NavPress Spiritual Formation Collection (9 vols.)

by Bill Hull; Michael Card; Eugene H. Peterson; J. P. Moreland; Jim Downing

and

4 more

Publisher:

NavPress

, 2001–2012

Overview

Are you spiritually healthy? Or spiritually busy? The NavPress Spiritual Formation Collection challenges you to evaluate your spiritual life. In 9 volumes, you’ll rethink what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Discover how you can pursue God in his moments of absence through lament. Learn how to be transformed into Christlikeness by meditating on Scripture. Observe Jesus’ life and character in the Gospel narratives and experience what true love and faith look like.

This collection biblically and practically presents numerous spiritual disciplines that can transform your heart, mind, body, soul, and social life. It’s a comprehensive how-to for changing your complacent behavior, analyzing your heart’s intent, and transforming your life to an intentional pursuit of an authentic relationship with Christ.

The Logos Bible Software edition of the NavPress Spiritual Formation Collection is designed to encourage and stimulate your study and understanding of spiritual disciplines. Scripture passages link directly to your English translations and to the original language texts, and important concepts link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. In addition, you can perform powerful searches by topic and find what other authors, scholars, and theologians have to say about faith, meditation, and Christlikeness.

Key Features

• Presents various spiritual disciplines
• Analyzes what it means to be spiritually healthy
• Helps you examine and transform your spiritual life

Product Details

• Title: NavPress Spiritual Formation Collection
• Publisher: NavPress
• Volumes: 9
• Pages: 2,000

Christlike: The Pursuit of Uncomplicated Obedience

• Author: Bill Hull
• Publisher: NavPress
• Publication Date: 2010
• Pages: 208

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The key to a spiritual life is the cultivation of a spiritual heart. This is what makes the difference between hoping to change “someday” and actually changing your thoughts and behaviors now. Bill Hull says the great teachers of the past (such as William Law and John Wesley) and the best guides in spiritual formation today (such as Dallas Willard and Richard Foster) all agree on the central importance of the intent of the heart.

Such a heart is cultivated, writes Hull, in the simplicity of a life fixed on the words and ways of Jesus. In Christlike, the author helps us grow intentionally in “uncomplicated obedience” to Jesus so that “our minds and hearts are in alignment with each other.” But this is not a privatized spirituality. Instead, writes Hull, this simplicity is the key to effectiveness in the larger mission of changing the world for Christ.

In this book, Bill Hull is casting light on the cause of most of our ‘Christian’ troubles and what can be done about them. Nothing less than the settled and intelligent resolve to become Christlike can serve as the basis for spiritual growth in the Christian life. How did we lose that from the ‘normal Christian life,’ and what can be done to bring it back? Christlike can help us answer these questions and begin to do something about the situation where the action is: in individual lives and local assemblies of disciples.

—Dallas Willard, professor, School of Philosophy, University of Southern California

I think this is Bill Hull’s best book. In Christlike, this respected author and seasoned consultant dares to ask the church to rethink what it means to be a Christian and then offers a road map for uncomplicated obedience.

—Gary W. Moon, director, Martin Family Institute and Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation, Westmont College

When you get labeled ‘the discipleship man’ there is a reason for it. After reading Christlike, you will know why . . . on these pages, Bill Hull doesn’t only share his latest, best thoughts and reflections, but takes us deep into his own journey . . . and it looks a lot like Jesus to me.

—Keith Meyer, adjunct professor in spiritual formation, Denver Seminary

Bill Hull speaks directly from his heart and personal experience in his latest book, yet his words are based on a lifetime of ministry experience. Christlike is about a journey, Bill’s own journey as he has come into a deeper and richer experience of discipleship to Jesus. Bill challenges all of us to lay aside simplistic formulaic approaches to the Christian life and instead, in a very uncomplicated way, allow Jesus to transform us from the inside out. This is an important book, from an important voice.

—Michael J. Wilkins, distinguished professor of New Testament language and literature, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

Bill Hull understands that discipleship is not a program but a lifelong journey of following Jesus. He opens our understanding of the gospel of the kingdom and then invites us to understand what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus. I love Bill’s writing style, and I love the message of his book even more.

—Alan Andrews, former US director, The Navigators

Bill Hull is a pastor and writer whose focus has been being a disciple and making disciples. He has written several groundbreaking books for leaders and churches.

The Hidden Face of God: Finding the Missing Door to the Father through Lament

• Author: Michael Card
• Publisher: NavPress
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 181

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

At some point in our lives, most of us experience the sense of God’s absence. Rather than letting the distance widen, Michael Card says that this is exactly the time for a deeper pursuit of God. The method he proposes is recovery of the profound, biblical practice of lament.

