James Smith
Showing 1–12 of 13 resultsSorted by latest
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Good And Beautiful You
$26.99The Christian faith is not only about belief and practices, it is also about the kind of people that we become.
Yet some of the biggest barriers to our transformation come from our toxic self-narratives. These narratives shape the way we see ourselves and the way we interact in the world. God designed us with a deep longing in our souls to be wanted, loved, alive, and connected to God. Healing our souls requires more than knowing what God thinks about us. Our healing comes not through reason alone, but through revelation. The best practice I have seen in Christian spiritual formation was Dallas Willard’s endorsement of the Good and Beautiful series a decade ago. Now this fourth book in the series, The Good and Beautiful You, addresses the self-narratives that hinder spiritual growth and the desires of the soul that only God can satisfy. James Bryan Smith reminds us how Scripture reveals the beauty and goodness of our own souls and how we long for healing that only God can provide. Complete with spiritual practices that help us live into that reality, The Good and Beautiful You will serve as a welcome companion on your journey to discover who you truly are in Christ.
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Room Of Marvels
$19.99Three deaths in three years. His mother. His best friend. And now, his two-year-old daughter. In this moving story a Christian author goes to a retreat center to grieve and face the hard questions about God that he is asking in the wake of these losses. This expanded edition of the beloved book is a masterful, dream-like tale that speaks to the eternal in the midst of our most painful earthly losses.
Three deaths in three years. His mother. His best friend. And now, his two-year-old daughter. In this moving story a Christian author goes to a retreat center to grieve and face the hard questions about God that he is asking in the wake of these losses. If you have ever felt alone, betrayed, abandoned-if you have found yourself asking God why-this novel may be a source of hope. And if you have ever wondered what heaven is like, this book provides a beautiful vision. Room of Marvels is a masterful, dream-like tale that speaks to the eternal in the midst of our most painful earthly losses. This expanded edition of the beloved book has a new afterword from James Bryan Smith and a discussion guide for group use. Finding your room of marvels will give you reason to live. Again.
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Magnificent Story : Uncovering A Gospel Of Beauty Goodness And Truth
$18.99We are story-making people. We love reading stories*and we love hearing the personal stories of others. We need stories, or narratives, to make sense of our world. And those stories shape our lives. What is the story you have been told about the gospel?
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Imagining The Kingdom (Reprinted)
$31.76How does worship work? How exactly does liturgical formation shape us? What are the dynamics of such transformation? In the second of James K. A. Smith’s three-volume theology of culture, the author expands and deepens the analysis of cultural liturgies and Christian worship he developed in his well-received Desiring the Kingdom. He helps us understand and appreciate the bodily basis of habit formation and how liturgical formation–both “secular” and Christian–affects our fundamental orientation to the world. Worship “works” by leveraging our bodies to transform our imagination, and it does this through stories we understand on a register that is closer to body than mind. This has critical implications for how we think about Christian formation.
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Teaching And Christian Practices
$27.99In Teaching and Christian Practices several university professors describe and reflect on their efforts to allow historic Christian practices to reshape and redirect their pedagogical strategies. Whether allowing spiritually formative reading to enhance a literature course, employing table fellowship and shared meals to reinforce concepts in a pre-nursing nutrition course, or using Christian hermeneutical practices to interpret data in an economics course, these teacher-authors envision ways of teaching and learning that are rooted in the rich tradition of Christian practices, as together they reconceive classrooms and laboratories as vital arenas for faith and spiritual growth.
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Good And Beautiful Community
$28.99Introduction
1 The Peculiar Community
Soul Training: Two-by-Four
2 The Hopeful Community
Soul Training: Sharing Your Faith
3 The Serving Community
Soul Training: Treasuring Our Treasures
4 The Christ-Centered Community
Soul Training: Loving Those We Disagree With
5 The Reconciling Community
Soul Training: Experiencing Reconciliation
6 The Encouraging Community
Soul Training: Finding An Accountability Friend
7 The Generous Community
Soul Training: Stewardship Of Resources
8 The Worshiping Community
Soul Training: Worship
9 Writing A Rule For Life And Living In Community
Appendix: Small Group Discussion Guide
Notes
AcknowledgmentsAdditional Info
In his third and final book in the Apprentice Series, James Bryan Smith helps us know how to live in relationship with others as apprentices of Jesus. “Apprentices of Jesus are not part-time do-gooders,” he writes. “They live in continuous contact with the kingdom of God, and are constantly men and women in whom Christ dwells. They do not sometimes tell the truth, sometimes live sacrificially or sometimes forgive. There are myriad opportunities for us to impact the world in which we live.” Yet many times we’ve gotten it wrong, tending to emphasize personal faith over social justice or vice versa. In these pages Jim Smith shows us how to bring spiritual formation and community engagement together, and then once again offers spiritual practices that root new, true narratives about God and the world in our souls. His insight and humility as a fellow learner with us will lead us to live in authentic ways as a good and beautiful community of Christ-followers, shining the light of the Spirit into every relationship.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Beyond Pentecostalism : Crisis Of Global Christianity And The Renewal Of Th
$35.99At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Christianity faces one of its greatest opportunities as well as one of its greatest challenges – the formulation of a global theology. In Beyond Pentecostalism Wolfgang Vondey argues that Pentecostal thought and praxis represent an indispensable catalyst for the realization of this task.
