Download or read book A God Shaped World written by Steve Langford and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2017-09-29 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The kingdom of God was the central theme of Jesuss preaching. Yet in spite of the centrality of the kingdom in Jesuss ministry, the kingdom of God is far from a dominant theme in most mainline Protestant pulpits and churches. Preaching and teaching about the kingdom have been supplanted by such great themes as personal salvation, heaven and hell, faith, sin, the church, missions and evangelism, justice issues, stewardship, and moral living. So where is the kingdom? In A God-Shaped World, author and pastor Steve Langford shows how the kingdom of God grows out of and is an expression of the character of God. The kingdom of God is the realm in which the divine character shapes the way we live so that we do the will of God in every dimension of our lives. A God-Shaped World identifies the four central characteristics of the kingdom of God, how out of step the ways of the kingdom are to the fear-based, self-serving ways inherent to the human condition, and the implications of the kingdom for followers of Jesus today. The Lords Prayer teaches us that the kingdom of God is inseparably tied to Gods character and will. The kingdom of God is where life is patterned after the merciful, gracious character of God, where the ways of God are lived, and where the will of God is donehere on the earth!

Download or read book A God Shaped World Exploring Jesus s Teachings about the Kingdom of God and the Implications for the Church Today written by Steve Langford and published by . This book was released on 2019-12-19 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The kingdom of God was the central theme of Jesus' preaching. Yet in spite of the centrality of the kingdom in Jesus' ministry, the kingdom of God is far from a dominant theme in most mainline Protestant pulpits and churches. Preaching and teaching about the kingdom has been supplanted by such great themes as personal salvation, heaven and hell, faith, sin, the church, missions and evangelism, justice issues, stewardship, and moral living. So where is the kingdom? In A God-Shaped Word, author and pastor Steve Langford shows how the Lord's Prayer teaches us that the kingdom of God is inseparably tied to God's character and will. The kingdom of God grows out of and is an expression of the character of God. ­The kingdom of God is the realm in which the divine character shapes the way we live so that we do the will of God in every dimension of our lives. A God-Shaped World identifies the four central characteristics of the kingdom, how out of step the ways of the kingdom are to the fear-based, self-serving ways inherent to the human condition, and the implications of the kingdom for followers of Jesus today. The kingdom of God is where the ways of God are lived. Thus, the kingdom of God is where life is patterned after the merciful, gracious character of God, where the ways of God are lived, and the will of God is done-here on the earth!

Download or read book Why the Bible Is so Hard to Understand and Tips to Understanding It written by Steve Langford and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2023-01-06 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bible continues to be a source people turn to in their hunger for God. Yet, the Bible can be a challenging, confusing book to understand. In Why the Bible is So Hard to Understand...and tips to understanding it, author Steve Langford explores the challenges readers commonly encounter in reading the Bible. The first challenges Steve identifies are those found within how we naturally, unconsciously read the Bible. Then he addresses the Bible’s nature as sixty-six different books written from an ancient, near-Eastern, pre-scientific perspective. He then offers a simple model of interpretation that guides the reader in unwrapping the spiritual truth from the human “wrapper” used to deliver it. The model is followed by guidelines for using it. Two bible studies are included, one of Jesus walking on the water that illustrates how to use the model and one from the life of Peter that outlines the process of spiritual growth that is prompted as we read the Bible. The book also offers guidelines for exercising spiritual discernment and for praying the Bible using the practice of lectio divina. It presents an outline of biblical history that helps the reader put each of the six-six books in its historical context. It ends with theological reflections on God’s eternal redemptive purpose, the kingdom of God, and the church.

Download or read book Discovering Your True Self written by Steve Langford and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2020-06-17 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The goal of our journey in life is to discover and live out of our true self, the person God created us to be when He fashioned us in our mother’s wombs. However, this is easier said than done as many of us struggle with understanding who we really are in the midst of life’s ups and downs. In a comprehensive guide, Pastor Steve Langford describes the spiritual journey involved in discovering our unique, authentic self that stands in contrast to the false or constructed self that the world pressures us to be. After identifying the role of anxiety and fear in the manufacture of the false self, Dr. Langford describes what is involved in the journey along with the tools, concepts, and skills that resource the journey. He also describes how our experience of life is different when we move beyond the sabotaging power of the anxiety-driven constructed self and begin to live out of the true self. A guide for personal reflection and small group study follows each chapter. Discovering Your True Self describes the journey that leads us to move beyond the false self the world proclaimed we should be and embrace the true self, the person God created us to be.

