Download or read book Into the Mess and Other Jesus Stories written by Debie Thomas and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2022-05-17 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He was a disrupter and a peacemaker, a rebel and a rabbi. His friends were the riffraff, and his enemies the religious elite. He was the wounded man who healed the sick, the homeless man who fed the hungry, the convicted criminal who released the captives, and the dead man who conquered the grave. The stories he told were scandalous, and the stories he lived changed the world. To reflect on the Jesus of the Gospels is to reflect on paradox, mystery, wonder, and messiness. It is to find God in the shadows, the tensions, and the ambiguities of life on earth as it is. These essays on the stories of Jesus are invitations to faith in all its complexity and untidiness. The Jesus who emerges here is not the sanitized Christ of piety and platitude, but the Christ of complicated joys and transcendent sorrows. The Christ who weeps, wonders, loses, learns, and seeks. These are the stories of the Incarnate God who finds and loves us in the messiness of our lives.

Download or read book Into the Mess and Other Jesus Stories written by Debie Thomas and published by Cascade Books. This book was released on 2022-05-17 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He was a disrupter and a peacemaker, a rebel and a rabbi. His friends were the riffraff, and his enemies the religious elite. He was the wounded man who healed the sick, the homeless man who fed the hungry, the convicted criminal who released the captives, and the dead man who conquered the grave. The stories he told were scandalous, and the stories he lived changed the world. To reflect on the Jesus of the Gospels is to reflect on paradox, mystery, wonder, and messiness. It is to find God in the shadows, the tensions, and the ambiguities of life on earth as it is. These essays on the stories of Jesus are invitations to faith in all its complexity and untidiness. The Jesus who emerges here is not the sanitized Christ of piety and platitude, but the Christ of complicated joys and transcendent sorrows. The Christ who weeps, wonders, loses, learns, and seeks. These are the stories of the Incarnate God who finds and loves us in the messiness of our lives.

Download or read book Nobody Left Out written by Michael Murray and published by . This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Jesus walked this earth, he spent time with the messes. A lonely thief. An unwelcome dinner guest. A death-row criminal facing his final hours on earth. What do all of these people have in common? They all faced the messiness of life. Some made the mess themselves. Some were thrown headfirst into a mess through no fault of their own. Then something changed. It wasn't that they suddenly became unmessy. But they each came face to face with Jesus, and he invited them to be part of God's story. He didn't leave them out. This 40-day devotional looks at eight encounters Jesus had with messy, broken people. In short, daily readings, you'll explore each story and see how Jesus met each person in their mess. The eight stories we'll be walking through together are: Jesus Meets The Lonely Thief Jesus Meets The Know-It-All Jesus Meets The Unwelcome Dinner Guest Jesus Meets The Woman Who Was Exploited Jesus Meets The Sick Woman & The Dead Girl Jesus Meets The Blind Man With Perfect Vision Jesus Sees The Invisible Widow Jesus Meets The Honest Criminal Whether you've been following Jesus your whole life or have never cracked open a Bible, Nobody Left Out: Jesus Meets the Messes will remind you that God's love is big enough for everyone.... He doesn't want anyone left out!

