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Life Together in Christ

Author: Ruth Haley Barton

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2014-10-30

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 0830896384

Best Book of Spiritual Formation, from Byron Borger, Hearts and Minds Bookstore Have you joined a church or small group in hopes of experiencing real life change, only to be disappointed? Have you sat through inspiring sermons about what is possible when Christians gather together in mutually edifying relationships, only to recognize how cynical you have become after many failed attempts? Community may be one of the most over-promised, under-delivered aspects of the Christian life today. Individuals remain selfish and stuck in their ways. Communities become spiritually lifeless or even fall apart because we don't know how to experience transformation together. Transforming community does not come primarily from listening to inspiring preaching or adding another church program. It emerges as we embrace a shared commitment to the attitudes, practices and behaviors that open us to Christ in our midst. And that's where Life Together in Christ comes in. Reflecting on the story of the two disciples who meet Christ on the Emmaus Road, Ruth Haley Barton offers this interactive guide for small groups of spiritual companions who are ready to encounter Christ in transforming ways—right where they are on the road of real life.

Life Together

Author: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 1978-10-25

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 0060608528

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After his martyrdom at the hands of the Gestapo in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer continued his witness in the hearts of Christians around the world. His Letters and Papers from Prison became a prized testimony to Christian faith and courage, read by thousands. Now in Life Together we have Pastor Bonhoeffer's experience of Christian community. This story of a unique fellowship in an underground seminary during the Nazi years reads like one of Paul's letters. It gives practical advice on how life together in Christ can be sustained in families and groups. The role of personal prayer, worship in common, everyday work, and Christian service is treated in simple, almost biblical, words. Life Together is bread for all who are hungry for the real life of Christian fellowship.

Pursuing God's Will Together

Author: Ruth Haley Barton

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2012-04-25

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0830869786

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Logos Book of the Year Meetings can sap our energy, rupture community and thoroughly demoralize us. They can go on forever with no resolution. Or they can rush along without consensus just to "get through the agenda." What if there was another way? Church boards and other Christian leadership teams have long relied on models adapted from the business world. Ruth Haley Barton, president of the Transforming Center, helps teams transition to a much more suitable model—the spiritual community that discerns God's will together. In these pages you will discover personal and group practices that will lead you into a new way of experiencing community and listening to God together.

Practicing the Way of Jesus

Author: Mark Scandrette

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2011-05-04

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 0830868720

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Take a casual survey of how people practice their faith, and you might reasonably conclude that Jesus spent his life going door to door offering private lessons, complete with chalkboard and pop quizzes. We think about God in the comfort of our own minds, in isolation from one another; meanwhile the world waits for a people to practice the way of Jesus together. Mark Scandrette contends that Jesus has in mind something more lively for us: not a classroom so much as a kingdom, where our formation takes place not only in our heads but in our hearts and our bodies, and in the company of one another, in a way that blesses the world we've been entrusted with. In Practicing the Way of Jesus Scandrette draws from his experience as a spiritual director and leader of an intentional community, as well as the best contemporary thinking on kingdom spirituality, to paint a picture of life lived together, in the way of Jesus--which is another way of saying life lived to the full.

A Testament to Freedom

Author: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 1995-03-31

Total Pages: 596

ISBN-13: 0060642149

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer was only thirty-nine years old when he was executed in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945, yet his courage, vision, and brilliance have greatly influenced the twentieth-century Church and theology. Particularly through his bestselling classic, The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer profoundly shaped such minds and movements as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Leonardo Boff, civil rights and leberation theology. A Testament to Freedom, completely revised and expanded for this edition, includes previously untranslated writings, excerpts from major books, sermons, and selected letters spanning the years of Bonhoeffer's pastoral and theological career. This magnificent volume takes readers on a historical and biographical journey that follows Bonhoeffer through the various stages of his life--as teacher, ecumenist, pastor, preacher, seminary director, prophet in the Nazi era and, finally, as martyr in pursuit of peace and justice.

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore

Author: Wayne Jacobsen

Publisher: Windblown Media

Published: 2008-09-02

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 1935170015

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Jake Colsen, an overworked and disillusioned pastor, happens into a stranger who bears an uncanny resemblance (in manner) to the apostle John. A number of encounters with John as well as a family crisis lead Jake to a new understanding of what his life should be like: one filled with faith bolstered by a steady, close relationship with the God of the universe. Facing his own disappointment with Christianity, Jake must forsake the habits that have made his faith rote and rediscover the love that captured his heart when he first believed. Compelling and intensely personal, So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anything relates a man's rebirth from performance-based Christianity to a loving friendship with Christ that affects all he does, thinks, and says. As John tells Jake, "There is nothing the Father desires for you more than that you fall squarely in the lap of his love and never move from that place for the rest of your life."

