Searching for Home

Spirituality for Restless Souls

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Deep down it's easy to believe that the better job, the nicer house, or the more dynamic church will finally make us feel "at home." In Searching for Home, M. Craig Barnes challenges this belief. He reminds us that paradise is lost and we can't go home again. Our great comfort and hope, however, is that we are never lost to God.

Seasoned by more than twenty years as a pastor, Barnes discusses the importance of confession, worship, and grace in our search for home. He offers advice about how we can move from being transient nomads "too frightened to be grateful" to pilgrims who are at home with God, guided by our pleasure in him.

This book was written for both Christians and seekers who are still looking for a sense of belonging or "home." It will be a useful tool for pastors, adult Sunday school groups, and counselors of all kinds who are advising pilgrims along the way.

CONTENTS
1. Homeless: Lost in the Search for a Good Place
2. What is Home? A Place with Father, Son, and Spirit
3. Our Nomadic Meandering: How We Became So Confused
4. The Alienated Nomadic Soul: The Danger of Being Homeless
5. Beginning the Journey Home: Going Down to Go Up
6. The Memory of the Father's House: The Great Turnaround
7. Climbing the Mountain: The Road Home Is Hard
8. Forks in the Road: It's Not about Our Choices, but God's
9. Is God Homeless? The Transformation from Nomad to Pilgrim
10. The Blessings of Home: Why Heaven Makes a World of Difference
11. The End of Our Yearning: Communing with Home along the Way


Endorsements

"Every person searches for meaning and direction in this life--and beyond. In Searching for Home, Craig Barnes tells not only of his personal experiences, but also sets inspirational guideposts for us all."--Senator John Glenn

"Here is a theological witness to the Christian message that is deeply personal, insightful, accessible, moving, and redemptive. I highly commend it to a wide reading audience."--Thomas Gillespie, Princeton Theological Seminary


The Author

  1. M. Craig Barnes
    Kim Schmidt

    M. Craig Barnes

    M. Craig Barnes (PhD, University of Chicago) is president of Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey, where he also serves as professor of pastoral ministry. He previously taught at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and has pastored several...

    Continue reading about M. Craig Barnes

Reviews

Christianity Today 2004 Book Award Winner

"Barnes nicely blends Dante's insights with biblical teachings."--Publishers Weekly

"[A[ timely book. . . . Barnes writes stirringly about the need for home."--John A. Dalles, Presbyterian Outlook

"Restless Christians should find Barnes's explanation of our yearnings worth pondering."-Cindy Crosby, Christianity Today

"Using anecdotes about people he has counseled and material from books he has read, Barnes provides a map by which to get a bearing on life, set a true course for spiritual contentment, and ultimately find the way home to heaven. It's better than Rand McNally."--Church Libraries

"Barnes creatively addresses the theme of drifting nomads searching for sanctuary. The book draws on formal and informal sociological research enlivened by the wisdom of pastoral experience. Weaving his father's story into the framework of Dante's Divine Comedy, Barnes makes the quest relevant, riveting, and prophetic."--Christianity Today

"Uses Dante's pilgrimage as a parallel for our own search for paradise, blending philosophy, literary quotes, and surveys of the 'journey home' on different levels. From pilgrim and searcher to those who have arrived at a comfortable place with God, chapters cover modern Christianity and its implications for modern man."--Midwest Book Review