A. J. Swoboda

Today's follower of Jesus exists at a moment in history when our desires, longings, and wants are being weaponized against us by cultural, spiritual, and relational forces. "Follow your heart" and "You do you" has become our moment's mantras. The result, for too many, is feeling torn asunder by the raging desires within. What do we do with our desire? What about our unwanted desires? And how do we cultivate desires which bring life and freedom and lead to Christ? The Gift of Thorns, by A. J. Swoboda, addresses these questions and more.The path forward is anything but easy. It is assumed by too many in the Christian community that desire is in and of itself bad or dangerous and must be crucified for simply existing. Desire is demonic for some. But, for many others--particularly in the secular West--desire must be followed through and through. This side deifies desire. But these two options sidestep the joy in the great challenge of finding God in our desire. There exists an ancient and sacred way that is forged around the life, wisdom, and power of Jesus and his Spirit. In short, what makes a follower of Christ is not whether or not we have desires. Rather, it is what we do with the desires we have.Near the end of the story of humanity's rebellion, the theme of "thorns" is introduced. As readers will discover, the thematic repetition of "thorns" pops up over and over throughout the Bible. What are the thorns for? They will be, in the words of God, "for you" (Gen. 3:18). The premise of this book is that a world where we do not get all that we want is, well, the greatest gift ever.

Outreach 2022 Resource of the Year (Spiritual Growth)Is there a way to walk faithfully through doubt and come out the other side with a deeper love for Jesus, the church, and its tradition? Can we question our faith without losing it?Award-winning author, pastor, and professor A. J. Swoboda has witnessed many young people wrestle with their core Christian beliefs. Too often, what begins as a set of critical and important questions turns to resentment and faith abandonment. Unfortunately, the church has largely ignored its task of serving people along their journey of questioning. The local church must walk alongside those who are deconstructing their faith and show them how to reconstruct it.Drawing on his own experience of deconstruction, Swoboda offers tools to help emerging adults navigate their faith in a hostile landscape. Doubt is a part of our natural spiritual journey, says Swoboda, and deconstruction is a legitimate space to encounter the living God.After Doubt offers a hopeful, practical vision of spiritual formation for those in the process of faith deconstruction and those who serve them. Foreword by pastor and author John Mark Comer.

Outrageous headlines grab our attention. Social media offers us immediate satisfaction. Knee-jerk reactions reign supreme. And despite our constant connectivity, our lives increasingly lack true connection. In this insightful volume, A. J. Swoboda and Nijay Gupta show us how to discern God's voice amid the noise of modern life.Addressing deconstruction and doubt with honesty and humility, Swoboda and Gupta explore how we can fortify our faith to withstand the challenges of our culture. They offer readers everyday practices for slowing down amid the frenetic pace of life: Take your time making decisions. Don't settle for easy answers. Ponder mystery. Cultivate communal faith. Embrace the long road following Jesus.Theologically rich and broadly approachable, Slow Theology will help those weary of today's turmoil reconnect with God and neighbor. The book includes a foreword by Glenn Packiam.

Being a know-it-all isn't a fruit of the Spirit. But the ancient call of Jesus beckons us to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength" (Matt. 22:37). How do we love God with our mind? In A Teachable Spirit, A.J. Swoboda helps followers of Jesus develop the discipline of teachability.In a world marked by distraction, mind-numbing entertainment, endless content, polarization, and a decreasing desire to humbly learn from those we dislike, the way we engage sources of information like news media, science, and social media content could not be more important. Thankfully, the Christian faith provides sharp tools and rich traditions for learning how to be the best learners. By drawing on his experiences as a professor, theologian, and lay pastor, Swoboda explores the potency of seeing learning as a part of one's spiritual formation to Jesus.With the right posture, Christians can learn from even the most unexpected places.

Discover God's good will for our wants.The Gift of Thorns Study Guide, a companion to The Gift of Thorns, dives deep into some of the hardest questions we wrestle with in the war for our wants:What do God's desires and Satan's desires have to do with us?Which desires did God place in our hearts at creation, and why?What can we do when we start losing our desire for God?Why do some unwanted desires persist after we start following Christ?Can we want a good thing too much?How can we discern which desires to crucify and which to nurtureThis study guide has everything you need for a full personal or group experience.The study guide itself--with thoughtful introductions, questions for personal reflection and application, and discussion questions for leading a group or team.An individual access code to stream all video sessions online. (You don't need to buy a DVD!)Sessions and video run times:1. God's Desire (26 min.)2. Human Desire (24 min.)3. Satan's Desire (17 min.)4. Fleshly Desire (18 min.)5. Waning Desire (16 min.)6. Undesired Desire (14 min.)7. Killing Desire (15 min.)8. Nurturing Desire (16 min.)9. Ordering Desire (19 min.)10. Resurrecting Desire (15 min.)11. Longing Desire (17 min.)Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2029. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.

In the West, many Christians are "deconstructing" and/or "doubting" their faith. As a result, some people seeking to follow Jesus have become disillusioned with prayer--perhaps even skeptical about it. And yet there is still a great desire and longing for connection with God. What is needed, then, is a reconstructed account of prayer--one that is theologically robust, pastorally honest, and spiritually wise. Andrew Ray Williams seeks to provide such an account by providing meditations on childlike prayers in hopes that it might open new ways of understanding specific issues related to Christian faith.