Sacred Rhythms

Author: Ruth Haley Barton

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2009-12-14

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 0830878297

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Logos Book Award Do you long for a deep, fundamental change in your life with God? Do you desire a greater intimacy with God? Do you wonder how you might truly live your life as God created you to live it? Spiritual disciplines are activities that open us to God's transforming love and the changes that only God can bring about in our lives. Picking up on the monastic tradition of creating a "rule of life" that allows for regular space for the practice of the spiritual disciplines, this book takes you more deeply into understanding seven key disciplines along with practical ideas for weaving them into everyday life. Each chapter includes exercises to help you begin the practices--individually and in a group context. The final chapter puts it all together in a way that will help you arrange your life for spiritual transformation. The choice to establish your own sacred rhythm is the most important choice you can make with your life.

The Rhythm of the Christian Life

Author: Brian J. Wright

Publisher: ACU Press

Published: 2019-08-13

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 1684269687

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Discover Life as God Intended Hurried and exhausted, we are looking for a better way to manage all the demands in our lives. We think that if we could simply learn to balance everything, we would be happier. But our problem isn’t balance. What we actually need is to rediscover the rhythm. God has created a pulse for our lives, and for centuries Christians lived into that intentional rhythm, one that has been all but lost today. In this book, Wright invites us to find true joy and wholeness as we embrace the two core realities that every person experiences in life: •moments alone: times of solitude when we are with God alone •moments together: times of intentional fellowship with others In our efforts to maximize our time, we often set unrealistic expectations for our “quiet time” and our social relationships. The result is a failure to hear the ancient rhythm that shows how these dimensions of our lives should complement each other. Embracing the rhythm of the Christian life, and living it wholeheartedly, is the task of all believers, not just some of us. As Christians, our whole life consists of loving God and loving others— just like Jesus did. Explore The Rhythm of Christian Life and recapture the joy of life as God always intended.

Marriage After God

Author: Aaron Smith

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2019-06-04

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0310355354

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What if God has purposed your marriage for something so much more than "happily ever after?" Since the very beginning, God's design for marriage has been for husbands and wives to be ambassadors of holy love to a hurting world. Still, too many couples stop short at happy and wonder why they feel unsatisfied. Rather than "you and me against the world," God calls each couple to the rich and meaningful mission of "you and me for the world." In Marriage After God, Aaron and Jennifer Smith, popular marriage bloggers at HusbandRevolution.com and UnveiledWife.com, transparently share their own journey of turning a marriage in crisis into a marriage built on Christ's redemptive love. With fresh biblical insight and intimate stories of their own struggles and victories, this book will guide you toward a God-centered, ministry-minded, and thriving marriage. Throughout Marriage After God, you'll learn to: Discover the signature marks of a marriage after God Find principles for building an unshakable marriage foundation Let God's story take the lead in your love story Recognize the tools God has already equipped you with for a missional life together Filled with timeless wisdom, this thorough and practical book will empower you and your spouse to dream, decide, and do as you step hand in hand into God's ultimate purpose for your marriage. God has created your remarkable, romantic, and redemptive relationship to be a powerful light to a dark and hurting world. Let Marriage After God be your invitation to marriage as God intended--a life-saving, hope-inspiring, and transforming force of God's love. Praise for Marriage After God: "This book is an incredible resource for anyone trying to grow or step into a healthier and more life-giving marriage. Aaron and Jen pull no punches; are honest, raw, and authentic; and show that a marriage in pursuit of Jesus can change the world." --Jefferson Bethke, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus > Religion "There is a short list of books I'm stashing away for my three small kiddos to read when they are older--Marriage After God is one of them. Dear couples of the world, you have picked up a treasure! This book will give you clear direction to live out God's will for your marriage. There is no greater gift you can give yourselves than to run after Him together. Marriage After God will show you how!" --Lara Casey, author of Cultivate and Make It Happen

From Isolation to Community

Author: Myles Werntz

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2022-04-12

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1493435132

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It is no secret that isolation is one of the key ailments of our age. But less explored is the way the church as it is frequently practiced contributes to this isolation instead of offering an alternative. With the help of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, this book argues for a renewed vision of the church community as a theological therapy to cultural, moral, and sociological isolation. It offers an account of how familiar church practices, such as Scripture reading, worship, prayer, and eating, contribute to community formation in the body of Christ.