The Sense of the Call: A Sabbath Way of Life for Those Who Serve God, the Church, and the World - Softcover

Dawn, Marva J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802844596 ISBN 13: 9780802844590

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006

Synopsis

Why is it so hard to serve God these days? Church workers suffer from low morale, while Christians of all stripes struggle to find their way in a culture fixated on sexuality, violence, and wealth. In Keeping the Sabbath Wholly (1989) Marva Dawn introduced the vital Sabbath aspects of resting, ceasing, feasting, and embracing. Now, in The Sense of the Call, she expands these into a way of life for serving God and the Kingdom every single day of the week.

A Sabbath way of life, Dawn asserts, consists of resting in the Kingdom's grace, ceasing by grace those attitudes and actions that hinder the Kingdom, feasting so as to radiate the grace-full splendor of the Kingdom, and embracing the Kingdom's gracious purposes. To this end Dawn teaches skills such as learning to rest in prayer, saying no to busyness, enjoying one's body as God's temple, and embracing the cost of living as a Christian disciple.

Both frank and compassionate, The Sense of the Call will guide Christian servants into a more restful, joy-full life of trust in God.

About this title

About the Author

 

Marva J. Dawn (1948–2021) was a renowned theologian, author, musician, and educator. Her many books include Reaching Out without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for This Urgent Time, A Royal Waste of Time: The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World, and The Sense of the Call: A Sabbath Way of Life for Those Who Serve God, the Church, and the World.

From the Back Cover

Why is it "so hard to serve God these days? Church workers suffer from low morale, while Christians of all stripes struggle to find their way in a culture fixated on sexuality, violence, and wealth. In "Keeping the Sabbath Wholly (1989) Marva Dawn introduced the vital Sabbath aspects of "resting, ceasing, feasting, and "embracing. Now, in "The Sense of the Call, she expands these into a way of life for serving God and the Kingdom every single day of the week.

A Sabbath way of life, Dawn asserts, consists of "resting in the Kingdom's grace, "ceasing by grace those attitudes and actions that hinder the Kingdom, "feasting so as to radiate the grace-full splendor of the Kingdom, and "embracing the Kingdom's gracious purposes. To this end Dawn teaches skills such as learning to rest in prayer, saying no to busyness, enjoying one's body as God's temple, and embracing the cost of living as a Christian disciple.

Both frank and compassionate, "The Sense of the Call will guide Christian servants into a more restful, joy-full life of trust in God.

Reviews

In her newest book, Dawn, a theologian and educator with Christians Equipped for Ministry in Vancouver, Wash., applies the concepts of her earlier book, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, to the ministry of clergy and church leaders. While using the same Sabbath practices as in her first book (resting, ceasing, feasting and embracing the Kingdom), Dawn focuses more on God's call to ministry that reclaims, revitalizes and renews, "and thus reigns through us before others, on behalf of others, sometimes in spite of others, and always with others." The book's mission—to spiritually rejuvenate those who are often burned out from unending service—is essential and long overdue. But despite the promising concept, the blend of the themes of the first book with these new themes is sometimes unfocused and rambling. Dawn quotes other scholars, sometimes at great length, on almost every page, so there's little that's new. Dawn's repeated insistence that she's "such a beginner" with these ideas and practices, her frequent references to her own health problems, added to her overreliance on other scholars' work, leaves the impression that this particular book may not be the best guide to exploring a Sabbath way of living. (Mar.)Look for more reviews, exclusively on the Web, at www.publishersweekly.com, Review Annex.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802844596
• ISBN 13: 9780802844590
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 327