Download or read book If God Is Love Don t Be a Jerk written by John Pavlovitz and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thou Shalt Not Be Horrible. Imagine for a moment what the world might look like if we as people of faith, morality, and conscience actually aspired to this mantra. What if we were fully burdened to create a world that was more loving and equitable than when we arrived? What if we invited one another to share in wide-open, fearless, spiritual communities truly marked by compassion and interdependence? What if we daily challenged ourselves to live a faith that simply made us better humans? John Pavlovitz explores how we can embody this kinder kind of spirituality where we humbly examine our belief system to understand how it might compel us to act in less-than-loving ways toward others. This simple phrase, "Thou Shalt Not Be Horrible," could help us practice what we preach by creating a world where: spiritual community provides a sense of belonging where all people are received as we are; the most important question we ask of a religious belief is not Is it true? but rather, is it helpful? it is morally impossible to pledge complete allegiance to both Jesus and America simultaneously; the way we treat others is the most tangible and meaningful expression of our belief system. In If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk, John Pavlovitz examines the bedrock ideas of our religion: the existence of hell, the utility of prayer, the way we treat LGBTQ people, the value of anger, and other doctrines to help all of us take a good, honest look at how the beliefs we hold can shape our relationships with God and our fellow humans—and to make sure that love has the last, loudest word.

Download or read book If God Loves Me Why Can t I Get My Locker Open written by Lorraine Peterson and published by Bethany House. This book was released on 2006-08 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since Oxford University Press's publication in 2000 of Michael Emerson and Christian Smith's groundbreaking study, Divided by Faith (DBF), research on racialized religion has burgeoned in a variety of disciplines in response to and in conversation with DBF. This conversation has moved outsideof sociological circles; historians, theologians, and philosophers have also engaged the central tenets of DBF for the purpose of contextualizing, substantiating, and in some cases, contesting the book's findings. In a poll published in January 2012, nearly 70% of evangelical churches professed adesire to be racially and culturally diverse. Currently, only around 8% of them have achieved this multiracial status. To an unprecedented degree, evangelical churches in the United States are trying to overcome the deep racial divides that persist in their congregations. Not surprisingly, many of these evangelicals have turned to DBF for solutions. The essays in Christians and the Color Line complicate the researchfindings of Emerson and Smith's study and explore new areas of research that have opened in the years since DBF's publication. The book is split into two sections. The chapters in the first section consider the history of American evangelicalism and race as portrayed in DBF. In the second sectionthe authors pick up where DBF left off, and discuss how American churches could ameliorate the problem of race in their congregations while also identifying problems that can arise from such attempted amelioration.

Download or read book If God Is Love written by Philip Gulley and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If God is love, why are so many Christians fearful, and why do so many church leaders sound hateful? Two controversial pastors address issues the church won't face, calling us to restore grace as the center of the Christian life. o In If Grace Is True, Pastors Philip Gulley and James Mulholland revealed their belief that God will save every person. They now explore the implications of this belief, and its power to change every area of our lives. They attempt to answer one question: If we took God's love seriously, what would our world look like? Gulley and Mulholland argue that what we believe is crucial and dramatically affects the way we live and interact in the world. Beliefs have power. The belief in a literal hell where people suffer eternally has often been used by the Church to justify hate and violence, which contradicts what Jesus taught about love and grace. The authors present a new vision for our personal, religious, and corporate lives, exploring what our world would be like if we based our existence on the foundational truth that God loves every person. Gulley and Mulholland boldly address many controversial issues people in the pews have wondered about but churches have been unwilling to tackle. For too long, the Christian tradition has been steeped in negativity, exclusion, and judgment. Gulley and Mulholland usher us into a new age––an age where grace and love are allowed to reign.

Download or read book The Love That Is God written by Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2020-08-11 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “God is love is the radical claim of Christianity,” writes Frederick Bauerschmidt at the beginning of this little meditation on the essentials of Christian faith. In a rich yet accessible style reminiscent of C. S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton, Bauerschmidt breathes life back into that claim, drawing from Scripture, great Christian and non-Christian writers of the past, and his own lived experience to show just how countercultural and subversive Christianity is actually meant to be. Eschewing the abstract and dogmatic in favor of the relational and inviting, he offers something for everyone, from lifelong churchgoers and students of religion to the growing population of “nones” among younger generations who are increasingly seeking spiritual fulfillment outside of institutional Christianity. With further reading suggestions (both scriptural and nonscriptural) at the end of each chapter, The Love That Is God is the perfect starting point of a spiritual journey into deeper relationship with God.

Download or read book God s Love written by R. C. Sproul and published by David C Cook. This book was released on 2012-09-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth look at a God who not only loves, but is love. Love has come to mean many things. It’s used to describe emotions. It’s the glue for relationships. It frames countless stories. And the greatest of these stories opens before time began and echoes throughout eternity. It’s the story of God’s unrelenting, overwhelming love for His people. Yet the truth of love is even more majestic, more staggering, and more extraordinary than we can understand: God doesn’t just love us. He is love. Renowned theologian and teacher Dr. R.C. Sproul takes a remarkable look at this most profound truth. God’s Love delves deep into Scripture to explore this dynamic attribute of God, which finds its ultimate expression in His Son. Dr. Sproul also examines seeming paradoxes of God, such as a loving God and divine hate, and how love coexists with His sovereignty. Practical, insightful, and revolutionary, God’s Love compels and calls us to reflect His nature of unconditional love.

