2020 by ANTHONY T. EVANS
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Content from chapters 1 and 3 has been adapted from Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2010). Used by permission.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.
Edited by Kevin P. Emmert
Interior and cover design: Erik M. Peterson
Author photo: Anthony Amorteguy
All websites and phone numbers listed herein are accurate at the time of publication but may change in the future or cease to exist. The listing of website references and resources does not imply publisher endorsement of the sites entire contents. Groups and organizations are listed for informational purposes, and listing does not imply publisher endorsement of their activities.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Evans, Tony, 1949- author.
Title: Kingdom encounters : experiencing more of God when life hurts / Tony Evans.
Description: Chicago : Moody Publishers, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: What all Christians need is a kingdom encounter. In Kingdom Encounters, Tony Evans explores how the faithful characters of Scripture encountered God-and were forever changed. Join Dr. Evans as he explores how these moments bolster your faith, restore your hope, and make clear to you the face of God-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020020183 (print) | LCCN 2020020184 (ebook) | ISBN 9780802419255 | ISBN 9780802497901 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: God (Christianity)--Knowableness. | God (Christianity)--Attributes. | Experience (Religion) | Spirituality--Christianity.
Classification: LCC BT103 .E93 2020 (print) | LCC BT103 (ebook) | DDC 231.7--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020020183
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020020184
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Contents
Friend,
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Encountering Gods Person
H ave you ever needed more than a Sunday morning service? Or a devotional on your smartphone? Have you ever felt like something was missing as you went through the motions of the Christian life? If that sounds familiar, you are a prime candidate for a kingdom encounter.
A kingdom encounter is when you discover how to connect with God by experience and not merely through information. The goal of a kingdom encounter is to give you and me a deeper, tangible experience of Gods character and reality, and to take us to the next level of kingdom usefulness.
A person can attend church for years and never encounter God. A person can attend small groups every time they are offered and never experience the living and true Creator. God wants you to have more of Him than just theology on a shelf or information in your head. He wants to have an encounter with you that revolutionizes your life. Are you open to this?
Kingdom encounters most often come in the context of contradictions, challenges, and difficulties. They occur in times when you are facing conflict, when life seems off-kilter, or when things no longer make sense. It can feel conflicting at first. But what you need to realizeand what I hope you realize as you go through this bookis that when things are going left, you feel trapped and God seems absent, you are probably right where God wants you in order to experience a life-altering kingdom encounter.
My hope for you as you read through this book is that you will discover the delight and power of a divine encounter. That you will run smack dab into deity. That you will experience His presence at a level that leads to life transformation.
Far too many of us have a relationship with God that resembles the flicker of a candle more than the brilliance of a noon-day sun. We go to church. We speak Christianese. We do our devotions. We post Scripture on social media. Yet we live with the pervading emptiness that results from a lack of encountering and experiencing the Most High God. As a result, we live lives of disappointment, pain, loss, regret, and hurt.
This reminds me of the story about a police officer who was called about a man planning to jump off a bridge to his death. When the policeman arrived at the scene, he began attempting to talk the man out of his suicide attempt. When he inquired why the man wanted to die, the man said that life was no longer worth living.
The policeman then gave the man an idea in order to buy time. He said, Just give me ten minutes to explain why life is worth living. Then Ill give you ten minutes to tell me why it is not worth living. Then, if you still want to jump, I wont stop you. The man agreed.
The policeman began explaining eloquently about the meaning, significance, and importance of life. It was then the mans turn. He began to share how miserable things had been for him. A broken family, a failed career, bad health, deep debt, abuse, depression, and more. After he finished, the policeman reached out his hand to the man. The man grabbed it and they both jumped. Hopelessness has a way of metastasizing and spreading. Hopelessness can plague our hearts and minds so much that it makes itself present in more ways than we previously imagined possible.
