Download or read book From the Inside Out written by Ryan Kuja and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-05-22 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "For the sake of the world, we question. For the sake of the gospel, we examine. For the sake of the dignity of the image-bearers we serve--as well as ourselves--we inquire." The evolution that has taken place in the world of mission over the last twenty-five years has left many Christians asking brutally honest questions about what we do and why we do it. Are we doing more damage than good? What does it look like to truly love and serve the marginalized in an authentic and effective way? What, actually, is the gospel and is it truly good news? In this groundbreaking book, Ryan Kuja vividly examines the world of Christian mission as few have seen it. With a beautiful balance of storytelling and theological reflection birthed from his own painful and powerful experiences on and off the field--from rural villages in South Sudan to major cities across Asia, Africa, and Latin America--Ryan guides us into global mission's past and present, revealing where the light and hope lie, helping recover a missional future that will usher us into a new era. This is mission reimagined for a world recreated . . . from the inside out.
Download or read book Desert Fathers and Mothers written by Christine Valters Paintner and published by SkyLight Paths Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Timeless and contemplative sayings from the earliest Christian sages of desert spirituality can be a companion on your own spiritual journey. The desert fathers and mothers were ordinary Christians living in solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Arabia who chose to renounce the world in order to deliberately and individually follow God's call. They embraced lives of celibacy, labor, fasting, prayer and poverty, believing that denouncing material goods and practicing stoic self-discipline would lead to unity with the Divine. Their spiritual practice formed the basis of Western monasticism and greatly influenced both Western and Eastern Christianity. Their writings, first recorded in the fourth century, consist of spiritual advice, parables and anecdotes emphasizing the primacy of love and the purity of heart. Focusing on key themes of charity, fortitude, lust, patience, prayer and self-control, the Sayings influenced the rule of St. Benedict and have inspired centuries of opera, poetry and art. This probing and personal SkyLight Illuminations edition opens up their wisdom for readers with no previous knowledge of Western monasticism and early Christianity. It provides insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that describes historical background, explains the practice of asceticism and illustrates how you can use their wisdom to energize your spiritual quest.
Download or read book Isolation written by Shelley G. Trebesh and published by Vistagroup Consulting. This book was released on 1997 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Almost every leaders at one time or another will face being set aside from ministry. This booklet shows what leaders face when set aside from ministry for various reasons like sickeness, persecution, discipline, crises, self-choice, etc. The manual gives patterns and proper attitudes to face these experiences as leaders develop toward maturity in their leadership. Isolation is one of the deep processing items which all leaders should life schedule for.
Download or read book Transformed by the Desert Experience written by Clarence Dalrymple and published by Revmedia. This book was released on 2013-08 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Have you ever felt as if you were all alone in this world? Nobody understood what was going through your mind or the experiences that you were encountering? It seems that you have entered into a period of God's silence that seems to go on forever. The cry of your heart is "Where are you God?" "Why have you forsaken me?" "How long will you allow this to happen?" What is next after this time of silence? Is it a wilderness that stretches our trust? Is it a punishment or a test? Is it abandonment or a preparation for something wonderful in store for us? Is it God's judgment or His infinite kindness that helps us grow spiritually mature? There are times of difficulty that seem like a "'dark night of the soul." However, this is also when we grow deeper in faith, and we are refined of hindrances, and gain the fragrance of Jesus by the fruit of the Spirit. This time that you go through is a desert experience. Each person encounters his or her own personal struggle. No journey is identical for each person, but each individual desert experience produces the same result in every person. When God deals with us, His purpose is growth, maturity, and preparation. And, it always involves death to self. God will draw us into a desert experience with Him to give us the opportunity to grow (to die to self), to learn to trust Him or to gain more insight into His ways. God has put a blueprint of His divine purpose in each individual. This blueprint was imprinted in your spirit before you were ever born. God never deviates from His plan in order to bring it to complete manifestation. But everyone has to go through these formative years of growing and maturing. This is the "desert experience." This is where your calling is redefined and your character is refined. Are we willing to be changed? Do we want to go further? Perhaps the desert is the place for us. Don't be afraid, it is a road that many have followed in Christ. Just remember that He will never leave you and does not forget his promises. My reason for writing this book is to encourage those of you who are experiencing this dry season in your life. I want you to know that the divine purpose that God has ordered for your life will be completed. God wants you to see and understand that where you are in life and what you are experiencing in your life is not going to destroy you. You will exit from your desert with a redefined call and a refined character. You are not alone, but God your Father is right there with you. He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us, but will always be present with us. In the spiritual life, the desert experience is a time of preparation and deepening of our life with the Lord.
