Book picks similar to
The Life God Blesses: Weathering the Storms of Life That Threaten the Soul by Gordon MacDonald
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christian
personal-growth
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With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God
Skye Jethani - 2011
Stop Living Your Life Under, Over, From and For God and Start Living in Communion With Him.
The Authority of the Believer
John A. MacMillan - 1997
MacMillan (1873-1956) is considered the originator of the modern doctrine concerning the authority that a Christian believer has in Christ. This teaching has been used much by many churches, but is best known in the Pentecostal circles. It may be surprising that MacMillan was himself a Presbyterian, though he was heavily influenced by the likes of A. B. Simpson, Evan Roberts, and Jessie Penn-Lewis. This teaching is sound, solid, and relevant for today! If ever we as the church needed to understand who we are in Christ, that time is now. This book is composed of articles published in The Alliance Weekly, which came in two series: the first being The Authority of the Believer, and the second The Authority of the Intercessor. From the foreword: The rapidly approaching end of the age is witnessing a tremendous increase in the activity of the powers of darkness. Unrest among the nations, more intense than at any previous time in earth's history, is due largely to the stirring up of the ambitions and passions of men, while the spread of an almost wholly secularized education is quietly doing away with the scriptural standards which formerly exerted a restraining influence among the so-called Christian peoples. Our wealth and social culture have not made us thankful to the Giver of all good, but have centered us upon the material things of the world, and have produced a self-sufficiency that quite ignores our dependence upon the Creator of all. Godlessness, which we have condemned so strongly in the Soviet Union, is almost equally as pronounced, though less blatant, in our own land. These conditions are reacting strongly upon the great ministry of the Church of Christ, the giving of the gospel to the heathen world. War has closed many doors in foreign lands, and at the same time has cut off financial contributions in not a few countries which formerly took an active interest in missions. More serious still is the attitude of large sections of the church towards the state of the heathen. No longer are these concerned about the lost souls which wander in darkness; their thought is centered on raising their social status and meeting their intellectual and physical needs. They seek, in their own jargon, to "build a better world," but the world they envision is one without a Savior. Christ, in their view, has degenerated into a Superman, an example which in their own feeble strength they seek to follow. To meet the situation, the Church of Christ needs a new conception of prayer. The urgent call is for men and women, wholly yielded to the Lord, whose eyes have been enlightened to see the ministry in the heavenlies to which they have been called. Such believers, whether as intercessors, or as workers at home, or missionaries on the foreign fields, may in union with the great Head of the Body, exercise an authority to which the powers of the air must give place wherever challenged. The Table of Contents are as follows: Chapter One: The Authority of the Believer Chapter Two: The Divine Purpose Of The Ages Chapter Three: The Qualifications For Authority Chapter Four: The Practical Exercise of Authority Chapter Five: The Authority of the Intercessor Chapter Six: The Victory of the Believer's Countenance Chapter Seven: Victory Over Spiritual Conflict For more of the best Christian books ever written, visit our website at JawboneDigital.com
Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
Richard Rohr - 2004
Richard Rohr seeks to help readers understand the tasks of the two halves of life and to show them that those who have fallen, failed, or gone down are the only ones who understand up. Most of us tend to think of the second half of life as largely about getting old, dealing with health issues, and letting go of life, but the whole thesis of this book is exactly the opposite. What looks like falling down can largely be experienced as falling upward. In fact, it is not a loss but somehow actually a gain, as we have all seen with elders who have come to their fullness.Explains why the second half of life can and should be full of spiritual richness Offers a new view of how spiritual growth happens?loss is gain Richard. Rohr is a regular contributing writer for Sojourners and Tikkun magazines This important book explores the counterintuitive message that we grow spiritually much more by doing wrong than by doing right.
Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith
Sarah Bessey - 2015
And as we learn to hold questions in one hand and answers in the other, we discover new depths of faith that will remain secure even through the storms of life.
