Download or read book Denial Is My Spiritual Practice written by Rachel G. Hackenberg and published by Church Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2018-05-15 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two ministers share their own stories about struggling to live out their faith. It’s the sort of experience familiar to many: Somewhere between illness and divorce, abusive relationships and brushes with death, faith failed to provide answers . . . or we failed to live as though we believed faith held answers. But surely, it’s different for clergy, the ones who preach and practice faith? But faith requires more, and authors Martha Spong and Rachel G. Hackenberg, who grew up in the church and became ordained ministers, know first-hand about coming to terms with God and life, the need to search for answers . . . or at least assurance we are not alone in struggling for renewed hope. Denial is My Spiritual Practice is a companion for the wondering and struggling. The authors offer their own stories as evidence that God remains, both when faith fails and when faith finds new understanding. They combine stark life experiences, offbeat spiritual perspectives, and Scripture to offer comfort, grace, laughter, and a few tears along the way.
Download or read book Reasonable Faith written by William Lane Craig and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2008 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This updated edition by one of the world's leading apologists presents a systematic, positive case for Christianity that reflects the latest work in the contemporary hard sciences and humanities. Brilliant and accessible.
Download or read book God at Work written by Gene Edward Veith Jr. and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2011-08-02 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When you understand it properly, the doctrine of vocation—"doing everything for God's glory"—is not a platitude or an outdated notion. This principle that we vaguely apply to our lives and our work is actually the key to Christian ethics, to influencing our culture for Christ, and to infusing our ordinary, everyday lives with the presence of God. For when we realize that the "mundane" activities that consume most of our time are "God's hiding places," our perspective changes. Culture expert Gene Veith unpacks the biblical, Reformation teaching about the doctrine of vocation, emphasizing not what we should specifically do with our time or what careers we are called to, but what God does in and through our callings—even within the home. In each task He has given us—in our workplaces and families, our churches and society—God Himself is at work. Veith guides you to discover God's purpose and calling in those seemingly ordinary areas by providing you with a spiritual framework for thinking about such issues and for acting upon them with a changed perspective.
Download or read book Walking Through Fire written by Vaneetha Rendall Risner and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2021-01-19 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The astonishing, Job-like story of how an existence filled with loss, suffering, questioning, and anger became a life filled with shocking and incomprehensible peace and joy. Vaneetha Risner contracted polio as an infant, was misdiagnosed, and lived with widespread paralysis. She lived in and out of the hospital for ten years and, after each stay, would return to a life filled with bullying. When she became a Christian, though, she thought things would get easier, and they did: carefree college days, a dream job in Boston, and an MBA from Stanford where she met and married a classmate. But life unraveled. Again. She had four miscarriages. Her son died because of a doctor's mistake. And Vaneetha was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, meaning she would likely become a quadriplegic. And then her husband betrayed her and moved out, leaving her to raise two adolescent daughters alone. This was not the abundant life she thought God had promised her. But, as Vaneetha discovered, everything she experienced was designed to draw her closer to Christ as she discovered "that intimacy with God in suffering can be breathtakingly beautiful."
Download or read book A Theology of Failure written by Marika Rose and published by Fordham Univ Press. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everyone agrees that theology has failed; but the question of how to understand and respond to this failure is complex and contested. Against both the radical orthodox attempt to return to a time before the theology’s failure and the deconstructive theological attempt to open theology up to the hope of a future beyond failure, Rose proposes an account of Christian identity as constituted by, not despite, failure. Understanding failure as central to theology opens up new possibilities for confronting Christianity’s violent and kyriarchal history and abandoning the attempt to discover a pure Christ outside of the grotesque materiality of the church. The Christian mystical tradition begins with Dionysius the Areopagite’s uncomfortable but productive conjunction of Christian theology and Neoplatonism. The tensions generated by this are central to Dionysius’s legacy, visible not only in subsequent theological thought but also in much twentieth century continental philosophy as it seeks to disentangle itself from its Christian ancestry. A Theology of Failure shows how the work of Slavoj Žižek represents an attempt to repeat the original move of Christian mystical theology, bringing together the themes of language, desire, and transcendence not with Neoplatonism but with a materialist account of the world. Tracing these themes through the work of Dionysius and Derrida and through contemporary debates about the gift, violence, and revolution, this book offers a critical theological engagement with Žižek's account of social and political transformation, showing how Žižek's work makes possible a materialist reading of apophatic theology and Christian identity.