Lament allows our sorrows and suffering to surface in free and courageous expression to God. Lament is the groan of the Holy Spirit within us: our cries and tears, our longing for God’s forgiveness of our sins, his healing of our inner and outer wounds, and the mercy of his salvation. Lament is finding the language of the deepest contents of our hearts and pouring out our hopes and hurts before the Father.

In The Hidden Face of God, Michael Card leads us through 40 reflections that help us learn the lost language of lament. Journey with this popular artist and writer toward a more profound and intimate connection with the heart of God.

What does the church have to say when our shame and sadness is unbearable, our loneliness excruciating, and our faith empty? In his amazing book, Michael Card reminds us of the most profound answer–Jesus’ presence is all there is. Lament leads us to the hidden face of God.

—Scott Roley, pastor, Christ Community Church, Franklin, TN

Michael Card is plowing ground that has been fallow for far too long—the field of lament, which has a rich and fertile past in biblical history. His book is a place to plant your tears, a well-watered place where your heart will surely grow.

—Ken Gire, author

Michael is the rare combination of a Jesus-glorifying artist/educator/musician/theologian/philosopher/writer. He expresses my heart’s deepest longings for which I had never before found words. In his God-given gifting, he encourages me to release every emotion to the Creator and Redeemer of us all.

—Don Finto, director, The Caleb Company

Michael Card is an award-winning musician, performing artist, and songwriter. His many songs include “El Shaddai” and “Immanuel.” He has also written numerous books, including A Violent Grace, The Parable of Joy, and A Fragile Stone. Card is a graduate of Western Kentucky University with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in biblical studies. He lives in Tennessee with his wife and four children.

Invitation to the Jesus Life: Experiments in Christlikeness

• Author: Jan Johnson
• Publisher: NavPress
• Publication Date: 2008
• Pages: 255

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

What would it be like to walk with Jesus on a daily basis and know him personally? Jan Johnson offers 17 characteristics of Jesus that help you experience transformation in a fresh way. Each chapter takes a deeper look at particular, underrated qualities in Jesus and offers a menu of spiritual disciplines to embrace these qualities. By knowing him better, you become more like him.

Team up with other readers and use the book as a study, too! Questions and group study suggestions are provided, as well as a spiritual disciplines glossary and index.

Jan Johnson, with the tender touch of a soul companion, leads us into ‘soul school,’ where we can become the kind of persons who actually live the Jesus life. I will read and reread this book and give it freely to my friends.

—Howard Baker, instructor of Christian formation, Denver Seminary

Invitation to the Jesus Life engaged my emotions, my intellect, and my belief system. I can no longer call myself a Christ follower without becoming more like him. Get ready for an exceptional challenge to step out of your comfortable life and into the toughest, most rewarding inner change you’ve ever experienced.

—Carol Kent, author and speaker

Jan Johnson’s Invitation to the Jesus Life is a much-needed response to Dallas Willard’s startling charge in The Divine Conspiracy that a curriculum of Christlikeness does not exist. It is a carefully crafted ‘soul school’ for all who are weary with the wrong question—WWJD?—and long to learn how to love as many moments of their lives as possible with him as students of kingdom living.

—Gary W. Moon, director, Martin Family Institute and Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation, Westmont College

With simplicity and depth of insight, Jan Johnson carves a path of walking with Jesus that feels like a cool glass of water among trivial alternatives. Invitation to the Jesus Life is a welcomed guide to following Jesus that is biblical, practical, and most of all possible.

—Keith J. Matthews, professor of spiritual formation and contemporary culture, School of Theology, Azusa Pacific University

Jan Johnson enjoys speaking at retreats and conferences, hoping to ignite within listeners a burning desire to know God in an authentic way and to live out a kingdom life in the daily companionship of Jesus. Unwilling to minimize the mystery of God or the human struggle, Jan presents biblical principles and characters in down-to-earth ways so that people can connect with God and become more thirsty for God. Her observations about life’s dilemmas give listeners a lot to study, ponder, and laugh about. As an author and spiritual director, Jan holds degrees in Christian education and spiritual direction, which along with many years of Bible teaching, have equipped her to write hundreds of published Bible study sessions. She is also the author of 16 books and more than one thousand newspaper and magazine articles. Jan is the author of 13 books and more than one thousand Bible studies.

