Kelly M. Kapic – författare

Many Christians wonder what the Christian life is all about. They hear about “grace” but struggle to rightly understand it, much less live it.  They are taught about God, but their vision of him does not always reflect the full biblical portrait of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When this happens Christians struggle to know the ways of God and how to joyfully participate in his work. 

The God Who Gives provides a compelling vision of Christian faith and life, helping readers discover the uniqueness of the gospel—that God''s kingdom comes not by taking, but by giving—God gives Himself!  We are invited into the fullness of life that can only come through the gift of God’s divine generosity.

Taking readers through the grand biblical narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and kingdom author Kelly M. Kapic helps us see our story in and through the story of Scripture. He shows that everything belongs to God, and yet because of our turning and taking from him we experience a kind of suffocating bondage to sin. So how does God reclaim us? God gives again. The God who gave in creation restores by recreating us through his Son and by his Spirit. The kingdom of God is an overflowing measure of divine generosity that we are invited to participate in.

The God Who Gives calls readers to discover that the whole Christian story is founded upon the Triune God’s self-giving and our belonging to God. Fully embracing this truth changes how we view God, ourselves, and the world. Living in God''s gifts, we are freed to give ourselves and truly experience life.

What is the Christian life? What does it mean to live life in Christ?

In this volume in Zondervan Academic''s New Studies in Dogmatics series, theologian Kelly M. Kapic reflects on the Christian life: its foundation, its nourishment, and its goal.

Kapic contends that the Christian life is, first and foremost, one that is lived in response to the love of the triune God. It thus flows from God toward us, and we are then drawn back into communion with God. As those united to God through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, Christians are enabled to respond to God''s love. Shaped further by the community of faith, especially through corporate worship, Christians thus participate in this love of God and neighbor. What is true of the whole discipline of theology is thus reflected in the Christian life: Christ is its foundation, Christ is its source of nourishment, and Christ is its goal.

New Studies in Dogmatics seeks to retrieve the riches of Christian doctrine for the sake of contemporary theological renewal. Following in the tradition of G. C. Berkouwer''s Studies in Dogmatics, this series will provide thoughtful, concise, and readable treatments of major theological topics, expressing the biblical, creedal, and confessional shape of Christian doctrine for a contemporary evangelical audience. The editors and contributors share a common conviction that the way forward in constructive systematic theology lies in building upon the foundations laid in the church''s historic understanding of the Word of God as professed in its creeds, councils, and confessions, and by its most trusted teachers. This volume presents a dogmatic account of the Christian life.

Western Civilization is wealthier, but it isn’t happier.

We are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth, but according to research, we aren’t becoming happier. Families and communities are increasingly fragmented, loneliness is skyrocketing, and physical and mental health are on the decline. Our unprecedented wealth doesn’t seem to be doing us much good.

Yet, when we try to help poor people at home or abroad, our implicit assumption is that the goal is to help them to become like us. "If they would just do things our way, they’d be fine!"

But even when they seem to pursue our path, they too find that the American Dream doesn’t work for them. What if we have the wrong idea altogether? What if the molds we are using to help poor people don’t actually fit any of us? What if the goal isn’t to turn other countries into the United States or to turn America’s impoverished communities into its affluent suburbs?

In Becoming Whole (building on the best-selling When Helping Hurts), Brian Fikkert and Kelly M. Kapic look at the true sources of brokenness and poverty and uncover the surprising pathways to human flourishing, for poor and non-poor alike. Exposing the misconceptions of both Western Civilization and the Western church about the nature of God, human beings, and the world, they redefine success and offer new ways of achieving that success. Through biblical insights, scientific research, and practical experience, they show you how the good news of the kingdom of God reshapes our lives and our poverty alleviation ministries, moving everybody involved towards wholeness.

This is not a how-to manual… (it’s a field guide)

We all want to know, "How can I help without hurting in this specific situation?" But there’s no one answer, and there’s definitely no short cuts, but there are key principles—or ministry design principles.

Think of these like the rules an improvising actor learns—the principles are crucial—but the actor must decide how to put them into practice based on the complexities of the situation.

This book contains and explicates 20 ministry design principles developed over decades of observing, studying, and experimenting. They’re in no way perfect, but they represent the very best ideas we have to date for how to do effective poverty alleviation in the kingdom of God.