ORDINARY SAINTS

How does God manifest himself in the world? Through the righteous lives of his holy people (the saints). As a religion of witnesses, Christianity is dependent upon its saints (defined as activated disciples) to testify to the grace of Christ and the kingdom of God. Their lives are walking billboards of the value of Jesus teaching and authenticity of Christianity as an ancient spiritual pathway. This is a book about saints who are alive now, and whose everyday acts of kindness and goodness announce that God is at work in the world. Like Jesus, their Master, they are the message, the messenger, and the working model of the kingdom of God, in a lesser key. In following Jesus, ordinary saints are willing to give away their lives in order to convey the substance of their faith to a watching world. If ever there was a time when saints need to live courageously for Christ in the world, it is now. But it will take conviction, credibility, and a great deal of audacity. Ordinary Saints explores what it means to be a saint in the twenty-first century, by exploring the depth-dimensions of saints lives, bodies, emotions, values, and relationships. What most of us want to know is how can we live an authentic and sustainable spiritual life in our post-secular context? In Ordinary Saints, Stuart offers a creative re-formulation of the ancient vocation of sainthood, which for the Christian faith has long been a classic role and way of being. Drawing on biblical teaching, the mystical tradition, and a deep spiritual awareness, the book invites its readers to live their lives adventurously as saints. Stuart has made sainthood a viable vocation for us twenty-first-century people. --Phil Daughtry, Director, the Centre for Contemporary Spirituality, Tabor College of Higher Education, Adelaide   Here is a book that speaks to the present situation. Christianity has been bumped from the center to the margins of society largely because of its ill-disciplined legalism and infighting. Jes