Resources/Books

     Godly wisdom cannot be reduced to a quick step-by-step guide. In fact, Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of how God chooses to reveal truth—not in a few simple phrases, but in a person. Jesus also illustrates that our spirituality is not merely a mental exercise but a reality to be lived out every day in preparation for eternity.

     In Made for Eternity, Dr. Walker-Walker plumbs the depths of biblical wisdom in search of the practical ways we can concretize our theological understanding by developing our Christian faith through the foundational pillars of worship, mission, and eschatology, for it is through our participation with Christ in these areas that we are transformed and prepared for eternity with God.

What You Will Find In This Book

     This book is not a self-help book. It is not another step-by-step how to claim it and receive it get-rich formula. This book is about worship, Christian mission, and eschatology. It is a Spirit-driven attempt to glorify God in its content, witness, and experiential affirmations.  This resource is expressly designed to direct people toward God through their faith response to Christ and their faithful participation in those means of faith formation—(worship, Christian mission, and eschatological expectations— which God uses to develop godly characters and therefore Christ-mindedness in us.

      Though this book is grounded in an informative paradigm, it is a practical coming together of information, Christian experience, personal witness, exhortation, the affirmation of faith, and the declaration of hope. The issues raised and the discussions lifted up in the content of this book are not limited to academic interests and theological discussions or argumentations. They are of relevant and practical spiritual value and significance based on sound biblical applications, testimonies and experiences of God’s outworking grace and favor. 

     This resource is an intentional attempt to concretize our theological understanding by the development of a systematic synthesis of the three components of the Christian faith— worship, mission and eschatology— that are grounded in the human experience. The objective is to give feet to our faith, hands to the gift of grace, and understanding and sense making to our participation in these components of faith that most occupy our time and thinking.

     The goal is also, in some measure, to remove the myth, the mystical, and the abstract, and bring the process of our faith response to God, our faithful participation in the components of the Christian faith, and the operation of the Holy Spirit into the existential (the realm of human existence). That way, we can see, experience, and therefore understand how God, through Christ, in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, accompanies Christian believers in all areas of their lives in order that He might spiritually transform, accumulatively nurture and develop our character, refashion us into His own likeness, and ready us for eternity. 

     As such, I hope that this resource will help you understand more clearly this process of spiritual transformation. I also hope to help you come to grips with what will eternally become of all the things we participate in as Christians and people of faith. 

     This book will help you understand through scripture, that you were made for eternity and how intent God is about restoring your relationship with Him and positioning you to share His eternity with you. You will develop a sense of how intent God is on saving and transforming your life in readiness for eternity as you come into the realization that eternity with God has always been a predisposed preference established by God for us, before the foundations of the earth.

     This book is built on the premise that knowledge of God, worship, mission, and eschatology are the foundational pillars and means of faith that God uses for our spiritual formation and renewal and our becoming all that we can be in Christ. Worship, mission, and eschatology are therefore not three separate components of Christian practices. They are one continuously interlocking process from which our spiritual transformation emerges. 

     This book posits that if, indeed, worship is the spiritual encounter, then mission, must necessarily lead to the spiritual formation and development of the Christian life and character through service and self-giving love. Eschatologically, as we continuously share in the Holy Spirit’s gift of mission to the world, we are kept diligent because of our expectation of Christ’s returning. Worship, liturgical practices, and life experiences are our training models for knowing God. Christian mission in the world is the training ground for the formation of Christian character and the place where the seeds planted in worship grow into fuller blooms of the knowledge and purpose of God. 

     As outlined in the section on eschatology, our eschatological expectations, based on the promises of Christ to return, invoke a lifestyle that orients us toward the future. However, in the present, those eschatological expectations also keep us grounded in faith and holiness while instilling within us the desire to faithfully worship God. This anticipation of the return of the Lord Jesus also invokes in us an awesome sense of responsibility that leads us to service and the making of disciples for Christ. 

     It is my goal then, to use this medium to transform the way we think about worship while inspiring our faithful participation in worship and Christian mission/service. It is also my intention to help you, the reader, discover information that will help you develop a clearer understanding of God, what worship is, the purposes of liturgical practices, your role as an active and participative worshipper, the Priesthood of Christ, and the role of the Holy Spirit in our worship encounters and missional pursuits. 

