Download or read book Shaped by the Word written by M. Robert Mulholland, Jr. and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the role that scripture plays in spiritual formation. Mulholland examines obstacles often encountered in spiritual reading and introduces a new approach to reading that will enliven the scriptures. He also compares informational reading (reading to be informed) with formational reading (reading to be spiritually formed). Readers are released to God's initiative, allowing the scripture to form a spiritual life inside themselves.
Download or read book Using the Bible in Spiritual Direction written by Liz Hoare and published by Church Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2016-01-01 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiritual direction is increasingly popular among Christians of all mainstream traditions, with demand for directors outstripping supply in many places. And although the Bible is central to the practice of spiritual direction, very little has been published on how best to use it in this form of ministry. Experienced spiritual director Liz Hoare explores the central role the Bible has played in Christian experience, in order to discourage poor, shallow, or rigid use of the Bible, which can lead to damage and inhibit spiritual growth. According to Hoare, the goal of spiritual direction is not a personal improvement plan but a people who are being shaped into the likeness of Christ, for the flourishing of the church as a whole. Using different methods of praying with the Bible and drawing on historical traditions of Christian spirituality, as well as current literature and practice, this book offers a rich, stimulating, and thoroughly biblical resource for all those who give and receive spiritual direction.
Download or read book Invitation to a Journey written by Mulholland Jr., M. Robert and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2016-04-21 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: M. Robert Mulholland Jr. fleshes out a carefully worded definition of spiritual formation that encompasses the dynamics of a vital Christian life and counters our culture's tendency to trivialize, methodize and privatize spirituality. Now revised and expanded by Ruth Haley Barton with a new foreword, practices and study guide.
Download or read book Shaped by the Word Anniversary Edition written by M. Robert Mulholland and published by Upper Room Books. This book was released on 2023-10-01 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the foreword to the first edition of Shaped by the Word, Bishop Rueben Job wrote, "One of the great strengths of this volume is that it grows out of the spiritual pilgrimage of a capable and committed biblical scholar. It was my privilege to hear these lectures when they were presented to the first Academy for Spiritual Formation in 1983. They became for those who heard them a window to God." Nearly forty years later, Shaped by the Word continues to provide this "window to God" to readers across the world. In a success-oriented world, it is easy for Bible study to become another task to perform rather than a transformational experience. Those who hunger for a deep relationship with God often struggle with barriers that keep us from being able to meditate and listen to God with the deepest core of our being. Shaped by the Word seeks to overcome these barriers through a formational reading of the Bible. In this timeless book, Robert Mulholland shows readers how to listen for God's voice in our study of the Word and allow God to lead our reading and understanding so that we may truly be transformed.
Download or read book The Word of God for the People of God written by J. Todd Billings and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book fills a real need for pastors and students. Though there is currently a large body of material on the theological interpretation of Scripture, most of it is highly specific and extremely technical. J. Todd Billings here provides a straightforward entryway for students and pastors to understand why theological interpretation matters and how it can be done. / A solid, constructive theological work, The Word of God for the People of God presents a distinctive Trinitarian, participatory approach toward reading Scripture as the church. Billings's accessible yet substantial argument for a theological hermeneutic is rooted in a historic vision of the practice of scriptural interpretation even as it engages a wide range of contemporary issues and includes several exegetical examples that apply to concrete Christian ministry situations.
Download or read book The Great Omission written by Dallas Willard and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2006-06-13 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last command Jesus gave the church before he ascended to heaven was the Great Commission, the call for Christians to "make disciples of all the nations." But Christians have responded by making "Christians," not "disciples." This, according to brilliant scholar and renowned Christian thinker Dallas Willard, has been the church's Great Omission. "The word disciple occurs 269 times in the New Testament," writes Willard. "Christian is found three times and was first introduced to refer precisely to disciples of Jesus. . . . The New Testament is a book about disciples, by disciples, and for disciples of Jesus Christ. But the point is not merely verbal. What is more important is that the kind of life we see in the earliest church is that of a special type of person. All of the assurances and benefits offered to humankind in the gospel evidently presuppose such a life and do not make realistic sense apart from it. The disciple of Jesus is not the deluxe or heavy-duty model of the Christian -- especially padded, textured, streamlined, and empowered for the fast lane on the straight and narrow way. He or she stands on the pages of the New Testament as the first level of basic transportation in the Kingdom of God." Willard boldly challenges the thought that we can be Christians without being disciples, or call ourselves Christians without applying this understanding of life in the Kingdom of God to every aspect of life on earth. He calls on believers to restore what should be the heart of Christianity -- being active disciples of Jesus Christ. Willard shows us that in the school of life, we are apprentices of the Teacher whose brilliance encourages us to rise above traditional church understanding and embrace the true meaning of discipleship -- an active, concrete, 24/7 life with Jesus.
