Mansions of the Heart: Exploring the Seven Stages of Spiritual Growth

Many Christians are discovering a growing desire for a more intimate experiential relationship with Jesus. That's no surprise, because that is what we are called in to. They are discovering that more religious activity, ministry busyness, and abundant information about Christ is not enough. They truly desire to experience Jesus more and more. Mansions of the Heart describes the life long process God has for His children -- to draw us deeper and deeper into fellowship with Him. This book helped me make sense of the longings and desires that have been building for a few years and helped me to see more clearly where I am at in my journey with Christ. Mansions is not necessarily a quick read -- but it is chocked full of insight. This is a great book for someone who has been a believer for a while, but feels like they are stuck or are wondering if this is all there is. Tom's writing is biblically sound and stirs the reader to envision greater things ahead in their relationship with the Lord. It's about here and now -- not just waiting for heaven. I also recommend another of Tom's books -- Presence, What if Jesus Were Really Here? Read them back to back and you will be blessed!

I found this book to be very helpful in my spiritual journey. Having gone through a spiritual crisis lasting several years, I was encouraged by the explanations in this book regarding some of the things I have experienced and why. I also appreciate the fact that the author allows for the process of spiritual growth to be very fluid and has a lot of room for variance in the spiritual journey from individual to individual. God is creative and works differently in each life and this book allows for that. This information is also helpful for me to be able to walk alongside other people who are being drawn into closer relationship with God so that I can offer insight into the general patterns of spiritual formation and how to interpret what is happening in their journey. The book is written in a manner that is easy to understand while at the same time containing deep truths that need further processing and thought. I finished it and then started reading it again so that I could absorb the material more fully. I definitely recommend this book to those who are being called into deeper intimacy with God. If the Holy Spirit is tugging at your heart, listen to that and whether it is through this book or a different resource, learn more! You won't regret it.

If you have read or are reading the Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila you will find this book very useful. As a Kindle book it has an excellent interactive table of contents for not only the chapters but also each section with each chapter. Full of tips, insights and ideas to guide you on your spiritual journey, this book will encourage you to keep on in your discovery of the interior life. It offers help to "put feet" onto the interior life in giving tools on how to live out in our daily lives that which the Spirit is working in. Each chapter on one of the seven mansions has a section 'Keys for Growth that help us cooperate with God'. What a gift! Sometimes when we are reading a book like the Interior Castle we cannot recognize where we are in our own journey in relation to a book like this or what God might be saying to us. 'Mansions of the Heart' will help. You might find you are just zeroing in on bits of it at a time. So I suspect we will all pick up this book several times during the course of our lives. Good stuff!!

I was skeptical of reading a modern Protestant writer's take on Teresa of Avila's seven mansions. I find myself frequently frustrated with all the re-framing of classic mystical works. If it ain't broke, why try and fix it, right?This book was a refreshing exception to that feeling. The author explains this mystical journey like an engineer (which he actually is) and a master teacher without losing the mystical nature of the subject. I was repeatedly shocked at how much I got out of the book. I have come away with a much greater understanding of the spiritual journey of those who choose to take it.The book breaks down each step of the journey and uses modern, real-life scenarios so you can related to it in the 21st century. Each chapter follows the same pattern, making it easy to compare the mansions, giving you grace for those in the earlier stages and giving you hunger to move beyond where you are to know Jesus more intimately.Bottom line is that I was a skeptic coming into this book (had to read it for a Seminary class), but I am most definitely turned around. It is a needed addition to any library of anyone on the journey, but especially those helping others along in the spiritual journey.

I can't thank Ashbrook enough for his lucid and timely reintroduction of the works of St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. I once tried working my way through Theresa's "Interior Castle" and got bogged down in her stream-of-consciousness late Medieval writing style. Ashbrook's book does an excellent job introducing the work of these two spiritual giants to 21st century American Christians, providing commentary on Theresa's "Interior Castle" and fictional narratives of modern people living through each stage of its spiritual development. His approach is accessible to both Catholic and Protestants alike (I am an Evangelical pastor), and I found his text to provide a much-needed vocabulary for describing the landmarks of one encounters during a lifetime of discipleship to Jesus Christ. If you're wondering how to describe your life in God, wondering if there's more to be experienced, or curious about whether or not you're even still on the right road, this book is for you.

This is just what I needed, to understand the seven mansions of saint There’s of Avila

Immensly gratifying and eye opening.

very interesting information

Interesting...

There were some wonderful quotes in this book and I understood the authors intent to link what he had learned with historic writing. However, I think the concept of travelling from room to room in the journey made the book unnecessarily complex. There are great ideas here but my personal view was that the complexity of the format left them a little obscured.