Download or read book Failure the Back Door to Success written by Erwin W. Lutzer and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2015-12-15 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Find the goodin your failure. Failure is a fact of life, one we’d rather forget. Fortunately it has a silver lining. Failure, the Back Door to Success shows us how God uses even our sins, shortcomings, and weaknesses in His perfect plan. It will inspire you to: Learn from the past without being controlled by it Embrace your limitations Accept yourself as God accepts you Be more gracious toward others Redefine your idea of success Easy to follow, illustrated with engaging stories, and deeply encouraging, Failure, the Back Door to Success speaks straight to the heart. It will make you feel free to try and unafraid of failing, knowing that God is the one at work in you, and that he’s not finished yet. And that’s the first step toward success, every time. “This book is sorely needed in our overanalyzed, under-motivated, and guilt-ridden Christian society. It can be a life changer to anyone tired of the old one-step-forward-and-two-steps-backward routine.” — Howard G. Hendricks
Download or read book On Failure and Faith written by Kim Staflund and published by . This book was released on 2019-11-16 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whatever your faith, this story will inspire (and challenge) you to look at failure in a new way.Failure isn't the opposite of success. In fact, it is a crucial step along the pathway to success because it provides the greatest opportunity for adaptation and growth. Failure forces you to adapt and grow in all the ways you will need to in order to sustain your success in the future.*** *** ***In early September of 2016, I received an email from Prime Time Productions, distributor of The Secret documentary film that was written and produced by Rhonda Byrne. I was informed that my personal success story was being included in Rhonda's upcoming book titled How The Secret Changed My Life: Real People. Real Stories. They would also be mailing me copies of this book and The Secret: The 10th Anniversary Edition, both personally autographed by Rhonda herself, as a thank you to me for sharing my story with them a year earlier.I was thrilled! I was in Bangkok, Thailand, at the time and scheduled to return home to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at the end of the month-just in time to receive my shipment of free books from them. What a wonderful way to cap a memorable six-month working holiday which was the latest in several bucket list items I had realized over the past three years. I seemed to have caught some type of prosperity wave after months of focusing on love and gratitude-on wishing for both "good luck" and "good news" in my life-and this email from Prime Time Productions told me I was still riding it.With results like these in my life, I felt confident in my decision to take the next big risk. Who wouldn't? I planned to focus 100% on building my business rather than using yet another full-time corporate sales job as a crutch upon my return home.It never occurred to me that I might fall from grace at that point-not as far down as I did, anyway. I figured failure was somehow a thing of the past for me. But no. Far from it.What happened next was possibly the most humiliating thing I've ever experienced in my life. It really shook my faith and had me questioning everything I believed in for a time. Still, through this catastrophe, I've gained a deeper understanding of the benefits of failure and the dangers of having a "success is the only option" mentality-a lesson that, in retrospect, I wouldn't trade for anything.I am healthier and wiser because of a prolonged and challenging failure I experienced from the summer of 2017 through to the summer of 2019. I'm also grateful the experience came at this stage in my career when there was very little at stake. My faith is now restored and stronger than ever. My gratitude and sense of humour are both intact once again. I'm ready to talk about it now, and I hope the manner in which I share my story makes you giggle as often as it makes you cringe. I pray for goodness and spiritual growth to come from writing this book-for all the characters mentioned in it, whatever your faith may be.*** *** ***"Ethics is about how we meet the challenge of doing the right thing when that will cost more than we want to pay." The Josephson Institute of Ethics
Download or read book Faith in the Shadows written by Austin Fischer and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: People don't abandon faith because they have doubts. People abandon faith because they think they're not allowed to have doubts. Even as a pastor, Austin Fischer has experienced the shadows of doubt and disillusionment. Leaning into perennial questions about Christianity, he shows that doubt is no reason to leave the faith—instead, it's an invitation to a more honest faith.
Download or read book Family Driven Faith written by Voddie T. Baucham Jr. and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2007 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More teens are turning away from the faith than ever before: it is estimated that 75 to 88% of Christian teens walk away from Christianity by the end of their freshman year of college. Something must be done. Family Driven Faith equips Christian parents with the tools they need to raise children biblically in a post-Christian, anti-family society. Voddie Baucham, who with his wife has overcome a multi-generational legacy of broken and dysfunctional homes, shows that God has not left us alone in raising godly children. He has given us timeless precepts and principles for multi-generational faithfulness, especially in Deuteronomy 6. God's simple command to Moses to teach the Word diligently to the children of Israel serves as the foundation of Family Driven Faith. - Publisher.