Download or read book The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God written by D. A. Carson and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Still Waiting written by Ann Swindell and published by NavPress. This book was released on 2017-04-04 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if God wants you to wait? Most of us know what it’s like to wait for God to change our circumstances. But, whether we’re waiting for physical healing, emotional breakthrough, or better relationships, waiting is something we usually try to avoid. Why? Because waiting is painful and hard. The truth is, it’s also inevitable. In Still Waiting, Ann Swindell explores the depths of why God wants us to wait by chronicling her own compelling story of waiting for healing from an incurable condition. She offers a vibrant retelling of the biblical account of the Bleeding Woman that parallels her story—and yours, too. Let Ann help you see the promise that is hidden in the ache of waiting and the hope of what God can—and will—do as you wait on him.

Download or read book What Love Is This written by Dave Hunt and published by . This book was released on 2007-04-22 with total page 590 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many sincere, Bible-believing Christians are Calvinists only by default. Thinking that the only choice is between Calvinism (with its presumed doctrine of eternal security) and Arminianism (with its teaching that salvation can be lost), and confident of Christ's promise to keep eternally those who believe in Him, they therefore consider themselves to be Calvinists. It takes only a few simple questions to discover that most Christians are largely unaware of what John Calvin and his early followers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries actually believed and practiced. Nor do they fully understand what most of today's leading Calvinists believe. Although there are disputed variations of the Calvinist doctrine, among its chief proponents (whom we quote extensively in context) there is general agreement on certain core beliefs. Many evangelicals who think they are Calvinists will be surprised to learn of Calvin's belief in salvation through infant baptism and of his grossly un-Christian behavior, at times, as the "Protestant Pope" of Geneva, Switzerland. Most shocking of all, however, is Calvinism's misrepresentation of God, who "is love." It is our prayer that this volume will enable readers to examine more carefully the vital issues involved and to follow God's holy Word­--not man's teachings. "The first edition of this book was greeted by fervent opposition and criticism from Calvinists. In this enlarged and revised edition I have endeavored to respond to the critics." --Dave Hunt

Download or read book God Is Love written by Amy Parker and published by Running Press Kids. This book was released on 2019-12-31 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Little ones will feel God's eternal love in this charming holiday-themed book in a brand-new series by bestselling author Amy Parker. God Is Love provides young children with the comfort of knowing God always loves them, no matter the day, time, season, or year, in this charming, sweet, and heartfelt book. With warm, rhyming verse, bestselling author Amy Parker reassures young hearts by introducing them to the awesome characteristics of an Almighty God. With a soft-focus on Valentine's Day, Parker's book offers reminders of how God's love is everlasting during this very special season while also hinting that His love is unwavering year-round. Part of a series, God Is Love is sure to be read and cherished all year long.

Download or read book Love of a God of Love written by Hugo Strandberg and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2011-09-15 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditionally, religious belief has in the philosophy of religion been understood along more or less epistemological lines. Love of a God of Love develops another understanding of belief, where the moral concept of love is central. In this context, what is distinctive about the concept of love is that it is both the "what" and the "how" of belief: for the one who loves a God of love, the concept of love characterizes both the content side and the act side of the belief. In that respect, this understanding of religious belief makes it possible to avoid certain formalist difficulties, arising when the "what" and the "how" of belief are sharply distinguished.

Download or read book God of Love written by Mirabai Starr and published by Monkfish Book Publishing. This book was released on 2013-02-05 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: God of Love is Mirabai Starr’s passionate and personal exploration of the interconnected wisdom of the three Abrahamic faiths. She shares an overview of essential teachings, stories of saints and spiritual masters, prophetic calls for peace and justice, and for the first time in print, deeply engaging narratives from her own spiritual experiences. She guides readers to recognize the teachings and practices that unify rather then divide the three religions, and sheds light on the interspiritual perspective, which celebrates the Divine in all paths. It is Mirabai’s hope that this book will serve as a reminder that a dedication to lovingkindness is the highest expression of faith for all three religions. EARLY REVIEWS FOR God of Love “Mirabai Starr takes us out dancing with the One. God of Love is a confluence of the currents of Judaism, Islam and Christianity all emptying into the great ocean of Love.” —Ram Dass, Author Be Here Now “In a time of division between people, this book — which is a masterful blend of research, storytelling, poetry, and memoir — is like a sacred magnet, pulling on the spiritual heart of all seekers.” —Elizabeth Lesser, Cofounder, Omega Institute; Author, Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow “Mirabai Starr writes of the divine from a luminous gene inherited by only a few. We hear The True Song in each word she attributes to the holy. It is more than just her song; it is the Melody of the Spheres translated by an astute musician. We are always touched by the genuine in her call to the reader to love and love well, to see with the sacred eye of beauty.” -Ondrea & Stephen Levine, Authors Embracing the Beloved "Mirabai's book has brought me great consolation." -Daniel Berrigan, S. J. activist-priest; Author, No Gods but One “This book brilliantly reminds us that in the heart of the Abrahamic traditions there burns a singular divine flame.” -Rev. Robert V. Thompson, Author A Voluptuous God “A wonderful and ‘perfect’ book. Highly recommended.” -Rabbi David A. Cooper, Author God Is a Verb “[God of Love] will expand your vision and inspire your search; I recommend it with great joy.” -Andrew Harvey, Author The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism “At home in the three great Abrahamic traditions, Mirabai Starr takes us on a deeply personal journey 'Toward the One,' exploring aspects of the 'God of Love' as seen through the eyes of Jewish, Christian and Muslim mystics. This is a book which will delight the seeker of sacred connections between these traditions and those who look forward to a day when Jerusalem, the city shared by all these faiths, will be a house of prayer for all people." -Reb Netanel Miles-Yepez, Co-Author A Heart Afire: Stories and Teachings of the Early Hasidic Masters