Download or read book A Guide to Christian Spiritual Formation written by Evan B. Howard and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2018-01-16 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evan Howard, a noted authority on Christian spirituality, provides a holistic, accessible, and informed introduction to Christian spiritual formation written from a broadly evangelical perspective. Howard joins Scripture with themes of community, spirit, formation, and mission in a single integrative guide. The book includes helpful features such as figures, charts, chapter overviews, and formation-focused questions. Its evangelical-ecumenical and global perspectives will appeal to a wide audience. Resources for professors and students are available through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources.
Download or read book You Are What You Love written by James K. A. Smith and published by Brazos Press. This book was released on 2016-03-29 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You are what you love. But you might not love what you think. In this book, award-winning author James K. A. Smith shows that who and what we worship fundamentally shape our hearts. And while we desire to shape culture, we are not often aware of how culture shapes us. We might not realize the ways our hearts are being taught to love rival gods instead of the One for whom we were made. Smith helps readers recognize the formative power of culture and the transformative possibilities of Christian practices. He explains that worship is the "imagination station" that incubates our loves and longings so that our cultural endeavors are indexed toward God and his kingdom. This is why the church and worshiping in a local community of believers should be the hub and heart of Christian formation and discipleship. Following the publication of his influential work Desiring the Kingdom, Smith received numerous requests from pastors and leaders for a more accessible version of that book's content. No mere abridgment, this new book draws on years of Smith's popular presentations on the ideas in Desiring the Kingdom to offer a fresh, bottom-up rearticulation. The author creatively uses film, literature, and music illustrations to engage readers and includes new material on marriage, family, youth ministry, and faith and work. He also suggests individual and communal practices for shaping the Christian life.
Download or read book Practicing the Power written by Sam Storms and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bible teaches us that we are to be filled with God's Spirit and that God's presence and grace is manifested among his people as they serve, love, and minister to one another. Yet some of the gifts that God offers to his people aren't commonly seen in many churches today. Gifts of prophecy, healing, tongues, and other supernatural gifts of God seem to be absent, and many Christians are unsure how to cultivate an atmosphere where God's Spirit can work while remaining committed to the foundational truth of God's Word. How can Christians pursue and implement the miraculous gifts of the Spirit without falling into fanatical excess and splitting the church in the process? In Practicing the Power, pastor and author Sam Storms offers practical steps to understanding and exercising spiritual gifts in a way that remains grounded in the word and centered in the gospel. With examples drawn from his forty years of ministry as a pastor and teachers, Storms offers a guidebook that can help pastors, elders, and church members understand what changes are needed to see God move in supernatural power and to guard against excess and abuse of the spiritual gifts. If you long to see God's Spirit move in your church and life, and aren't sure why that isn't happening or where to begin, this book is for you.
Download or read book Celebration of Discipline written by Richard J. Foster and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 1988-10-05 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the twenty years since its publication, Celebration of Discipline has helped over a million seekers discover a richer spiritual life infused with joy, peace, and a deeper understanding of God. For this special twentieth anniversary edition, Richard J. Foster has added an introduction, in which he shares the story of how this beloved and enduring spiritual guidebook came to be. Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline explores the "classic Disciplines," or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith. Along the way, Foster shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true path to spiritual growth can be found. Dividing the Disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these areas contribute to a balanced spiritual life. The inward Disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study, offer avenues of personal examination and change. The outward Disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service, help prepare us to make the world a better place. The corporate Disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration, bring us nearer to one another and to God. Foster provides a wealth of examples demonstrating how these Disciplines can become part of our daily activities-and how they can help us shed our superficial habits and "bring the abundance of God into our lives." He offers crucial new insights on simplicity, demonstrating how the biblical view of simplicity, properly understood and applied, brings joy and balance to our inward and outward lives and "sets us free to enjoy the provision of God as a gift that can be shared with others." The discussion of celebration, often the most neglected of the Disciplines, shows its critical importance, for it stands at the heart of the way to Christ. Celebration of Discipline will help motivate Christians everywhere to embark on a journey of prayer and spiritual growth.