Download or read book When Faith Fails written by Dominic Done and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2019-02-19 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wrestling with doubt can be profoundly lonely, but Portland pastor Dominic Done offers a safe place to openly wrestle with your faith without being criticized or judged. Writing with humor and candor out of his own experiences, and incorporating Scripture, literature, and accounts of others who have doubted, Dominic Done argues that not only is questioning normal, it is often a path toward a rich and vibrant faith. Rather than viewing trust and doubt as incompatible, When Faith Fails provides readers with a way to wrestle and ask questions while growing ever closer to God. No subject is off-limits, and Dominic fearlessly and graciously addresses topics including: the experience of tragedy the difficult parts of the Bible the intersection of science and faith the times when God is silent By walking in the path that many others have trod, you can move through doubt into a deeper, fuller faith—a faith that doesn’t run from questions and the hard work of honest wrestling but instead embraces the mysteries of belief. "This book is for those of us who have experienced a gut check, or two, when it comes to some of the intersections between our lives and our faith. It’s for those of us who no longer want to add unnecessary explanations to our beliefs just because we can’t fully see what God is doing in our lives." —Bob Goff, New York Times bestselling author of Everybody, Always “This book is one of those books that I will be buying to give to multiple friends.” —Jefferson Bethke, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus > Religion “This book will help you surrender and trust the areas of your life that are meant to exude God-designed mystery, while also holding your hand as you search for substance and truth.” —Audrey Roloff, coauthor of A Love Letter Life, founder of Always More, and cofounder of Beating50Percent “Doubt is such a pertinent issue in this cultural moment. Dominic walks us through the issues of doubt with which we wrestle but he does so in pastoral practicality. One feels as though you are seated in his living room sipping coffee. Dominic is the type of soul who understands the questions of the heart. He never shames. He’s always transparent. He gives substantive hope.” —Emerson Eggerichs, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Love & Respect
Download or read book Reason Faith and Revolution written by Terry Eagleton and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2009-04-21 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the one hand, Eagleton demolishes what he calls the "superstitious" view of God held by most atheists and agnostics and offers in its place a revolutionary account of the Christian Gospel. On the other hand, he launches a stinging assault on the betrayal of this revolution by institutional Christianity. There is little joy here, then, either for the anti-God brigade -- Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens in particular -- nor for many conventional believers. --Résumé de l'éditeur.
Download or read book Craving Grace written by Lisa Velthouse and published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-04-25 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For Lisa Velthouse’s whole life, Christianity had been about getting things right. Obeying her parents. Not drinking. Not cursing. Not having premarital sex. Vowing to save her first kiss until she got engaged, even writing a book called . . . well, Saving My First Kiss. (This, it turns out, does not actually help a girl get a date.) Yet after two decades of trying to earn God’s okay, she found her faith was lonely, empty, and unsatisfying. So she turned to more discipline, of course: fasting! By giving up her favorite foods—sweets—Lisa hoped to somehow discover true sweetness and meaning in her relationship with God. Until, one night at a wedding, she denied herself the cake but failed in such a different, unexpected, and world-rocking way that it challenged everything she thought she knew about God and herself. Craving Grace is the true story of a faith dramatically changed: how in one woman’s life God used a bitter heart, a broken promise, and the sweetness of honey to reveal the stunning wonder that is grace.
Download or read book Born Again This Way written by Rachel Gilson and published by . This book was released on 2020-03 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addresses some of the questions raised by Christians with same-sex attraction. As a Christian who experiences same-sex attraction, is it possible to live a life that's both faithful and fulfiling? Rachel Gilson wants to show you that it is and that it's not just a case of limping to the finish line, it's possible to run the race with joy. In this powerful and personal book, she describes her own unexpected journey of coming out and coming to faith... and what came next. As she does so, she addresses many of the questions that Christians living with same-sex attraction are wrestling with: Am I consigned to a life of loneliness? How do I navigate my friendships? Will my desires ever change? Is there some greater purpose to all this? What comes next, and next, and next? Drawing on insights from the Bible and the experiences of others, Born Again This Way provides assurance and encouragement for Christians with same-sex attraction, and paints a compelling picture of discipleship for every believer. Whatever your sexuality, this book is an inspiring testimony of how a life submitted to Jesus will be fulfilling and fruitful, but not always in the ways we might expect.