Download or read book Adventures in Churchland written by Dan Kimball and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2012-06-05 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Would Jesus Attend Church Today? Among the top ten trends that are changing American life, Time magazine recently listed a rising dissatisfaction with organized religion. Though many people today like Jesus, they are growing tired of traditional religious institutions. Even those who follow Jesus aren't so sure they always like what Christianity and the church represent. For many years, Dan Kimball would have agreed, until an encounter with a small group of Jesus followers started him on a journey that challenged him to rethink everything he had ever assumed about the church. In Adventures in Churchland, Dan invites you to join him as he uncovers what the Bible really says about the church and reminds us that it's more than just an institution; it's a beautiful mess of broken people learning to follow Jesus together. As you journey with Dan, you'll begin to see the church as Jesus intended it to be: a community of forgiven misfits coming together to serve the world around them with passion, creativity, innovation, and grace. "If you don’t like the church, or if you’re thinking about leaving, please read this book first. Dan’s stories will make you laugh, make you think, and make you appreciate the church like never before." – Mark Batterson, author of The Circle Maker "Dan encourages us to break through the tension and messiness that church communities inevitably encounter to experience the beauty of being in community and sharing God's infinite love with others." – Zach Lind, drummer, Jimmy Eat World "I am so glad that my friend Dan has written this book, because there is a lot of confusion out there about Jesus and the church." – Wanda Jackson, Queen of Rockabilly and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Download or read book Jesus Loves Me written by John S. Dickerson and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you asked a millennial or younger person in your church, "What do I need to believe to be a Christian?" what would they say? At a time when "truth" is up for grabs, a journalist-turned-pastor wants to help believers understand what they believe. How? By using the simple lyrics "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." In this winsome book, bestselling author John S. Dickerson clearly and faithfully explains essential Christian beliefs, using simple stories that have resonated with his congregation of thousands. He guides readers into these basic beliefs, and most importantly, he illustrates why these beliefs matter. The result is an easy-to-read primer, designed for a time when Christianity is questioned and challenged. It is a great study for young adults, new believers, and long-time believers who want to reclaim the essentials. For anyone who wants their small group, church, or loved ones to embrace the authority of Scripture and the nonnegotiable doctrines of Christianity. "What does it mean to be a genuine Jesus follower in an age when most people, including many self-described Christians, believe that God is well-pleased with a life lived in alignment with a 'designer faith' of their own making? In Jesus Loves Me, John Dickerson answers that question with a deep dive into the simple but profound gospel that Jesus taught as the only kind of faith the Heavenly Father would be well-pleased with. As Dickerson points out, we can't be true Jesus followers if we don't know who He is or what He said and never bother to actually live like He told us to live. Whether you are a brand-new Jesus follower or a longtime veteran, this book will help you nail down the basics of what it means to genuinely know and follow Jesus."--Larry Osborne, author and pastor, North Coast Church "Most Christians would tell you they believe the Bible to be God's Word. And yet many of those same Christians could not even articulate what the core beliefs are to the Christian faith. In Jesus Loves Me, John Dickerson does a great job of helping believers understand the basic teachings of Scripture. This is a great resource for any Christian who needs to build a stronger foundation to their faith."--Steve Poe, lead pastor of Northview Church, Carmel, Indiana

Download or read book Short Stories by Jesus written by Amy-Jill Levine and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-09-09 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The renowned biblical scholar, author of The Misunderstood Jew, and general editor for The Jewish Annotated New Testament interweaves history and spiritual analysis to explore Jesus’ most popular teaching parables, exposing their misinterpretations and making them lively and relevant for modern readers. Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus’ stories ignore this disparity and have often allowed anti-Semitism and misogyny to color their perspectives. In this wise, entertaining, and educational book, Amy-Jill Levine offers a fresh, timely reinterpretation of Jesus’ narratives. In Short Stories by Jesus, she analyzes these “problems with parables,” taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. Levine reveals the parables’ connections to first-century economic and agricultural life, social customs and morality, Jewish scriptures and Roman culture. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.

Download or read book A Faith of Many Rooms written by Debie Thomas and published by Broadleaf Books . This book was released on 2024-03-19 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When your faith begins to feel too small, too confining, you could choose to leave it. But what if the faith we inhabit is roomier than we'd thought? What if our collapsing faith is just a closet in a much larger dwelling? Disillusioned by narrow theologies, church dysfunction, and constricted readings of Scripture, people are leaving Christianity in droves. But Jesus describes the reign of God as a house with many rooms, writes author Debie Thomas, one of the most auspicious voices in religious writing today. In this work of sprawling spiritual and literary imagination, Thomas claims that wherever God dwells, there is expansiveness and belonging. Thomas knows what a cramped faith feels like, what it's like to wrestle your way out of fundamentalism and toward a more capacious faith. From the diasporic church in which she grew up, which traces its lineage to the doubting disciple in India in the first century, to the disorientations of a deconstructing faith, to an ample yet orthodox Christianity that makes room for all her identities, Thomas takes readers on a deeply personal and profoundly theological odyssey. In A Faith of Many Rooms, she talks back to jaundiced versions of faith and finds evidence that the gospel insists on its own roominess. The kind of God who decided to experience the world as a guest likely feels constrained by our pinched theologies too. What sorts of ruptures and revisions would it take to find a more spacious faith--and then to inhabit it with authenticity and joy? Readers of Christian Wiman, Cole Arthur Riley, and Barbara Brown Taylor will find in these pages an ardent, lyrical take on a faith transfigured.

