Faith In A Hidden God

"... offers a range of approaches to cinema's explorations of a hidden or absent God through a group of essays by thirty-five writers who discuss some fifty movies"--p. 11.

“The ways of God are not our ways, and the spiritual life is almost the contrary of what we fancy it.” So declares author Luis Martinez, the Mexican bishop and mystic whose wise spirituality, rooted in St. John of the Cross and St. Therese of Lisieux, shows you here how to enter into an intense, sustained communion with God. Bishop Martinez doesn’t offer new rules of prayer or demand that you abandon the forms of meditation that suit you. He simply reminds you that our God is a hidden God. To find Him, says Martinez, we have to seek Him, but through His ways, not ours. If we do that, the gaze of faith will always find Him right where He hides: in the spiritual desolation that led us wrongly to believe He was far away. Martinez shows you how to live in the obscurity of faith, detached both from consolations and desolations, and why this is best for your soul. The Christian who learns to do this leaves behind the perturbations of the world that shake the faith of those who don’t In the obscurity of faith, the Divine Master will listen to you, speak to you, and instruct your soul, but without the noise of words. Says Martinez: “Once you know how to profit from faith and to live by faith, you will always find God. You will have solved your problem; you will have discovered the great secret of the interior life.” Let these pages teach you that secret!

The story of the binding of Isaac both challenges and inspires people who seek to live faithfully in relationship with a God who surpasses our understanding. Combinding the history of exegesis with a theological exploration of the meaning of faith in the face of suffering, this book examines Luther‘s and Kierkegaard‘s lively--and very different--interpretations of Genesis 22 to demonstrate how the way we read the Bible is crucial to the life of faith.

D. James Kennedy, PhD, was for decades one of the most trusted and gifted leaders of the Christian faith. And now with The Presence of a Hidden God, the book he completed shortly before his passing, he offers you one more opportunity to know and love the God whom Dr. Kennedy served so courageously. With powerful biblical exposition, clarity of thought, and fascinating examples from history and life, Dr. Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe guide you into a fuller clearer knowledge of almighty God. They reveal that, first and foremost, God is found in Jesus Christ: “No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27, esv). But we must not be passive if we want a relationship with God. The Bible tells us that God can be found through faith, repentance, prayer, Bible reading and study, meditation, giving, and sharing our faith. In this book, Dr. Kennedy expounds brilliantly on these truths. Join in this life-changing journey of discovery, and see that God is not hidden after all, but is present with you…now and forever.

Why isn't God answering my prayers? How could there be a God of love in a dying world? How do I believe in a powerful God when life seems so ordinary?If you've been plagued with questions about God (by yourself or others), are jaded by religion, or are new to this whole God thing, the heart journey inscribed on these pages are for you. I understand that it's difficult to embrace a faith that seems too soft and distant against the backdrop of a loud culture. I struggled to believe in the God of miracles. There seemed to be too many unanswered questions for the logical mind.Is it possible to believe in the spiritual without being illogical? Could the whole human race fall into sin again from eating a fruit? Could I live the supernatural life of faith like those pastors I see? Perhaps the biggest question of all -- how do I get closer to God?As you turn these pages, allow God to love and inspire you as you enter into a deeper relationship with Him.This book will help you to see the extraordinary in the little. Miracles in the mundane. Strength in difficulties. Grace in the darkness. Your faith will find the restart you've been looking for, and you'll discover that He's been hidden in plain sight, all this while.

Luis M. Martinez, the former Archbishop of Mexico City, maintains that as the Spirit is God's supreme gift, so your devotion to Him should be profound and encompassing. In beautiful, practical terms, Martinez illuminates the difference the Spirit can make when He's given His proper place in your soul. This handbook explains how you should respond to the Spirit, how the Spirit helps you grow in virtue, and the characteristics of true love of the Spirit.