Transforming Acts. Bruce G. Epperly
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Praise for Transforming Acts
“Acts of the Apostles is good news for those who want to join head, heart, and hands in an intellectually-solid, spiritually-inspiring, and socially-active faith,” says Dr. Epperly as you begin a journey of discovery. If your church community is looking for ways to be relevant, to reach out, to live “gospel lives,” this book is for you; if you are seeking a guide that will help you understand the gospel message in broad, affirming, yet life-challenging ways, this book can be that guide; if you’ve almost given up on religious institutions but know that there is something real, vital and transformative about God and faith; this book will supply you with a refreshing glimpse of a vibrant, living faith. Whether you consider yourself churched or “spiritual but not religious,” you will find stimulating ideas and challenging thoughts that will assist and affirm your journey of belief, question, doubt and seeking more. Dr. Epperly is a spiritual guide for a new generation of seekers and believers. To read Transforming Acts is to go on a journey with a deeply-attuned, thoughtful and progressive thinker and theologian.
Rev. Kathy Harvey Nelson
Director of the Center for Leadership Development
Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, PA
Reading the Book of Acts, with Bruce Epperly’s Transforming Acts at hand, reminds you that what’s old is new wherever the Spirit addresses the church. This book will be a helpful companion for devotional reading, small group Bible study, or preaching preparation. As Christians learn to relocate themselves in a 21st Century spiritual world that is becoming more like that of the 1st Century, we can find renewed hope in the abiding relevance of the gospel by reading this fresh work.
Rev. Dr. George A. Mason, Senior Pastor
Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas
Transforming Acts is a magnificent book! Drawing from a remarkable range of sources, Dr. Epperly presents the Book of Acts in a manner that is both downright compelling and remarkably relevant. If anyone is discouraged with the current state of the institutional church, this is the book to read. The author presents a vision of a compelling community, one with the power to effect necessary change in a broken world. The book strikes a wonderful balance between necessary academic background and a heartfelt vision of the possibilities and potential of the community that seeks to follow Jesus, i.e. the church. I recommend it highly.
Rev. Dr. Robert R. LaRochelle
Pastor, Second Congregational Church, UCC
Manchester, Connecticut
When I was in seminary, there was a great emphasis on producing clergy with positive attitudes and joy-filled ministries. Bruce Epperly has written a book that not only aids in studying Acts but also in producing positive attitudes and joy-filled ministries and lives. Dr. Epperly uses the Acts of the Apostles to open our hearts to acts of our own that are full of love, transformation, and praise.
Throughout this book, the reader is encouraged and challenged to jump fences, pull down walls and realize that we “could be the answer to someone’s prayer.” This book is an inspiration to Christians in today’s world! This is a book I could use in small groups and give to people who are struggling in their faith and spirituality.
Rev. Shauna Hyde, Pastor
author of Fifty Shades of Grace and Victim No More!
Over the course of time many have treated the Book of Acts as simply a historical record of the early church or a blue print for church organization and practice. In his reading of Acts, Bruce Epperly conceives of it as being gospel for a postmodern age. It offers good news that the Spirit of God is alive and active in our midst, transforming lives and the world itself. It is, he suggests, a word of encouragement to postmodern Christians, who live in a pluralistic context, to let the Spirit lead us on to new spiritual adventures in a world that God loves in Jesus. Yes, in the hands of this author, a biblical text that is often read in rather dry manner comes alive again.
Dr. Bob Cornwall
Pastor of Central Woodward Christian Church, Troy, MI
Author, Editor, and Activist
TRANSFORMING ACTS:
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES AS A
21ST CENTURY GOSPEL
Bruce G. Epperly
Energion Publications
Gonzalez, FL
2013
Copyright © Bruce G. Epperly 2013
Scripture quotations are taken are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U. S. A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cover Design: Henry Neufeld
Adobe Digital Edition
ISBN10: 1-63199-291-0
ISBN13: 978-1-63199-291-9
Print ISBNs:
ISBN10: 1-938434-64-
ISBN13: 978-1-938434-64-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013942955
Energion Publications
P. O. Box 841
Gonzalez, FL 32560
850-525-3916
energionpubs.com
A Word
of Thanksgiving
Hymn-writer Al Carmines’ words, “For the giver, for the gift, Praise! Praise! Praise!” rings through my mind as I pen my final words of this text. I believe God is alive and well in the church, calling us to new visions and giving us the energy to faithfully fulfill our vision in this time and place. God’s vision for my life, so far as I can intuit, has been inspired by many people: my mother and father, Loretta and Everett Epperly; pastors John Akers, George “Shorty” Collins; teachers Marie Fox, Richard Keady, John Cobb, David Griffin, Bernard Loomer; academic and spiritual colleagues Ed Aponte, Jay McDaniel, Monica Coleman, Doug Pagitt, Brian McLaren, Catherine Keller, Helene Russell, Ron Allen, Kent Ira Groff, J. Philip Newell, and Kathy Harvey Nelson; friends Anna Rollins and Patricia Adams Farmer; and, of course, my family, Kate Gould Epperly, Matt Epperly, Ingrid Lemmey Epperly, and my “grand-boys” Jack and Jamie. I am grateful to Dean and Provost Philip Clayton and President Jerry Campbell for the opportunity to spend Fall 2012 teaching and writing at Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Lincoln University. At Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Lincoln University, I had the opportunity to be part of a truly vital seminary and graduate school, attentive to the role of interreligious partnerships in healing the world. I am also thankful to Henry and Jody Neufeld at Energion Publications for their commitment to boundary-breaking scholarship to transform the church.
This text had its inception in a series of twelve sermons I preached between May 13 and August 12, 2012 at First Christian Church, Falls Church, Virginia. I am grateful to Senior Pastor Kathleen Kline Moore for her generosity in turning her pulpit over to me during her sabbatical and to an excellent pastoral staff and lay leadership that took care of the many details of ministry so that I could devote myself to what I do best: preach, teach, mentor, and pastor.
I write out of my love for seminarians, pastors, lay leaders, as well as my hope that a vital progressive-evangelical-emerging-spirit-centered church will burst forth and take its role as God’s partner in healing the Earth. As you read this text, I invite you to open to God’s dynamic spirit and take your place as a companion in a never-ending story of grace, healing, love, and transformation.
Bruce Epperly
Rosh Hashanah 2012
(A Blessed New Year and Time for New Beginnings
for Church and Synagogue)
1: A Postmodern Gospel?