Deep and Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend
Andy Stanley - 2012
Andy writes, “Our goal is to create weekend experiences so compelling and helpful that even the most skeptical individuals in our community would walk away with every intention of returning the following week…with a friend!”Later he says, “I want people to fall in love with the Author of Scripture. And while we can’t make anyone fall in love, we can certainly arrange a date.” For the first time, Andy explains his strategy for preaching and programming to “dual audiences”: mature believers and cynical unbelievers. He argues that preaching to dual audiences doesn’t require communicators to “dumb down” the content. According to Stanley, it’s all in the approach.You’ll be introduced to North Point's spiritual formation model: The Five Faith Catalysts. Leaders responsible for ministry programing and production will no doubt love Andy’s discussion of the three essential ingredients for creating irresistible environments. For pastors willing to tackle the challenge of transitioning a local congregation, Andy includes a section entitled: Becoming Deep and Wide.If your team is more concerned with who you are reaching than who you are keeping, Deep & Wide will be more than a book you read; it will be a resource you come back to over and over!“Couldn't be prouder of my son, Andy. And I couldn't be more excited about the content of this book. I wish a resource like this existed when I was starting out in ministry.”- Dr. Charles Stanley, Founder, In Touch Ministries“Deep and Wide pulls back the curtain for all of us to see what is required behind the scenes to build a prevailing church. I was both challenged and inspired by this book.”- Bill Hybels, author of Just Walk Across the Room“The most common question I get from pastors is, ‘How do I get the people in my church to be open to change?’ From now on my answer will be, ‘Read Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley’. Thanks Andy. Great book!”- Craig Groeschel, Pastor, LifeChurch.TV, author, It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It“No one has given me more practical handles for establishing a focused vision than Andy Stanley. Deep and Wide is a rich resource to help all of us stay intentional about the main thing - building a church that reaches people who are far from God.”- Steven Furtick, Lead Pastor, Elevation Church
The God Of The Mundane
Matthew B. Redmond - 2012
You would sell your belongings. You would become a missionary and move to another country.” Matthew B. Redmond has preached the gospel of doing more for God, and he wants out. In this collection of essays, he asks a simple question: what about the rest of us? Is there a God for our often-mundane lives?This is a book about pastors, plumbers, dental hygienists, and stay-at-home moms. It finds grace and mercy in chicken fingers, smiles from strangers, and classic films, and ultimately convicts us of something Matt Redmond has learned himself: there is a God of the mundane, and it’s not about what we do for him. It’s about what he does for us.
Secrets of the Secret Place: Keys to Igniting Your Personal Time with God
Bob Sorge - 2000
Divided into 52 short chapters, it can serve as a companion to your devotional life. It will help defuse struggles related to the secret place and inspire you to develop a personal connection with God.
Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better
Brant Hansen - 2015
The idea of our own “righteous anger” is a myth. It is the number one problem in our societies today and, as Dallas Willard says, Christians have not been taught out of it. But what if Christians were the most unoffendable people on the planet?In Unoffendable you will find concrete, practical ways to live life with less stress, including: Adjusting your expectations to fit human natureReplacing perpetual anger with refreshing humility and gratitudeEmbracing forgiveness and beginning to love others in unexpected waysIn a humorous and conversational style, Unoffendable seeks to lift religious burdens from our backs and allow us to experience the joy of gratitude, perhaps for the first time, every single day of our lives—flourishing the way God intended.
Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale
Frederick Buechner - 1977
A fresh, creative look at the underlying meaning of the Gospels that stresses the many dimensions of God's relationship to humanity.
An Unhurried Life: Following Jesus' Rhythms of Work and Rest
Alan Fadling - 2013
Beginning with this confession, pastor and spiritual director Alan Fadling goes on to describe his journey out of the fast lane and into the rhythms of Jesus. Following the framework of Jesus' earthly life, Fadling shows how the work of unhurrying ourselves is central to our spiritual development in such pivotal areas as resisting temptation, caring for others, praying and making disciples. Here is a book that affirms that we are called to work and to do work. Productivity is not a sin--it is the attitudes behind our work that can be our undoing. So how do we find balance between our sense of calling and the call to rest? An Unhurried Life offers a way.
