Arthur Boers

A sensitive and penetrating reflection on coming of age in a Dutch immigrant family scarred by violence Arthur Boers's earliest memory was of shattered glass. His father threw a potted plant at his mother, and she ducked as the plant crashed through a window of the family home. His mother cleaned up the shards that day; later in life, he would find himself called upon to pick up the pieces as well. In Shattered, Boers reflects on coming of age in a family scarred by violence. The son of Dutch immigrants, Boers illuminates the generational trauma of the Nazi occupation of Holland, refracted in vignettes of his boyhood in postwar Canada. His hard-working, Calvinist family is endearing, but ultimately unable or unwilling to address the insidious cycle of abuse that passed father to son. Breaking with this silence and complicity, Boers reflects candidly and empathetically on his tumultuous relationship with his father. Intertwined with this narrative is his emerging vocation to ministry, more mystical and expressive than the Reformed tradition in which he was raised. Forthright and authentic, Boers extends a hand in solidarity to readers who have been wounded by those who were meant to protect them the most. With Shattered, he charts a path toward healing through faith.

Leadership is much discussed these days in politics, media, films, and church. Yet many are unclear about what leadership actually means, and there is too little careful reflection on whether Christian leadership has its own distinctive shape and character. Arthur Boers reveals the peculiar reversals of Christian leadership and ministry, and shows how in our tendency to focus on big bold heroes we often miss the point. Leadership modeled after Jesus practices service and sacrifice, is cautious about power and hierarchies, and prioritizes the vulnerable. In other words, it reverses what many expect of leadership. Servants and Fools explores leadership as we see it lived out in the biblical narrative, and gives the reader a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Christian leader. This book will redefine leadership for many Christians, in a most helpful way.

In today's high-speed culture, there's a prevailing sense that we are busier than ever before and that the pace of life is too rushed. Most of us can relate to the feeling of having too much to do and not enough time for the people and things we value most. We feel fragmented, overwhelmed by busyness and the tyranny of gadgets. Veteran pastor and teacher Arthur Boers offers a critical look at the isolating effects of modern life that have eroded the centralizing, focusing activities that people used to do together. He suggests ways to make our lives healthier and more rewarding by presenting specific individual and communal practices that help us focus on what really matters. These practices--such as shared meals, gardening, hospitality, walking, prayer, and reading aloud--bring our lives into focus and build community. The book includes questions for discernment and application and a foreword by Eugene H. Peterson.

Take Our Moments and Our Daysis a four-week cycle of morning and evening prayer services prepared for the period in the church year between Pentecost and Advent. The services focus on the teaching and ministry of Jesus: the Lord's Prayer (week one), the Beatitudes (week two), Jesus' parables (week three), and Jesus' miracles (week four). The prayer services are designed for use by small groups of families, although they are suitable for individuals as well. The central features are: Scripture-saturated prayer. Virtually all the words in these prayers are adapted or taken directly from the Bible. The voice of Jesus. The words of Jesus are strikingly prominent in these services. Anabaptist coloration. Lying behind the prayers is a pattern of themes that are especially important in the Anabaptist tradition. Published in collaboration with the Institute of Mennoite Studies at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana. Also check out Volume 2 in this series, Take Our Moments and Our Days: An Anabaptist Prayer Book: Advent through Pentecost.