Sacred Pathways


Book Description

Sacred Pathways reveals nine distinct spiritual temperaments--and their strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies--to help you improve your spiritual life and deepen your personal walk with God. It's time to strip away the frustration of a one-size-fits-all spirituality and discover a path of worship that frees you to be you. Experienced spiritual directors, pastors, and church leaders recognize that all of us engage with God differently, and it's about time we do too. In this updated and expanded edition of Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas details nine spiritual temperaments and--like the Enneagram and other tools do with personality--encourages you to investigate the ways you most naturally express yourself in your relationship with God. He encourages you to dig into the traits, strengths, and pitfalls in your devotional approach so you can eliminate the barriers that keep you locked into rigid methods of worship and praise. Plus, as you begin to identify and understand your own temperament, you'll soon learn about the temperaments that aren’t necessarily "you" but that may help you understand the spiritual tendencies of friends, family, and others around you. Whatever temperament or blend of temperaments best describes you, rest assured it's not by accident. It's by the design of a Creator who knew what he was doing when he made you according to his own unique intentions. If your spiritual walk is not what you'd like it to be, you can change that, starting here. Sacred Pathways will show you the route you were made to travel, marked by growth and filled with the riches of a close walk with God.




Pathways in Theology


Book Description

This volume exhibits the engaging and challenging work of public and ecumenical theologian Piet Naud‚. The collection of 26 essays, written over three decades, constitutes an important contribution to public theology by critically and creatively evaluating diverse pathways through the landscape of Ecumenical, African, and Reformed theologies.




Pathways for Theology in Peacebuilding


Book Description

The ambivalent role of religions in contemporary conflicts has generated an increasing call for faith-based peacebuilding endeavours. In Pathways for Theology in Peacebuilding: Ecumenical Approaches to Just Peace, Sara Gehlin discusses the ways theology can provide essential resources for such peacebuilding pursuits. The pathways for theology in peacebuilding are investigated with regard to a recent faith-based peace endeavour, namely the creation of an international ecumenical declaration on just peace. In the book, Gehlin explores the meaning of a just peace from the perspectives of theological ethics, biblical interpretation, spirituality, and ecumenical vision. On the basis of this exploration, the book maps out theological resources for peace in our time.




Pathways in Theodicy


Book Description

Why does God permit evil and suffering? This question, known as the problem of evil in theological and philosophical circles, has perennially vexed Christian theology. Academic studies on the problem of evil, however, have failed to move the conversation forward in recent years. In this volume, designed for students and scholars alike, Mark S. M. Scott traces the major models and motifs in Christian explanations for evil (called theodicies) and argues for a thorough rethinking of the problem of evil and theodicy based on distinctly Christian theological criteria and resources.




Sacred Pathways


Book Description

Sacred Pathways reveals nine distinct spiritual temperaments--and their strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies--to help you improve your spiritual life and deepen your personal walk with God. It's time to strip away the frustration of a one-size-fits-all spirituality and discover a path of worship that frees you to be you. Experienced spiritual directors, pastors, and church leaders recognize that all of us engage with God differently, and it's about time we do too. In this updated and expanded edition of Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas details nine spiritual temperaments and--like the Enneagram and other tools do with personality--encourages you to investigate the ways you most naturally express yourself in your relationship with God. He encourages you to dig into the traits, strengths, and pitfalls in your devotional approach so you can eliminate the barriers that keep you locked into rigid methods of worship and praise. Plus, as you begin to identify and understand your own temperament, you'll soon learn about the temperaments that aren't necessarily "you" but that may help you understand the spiritual tendencies of friends, family, and others around you. Whatever temperament or blend of temperaments best describes you, rest assured it's not by accident. It's by the design of a Creator who knew what he was doing when he made you according to his own unique intentions. If your spiritual walk is not what you'd like it to be, you can change that, starting here. Sacred Pathways will show you the route you were made to travel, marked by growth and filled with the riches of a close walk with God. A Sacred Pathways video Bible study is also available for group or individual use, sold separately.




