Sacred Pathways: Nine Ways to Connect with God

by Gary Thomas

Overview

Sacred Pathways reveals nine distinct spiritual temperaments—and their strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies—to help you improve your spiritual life and deepen your personal walk with God.

It's time to strip away the frustration of a one-size-fits-all spirituality and discover a path of worship that frees you to be you. Experienced spiritual directors, pastors, and church leaders recognize that all of us engage with God differently, and it's about time we do too.

In this updated and expanded edition of Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas details nine spiritual temperaments and—like the Enneagram and other tools do with personality—encourages you to investigate the ways you most naturally express yourself in your relationship with God. He encourages you to dig into the traits, strengths, and pitfalls in your devotional approach so you can eliminate the barriers that keep you locked into rigid methods of worship and praise.

Plus, as you begin to identify and understand your own temperament, you'll soon learn about the temperaments that aren't necessarily "you" but that may help you understand the spiritual tendencies of friends, family, and others around you.

Whatever temperament or blend of temperaments best describes you, rest assured it's not by accident. It's by the design of a Creator who knew what he was doing when he made you according to his own unique intentions. If your spiritual walk is not what you'd like it to be, you can change that, starting here. Sacred Pathways will show you the route you were made to travel, marked by growth and filled with the riches of a close walk with God.

A Sacred Pathways video Bible study is also available for group or individual use, sold separately.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310361176
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	212,673
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Gary Thomas's writing and speaking draw people closer to Christ and closer to others. He is the author of twenty books that together have sold more than two million copies and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. These books include Sacred Marriage, Cherish, Married Sex, and the Gold Medallion-award winning Authentic Faith.

Gary holds a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Western Washington University, a master's degree in systematic theology from Regent College (Vancouver, BC), and an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Western Seminary (Portland, OR). He serves as a teaching pastor at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Part 1 The Journey of the Soul

1 Loving God 3

2 Where Is Your Gethsemane? 22

Part 2 The Nine Sacred Pathways

3 Naturalists: Loving God Outdoors 33

4 Sensates: Loving God with the Senses 51

5 Traditionalists: Loving God through Ritual and Symbol 70

6 Ascetics: Loving God in Solitude and Simplicity 99

7 Activists: Loving God through Confrontation 120

8 Caregivers: Loving God by Loving Others 140

9 Enthusiasts: Loving God with Mystery and Celebration 160

10 Contemplatives: Loving God through Adoration 185

11 Intellectuals: Loving God with the Mind 206

Part 3 Understanding Your Sacred Pathway

12 Tending the Garden of the Soul 231

Companions on the Journey: The Sacred Pathways and the Enneagram 243

Questions for Discussion and Reflection 253

Notes 267