Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Which Way, Lord?: Exploring Your Life's Purpose in the Journeys of Paul
    Which Way, Lord?: Exploring Your Life's Purpose in the Journeys of Paul
    Which Way, Lord?: Exploring Your Life's Purpose in the Journeys of Paul
    Ebook125 pages1 hour

    Which Way, Lord?: Exploring Your Life's Purpose in the Journeys of Paul

    By Rob Fuquay

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    As Christians we hunger to know and live out God's purpose for our lives. But how do we know for certain which way to go?

    Which Way, Lord? aims to help you understand God's direction for your life. Your guide for this journey is Paul, the globe-trotting hero of early church history. You will gain ore than an introductory insight into the background, education, experiences, writing, and theology of this man who changed the world.

    Through many detours, adversity, and time spent thinking about his life, Paul completely reoriented his understanding of faith and God's purpose for his life. God placed Paul in a community that shared God's love with him, and Paul underwent several years of training in his quest to follow Jesus and ultimately follow his call to be a missionary. Like Paul, we encounter many challenges as we try to discover our purpose.

    This 6-session study helps you unpack your life alongside the life of the apostle Paul to find your purpose and passion. Along the way, you'll learn how to:

    • discern and follow God's leading
    • explore ways God can use you and your life experience
    • follow God's signals when experiencing adversity
    • respond to times when you can't live out your purpose as you would like
    • endure hardships and doubts
    • find ways to persevere with hope and faith

    A perfect study series for back-to school, the beginning of a new year, Lent, or anytime you need a fresh start.

    The components of Which Way, Lord? are

    • a book (also available in enlarged print)
    • a companion DVD with 6 video sessions filmed in Turkey, Israel, and Greece
    • age-level guides for children, youth, and adults (PDFs are on the DVD and posted online)

    Join your congregation or small group in a journey to discover that you are created for purpose and equipped to live a life of significance.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUpper Room Books
    Release dateAug 1, 2017
    ISBN9780835817059
    Which Way, Lord?: Exploring Your Life's Purpose in the Journeys of Paul
    Author

    Rob Fuquay

    Rob Fuquay is the senior pastor of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has served various congregations with his gifts of strong preaching, leadership development, and visioning. Rob is the author of The Passion Play: Living the Story of Christ's Last Days, a six session Lenten study based on the Oberammergau tradition, A New Reformation: From Luther’s World to Ours and The God We Can Know, a 7-week study designed for the entire congregation to explore the “I Am” sayings of Jesus found in the Gospel of John. He is also the author of Which Way, Lord: Exploring Your Life’s Purpose in the Journeys of Paul on how to discern and follow God’s leading.

    Read more from Rob Fuquay

    Related to Which Way, Lord?

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      How Should We Respond To Celebrities Coming To Christ?

      Dec 30, 2019

      If you’ve been following the news lately, you will have noticed a significant wave of celebrities who are turning to Christ. In what is referred to as a massive spiritual movement, the sinful city of Hollywood is turning more and more stars away from

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Great Shaking

      Nov 27, 2020

      Way back in the last millennium when I was still a teenager there was a popular song made famous by Jerry Lee Lewis, “There’s been a whole lotta shakin goin’ on.”This is certainly true of today’s world. One major difference between the current global

      5 min read

    • Article

      On A Mission From God, But To Do What?

      Nov 30, 2018

      When is the murder of a missionary a martyrdom, and when is it a justifiable act of self-defense by an insular culture that doesn't take the threat of incursion by outsiders lightly? That conundrum lies at the heart of the unfortunate demise of John

      3 min read

    • Article

      Willow Creek Pastor, Elders Step Down, Admit Mishandling Allegations Against Bill Hybels

      Aug 9, 2018

      CHICAGO - Answering critics' calls to let new leaders shepherd northwest suburban Willow Creek Community Church, lead pastor Heather Larson and other church elders resigned Wednesday and apologized for mishandling allegations that church founder Bill

      4 min read

    • Article

      Taking Stock

      Nov 28, 2018

      Only that man who stands aright in the Creation of his God, who recognises himself as a part of Creation and lives accordingly, only he is the true servant of God, no matter in what way he earns his necessary living on earth. As a part of Cre

      2 min read

    • Article

      How Well Do You Actually Know Your Bible?