Download or read book God s Plumb Line written by Steve Langford and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2023-08-09 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A plumb line is a builder's tool used to align a builder's project. Similarly, God's plumb line is a tool that aligns our thinking with the character of God and the ways of God, positioning us to discern the will of God. This Spirit-guided way of thinking is what the apostle Paul called "the renewing of the mind" (Romans 12:2) and "the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). Our lives are transformed as the Spirit teaches us the things of God that Jesus taught, moving us beyond the way the world trained us to think and live. God's plumb line is a tool that, under the guidance of the Spirit, helps us think with the mind of Christ and, thereby, to discern the will of God.

Download or read book The Wisdom of the Ancients Mining the Riches of Genesis 1 11 written by Steve Langford and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2021-06-22 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Five ancient stories, woven together by genealogical tables, are recorded in Genesis 1-11. Author and spiritual guide Steve Langford explores these ancient stories and genealogies, identifying the ancient wisdom and spiritual truths they reflect. The author walks the reader through each story and then identifies the timeless truths reflected in them. The book takes the reader beyond a casual, superficial reading of the stories, guiding the reader into unexplored depths where the stories’ riches are found.

Download or read book Life in the Spirit written by Steve Langford and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2022-05-04 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you want to know how to know God? This book is for you. Do you want to know how to grow spiritually? This book is for you. Do you want to know how to live with joy and peace? This book is for you. Do you want to experience God’s power in your life? This book is for you. Do you want to know how to move beyond guilt and fear and shame? This book is for you. Do you want to know how to move beyond emotional wounds and old messages and self-destructive patterns? This book is for you. Do you want to know how to love as Jesus loved? This book is for you. Do you want to know your unique abilities and how to use them to make a difference in the world? This book is for you. This book explores the many references to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament in an effort to describe the work of the Holy Spirit in our individual lives and in the life of the church. Understanding the Spirit’s work positions us to be aware of, open to, and responsive to that work so that we can experience its transforming results

Download or read book The Fruit of the Spirit written by Steve Langford and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2019-02-22 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jesus and the apostle Paul both identified love as the distinguishing mark of the follower of Jesus. In his description of the fruit of the Spirit, Paul described how it is possible to love the way Jesus loved. But how do we love in this profound way? The Fruit of the Spirit explores the nine interrelated traits of the fruit of the Spirit as the path that leads to loving the way that Jesus loved. The nine traits Paul identified—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—are interrelated and interdependent. Love is the number-one trait and the goal of the Spirit's work. Joy and peace are the inner disposition out of which love flows. The next five traits describe what love looks like in relationships. The final trait, self-control, is the key that make the others possible. By learning about the interrelation between these traits and the barriers to them that are inherent in our human nature, you, too, can understand how the Spirit moves between these barriers—what Paul called "the flesh"—and empowers us to love as Jesus loved.

Download or read book Following Jesus Discipleship in the Gospel of Mark written by Steve Langford and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2022-07-25 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book explores what it means to follow Jesus - to be a disciple. It presents a study of the gospel of Mark, identifying the gospel's unique message about the discipleship journey. It follows the journey of Jesus's first disciples, tracing how they moved from being blind to being able to see, but not clearly, to seeing clearly. It unpacks Jesus's teachings to explain what being a follow of Jesus entails. It describes the discipleship journey of moving from how the world trained us to think and live to allowing the ways of God that Jesus taught to shape our thinking and living. It lifts up the radical transformation of life that is the result of being a follower of Jesus.

