Christlikeness

Human beings are happiest when they live virtuously. For Jesus and his first followers, living virtuously meant loving God and others as extensions of oneself. However, what began as an inclusive ethical way of life based on unconditional love gradually degenerated into an exclusive social and political religious movement that came to be known as Christendom. Originally a continuation of Jewish messianism, the Christian movement aligned itself with Platonic and Aristotelian elements, comprising a marriage of specific elements of Greek philosophy with Roman imperialism. What if, instead of aligning with the dualist, idealist, exclusivist, and supremacist Socratic movement perpetuated by Plato and his followers, ancient Christians had aligned with the nondualist, realist, inclusivist, and egalitarian Stoic movement spread by Zeno and his followers, an ethical tradition that, like the teachings of Jesus, was guided by providential and natural law ethics? The results of such a synthesis, laid out in this innovative study, are practical, inspiring, and transformative, for they are based on the greatest vision possible for humanity, a nondualist approach to life that counters authoritarian and exclusivist behavior fostered by supremacist political, ethical, and social religious ideologies. Unlike Christendom, based on ecclesiastical triumphalism, the way of Christlikeness, envisioned by Jesus for humanity, is grounded in humility, compassion, service, and love of others.

Are you ready to reclaim our inheritance as United Methodist Wesleyans? Our communities and the world are crying out for empathy, authenticity, and integrity. This book helps us choose ways of living that are grace-filled and redeeming. Cultivating Christlikeness is about the bold adventure of United Methodists celebrating and living into a grand vision that includes everyone in God’s extravagant embrace. Jesus invites us to partner in the work of transformation, new birth, and resurrection in every aspect of our lives. Together we can step into a future showered by God’s multiplying love. Paul Chilcote mines his decades of study, prayer, and devotion to Christian practices to share his vision for how we partner with God to make the world more loving and just. In Cultivating Christlikeness, he weaves the threads of insight and appreciation with special attention to Wesleyan ways of loving God and neighbor that can change us and change the world. With his gentle direction, we discover with new appreciation how 18th-century John and Charles Wesley illumine our 21st-century quest to befriend Jesus, who frees us to live into and by the grace of God. Chilcote’s book is a practical guide. He guides us with a mentor’s insightful nudge as we explore essential Wesleyan teachings about God and the beloved community. He helps us know how to share these understandings with our families and neighbors, and more importantly, he points us to ways to live out our commitments with purpose, courage, and joy. The framework and flow of Cultivating Christlikeness make it easily adaptable for group discussion and individual use. It includes a plan for a two-day retreat for those eager to join in a more intensive experience of mutual engagement to renew their spirits and discover fresh ways to grow in love and grace. The book is a companion to Chilcote’s, Multiplying Love (Abingdon Press), which casts the theological vision that animates this practical spiritual guide. And it is an updated and expanded revision of an earlier work entitled, Wesley Speaks on Christian Vocation, originally published by Discipleship Ministries, then reissued by Wipf & Stock.

This is the first of four training manuals used by "In Christ's Image Training" (ICIT) online courses. The vision of ICIT is to train and release hundreds of thousands of Christlike pastors, leaders and intercessors to stand before God on behalf of the world around them. We were created for one purpose: to become Christlike. Once we truly begin to manifest the maturity, power and attitudes of Jesus Christ, all things come into perspective and all relationships begin to expand toward heavenly proportions. Christ did not die on the cross simply to "save" us in a theological sense; He saves and forgives us that He might transform us. It is our hope that the truths presented in this manual will ignite a passion for Christians around the world to pursue the character and love of Christ. If we truly reveal Jesus, we will awaken the pleasure of God, and when the Father's pleasure is stirred, His redemptive power soon follows.

TouchPoints for Men is a valuable tool for discovering wht God says about men's particular needs and circumstances. Each entry contains thought-provoking questions on a topic, answers from Scripture, and a promise from God's Word.m

To encounter Jesus daily and have a relationship with Him changes everything; our focus becomes eternal. Experience Jesus in such a way that His love-drenched, others-focused nature shapes your character. The spiritual practices in each chapter will challenge you to go deeper with Him.

Begin a lifetime of Scripture memory and love for God's Word with your family! The Topical Memory System has been helping people memorize Scripture for decades, and it will help you and your kids too! The tried-and-true methods of the TMS are the foundation of this fun game. Inside you'll find tear-out memory verse cards (with colorful illustrations) for use in multiple games. Complementing the games is a devotional-style guide for families that helps with understanding the context of each verse in the larger picture of God's story. There are also discussion questions that provide opportunities to go deeper in Scripture with every verse. Kids will have fun playing the memory games as their faith and understanding of God's Word grows. Families can follow the 18-week schedule provided or go at their own pace. Start with the beginner-level matching game and move up to the advanced levels when the kids are ready. With 36 verses to shuffle through, every game is a new challenge! Also included is a checklist to track memorization progress and a kid-friendly glossary for difficult Bible terms. The cards are in two translations: NIV and The Message.

Lots of people claim to be Christians but few practice what Christianity demands, the pages of this book make the path of least resistance to define who is a Christian. The Christian life is an extraordinary lifestyle, which denotes that Christians are not supposed to live unchecked or freely like every other person. In our world where every individual is the master of his life, and morality and spirituality streaming to the drain without temerity left with Christianity to bring back weak Christians to its fold, this book gives guidelines on how Christians should contain themselves. It also plays up the cheap grace myriad of Christians lean upon for their salvation, and what true repentance means to the Christian faith. It also exposes the underlying greed behind the preaching of tithing, and also the people that merit the spiritual right to receive tithes.