Download or read book Theologies of Failure written by Roberto Sirvent and published by James Clarke & Company. This book was released on 2020-09-24 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does failure mean for theology? In the Bible, we find some unsettling answers to this question. We find lastness usurping firstness, and foolishness undoing wisdom. We discover, too, a weakness more potent than strength, and a loss of life that is essential to finding life. Jesus himself offers an array of paradoxes and puzzles through his life and teachings. He even submits himself to humiliation and death to show the cosmos the true meaning of victory. As David Bentley Hart observes, "most of us would find Christians truly cast in the New Testament mold fairly obnoxious: civically reprobate, ideologically unsound, economically destructive, politically irresponsible, socially discreditable, and really just a bit indecent."By incorporating the work of scholars working with a range of frameworks within the Christian tradition, Theologies of Failure aims to offer a unique and important contribution on understanding and embracing failure as a pivotal theological category. As the various contributors highlight, it is a category with a powerful capacity for illuminating our theological concerns and perspectives. It is a category that frees us to see old ideas in a brand-new light, and helps to foster an awareness of ideas that certain modes of analysis may have obscured from our vision. In short, this book invites readers to consider how both theology and failure can help us ask new questions, discover new possibilities, and refuse the ways of the world.
Download or read book Christianity Truth and Weakening Faith written by Gianni Vattimo and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2010-02-16 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The debate over the place of religion in secular, democratic societies dominates philosophical and intellectual discourse. These arguments often polarize around simplistic reductions, making efforts at reconciliation impossible. Yet more rational stances do exist, positions that broker a peace between relativism and religion in people's public, private, and ethical lives. Christianity, Truth, and Weakening Faith advances just such a dialogue, featuring the collaboration of two major philosophers known for their progressive approach to this issue. Seeking unity over difference, Gianni Vattimo and René Girard turn to Max Weber, Eric Auerbach, and Marcel Gauchet, among others, in their exploration of truth and liberty, relativism and faith, and the tensions of a world filled with new forms of religiously inspired violence. Vattimo and Girard ultimately conclude that secularism and the involvement (or lack thereof) of religion in governance are, in essence, produced by Christianity. In other words, Christianity is "the religion of the exit from religion," and democracy, civil rights, the free market, and individual freedoms are all facilitated by Christian culture. Through an exchange that is both intimate and enlightening, Vattimo and Girard share their unparalleled insight into the relationships among religion, modernity, and the role of Christianity, especially as it exists in our multicultural world.
Download or read book Have a Little Faith in Me written by Sonia Hartl and published by Page Street YA. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Saved!" meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before in this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that takes a meaningful look at consent and what it means to give it. When CeCe’s born-again ex-boyfriend dumps her after they have sex, she follows him to Jesus camp in order to win him back. Problem: She knows nothing about Jesus. But her best friend Paul does. He accompanies CeCe to camp, and the plan—God’s or CeCe’s—goes immediately awry when her ex shows up with a new girlfriend, a True Believer at that. Scrambling to save face, CeCe ropes Paul into faking a relationship. But as deceptions stack up, she questions whether her ex is really the nice guy he seemed. And what about her strange new feelings for Paul—is this love, lust, or an illusion born of heartbreak? To figure it out, she’ll have to confront the reasons she chased her ex to camp in the first place, including the truth about the night she lost her virginity.
Download or read book Failure Taught Me Better written by Sione Paea and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2016-04-26 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sione Poilangi Paea, in his first book, presents his inspirational life story. This remarkable individual shows that anyone can overcome their lot in life and become successful. Sione was born in Tonga, into extreme poverty. His life was one of despair and tarnished dreams. His mother, a Christian, took him to church on Sundays where his faith in God gave him hope for and belief he could have a better life. When he was thirteen, Siones family uprooted and relocated in New Zealand. Later, his family later turned their backs on him and threw him out on the streets. He left home determined to find a better life. Sione found work as a custodian while completing a BSC (Hon) business management degree. His hard work and determination to succeed allowed him to graduate quickly from cleaning, right up to his current position as a managing director and an owner of multiple businesses. Not satisfied with simply being an executive, Mr. Paea is also a budding fitness model who has his own line of fitness apparel in the works. He is also planning a construction materials business servicing the South Pacific. Most impressive is the fact he has accomplished all of these achievements at the tender age of twenty-one. This is an uplifting tale of victory over hardship. It is a motivational dynamo that inspires the reader to want to better themselves. From harrowing beginnings, the story soars to towering heights. One cant help but pull for Mr. Paea. This is an all-around feel-good story that is a must read for anyone who loves an underdog story.