Download or read book The Experience of Place written by Tony Hiss and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2010-09-29 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do some places--the concourse of Grand Central Terminal or a small farm or even the corner of a skyscraper--affect us so mysteriously and yet so forcefully? What tiny changes in our everyday environments can radically alter the quality of our daily lives? The Experience of Place offers an innovative and delightfully readable proposal for new ways of planning, building, and managing our most immediate and overlooked surroundings.

Download or read book Of Mess and Moxie written by Jen Hatmaker and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2017-08-08 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life is messy for each of us. But Jen Hatmaker reminds us that it's okay to admit that we're all in the same boat. Join New York Times bestselling author and honorary big sister Jen as she shares hilarious tales, shameless honesty, and unconditional hope for the woman who's forgotten her moxie. We will endure discouragement, heartbreak, failure, and suffering. All of us. And more than once. But we are the very same folks who can experience triumph, perseverance, joy, and rebirth. More than once. And in more than one category. And in more than one season. And that? That's moxie. Moxie reaches for laughter, for courage, for the deep and important truth that women are capable of weathering the storm. We are not victims, we are not weak, we are not a sad, defeated group of sob sisters. Yes, life is hard, but we are incredibly resilient. Of Mess and Moxie shines a light on Jen's own triumphs and tragedies into a sigh of relief for all normal, fierce women everywhere. Whether it's the time she drove to the wrong city for a fourth-grade field trip or the way she learned to truly forgive, she offers a reminder to those of us who sometimes hide in the car eating crackers that we do actually have the moxie to get back up and face our messes head-on. After all, this race is not a contest--there's enough abundance to go around. This book will give you the encouragement you need to remember that: Your mess is normal You are not in competition with your peers--your seat at the table is secure You have incredible gifts to offer Come alongside Jen as she teaches us that we can all choose to live undaunted and in the moment, no matter what the moments hold, and we really can lead vibrant, courageous, grace-filled lives.

Download or read book Reading Jesus written by Mary Gordon and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2010-11-02 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reading Jesus is a personal journey through the fundamental Biblical stories. As celebrated author Mary Gordon ponders the intense strangeness of a deity in human form, unresolved moral ambiguities within the text, and the problem posed to her as an enlightened reader by the miracle of the Resurrection. What she rediscovers—and reinterprets with her signature candor, intelligence, and straightforwardness—is a rich store of overlapping, sometimes conflicting teachings that feel both familiar and tantalizingly elusive.

Download or read book Move Toward the Mess written by John Hambrick and published by David C Cook. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some pastors preach boring sermons. Some church music is dull. But here’s the thing: If Jesus had been boring, the disciples wouldn’t have followed him and the Pharisees wouldn’t have killed him. So if you’re bored, don’t waste another minute. If your church service feels like a failed pep rally that never leads to the actual game, then it’s time for you to follow Jesus onto the field where the opposition is real and the stakes are extraordinary. It will get messy. It won’t always be comfortable. But you’ll make a difference. And you’ll discover that nobody’s bored out there. Nobody.

Download or read book Messy Beautiful Love written by Darlene Schacht and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2014-09-23 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Messy Beautiful Love delivers an incredible testimony of grace that offers hope for today’s marriages and a spark for rekindling love. Love gets messy. Financial problems, sickness, aging parents, a chronically unhappy spouse . . . trials will inevitably come that threaten your marriage. No matter how long you’ve been married or how strong your relationship is, sooner or later you are going to have a mess to clean up. Messy Beautiful Love is about cleaning up messes God’s way, exchanging your ideas for His, and being prepared for both the best and the worst that marriage has to offer. When you surrender your relationship to God, then and only then will you experience the blessing of marriage as He intended. This is the blessing of obedience. Messy Beautiful Love is an invitation to that obedience. The cynical world says marriages don’t last, but God knows better. Tune out the world and tune in to Him. When you do that, a beautiful marriage is not only possible, it’s inevitable.