      Aug 7, 2020

      The Bible is the handbook for Christianity. It includes every single instruction that we need d in in this this w world to survive. It is the only book that we have directly from God. You would think that as Christians ians who who have have spent ye

      1 min read

    • Article

      How to Make Small Talk

      May 22, 2023

      How to Make Small Talk
      15 min read

    • Article

      Ask And You Shall Receive…

      Feb 9, 2024

      When something is repeated over and over again, it can lose its impact. As Christians, how often do we hear the scripture, “Ask, and you shall receive ... knock, and the door shall be opened”? It is so popular, and so repeated, but yet is such a powe

      2 min read

    • Article

      Let People Be Wrong

      Nov 22, 2019

      Let People Be Wrong
      2 min read

    • Article

      Plant Yourself In God’s Word

      Jan 16, 2021

      Plant Yourself In God’s Word
      1 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Mar 10, 2023

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      8 min read

    • Article

      Ask Val

      Sep 23, 2022

      Ask Val
      2 min read

    • Article

      Don’t Lose Your First Love

      Jun 15, 2020

      Lockdown has forced us all to become accepting of change. During lockdown, most Christians have been logging onto online church services on Sundays, and possibly also their home groups during the week. ‘Doing church’ remotely has become the new norm.

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Shay Way

      Aug 1, 2021

      The Shay Way
      5 min read

    • Article

      Sunday, February 17

      Dec 14, 2018

      RECENTLY, A PASTOR REMINDED ME of something. Sunday morning at eleven o’clock is the most segregated hour of the week. I took some time to think about that. I didn’t grow up in the church and didn’t come to know Christ until my early adulthood. But w

      1 min read

    • Article

      Our Second Act

      Sep 26, 2020

      Our Second Act
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Which Way, Lord?

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Which Way, Lord? - Rob Fuquay

      WHICH WAY, LORD? Exploring Your Life’s Purpose in the Journeys of Paul

      Copyright © 2017 by Rob Fuquay

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews. For information, write Upper Room Books, 1908 Grand Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212.

      Upper Room Books website: books.upperroom.org

      Upper Room®, Upper Room Books®, and design logos are trademarks owned by The Upper Room®, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.

      At the time of publication all website references in this book were valid. However, due to the fluid nature of the Internet some addresses may have changed or the content may no longer be relevant.

      Scripture quotations not otherwise identified are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations identified as CEB are taken from The Common English Bible and are used by permission.

      Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are from the Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission. Scripture quotations identified as KJV are taken from the King James Version.

      Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version-Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

      The Living Bible (TLB)copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

      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.

      Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations identified as RSV are the author’s paraphrase: Rob’s Standard Version.

      Cover design: Marc Whitaker/MTWdesign

      Cover photo: Shutterstock.com

      Writers of various books of the Bible may be disputed in certain circles; this volume uses the names of the biblically attributed authors.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Fuquay, Rob, author.

      Title: Which way, Lord? : exploring life’s purpose in the journeys of Paul /

      Rob Fuquay.

      Description: Nashville : Upper Room Books, 2017.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2016048225| ISBN 9780835817028 (print) | ISBN 9780835817042 (mobi) | ISBN 9780835817059 (epub)

      Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Epistles of Paul—Criticism, interpretation, etc. |

      Life—Biblical teaching. | Life—Religious aspects—Christianity.

      Classification: LCC BS2655.L53 F87 2017 | DDC 227/.06--dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016048225

      To

      SARAH WILKE,

      my sister-in-law,

      a Paul-like leader

      whose courage, faith, and love

      have blessed the church around the world

      CONTENTS

      Introduction: Locating Your Starting Point
      1     Preparing for Purpose
      2     Taking Stock
      3     Facing Adversity
      4     Dealing with Detours
      5     Relying on God
      6     Developing Tenacity
      Acknowledgments
      Notes
      About the Author

      INTRODUCTION

      LOCATING YOUR STARTING POINT

      What does it benefit you to know how beautiful a creature a human is if you ignore humanity’s purpose, which is clearly to worship God in order to live eternally?

      —Martin Luther

      For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible . . . everything got started in [Christ] and finds its purpose in him.

      —Colossians 1:16, THE MESSAGE

      First there was Saul. And then there was Paul. I like the fact that the apostle Paul went by another name before he began his mission to the Gentiles. That makes it easy to distinguish between the before and after—not that the two didn’t have a lot in common. Both acted with a singular devotion to the God of Israel. Both knew scripture backward and forward. And both sought purpose in their daily lives.

