E. Stanley Jones

In this book...I said that this generation or at the most the next will have to decide between materialistic, atheistic Communism and the Kingdom of God on earth. I thought it would take a generation for this issue to come to a head. In half a generation the issue has become acute....But this book was primarily written not to emphasize the weaknesses or the strengths of Communism, but to present the Christian alternative to Communism. In rereading what I wrote I find myself holding to the main thesis of the book. That remains intact. There is a Christian alternative, and our emphasis should be to apply that alternative so that a soil might be created in which Communism could not grow....Communism as a system is not the answer. It will break down ultimately through inherent weaknesses. We must be ready with a demonstration of the Christian answer. The Christian answer is the Kingdom of God on earth. This book attempts to expound that answer and points to its application. I am gratified to know that the main plea is still relevant, and to my mind more relevant now than ever. - E. STANLEY JONESJanuary 3, 1951

This book by E. Stanley Jones is designed to be read over an entire year. Each day there are scriptural verses, a meditation, a prayer and a thought for the day. Christians have used guides like this for their daily devotional life since the rise of Pietism in the 17th century. However, most of these devotional guides go quickly out of print because they are so bound to the particular issues and challenges of a single generation. However, this spiritual devotional guide is timeless and profitable for any Christian in any place or time. There are few that meet this criteria. Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest is one example. Another would be Table in the Wilderness by Watchman Nee. These classics have never been out of print because the church has found them both edifying and profitable. Growing Spiritually by E. Stanley Jones deserves to take its place among these timeless devotional guides. The reason is that Jones sets out not simply to inspire you, but to directly address the timeless issues which Christians face which hinders their growth in discipleship.May this new publication of E. Stanley Jones be read and appreciated by a whole new generation of Christians. For, as Jones states in the opening line of this devotional, "you are made to grow." May this volume help you to do just that.- Timothy C. Tennent, PhDPresident, Asbury Theological Seminary

E. Stanley Jones tells how he gathered people from various religions and viewpoints into a series of round table conferences. These persons were brought together not to discuss creeds or to argue positions but to share what they have learned of God through personal experience. This is an important book for our time because our world has become a small community. We must learn to listen to one another in mutual respect but at the same time be prepared to be open about what God means to us personally. In these Roundtable settings, Jones found that the person of Jesus easily stood out as the only One in whom we find Reality. In our time when persons are longing for ultimate truth, Jones makes it clear: "We never become more universal by being less Christian. Truth, by its very nature is narrow and God has only once revealed Himself in a person. Jesus in the ultimate truth available to every age."

Jesus said: Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3 KJV) Rabindranath Tagore, the great Indian poet and philosopher, said this passage was the most beautiful passage in the bible. But what is conversion? Converted comes from "con", with, and "vertare", to turn - "to turn with." The big question in life is, is my face or my back toward Christ? The first step in the new life is to turn your back on the old life and face toward Christ. You do not do that alone - there is the "with". The moment you throw your will in His direction, He is there with you. He helps you to do what you can't do - to break with the old life - but that decision to turn around is your decision. There you stand alone and as a free moral being you make the decision alone, severely alone. The moment you make it, however, He is "with" you.

This is one of the best books that I have ever read. E. Stanley Jones was a great man who walked with God. His wisdom developed over a lifetime is distilled here. The only path to victory - joy, peace, and purpose in life - is by surrendering one's life to God and spending the rest of one's life surrendering over and over again until it becomes a habit. It is a process, one that takes time and self-discipline. But the result, as Jesus promised, is a life that is full and overflowing - not one without pain - but one of overcoming trial after trial by taking direction from the One who knows and loves us like no one else. The secret of how to do that is in this book. Harold G. Koenig, M.D.Director, Center for Spirituality, Theology and HealthDuke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina

"If the hallmark of a great book is its ability to raise as many questions as it answers, you have before you a great book " - Leonard Sweet"Dr. E. Stanley Jones gratefully recognizes what science has done, is doing, and will do for the relief of organic disease. For his part, by spoken and written word, he is pointing the way out for countless sad, discouraged, hopeless souls, and in this book points to Him who, above all others, is able to drive from the soul of man all these unlovely harmful things 'through the expulsive power of a new affection.'" - Adrian S. Taylor"This book offers a fresh and powerful message to today's world, a world bristling with its many challenges. Each of these challenges has different causes but, as Jones well knew and spent his life explaining, all challenges-whatever their cause-find their solution in the soul of a person who knows their place in the Kingdom of God." - Anne Mathews-Younes

Jesus Christ lifted our fear by giving us the capacity to face things that happen to us and to make something out of them. In Mastery, E. Stanley Jones shows us how to attain the moral and spiritual mastery that came to the disciples on the Day of Pentecost. He demonstrates that mastery of living comes not by being tense and anxious, but by being receptive to the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. In daily inspirational readings, affirmations, and prayers for one full year, Jones offers us guidance in mastering our lives.guidance in mastering our lives.

Jesus swept onto the scene declaring that the Kingdom of God had arrived He proclaimed that we would experience life at its fullest only when we organize our lives around the Kingdom. E. Stanley Jones suggests that life in any other way is a muddled, maddening, and impossible way to live. Throughout the centuries we have lost the Kingdom as a clearly defined and workable system for order and influence in our daily lives. We have reduced the Kingdom by putting it into narrower molds, a refuge now, a present security, a future hope, anything but the Kingdom as Jesus preached it - God's total answer to man's total need now." Dr. Jones shows us how to claim our spiritual heritage and the abundant life promised us by embracing the Kingdom and Person of Jesus. He suggests how our experience with God and His Kingdom should be taught and shared in the life of the individual, in the life of the church and in the nations of the world.