     Throughout the pages of this book, you will receive information that will help you concretize your understanding and experience as they relate to your faithful participation in the worship and mission of Jesus, the Son, to God, the Father. 

      This information will transform the way you think about worship and Christian mission because it will take you beyond yourself and what you do in worship and mission to focus on Christ and what He has already accomplished. You will be empowered to see that worship and mission are not distinct components that separately impact the Christian’s life. Rather, they are combined and continuous processes whereby the faith we confess in formal worship becomes the practical manifestation of our faith through mission and our service to God in the world. 

     This book is therefore designed to assist and nurture your understanding of the relations between the formal Sunday worship and everyday Christian life and mission. You will become inspired by the realization that Christian mission is in fact, the practical living out of the formal worship and a way of presenting and glorifying God in the world.

     This book presents a fresh look at eschatology that will help you develop an understanding concerning the nearness of God and how that nearness is a daily challenge as well as an invitation and opportunity for you to respond to that nearness with faith and obedience.  As you live in the anticipated fulfillment of God’s promise of eternity for you, which is the eschatological lifestyle I speak of in this book, you will be challenged to exercise diligence in your worship of God as well as in your service to others inspired by this lifestyle that is lived in readiness for Christ’s reappearing.

     Guided by biblical and sound theological persuasions, this book promotes the conviction that our encounter with the Lord does not only lead to personal faith renewal and holiness. That encounter also comes with a faith response which leads to an assignment and a responsibility to pursue God through worship and Christian mission. In this book, theology and faith talks are not mere theological ramblings. Such discourses are convictions and declarations of faith in the God whom we seek to know, worship, understand, trust, and intentionally serve. The purpose of faith is to connect us with God as well as to nurture belief in God who infinitely loves us. 

     The purpose of faith is also to change one’s attitude and inspire a Christian lifestyle that is pleasing and acceptable to God. This lifestyle is the manifestation of our changed lives because of what we know and believe about God and who we have become in Christ Jesus. Certainly, faith not only encourages belief; faith is also manifested behavior and demonstrative service. This is precisely what James means when he says, “…Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). 

     While faith encourages belief and finds genuine expression through our intentional participation in the ministry of Christ to God the Father, it is also the impetus for our service to God in the world. An encounter with God is therefore an opportunity as well as a privilege to honor and bow down to worship God. At the same time, our encounter with God is also a commission, a responsibility, a mandate, if you will, to go out on assignment to serve God in the world. While some of us may claim to possess great faith, or even a little, as if it were a privilege, faith is not a privilege. Faith is a gift of grace that stirs up responsibility. As such, faith becomes our active response to God through obedience, and our duty to our neighbor through loving service. Our active faith response to God and the good works we exercise on behalf of our neighbor, make faith practical, and keep faith alive and working because faith without works is dead. Faith that transforms is faith that is alive and working to give God glory while moving us to use that faith, through service, to change the human condition.  

     In this book, you will also discover a multitude of easy in-text and footnote scriptural references to inspire and guide you in your reading and daily study. Also, at the beginning of each chapter, you will find selected and inspiring prayers, suggested scripture readings, and hymns/songs to encourage and guide your devotional lifestyle. My prayer is that the God of grace will be with you in your study, worship and service, to enlighten, transform, strengthen, guide, renew, and empower you.

     If such pursuits and understanding are of value for you in your personal search for understanding and spiritual and theological clarity, or for application in your congregational settings, and I suspect that they are, then the content of this book and the Made For Eternity Study Outline that accompanies this resource will be of tremendous value to such pursuits and understanding.

     Having issues with forgiveness? There is a section on forgiveness tailor-made for you. Struggling with sin and your growth in Christ? Check out chapter four, section C: “Baptism: An Opportunity to Grow in Grace.” Here you will see that while your salvation is instant, it takes time to grow in Christ and that you have His help to do so. Do you have a desire to know Jesus better? Read chapter nine, “One Final Question: Do you know Jesus?” Do you need to understand why God does the things He does for us? Read chapter eight, “Motivated and Transformed by Love.”

     Come with me! This is going to be a spiritually transforming ride that takes us to new levels of understanding concerning the means of faith that we participate in as Christians, and the way God uses our faithful participation in these means of faith to transform us and position us for eternity. You were made for eternity!