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J-Curve: Dying and Rising with Jesus in Everyday Life

Paul E. Miller | Crossway

  • $29.99
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J-Curve: Dying and Rising with Jesus in Everyday Life

Paul E. Miller | Crossway

  • $29.99

  • Do we have the wrong map for the Christian life? The apostle Paul traces out a pattern of dying and rising with Jesus—what Paul Miller calls the “J-Curve”—as the normal Christian life. Life's inconveniences, disappointments, and trials can leave us confused, cynical, and eventually bitter. But the J-Curve plots the ups and downs of our lives onto the story of Jesus. It grounds our journeys not in some abstract idea but in union with Christ and his work of love. Understanding our life in light of the J-Curve roots our hope, centers our love, and tethers our faith to Christ.

    336 pages.

    View an excerpt here.

    “Paul Miller has carefully observed Jesus. He has carefully observed how the work of grace unfolds in the apostle Paul’s life and in his own life. Take time with this book. You will become a deeper, wiser, truer person. You will become more humble, more joyous, more purposeful. And you will walk more steadily in the light.”

    --- David Powlison, Executive Director, Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation

    “This wise and readable book shows how the beloved doctrines of justification and union with Christ shape the thoughts, words, emotions, and actions of believers. I highly recommend this book for everyone who pursues gospel-driven discipleship.”

    --- Dan Doriani, Professor of Theology, Covenant Theological Seminary

    “‘Take up your cross and follow me.’ What was Jesus asking us to do—or be? How does it play out in everyday life? These questions are intensely practical from the moment I wake up in the morning. And that’s why I love Paul Miller’s new book, J-Curve: Dying and Rising with Jesus in Everyday Life. Never have I read a more practical work on how a Christian can flourish through deep affliction. This book will revolutionize the way you look at your sufferings and your relationship to Christ. If you’re craving a life with your Savior that utterly transforms, this book is your best hands-on guide.”

    --- Joni Eareckson Tada, Founder, Joni and Friends

     

    “I enjoyed this book on many levels. The apostle Paul tells us that believers have died and been raised with Jesus. Paul Miller helps us discover what this looks like in everyday life. His teaching rings true and will be helpful to many.”

    --- John M. Frame, Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary

     

    Table of Contents:

    Illustrations

    Part 1: Discovering the J-Curve

    1. “I Will Never Do This Again”: The J-Curve and How It Helps

    2. "I Take Your Place": The Substitutionary Nature of Love

    3. Marketing the Self: What We Do Instead of the J-Curve

    4. Liberating the Self: The Foundation of the J-Curve

    5. In Harvard: Union with Christ Comes Alive

    6. In Sports or In Christ?: How Location Changes Everything

    7. It’s All about Who You Know: Knowing Jesus in the J-Curve

    8. Missing Justification by Faith: The J-Curve without Justification 

    9. Missing the J-Curve: Justification by Faith without the J-Curve 

    Part 2: Dying with Jesus

    10. Dying to Self: Understanding Different J-Curves

    11. A Cascade of Love: Weaving J-Curves Together 

    12. Life at the Bottom of the J-Curve: Making Sense of Persistent Evil

    13. Living in the Borderland: How to Thrive in a Broken World

    Part 3: The Descent of Love

    14. Love Loses Control: Discovering the Shape of Love

    15. The Art of Disappearing for Love: How the Incarnation Defines Love

    16. Recovering a Vision of the Good: The Wonder of the J-Curve

    17. Celebrating Christ Bearers: Rediscovering Hidden Saints 

    18. The Hinge of the J-Curve: Understanding the Will

    19. The Four Steps of Love: Re-enacting Jesus’s Descent 

    20. The J-Curve Calms a Quarrel: Creating a Path to Reconciliation 

    Part 4: Rising with Jesus

    21. Discovering the Power of Resurrection: What Makes the J Go Up?

    22. Repersonalizing the Resurrection: Discovering the Forgotten Half of the J-Curve

    23. Looking through a Resurrection Lens: The J-Curve Transforms Our Vision of Life

    24. The Secret of an Irritation-Free Life: The J-Curve Cures Grumbling

    25. Resurrection Realism: The J-Curve Protects Us from Cynicism

    26. Delaying Resurrection for Love: Saying No to Good Desire

    27. Becoming Human Again: The Emotional Life of the J-Curve

    28. The Art of J-Curve Living: Dying and Rising in Twenty-Four Hours

    29. Seeing the Big Picture: Multiyear Dying and Rising

    Part 5: Forming a J-Curve Community

    30. The Power of Weakness: How the J-Curve Defeats Tribalism

    31. The Spirit at the Center: Learning Wisdom Down Low 

    32. Love Treads Softly: Entering the Complexity of Love

    33. Leadership Goes Low: Re-enacting Jesus in Community

    34. Keeping Jesus Pure: The J-Curve Divides the Community

    35. Jesus: The Ultimate Party Crasher

    36. The Beauty of a Jesus Community: Including the Distant Outsider

    Conclusion
    Afterword
    Acknowledgments
    General Index
    Scripture Index

    J-Curve: Dying and Rising with Jesus in Everyday Life is in the following collections: Best Selling Products | Books by Paul E. Miller | Christian Life Books | Crossway | Newest Products | Standard Price (Auto Collection) | Union with Christ |