Holy Living: Discernment: Spiritual Practices of Building a Life of Faith

"While physical training has some value, training in holy living is useful for everything. It has promise for this life now and the life to come." (1 Timothy 4:8 CEB) Christians crave a deeper, more intimate relationship with God. The spiritual disciplines are historical practices that can guide us in our daily walk, bringing us closer to Christ. The Holy Living series brings a fresh perspective on the spiritual disciplines, enabling us to apply their practices to our current lives. Practicing these spiritual disciplines opens us to God's transforming love.

Many believers are familiar with the fruits of the Spirit Paul wrote about in his letter to the Galatians: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Discernment is a contemplative practice that opens us to these gifts. It offers us the capacity to see more clearly and touch the depth of our holy existence here on earth. This book introduces us to this ancient practice and helps us discover how practicing it can lead us to moments in which we sense meaning and purpose in our lives by desiring what God desires and embodying the love that is God.

This is one of series of eight books. Each book in this series introduces a spiritual practice, suggests way of living the practice daily, and provides opportunities to grow personally and in a faith community with others who engage with the practice. Each book consists of an introduction and four chapters and includes questions for personal reflection and group discussion.

Other disciplines studied: Celebration, Confession, Neighboring, Prayer, Simplicity, Study, and Worship.

Beth Estock is a leadership coach and consultant. A contemplative by nature, she is also an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church as well as a yoga instructor. In 2016 she co-authored, Weird Church: Welcome to the 21st Century. She is blessed with a loving marriage and 2 inspiring daughters. Beth lives in Portland, Oregon. To learn more, go to www.bethestock.com.

Elaine A. Heath is a theologian whose work is interdisciplinary, integrating pastoral, biblical, and spiritual theology in ways that bridge the gap between academy, church, and world. Her current research interests focus on community as a means of healing trauma, emergent forms of Christianity, and alternative forms of theological education for the church in rapidly changing contexts.

Heath is the author of numerous books and articles, the most recent of which is Healing the Wounds of Sexual Abuse: Reading the Bible with Survivors (2019), a republication with updates of a previous volume: We Were the Least of These: Reading the Bible with Survivors of Sexual Abuse (2011). She also recently served as general editor of the Holy Living series.