Download or read book The Scandal of the Kingdom Workbook written by Dallas Willard and published by HarperChristian Resources. This book was released on 2024-10-15 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a striking difference between the way that most churches operate today and the way Jesus the conducted his ministry when he was on earth. Most churches today spend their time and resources trying to get people to come into their doors and join their fellowship. But Jesus didn't concern himself with trying to get followers. One time, he even responded to such a request by saying, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Matthew 8:12). The implication to the person making the request was clear: Do you really want to be my follower and lead that kind of life? Instead, what we find in the Gospels is that the message Jesus taught—and in fact the sole message of the New Testament—was the nature and availability of the kingdom of God. It was now accessible to all people, both Jews and Gentiles alike. Jesus revealed much of these scandalous truths about God's kingdom through parables. Yet while these parables constitute some of his best-known teachings, they are also some of the least understood. Even the disciples weren't always sure what they meant. Perhaps this is why they asked Jesus, "Why do you speak to the people in parables" (Matthew 13:10). Jesus responded by saying, "Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, not to them" (verse 11). Jesus knew that while the kingdom of God was available to everyone, not everyone would have the desire to go through the work to "ask, seek, knock" and "receive" the truths that had come to bring (see Matthew 7:7–8). The Scandal of the Kingdom Workbook, which accompanies the book of the same name, presents carefully curated new material from the late Dallas Willard to help readers understand the heart of Jesus' key parables, why Jesus chose story to communicate life's deepest truths, and how these stories are still revolutionary (and even shocking) in showing us how to live out God's kingdom on earth today. With the rich insights and biblical scholarship common to all of Willard's works, this guide will help readers: Become more passionate about living the gospel in the full scope of Jesus' vision for them Better share their faith with those who have become disillusioned with Christianity Unlock the excitement of living in the upside-down kingdom of God The Scandal of the Kingdom Workbook is for anyone who: Wants to explore Jesus' teachings but are confused about what his parables mean Loves Dallas Willard's classic works such as The Divine Conspiracy and Life Without Lack Enjoys deep teachings about spiritual formation from authors such as John Mark Comer, Richard Foster, and Eugene Peterson Wants to share the gospel just as Jesus did during his ministry on earth The truths of God's kingdom are available to us. Yet like the disciples, we must recognize that questioning, contemplating, and savoring the meaning of Jesus' stories are an important part of the journey.

Download or read book Unearthed written by Brandon Andress and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2010-10-05 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like a treasure buried in a desolate field that one would sell all of his possessions to attain. Yet the shocking reality is that this treasure remains buried as the average Christian and Church are sadly unaware of what the Kingdom of God is or why it even matters. In his revealing first work, Brandon Andress writes that while the Christian and the Church continue to chase their tails in pursuit of an identity and purpose in the world, it is ultimately the unearthing of the Kingdom of God that will transform the Church and change the world. While walking simplistically through the parables of Jesus to get a better understanding of Kingdom of God, this book will also convince and inspire you and your Church to be the means through which the Kingdom of God breaks into the world in power.

Download or read book The Gospel of the Kingdom written by George Eldon Ladd and published by Colchis Books. This book was released on 1990-03-13 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Gospel of the Kingdom, renowned biblical scholar George Eldon Ladd delves into the heart of Jesus' teachings about the Kingdom of God. With profound insight and clarity, Ladd explores the nature, purpose, and fulfillment of God's redemptive plan through the lens of the kingdom motif. This groundbreaking work, which has shaped the understanding of generations of students and scholars, offers a comprehensive and accessible examination of the central message of Jesus' ministry, shedding light on the transformative power of the gospel and its implications for Christian life and mission.

Download or read book This Beautiful Mess written by Rick Mckinley and published by Multnomah. This book was released on 2013-07-16 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Already Not Yet When Jesus announced, “the kingdom of God is at hand,” what did He mean? Uncover the reality of the kingdom of God and what it might look like if followers of Christ practiced its in-breaking presence. What happens when we view life through the lens of the kingdom? How does the beauty of Jesus’ reign break into the mess of our broken lives and world? What if we lived as though a world other than this one was here today? This Beautiful Mess launches a paradigm-shifting journey inviting us to experience the kingdom of God in the ordinary miracle of our everyday lives. "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he…sold all he had and bought that field.” —Matthew 13:44 Jesus’ sayings about the kingdom of God just might be the most overlooked of his teachings. Yet the Good News of the kingdom—a treasure beyond price—was what he came to preach. It’s time to ask: -What is the kingdom Jesus talked about? -Could it be already here, hidden from sight? If so, where is it? -How can I be a part of it? A new generation is tuning in to the teachings of Jesus and to their revolutionary implications. Could it be that living under Christ’s reign is not merely a future vision but a present reality? Rick McKinley’s exploration is fresh, accessible, and timely. With careful attention to historical texts, he unveils new understandings of authentic personal and social transformation. The time is now. Your opportunity is here. In the mess of everyday life, you can live in the beautiful presence of the kingdom. Story Behind the Book ”When we started Imago Dei Community, it was with a passion to be people who live in love with Jesus and live out the values of His kingdom in our city. But we had no idea how to do that. God let us stumble into grace and discover the wide-open plains of His kingdom. This has ruined us in the best way possible. Because once you taste untamed life in the kingdom, you will never go back to the sterile hallways of religion. The beautiful, transforming grace of Christ shows up in the messiness of life and the kingdom breaks in as a beautiful mess.”—Rick McKinley

