 The Life You've Always Wanted
by John Ortberg
You Can Live a Deeper, More Spiritual Life Right Where You Are.
The heart of Christianity is transformation—a relationship with God that impacts not just our “spiritual lives,” but every aspect of living. John Ortberg calls readers back to the dynamic heartbeat of Christianity—God’s power to bring change and growth—and reveals both the how and why of transformation.
With a new chapter on prayer and added discussion questions, this expanded edition of The Life You’ve Always Wanted offers modern perspectives on the ancient path of the spiritual disciplines. But this is more than just a book about things to do to be a good Christian. It’s a road map toward true transformation that starts not with the individual but with the object of the journey—Jesus Christ.
As with a marathon runner, the secret to winning the race lies not in trying harder, but in training consistently—training with the spiritual disciplines. The disciplines are neither taskmasters nor an end in themselves. Rather they are exercises that build strength and endurance for the road of growth. The fruit of the Spirit—joy, peace, kindness, etc.—are the signposts along the way.
Paved with humor and sparkling anecdotes, The Life You’ve Always Wanted is an encouraging and challenging approach to a Christian life that’s worth living—a life on the edge that fills an ordinary world with new meaning, hope, change, and joy.
Recommended by Erik Rees, Clayton Coates, Debbie Eaton, and Kenny Luck
ISBN: 9780310246954
2002 Zondervan
272 pages
Available in the Pavilion
 The Spirit of the Disciplines
by Dallas Willard
Dallas Willard, one of today's most brilliant Christian thinkers and author of The Divine Conspiracy (Christianity Today's 1999 Book of the Year), presents a way of living that enables ordinary men and women to enjoy the fruit of the Christian life. He reveals how the key to self-transformation resides in the practice of the spiritual disciplines, and how their practice affirms human life to the fullest. The Spirit of the Disciplines is for everyone who strives to be a disciple of Jesus in thought and action as well as intention.
ISBN: 9780060694425
1991 HarperCollins
276 pages
Available in the Pavilion
 Celebration of Discipline
by Richard Foster
In the twenty years since its publication, Celebration of Discipline has helped over a million seekers discover a richer spiritual life infused with joy, peace, and a deeper understanding of God. For this special twentieth anniversary edition, Richard J. Foster has added an introduction, in which he shares the story of how this beloved and enduring spiritual guidebook came to be.
Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline explores the "classic disciplines," or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith. Along the way, Foster shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true path to spiritual growth can be found. Dividing the disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these areas contribute to a balanced spiritual life. The inward disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study, offer avenues of personal examination and change. The outward disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service, help prepare us to make the world a better place. The corporate disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration, bring us nearer to one another and to God.
Foster provides a wealth of examples demonstrating how these disciplines can become part of our daily activities—and how they can help us shed our superficial habits and "bring the abundance of God into our lives." He offers crucial new insights on simplicity, demonstrating how the biblical view of simplicity, properly understood and applied, brings joy and balance to our inward and outward lives and "sets us free to enjoy the provision of God as a gift that can be shared with others." The discussion of celebration, often the most neglected of the disciplines, shows its critical importance, for it stands at the heart of the way to Christ. Celebration of Discipline will help motivate Christians everywhere to embark on a journey of prayer and spiritual growth.
Recommended by Brad Baker, Doug Fields, Steve Gladen, and Kurt Johnston
ISBN: 9780060628390
2002 HarperCollins Publishers
228 pages
Available in the Pavilion
 Spiritual Disciplines Handbook
by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
We have good desires—for a more intimate prayer life, perhaps, or deeper insight from God's Word—but we don't know how to get there. So we give up our pursuit, tired from wandering aimlessly, and end up feeling guilty and more distant from God instead of closer. In the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Adele Calhoun gives us directions for our journey toward intimacy with Christ. While the word "discipline" may make us want to run and hide, the author shows how desires and discipline work together to lead us to the transformation we're longing for—the transformation only Christ can bring. Instead of just giving information about spiritual disciplines, this handbook is full of practical, accessible guidance that helps you actually do them. Mothers, fathers, plumbers, nurses, students—we're all on a journey. And spiritual disciplines are for all of us who desire to know Christ deeply and be like him. Here is direction for our desire, leading us to the ultimate destination: more of Christ himself.
Recommended by Kerry Mackey
ISBN: 9780830833306
2005 InterVarsity Press
264 pages
Available in the Pavilion
 Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
by Don Whitney
It's not uncommon for an accomplished musician to be able to sit down in front of a new piece of music and play it through without a hitch. To make it seem easy, as if it required no effort. Yet the "freedom" to play with such skill comes only after years of disciplined practice. In the same way, the freedom to grow in godliness—to naturally express Christ's character through your own personality—is in large part dependent on a deliberate cultivation of the spiritual disciplines. Far from being legalistic, restrictive, or binding, as they are often perceived, the spiritual disciplines are actually the means to unparalleled spiritual liberty.
So if you'd like to embark on a lifelong quest for godliness, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life will help you on your way. Based on the rich heritage left us by the early church fathers, the Puritan writers, and Jesus Christ Himself, Whitney takes you through a carefully selected array of disciplines that includes Scripture reading, prayer, worship, Scripture meditation, evangelism, serving, stewardship, Scripture application, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and learning. By illustrating why the disciplines are important, showing how each one will help you grow in godliness, and offering practical suggestions for cultivating them on a long-term basis, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life will provide you with a refreshing opportunity to embrace life's greatest pursuit—the pursuit of holiness—through a lifelong delight in the disciplines.
Recommended by Buddy Owens
ISBN: 9781576830277
1997 NavPress
266 pages
Available in the Pavilion
 The Rest of God
by Mark Buchanan
Widely-acclaimed author Mark Buchanan states that what we've really lost is "the rest of God—the rest God bestows and, with it, that part of Himself we can know only through stillness." Stillness as a virtue is a foreign concept in our society, but there is wisdom in God's own rhythm of work and rest. Jesus practiced Sabbath among those who had turned it into a dismal thing, a day for murmuring and finger-wagging, and He reminded them of the day's true purpose: liberation—to heal, to feed, to rescue, to celebrate, to lavish and relish life abundant. With this book, Buchanan reminds us of this and gives practical advice for restoring the sabbath in our lives.
Recommended by Kerry Mackey and Doug Fields.
ISBN: 9780849918704
2007 Thomas Nelson
240 pages
Available in the Pavilion
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