Download or read book Where There Is Love There Is God written by Mother Teresa and published by Image. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "What you are doing I cannot do, what I’m doing you cannot do, but together we are doing something beautiful for God, and this is the greatness of God’s love for us.” —Mother Teresa, from Where There Is Love, There Is God In this book, Mother Teresa’s relationship with God and her commitment to those she served—the poorest of the poor—is powerfully explored in her own words. Taken largely from her private lessons to her sisters, published here for the first time, Where There Is Love, There Is God unveils her extraordinary faith in, and surrender to, God’s will. Love is perhaps the word that best summarizes Mother Teresa’s life and message. She sought to be an extension of God’s heart and hands in today’s world. She was called to be a missionary of charity, a carrier of God’s love to each person she met, especially those most in need. Yet she did not think that this was a vocation uniquely hers; she believed each person is in some way called to be a carrier of God’s love. Through the practical and timely advice she offers, Mother Teresa sets us on the path to closer union with God and greater love for our brothers and sisters.

Download or read book God Is Love written by Gerald Bray and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2012-03-31 with total page 768 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While there is no substitute for personal, faithful, and careful Bible reading and prayer, the Bible’s vast size and diversity can make distilling its truth a daunting task. Thus most Christians benefit from supplemental resources to help learn and apply what Scripture teaches. Renowned theologian, Gerald Bray has produced just such a resource in his new systematic theology. Though packed with robust content, he writes about this volume: “the aim . . . is to reach those who would not normally find systematic theology appealing or even comprehensible.” This volume is unique from others in that Bray traces the common theme of God’s love through the Bible categorically—from God’s love for himself and his creation to the cross as the ultimate expression of God’s love, among other categories. The centrality of God’s love in Bray’s theology reflects a deep conviction that the Bible shows us God for who he really is. This volume will be of interest to Christians seeking to grow in their faith.

Download or read book If God Is Good written by Randy Alcorn and published by Multnomah. This book was released on 2014-06-17 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Suffering is, in the end, God’s invitation to trust him. “As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all.” –Publishers Weekly Every one of us will experience suffering. You may be in such a time now. We see the presence of evil in the headlines every day. It all raises questions about God—Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? How can there be a God if suffering and evil exist? Atheists such as Richard Dawkins and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God. But in this illuminating book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, hopeful, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise. Alcorn offers insights from his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world—now and forever. And he shows the beauty of God’s sovereignty—how it ultimately triumphs over suffering and evil in our lives and the world around us.

Download or read book Living God s Love written by Douglas Cooper and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book If Grace Is True written by Philip Gulley and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2004-11-23 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues the theological stance that all people will be saved through God's grace, offering a message of hope that explains how Christians can reconcile a love for non-Christian people.

Download or read book The Story of God s Love for You written by Sally Lloyd-Jones and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2015-10-06 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne—everything—to rescue the one he loves. The best thing about this Story is—it’s true! And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. The Child upon whom everything would depend. All the stars, mountains, oceans, and galaxies were nothing compared to how much God loved his children. He would move heaven and earth to be near them. Always. Whatever happened, whatever it cost him, he would always love them. And so it was that the wonderful love story began. The Story of God’s Love for You: Is for teenagers and adults who want to read and learn about the story of God’s love for them Includes 44 short chapters that lead you through the beautiful story of the Bible—Genesis to Revelation Masterfully shows how all the individual Bible stories fit together into one cohesive narrative that points to Jesus Makes the big picture of Scripture clear to new believers, and helps seasoned believers fall in love with the Bible all over again Features text from bestselling author Sally Lloyd-Jones that brings the truths of the Bible into a new light for today’s world The beauty and peace that only God’s love can provide pulses through every page. Just as The Jesus Storybook Bible is an essential book for the library of every child, The Story of God’s Love for You is an essential book for the library of every adolescent and adult.