Download or read book The Kingdom of God The Director s Cut written by RICHARD. PORTER and published by . This book was released on 2021-06-11 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jesus taught us to pray for God's kingdom to come. But do we understand what we are praying for and what the kingdom of God really looks like? Using the analogy of God as the director of the greatest show on earth, Richard Porter shows how the kingdom of God is the overarching story line throughout the Bible. Each scene, from the people of Israel to Jesus and the early church, reveals kingdom truths that impact the church today. As the story unfolds, you can understand why Jesus proclaimed the message of the kingdom. It is indeed good news for our towns, our cities, our homes and families. Content Benefits: This book explores the central theme of the kingdom of God throughout the Bible and will encourage you to proclaim this good news to the world today. Analogy of God as the director of the greatest show on earth creates an accessible way into the subject Biblical teaching on the kingdom of God Includes personal stories from the author making this an accessible rather than academic read Will encourage you to fall more in love with God and proclaim the gospel Encourages us to live out the kingdom of God today Suitable for anyone who wants to understand the Lord's prayer 'Your kingdom come' Helpful for anyone who wants to preach about the kingdom of God Ideal for anyone who loves to see how themes develop through the Bible Perfect for anyone who wants to understand the Old Testament better

Download or read book The Kingdom of God written by Nicholas Perrin and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2019-02-26 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last hundred and fifty years the kingdom of God has emerged as one of the most important topics in theology, New Testament studies, and the life of the church. But what exactly is the kingdom of God? What does it mean for the people of God and what does it mean for how they live in the world? In The Kingdom of God, part of the Biblical Theology for Life series, Nicholas Perrin explores this dominant biblical metaphor, one that is paradoxically the meta-center and the mystery in Jesus' proclamation. After survey interpretations by figures from Ritschl to N. T. Wright, Perrin examines the "what, who, and how" questions of the kingdom. In his sweepingly comprehensive study, Perrin contends that the kingdom is inaugurated in Jesus' earthly ministry, but its final development awaits later events in history. In between the times, however, the people of God are called to participate in the reign of God by living out the distinctly kingdom-ethic through hope, forgiveness, love, and prayer. X

Download or read book The Kingdom of God written by John Fuellenbach and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2006-04-01 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fruit of many decades of study and teaching, 'The Kingdom of God' provides an impressive, systematic treatment of the doctrine of the Kingdom of God. It is a comprehensive review of this crucial symbol, as well as a careful analysis of its meaning, and a creative interpretation of the Kingdom motif for the church and Christians in our age. 'The Kingdom of God begins by analyzing the background of this idea in Hebrew scripture and tradition, and in the preaching of Jesus. Fuellenbach explores how this elusive phrase presents a specific, comprehensive view of reality, and a goal for transforming the world. In Fuellenbach's reading, the Kingdom forms the core of Christian faith and the reference point of all theology, spirituality, and apostolic activity. Fuellenbach pays special attention to the relationships among Kingdom, Church, and World, arguing that with the Kingdom, Jesus proclaimed a vision that embraces God, humankind, and the whole of creation in the single most comprehensive vision of reality imaginable. 'The Kingdom of God' is balanced and nuanced in its scholarship, but also vigorous and courageous in taking positions sure to provoke debate. For example, Fuellenbach argues that the word Kingdom is to be preferred over the word Reign, despite critiques that find the word problematic in its patriarchal connotations. Designed for and tested in classrooms worldwide, The Kingdom of God will be particularly useful in both scripture and theology courses. It holds much food for thought for religious educators, pastoral workers, clergy, and others who wish for a clear, systematic understanding of Jesus' vision of the Kingdom now and to come.

Download or read book Living in the Kingdom of God written by Sigurd Grindheim and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2018-11-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This brief, accessible book offers a unique approach to the theme of the kingdom of God and to biblical theology. Sigurd Grindheim explains the whole Bible's teaching on the kingdom of God, discussing its implications for the Christian, the church, and politics. Grindheim shows what it means that God rules on earth, how his rule is established through the work of Christ, and how this rule is embodied by the church today, offering a new vision for the church's role in the kingdom: putting God's gifts to work.