Accentuating Pentecostalism as a manifestation of what he calls the crisis of global Christianity, Vondey describes the elements of this crisis – manifested chiefly in theology’s turn toward a performance-oriented enterprise – and suggests that the task of overcoming the crisis demands an integration of Pentecostalism in the global theological agenda. This task will inevitably push Christianity beyond the boundaries of the classical Pentecostal tradition. In fact, Vondey suggests, Pentecostalism itself is in the process of going beyond its own historical, theological, sociocultural, and institutional boundaries.
Informing Vondey’s study throughout is the provocative metaphor of theology with Pentecostal resources as closer to “play” than to “performance.” He therefore engages the social sciences, psychology, philosophy, and ritual and cultural studies as major dialogue partners in developing the theological task for both the Pentecostal and the broader ecumenical global community. Vondey’s goal is not a “pentecostalization” of Christianity but rather a renewal of the theological landscape in light of the significance of Pentecostal voices, thoughts, and practices worldwide.
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Good And Beautiful Life
$28.99Introduction
How To Get The Most Out Of This Book
1 An Invitation To The Good Life
Soul Training: Writing A Letter To God
2 Getting Heaven In Us
Soul Training: Play
3 An Invitation To Blessedness
Soul Training: Hospitality
4 Learning To Live Without Anger
Soul Training: Keeping The Sabbath
5 Learning To Live Without Lust
Soul Training: Media Fast
6 Learning To Live Without Lying
Soul Training: Silence
7 Learning To Bless Those Who Curse Us
Soul Training: Praying For The Success Of Competitors
8 Learning To Live Without Vainglory
Soul Training: Secret Service
9 Learning To Live Without Avarice
Soul Training: Deaccumulation
10 Learning To Live Without Worry
Soul Training: Prayer
11 Learning To Live Without Judging Others
Soul Training: A Day Without Gossip
12 Living In The Kingdom Day By Day
Soul Training: Living One Day DevotionallyAppendix: Small Group Discussion Guide
Notes
AcknowledgmentsAdditional Info
James Bryan Smith believes we have bought into false notions of happiness and success. We find ourselves caught up in self-serving decisions that lead us further into the vices that cause ruin: anger, lust, lying, worry and judging. In this follow up to his first book, The Good and Beautiful God, Smith traces through the Sermon on the Mount and helps us look behind these sins to replace our false beliefs with Jesus’ naratives about life in the kingdom of God.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Politics Of Discipleship
$38.00In this fourth volume in the Church and Postmodern Culture series, internationally acclaimed theologian Graham Ward examines the political side of postmodernism in order to discern the contemporary context of the church and describe the characteristics of a faithful, political discipleship. His study falls neatly into two sections. The first, which is the more theoretical section, considers “the signs of the times.” Ward names this section “The World,” noting that the church must always frame its vision and mission within its worldly context. In the second section, “The Church,” he turns to constructive application, providing an account of the Christian practices of hope that engage the world from within yet always act as messengers of God’s kingdom.
Ward’s study accomplishes two related goals. First, he provides an accessible guide to contemporary postmodernism and its wide-ranging implications. Second, he elaborates a discipleship that informs a faith seeking understanding, which Ward describes as “the substance of the church’s political life.”
Ward is well known for his thoughtful engagement with postmodernism and contemporary critical theology. Here he provides a broader audience with an engaging account of the inherently political nature of postmodernity and thoughts on what it means to live the Christian faith within that setting.
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Desiring The Kingdom (Reprinted)
$26.99Philosopher James K. A. Smith embarks on a journey to reshape the whole notion of Christian education in Desiring the Kingdom. This text is the first of three volumes that will ultimately provide a comprehensive theology of culture. The entire set will address crucial concerns in ontology, anthropology, epistemology, and political philosophy. Desiring the Kingdom focuses on the themes of liturgy and desire. The author contends–as did Augustine–that human beings are “desiring agents”; in other words, we are what we love. Postmodern culture is saturated with liturgy, but in places such as malls, stadiums, and universities. While these structures influence us, they do not point us to the best of ends. Smith aims to recover a worldview based on counter-formation to these secular liturgies. His ultimate purpose is to re-vision Christian education as a formative process and redirect us to the summum bonum (the highest good)–namely, God himself. Desiring the Kingdom will reach a wide audience; professors and students in courses on theology, culture, philosophy, and worldview will welcome this contribution. Pastors, ministers, and other church leaders will appreciate Desiring the Kingdom as well.
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Good And Beautiful God
$28.99Introduction
How To Get The Most Out Of This Book
1. What Are You Seeking?
Soul Training: Sleep
2. God Is Good
Soul Training:Silence And Awareness Of Creation
3. God Is Trustworthy
Soul Training: Counting Your Blessings
4. God Is Generous
Soul Training: Praying Psalm 23
5. God Is Love
Soul Training: Lectio Divina
6. God Is Holy
Soul Training: Margin
7. God Is Self-Sacrificing
Soul Training; Reading The Gospel Of John
8. God Transforms
Soul Training: Solitude
9. How To Make A Pickle
Soul Training: Slowing Down
Appendix: Small Group Discussion Guide
Notes
AcknowledgmentsAdditional Info
Turning to the Gospels, James Bryan Smith invites you to put your ideas about God to the test to see if they match up with what Jesus himself reveals about his Father. Once you’ve discovered the truth in Scripture, Smith leads you through a process of spiritual formation that includes specific activities aimed at making these new narratives real in your body and soul as well as your mind.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
