Andrew Farley's experience as a Christian was first characterized by self-effort as he tried to please God at any cost. His ruthless religion resulted in spiritual burnout and disillusionment with church. Only then did he discover what relaxing in Jesus means and how enjoying God's intimate presence can transform everyday life.
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Not a Fan Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
Are you a follower of Jesus? Don't answer too quickly. In fact, you may want to read this book before you answer at all. Consider it a 'Define the Relationship' conversation to determine exactly where you stand. You may indeed be a passionate, fully devoted follower of Jesus. Or, you may be just a fan who admires Jesus but isn't ready to let him cramp your style. Then again, maybe you're not into Jesus, period. In any case, don't take the question---Are you a follower of Jesus?---lightly. Some people don't know what they've said yes to and other people don't realize what they've said no to, says Pastor Kyle Idleman. But Jesus is ready to clearly define the relationship he wants with his followers. Not a Fan calls you to consider the demands and rewards of being a true disciple. With frankness sprinkled with humor, Idleman invites you to live the way Jesus lived, love the way he loved, pray the way he prayed, and never give up living for the One who gave his all for you.
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Practicing the Way of Jesus Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love
Take a casual survey of how people practice their faith, and you might reasonably conclude that Jesus spent his life going door to door offering private lessons, complete with chalkboard and pop quizzes. We think about God in the comfort of our own minds, in isolation from one another; meanwhile the world waits for a people to practice the way of Jesus together. Mark Scandrette contends that Jesus has in mind something more lively for us: not a classroom so much as a kingdom, where our formation takes place not only in our heads but in our hearts and our bodies, and in the company of one another, in a way that blesses the world we've been entrusted with. In Practicing the Way of Jesus Scandrette draws from his experience as a spiritual director and leader of an intentional community, as well as the best contemporary thinking on kingdom spirituality, to paint a picture of life lived together, in the way of Jesus--which is another way of saying life lived to the full.
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Nature As Spiritual Practice Nature As Spiritual Practice
This innovative book, Nature as Spiritual Practise by Steven Chase blends theological, scriptural, historical, and cultural discussions to reclaim the role of nature in the formation of Christian spiritual and moral identity.
Nature as Spiritual Practice (along with its accompanying Field Guide) does the following:
Encourages Christians to read the Bible, pray, and worship outdoors.
Highlights the power of nature to soothe and heal the soul.
Advocates "befriending" God's creation as a crucial element in Christian growth.
Shows how the Bible is full of natural images - and how nature itself can function as a holy text.
Offers stories, anecdotes, ancient wisdom, modern science, scriptural tie-ins, practical advice, discussion questions, and contemplative exercises to help readers better experience God in nature.
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弔詭的應許──在矛盾中擁抱生命 The Promise of Paradox:A Celebration of Contradictions in the Christian Life
Ken Sande, author of the bestselling classic The Peacemaker, has long been a trusted resource on the topic of conflict resolution. In Resolving Everyday Conflict, Sande distills his message to the essentials, quickly equipping readers with the tools they need to bring peace to their relationships.
Everyone encounters conflict--whether it be with a coworker, family member, friend, or complete stranger. And yet we all desire harmony in our relationships. Resolving Everyday Conflict is a practical, biblical, concise guide to peacemaking in everyday life that can turn tumultuous relationships into peaceful ones.
As Helen Keller observed, "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
To Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, so much of how we have learned to experience and understand the faith has been divorced from the overarching adventure inherent in our God and in our calling. This book is a corrective to the dull, adventureless, risk-free phenomenon that describes so much of contemporary Christianity. It explores the nature of adventure, risk, and courage and the implications for church, discipleship, spirituality, and leadership.
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Speaking Christian Speaking Christian: Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power - And How They Can Be Restored
Modern Christians are steeped in a language so distorted that it has become a stumbling block to the religion, says internationally renowned Bible scholar Marcus J. Borg. Borg argues that Christianity’s important words, and the sacred texts and stories in which those words are embedded, have been narrowed by a modern framework for the faith that emphasizes sin, forgiveness, Jesus dying for our sins, and the afterlife. Here, Borg employs the “historical-metaphorical” method for understanding Christian language that can restore for us these words of power and transformation. For example,
Redemption: now narrowly understood as Jesus saving us from sins so we can go to heaven, but in the Bible it refers to being set free from slavery.
Savior: now refers to Jesus as the one who saves us from our sins, but in the Bible it has a rich and wonderful variety of meanings having nothing to do with the afterlife.
Sacrifice: now refers to Jesus’s death on the cross as payment for our sins, but in the Bible it is never about substitutionary payment for sin.
In Speaking Christian, Borg delivers a language for twenty-first-century Christians that grounds the faith in its deep and rich original roots and allows it once again to transform our lives.
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Prayers for All Occasions Prayers for All Occasions
A collection of original prayers in contemporary style covering a variety of subjects. The prayers are grouped under broad headings, such as: Church; Pastoral/social concern; Community; Government/civic life; Home and family, Relationships; Celebrations and Devotional.