Monday, March 13, 2023

About the Book

Book: The Kingdom of God: Our life with Jesus the King

Author: John Avery

Genre: Christian Devotional, non-fiction

Release date: March 1, 2023

What is the kingdom of God? Many people only vaguely understand (or misunderstand) it. Is it a future heavenly existence where the nicest dreams come true and nightmares are miraculously purged? After all, it is sometimes called the kingdom of heaven. Perhaps we dismiss it as an irrelevant ideal. Pastors typically prioritize topics like salvation, grace, eternal life, faith, and prayer. Yet, the kingdom was central to the messages of John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, and other New Testament writers. Their words and behavior show that the kingdom theme is the framework uniting those topics and the entire mission of Jesus and His followers.

God’s kingdom centers on the King. It’s a life journey shared with other kingdom subjects.

This collection of 38 short pieces (2-3 pages each) explores vital questions like:

How well do we understand Jesus’ view of the kingdom of God?
What did Jesus mean when He spoke of being in (or outside of) the kingdom?
Does the kingdom make any difference to our lives right now? Should it?
Will the kingdom grow automatically, or do we have a part to play?

These pieces can be read quickly; they’re relaxed too—but think carefully and deeply.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

John Avery is the author of The Name Quest:Explore the Names of God to Grow in Faith and Get to Know Him Better (Morgan James Publishing, 2015). The Name Quest won the 2016 Oregon Christian Writers’ Cascade Award for nonfiction. A compilation of short pieces, The Questions of Jesus, was published in 2022.

John is a trained teacher with over thirty years’ experience as a Bible teaching pastor, small group leader, missionary, and disciple maker. He has lived in England, Israel, Africa, and the Caribbean, ministering with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), international student ministry, and local churches. He and his wife, Janet, now make their home in Oregon. John likes to hike, snowshoe, and cross-country ski. John writes short, thought-provoking Bible devotionals at www.BibleMaturity.com many of which will be compiled into books like this one. He maintains a comprehensive resource for all the names of God at www.NamesForGod.net.

More from John

This book is a collection of short devotional pieces. They’re relaxed, but they challenge the reader to think carefully too. What is the kingdom of God? What does it mean for our lives?

Many people only vaguely understand (or misunderstand) the kingdom of God. Is it a future heavenly existence where the nicest dreams come true and nightmares are miraculously purged? After all, it is sometimes called the kingdom of heaven. Perhaps we dismiss it as an irrelevant ideal. Pastors typically prioritize topics like salvation, grace, eternal life, faith, and prayer. Yet, the kingdom was a priority for Jesus.

God’s kingdom centers on the King. It’s a life journey shared with other kingdom subjects.

The pieces explore vital questions like:

How well do we understand Jesus’ view of the kingdom of God?
What did Jesus mean when He spoke of being in (or outside of) the kingdom?
Does the kingdom make any difference to our lives right now? Should it?
Will the kingdom grow automatically, or do we have a part to play?

MY REVIEW

The book is an in-depth look at the Kingdom and what it means. I like how the author discusses the miracles that Jesus performed but always made a point of talking about the kingdom. He wanted us to know how important the kingdom is. The book is a great tool to use as a group study or individual. He covers many subjects from the Bible and includes scriptures that help us go deeper in the Word.

I liked when the author says, “Believing in the good news begins with believing in Him.” We need to understand God better and know that our faith can withstand anything if we trust in God. The Kingdom of God is something we hear about, but I think this book breaks it down into easy to understand terms. I walked away from reading this book with a deeper relationship with God and desire to never give up.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.