Download or read book A Course in Desert Spirituality written by Thomas Merton and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2020 Association of Catholic Publishers first place award in spirituality Thomas Merton’s sessions with the young monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani showcase Merton’s brilliant ability to survey the key figures and synthesize their writings, inspiring his listeners and readers with what it means for the spiritual life. Like its companion volume, A Course in Christian Mysticism, this book is a collection of fifteen lectures that get to the heart of Merton’s belief that monastic wisdom and spirituality are applicable for everyone. This compact volume allows anyone to learn from one of the twentieth century's greatest Catholic spiritual teachers. The study materials at the back of the book, including additional primary source readings and thoughtful questions for reflection and discussion, make this an essential text for any student of Christian desert spirituality.
Download or read book Soul Wilderness written by Kerry S. Walters and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This powerful book draws on the tradition of the prophet emerging from the wasteland to help waken the mystic within each of us, guide our modern spiritual journey into our own inner desert, and there to have a direct experience of God.
Download or read book Desert Spirituality and Cultural Resistance written by Belden Lane and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-07-10 with total page 71 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The wholeness of the life we seek is one that we are seldom able to envision in advance. It takes a shape that only the desert knows.” Desert Spirituality and Cultural Resistance: From Ancient Monks to Mountain Refugees is a passionate exploration of the theme of wilderness in the spiritual life. These three lectures by accomplished storyteller and theologian Belden Lane are inspirational in a way that lectures rarely are. Lane urges us to think courageously about the place of wilderness in Christian life. He contemplates the radical lives of the fourth-century Desert Fathers and Mothers, as well as the courageous example of sixteenth-century Anabaptists. He speaks of the ways in which wilderness can relate to the practice of a counter-cultural spirituality today, and he asks: Can desert and mountain gift us with a language to understand the experiences in our lives when we are taken to the edge, finding ourselves isolated and alone, both spiritually and culturally? “The wilderness is a place of suffering, out on the edge. It is a place of letting go, a place for dying, and yet also a place for coming alive. The desert is where things fall apart and where things may come together for us in an unanticipated way.”
Download or read book Spirituality and the Desert Experience written by Charles Cummings and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Loving Life written by Paul E. Miller and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2014-01-31 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Having successfully helped readers develop a solid prayer life with the best-selling release of A Praying Life, author Paul Miller applies his expertise to an even more important issue—love. After all, love is what holds all things together, it's what we're looking for, it's what we all need, and it's what we must learn how to give. But loving people is hard. Our neighbors, friends, kids, spouses, and even our enemies require a relentless, self-giving demonstration of love that only God can produce within us. Taking his cues from the perseverance and faithfulness portrayed in the book of Ruth, Miller sheds light on a biblical portrait of love that is sure to give us hope and transform our souls. Here is the help we need to embrace relationship, endure rejection, cultivate community, and reach out to even the most unlovable as we discover the power to live a loving life.
Download or read book Treasure in the Wilderness written by Andrew D. Mayes and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-06-29 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This exciting resource on desert spirituality is quite unlike any other: at once a physical journey to outstanding deserts of the planet and an odyssey of the soul. A journey of discovery takes us across five continents as we venture to places few pilgrims reach: the Gazan desert, the Sahara, the Australian outback, the Athos wilderness and the Ordos Desert of China, and the Syrian desert, among others. Evocative descriptions by early travelers and by the author immerse us into a diversity of wilderness landscapes, stimulating the senses and the imagination. Physicality leads to spirituality as we listen to compelling voices that speak to us poignantly across space and time--including spiritual writers long-forgotten or not well-known. These unearth for us the treasure we seek: we uncover the distinctive charism of each desert, offering us different and challenging ways of looking at the world and at the spiritual life. We discover the unpredictable desert to contain unexpected, priceless treasures of transformative wisdom that speak uncannily into our own contemporary spiritual search. We see how these gems can energize and inspire our discipleship or spiritual practice. As we embark on this spiritual quest, we may never be the same again!