Living the Resurrection: The Risen Christ in Everyday Life

• Author: Eugene H. Peterson
• Publisher: NavPress
• Publication Date: 2006
• Pages: 149

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The resurrection of Jesus in not simply proof of his divinity, nor is the event something Christians should celebrate on one day of the liturgical year and then forget. The resurrection has crucial relevance for our spiritual formation every day.

Living the Resurrection immerses you in the life-changing experience of this biblical event. Join best-selling author and pastor Eugene Peterson as he reflects on the three aspects of Christ’s resurrection that define our lives and energize our faith:

• Resurrection wonder as the central focus of our life in Christ
• Resurrection meals as the invitation to spiritual formation in our most common daily experiences
• Resurrection friends as the intimate fellowship in whose midst the risen Jesus makes his joyful home

With writing that is full of life, beauty, and prophetic insight, Living the Resurrection brings you to the central place of life and faith—the resurrection of Christ.

Eugene Peterson is a man on whom God’s wonder is not lost. Thanks to his pen, not even a day passes that I don’t read and sigh, ‘I never thought of it that way.’

—Max Lucado, author

In this work, the resurrection ceases to be an abstract idea and is released again to be a force of wonder and fear that shapes our practice and life.

—John Ortberg, senior pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, Menlo Park, CA

As spiritual formation bids to become a fad among contemporary evangelicals, Eugene Peterson’s Living in the Resurrection offers them an alternative path rooted in wonder and gives results that are more than cosmetic.

—Frederica Mathewes-Green, Eastern Orthodox author and speaker

Our love for the Lord of glory will surely swell to new heights thanks to the wondrous faith displayed in this book that at once instructs and inspires. May our reading of Eugene Peterson’s heartfelt reflections be an Easter treat all year long.

—Susan Muto, dean, Epiphany Academy of Formative Spirituality

Euguene Peterson is a master interpreter of Scripture, a master teller of tales, and, in this book, a master practitioner of resurrection. Peterson enables the Easter faith to become a vivid reality.

—William H. Willimon, bishop, North Alabama Conference, The United Methodist Church

Eugene H. Peterson is a writer, poet, and retired pastor. He has authored more than 34 books (not including The Message). He is emeritus professor of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Eugene also founded Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, where he ministered for 29 years. After teaching at a seminary, he created The Message, a vibrant Bible paraphrase that connects with today’s readers like no other. It took Peterson 10 years to complete. He worked not from any English text but from the original Hebrew and Greek texts to guarantee authenticity. At the same time, his ear was always tuned to the cadence and energy of the English spoken every day on the streets. He lives with his wife, Jan, in Montana.

Love Walked among Us: Learning to Love Like Jesus

• Author: Paul Miller
• Publisher: NavPress
• Publication Date: 2001
• Pages: 262

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Who is Jesus? His name is recognized the world over. Christians claim to follow him. Muslims honor him as a prophet. And many Jewish rabbis regard him as a great teacher. Everyone knows about Jesus, but how many of us fully understand what he was like as a person?

Nowhere was the vitality of Jesus more visible than in his love, a love unlikely any the world has ever seen. Compassionate, honest, powerful, humble, and sacrificial—Jesus was love personified, love walking among us. Such an example doesn’t just happen. How did he do it? And how can we learn to love like him?

In Love Walked among Us, Paul Miller invites us to get to know Jesus, to observe his life and his love as they unfold in the Gospel narratives. The accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—combined with Miller’s own life stories—will encourage us to imitate Jesus’ way of loving people. We’ll investigate such questions as:

• How do you love someone when you get no love in return, only withdrawal or ingratitude?
• How do you love without being trapped or used by another person?
• How do you love when you have your own problems? When do you take care of yourself?

In every way, Jesus’ life exemplifies the full potential of what we were intended to be. And the better we know him, the more we will be drawn to follow his perfect example.

To see Jesus is to see what love looks like. Paul Miller gives us a fresh look in this wonderful book.

—Joni Eareckson Tada, founder, Joni and Friends

Paul Miller graces our loves with a mutlicolored, richly textured portrait of Jesus. This work brings not only a compelling clarity to our misunderstandings about Jesus, but a life-changing encounter with his presence that frees us to call him our friend and our God.

—Dan B. Allender, professor of counseling psychology, The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology

Love Walked among Us is authentic ‘shoe-leather’ Christianity. Anyone who wants to grow in his or her relationship with God and other people will profit from this book.

—Jerry Bridges, author, speaker, staff member of The Navigators

Paul Miller captures the radiant beauty of Jesus Christ and shows how our relationship to the one who was love incarnate transforms our lives. A very edifying and informative book.

