Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10
The crowds bustled in the dusty streets, jostling him, pushing him. What was all the commotion? He pressed his portly frame through the mass of people. He was not used to being pushed around, and he didn't enjoy mingling with the masses. But he had to find out the cause of all the excitement.
Being a short man, he could not see over the heads of all the people pushing toward the street. "What is it?" he asked. "What's all the excitement about?"
A woman answered, "Jesus! Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
Zacchaeus had heard wild stories about this Jesus, so wild in fact that he hardly could believe they were true. Now he had an opportunity to see the man for himself; he could not let it go by. So he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed up in to the boughs of a sycamore-fig tree along the route Jesus would take.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Transformation
The need for spiritual renewal is evident all around us. People are hungry for truth. They want to know what the spiritual life is all about. Those who have never paid much attention to spiritual things are taking note. Those who have grown complacent in their religious practices are seeking something deeper. Those who have a personal relationship with God are rekindling the fires of their devotion.
People of all ages want more out of life. They are seeking God, and they want more than a Sunday religion; they want something that will make a difference every day of their lives.
People of all faiths, or previously no faith, are looking to spiritual things. "People have a tremendous need for certainty, reassurance, and spiritual connection," says Arthur Warwick, a psychiatrist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Some are motivated by the hope of entering a "new age." They are easily enticed by psychic hotlines, where they hear promises of health, wealth, and happiness from impersonal voices that don't meddle in their morality. Others are driven by a sense of fear and foreboding. They are easily enticed by cults that provide security and promise transcendence but do not require (in fact do not even allow) mental involvement.
Whatever the motivation, the quest for spiritual renewal cuts across lines of gender, race, economic status, and age.
Consider what has been happening in the Christian arena: Revivals are breaking out around the globe, from the former Soviet Union to communist China. In America, "seeker-sensitive churches" welcome millions who want more out of life than consumerism offers. Promise Keepers events are drawing over a million men each year into stadiums around the country; men who once didn't get off the couch on Sunday mornings are now taking their families to church. Women of Faith, a conference that began in 1994 with a modest goal of reaching seven thousand, instead drew over thirty thousand the first year. By the third year, Women of Faith conferences, able to accommodate more than one hundred thousand women, sold out in record time. The quest for spirituality has also caused a surge in book publishing on the subject. Sales of books on spirituality and religion run second only to books on business.
Events and resources are not creating the desire for spiritual renewal; they are evidence that the desire exists and is pervasive.
While interest in spiritual things is up, however, there is a gap between what people are seeking and what they are experiencing. George Gallup Jr., executive director of the Princeton Religion Research Center, said his organization's surveys have identified three gaps that point to a lack of religious depth. These are the ethics gap, the knowledge gap, and the belonging gap. One reason so many people are on a spiritual quest may be their desire to fill these gaps..
Surprisingly, those who consider themselves active in religion tend not to live by the ethical standards of what they believe -- they tend to be unaware of their faith's basic teachings; and while they profess a belief in God, they do not necessarily belong to a community of faith where they attend religious services.
Since you are reading this book, you probably don't need statistics to convince you. All the evidence you need is your own desire for spiritual renewal within your heart, mind, soul, and body. You want a deeper relationship with God, more meaningful relationships with loved ones, and the assurance that your life has value. In other words, you want faith that will transform your life.
This book presents seven keys that unlock the doors to a deeper relationship with God and thus to a renewed spiritual life that will transform your entire being and lead to the satisfaction found only in reconciliation with God. These are keys, not steps. Although we present them sequentially, they are to be used as needed. There's no reason to wait to use one -- it's not as if you have to master previous ones before going on to the next one.
We did not create these concepts; they are based on principles ordained by God at Creation and revealed throughout Scripture to enable mortals to enjoy a relationship with the Immortal. Throughout the ages, the practice of these concepts has brought about spiritual renewal and transformation in countless lives. We have simply put them in a format that makes them easy to remember and easy to use.
These keys are not something you use once and discard; they are to be used daily. Whenever you encounter a situation that seems to have a lock on it, one of these keys will fit. As you become more accustomed to using them, you will more quickly recognize which one to use.
Our prayer is that with these keys you will unlock the doors blocking your access to God and keeping you from finding and fulfilling the remarkable, satisfying purpose he has in mind for you.
People of all ages want more out of life. They are seeking God, and they want more than a Sunday religion; they want something that will make a difference every day of their lives.
People of all faiths, or previously no faith, are looking to spiritual things. "People have a tremendous need for certainty, reassurance, and spiritual connection," says Arthur Warwick, a psychiatrist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Some are motivated by the hope of entering a "new age." They are easily enticed by psychic hotlines, where they hear promises of health, wealth, and happiness from impersonal voices that don't meddle in their morality. Others are driven by a sense of fear and foreboding. They are easily enticed by cults that provide security and promise transcendence but do not require (in fact do not even allow) mental involvement.
Whatever the motivation, the quest for spiritual renewal cuts across lines of gender, race, economic status, and age.
Consider what has been happening in the Christian arena: Revivals are breaking out around the globe, from the former Soviet Union to communist China. In America, "seeker-sensitive churches" welcome millions who want more out of life than consumerism offers. Promise Keepers events are drawing over a million men each year into stadiums around the country; men who once didn't get off the couch on Sunday mornings are now taking their families to church. Women of Faith, a conference that began in 1994 with a modest goal of reaching seven thousand, instead drew over thirty thousand the first year. By the third year, Women of Faith conferences, able to accommodate more than one hundred thousand women, sold out in record time. The quest for spirituality has also caused a surge in book publishing on the subject. Sales of books on spirituality and religion run second only to books on business.
Events and resources are not creating the desire for spiritual renewal; they are evidence that the desire exists and is pervasive.
While interest in spiritual things is up, however, there is a gap between what people are seeking and what they are experiencing. George Gallup Jr., executive director of the Princeton Religion Research Center, said his organization's surveys have identified three gaps that point to a lack of religious depth. These are the ethics gap, the knowledge gap, and the belonging gap. One reason so many people are on a spiritual quest may be their desire to fill these gaps..
Surprisingly, those who consider themselves active in religion tend not to live by the ethical standards of what they believe -- they tend to be unaware of their faith's basic teachings; and while they profess a belief in God, they do not necessarily belong to a community of faith where they attend religious services.
Since you are reading this book, you probably don't need statistics to convince you. All the evidence you need is your own desire for spiritual renewal within your heart, mind, soul, and body. You want a deeper relationship with God, more meaningful relationships with loved ones, and the assurance that your life has value. In other words, you want faith that will transform your life.
This book presents seven keys that unlock the doors to a deeper relationship with God and thus to a renewed spiritual life that will transform your entire being and lead to the satisfaction found only in reconciliation with God. These are keys, not steps. Although we present them sequentially, they are to be used as needed. There's no reason to wait to use one -- it's not as if you have to master previous ones before going on to the next one.
We did not create these concepts; they are based on principles ordained by God at Creation and revealed throughout Scripture to enable mortals to enjoy a relationship with the Immortal. Throughout the ages, the practice of these concepts has brought about spiritual renewal and transformation in countless lives. We have simply put them in a format that makes them easy to remember and easy to use.
These keys are not something you use once and discard; they are to be used daily. Whenever you encounter a situation that seems to have a lock on it, one of these keys will fit. As you become more accustomed to using them, you will more quickly recognize which one to use.
Our prayer is that with these keys you will unlock the doors blocking your access to God and keeping you from finding and fulfilling the remarkable, satisfying purpose he has in mind for you.
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