A “Beautiful Fight” For Spiritual Transformation

Bestselling Author Writes About Challenge and Glory of Christianity

 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Aug. 3, 2007 – What is true Christianity?  What does it really mean to be like Jesus?  Can Jesus change a person, a situation, a marriage, even death? Have Christians made Jesus and Christianity sound less compelling than it is?  Is a grace that pardons powerful enough to transform?

 

Gary Thomas—bestselling author, popular speaker, seminary professor and spiritual formation expert—is turning the idea of transforming faith upside down in his new book, The Beautiful Fight (Zondervan, November 2007).  Thomas believes transforming faith does exactly that—transforms us into different people by the living, reigning, and ascended Jesus living through us. 

 

Thomas believes that modern Christians have made Christianity sound less compelling than it is by erasing the challenge of faith and the glory that goes with it—all for a faith that is more inviting, acceptable and palatable.  “Transforming faith is radical,” says Thomas.  “It does not dwell merely on a list of prohibitions and forbidden sins but powerfully ushers us into something so precious, so profound and so stirring that we would gladly give up all we have just to lay hold of it. It is what in our deepest longing we truly want to become – like Jesus,” Thomas says. “It’s a real struggle to get there, but the destination is so glorious that the fight to attain it is properly called beautiful.”

 

The unusual title of the book is taken from the early Orthodox Fathers of the Christian faith who believed that Christianity—true Christianity—is a drama marked by passion, by struggle, and above all, by a glory so compelling they called it a “beautiful fight.”  Thomas wants to call Christians back to the glory that is part of a transforming, powerful faith.

 

The Beautiful Fight explores how faith in Jesus can be radically different from and better than what Christians are currently experiencing.  Adds Thomas: “Christianity as a spiritual journey is not simply defined by what we believe or how we behave but is marked profoundly by who we are.”

 

Thomas breaks The Beautiful Fight into three distinct sections:

 

“You’ve probably heard many sermons and read many books on what you shouldn’t be and shouldn’t do,” says Thomas.  “This book seeks to paint a portrait of what you can become.  Our creator is eager to splash his glory on us.”

 

 

Zondervan executive editor-at-large John Sloan believes this book is remarkable and unique in its subject matter:  “Thomas’s book is both profound and practical.  The Beautiful Fight will inspire, equip, and challenge readers to delve ever deeper into what it means to be a truly holy believer, transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.”

 

Gary Thomas is a writer and the founder and director of the Center for Evangelical Spirituality, a writing and speaking ministry that integrates Scripture, church history, and the Christian classics.  He is the author of many books including Sacred Marriage, Sacred Parenting and Authentic Faith.  He has had more than 100 articles appear in national magazines such Christianity Today, Discipleship Journal and New Man and he has been a frequent guest on radio shows such as Focus on the Family and Family Life Today.  Thomas and his wife his wife Lisa and his three children make their home outside of Seattle, Washington. 

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Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, is a world leader in Christian communications. For more than 75 years, Zondervan has produced bestselling, award-winning and life-changing products by some of the most relevant Christian leaders and emerging voices of the day. The company produces Bibles, including the bestselling NIV Bible translation, books and new media products, as well as children’s products from its Zonderkidz group. Visit Zondervan on the Web at www.zondervan.com.