Wasting Time With God

asting Time with God Klaus Issler considers seven character traits and companion disciplines to develop in light of God's friendship with us in order to help us make more room in our lives for him.

In this book, Marva Dawn insists that churches need to engage in a serious process of community discernment concerning worship in order to employ the best tools and forms, and she offers reflections to further the discussion. Each part of A Royal "Waste" of Time begins with a sample Scripture-based sermon since Dawn emphasizes that the church's worship must follow biblical guidelines and form a biblical people.--From publisher's description.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ “The books by Paulo Bittencourt are better than those by Richard Dawkings, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris also because, unlike them, who have never been religious, he speaks from experience.” (D. Barker) Among theological, philosophical and historical arguments, in Wasting Time on God Paulo Bittencourt, who was a devout Adventist, active in the church, a Theology student and almost became a pastor, reveals the reasons why he doesn’t believe in invisible beings, including the celestial ones, and undoubtedly demonstrates that Atheism is the only intellectually honest stance. Do you have faith in God? Is it unshakable? How do you know, if you don’t put it to the test? Read this book to the end. If it doesn’t make you doubt any of the things you believe, nothing else will. It will be proven that you really stand firm in the faith. Topics covered: Allah, Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Adventist, Baptist, Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal Church, Communism, Devil, Evolution, Freethought, God, Gospel, Heaven, Hell, Islam, Jesus, Judaism, Mohammed, Philosophy, Protestantism, Satan, Science, Skepticism, Socialism, etc. Paulo Bittencourt was born in Paraná, Brazil, spent his childhood in Rio de Janeiro and studied Theology in São Paulo. Close to becoming a pastor, he went to Europe and ended up settling in Austria. The book Ethics, by Bento de Espinosa (Baruch Spinoza), turned him into a naturalist, humanist and freethinker. Paulo Bittencourt dedicates his life to helping people liberate themselves from religion. Paulo Bittencourt is the author also of the books Liberated from Religion: The Inestimable Pleasure of Being a Freethinker and Com Zeus Não Se Brinca: Loucuras da Crença em Deus (Zeus Is Not to Be Played With: Madnesses of the Belief in God). “I don’t want to believe, I want to know.” — Paulo Bittencourt Visit: tinyurl.com/free-thought

This study guide based on the best-selling book Don't Waste Your Life includes reflection questions from each chapter, helping Christians examine the call to make their lives count for eternity.

In this timely and essential book that offers a fresh take on the qualms of modern day life, Professor Alan Lightman investigates the creativity born from allowing our minds to freely roam, without attempting to accomplish anything and without any assigned tasks. We are all worried about wasting time. Especially in the West, we have created a frenzied lifestyle in which the twenty-­four hours of each day are carved up, dissected, and reduced down to ten minute units of efficiency. We take our iPhones and laptops with us on vacation. We check email at restaurants or our brokerage accounts while walking in the park. When the school day ends, our children are overloaded with “extras.” Our university curricula are so crammed our young people don’t have time to reflect on the material they are supposed to be learning. Yet in the face of our time-driven existence, a great deal of evidence suggests there is great value in “wasting time,” of letting the mind lie fallow for some periods, of letting minutes and even hours go by without scheduled activities or intended tasks. Gustav Mahler routinely took three or four-­hour walks after lunch, stopping to jot down ideas in his notebook. Carl Jung did his most creative thinking and writing when he visited his country house. In his 1949 autobiography, Albert Einstein described how his thinking involved letting his mind roam over many possibilities and making connections between concepts that were previously unconnected. With In Praise of Wasting Time, Professor Alan Lightman documents the rush and heave of the modern world, suggests the technological and cultural origins of our time-­driven lives, and examines the many values of “wasting time”—for replenishing the mind, for creative thought, and for finding and solidifying the inner self. Break free from the idea that we must not waste a single second, and discover how sometimes the best thing to do is to do nothing at all.

Many of us draw our value from who we know, what we do and what we have. We battle guilt over mistakes we've made, anxiety about what the future may hold for us, or fear of disapproval from others and from God. Our time is consumed with a multitude of activities intended to bring approval and acceptance from others. Are you tired of seeking approval in superficial relationships? Do you long to experience the intimacy, joy and freedom that comes from being deeply connected, soul and spirit, with your Father God? If so, you must prepare yourself to "waste time" with God. By doing this, you will learn to love more compassionately, give of yourself more freely and take yourself less seriously. Furthermore, you will be able to break free from dependence on others for approval. You can stop your pretense and striving for approval, and instead, sitting quietly with your Father God, you can be confident that you are significant, accepted and loved.

Helping Christians put their faith into action and live for more than comfort, Piper teaches us to choose risk for the cause of Christ, the fulfillment of our joy, and the good of others.