Download or read book The Holy Spirit and Christian Formation written by Diane J. Chandler and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume discusses the importance of a multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach to Christian formation based upon godly love and the imago Dei (Latin, image of God). Grounded biblically and theologically, this interdisciplinary collection offers perspectives drawn from spirituality, ethics, philosophy, psychology, counselling, ecclesiology, physical health sciences, and leadership studies. Contributors address spiritual, emotional, and psychological formation, while highlighting how suffering has the potential to draw one closer to God and others. The book also details vocational development, appropriate stewardship of the physical body, and the ways in which the Eucharist sacramentally contributes to the process of formation. The book concludes with a call for further exploration of additional research trajectories, not the least of which is how Christian formation contributes to the missio Dei, the mission of God.
Download or read book A Pocket Guide to Prayer written by Steve Harper and published by Upper Room Books. This book was released on 2013-11-01 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In response to comments from booksellers and readers, Upper Room Books has reissued A Pocket Guide to Prayer in a slightly larger trim size with a new, leatherlike cover. The content is exactly the same as the first edition, which had a brown, satiny, paperback cover. This lovely, classic, and compact book contains a wealth of information, such as helps for praying up to 5 times a day, over 100 prayers, hymn texts, and psalms. Harper also explains how to create a personal Rule of Life and how to read scripture meditatively (lectio divina). He includes a reading list to help you grow in your prayer life. Tuck this classic prayer book in your pocket or purse, and you have at your fingertips all you need to make a daily connection with God.
Download or read book Satan and the Problem of Evil written by Gregory A. Boyd and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2001-10-08 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gregory Boyd seeks to defend his scripturally grounded trinitarian warfare theod-icy with rigorous philosophical reflection and insights from human experience and scientific discovery.
Download or read book God s Word written by Cindy Bunch and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2012-06-03 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You love God's Word. You want Scripture to inform you daily life and seep deep into your soul. Yet too often Bible study becomes a mere fact-finding exercise or a dull, spiritless routine. How can Bible reading shape you and transform you? How can you meet God face to face while pondering his message in the Old and New Testaments? Cindy Bunch has written this practical study guide to help you experience the variety of ways that Scripture can meet your desire for spiritual connection and growth. Utilizing the revised LifeGuide Bible Study format, God's Word features questions for starting group discussions and for meeting God in personal reflection. A helpful "Now or Later" section at the end of each study offers you suggestions for further study, prayer or application. Notes for group leaders are also included. Here is help for loving God's Word—and living it. PDF download with a single-user license; available from InterVarsity Press and other resellers.
Download or read book Theology in the Service of the Church written by Timothy George and published by Mercer University Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title bridges the chasm between church and academy. This volume celebrates the life and work of Fisher H. Humphreys, a noted Baptist theologian whose teachings and writings have shaped several generations of pastors, missionaries, and theological students. Humphreys has said about his own life's work: 'My theology is church theology. I do thinking about God in the fellowship of the church'. Since 1990, Humphreys has taught systematic theology at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University, following an even longer tenure on the faculty of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Written by Humphreys' colleagues and friends, the essays here illuminate various aspects of the theologian's calling from the standpoint of specific theological disciplines and from the intersection of theology with other areas of Christian life and thought. In this way, Fisher Humphreys' self-understanding of his own vocation as a theologian of the church is commended and the importance of thinking clearly and faithfully about God in the fellowship of the church is seen to be a vital component in the life of the faith.
Download or read book No Peace Without Prayer written by Timothy Wright and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Abbot Timothy Wright proposes sowing a small seed from which might grow a greater respect between the world's two largest religions, Christianity and Islam. Indeed, he believes that the seed has been already planted. Christians give unique value to their revealed Scriptures as the 'Word of God'. Muslims speak of the Qur'an as God speaking to them. In No Peace without Prayer, Wright presents the case to establish groups of Christians and Muslims dedicated to sharing their respective Divine Word in ways that enhance the "other" to gain a greater mutual understanding. The key word, says Wright, is partnership, arising from their shared belief in the One God, creator of the universe, communicating with the human world and merciful to the repentant."--Back cover.
Download or read book All Roads Lead to the Text written by Dean Deppe and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2011-11-10 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In All Roads Lead to the Text Dean Deppe offers a user-friendly guide to biblical exegesis and interpretation. Far from a dry, theoretical handbook, this book's example-based approach enlivens the exegetical task and offers immediate payoff by constantly applying concepts to specific texts. Deppe focuses on eight methods that biblical scholars use, from analyzing literary, grammatical, and structural elements to investigating historical and cultural backgrounds to exploring the history of interpretation. Deppe explains each approach using several concrete examples from both Old and New Testament texts, and every chapter concludes with practical, text-based questions for study and discussion.
