Decision Making God's Way: A New Model for Knowing God's Will
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord” (Jer. 29:11). How can you know what those plans are? Many Christians miss God’s will because they look in the wrong place. In the Bible, believers were concerned with doing God’s will, not finding God’s will. But before you can do God’s will, you must know what it is.
Gary Meadors believes the best guidance for decision making already exists in the teaching of Scripture. He shows how to use an objective process based on understanding the Bible as well as a Christian worldview and set of values, rather than subjective methods. If you struggle with knowing God’s will, Decision Making God’s Way will provide you with helpful, thought-provoking insights for determining the answers to life’s tough questions.
With the Logos edition, Decision Making God’s Way is fully integrated with the other resources in your digital library, including Bibles, dictionaries, and numerous other Bible study tools. All Scripture references are linked directly to the text of your favorite Bible translation, making your Bible study more effective and rewarding. You can also explore Scripture on a deeper level with powerful search features, Passage Guides, and all the other interactive features in your Logos library. That makes this important volume more useful than ever before for pastors, teachers, and anyone else desiring to understand God’s will.
- Analyzes God’s will for believers
- Illustrates how Christians can live out biblical values
- Part One: Foundations for Knowing God’s Will
- Knowing God
- The Need for a Transformed Mind
- A Preview of a Worldview and Values Model
- Part Two: Biblical Patterns for Knowing God’s Will
- The Will of God in the Old Testament
- The Will of God in the New Testament
- Is Every Example in the Bible for Me?
- What about Bob? Becoming an Adult Decision Maker
- Part Three: Subjective Challenges to Knowing God’s Will
- The Role of Conscience
- The Role of the Spirit in God’s Will and Godly Discernment
- Prayer and God’s Will
- Part Four: Reflections on God’s Will Applied
- “Q & A” on Discerning God’s Will
Top Highlights
“Sense perception and reason are the two primary sources for obtaining knowledge about our world. Secondary sources include authority and intuition.” (Page 22)
“Three levels of values are constant in life’s decisions: clear biblical commands, community values, and our personal preferences that reflect who we are in our calling and giftedness from God.” (Page 56)
“Philosophers recognize four ways that we know what we know. These include sense perception, reason, authority, and intuition.” (Page 20)
“The key to decision making is identifying the reasons why we hold our views and explaining why we make our decisions.” (Page 52)
“Epistemology is the study of the sources, nature, and validity of knowledge.” (Page 20)
Provides an objective framework for decision making that counters both the uncertainty and subjectivism of our age. Anyone taking the time to read this text will gain a confidence and freedom in decision making that perhaps they have never known.
—Rex M. Rogers, president, SAT-7 USA
Christians frequently struggle to identify what God’s will is for them in the decisions of life, large and small. Meadors wisely counsels us to know and obey God’s moral commands and discerningly live out biblical values in every situation.
—Stephen R. Spencer, Blanchard Professor of Theology, Wheaton College
In a society that is always looking for instant answers, Meadors makes it clear that it takes time in the Bible and in prayer to ‘be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is’ (Romans 12:1–2).
—Don Essig III, chairman of PGA, America Rules Committee
Gary Meador’s new book . . . is a mature and thoughtful approach to one of the great mysteries of faith. I personally found the book to be truly enlightening at numerous points . . . and his overall thesis to be quite compelling. As we enter the post modern age with its confusion as to how to incorporate the Bible into picture, Dr. Meadors’ challenge that it remains foundational for the quest is a helpful reminder and challenge.
—Martin G. Abegg Jr., professor, Trinity Western University
In Decision Making God’s Way, Gary Meadors frees us from seeing God’s will as a burden or mystery, to the joyful embrace of God’s will as a pattern of life. God’s will is a transformed mind rooted in a Christian worldview and biblical values. With theological precision and practical insight, Meadors helps us to discern that the divine will is ultimately about God’s moral will, from which we then approach every day decisions that face us. A welcomed and readable contribution to the literature on God’s will.
—Dennis P. Hollinger, president and professor of Christian ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
In this thought-provoking work, Gary Meadors presents well the view that finding God’s will involves applying godly discernment rather than figuring out in advance the sovereign plan of God. The message that comes through loud and clear is that it is impossible to know the will of God without first knowing God, without studying his Word, viewing the world from his perspective, and taking on his values.
—Joel F. Williams, professor of New Testament and Greek, Cedarville University
Finally, a book that deals with decision making that is informed by both biblical theology and Christian worldview considerations. It is without peer in this literature in being biblically solid, philosophically informed, and practically useful. Written for the discerning reader, it is a distinctive and welcome addition to this recurrent discussion.
—James M. Grier, distinguished professor, Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary
- Title: Decision Making God’s Way: A New Model for Knowing God’s Will
- Author: Gary T. Meadors
- Publisher: Baker, Gary T. Meadors
- Publication Date: 2003
- Pages: 232
Gary T. Meadors is professor of Greek and New Testament at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary of Cornerstone University in Michigan.
Reviews
4 ratings
Jack Caviness
5/5/2017
Between the January 1980 and May 1982 I took five classes taught by this author—everything he taught that I could fit into my schedule—enjoyed them all, and gained a good bit of useful knowledge. One of courses was Christian Ethics. As taught by Dr Meadors, this was a refreshing alternative to the usual Independent Fundamental Baptist view of God’s will. Reading this book was like taking that course all over again. The textbook for that course was Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View By Gary Friesen (Neither Dr Meadors nor I agreed com-pletely with the textbook, but it was a good launching pad for discussion). In reading this book, the thing that I found disturbing was the frequent use of Dr Friesen’s material. This from a professor who repeated lectured us on the im-portance of primary sources, and would reduce a grade for the use of secondary sources. Even more disturbing is the absence of any footnote crediting Friesen with the material, nor is he or his book even mentioned in the bibliography. For this reason, Decision Making God’s Way can be rated no higher than a single star.
Stephen Pallot
11/16/2013
Rev. Lynwood F. Mundy
8/3/2013
Phil Niebergall
7/30/2013