      But Saul the Pharisee persecuted Christ-followers and was present at the stoning of one of Jesus’ original disciples. Paul the Apostle, a dynamic communicator, advanced the cause of Christ. What happened? How did Saul become Paul?

      The pivot point lies on the road to Damascus from Jerusalem. As Saul travels on it, the startling appearance of light from heaven halts him. Speaking directly to Saul, Jesus makes himself clear: You need to choose another way. Talk about an attention getter!

      At this moment, the Saul-to-Paul transformation begins. But now comes the hard part. Paul has to figure out which way.

      Isn’t that the predicament we all face? As Christians, we yearn to live out God’s purpose for our lives, but how do we know for certain which way to go?

      This book aims to help you understand God’s direction for your life. Your guide for this journey will be Paul, the globe-trotting hero of early church history. Along the way you’ll gain more than an introductory insight into the background, education, experiences, writing, and theology of this man who changed the world.

      Yet more than the whats of his life, we’ll examine the whys. We won’t simply look at where he went and what he said. We want to know how Paul got where he did. What determined his direction, and, more importantly, what determined his changes in direction? Did Paul have a pipeline to God that average people like you and me don’t have? Or does Paul have something to teach us about what it means to discern God’s guidance and direction for our lives? This study will answer those questions.

      A lot of books about Paul and about the subject of finding purpose flood the market. There’s also no end to life coaches, secular psychologists, and social commentators weighing in on this matter. But this book approaches the topic solely from a faith perspective.

      That perspective also helps us understand what separated Saul from Paul. Remember that both sought purpose in their lives. But only Paul sought God’s purpose as made manifest in Jesus Christ. The difference lay in the direction.

      Saul’s purpose grew out of intellect and knowledge of scripture, his certainty of what God wanted from him and, above all, of following the letter of religious law. Perhaps he believed his obedience would earn him God’s love and acceptance. But let’s face it: When you’re persecuting people in the name of God, something is amiss. I’d like to think that part of Saul evidenced an openness to trying a different direction by the time Christ appeared.

      Once transformed, Paul turned Saul’s belief system upside down. Love eclipsed the law. God’s acceptance wasn’t the goal—it was the starting point! Knowing God’s love made manifest in Jesus Christ became the primary motivating force of Paul’s life, as it is intended to be for all of us.

      Paul not only put his faith in Jesus Christ, but he also believed Christ put his faith in him—again, as Christ does in all of us. This is key: From this reciprocal faith flows the wellspring for doing good, being useful, and achieving a sense of fulfillment. In other words, for purpose.

      Paul didn’t arrive at this realization in a day, a month, or even a year. In fact, he spent several years discerning this new understanding of faith. (We’ll explore the significance of this phase of his life in chapter 1.) When Paul’s first call finally came, he set off to serve a growing Christian congregation in Antioch of Syria. If you believe God has a sense of irony, then this story won’t let you down: Among the members of this church reside some of the very Christ-followers whom Paul had persecuted in his former life. What could have gone terribly wrong instead turned into an expression of Christ’s love that would be seared on Paul’s heart. The Christians of Antioch embraced him as a leader, and he experienced the warmth of their fellowship.

      Here we evidence the power of community that plays a crucial role in Paul’s transformation. Christianity doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It flourishes when we share God’s love with one another, which ignites further transformation in ourselves and in others.

      The transforming power of community is not Paul’s story alone. John Wesley, the father of Methodism, shares a similar one.¹ By the time Wesley boarded a ship in 1735 to come to America, he was an up-and-coming preacher steeped in religious study who spread the gospel of personal holiness and righteousness. No doubt he intended to live out God’s purpose. Yet an experience on that voyage led him to acknowledge a lack in his own faith.

      When a storm raged on the Atlantic one night, Wesley’s English companions screamed and cowered; surely Wesley felt fearful himself. But he marveled at a group of German Christians called Moravians who worshiped and calmly sang hymns while the storm raged. What accounted for their composure? One Moravian explained to Wesley that the group was not afraid to die—strange words to a man who believed he had to be sanctified, that he had to live a holy life, before God would accept him.²

      Like Paul’s moment of reckoning on the road to Damascus, the episode began a lengthy period of discernment for Wesley that led him to learn more from the Moravians. Upon his arrival in Georgia, he sought

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1