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EXISTENCE OF GOD
VIDEOS

The Kalam Cosmological Argument  (4 min.)
An argument for a Creator from the origin of the universe with strong scientific support.

The Fine-Tuning of the Universe  (6 min.)
An argument for an intelligent Creator from scientific evidence that shows the existence of fine-tuned order best explained as intentional design.

C. S. Lewis, “The Reality of the Moral Law”  (10 min.)
A defense of the reality of objective moral values and obligations.

Leibniz’s Contingency Argument  (5 min.)
An argument that the universe requires a necessary, uncaused First Cause that causes the existence of all other things.

A Moral Argument  (5 min.)
An argument God is the necessary foundation of the existence of objective moral duties and obligations.

C. S. Lewis, “What Lies Behind the Moral Law”  (13 min.) Lewis’s famous argument that God is the best explanation of the moral law.

ARTICLES & PODCASTS 

Ben Sharp, “Who Cares If There’s a God?“

 

William Lane Craig, “Does God Exist?“
Five good reasons to believe that God exists.

 

William Lane Craig, “Does God Exist?“
Eight good reasons to believe that God exists.

 

Peter Kreeft, “Arguments for God’s Existence“
Links to 9 short arguments and a link to sketches of 20 arguments including not only the origin and design of the universe and the person of Jesus but also beauty, human religious experience, from human consciousness and moral conscience, historical events that disclose God’s work.

David Baggett, “Four Ways God Best Explains Morality“
A philosopher explains how the Christian God is the best explanation for several moral facts widely accepted in human experience: moral values, moral obligations, moral knowledge, and the reality of moral transformation.

BOOKS

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A Christian philosopher offers five philosophical arguments for an uncaused First Cause of the universe from the existence of change and the contingency or dependence of all finite beings, which implies the existence of an uncaused Creator as their source. These arguments require no specialized knowledge of natural science and are presented in both formal premises and informal explanations.  

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A moral argument showing that God is the best explanation of various moral truths and experiences such as moral goodness, moral knowledge, moral obligations, and moral transformation.

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In response to biologist Richard Dawkins’s case for atheism in his book The God Delusion, this book offers a wide array of accessible arguments by Christian philosophers and scientists critiquing atheism and offering reasons to believe in God from the origin and design of the universe, the uniqueness of human beings, and the person and resurrection of Jesus. 

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This book by a Christian astrophysicist argues for a Creator based on evidence for the origin and design of the universe found in Big Bang cosmology and discoveries about the finely-tuned features of the universe that are necessary for the universe, solar system, and earth to permit the existence of human life.  Offers interesting summarizes of the history of various scientific theories.

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

The lessons for this course can be read alone, but the principles are drawn from lessons in the video series and workbook "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality" by Peter Scazzero, which is based on the book with the same title.
(A copy of the video series on DVD is available to loan to members and attenders of Central Presbyterian Church. See Pastor Mike Farley to borrow the DVD.)
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Lesson 1 - The Problem of Emotionally Unhealthy Spirituality

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Lesson 2 - Know Yourself That You May Know God

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Lesson 3 - Going Back in Order to Go Forward

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Lesson 4 - Journey through the Wall

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Lesson 5 - Enlarging Your Soul through Grief and Loss

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Lesson 6 - Grow into an Emotionally Mature Adult

 

Going Further

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Prayer

 

Paul Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World (NavPress, 2017)

A great starting point to learn the foundations of practicing the presence of God. Miller’s numerous anecdotes illustrate the highly personal quality of relationship and ongoing conversation with God that is appropriate and available to sons and daughters of God.

 

Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (Dutton, 2014)

Keller covers all aspects of biblical teaching about prayer, the experience of prayer, and the practice of prayer, with helpful lessons from famous writings about prayer in church history.

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Praying from Scripture

 

Donald Whitney, Praying the Bible (Crossway, 2015)

A simple guide for learning to pray from the Bible is this very short book. With specific, practical examples, Whitney shows how any text in the Bible can become a guide and prompt for all types of prayer.

 

Martin Luther, “A Simple Way to Pray”

Luther, the professor who pioneered the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, wrote this short article for his barber, who asked him how he should pray. Luther offers extended examples of the prayers he prayed for his own life and times from the 10 Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. Luther offers examples of how the same text can prompt several different categories of prayer.

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Worship "Face-to-Face" (times set aside for worship)

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Central Presbyterian Church offers a daily prayer guide each week with short orders of worship for morning and evening prayer, emailed Monday through Friday. Central’s guide unites public worship on Sunday to daily prayer so that worship from Sunday echoes and deepens through the week. The structure follows roughly the same order as corporate worship:

Call to worship

Hymn/song

Confessing our sin and receiving God’s forgiveness

Hearing God’s instruction from his word (with Psalms and other readings)

Praying our petitions for the church and the world

Being sent with God’s blessing

The call to worship, songs, and confession of sin come directly from Central's Sunday liturgy. Other written prayers and the scripture readings correlate with the main themes of the Sunday sermon in order to amplify its impact with further meditation and prayer. Sign up for the daily email HERE.

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Worship "Side-by-Side" (woven throughout one's daily life)

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Jan Johnson, Enjoying the Presence of God: Discovering Intimacy with God in the Daily Rhythms of Life (NavPress, 1996)

A great book describing how to weave prayer into all the rhythms and tasks of daily life so that we experience prayer as an ongoing conversation with God throughout our days.

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Spiritual Growth Plans

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[Audio] Ruth Haley Barton: “A Rule of Life: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation”

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Ruth Haley Barton, “A Rule of Life: Cultivating Rhythms for Spiritual Transformation“

An article introducing the general idea of a personal rule of life or spiritual growth plan.

 

Mike Farley, “Establishing a Spiritual Growth Plan”

Some practical guidelines for writing a personal rule of life or spiritual growth plan.

 

Mike Farley, "A Template for a Spiritual Growth Plan"

A template to use for setting specific goals for spiritual growth in seven major dimensions of life. These guidelines suggest general categories of action in these severn areas for the purpose of prompting reflection on setting specific goals for action in each dimension of life.

 

“Crafting a Rule of Life”

This website organized by Stephen Macchia contains many different creative examples of rules of life prepared by different individuals, which you can see here and here. These examples have varying modes of expression and levels of detail, but they are all useful for stimulating our imagination for different methods of composing our own spiritual growth plans.

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Alastair Sterne, Rhythms for Life: Spiritual Practices for Who God Made You to Be (InterVarsity Press, 2020)

A guidebook for understanding our personal story, personality, and roles and then crafting challenging but achievable goals for spiritual growth in many dimensions of life in relationships with God, self, and others.

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Justin Earley, The Common Rule: Habits of Virtue for a Life of Purpose (InterVarsity Press, 2019).
An outstanding book on crafting a spiritual growth plan in many dimensions of life.

Connect for more help

Would you like additional help in pursuing your own spiritual growth?

 

Would you like to join or help form a growth group?   

If so, fill out this contact form.

Central Presbyterian Church

7700 Davis Drive, Clayton, MO 63105

(314) 727-2777

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