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Many of us read the Bible like we're at a fast-food restaurant--we want nourishment quickly and read only to satisfy the gnawing hunger. We want the Bible to meet our needs, and it does, but-- what if we the read the Bible like a five-course meal, pausing to savor and enjoy, allowing the experience to settle and transform us. In "Life with God," Richard Foster introduces you to the "with-God life," showing you how to experience the Scriptures in a deeper way. Allow the truth of Scripture not only to meet your needs, but transform you into the image of Christ.
Format: Hardcover
Number of Pages: 224
Vendor: HarperOne
Publication Date: 2008
| Dimensions: 8.25 X 5.50 (inches)
ISBN: 0060836970
ISBN-13: 9780060836979
Availability: In Stock
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Too often, our study of the Bible focuses on searching for specific information or some formula that will solve our pressing needs of the moment. But what if we approached the Bible differently, and instead of transforming the text to meet our needs, allowed it to transform us? That's exactly the idea behind Life with God, Richard J. Foster's much-anticipated book on the Bible. Foster, bestselling author of Celebration of Discipline and general editor of The Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible, claims that God has superintended the writing of Scripture so that it serves as the most reliable guide for Christian spiritual formation. According to Foster, the Bible is all about human life "with God." As we read Scripture, we should consider how exactly God is with us in each story and allow ourselves to be spiritually transformed. By opening our whole selves—mind, body, spirit, thoughts, behavior, and will—to the page before us, we begin to grasp all the Bible has to teach about prayer, obedience, compassion, virtue, and grace and apply it to our everyday lives to achieve a deeper relationship with God. With a wealth of examples and simple yet crucial insights, Life with God is an indispensable guide to approaching the Bible through the lens of Christian spiritual formation, revealing that reading the Bible for interior transformation is a far different endeavor than reading the Bible for historical knowledge, literary appreciation, or religious instruction.
Richard J. Foster is the author of several bestselling books, including Celebration of Discipline, Streams of Living Water, and Prayer, which was Christianity Today's Book of the Year and the winner of the Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. He is the founder of RenovarÉ, an intrachurch movement committed to the renewal of the Church in all her multifaceted expressions, and the editor of The RenovarÉ Spiritual Formation Bible.
Foster (Celebration of Discipline) has built a career exploring foundational spiritual practices like fasting, prayer, study and worship. Here he zeroes in on Bible study to help Christians grow in their faith. Although Bible study is nothing if not a well-trod topic, Foster breathes new life into it by drawing on ancient resources: he is especially interested in the age-old practice of lectio divina, sacred reading that requires the attention of both mind and heart. Foster cautions several times that lectio divina is neither a magical solution to problems nor an approach that “bypasses the living God by treating the Scriptures as a sort of Ouija board.” He warns that the Bible is also not an owner's manual for successful living or even moral living; we shouldn't read it merely to serve our own needs. Rather, lectio divina offers an invitation to enter the Bible as a story (or a complex group of stories) and enter its river of life. As usual, Foster's work is not for those readers who are seeking quick answers or a behavioral checklist of what the Bible says they should do. Rather, it is a deep reflective guide to spiritual rumination and growth. (Apr. 22)Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars(4.5 out of 5 stars)
2 of 2 Reviews Showing: 4 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Lisa Gibbs (Stafford, VA), July 18, 2008 This book is a must read for every Christian. I plan to read it a second time so that I can grasp all that is being taught in this wonderful book. 5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Duke Amir (Washington, DC), July 18, 2008 This book tells you how to read the Bible with understanding, reading it with the heart and understanding the means. In addition to my Daily Bible Study this book really reinforces so much that the Holy Spirit has open my eyes too and explains some things that I have been doing in a spiritual way that I did not quite understand. I recommend
this book to anyone who experiences a personal relationship with the "Father and His Son." Write a review of Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation
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