Down We Go: Living Into the Wild Ways of Jesus [Paperback]

Kathy Escobar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2011

CREATING MISSIONAL COMMUNITY

Down We Go is a practitioner’s guide for creating and cultivating missional community. It’s based on the idea of living into the Beatitudes, and explores what it means to follow Jesus into the hard places of suffering, inequality, and injustice in order to cultivate, hope, beauty, justice, equality, generosity and healing.

The dream of living out the upside-down ways of Jesus is in our hearts, but many don’t know how to make “what could be” really be. We need practical, tangible ideas to make dreams reality. We need to hear how it can work, from people on the margins and practitioners living in the trenches. We need real stories of practice that will fan our hopes and dreams for justice, mercy, equality, and healing in the kingdom of God into flame. Down We Go fleshes out practicing the ways of Jesus in action, personally and through life in community.

Endorsements

"Page after page in Down We Go, I feel the crazy sanity of the kingdom of God seeping back into me. I'm so thankful for Kathy Escobar, the Refuge, the TransForm Network, and everyone who dares to switch directions and become more profane - in the holiest sense of the word." - Brian D. McLaren, author of Naked Spirituality and A New Kind of Christianity.

"Kathy Escobar explores how to move from 'doing' ministry for others into creating sacred spaces where all can be a part of the Kingdom of God. Those desiring something beyond “comfy church” will find inspiration in Kathy’s downwardly mobile journey" - Becky Garrison, author of Jesus Died For This?

“Kathy Escobar leads us on a guided tour of the wild ways of Jesus. She is one of my favorite leaders. I hope to continue to learn from her example for years to come" - Jim Henderson, D. Min, Author of Jim and Casper Go To Church and The Resignation of Eve.

"Kathy takes us down into the trenches where ordinary hurting people live and where we too need to live out our faith. Her personal faith journey from mega-church pastor to ministry with the destitute and marginalized is a compelling and convicting read." - Christine Sine, Author and Executive Director of Mustard Seed Associates.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kathy Escobar co-pastors the Refuge, an eclectic faith community in North Denver dedicated to those on the margins of life and faith. She journeys with people in hard places as a spiritual director, teacher, and group facilitator. A Pepperdine University graduate, she also has a Masters degree in Management/Organizational Development and a Certificate in Evangelical Spiritual Guidance from Denver Seminary.

Kathy's co-authored 2 other books, Come with Me: An Invitation to Break through the Walls Between You and God (Discovery House Press) and Refresh: Sharing Stories. Building Faith with Laura Greiner (New Hope Publishers, 2007). She also contributed to Taking Flight: Reclaiming the Female Half of God's Image Through Advocacy and Renewal, (Samizdat Creative, 2010).

Kathy is also on the leadership group for the Transform Network, a missional community formation network. She is a frequent speaker at gatherings and conferences around the United States. She lives in Arvada, Colorado with her husband, Jose, and 5 kids and blogs regularly about community life and spiritual formation at KathyEscobar.com. You can connect with Kathy on Facebook and Twitter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Civitas Press (June 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615467903
• ISBN-13: 978-0615467900
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathy Escobar co-pastors the Refuge, an eclectic faith community in North Denver dedicated to those on the margins of life and faith (www.therefugeonline.org). She journeys with people in hard places as a spiritual director, teacher, and group facilitator. A Pepperdine University graduate, she also has a Masters degree in Management/Organizational Development and a Certificate in Evangelical Spiritual Guidance from Denver Seminary.

Author of Down We Go: Living into the Wild Ways of Jesus (Civitas Press, 2011), she has also co-authored two other books--Come With Me: An Invitation to Break through the Walls Between You and God (Discovery House Press, 2002) and Refresh: Sharing Stories and Building Faith (New Hope, 2007). She's contributed to several collaborative book projects centered on life and faith--The Practice of Love (Civitas Press, 2011), Banned Questions of the Bible (Chalice Press, 2011), and Taking Flight: Reclaiming the Female Half of God's Image through Advocacy and Renewal (Samizdet Publishing, 2010).

Kathy is also on the leadership group for the Transform Network, a missional community formation network (www.transformnetwork.org) and speaks at at gatherings and conferences around the United States. She lives in Arvada, Colorado with her husband, Jose, and 5 kids and blogs regularly about community life and spiritual formation at www.kathyescobar.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Down We Go: Living Into the Wild Ways of Jesus June 3, 2011

By Phyllis Mathis

Format:Paperback

At first glance this book is surprising, against the grain, challenging, radical. But that's only because we're in love with the ideas of success, ascent, and victory. We're caught up in the American dream, and there are plenty of books that will tell us we can have our Jesus and our way of life too.
In Down We Go: Living Into the Wild Ways of Jesus, Kathy Escobar reminds us of the Jesus we find in the gospels - the guy who eats with sinners and tax collectors, touches lepers, and upsets the power structures of his time. The Jesus who tells his disciples to do the same, and who promises us that *downward* is the only path to real joy.
Written from the low places, birthed from the Beatitudes, and seasoned with a refreshing dose of practical experience, Down We Go is a field guide for those who are tired of playing religious games, and long to follow Jesus into the places he asked us to go.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars If you want to remain comfortable, don't read this book June 18, 2011

By Johan van der Merwe

Format:Paperback

There was a time in my life when I completely ignored the beatitudes and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. I found them too challenging. Sometimes I would read through the gospel of Matthew, but deliberately skip over chapters 5 to 7. I knew I was choosing what to read and what to ignore, but at least I was honest about it.

The thing is, I read what Dietrich Bonhoeffer said about these words of Jesus and, whilst I agreed with him wholeheartedly, I simply wasn't up for the challenge. He said the following: `Humanly speaking, we could understand and interpret the Sermon on the Mount in a thousand different ways. Jesus knows only one possibility: simple surrender and obedience, not interpreting it or applying it, but doing and obeying it. That is the only way to hear His word. But again He does not mean that it is to be discussed as an ideal, He means really putting it into practice.'

As I was reading about the work that was being done at The Refuge in Kathy Escobar's Down We Go, I felt the same uneasiness that's fuelled by my indifference creep into me: here's a group of people that is actually living the wild ways of Jesus as depicted in the Sermon on the Mount. I'm still trying to come up with an excuse why I can't do the same as them, but it's not going too well. If you want to remain comfortable with your life of upward mobility, then please, don't read this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh breath, rather an entire oxygen tank, of air.. June 2, 2011

By Stacy M. Schaffer

Format:Paperback

About 3 years ago, I was ready to completely throw in the towel in regards to anything close to faith, Christianity, or church. Having spent 11 years fully devoted to ministry, I had lived my life in what I hoped would bring deep fufillment. After a series of disappointing behind the scenes events, I watched the infastructure of what I thought I knew and believed about God and the church virtually crumble.

Several months later, I was sent a lifeline to Kathy's blog (kathyescobar.com) by a friend who knew I was one step away from just being done. It was the wisdom that permeated the words of that post, that quite literally, saved my faith.

In the guide, Down We Go, not only does the depth of what it could mean to be a follower of Jesus continue, but it inspires. In a world where it can feel stagnant and, well, devoid of purpose, Kathy's words ring with hope and new direction in living the ways of Jesus. With each chapter, more and more wind and possibilities are infused, and articulate more practice, instead of theory. *For those of you who are longing for a faith that is more practical, more worthy of your time, energy,and heart, and more altogether meaningful, this is for sure the guide for you.*