A Faith Interrupted

A profoundly personal, deeply felt exploration of the mystery of faith—having it, losing it, hoping for its return. “Lax has written a steady, quiet love letter to a faith he has lost.... Sympathetic and engrossing.” —The New York Times Book Review The son of an Episcopal priest, Eric Lax develops in his youth a deep religious attachment and an acute moral compass—one that he is willing to go to prison for when it leads him to resist military service in Vietnam. His faith abides until, in his mid-thirties, he begins to question the unquestionable: the role of God in his life. In response, Lax engages with the father who inspired him and with his best friend, a Vietnam War hero turned priest. Their ongoing and illuminating dialogues, full of wisdom and insight, reveal much about three men who approach God, duty, and war in vastly different ways. Lax provides an unusual and refreshing perspective, examining religious conviction sympathetically from both sides as one who has lost his faith but still respects it.

The word ''faith'' is common these days, but placing one's faith in God is a weighty action, uncommonly fraught with consequence and, by His design, inconvenience. Faith in God is reassuring and comforting only insofar as believers trust Him - and that depth of trust is the mark of a mature Christian who has allowed faith to intrude on his life and shift his gaze away from his own aims, needs and desires. This is nothing if not a painful and disturbing process. A Disruptive Faith is A. W. Tozer's never-before-published teaching on what he termed ''faith that perturbs'' - faith that contradicts the unbelieving man and threatens the complacency of the Christian. The renowned pastor and teacher insists in these pages that genuine faith breeds dissatisfaction with this life, by God's design; it weans us from this temporary life and prepares us for the life to come. Readers will learn to be content with this faith-inspired discontent and to experience a fresh hope for eternity with God.

In A Faith Interrupted, authors Alice Camille and Joel Schorn serve as compassionate mediators in a conversation with disaffected Catholics, providing a place for people to clarify what went wrong and identify options for reconciliation and reunion. This book not only explores some of the reasons why Catholics leave the church and offers guidance for those contemplating a return, but also outlines basic principles of the faith, looks at key elements that make up the Catholic identity, and simplifies issues of theology and Church teaching.

Beginning with a ‘Street Nativity Play’ that didn’t end as planned, and finishing with an open-ended conversation in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, "Being Interrupted" locates an institutionally-anxious Church of England within the wider contexts of divisions of race and class in ‘the ruins of empire’, alongside ongoing gender inequalities, the marginalization of children, and catastrophic ecological breakdown. In the midst of this bleak picture, Al Barrett and Ruth Harley open a door to a creative disruption of the status quo, ‘from the outside, in’: the in-breaking of the wild reality of the ‘Kin-dom’ of God. Through careful and unsettling readings in Mark’s gospel, alongside stories from a multicultural outer estate in east Birmingham, they paint a vivid picture of an 'alternative economy' for the Church's life and mission, which begins with transformative encounters with neighbours and strangers at the edges of our churches, our neighbourhoods and our imaginations, and offers new possibilities for repentance and resurrection.

From telemarketers to traffic jams to twenty-item shoppers in the ten-item line, our lives are full of interruptions. They're often aggravating, sometimes infuriating, and can make us want to tell people what we really think about them. But they also tell us something quite important about ourselves. The prophet Jonah's life was interrupted by a clear call of God that made him mad enough and scared enough to run in the completely opposite direction. Yet it wasn't really an interruption. It was an opportunity for Jonah to be involved in something the likes of which the Old Testament world had never seen: national revival in a Gentile country. What if Jonah had seen God's interruption for what it truly was—a divine intervention that held more adventure and possibility than any other thing he could have been doing at the time? What could have felt any better than being directly in the center of God's will? Yet we play it that same way—always running from major pains and minor problems that just don't seem to suit us at the time. Who knows what we're missing by being so interruption avoidant? In this very personal account of opportunities lost and lessons learned, popular conference speaker and author Priscilla Shirer shows how to embrace the amazing freedom and fulfillment that comes from going with God, even when He's going against your grain. .

Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted - DVD Leader Kit by Priscilla Shirer helps a leader facilitate this women's Bible study experience and contains all that is needed to conduct the small group time. What do we do when God interrupts our lives? Many times, like Jonah, we run! In this 7-session Bible study, Priscilla redefines interruption and shows that interruption is actually God's invitation to do something beyond our wildest dreams. When Jonah was willing to allow God to interrupt his life, the result was revival in an entire city.Leader Kit Includes: * Two DVDs * One Member Book with leader helps

Interrupted follows the author’s messy journey through life and church and into living on mission. Snatching Jen from the grip of her consumer life, God began asking her questions like, “What is really the point of My Church? What have I really asked of you?” She was far too busy doing church than being church, even as a pastor’s wife, an author of five Christian books, and a committed believer for 26 years. She discovered she had missed the point. Christ brought Jen and her family to a place of living on mission by asking them tough questions, leading them through Scripture, and walking together with them on the path. Interrupted invites readers to take a similar journey.

When life pushes you further than you've ever been before, Faith Interrupted is a light in the darkness, a companion in the journey, and a guide to reconnect with God. In these pages, Amy's powerful journal entries draw you in to her walk through crisis to the end of her faith. They are straightforward, they are emotional, and they are real. Dave, as counselor and pastor, provides the spiritual and psychological framework along with direction for how we can make our way back from the edge. If you have ever had unexpected loss, if you are in crisis, or recovering from crisis, this book is a must read for you.