—Gregory A. Boyd, senior pastor, Woodland Hills Church, St. Paul, MN

Paul Miller has four powerful things working for him: he writes with grace and clarity, he is a natural storyteller, his priority is love, and he is deeply enamored with Jesus Christ. This book will draw you into the greatest things in life.

—Brian McLaren, author, speaker, and activist

Paul Miller, after graduating from college, taught at inner-city Christian schools in Philadelphia for 10 years. With a group of parents, he started Spruce Hill Christian School (K–8), an inner-city, multiracial school where he was principal and teacher. In 1983, he helped his father found World Harvest Mission, serving as associate director from 1983 until 1996. During his time at World Harvest, Paul wrote several discipling courses, including a course on grace called Sonship. He is the author of several books, including The Love Course and A Praying Life.

Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul

• Author: J. P. Moreland
• Edition: Revised and updated
• Publisher: NavPress
• Publication Date: 2012
• Pages: 294

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

We know that faith means “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Love Your God with All Your Mind explains the importance of using your mind not only to win others to Christ but also to experience personal spiritual growth. Author J. P. Moreland challenges you to use logic to further God’s kingdom through evangelism, apologetics, worship, and vocation.

This revised edition includes expanded appendices and three new chapters that outline how to argue for the reality of God and the historicity of Jesus’ life teachings, death, and resurrection.

This exploration into the mind of evangelical Christianity is one of the most courageous books of our time. In language that is thoroughly erudite but compassionate, theological but practical, and scriptural but entirely relevant to today, the author presents the deeper significance of Paul’s plea to the Christians at Phillipi: ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.’

—D. James Kennedy, former senior minister, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, FL

J. P. Moreland exemplifies the Christian mind as it ought to be: tough and analytical but also generous and caring. Christians who want to develop their minds in the service of Christ couldn’t find a better teacher or book for the task.

—Phillip E. Johnson, retired professor, UC Berkeley

Perhaps as never before, the church needs to grapple with the issue that J. P. Moreland has so eloquently presented. In a day when experience has become the driving force in our thinking, we must recapture the biblical importance of the mind. Dr. Moreland spells out the issues in a profound yet understandable way so that this book is essential reading for anyone who takes his or her faith seriously.

—Clyde Cook, former president, Biola University

In today’s climate of increasing secularism, Christians must stop retreating from the arena of ideas and heed the call of this book to retake the ground the church has ceded to the university. More than a call for action, this book provides the historical, biblical, and philosophical groundwork for Christians to actually begin reclaiming their secular world. For many, this will be a whole new paradigm of how to be a Christian in our world. If only 10 percent of today’s evangelical Christian leaders study this book and take it to heart, the church will once again transform the world!

—Edward Kang, pastor, Gracepoint Berkeley Church, Berkeley, CA

J. P. Moreland is a distinguished professor of philosophy at Biola University in La Mirada, California. He has authored, edited, or contributed papers to 35 books. Among his books are Christianity and the Nature of Science, Does God Exist? (with Kai Nielsen), The Creation Hypothesis, and Body and Soul. He has also published over 100 magazine articles in such publications as Christianity Today and Christian Research Journal, and over 60 journal articles in venues such as American Philosophical Quarterly, Southern Journal of Philosophy, and Faith and Philosophy.

Meditation

• Author: Jim Downing
• Publisher: NavPress
• Publication Date: 2011
• Pages: 107

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

What is it you’ve been meditating on? To many Christians, the word meditation conjures up images of Eastern mysticism and New Age nonsense. But meditation on the right topic—God’s Word—is one of the ways we get to know him best.

In John 15, Jesus commanded his disciples to abide in him and share his very life. He promised that if they did, they would be fruitful. The Word of God suggests three ways in which modern-day disciples can share in the life of Jesus: through the mind in meditation, through the affections in communion, and through the will in choosing and obeying.

Jim Downing explores each of these, giving practical instruction and encouragement to all who wish to have a more abiding relationship with the Lord.

The secret to being a wise person is to meditate on God’s Word daily, not just read it. Jim Downing taught me how to do this more than 30 years ago when I was a teenager, and it radically shaped my life and ministry.

—Rick Warren, founder and senior pastor, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA

Jim Downing’s life proves that regular time out for feeding our souls is the secret of spiritual impact. He has opened his private treasure chest in Meditation, a small book every serious disciplemaker needs to sift through. Its gems are worth the time.

