[PDF] Costly Obedience eBook

Author : Mark A. Yarhouse
Publisher : Zondervan
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 23,12 MB
Release : 2019-06-25
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0310521424

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Though we often hear about the "gay problem" today, there is an even deeper problem in the church today--one that we often overlook. The call to follow Christ is a call to costly obedience for all, not just for gay Christians. Far too often, the church has elevated homosexuality above other sins and required a costly obedience from gays that it is unwilling to demand of others. And yet, the answer is not to weaken the demands of obedience. Instead, gay Christians who make the difficult choice to align their lives with the biblical view of sexuality are a gift to the church, reminding all of us that spiritual growth and maturity is costly. There is a price to pay in following Christ and devoting our lives to the call of the gospel, and it is one that we all must pay--gay and straight Christians alike. Through the stories and struggles of gay Christians who are reorienting their lives around the costly obedience required to follow Christ, Mark Yarhouse and Olya Zaporozhets call the church to reorient as well, leaving behind the casual morality that is widespread today to pursue the path of radical discipleship. Unlike any other book on homosexuality and the church, this is a call to examine your life and consider what God is asking you to lay down to take up your cross and follow him.

Author : Wesley Hill
Publisher : ReadHowYouWant.com
Page : 206 pages
File Size : 50,34 MB
Release : 2010-11-29
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1458723941

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Yet many who sit next to us in the pew at church fit that description, says author Wesley Hill. As a celibate gay Christian, Hill gives us a glimpse of what it looks like to wrestle firsthand with God's ''No'' to same-sex relationships. What does it mean for gay Christians to live faithful to God while struggling with the challenge of their homosexuality? What is God's will for believers who experience same-sex desires? Those who choose celibacy are often left to deal with loneliness and the hunger for relationships. How can gay Christians experience God's favor and blessing in the midst of a struggle that for many brings a crippling sense of shame and guilt? Weaving together reflections from his own life and the lives of other Christians, such as Henri Nouwen and Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hill offers a fresh perspective on these questions. He advocates neither unqualified ''healing'' for those who struggle, nor their accommodation to temptation, but rather faithfulness in the midst of brokenness. ''I hope this book may encourage other homosexual Christians to take the risky step of opening up their lives to others in the body of Christ,'' Hill writes. ''In so doing, they may find, as I have, by grace, that being known is spiritually healthier than remaining behind closed doors, that the light is better than the darkness.

Author : Emily Jensen
Publisher : Harvest House Publishers
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 20,81 MB
Release : 2022-10-25
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0736986340

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THIS HIGHLY GIFTABLE DELUXE EDITION OF THE BESTSELLER INCLUDES THREE ALL-NEW CHAPTERS Motherhood is hard. In a world of five-step lists and silver-bullet solutions to become perfect parents, mothers are burdened with mixed messages about who they are and what choices they should make. If you feel pulled between high-fives and hard words, with culture’s solutions only raising more questions, you’re not alone. But there is hope. You might think that Scripture doesn’t have much to say about the food you make for breakfast, how you view your postpartum body, or what school choice you make for your children, but a deeper look reveals that the Bible provides the framework for finding answers to your specific questions about modern motherhood. Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler help you understand and apply the gospel to common issues moms face so you can connect your Sunday morning faith to the Monday morning tantrum. Discover how closely the gospel connects with today’s motherhood. Join Emily and Laura as they walk through the redemptive story and reveal how the gospel applies to your everyday life, bringing hope, freedom, and joy in every area of motherhood.

Author : Bonhoeffer Dietrich
Publisher : SCM Press
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 29,50 MB
Release : 2015-11-02
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0334053420

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Perhaps Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s most radical book, this reading of the Sermon on the Mount has influenced many Christians throughout the world over the last 50 years.

Author : John H. Armstrong
Publisher : New City Press
Page : 237 pages
File Size : 28,91 MB
Release : 2018-06-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1565486161

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John Armstrong knows from personal experience how easy it is to put too much emphasis on correct teaching in our experience of church—and how easily we lose sight of the love on which Christ built his church when we do so. In Costly Love, Armstrong acknowledges the importance of doctrine and theological discussion in the church, but he urges Christians to focus first on whether we are following Jesus’ new commandment: to love as he loved. Our actions of love will begin to bring us closer to unity with one another and with God.

Author : Nik Ripken
Publisher : B&H Publishing Group
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 26,42 MB
Release : 2014-01-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 143368229X

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Wise Sheep Among the Wolves All Christian disciples have one thing in common: as they carry the gospel across the ocean and across the street, persecution will become the norm for those who choose to follow Jesus. How believers respond in the face of persecution reveals everything about their level of faith and obedience. The Insanity of Obedience is a bold challenge to global discipleship. Nik Ripken exposes the danger of safe Christianity and calls readers to something greater. The Insanity of Obedience challenges Christians in the same, provocative way that Jesus did. This book dares you—and prepares you—to cross the street and the oceans with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Some of Jesus’ instructions sound uncomfortable and are potentially dangerous. We may be initially encouraged by His declaration, “I am sending you out.” But how are we to respond when He then tells us that He is sending us out “like sheep among wolves"? In light of the words of Jesus, how can modern day believers rest comfortably in the status quo? How can we embrace casual faith in light of the radical commands of Jesus which are anything but casual? Ripken brings decades of ministry experience in some of the most persecuted areas of the world to bear on our understanding of faith in Jesus. The Insanity of Obedience is a call to roll up your sleeves . . . and to follow and partner with Jesus in the toughest places on this planet. "We have the high privilege of answering Jesus’ call to go," Ripken says. "But let us be clear about this: we go on His terms, not ours. If we go at all, we go as sheep among wolves." Jesus gives us Himself. And He gives us the tools necessary for those who dare to journey with Him.

Author : Nik Ripken
Publisher : B&H Publishing Group
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 47,36 MB
Release : 2014
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1433673096

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Identifies the dangers of safe Christianity and the embracing of casual faith, daring readers to face the risk of persecution and partner with Jesus in the toughest places on Earth.

Author : Bill Hull
Publisher : NavPress
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 38,13 MB
Release : 2020-01-07
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1641581484

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What is a Christian? At the most basic level, a Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ. And yet many Christians today couldn’t tell you what a disciple of Jesus Christ is, or would even think of themselves as disciples. And yet in the Great Commission, Jesus specifically called us to make disciples. Everything else is secondary. The Cost of Cheap Grace is an extended, sweeping, bold, and bracing call to repentance for where we’ve let secondary things subvert our commitment to discipleship, and a compelling vision for discipleship as the basis of the gospel in all its world-changing, subversive power.

Author : Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Publisher :
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 38,40 MB
Release : 2016-07-09
Category :
ISBN : 9781535181075

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One of the most important theologians of the twentieth century illuminates the relationship between ourselves and the teachings of Jesus.

Author : David J. Atkinson
Publisher : InterVarsity Press
Page : 195 pages
File Size : 29,73 MB
Release : 2022-01-04
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1514004526

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Where do we come from? What is our purpose? In this BST commentary, David Atkinson explores how the first eleven chapters of Genesis serve as an overture to the rest of the Bible. With vivid insight, Atkinson illuminates how the meaning of Genesis is still resonant today—helping us understand both the greatness and the tragic flaw inherent in human beings.