In the West, many Christians are "deconstructing" and/or "doubting" their faith. As a result, some people seeking to follow Jesus have become disillusioned with prayer--perhaps even skeptical about it. And yet there is still a great desire and longing for connection with God. What is needed, then, is a reconstructed account of prayer--one that is theologically robust, pastorally honest, and spiritually wise. Andrew Ray Williams seeks to provide such an account by providing meditations on childlike prayers in hopes that it might open new ways of understanding specific issues related to Christian faith.

Life is a hot mess. There's the bedlam of getting out the door in the morning. The constant breaking down of our homes and bodies and the cars we drive. And the institutions that promise to help are often no better. We are surrounded by the constant disorder of governments and disappointed by "organized" religion, the very entities that tell us they can provide us sanity and security. Instead, they leave us scratching our heads or licking our wounds. Chaos surrounds us, and at times, it seems to rule our souls, our families, and our world.But does chaos always end in failure or flaw?What if chaos was more than the check engine light of lost causes? What if chaos was the raw material out of which God creates? In the beginning God brought order from chaos, filling the chaos with a beautiful creation, and he's been doing it ever since. Where you and I may experience confusion and disorder, God sees an opportunity for something new--for a rebirth, a renewal, and a renovation. God did this in the beginning, he did it again at the cross, and with renewed vision for our disordered world today, we look to God to do it again.Inspired by the powerful picture of creation in Genesis 1:2, author Jessica LaGrone challenges the hope-destroying belief that God has abandoned us in our broken relationships, our pain, and our grief. In the midst of our out-of-control lives, God is there, and he specializes in making new things from the chaos threatens to drown us. When we experience chaos in our own lives and everything feels like it is falling apart, God is just getting started. When the Spirit of God hovers, chaos can give birth to hope.

Finns det en framkomlig väg genom tvivel och kan man komma ut helskinnad på andra sidan utan att förlora sin tro på Gud, kyrkan och det den står för? Går det att ifrågasätta sin tro utan att förlora den? En av kyrkans stora utmaningar har varit att hjälpa människor genom tvivel och den brottningskamp och ifrågasättande av tron som många går igenom. Istället för att gå tillsammans med tvivlande människor har man lämnat dem åt sitt öde. Alltför ofta har det som börjat med kritiska frågor slutat med ett avståndstagande och att man övergett tron helt och hållet. I Bortom tvivlet erbjuder A J Swoboda verktyg för att våga göra en ärlig reflektion över vad man egentligen tror på - och inte tror på. "Tvivel är en naturlig del av vår andliga vandring", säger Swoboda och att dekonstruera sin tro ger ett utrymme för Gud att verkligen möta oss.A J Swoboda är assisterande professor vid Bushnell University och arbetar även vid Fuller Theological Seminary. Han är författare till flera böcker. Detta är hans första på svenska.

Christianity Today 2019 Book Award Winner (Spiritual Formation) and Award of Merit for CT's Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the YearOutreach 2019 Recommended Resource of the Year (Spiritual Growth)We live in a 24/7 culture of endless productivity, workaholism, distraction, burnout, and anxiety--a way of life to which we've sadly grown accustomed. This tired system of "life" ultimately destroys our souls, our bodies, our relationships, our society, and the rest of God's creation. The whole world grows exhausted because humanity has forgotten to enter into God's rest.This book pioneers a creative path to an alternative way of existing. Combining creative storytelling, pastoral sensitivity, practical insight, and relevant academic research, Subversive Sabbath offers a unique invitation to personal Sabbath-keeping that leads to fuller and more joyful lives. A. J. Swoboda demonstrates that Sabbath is both a spiritual discipline and a form of social justice, connects Sabbath-keeping to local communities, and explains how God may actually do more when we do less. He shows that the biblical practice of Sabbath-keeping is God's plan for the restoration and healing of all creation. The book includes a foreword by Matthew Sleeth.

Today's church finds itself in a new world, one in which climate change and ecological degradation are front-page news. In the eyes of many, the evangelical community has been slow to take up a call to creation care. How do Christians address this issue in a faithful way?This evangelically centered but ecumenically informed introduction to ecological theology (ecotheology) explores the global dimensions of creation care, calling Christians to meet contemporary ecological challenges with courage and hope. The book provides a biblical, theological, ecological, and historical rationale for earthcare as well as specific practices to engage both individuals and churches. Drawing from a variety of Christian traditions, the book promotes a spirit of hospitality, civility, honesty, and partnership. It includes a foreword by Bill McKibben and an afterword by Matthew Sleeth.

Christianity is messy. Unanswered prayers. Painful choices. Unresolved regrets. We're called to have faith, and yet we doubt. We try to be perfect, but we fall short. This is the chaos. It's all around us. There's no limit to it. And there's no quick fix for it. Christianity far underperforms the Christ it talks about. But the good news is this: God works in the mess. He gets a kick out of these disturbing, disorderly moments because in these moments, we learn to trust Him. What if we all trusted Jesus? How would the world look different? How would we look different? Both annoyingly honest and refreshingly humorous, Messy reassures Christians that God can reveal Himself in their clutter. Author and pastor A.J. Swoboda offers biblical insight and vivid, personal stories to redefine faith from something that must be perfect to something that is imperfect, but can still give beauty, meaning, and purpose to a messy life. As entertaining as it is challenging, this book teaches Christians what it means to trust in each other, in grace, in hope, and in a Savior who defied the rules of death. Here's to finding joy in your chaos!