—Jeanne Hendricks, author and speaker

Jim Downing was recruited by Dawson Trotman to join The Navigators as staff in 1956. He has served as Navigator president Lorne Sanny’s deputy, as financial vice president, worked alongside many early Navigator leaders, served internationally, and was the area representative in Washington, DC until his retirement from full-time ministry in 1983. He remains on volunteer staff with The Navigators’ Collegiate Ministry. As a speaker, Jim has the rare ability to grasp Bible truths and communicate their applications to everyday life. He has traveled extensively in his responsibilities, visiting and ministering to people on every continent of the world.

Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice: Experiments in Spiritual Transformation

• Authors: Dallas Willard and Jan Johnson
• Publisher: NavPress
• Publication Date: 2006
• Pages: 183

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Spiritual director Jan Johnson guides you through 61 carefully-chosen selections from renowned author Dallas Willard’s best-selling book Renovation of the Heart. With each selection, you’ll progress through Dr. Willard’s plan for renovating the complete person. You’ll find fresh illumination for your journey as you enjoy the adventure of Jan Johnson’s experiments in spiritual transformation.

Ideal for personal meditation or for use as a transformational retreat book, this book will guide you deeper into the heart of God while renewing your own.

No one has impacted my life like Dallas Willard. But for most of us, it helps to break his thoughts into bite-sized portions and then actually do something with them. So this is a feast!

—John Ortberg, senior pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, Menlo Park, CA

What a great team! A master craftsman and veteran interior designer join forces to help with the most important renovation project ever—our own hearts. This wonderful lab manual includes devotion-sized quotes and daily experiments that will help you be with God through daily interactions with his power and presence.

—Gary W. Moon, director, Martin Family Institute and Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation, Westmont College

Beware! If you are content with a superficial walk with God, this book will be a nagging irritant. But if you long to go deeper with him—not to memorize Scripture out of duty or to practice your faith out of routine or obligation—read this book! Dallas Willard’s theological expertise, combined with Jan Johnson’s daily experiments and the Holy Spirit’s renewal of your heart, will result in the Christian life you’ve always wanted.

—Carol Kent, author and speaker

No one on the contemporary scene articulates the concepts of spiritual formation and discipleship to Jesus more accurately or more biblically than does Dallas Willard, and no one translates these concepts into everyday experience and practices more helpfully than Jan Johnson. Dare to combine these two, and you have an explosive transforming power—nitroglycerin for the spirit. I see no way to work through these experiments without being radically changed from the inside out.

—Howard Baker, instructor of Christian formation, Denver Seminary

Dallas Willard is a professor and former director of the School of Philosophy at The University of Southern California. He is the best-selling author of more than 30 publications, including The Divine Conspiracy, The Spirit of the Disciplines, and Hearing God.

Jan Johnson enjoys speaking at retreats and conferences, hoping to ignite within listeners a burning desire to know God in an authentic way and to live out a kingdom life in the daily companionship of Jesus. Unwilling to minimize the mystery of God or the human struggle, Jan presents biblical principles and characters in down-to-earth ways so that people can connect with God and become more thirsty for God. Her observations about life’s dilemmas give listeners a lot to study, ponder, and laugh about. As an author and spiritual director, Jan holds degrees in Christian education and spiritual direction, which along with many years of Bible teaching, have equipped her to write hundreds of published Bible study sessions. She is also the author of 16 books and more than one thousand newspaper and magazine articles. Jan is the author of 13 books and more than one thousand Bible studies.

Revolution of Character: Discovering Christ’s Pattern for Spiritual Formation

• Authors: Dallas Willard and Don Simpson
• Publisher: NavPress
• Publication Date: 2005
• Pages: 200

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Perhaps your spiritual life is not all you want it to be. Your sporadic successes, plateaus, and dry spells only lead to more frustration. Trusted spiritual guide Dallas Willard believes the main reason we fail in our spiritual life is that we don’t examine carefully the roles played by all five elements of our person: heart, mind, body, social life, and soul. Real change comes when we give each element thoughtful and prayerful exposure to God’s transforming work.

Revolution of Character enables you to dwell reflectively on each of the five elements, understand its role, train it in new patterns, and seek God’s transforming power. This holistic approach will produce new ways of responding to life and will result in profoundly changed character.

Dallas Willard is a professor and former director of the School of Philosophy at The University of Southern California. He is the best-selling author of more than 30 publications, including The Divine Conspiracy, The Spirit of the Disciplines, and Hearing God.

Don Simpson is a senior developmental editor for NavPress. He helped launch Discipleship Journal, The Small Group Letter, and cofounded Helmers & Howard Publishers.