Pathways


Book Description

God has a purpose for your life, and every action or event that occurs within it has been used to make that purpose a reality. The story of Esther appears to be a series of coincidences strung together to deliver the Jews from certain death. However, God selected Esther for a particular purpose at a particular time. Discover your own pathway to purpose through learning principles on providence as Tony Evans takes us on a journey of epic proportions.




Christianity and COVID-19


Book Description

This volume explores current understandings of the global meaning of faith and suffering in the context of COVID-19 and interrogates responses to the pandemic that have emerged from World Christianity. It includes chapters by a range of international contributors approached from a variety of angles within Global Christian theology. They provide reflections and analyses focused on the question of God, human suffering, structural injustice, the role of the church and Christian praxis in the milieu of COVID-19, where misery and dying is a daily routine. This book will be of interest to scholars of Missiology, World Christianity, biblical/public/contextual theology and various Contemporary Christian studies.




The Poor in Liberation Theology


Book Description

Liberation theology has, since its beginnings over forty years ago, placed the poor at the heart of theology and revealed the ideologies underlying both society and church. Meanwhile, over this period, the progressive church appears to have stagnated and the poor of Latin America have turned increasingly to neo-Pentecostalism. 'The Poor in Liberation Theology' questions whether the effect of liberation theology is to provide a pathway to God or really to construct idols out of the poor. Combining the conceptual language of the philosophers Jean-Luc Marion and Emmanuel Levinas with the methodology of the liberation theologian Clodovis Boff, the volume outlines how liberation theology can work to ensure the poor do not become an ideological construct but remain icons of God. Drawing on a wealth of material from Latin American and Europe, the book demonstrates the continuing validity and importance of liberation theology and its further potential when engaged with contemporary philosophy.




Pathways to Hindu-Christian Dialogue


Book Description

Hindus and Christians have a long history of interaction on the Indian subcontinent. Since the latter half of the twentieth century, with the increased possibilities for immigration, Hindus and Christians live side by side in many parts of the Western world and there are growing numbers of Hindu-Christian marriages and families. In North America, for example, the population of Hindus is approaching three million. Hindu students are attending many colleges with a Christian history and ideals. To avoid the dangers of these communities sharing geographical space but not understanding each other, Pathways to Hindu-Christian Dialogue offers dialogue that fosters mutual understanding, respect, and learning in both communities.




Sacred Pathways Bible Study Guide


Book Description

Discover new ways of connecting with God by understanding how he uniquely created you to worship him. The Sacred Pathways video study will help you learn: How you naturally express yourself in your relationship with God How to develop new ways of drawing near to him Key biblical figures who share your spiritual temperament How to understand others who connect with the Creator differently As believers in Christ, many of us today fall into the trap of thinking we have to approach God in a certain way. But our Creator made us all unique, and he designed us to connect with him in our own ways. For some, this might look like quiet contemplation. Others express praise through caregiving or theological discussions. It's important to discover the particular pathway that will best help you to experience God's presence. Bestselling author and speaker Gary Thomas reveals nine distinct spiritual temperaments to give you insight into how you naturally worship and how your personal walk with God might look different from those around you. Unlike the Enneagram and other personality assessment tools, Sacred Pathways gives you tools to investigate how you naturally relate to God. You will discover the strengths and impulses in your devotional approach so that you can eliminate the barriers that keep you locked into scripted methods of worship and praise. There is one thing that each of us as Christians can do that nobody else can--give our personal love and affection to God. This Study Guide includes: Discussion questions, reflection questions, and a personal assessment test to discover your pathway Personal Bible study for between sessions A guide with best practices for leading groups Sessions include: The Journey of the Soul – Introduction to the Pathways Pathways of Wonder – the Naturalist, Sensate, and Traditionalist Pathways of Contemplation – the Intellectual, Ascetic, and Contemplative Pathways of Action – the Caregiver, Activist, and Enthusiast Tending the Garden of the Soul – How the Pathways Apply to Your Life Designed for use with the Sacred Pathways Video Study available on DVD or streaming video, sold separately.