Download or read book Where God Happens written by Rowan Williams and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2007-08-14 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The place "where God happens," according to Rowan Williams's striking new reading of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, is between each other. It's a truth that we of the twenty-first century most urgently need to learn in order to heal the experience of alienation that has become endemic to our age, and these odd and appealing ancient figures, surprisingly, hold keys to this healing. The fourth-century Christian hermits of Egypt, Syria, and Palestine understood the truth of Christian community profoundly, and their lives demonstrate it vividly—even though they often lived in solitude and isolation. The author breaks through our preconceived ideas of the Desert Fathers to reveal them in a new light: as true and worthy role models—even for us in our modern lives—who have much to teach us about dealing with the anxieties, uncertainties, and sense of isolation that have become hallmarks of modern life. They especially embody valuable insights about community, about how to live together in an intimate and meaningful way. Williams makes these radical figures, who clearly have a special place in his heart, come to life in a new way for everyone. The book includes an appendix of selections from the teachings of the Desert Fathers.
Download or read book If Anyone Thirsts written by Ian Robinson and published by Wipf and Stock. This book was released on 2016-03-18 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All through scripture, the people of God have found true freedom in a journey through the desert. It is a simple trajectory - the exodus, the exile, the forty days, the cross. This book aims to lead you down the lost seam of gold that is desert spirituality in the Bible. The desert makes a powerful spiritual impact on those who go there. It encourages us to realize that we know who we really are only when we have nothing. Nothing is when we sense God's presence in the awesome stars and skies. Nothing is the stunning silence of the sand dunes as it welcomes the dawning in our mind that God is real and God is good. Nothing is what we have in fierce places and dry times. But looking around the wealthy churches of the western world, we hang on to what we've got for fear that God has no more to give. We seek rational controls over the Spirit of God. Faith has become more about words than love. No wonder we are thirsty. We desperately need to recover a dimension of our faith that has been left out. If you are tired of the dogmatic pathways of religion, or if you have departed the church for fear of shriveling, this book will steer you back to the best of biblical spirituality. That is what was in mind when Moses spoke Deuteronomy in the desert, the same place where Jesus caught wind of it. This spirituality grounds us. Jesus, our role model and source, our presence and promise, is making us an offer. If we grasp this, it could open up a resource of strength and simplicity in this challenging twenty-first century. Given the number of biblical heroes whose faith and dependence on God were honed in the white heat of the desert, to those who have ears to hear, this book offers an eloquent challenge deliberately to seek deeper spiritual transformation in dry places - and not always be satisfied with a focus on verdant pastures and flowing streams, whether in our churches or elsewhere. Dr Andrew D. Clarke, Senior Lecturer in New Testament, University of Aberdeen, Scotland For many years I have been journeying with Ian in the deserts of Australia. His reflections have provided me with a fresh language and joy in exploring the landscape of my soul. As Ian says ""the desert is the spiritual director"" however his biblical knowledge of desert spirituality has deepened my experience and the richness of the blessings I have received out there. Susan Kaldor, Counsellor, Leadership Consultant, Spiritual Director, Fellow traveller I commend readers to Ian Robinson's book, and hope that many who experience the spiritual aridity of urban existence can find the water of life in the desert places of the heart. David Tacey, Professor of Humanities, La Trobe University, Melbourne Ian Robinson was the first to cross all of Australia's deserts in one journey. It was deeply transforming for all involved. Since then, he has led hundreds on desert retreats called 'Spirit Journeys' and has researched, written and spoken in many church and community settings. Ian is the Uniting Church Chaplain at the University of Western Australia, is married to Margaret with three adult children. He has an MA from Oxford University and a PhD from Charles Sturt University.
Download or read book Beauty in the Desert written by Eddie Broussard and published by Tyndale House. This book was released on 2014-02-27 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deserts can be harsh, but they also are home to rare beauty. Spiritual deserts are difficult, but in God’s hands they can become life transforming. During spiritual deserts, we can find love in God’s dwelling place, the tabernacle, because it offers a blueprint for intimately meeting with Him. Author Eddie Broussard guides readers through the tabernacle, clearly explaining its meaning in light of its New Covenant fulfillment in Christ. Understanding the tabernacle can lead you to have worship that empowers, wisdom that guides, and a knowledge of God that transforms.