Living Prayer
Robert Benson - 1998
Weaving a narrative about his experiences while seeking a prayerful life, he demonstrates how prayer can enter the fabric of one's existence so that life itself becomes prayer. In the manner of Madeleine L'Engle and Kathleen Norris, Benson makes the ordinary events of life seem mystical and the mystical seem ordinary. He illustrates the full power of prayer, illuminates the reasons we are drawn to pray, and bears witness to the grace of leading a life attuned to the voice of God.
Chosen for Christ: Stepping into the Life You've Been Missing
Heather Holleman - 2018
We feel like we’re missing the life we’re supposed to live and we somehow veered off course. We ask questions like, “Is this God’s plan for me? How do I know? What is His plan, anyway?” What if Scripture not only answered these questions but also taught us an entirely new way of living? Instead of waiting for the perfect person, place, or plan, what if we lived, above all else, as chosen for Christ?Chosen for Christ invites you to step into the life you’ve been missing. You were chosen for a Person, not a plan. Now it’s time to live out your calling to:worship Jesuslive as His treasured possessionbelong to a new householdbecome like Jesusdisplay God’s powercomplete the good works He designed for youlive differently from the rest of the worldIn a world fixated on personal purpose and impact, Chosen for Christ presents a new way to think about calling. Each chapter includes discussion questions that will help women embrace their identity as chosen ones and step into a new way of living each new day.Chosen for Christ completes Heather Holleman’s vivid verbs trilogy, which also includes Seated with Christ and Guarded by Christ. It works wonderfully as a stand-alone book or as a powerful companion to her previous works. It also provides an expansion of ideas that appear briefly in Holleman’s devotional Included in Christ.
Nothing to Prove: Why We Can Stop Trying So Hard
Jennie Allen - 2017
Author and Bible teacher Jennie Allen invites us into a different experience, one in which our souls overflow with contentment and joy. In Nothing to Prove she calls us to...* Find freedom from self-induced pressure by admitting we're not enough--but Jesus is. * Admit our greatest needs and watch them be filled by the only One who can meet them. * Make it our goal to know and love Jesus, then watch what He does in and through us.
Jesus in the Margins: Finding God in the Places We Ignore
Rick McKinley - 2005
As we pull back the curtain on His life, we discover that Jesus knows what it’s like to be marginalized. He understands how it feels to have society shove you to the side, to not really be accepted, and in the end to be totally rejected. He can identify with life in the margins because when God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ, He landed in the margins. On purpose. And He chose to land there because it’s in the margins that broken lives get mended, prisoners are set free, and the poor hear the Good News.Reimagine Your Life Welcome to the crowded margins of life. It’s a place where normal people don’t feel normal. Where the daily grind drowns out the soft cry within that says, “I do not have it together.” Where just beneath the surface we long for meaning and—dare we hope?—wholeness. Rick McKinley writes from experience: Only God can rescue a person from the margins. Why? Because when He came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ, in the margins is where he landed. On purpose. To find you. Don’t wait till you get yourself together. Meet Jesus in the margins just as you are, and reimagine your life through the lens of His transforming love. Story Behind the BookThis book was birthed out of Rick’s ministry at Imago Dei Community Church. Rick’s heart is to communicate God’s Word in an understandable way to those who are outside the reach of traditional churches. He often calls this “unpacking the gospel”—a gospel he sees as the predominant theme in all of Scripture. Rick says the kind of people he ministers to “are not afraid of the language of theology, but the theological ideas need to be brought down from the mountain.”
Here and Now: Living in the Spirit
Henri J.M. Nouwen - 1994
These inspirational reflections byHenri Nouwen succeed in convincing us thatGod’s presence is reliable.