Download or read book Rhinestone Jesus written by Kristen Welch and published by Tyndale House. This book was released on 2014-04-18 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In high school, Kristen Welch wore a big, sparkly rhinestone “Jesus” pin to school every day and carried her Bible wherever she went. (Yes, she was that girl.) But she didn’t realize her faith, though sincere, was shallow; much like her artificial accessory, it would one day tarnish, no longer a true fit for who she was. As real life catapulted Kristen into places and situations she’d never imagined, there came a day when she stood shocked in the slums of Africa and realized in one desperate moment that Jesus wasn’t enough for her. At least . . . she wasn’t living like He was. On the brink of a risk bigger than any she’d ever taken, Kristen knew she didn’t stand a chance—unless she was willing to put aside the rhinestones and get branded by the real thing. Rhinestone Jesus is the story of one woman’s journey from comfortably living a safe, “good-girl” faith that didn’t cost much, to realizing that God was daring her to say yes to a bolder, more authentic, more dangerous way. This story of spiritual adventure throws the doors wide open for any woman who’s ever thought of herself as “just a mom.” Kristen will inspire and empower you to say yes to God right where you are—and stand amazed at how your life will shine.

Download or read book Machine Gun Wizards written by Christian Ward and published by Dark Horse Comics. This book was released on 2020-03-24 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eliot Ness and his team of Untouchables work overtime taking on dangerous criminals that hide in the seedy underbelly of 1930s Chicago. Except in this world, Al Capone isn't dealing in alcohol, but in magic. With Lick, a drug that grants magical powers to anyone who ingests it, mobsters become wizards, ordinary men become monsters, and darker secrets than Ness can imagine lie at the heart of it all. A new genre-bending comic series from Christian Ward, co-creator of the acclaimed sci-fi epic ODY-C. Drawn by Sami Kivelä (Abbott), with backup stories written and drawn by Christian Ward. Featuring a sketchbook section and pinups by Declan Shalvey, Ian Bertram, Tula Lotay, and more. Collects Machine Gun Wizards #1-#4.

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 My Jesus Stories written by Allie Garrett and published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are no doubt living in the most evil time we have ever seen. Good is called evil, and evil is called good. The Word of God is clear in Revelation 12:11 that we overcome the evil one by three things: the blood of the Lamb, the power of our testimony, and by loving not our own life even unto death. This is so simple. We simply plead the blood of Jesus, share what God has done for us, and put Him and others first. It's easy for most people to do one and three, but sharing our testimony can be incredibly difficult sometimes because it's so personal. Sometimes we're embarrassed of situations we got ourselves into in the first place. Or perhaps it's a very personal family or health situation. More often than not, we just want to keep up appearances and not air out our dirty laundry. If all of us together would do these three things, I think we would overcome so much of the evil running rampant in our world today! This book is a collection of my personal testimonies, a raw look into God's perfect grace and mercy in my life. At the end of each chapter, you will find a "Two-Minute Takeaway," which is something from my testimony or God's Word that you can easily and immediately apply to your own life. There's also a journal prompt for you to write your own testimony. You may choose to keep this book private, but I am going to make this very easy for you to share your testimony. There's actually a spot for three readers' entries. The idea is for you to record your real, raw testimony and then pass this book on. This is an opportunity for you to take part in sharing with others how the kingdom of God has impacted your life personally. Be real and be honest. Welcome to my Jesus stories!

Download or read book The Moth Presents Occasional Magic written by Catherine Burns and published by Crown. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From storytelling phenomenon and hit podcast The Moth—and featuring contributions from Meg Wolitzer, Adam Gopnik, Krista Tippett, Andrew Solomon, Rosanne Cash, Ophira Eisenberg, Wang Ping, and more—a new collection of unforgettable true stories about finding the strength to face the impossible, drawn from the very best ever told on its stages Carefully selected by the creative minds at storytelling phenomenon The Moth, and adapted to the page to preserve the raw energy of stories told live, onstage and without notes, Occasional Magic features voices familiar and new. Inside, storytellers from around the world share times when, in the face of seemingly impossible situations, they found moments of beauty, wonder, and clarity that shed light on their lives and helped them find a path forward. From a fifteen-year-old saving a life in Chicago to a mother of triplets trekking to the North Pole to a ninety-year-old Russian man recalling his standoff with the KGB, these storytellers attest to the variety and richness of the human experience, and the shared threads that connect us all. With honesty and humor, they stare down their fear, embrace uncertainty, and encourage us all to be more authentic, vulnerable, and alive.