Download or read book The Solace of Fierce Landscapes written by Belden C. Lane and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-02-26 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of Kathleen Norris, Terry Tempest Williams, and Thomas Merton, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes explores the impulse that has drawn seekers into the wilderness for centuries and offers eloquent testimony to the healing power of mountain silence and desert indifference. Interweaving a memoir of his mother's long struggle with Alzheimer's and cancer, meditations on his own wilderness experience, and illuminating commentary on the Christian via negativa--a mystical tradition that seeks God in the silence beyond language--Lane rejects the easy affirmations of pop spirituality for the harsher but more profound truths that wilderness can teach us. "There is an unaccountable solace that fierce landscapes offer to the soul. They heal, as well as mirror, the brokeness we find within." It is this apparent paradox that lies at the heart of this remarkable book: that inhuman landscapes should be the source of spiritual comfort. Lane shows that the very indifference of the wilderness can release us from the demands of the endlessly anxious ego, teach us to ignore the inessential in our own lives, and enable us to transcend the "false self" that is ever-obsessed with managing impressions. Drawing upon the wisdom of St. John of the Cross, Meister Eckhardt, Simone Weil, Edward Abbey, and many other Christian and non-Christian writers, Lane also demonstrates how those of us cut off from the wilderness might "make some desert" in our lives. Written with vivid intelligence, narrative ease, and a gracefulness that is itself a comfort, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes gives us not only a description but a "performance" of an ancient and increasingly relevant spiritual tradition.
Download or read book Ways of the Desert written by Harold G Koenig and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-02 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover how negative experiences such as loneliness, depression, and anxiety can be opportunities for personal growth! Ways of the Desert: Becoming Holy Through Difficult Times analyzes the similarities and differences between spiritual and psychological experiences. This book shows religious professionals and others interested in spiritual development how suffering can foster growth. You will explore the so-called “negative” desert experiences--depression, anxiety, loneliness, guilt, and anger--and learn how they can be opportunities for spiritual growth. This book explains why opposites are necessary and related parts of healthy and holy development, and that, especially in a spiritual life, the positive and negative are related. Ways of the Desert will take you on a journey through the “deserts” and “promised lands” of adolescence, adulthood, and the elderly years. In most Western cultures the acceptance of opposites as a necessary and related part of healthy and holy growth is not common, and its rejection can engender spiritual stagnation. Ways of the Desert offers suggestions on creating lifelong spirituality including: understanding the need for both “clock” time for functional order and “sacred” time to redeem us from the boredom of our daily challenges understanding the languages of the desert, or the messages that are primarily nonverbal, ambiguous, or ambivalent using effective communication when expressing feelings such as shame, frustration, anger, or anguish examining the similarities and differences between psychological and spiritual activity comparing psychological twelve-step help programs to spiritual growth journeys This extraordinary book works to help you make sense of your life when you feel lost, trapped, depressed, or lonely. You will attain spiritual guidance to assist you on your journey through life and help you understand that the deserts of negative experiences that we sometimes wander into can be illuminating opportunities for spiritual progress. Ways of the Desert will guide you through difficult and challenging times and help you achieve spiritual satisfaction and happiness in life.
Download or read book Soul Making written by Alan W. Jones and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1989-05-10 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A leading spiritual writer recovers "The Desert Way of Believing" -- the spiritual pathway discovered by early Christian monks who lived in the Egyptian desert that is still relevant to Christians today. Alan Jones distills the elements that made this fully orthodox way of inner transformation a unique and important part of the early church. Refreshingly readable and filled with rich insights, Soul Making draws together the spirituality of modern literature and elements of psychology. Jones shows how the desert way can become for any spiritual seeker a soul-stretching means of experiencing the "wonder, mystery, and awe" at the heart of the Christian faith.
Download or read book Desert Spirituality for Men written by Brad Karelius and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2022-06-16 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inspired by Richard Rohr, Ronald Rolheiser, Belden Lane, and Thomas Merton, Desert Spirituality for Men reveals the transformative and healing power of the desert--for men who actively seek God. Blending a memoir of his son's fight for life, reflections on his own desert retreats and response to the Lord's persistent desire for relationship, Brad Karelius offers guidance to men in their holy longing for God. An Episcopal priest for fifty years, Professor of Philosophy for forty-five years, husband, and father, Karelius also tells about the power of his friendship with six remarkable men, and he describes some of their well-founded prayer practices which will sustain and nurture any man in his quest. This book will encourage men of all callings and stages in life to plan their own retreats to the desert--where God lives and gives life.
