love, Christ as gift and example, the creative power of God''s word, union with Christ, the economic action of the Son, the role of Holy Spirit in the justified life, faith in Christ and the faith of Christ, the uses of the law, true identity as God''s gift, flesh and Spirit, and radical discontinuity of the old existence and the re-creation of the new. Readers will learn from the Reformers how they apply a text or theological theme homiletically in a pastoral context and appreciate how their understanding of the gospel can spiritually nurture the life of faith.