Author James Bailey of "Contrast Community" will be the guest

James L. Bailey is interviewed as the author of the Contrast Community which is an intense discovery of the Sermon on the Mount and it's meaning.  It deals with the beattitudes which appeals to those who have emptiness and desire mercy to those who have fullness and can give.  He approaches the book as a tool for the church to use a transformative power to minister to the external world by employing lessons Jesus gave like turning the other cheek, giving the cloak off your back, walking the extra mile for someone.  He also tackles broader lessons of Christ on adultery, anger and its potential damage and how to become perfect in Christ (don't swear, express hatred).  The church can use these basic precepts as an effective ministry to help those who are suffering in their local community.  He also explains the difference of believers in the 1st Century church who were rabbinical Jews, Pharisees, Gentiles and how Jewish converts had to deal with critics to come full circle in the Judeo-Christian belief and accept the Messiah.

James Bailey graduated from Capital University (1960) and Trinity Lutheran Seminary (1964) in Columbus, Ohio, before earning a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (1967). After pastoring in Cincinnati, Ohio, Jim taught at Trinity Lutheran Seminary (1970-74), Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota (1975-85), and Wartburg Theological Seminary (1985-2003). Jim is now the John S. and William A. Wagner Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology at Wartburg Seminary, having retired from full-time teaching in 2003.  Jim has published several Bible studies for the church and is co-author of Literary Forms in the New Testament. He most recently published Contrast Community: Practicing the Sermon on the Mount, the topic for his session during Re-formation and Renewal. Jim and his wife Judy still reside in Dubuque, Iowa.